Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Memorable Comebacks In Joel Quenneville Era
Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Memorable Comebacks In Joel Quenneville Era

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

The Chicago Cubs are looking for a major World Series comeback, and the Chicago Blackhawks know something about that

Professional baseball in Chicago could be finished tonight for the calendar year 2016, if the Chicago Cubs are unable to grab a World Series win against the Cleveland Indians.

You know which Chicago team is pretty good at mounting comebacks? The Chicago Blackhawks. At least under Joel Quenneville, the Blackhawks have been a pretty effective come-from-behind machine.

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I’m not going to say the following five comebacks are the absolute best the Blackhawks have put together under Coach Q. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. But they’re the ones that immediately stuck out to me.

So, with at least part of Chicago hoping for a baseball comeback tonight, let’s look at some hockey comebacks.

Oct. 12, 2009: Blackhawks stun Flames

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    This is the only regular-season moment on this list. With all the playoff success the Blackhawks have had under Coach Q, a lot of the regular-season games tend to mesh together. Not this one, though.

    In their fifth game of what would turn out to be a Stanley Cup-winning season, the Blackhawks started about as poorly as you can. Calgary, the road team, tallied five times in the first 11:43. So at least the Blackhawks had a decent amount of time to try and mount a comeback, but a five-goal lead is pretty substantial.

    This game should’ve been an early sign Blackhawks fans would be witnessing a special season. John Madden got the Blackhawk on the board with a goal late in the first. Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien and Dave Bolland each hit the twine in the second.

    It seemed inevitable the Blackhawks would tie it, at this point. Patrick Sharp did so early in the third period, and Brent Seabrook sealed this one for Chicago 26 seconds into overtime.

    Quite the comeback indeed, even if it didn’t come with postseason drama.

    April 24, 2010: Hossa finds redemption

    The Blackhawks were 14 seconds from going down 3-2 in the 2010 Western Conference quarterfinals, with a trip to Nashville on tap. It didn’t happen, and why it didn’t was truly memorable.

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    Chicago went into the third period at the United Center with a 3-2 edge on goals from Andrew Ladd, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Tomas Kopecky. But the Preds would move ahead 4-3 on a pair of Martin Erat tallies.

    With the Blackhawks pushing late for a tie, Marian Hossa committed a five-minute boarding penalty. While he wasn’t issued a game misconduct, the Blackhawks faced a 5-on-4 for the last 1:03 of regulation.

    No matter. The Blackhawks dominated possession, pulled Antti Niemi from the net and let the Jonathan Toews-Kane connection pot a goal with 14 seconds to play in regulation.

    Then, in overtime, the non-ejection of Hossa became critical. The Blackhawks held possession as they finished killing Hossa’s penalty early in overtime. As Hossa burst from the box, Bolland held the puck behind the net and Hossa skated to Pekka Rinne‘s right side.

    Bolland dished the puck to Brent Sopel at the point. The defenseman fired a shot, and Rinne left a rebound right at Hossa’s feet. Hossa got the ultimate redemption … after which announcer Doc Emrick yelled “KANE!” Close enough. Amazing comeback no matter who scored last.

    2011 Western Conference quarters: Blackhawks nearly bounce Canucks

    This is the only entry on this list that doesn’t have the Blackhawks ultimately winning. Oh sure, they did a fair amount of winning in this 2011 Western Conference quarterfinal series, but Vancouver ultimately took the series.

    However, the Blackhawks gave the President’s Trophy winner all it could handle. And it was pretty incredible, considering the Blackhawks were depleted following a Cup purge and that they lost the series’ first three games.

      The turning point seemed to be noted awful person Raffi Torres headhunting Seabrook during Game 3. Seabrook suffered an injury that would cause him to miss the next three games. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks had motivation.

      The Blackhawks handily won Game 4, 7-2, in a contest that saw 80 penalty minutes handed out in the third period alone. They also routed the Canucks in Game 5, 5-0, thanks to two goals apiece from Hossa and Duncan Keith.

