just 8 more to go

What a fitting way to cap a series. There's no doubt now that the Blackhawks are better than the Vancouver Canucks. Not after the way they dispatched them, 5-1, on Tuesday.

Not now that they've eliminated the Canucks in the Western Conference semifinals for the second year in a row, again winning the series, 4-2.
The Hawks had their chances Tuesday, and they took advantage. The previously benched Troy Brouwer got a redemption goal, Dave Bolland got a shorthanded goal, and Vancouver enemy-in-chief Dustin Byfuglien got a rub-it-in goal.
The Hawks got their wish to avoid Game 7. Given the way the Hawks beat up the Canucks in this series, that's for the best.
As though it wouldn't have been uncomfortable enough for the Hawks to play an elimination game, watching Vancouver defenseman Sami Salo grimace his way through it with that cringe-inducing groin injury would have made it even worse.
The Hawks said before they left that they had packed their bags for the trip to Vancouver, and for their next stop, San Jose.
Then before the game, Hawks center Adam Burish called the game a "must-win," which can be a risky proposition when a game really isn't.
There was an awful lot about winning, dictating the pace of the game, a lot of confidence in general on the Hawks side, especially for a road game against a desperate opponent.
The Hawks backed up the talk. On Tuesday, as they had for most of the series, they showed that they were the more skilled team. They were the harder-hitting team. They were the mentally tougher team.
They will continue to advance through the playoffs until they meet their equal; few teams this postseason have shown the bounce-back ability that the Hawks have.
After world-class goaltender Roberto Luongo shut them down in Game 5 at the United Center, rapid-fire goals by Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien put the game away and had the Vancouver fans jeering him in the third period.
They held Henrik Sedin, the NHL's leading scorer, off the scoresheet for the game and to only two goals for the series. His brother, Daniel, did worse – only one goal for the series for him.
Not to mention that they won all three games played at GM Place, where the Canucks won 30 games on their home ice. That was best in the NHL.
It's a good series win for the Hawks. But beating the Canucks to reach the Western Conference finals isn't anything the Hawks haven't done. We saw this last year.
The next series against top-seeded San Jose will be the one that shows whether the Blackhawks are a better team than last year.
If they play with the skill and resolve they showed in this series, they will win that one, too.