Mikita: Just Like In '61, '11 Blackhawks Can Come Back
A sense a panic has come across Blackhawks' fans this season. Into the second half of the season, their team is outside of the playoffs looking in. But if Blackhawks history can be repeated, then not all is lost.
When the 1961 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks reached the half way point of their season, things looked much worse for them then, than they do now for the 2011 Blackhawks.
"When we turned it on and noticed that we were like 17-20 points behind Montreal," Stan Mikita said on the Danny Mac Show, "we knew we didn't have a chance of catching them. Because they're not going to lay down and go to sleep.
LISTEN: Stan Mikita On The Danny Mac Show
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"So what we decided was, let's play it together as a team and as friends and everything else. And you take the blame for everything that's not given to somebody. So that's what brought us together. And the attitude, I think, is what carried us through. Same as the team last year."
CLICK HERE to see pictures from Stan Mikita's visit to The Score
The roster of the 1961 Blackhawks might have had more talent on it than any team in the history of the organization. The roster included four players who would later have their numbers retired by the team: Mikita, Bobby Hull, Pierre Pilote and Glenn Hall.
But if that '61 team had the most talent of any team in the franchise history, than the '11 team has to be right up there with them. With players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp, the Blackhawks can still make a run into the playoffs.
And if this year's team needs any reassurance that they can get there, all they need to do is look to the rafters, or even the crowd, to see the names, numbers and faces of the players who did it in the past.
