2015 Stanley Cup playoffs

Because everybody's analysis was the Blackhawks defense would eventually wear down with Keith, Oduya, Hjalmarsson and Seabrook playing just about all the minutes. They never wore down. They never became ineffective, i.e. one goal in Game 5 and a shutout in the last game of the season. The Ducks, a big, physical team, based their game plan on wearing them down and couldn't. The Lightning had more speed but couldn't wear them down. Keith was the star of the playoffs. Hjalmarsson was better in the Final than in the rest of the playoffs.

 

They either had depth or they didn't. How well they played has nothing to do with it. That they didn't wear down doesn't mean the team lacked depth, it just means those four were really fucking good.

 

Well, that's another way of saying exactly what I said.

 

So you agree what they did was amazing precisely because of the lack of depth?

 

They didn't have good depth and they didn't need good depth. Why are we batting around the same thing??

 

I just hope that by winning the Cup again the Blackhawks might have been able to make a profit this season.

 

Stanley Cup passing through airport X-ray on the way to Chicago before last night.

And that's the Conn Smythe Trophy in the right side of the X-ray.

 

ESPN has a story that the Cup was still in the hotel when the game had started, and needed a police escort and was in a car that was going as much as 100 mph to get to the arena, and it was still a little late.

Nice to see that there isn't much crime in Chicago that police can be used to escort a trophy. Wonder how much that cost taxpayers.

 

The Commish with an unfortunate slip of the tongue...

 

Everyone's really upset about it.

 

This. There is nothing wrong with pointing out the lack of depth and the fact that it could be an issue the further the team got in the playoffs. The fact that the Blackhawks overcame it and were fucking brilliant is more a credit to them than an "analytical sham." Keith deserves a medal in addition to the Conn Smythe. A friend who is a Lightning fan was pissed off and adamant that Crawford should have been the MVP. He was pretty damn good, but no fucking way.

 

Crawford was great the last few games, but given that the award covers the entire postseason, his benching in the Nashville series likely meant he was never going to win it.