ONE GOAL!: Let's get this over with!

The 1961 Detroit Red Wings, against whom my Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup of my lifetime,  had some great players, but they weren't all that great a team. The same might be said of the Hawks, even though they contained the nucleus of what would become what was until recently the best Hawk team in history- a team that by rights should have won at least two or three Cups, but somehow never did.

The Hawks finished third out of six teams that year, and got to the Finals in large measure because the great Glenn Hall (aka "Mr. Goalie") shut out  the mighty Montreal Canadiens, who were seeking their sixth straight Stanley Cup, in both Game Five and Game Six.  The Wings, on the other hand, somehow got past the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs. The third and fourth-place teams in a six-team league were playing for the championship.

Yawn.

Still, the Cup is the Cup, and the Hawks hadn't won one since 1938, so we Hawk fans weren't about to quibble.

The 2010 Philadelphia Flyers, from whom the Hawks won their next Cup, were seeded seventh of eight Eastern Conference teams that made the playoffs. The Hawks, though seeded second in the West, were arguably the best team in the NHL. Philadelphia were no pushovers- the took the Hawks to six games- but they really didn't belong there.

Boston is different. Word cannot express my respect for the Bruins. As good as this Hawks team is- the best in franchise history, IMHO- they can still lose this thing.

And while Coach Q is optimistic that he'll play, Captain Jonathan Toews is hurt.  Things apparently aren't quite so rosy for Bruins' star center Patrice Bergeron, who was also injured in Game Six. But  it would be well to dispatch Boston before they can get him back.

Tonight will be tense. Yes, the Hawks will still be sitting pretty if the Bruins win tonight; Game 7 will be at home, and the Hawks are always best when the chips are down.

But so are the Bruins. We can still lose this thing. Easily.

So listen to me carefully, O Warriors of the Four Feathers: let's not mess around.

Sure, it would be nice to win the Cup at home for the first time since 1938; the people of Chicago deserve it.  But it's more important to win it somewhere.

So let's not relax, guys, as you're sometimes wont to do. This is not a time for the overconfidence and complacency which at times has Let's put the Boys from Beantown away now.

We had enough drama in the Detroit series. We have the Bruins on the ropes; they're too dangerous not to put away just as soon as we can.

So let's celbrate tonight, guys. I've already got my bottle of ginger ale on ice.