The Stanley Cup Final Is Set

Every season come June, 28 organizations and their fans come to the realization that their team will not hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. That opportunity presents itself only to 2 teams and they will battle it out until only 1 of them can say they are Stanley Cup Champions. At the end of the season, the ultimate goal for 29 NHL teams does not come a reality and they go back to the drawing board. For that 1 team, the goal is completed and they get to enjoy a summer of partying with the Cup. This season, the Bruins and Blackhawks will face off for their first time in history in the Stanley Cup Final. It's an Original 6 matchup that will be hard hitting and aggressive to say the least. Here is how the teams break down.

Offense

Bruins: The Bruins are a deep team that shows a mix of girt and skill within their lines. David Krejci leads the playoffs right now with 21 points and his linemate Nathan Horton follows closely behind with 18. They have Milan Lucic playing much better in the playoffs and Brad Marchand continues to agitate to the max. Their depth players like Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly, and Daniel Paille among others have contributed in the areas they are needed and have eaten up valuable time on the clock when Boston has been in the lead. Patrice Bergeron has been clutch for Boston this year when he has been called upon. 

Blackhawks: The Hawks roster mimics the Bruins actually very closely. They are a very deep team that has plenty of guys who can put the puck in the net but also guys who are gritty and aggressive. Between Patrick Kane, Jonathon Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, and Brandon Saad, the Hawks have more than enough scoring power. They have gotten both grit and goals this season from Bryan Bickell, who has 7 goals in the playoffs so far, and Andrew Shaw, who played his first full season after a great start last year. Michael Handzus has been a great deadline acquisition so far for the Hawks when it comes to defense and faceoffs. 

My Pick: Blackhawks The Bruins have a great offense, however, I just think the Blackhawks have the nod in this category. When you look at their lineup, the amount of offense they have is insane. That, plus the emergence of Bickell and Shaw, give the Hawks a slight edge over the Bruins. Marchand and Lucic will work hard to agitate Chicago's top players, however, so did Detroit and they didn't make it out of the round.  Toews and Kane will find a way and as long as they get a little help from their teammates, I see Chicago being the better offense.

Defense

Bruins: The Bruins own a big, bruising defense that does not make it east to get to Tuukka Rask. Led by near-perennial Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara, the Bruins have both skill and grit on the back end. Dennis Seidenberg works very well with Chara forming a nice 1-2 punch. Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid have been great as the 2nd line this season. Rookie Torey Krug has also made a huge impact with 4 goals in these playoffs.

Blackhawks The Blackhawks defense has become much better this year with the stellar play of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Nick Leddy. These 2 players are becoming better young NHL players and that helps the other Blackhawks defensemen. Being able to trust these players allows Duncan Keith and Brett Seabrook to play less than 27 minutes a night, which in the long run, allows better play and more production from both of them. These 4 defensemen are the core of the Blackhawks back end. They will be counted on even more as the finals begin.

My Pick: Bruins The Bruins defense is just too good. Anytime you have Zdeno Chara on the roster is already makes things difficult for the opponent. Add in another few hard hitting, shot blocking defensemen like McQuaid and Boychuk and it's a hard core to break. The Blackhawks have a good top four but Sheldon Brookbank and Michael Rozsival I do not completely trust at this point. The Bruins get the nod for defense in this series.

Goaltending

Bruins: Talk about a guy left out of the Vezina nominations because of the team in front of him and you will get Tuukka Rask. He has been nothing short of stellar prior to becoming the #1 when Tim Thomas took a year off and pretty much ended his time with the Bruins. The Finnish netminder had a 2.0 GAA and .929 SV% this season which was among the league leaders. In the playoffs, there have been times when Boston has collapsed and Rask has saved the day. He currently boasts a 1.75 GAA and .943 SV%, huge hikes from his performance last playoffs. Rask is maturing and is the real deal. Now it's time to see how he handles the big stage.

Blackhawks: Last season, Corey Crawford struggled. Coming into this season, I passed up the goaltender in my fantasy drafts as did many. That was a mistake. Crawford worked hard in the offseason and came into this shortened season ready to play. He had a 1.94 GAA and .926 SV% in the regular season in which the Blackhawks were Presidents Trophy winners. In the playoffs, he is very near to Rask's numbers with a 1.74 GAA and .935 SV%. Crawford seems to be the option in net for years to come in Chicago. Now it's time for a young-goalie duel to see who will raise the Cup.

