All good things must come to end, no matter how abrupt and bizarre is may seem.
Last night, on one of the strangest overtime goals I've ever seen, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. A feat so stunning, that till last year even die hard Chicago fans were giving up hope that their Cup drought would ever end. Now after a thrilling playoffs, it finally is.
But much like other years, the playoffs were just the tip of the iceberg for how much insane this year has been. A year that started in Europe, took practically a month off for an amazing Olympics, and concluded with an edge-of-your seat last day in New York, it was fun to follow along for the ride. There were so many interesting and intriguing stories this year to say the least.
There was the bankrupt, now NHL-owned, Phoenix Coyotes, that surprised that hockey world. They almost stole the Pacific division title from San Jose, cliched home ice as a four seed, and then they took the mighty Red Wings to the limit in a stunning fashion in the first round.
The other huge surprise out West was the emergence of a young feisty Colorado Avalanche team. This team was not even supposed to be on the the radar screen this year, started a trend that would continue for the rest of the season. They came out of nowhere, started red hot, shocked every analysis and fan and then clinched the 8th seed. While they did eventually lose to San Jose, I see a majorly bright future ahead for this club, as long as they keep their wits about them.
Also, speaking of the Sharks, they finally advanced past the second round! Yay! It was seen as a MAJOR stepping stone because they just couldn't get that far in years' past. But they ended up getting swept by the eventual Cup Champs in the Conference Finals. They are a very good team, but I think unfortunately this might have been their last chance to succeed and I won't be surprised if this team is broken up a bit before next year. I hope not because I just think they could be one character player away from winning the Cup, it seemed to work for the Hawks.
While there were other surprises like the L.A. Kings finally coming back to the fore-front and the Vancouver Canucks surprising everyone by winning the Northwest division, and the Nashville Predators finally showed how good they truly are, the other big story out of the west, besides the Champs, was the fall of the Detroit Red Wings. In my opinion, I think we have seen the end of the era of the Red Wings. They just didn't look like the confident well-meshed team they have looked like in the past, and while they have a very young goalie in Jimmy Howard, I think their run of dominance has come to an end for at least a little while.
Over in the East, the word parody was given a whole new definition. If you had told me that the Washington Capitals, who clinched the President's Trophy back in March before most teams were even sure if they were going to make the playoffs at all, were going to be upset by the Montreal Canadiens, I would have bet alot of money against it. Especially if you told me that those same Canadiens were going to upset the defending Champs to get to the Conference Finals. Then you have the Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Flyers, who stunned New Jersey and then pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the history of sports coming back from 0-3 down to beat the Bruins. These two teams would meet in the Conference Finals, as a total shocker to everyone who made early predictions.
While parody was strong, it just doesn't look good for the division winners. Washington was exposed for having no defense, New Jersey and Pittsburgh both don't have the grit to make an impact right now and Buffalo found out they can't always rely on USA hockey hero Ryan Miller. Those four teams have a lot they have to prove next year.
Overall, it has been a great unpredictable season and I'm ready for the summer to start up.
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