Wayne Gretzky: Blackhawks 'special'

— -- Seven wins away from their third Stanley Cup in the past five years, the Chicago Blackhawks can be considered a dynasty if they win a championship this season, Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky said Wednesday.

"In this day and age to be competitive for three, four, five years, I know they have two championships and are seven games away from a third. If they win this year we can really start focusing on that because it's something pretty special," Gretzky said on "The Dan Patrick Show." "It's harder to be a dynasty in this day and age with the salary cap system. Your homework and your scouting has to be flawless and they seem to have done a very good job of that."

"And you've got to get a little bit lucky. They got Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the first round and Duncan Keith and they can build their team around those three guys. It's a nice squad to watch, that's for sure. It's going to be an unreal series."

The Blackhawks are trying to become the first team in the NHL to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. They lead their Western Conference finals series against the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 going into Game 2 on Wednesday night.

The Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961. Chicago defeated the Boston Bruins last season in the Cup finals.