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Modern Blackhawks could close, greats from the past couldn't

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The greatest Blackhawks in history — Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Glenn Hall — won all of one Stanley Cup in Chicago.

While playing, for the most part, in a six-team league.

The greatest of the modern day Blackhawks — Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith — have been part of three Stanley Cup championship teams in a 30-team league. And they’re not done yet. The Hawks are among the real contenders for the Cup again this year, and who knows how many titles this group will end up winning?

The Hull-Mikita-Hall Hawks, which also had Pierre Pilote, Kenny Wharram and for a short time Phil Esposito, won the Cup in 1961 but then lost to the eventual champion six times in seven years from 1965 to 1971.

Already, Kane, Toews and friends have accomplished more in titles than the greatest Chicago players in history, which may seem like an assault on the eyes or the memories of veteran hockey watchers. The difference, this Chicago teams knows how to close.

The Blackhawks of the ’60s and ’70s, for all their talent, a team for the ages, never figured that part out.

THIS AND THAT

Joel Quenneville says the Maple Leafs remind him of the first Chicago team he coached, which is nice of him, but not necessarily accurate. That Blackhawks team had Keith, Brent Seabrook, Nik Hjalmarsson and Brian Campbell on defence. And Dustin Byfuglien playing forward. The current Leafs defence is nothing like that ... You win Stanley Cups when you have Keith, Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Kris Letang or Nik Lidstrom on defence. You play for the Cup when you have Brent Burns, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, or Chara on the back end. Who are the Leafs comparables? Where the Leafs are comparable, if not stronger long term, is up front ... Does Mike Babcock keep Zach Hyman on Auston Matthews’ left wing because he A) believes it to be the right thing to do or B) is too stubborn to make the change .... Lindy Ruff leads the NHL in one category — pulling his goaltenders ... What Quenneville and his staff do better than any staff in hockey: Work on stick positioning defensively, getting sticks in passing lanes, having stick-on-stick in front of their goal ... Keep reading stories about how young and how smart Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka is. Will be more impressed with how young and how smart he is when he has a team that is in any way competitive ... We asked and you responded. The gofundme.com page set up to raise money for the ailing former Argos coach Leo Cahill and his family passed the $20,000 mark in just a few days. Thanks to all who contributed.

HEAR AND THERE

There are little more than 10 games left in this NHL season and if I was filing a Calder Trophy ballot on Saturday afternoon, it would look like this: 1. Matthews; 2. Patrik Laine; 3. Mitch Marner; 4. Zach Werenski; 5. Matt Murray. Honourable mention to: William Nylander and Matthew Tkachuk ... Murray would be higher on the ballot if he played more games ... The Norris Trophy is a terrific two-man race: Brent Burns, the year-long favourite, vs. Erik Karlsson, having the season of his life. Karlsson has won two Norris trophies in seasons he wasn’t as great as this one. Both deserve the Norris, only one will win ... The real challenging vote, the Hart Trophy as NHL’s most valuable player. Burns and Karlsson are in the conversation as are Connor McDavid, Brad Marchand, Sidney Crosby and someone from the Blackhawks. ... Even more challenging, deciding between Russell Westbrook and James Harden for the NBA’s MVP, non-LeBron division. I keep going back and forth on this, and with Harden, it’s more than just splitting hairs ... Been around long enough to know that the combination of team meetings, coach apologies, superstar injuries and GM seething on the sidelines does not bode well for the Toronto Raptors. This isn’t just about Kyle Lowry being out. It’s deeper and more troubling than that ... You have to wonder what part Babcock and the Team Canada coaching staff played in the development of Marchand. He played first line with Crosby at the World Cup. Before this year, Marchand had never been higher than 41st in NHL scoring. As of Saturday afternoon, he was tied with McDavid for the NHL lead. And did anyone see that coming? Anyone?

SCENE AND HEARD

Why is Marcus Stroman the No. 2 starter for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic when he’s the third or fourth best American starter on the Blue Jays? Until the best American players show up for the WBC, the tournament, great as it has been, emotional as it has been, will be missing something ... Remarkable, also, that the U.S. essentially lost to Puerto Rico on Friday night on a late-inning throwing error by the multi-gold-glove winning third baseman Nolan Arenado ... It’s Scott Boras’ job to best represent his client, Aaron Sanchez. But is it in Sanchez’s best interest when his agent goes public with anti-Blue Jays rhetoric and he has to answer for it in front of the cameras? ... What’s taking so long for John Gibbons to get his contract extension? Shouldn’t this have happened months ago? ... Mark Shapiro keeps selling “culture change” with the Blue Jays, but the last I checked, Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Jose Bautista were the leaders on the field and in the clubhouse before he arrived, and are still the leaders on the field and in the clubhouse ... What a dull opening round for the NCAA basketball tournament. Little of the usual last-minute heroics and off-the-chart performances from schools you’ve never heard of ... Does anyone care whether the Blue Jays move from their spring training home? The players care. The people who cover the team care. The rest of the world: not so much.

