Jun 15, 2015
Thumbs Up for a Cup on home ice
All Stanley Cup celebrations are worthy of a "thumbs up," but as TSN's Dave Hodge writes, they're always better when the home team wins and this Stanley Cup final could use that sort of ending.
By Dave Hodge
For a lot of hockey fans with no other rooting interest, there's hope that if Chicago is to win, it happens tonight at the United Center.
And if that's not the case, Tampa Bay emerges victorious in Game 7. All Stanley Cup celebrations are worthy of a "thumbs up," but they're always better when the home team wins. In Chicago's case, that hasn't happened since 1938 and that makes what could occur tonite in the Windy City something special.
This Stanley Cup final could use that sort of ending. For the record, it has been a competitive, hard-fought, at times intriguing and eventful series, but it hasn't been anything close to a great final that showcases either team at its best.
Unless something dramatic happens tonight and/or Wednesday, the 2015 Stanley Cup Final will be remembered for Ben Bishop's valiant effort to stop pucks when his body language suggests he has trouble getting out of a chair at home. He is the most notable and most visible of a host of players who are dealing with injuries and they are giving everything still in them after 82 regular season games and a two-month playoff grind.
It might not be fair to expect anything more. But when Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson struggle to show how good they are, the series is a long way from being a classic. But it's not over.
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If the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup tonight, there will be the usual attempts to explain how they managed to do what 15 other playoff teams failed to do.
A third title in six years will bring the obvious reference to their playoff experience, but how does that manifest itself?
When you watch Chicago play, what identifies the Hawks as a team that has done it before? Check the final scores of their 15 playoff victories. Eleven of them have been by one goal. Their largest margin of victory, on two occasions, was three goals and both of those games included an empty-net goal.
Close games have marked the Stanley Cup playoffs as never before. There couldn't be a Stanley Cup champion in 2015 that didn't excel when the games were on the line at the end. Thumbs up to the Blackhawks for the way they have managed to win 15 times.
That doesn't guarantee a 16th victory, but it means the Hawks will be able to handle whatever late-game pressure faces them. That's how they win and it's why they win - if you need one reason.