My Pick: BOTH If I had to choose one of these goalies for my team in the finals, I wouldn't really know who to pick. They are both stellar this season and have made the saves their team needs them to make in order to win. Remember Crawford helped lead the Hawks from a 3-1 hole to Detroit in a series we all thought was over. Tuukka was down 3 goals in the 3rd period of the first round to the Leafs before tying it and winning in OT. Both goalies are completely capable of winning this year's Stanley Cup and I would take either one of them.

Who Wins The Stanley Cup?

Here is the question that really matters. Personally, I think both teams match up near identical and it will be a brutal battle to see who comes out on top. However, somebody is going to win the Stanley Cup in the next 2 weeks and I think that will be the Chicago Blackhawks. From the start of the season this team has had the Cup in their minds and I think that goal has not changed. They are driven and ready, led by who I think is the best captain in the league in Jonathon Toews. It is going to be a fun finals. Everyone enjoy them and good luck with your picks. 

Four Teams Remain....ALL Recent Champions

After a thrilling game 7 victory by the Chicago Blackhawks last night in OT, they solidified their place against the Kings in the Western Conference Final. In the East, familiar foes will play again, with both the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. Why do all these teams sound so familiar? Because they are the 4 most recent Stanley Cup Champions. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, but wasn't the new NHL, especially the salary cap, suppose to limit these teams from becoming the cream of the crop every single year? Lately, besides maybe last season, the same teams have ended up in their conference finals every year and 2 of them go on to slug it out for the Cup. With a league full of many smart people, it shows that having the correct personnel will allow a team to strive in any circumstance.  

Lets compare two teams, one that is currently successful based off their years of good drafting, trading players, and signing free agents. The other is in the process of rebuilding, however, still find themselves struggling to get out of the basement. These teams are the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Edmonton Oilers. The Penguins hired GM Ray Shero in 2006 and since then he has been nothing but gold for the team. During this span, they started with Michel Therrien as their head coach and replaced him with current coach Dan Bylsma in 2009. Bylsma and Shero have been the face with the Penguins since, alongside owner Mario Lemieux and a crew of stars including Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They have won the Stanley Cup in recent years and compete for it every other. Through smart drafting, trading, and signing, Ray Shero has compiled an awesome roster and Bylsma has ran it near flawless. Many of the names that appear in their drafts are making an impact on the roster including Beau Bennett and Simon Depres. They have Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta developing right now as well.

Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers, who made a run to the Stanley Cup Final led by Chris Pronger in 2005-2006, have not even come close to making the playoffs since. Their best finish in the Northwest Division has been 3rd since that Cup appearence, being this most recent season. Kevin Lowe ran the team until 2008, then Steve Tambellini took over until he was fired this past April when it was evident the Oilers would once again miss the playoffs by a landslide. Craig MacTavish now runs the show in Edmonton and it will be seen how he fares. They have also had four coaches in this time frame. Longtime coach MacTavish was removed in 2008. Since then, Pat Quinn and Tom Renney gave it a shot but fared no better. Ralph Krueger now runs the bench and saw improvement in his first season, but not even close to a playoff-ready team. In these seven seasons of not making the playoffs, the Oilers drafted 6, 15, and 21st overall in 2007, 22nd in 2008, 10th in 2009, and 1st overall in each of the past 3 drafts. Besides Jordan Eberle, the Oilers have mismanaged their prospects. Development is key and when you rush the young players into the NHL, sometimes they can be eaten alive. Not to say any of their recent picks are struggling to the point of no return, but they definitely have not had the right personnel in charge in recent years. It's evident by their lack of good free agent signings and trades, as well as bad late round drafting, producing no depth or role players.

The teams that are left in the Stanley Cup hunt are there for one reason. Management has done their homework and made the right choices while working within a salary cap. Just because a team receives high draft picks every year doesn't mean they will climb out of the basement anytime soon. Maybe that's common sense. But it's just so brilliant to see how these teams are made up and how some of them work and some of them don't. Hard decisions have to be constantly made when working with a salary cap and the teams left have all figured it out.