AND ANOTHER THING

It must drive Eric Fehr just a little bit nuts that he has played parts of 12 NHL seasons, most of it full time, played 11 minutes per game for Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Final in June and can’t get a sniff of ice time now with the Maple Leafs ... The Argos don’t draw much but they do pay well. Marc Trestman, sources says, is the highest paid head coach in CFL history. Six hundred large a season ... A name to learn to spell: Christian Sbaraglia, a goaltender who is turning heads in the OHL Cup minor midget tournament. Another name to remember: Jack Hughes, son of former Leafs development coach, Jimmy Hughes ... Add to the list of those worth the price of admission: Isaiah Thomas of the Celtics. Boy he’s fun to watch ... The Hamilton Tiger-Cats already have Johnny Manziel on their not-so-secret negotiation list and word around is that Robert Griffin III is now on their list as well ... This is impressive: Laine is 47th in the NHL in shots on goal, fourth in scoring ... If Dan Shulman did a game with John Smoltz doing colour, how would we know who is who?... Aleksander Barkov, with seven goals in 10 shootout attempts, is best in the NHL. He has more shootout goals than 18 NHL teams combined .... Born this date: Leon McQuay. And a happy birthday to Tyler Bozak (31), Joe Kapp (78), Andy Reid (59), Clayton Kershaw (29), David Ross (40) and Rick Martel (61) .... And hey, whatever became of Jannero Pargo?

GREAT COACHING IS GREAT TEACHING

Badger Bob Johnson called a few us into his office in the winter of 1983 and privately complained about his newest player.

“I have this kid who can’t play and they’re making me play him,” Johnson said. “Cliff (Fletcher) signed him and now I’ve got to get him in the lineup.”

The kid’s name was Jamie Macoun. He left Ohio State in mid-season as an undrafted free agent to sign with the Calgary Flames. He was immediately inserted into the Flames lineup.

He wasn’t NHL ready.

What did Johnson do? He worked with him every day. He had his assistant coach’s working with him. He stressed positioning, showed him video. He drove him nuts. He did what Johnson did better than almost any coach in hockey history — he taught.

Macoun played the final 22 games of that season and went on to play 1,103 more games in a fine NHL career.

Why does this matter now? It matters when you witness the below average becoming average and average transforming into solid. Mike Babcock’s only real failure in this Leafs season has been a lack of development from his blueline. Great coaching is great teaching. When you see it up close, you know what’s possible.

PLENTY OF HOLES IN JAYS LINEUP

It is 16 days to Opening Day and Josh Donaldson has yet to play a game in the field. Same with Devon Travis. Same with Steve Pearce. The left-field platoon of Zeke Carrera and Melvin Upton Jr. are both banged up now.

The good news or the bad news, your choice: Justin Smoak is perfectly healthy and ready to play first base when needed.

The thing about spring training is, it’s all about optimism. The guy who had an off year last season, will have a strong one this year. The guy who was hurt all the time last year, will be healthy this season. That is forever the talk and the storylines of the spring.

But usually reality begins to seep in late in the Grapefruit League season, when all the smiling and happy talk turns to concern.

What to make of these Blue Jays now, coming off consecutive playoff seasons? It’s impossible to know through this longest of spring trainings. The starting pitching seems healthy and fine. That should be good. The bullpen, while not necessarily deep, seems OK. And then you wonder.

The Jays have questions of some kind at first base, second base, third base and left field. They don’t yet have a batting order that seems to work. Their outfield could be among the weakest hitting among contenders.

This is a contender with too many bruises early on. Two weeks to get ready to play. Not a lot of time for a lot of people to get ready.

MONEY ISSUE IN AMATEUR SPORTS WON’T GO AWAY

The late Randy Starkman, the Canadian journalist who battled for so many years on behalf of Olympic athletes, would not be the least bit surprised by the ongoing and nasty dispute between USA Hockey and its women’s national team.

This was Starkman’s treatise of sorts: There was too much money in athletic administration, not enough money getting to the athlete who end ups representing their country internationally. For the most part, he championed the cause of Canadian athletes in his work.

He wrote about their poverty. He wrote about their dedication. He wrote a lot about family’s debt load. He wrote about how much money went to the federations, to coaches, to support staff and how little wound up in the pockets of those competing.

This has gone on forever, this tug of war between amateur or Olympic athletes over finance and status. How much money is there? Where does it go? Who gets it? And why are so many living at or around the poverty line?

The U.S. women have a case and a cause to champion. It’s an issue that spreads sport to sport, dollar to dollar, country to country. It isn’t only about hockey or gender. And no matter how this dispute plays out, it isn’t going to go away quickly or easily for this and other sports.

ssimmons@postmedia.com

twitter.com/simmonssteve

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