Det-Stl/Chi-Col 96! What if?

[Blackhawkswincup]

What if the Blues and Hawks would have won those extremely close hard fought series.

Who do you think would have won the 96 Western Conferance and how do you think they would have done against Florida!

In my biased opinion i believe that my Hawks were just as good as Red Wings and Avs that year and could have won cup if the Avs wouldn't have beaten us in those OT games.

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[Big Phil]

No Chicago was a step below both teams clearly. If they met St. Louis there is no doubt that the Hawks would have won and then won the Cup but still they were not at the Avs/Red Wings level. Roenick was not quite the same, Nicholls, Savard were old. Suter and Chelios were still very good defensemen but Belfour in net was still hanging onto that choker label. It wasnt until '99 that he shook that off.

 

[Al Bundy*]

No Chicago was a step below both teams clearly. If they met St. Louis there is no doubt that the Hawks would have won and then won the Cup but still they were not at the Avs/Red Wings level. Roenick was not quite the same, Nicholls, Savard were old. Suter and Chelios were still very good defensemen but Belfour in net was still hanging onto that choker label. It wasnt until '99 that he shook that off.

I think the Hawks got jobbed.

Remember when Ozolinsh took down Roenick on the breakaway, and there was NO PENALTY SHOT?!

If there's a penalty shot, Roenick scores, Avs are DEAD IN THE WATER.

IMO, Roenick had EVERY RIGHT to be pissed- that was a more blatant and obvious takedown than when Leetch took down Bure in the '94 Finals.

The Avalanche were SO LUCKY that the referee swallowed his whistle.

Those Avs won the Cup on a coach's stupidity and a ref swallowing his whistle- undeserving winners.

 

[Blades of Glory]

Obviously Chicago was a far better team in the regular season, but the Blues were just starting to get chemistry after the ridiculous amounts of trades Mike Keenan made during the year.

I think the Blackhawks would have won the series in 7 games; I think the offensive depth of both teams was very even, but the Blackhawks had a slight edge in top defensemen, as I personally believe a 1995-96 Suter-Chelios top two was better than a Pronger-MacInnis pairing at that time (Pronger broke out the following year).

Still, the Avalanche were so much better than the Blackhawks that no matter the controversy surrounding that series, they still would have won.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Sorry for deviating from the original topic, but I've got another interesting what if from this season...

What if the Jets had won their last regular season game on the last day of the 1995-96 season? To this day, I'll never understand how they blew this one. They went into the game vs. Anaheim knowing a win would grab them 4th in the west (a bunch of games had wrapped up earlier in the day, making their situation crystal clear), while Anaheim had absolutely zero to play for. They lost 5-2, and ended up drawing the Red Wings...who had just finished the most dominant season in NHL history.

I honestly believe the Jets would have beat Toronto in the first round had they won...it would have been nice to have scored a rare first-round victory before they left...

 

[Wings4Life]

Obviously Chicago was a far better team in the regular season, but the Blues were just starting to get chemistry after the ridiculous amounts of trades Mike Keenan made during the year.

I think the Blackhawks would have won the series in 7 games; I think the offensive depth of both teams was very even, but the Blackhawks had a slight edge in top defensemen, as I personally believe a 1995-96 Suter-Chelios top two was better than a Pronger-MacInnis pairing at that time (Pronger broke out the following year).

Still, the Avalanche were so much better than the Blackhawks that no matter the controversy surrounding that series, they still would have won.

I agree, the Blues' forwards probably still were not 100% comfortable with each other when they met Detroit.

The Blues probably had more depth at defence than the Hawks that year, despite Chicago having the better top pairing.

Hawks probably win in 7, and then win the cup by sweeping Florida, in this scenario.

Overall the '94/95 Hawks team was better imo, and made it farther as a result.