Tonight the Blackhawks get to stare down the chute at Martin Brodeur, and Sunday they do the same with Roberto Luongo.

But you know what? The third seed in the Western Conference is sitting there, like the drunk chick in 4-inch stilettos and miniskirt who keeps feeding the jukebox to hear "Brown-Eyed Girl"...

There for the taking.

The third seed doesn't mean anything to the Hawks immediately, since the three division champs get the top 3 seeds, regardless of point totals.

However, in the second round, everyone reseeds. If the Hawks were to make the second round, and either the Sharks or Wings get upset, OK, if the Sharks get upset, the Hawks can get home ice in the second round.

Now, sure, this is a tough stretch. They saw Nabakov on Wednesday, Brodeur tonight, and Luongo on Sunday. That's pretty heavy lifting for any team.

But you know what? It's playoff time, Ogden. You pretty much see a damn good goalie every night once you get past Game 82.

There's a reason everyone looks so happy when they win the Stanley Cup, and it's because they played some tough hockey to achieve the championship.

When the Hawks are healthy, they can throw a lot of pucks at the net, as we've seen. Do that, and a bunch will go in. Even with great goalies, they can't stop them all.

So the Hawks are currently sitting one point behind the red-hot Calgary Flames (OK, it's been 120:28 since their last goal, but they're still red-hot), with 2 games in hand, and 2 points ahead of the red-hot Vancouver Canucks with one game in hand.

Ideally, the Hawks can pass the Flames tonight, and let Calgary and Vancouver duke it out for the right to play the Hawks in the first round.

But the Hawks control the whole thing, all they have to do is win.

Go buy the drunk chick by the jukebox a body shot, and seal this deal.