Chicago Blackhawks are the 2015 Stanley Cup Champions
After splitting the first 4 games, each team taking a game at home and on the road the series became a best of 3. Unfortunately for the Lightning they would lose game 5 which put them in the position to have to beat the Chicago Blackhawks on home ice to prevent them from hoisting the cup in their own barn since 1938. While the Lightning put up a valiant effort they could not stop the Blackhawks as Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane would score and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for the shutout in a 2-0 game 6 victory.
My thoughts going into this series was that the Blackhawks experience would win out over the youth of the Lightning and I think that was definitely the case as the Blackhawks never really were able to assert their dominance as many thought they would. They were bottled up by a very good Lightning defence corps but were able to keep their composure when things didn’t go their way. Corey Crawford was really good this series and although he will probably for ever be compared to the like’s of a Chris Osgood instead of some of the all time greats who have won cups he made the saves that mattered and kept his team in games when their offence had fallen asleep. For some of the Blackhawks they have won the cup at the start of their career for Kimmo Timonen however would win the cup in his final NHL game as he announced his retirement at the conclusion of this series a couple of days ago. He finishes his career with 1’108 Career regular season games where would score 117 Goals, 454 Assists, 571 Points and a +35 Rating as well as adding 654 penalty minutes with the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers before joining the Blackhawks as a deadline acquisition. Going forward the Hawks will have some tough decisions to make much like they did in 2010 as they find themselves trying to decide which pieces of their core will be casualties of the salary cap which is made more difficult by how much they relied on their top 3/4 defenceman.
For the Lightning a summer of heartbreak awaits but a bight future going forward. This is a young team that I think will use this experience to help them grow into not only one of the best teams in the East for some time to come but maybe even a cup champion as well. The young Lightning team showed a lot of fight and eliminated some of the best goalies in the game today with their high powered offence. The playoffs as they always do took their toll, Ben Bishop suffered a torn groin in game 2 of the final, Tyler Johnson played through a broken wrist add that to some other injuries that Tampa endured and you can see why the offence dried up. Stamkos was a non-factor for most games in the final but in order for the Lightning to continue to be successful they will need to get him signed to a deal and not even allow him to flirt with the free agent market. Still the team showed a lot of character and no one made excuses they played with dignity and class throughout the playoffs, this was a hard team to root against.
Round Table Results
This was a lot of fun doing and I hope we do it again next year with possibly someone else taking their turn to host it. Please take the time to visit all our friends, read their article’s and check out their podcasts, YouTube shows etc… With out further blabbing by me, the results in order of correct series predictions:
Ian Reid: RSEN / Teal Tinted Glasses Podcast
Twitter: @IanBlogsSharks, @TTGPodcast
Current Record: 13 / 15
First Round Picks: St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim, Calgary, Montreal, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, New York Islanders.
Second Round Picks: Chicago, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Chicago, Tampa Bay.
Stanley Cup Final: Chicago.
Patrick Gackle: The Gackle Report
Twitter: @PatrickGackle
Current Record: 12 / 15
First Round Picks: Minnestoa, Chicago, Anaheim, Calgary, Montreal, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, Washington.
Second Round Picks: Minnesota, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Chicago, New York Rangers.
Stanley Cup Final: Tampa Bay.
Andrew Bensch: The Hockey Writers
Twitter: @ViewFromBensch
Current Record: 11 / 15
First Round Picks: St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim, Vancouver, Montreal, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, New York Islanders.
Second Round Picks: Chicago, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Chicago, New York Rangers.
Stanley Cup Final: Chicago.
AJ Strong: Pucknology / Pucknology After Dark
Twitter: @aj_strong, @pucknology
Current Record: 11 / 15
First Round Picks: St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim, Calgary, Montreal, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, New York Islanders
Second Round Picks: Chicago, Anaheim, Montreal, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Chicago, New York Rangers.
Stanley Cup Final: Chicago.
MJ Kasprzak: The Examiner/AXS
Current Record: 10 / 15
First Round Picks: St. Louis, Nashville, Anaheim, Vancouver, Montreal, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, Washington
Second Round Picks: Chicago, Anaheim, Montreal, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Chicago, New York Rangers.
Stanley Cup Final: Chicago.
Tyler Spence: RSEN / Sports Midweek Madness
Twitter: @TylerSpenceRSEN
Current Record: 9 / 15
First Round Picks: St. Louis, Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, Washington.
Second Round Picks: Minnesota, Calgary, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Anaheim, Tampa Bay.
Stanley Cup Final: Chicago.
Wendell McGowan: Teal Tinted Glasses Podcast
Twitter: @ComicNotGeek, @TTGPodcast
Current Record: 8 / 15
First Round Picks: St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim, Vancouver, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, New York Islanders.
Second Round Picks: Minnesota, Calgary, Tampa Bay, New York Rangers.
Third Round Picks: Chicago, Tampa Bay.
Stanley Cup Final: Tampa Bay.
