Madhouse on Madison? More like Muted on Madison.

If you're a hockey fan then you were tuned in Saturday night to watch the Blackhawks and Canucks do battle. Living in Chicago this is all you heard about since John Madden's empty netter sealed the first round series victory against Nashville. For Vancouver, this is the game they have been waiting for since the Blackhawks eliminated them from the playoffs last year. The Canucks had a game plan; they were charged and ready to exact revenge on Kaner, Toews and Co. They weren't going to let Big Buff bother them like he did last year. Luongo was poised to show he can win the big playoff game and Alain Vigneault was gonig to out coach Joel Quenneville.
But this is the Blackhawks, at home, playing against a team that fits their style of play better than the Predators. This is where they were supposed to assert their dominance and lay to rest any doubts about how they were going to close out the playoffs.
I guess the Blackhawks didn't get that memo. The Canucks beat them in every aspect of the game. They out-skated, out-hustled and out-played the Blackhawks up and down the ice. They beat them to open pucks, forced turnovers and capitalized on their scoring chances. Vancouver was the more prepared team, mentally and physically.
The Blackhawks looked flat and unprepared. Niemi couldn't control his rebounds, the defense looked confused and were consistently out of position. Offensively, scoring chances were missed with regularity and Coach Q's decision to move Byfuglien back to forward didn't product the results he wanted.
Now, I guess if you're going to lay an absolute egg in the playoffs, it's better to do it in Game 1 (see Nashville series) and learn from what you did wrong. Coach Quenneville is going to have to drill it into his young team's head that there will not be any easy games, that they're going to have to play hard every second of every shift and that making to the conference finals last season doesn't entitle them to anything this year. If the Blackhawks are going to compete for the Stanley Cup and live up to their tremendous potential then they need to play each game like the fate of their season is hanging in the balance. If they don't they'll be Canuck-ed right out of the playoffs.