Each day for the rest of the year, Second City Hockey will countdown the top 10 Blackhawks stories of 2018.
The streak is over.
The Blackhawks were officially eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention March 20 for the first time since 2008.
There were a multitude of factors that contributed to Chicago missing the playoffs: Marian Hossa’s skin disorder causing him to miss the season, Corey Crawford missing 47 games with a concussion, poor defensive play and performance on the power play and much, much more.
The Blackhawks’ most recent playoff streak was far from the longest in franchise history, but it brought the most hardware. Chicago won three Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and went 3-2 in the Western Conference Final from 2009-15. The Blackhawks won 16 of their 24 playoff series the last nine years with Joel Quenneville as their head coach.
Chicago’s playoff streak was highlighted by the lockout-shortened 2013 season, when it set the NHL record for most games to start a season without a regulation loss at 24. They finished the season with the best record to claim their second Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history, and won could on to win the Cup after two goals in 17 seconds in Game 6 in Boston.
Forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and defenseman Duncan Keith won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP during each of Chicago’s Cup title runs, respectively.