Lots of support, no Cup.

That's pretty much the postmortem on the 2008-09 Chicago Blackhawks. As it is for 28 other teams, albeit with support being in varying degrees from franchise to franchise.

As for the Hawks, they got over 20,000 every damn night, and 40,000 on New Years' Day. This marked the season Chicago once again became an honest-to-God hockey town.

It also marked the season that most of the Hawks went from playoff virgins to a bunch of guys who not only knows what it takes to get to the party, but what it takes to stick around. The only thing left for them is to take the prize home.

They rode big years from Martin Havlat and Nikolai Khabibulin, who were both in walk years, and wound up walking. While the Hawks were certainly able to upgrade with their pickup of Marian Hossa, goaltending is, as mentioned in our previous post, the biggest question mark.

Also, they wound up being the #4 seed, even though they had the third-best record in the Western Conference. The only way they get a better seed is by knocking the Detroit Red Wings off their pedestal. This won't be easy. Even though the Wings lost players from last season (including Hossa), their organization depth is so great that they have damn fine young guys ready to step into that void.

When Dale Tallon was Hawks' GM, he looked at this organization and decided this was the way to run a railroad. As a result, the Hawks have not only made the transition from a damn fine team to an Elite Team (yes, they are one now), but they have a deep field of prospects ready to feed the club for the next several years.

What this means for the Hawks is, they aren't in any type of "Win Now" mode. Or at least they don't have to be. As much as everyone in Chicago will spend the winter freaking out over the Salary Cap, the simple fact is that the Bowmans will figure out a way to get The Three (Kane, Toews and Keith) signed for the forseeable future. In fact, Patrick Kane might have done them a huge favor by getting in a geriatric dustup, as the Hawks can now short him in dollars and/or years after the PR hit he took. Other than The Three, every player who has a significant role on this team is signed for at least two years.

But for this year...are the Hawks ready to take on the Red Wings? That's what this entire season boils down to. As Ric Flair said, "If you want to be The Man, you've got to beat The Man." They need to win the division, so they can at least get two series with home ice. Considering how they played in the United Center in the postseason (They even went 1-1 against Detroit in the UC), this isn't a small consideration.

Of course, anyone who has followed a Championship team knows, an awful lot of things have to go right, in a season where an awful lot of things can go wrong. To wit:

THINGS THAT CAN GO RIGHT:

Cristobal Huet plays like a goalie who should make $5 million a year.

Dave Bolland emerges as a true NHL second-line center.

Patrick Kane beats goalies like he beats cabbies.

Brian Campbell makes better decisions on the ice and generates offense the way he is capable of doing.

Marian Hossa's shoulder is fine.

Patrick Sharp's knee is fine.

Dustin Byfuglien and Kris Versteeg play up to their contracts.

Cam Barker's development continues.

THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG:

Injuries expose the Hawks' lack of depth on the blue line and in net.

Contract angst over The Three turns into a distraction.

Cristobal Huet self-defecates in the crease, and the Hawks yearn for the halcyon days of Darren Pang.

Joel Quenneville's line changing involves stick boys suddenly playing on Toews' wing.

All in all, there's a lot of "if"s, but the simple fact is this: Last year's 104 point season wasn't a fluke. The squad that takes the ice in Helsinki is a superior squad to the one that left the ice in Detroit.

What were once hopes have now become expectations. This, fellow Meatheads, is a Stanley Cup contender. No longer can we wonder whether the Hawks can play with the Big Boys. The Hawks are now among the Big Boys. The Stanley Cup? It's not really a matter of "if". It's only a matter of "when".

If not this year, then soon. Very soon.