Your NHL Champions: The Chicago Blackhawks

Just as I earlier predicted (and you agreed with me too on the poll!) the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers tonight 4-3 in OT to become the Stanley Cup champions for the first time in 49 years. Talk about a great game and boy, what an intense game it was.

1st period:
The first period was a battle. Goals didn't start happening until near the end of the period when, at 16:49, Dustin Byfuglien scored his 11th goal on a Power Play with Assists by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to give the Hawks an early 1-0 lead. However, the lead wouldn't last much longer because at 19:33 Scott Hartnell scored his 7th goal on a Power Play with assists by Danny Briere and Chris Pronger to tie it at 1-1. That would prove to be all for the 1st.

2nd period:
The 2nd period was a bit different. At 8:00, Danny Briere scored his 12th goal with Assists by Ville Leino and Lukas Krajicek to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. It wouldn't be for long though as at 9:58, Patrick Sharp scored his 11th goal with Assists by Dave Bolland and Duncan Keith to help the Hawks tie it 2-2. The Hawks would later score another goal, this time by Andrew Ladd, his 3rd, with assists by Niklas Hjalmarsson and Patrick Kane at 17:43, giving the Hawks a commanding 3-2 lead going into the 3rd.

3rd period:
Perhaps the most intense period of the game going into the final minutes. It wasn't until 16:01 that Scott Hartnell scored another goal, this time his 8th with assists by Ville Leino and Danny Briere to tie the game 3-3. As the minutes counted down, and the intensity of the game continued, one could sense it was coming: overtime.

Overtime:
It was sudden-death overtime and the tension was way up. However, it didn't last long. At 4:06, Patrick Kane, the Hawks' face of the franchise, scored a goal, his 10th with an assist by Brian Campbell to give the Hawks the win 4-3 and the crowing of NHL Champions. Although it took a few seconds due to a review of the goal, the game was exciting nonetheless. Congrats to the Blackhawks!

This was a sick game to watch. There was intensity on all sides and a lot of good hits and goals. I find it funny that, of all people, Patrick Kane happens to score the winning goal. He's the face of their franchise and it seems like it was destiny. Although the end of the game was anti-climatic due to the review, the game was very enjoyable and I knew it was over once Patrick Kane jumped in the air.

So comes another off-season in which we will have to wait for free agents to sign. "Where will Illya Kovalchuck land?" is probably the biggest question. Keep it here!

Congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks, the 2010 NHL Champs!