Sports Moment of the Day — Chicago Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup Champions
Thursday, June 10th, 2010 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Philadelphia Flyers, Sports
The Chicago Blackhawks are your 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Champions. The Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday night to take the hard-fought series 4-2. The Blackhawks clinched 3 of their 4 series win en route to hoisting the cup on the road this post-season.
The Blackhawks won the game on Patrick Kane’s 10th goal of the post-season. Somehow Kane rifled the puck under the pad or the skate of Flyers goalie Michael Leighton. Kane knew it was a game winner immediately, but because the light did not go on and no horn sounded, no one knew where the puck was. The Blackhawks continued their celebration as the officials confirmed the game-winning goal on video replay. Flyers players and fans looked on in disbelief as their dreams of a Stanley Cup title came crashing to a halt.
Jonathan Toews was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for the best player during the post-season. Although he had the 2nd highest point total of any player this post-season, he earned the honor because he led his team to the title. Toews tied a Blackhawks team record with his 29 post-season points. His 22 assists were a new franchise post-season record. Denis Savard had 29 points with 20 assists during the Blackhawks 1985 post-season run. Toews also became only the 3rd hockey player ever to win an Olympics Gold Medal (with Team Canada in Vancouver back in February) and a Stanley Cup Title in the same year.
The title ended the longest current Stanley Cup title drought in the NHL – the Blackhawks last won a championship back in 1961. The Flyers had also suffered for a long time, last winning the Stanley Cup crown in back-to-back years in 19754 and 1975. The Flyers have now lost their last 6 Stanley Cup appearances.
Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp (against his former team) and Andrew Ladd scored the Blackhawks first 3 goals of the game. Unsung hero Antti Niemi saved 21 of 24 Flyers shots on goal. Niemi proved to be a reliable goaltender throughout the entire playoffs as the Blackhawks were never forced into a Game 7 situation (1 series sweep and 3 series wins in 6 games).
Crazy stat of the series — Marian Hossa finally won that elusive Stanley Cup title. Playing on his 3rd team in 3 years, Hossa had appeared in each of the last 3 Stanley Cup Series. In 2008, Hossa’s Penguins lost to the Red Wings in 7 games. In 2009, Hossa who had then jumped from the Penguins to the Red Wings faced his former team in the Stanley Cup. But this time it was the Penguins who upset the Red Wings in Game 7 in Detroit. Hossa finally ended up on the winning team this time around as the Blackhawks defeated the Flyers in 6 games.
The celebration continues with a parade through the loop of the streets of Chicago on Friday June 11th – it should be a blast. After losing a fan base under the guise of owner Bill Wertz, kudos to Rocky Wertz and John McDonough who re-invigorated a fan base by televising home games once again and shrewd marketing techniques that helped even the “average joe” fall in love with this exciting, young squad.
