Hockey fans in the great city of Chicago had to wait 49 years to experience the moment again, but on Wednesday night it finally happened.

In a thrilling, yet completely bizarre finish to the title series, the Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup with their 4-3 victory over the Flyers in overtime. Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal 4:06 into OT, but nobody outside of him knew that the puck had slipped past Philly goalie Michael Leighton because the net indicator never went off. The announcers didn’t even know that the puck had got passed Leighton until they saw Kane skating down the ice with his arms up in the air and the rest of his teammates clear the bench to greet him at the other end.

In all honesty, the moment killed the excitement that had been building for over three periods. Chicago fans obviously don’t care how it ended because the Hawks won, but for casual fans, it was undoubtedly a lackluster finish. (Or at least, a lackluster finish for a game-winning, series-clinching overtime goal.) It was strange to watch the Hawks celebrate while the Flyers stood on the ice waiting for the referees to make an official announcement about whether or not the goal had counted.

Regardless, it was a thrilling moment for the Hawks and their fans. With four minutes remaining in the third period, it looked as though Chicago would win in regulation but then Scott Hartnell beat Antti Niemi to eventually force overtime. Of course, without Niemi, both teams would be heading back to Chicago for a Game 7 right now. He made a couple of key saves late in the game to keep the Hawks afloat. In fact, he saved a point-blank shot by Jeff Carter with less than two minutes to play in regulation, right in front of the Hawks’ net.

All in all, this was a great moment for hockey and for Chicago fans, who are extremely loyal and who cherish titles. It was an exciting series and the NHL can’t be upset about how this one turned out.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/06/09/hawks-win-first-title-in-49-years-in-bizarre-finish-to-game-6/feed/ 5 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/04/15/nhl-playoffs-let%e2%80%99s-get-this-party-started/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/04/15/nhl-playoffs-let%e2%80%99s-get-this-party-started/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:24:51 +0000 Thomas Conroy http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=16709
There’s nothing that sounds quite like an NHL playoff game, except for maybe standing on the tarmac during a plane’s takeoff. The noise is constant from the pre-game skate to the final seconds on the clock. For the players and coaches, springtime means the start of the annual gauntlet run to the Stanley Cup.

This year, the Western Conference could provide more surprises in the early rounds than its Eastern counterpart. I have highlighted three series to keep an eye on for the first round.

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
An original six matchup — old Adams Division rivals will meet for the fourth time in the last seven postseasons. The Habs have won 24 of 31 all-time playoff series between the two teams, including the last three encounters (’02, ’04, ‘08). The key for the Canadiens is having a healthy D Andrei Markov back in the lineup. He led the team in scoring and was a key component at the point position on the power play. But they have sputtered since Markov went down with a lower-body injury on April 4th. The Big Bad Bruins have bullied the Canadiens in all six regular season contests, but they must refrain from taking stupid penalties. F Milan Lucic must control his emotions and play with his head on straight, as the referees will be watching him closely. What a banner season for the Bruins, as they had their best win total (53) since 1971-72 regular season en route to becoming the number one-seed in the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are loaded offensively, as F Jeff Carter was second in the league with 46 goals. They have plenty of grit to control the tempo inside the offensive zone, but what still plagues them is a lack of a killer instinct to put opponents away. This was evident last Sunday after losing home-ice advantage for the playoffs with a third period collapse against the New York Rangers in a 4-3 loss. The Penguins went 12-2 in 14 Eastern Conference playoff games last spring en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals. This year’s squad is missing Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa; both players left via free agency last summer, and coach Michel Therrien was fired during the season. Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin were much-needed trade-deadline additions to revamp the forward unit, and the backline has been fortified by the return of Sergei Gonchar to the lineup. And oh yeah, they have a couple players named Crosby and Malkin to lead their offense. Under rookie interim head coach Dan Bylsma, the Pens went 18-3-4 to finish the regular season. It is fair to ask how rookie coaches will react to the pressures of the postseason. Remember, Bylsma began the season in the AHL and now rides the hottest team in the league into the playoffs.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames
Six weeks ago, the Flames had the look of a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. They had veteran leadership, a quality goaltender, and acquired a skill player (Olli Jokinen) at the trade-deadline to put the puck in the net. They proceeded to choke away their large lead in the Northwest Division and fell to fifth place in the final conference standings. Chicago’s local media is focusing too much on the revival of hockey in the Windy City and overlooking how talented the Blackhawks are. They have all the ingredients needed for a successful playoff run: goaltending, defense, and coaching. The Hawks put it all together down the stretch of the regular season, as they went 6-0-1 in April and 9-3-1 since March 22nd.

It seems to happen every year, an unlikely team emerges to shine the brightest and breeds hope for all in the NHL. The playoffs are here…thank god!