      That brought an intense Game 6 at the UC. Roberto Luongo had lost his starting goaltending job by this point, bringing in youngster Cory Schneider.

      With Chicago down 3-2 early in the third period, Michael Frolik drew a penalty shot. He deked Schneider so hard the goalie suffered a groin injury, and Frolik tied the game on the play. Luongo had to draw back in, setting up a delicious moment for Blackhawks fans.

      Relative unknown Ben Smith had come out of nowhere earlier in this series to score twice. He would add the winner in overtime of this game, popping the puck over a flailing Luongo to send the Madhouse on Madison into a frenzy.

      While the Canucks would close out the series in Game 7, the Blackhawks still didn’t go down easily. Toews scored with less than two minutes to play to force overtime and keep Canucks fans sweating. It was an extremely entertaining series, especially considering how it started.

      2013 Western Conference semis: Blackhawks bid Red Wings farewell

      Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. A historic (if lockout-shortened) regular season is in jeopardy of meaning nothing. Toews sits in the penalty box after three minor penalties in a short period of time. Seabrook skates over after the third and gets in his ear.

        This set the scene for an incredible comeback from down 3-1 in this series. Chicago had scored two goals total across Games 2-4. They responded to that with four tallies in a must-win Game 5.

        Game 6 was at Joe Louis Arena. The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 entering the third period when they staged a comeback within a comeback. Michal Handzus potted a goal less than a minute in. Hjalmarsson added a strike not long after.

        Then, Frolik pulled another patented penalty shot success story, beating Jimmy Howard halfway through the frame. The Blackhawks would hang on from there, setting up the final in-conference game between the teams as a winner-take-all for a conference final spot.

        Game 7 at the United Center was a frenzied affair in the stands, and an intense one on the ice. Sharp scored in the second period for Chicago, Henrik Zetterberg in the third for Detroit. And then, the final couple minutes of regulation.

        Hjalmarsson had a point shot find its way past Howard, only to see an official waving it off. Why? That official, Stephen Walkom, decided to retroactively tag Kyle Quincey and Brandon Saad for roughing penalties away from the play, even though Quincey was simply shoving Saad into his bench.

        No problem. After a massive neutral-zone hit by Bolland, Seabrook carried the puck into the Detroit zone and fluttered a puck on net. Howard simply couldn’t catch it, and the Blackhawks had their rivalry triumph/comeback.

        2013 Stanley Cup Final: Two Cup-winning comebacks

        We all know how this one ended. Of course, it can be hard to remember the Blackhawks trailed 2-1 in this series. So there were really two comebacks here.

        The Blackhawks had tallied just one across Games 2-3, so they needed a bit of a kick moving forward. They got it in Game 4, also (unfortunately) remembered as the “Corey Crawford glove” game. Chicago still won 6-5, finishing on an OT goal by Seabrook (he is good at that).

          Game 5 saw Kane pot a pair of goals in a pretty straightforward affair, flipping the series ledger and sending the action to Boston.

          This game was as tight as you might expect a potential road clincher to be. Chris Kelly scored in the first period for Boston, while Toews found the twine in the second for Chicago. A Milan Lucic goal past the halfway mark of the third had it looking like a Game 7 back in Chicago was likely.

          With less than two minutes to go, the Blackhawks were simply trying to maintain zone possession and get Andrew Shaw‘s face to stop bleeding. Both of those things eventually happened.

          Crow would bolt for the bench, setting the Blackhawks up with six guys in the offensive zone. Kane, Toews and Keith all helped with a low board battle, with Keith eventually feeding Toews the puck even with the goal line. The captain threw it at Tuukka Rask, and a charging Bryan Bickell jammed home the rebound to tie the game.

          But the Blackhawks weren’t finished with their comeback. Coach Q sent the third line on with just more than a minute remaining. It paid huge dividends as Johnny Oduya smashed a point shot off the post behind Rask, and Bolland got position on two Boston defenders to pot the rebound.

          The double-comeback was officially complete 59 seconds later, as the Blackhawks had their second Stanley Cup in four seasons.

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