It’s part three of our 10-week Throwback Thursday series, counting down to the Hawks’ home opener on Thursday, October 5. Up next: the 2010-11 season and the biggest goal of Ben Smith’s Blackhawks’ career.
As magical as the 2009-10 season was for the Blackhawks, the ensuing salary cap purge and 2010-11 season rested at the opposite end of the hockey spectrum. By March, the Hawks were in a dogfight just to make the postseason, and only a Dallas Stars loss on the final day of the season (which led to one of the best hockey GIFs ever) saved Chicago from missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs altogether.
