The 2017 Blackhawks hoped to make history, just not this kind. The kind that puts them among the greatest Chicago sports disappointments ever.
Considering how spoiled the city has been over the past few years with the Hawks' run of Stanley Cup success and the Cubs winning the World Series, one had to think something like this was coming. As the saying goes, "You can't enjoy the sunny days without some rainy days." Still that doesn't make this catastrophic defeat any less difficult to stomach.
Then again was it really that bad? The only way to answer that is by putting them up against other memorable teams that should've done so much better than they did. Yet for some reason or another they failed. The following is a power ranking that will encompass every single team in Chicago history. Are the Blackhawks the new kings?
Get ready for a surprise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsNXz7DeH2M
#10: 1998 Cubs
They were the first
Chicago Cubs team in almost a decade to reach the playoffs. So it was definitely a time to celebrate. Kerry Wood was in the midst of his memorable rookie pitching season that featured his 20-strikeout game. Sammy Sosa was a rising superstar who clobbered 66 home runs. It was a really fun season. The Cubs finished with 90 wins, setting up an opening series with the Atlanta Braves, whom they'd owned in the regular season with a 6-3 record against. Chicago was then summarily dismissed in a three-game sweep.
#9: 1971-72 Bulls
This was the first truly great
Chicago Bulls team during their early years. The 1971-72 team won 57 games that season. They were led by an All-Star cast featuring Bob Love, Norm Van Lier, Jerry Sloan and eventual Hall of Famer Chet Walker. They had the best defense in the NBA that year, allowing just 102 points per game. So there was plenty of reason to feel confident going into the playoffs.
Unfortunately they ran into a buzz saw that was the Los Angeles Lakers. That team won 69 games that year and would win the NBA championship in dominant fashion. The Bulls were swept in four-straight games.
[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2001-WK-19-NFC-Division-Playoff-Philadelphia-Eagles-12-5-@-Chicago-Bears-13-3015534.000-015555.001.mp4"][/video]
#8: 2001 Bears
It was clear to everybody that the Bears were a team that overachieved in 2001. Up until that point the franchise had not made the playoffs since 1994. Their quarterback situation was mediocre at best. So it would have to be through great defense and power running that they'd find any success. After a series of miracle overtime victories early in the season, the Bears just got on a roll. They claimed the division title with a 13-3 record and a first round bye in the playoffs.
It didn't do them much good. The Philadelphia Eagles came into Soldier Field and systematically dismantled them 33-19. It was difficult to watch knowing they could've played better. Losing starting QB Jim Miller early didn't help either. Just a tough pill to swallow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eShCJ5dsHM
#7: 2000 White Sox
Many fans don't remember this team. Probably because it's stuck between the lost 1994 squad and the 2005 world champions. Even so the 2000 White Sox were a good team. They won 95 games that year and featured an excellent mix of young and veteran talent. It was led by a star-studded trio of Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez and a young Paul Konerko. Also included was All-Star outfielder Ray Durham and 15-game winner Mike Sirotka.
They may not quite have been a World Series champion in waiting, at least not yet. However, they were a much better team than how things ended. That being a three-game sweep in the playoff opener to the Seattle Mariners, a team that didn't even win their own division. It was a humiliating finish punctuated by losing both games at home by three runs each.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1UlzDeY-o
#6: 2011-12 Bulls
Everybody and their mother thought this would be the year. The year the Bulls finally made it back to the NBA Finals in the post-Jordan era. A season ago the team had reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Experts were certain this tough, young roster was ready to take down LeBron James and his Miami Heat. Spearheaded by superstar Derrick Rose and the best defense in the league, they clinched the #1 seed and home court advantage in the playoffs. The Philadelphia 76ers looked like a cakewalk in the first round.
