UA-59049186-1 Stanley Cup Final: Blackhawks 4, Lightning 2 – Recap - Good if it Goes

Stanley Cup Final: Blackhawks 4, Lightning 2 – Recap

Game 1 Recap

Game 2 Recap

Game 3 Recap

Game 4 Recap

Game 5 Recap

Game 6 Recap

The Hawks won their third Stanley Cup in six years Monday, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. First of all, have to give the Lightning a ton of credit here. They really made the Hawks earn it. Was attempting to play prevent for the entire third period of game 1 a good idea? Absolutely not. Should Ben Bishop have come out as far as he did to play the puck in game 5? Absolutely not. But other than that, they were excellent. Every game could have easily gone either way. The Lightning aren’t going anywhere. They’ve got a really nice young team, and as good as Bishop was during the playoffs (even more impressive considering he was playing the majority of the Stanley Cup Final with a torn groin), Andrei Vasilevskiy could end up being even better.

As for the Hawks, they just found ways to win games, which is what great teams do. Toews and Kane were held in check early in the series (give Victor Hedman a ton of credit for the latter), but they stepped up when they needed to, and the third-and-fourth-liners made plays in the interim.

Teuvo Teräväinen looked great up until game 6, when nerves clearly got the best of him. But that game was the first time we saw him really look like a 20-year old on the ice all postseason. Speaking of young players, Brandon Saad made himself a lot of money this postseason. Antoine Vermette proved to be a great pickup, netting 2 GWGs and putting forth a great effort in faceoffs. I’d love to see the Hawks keep him, but unfortunately, I doubt they’ll be able to do so. More on offseason moves and the salary cap in a later blog, though.

For all the questions about the defense going into this series, they were great. Coach Q found a combination that worked and Trevor van Riemsdyk’s return to the ice helped a ton. I’m fairly certain Niklas Hjalmarsson stopped more pucks than both goalies combined (not really, buy Eddie Olczyk did look at the film of game 5 and saw that Hjalmarsson stopped 17 shots) and I can’t say enough good things about Duncan Keith. For him to play the minutes he did, not only in this series, but all postseason, somehow the Conn Smythe Trophy doesn’t quite seem like enough. And congratulations to Kimmo Timonen on finally getting to raise the greatest trophy in sports. Incredibly well-deserved.

Corey Crawford was nothing short of fantastic in the Final and capped it off with a shutout in game 6. If there was an award just for Stanley Cup Final MVP, it’s him.

Much has been made about whether or not the Blackhawks are a dynasty. Ten years ago, it’s a definite no. At least not yet they wouldn’t be, especially since they haven’t won back-to-back championships. But the NHL has changed significantly since the last dynasty (the Edmonton Oilers, who won 5 Cups between 1983 and 1990) due to the salary cap. It’s almost impossible to win year after year like teams used to, because you can’t keep teams together anymore. The Boston Bruins, who made it to the Final in 2013, missed the playoffs this year, as did the Los Angeles Kings who won the Cup last year, as well as in 2012. As long as the salary cap exists (and as long as Bettman’s around, it’s not going anywhere), and is as restrictive as it is, we’ll almost definitely never see any team put together a run similar to that of any of the nine dynasties recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame. But for the Hawks to do what they’ve done in the cap era is certainly deserving of a place among those nine teams and the title of “dynasty.”

Blackhawks’ 3 stars of the series:

★★★ Teuvo Teräväinen, F (2 G (1 GTG), 2 A)

★★ Antoine Vermette, C (2 G (2 GWG)

★ Corey Crawford, G (.938 SV%, 1 SO)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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