Then the most gutwrenching injury maybe in Chicago sports history happened. Rose landed awkwardly in the closing minutes of a Game 1 victory, tearing his ACL. Shocked and dismayed at the loss of their leader, the Bulls went on to lose four of the next five games. They were just the fifth #1 seed to fall to a #8 seed since the mid-1990s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GASf9QcUDGg
#5: 1992-93 Blackhawks
People will say the 1990-91 Blackhawks were a bigger disappointment losing to the North Stars in the quarterfinals after winning 49 games. However, the 1992-93 team was probably a bigger killjoy. This team was defending Western Conference champions, having reached the Stanley Cup the season before. They won 47 games, just two fewer that the 90-91 team. Expectations were they might be the ones to finally break through. So what put them ahead in the race?
At least the 90-91 took their series with Minnesota to six games. The 92-93 team, one that featured three All-Stars, not to mention the snubbed Jeremy Roenick, were swept in four games by the St. Louis Blues. The North Stars went to the Stanley Cup Finals after beating Chicago. The Blue were ousted in the semifinals. So yeah, that hurts more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUo83HGdGg
#4: 2008 Cubs
One might call this team the last truly huge disappointment in Cubs history before Theo Epstein arrived to finally change it all. After a tough 2007 season that saw them swept from the playoffs, it felt like 2008 might be a year of vindication for the Lovable Losers. They won 97 games. Lou Pinella was Manager of the Year and the roster featured an uncanny eight All-Stars headlined by slugger Alfonso Soriano and Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto.
There were warning signs though that the team was starting to crumble late in the year. They finished with a rough 12-12 record in September including losses in four of their final six games before the playoffs. Sure enough they came out flat in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that finished just six games over .500. The Cubs margin of defeat in that series was 20-6, losing both games at Wrigley Field 10-3 and 7-2. Just bad all around.
[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Top-Ten-Weather-Games-The-Sneakers-Game-NFL-Videos.mp4"][/video]
#3: 1934 Bears
Nobody remembers this team save for the football historians and that's a damn shame. The 1934 Bears were one of the best in NFL history. It was a roster loaded with Hall of Fame talent such as Bill Hewitt, Red Grange and the iconic Bronko Nagurski. It was also the first team in the history of the NFL playoff era that finished a regular season undefeated, going 13-0. They had every reason to feel confident going into the championship game.
They were at home in Chicago and were facing a New York Giants team they'd already beaten twice that year. Unfortunately the poor weather and savvy adjustments by the Giants ruined their date with destiny. A snowy day made the footing on Wrigley Field difficult. Even so the Bears had a 10-3 lead at the half. New York felt they had to try finding an advantage, so they switched up their footwear, going with basketball sneakers. The Giants rolled off 27 points in the fourth quarter, stunning the Bears 30-13. It was a monumental upset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLO-OiaVdag
#2: 2016-17 Blackhawks
Could it be an immediate overreaction so close to the moment? Perhaps. Still it's hard not to see this is a colossal failure for a great team. Understand the backdrops. The Blackhawks are three-time Stanley Cup champions at this point. They feature future Hall of Fame talents like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marion Hossa. To top it off the team finishes with the best record in the Western Conference at 50-23.
If that weren't enough they're facing a Nashville Predators team they already beaten twice in the playoffs over the previous seven years. Perhaps that made them go into the series a bit overconfident. Still, it was an ugly affair. They couldn't score a goal until the third game and gave up a two-goal lead in the third period of that same game to fall in a 3-0 series hole. This was a team that looked nothing like the battle-tested groups of years past.
[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1986-Chicago-Bears-NFL-yearbook-full001948.000-002105.581-1.mp4"][/video]
#1: 1986 Bears
Without question the most disappointing team in Chicago sports history. Everybody remembers how dominant the 1985 Bears were. Going 15-1 and winning the Super Bowl. Well expectations were they would do it again in 1986. Their defense set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in the regular season at that point (187). They finished with a 14-2 record, also best in the league. It looked like nothing would stop them.
Then the Washington Redskins, a team that has long loved raining on Chicago's parade over the years, stunned the football world with a 27-13 victory at Soldier Field. It was a dream-shattering event. That was supposed to be the year the Bears would be validated as one of the greatest teams in history. Not only were they beaten on their own turf, but soundly beaten. It's a loss fans still remember and can't get over 31 years later.
