Chicago 4 Philadelphia 3 OT (Wachovia Center) Chicago wins SCF 4-2.

posted by Rocket
All Habs

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks and their loyal fans! The Hawks were clearly the better team and are deserving Stanley Cup winners.

The final score of Game 6 flattered the Flyers who seemed overwhelmed in the first period. Even the Wachovia Center fans seemed anxious. Following the always-stirring anthem from Lauren Hart, they weren’t heard from again until Philly’s quirky tying goal with four minutes left in the third period.

Fans of the Montreal Canadiens were on both sides of this final. Some justified their support of the Flyers arguing that the sting of the Habs’ ousting would be lessened by having lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions. For others, the hatred of Philadelphia ran too deep, and they tossed their hat in the Blackhawks camp.

But all Habs’ fans can smile broadly with the Chicago win, as now the Toronto Maple Leafs are the proud owners of the league’s longest Stanley Cup drought at 43 years and counting.

When the Stanley Cup was presented on Wednesday night, it was fitting to hear the boos rain down on the NHL’s inept comissioner, Gary Bettman. There is not a building in the league where he isn’t treated with the same type of distain by the fans (excluding the 14 members of the Phoenix Coyotes booster club.) It is a greeting that is deserved and well-earned by Bettman.

Bettman is the worst part of the National Hockey League, but moving up that list are the league’s referees. In a game that is constantly improving, the officiating is getting worse. Even with the top stripes on the ice, penalty calls were inconsistent at best for the final series.

The goaltender interference call on Marian Hossa was brutal, and just one example of referees who whose competence has been questioned throughout the playoffs.

While fans across the league passionately debate whether Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby is the world’s best player, Jonathan Toews has quietly surpassed them both. Toews won Olympic Gold, and was named the tournament’s best forward. He has now added a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophy in the same year.

Toews was the correct choice for the trophy but another potential candidate for the Conn Smythe was Duncan Keith. While the Canadiens’ Andre Savard was selecting defenseman Tomas Linhart in the second round of the 2002 draft, the Blackhawks took Keith nine picks later. I will be shocked if Keith doesn’t take home the Norris Trophy on June 23.

It’s interesting to note that Erik Johnson and Jordan Staal were taken ahead of Toews in the 2006 NHL amateur draft. Would St. Louis like a do-over now?

Mention the 2006 draft, and Canadiens’ fans will weep about the player taken 22nd overall, Claude Giroux. Giroux was one of the better Flyers’ players last night as he has in most Wachovia Center appearances. However, Giroux pulled a disappearing act when on the road.

Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne have oftened been mentioned as targets when Habs’ fans speak wishfully about trades. However, in the Stanley Cup final, Gagne had two goals and a minus-8 rating. Carter played equally poorly with one goal and minus-6. Centering the line was Mike Richards and his one goal, and minus-7 rating for the series.

The Flyers have to be disappointed in the performance of their top line with their combined 16 million dollar salary.

The emerging star of the Philly lineup was Ville Leino who had nine points in the six game final and was a plus-6. Leino ended the playoffs with 21 points, not bad for a player who was never drafted.  Those around me know that Leino is a player I have been promoting since his days with Detroit. It’s nice to see him beginning to get due recognition.

Marian Hossa finally got to hoist the Cup on his third try. Hossa scored only one goal in the finals, and three in total in the entire playoffs but he played a physical game and created space for his linemates. Still, Canadiens’ fans should be grateful for the wisdom of Bob Gainey who refused to trade four team assets for Hossa at the trade deadline two years ago.

The mainstream media is fond of using the term Cinderella to describe the Flyers’ playoff run. Truth be told, Philadelphia was picked to win the Stanley Cup at the start of the season by The Hockey News. Clearly they had the roster to compete for the Cup at every position except one, goaltending.

While some argued the irrelevance of a top-flight goaltender to a Cup contender, I believe that Leighton’s performance is evidence to the contrary. A team can’t win with a netminder who is prone to inconsistent performances and giving up two soft goals per game.

How did Leighton make it past the Montreal Canadiens? He wasn’t tested by a defense-minded offense, and Perry Pearn didn’t make the adjustments required to mount an effective power-play attack. Leighton had time against the Habs to set himself for a save whereas the Blackhawks exposed his major weakness by forcing him to move laterally.

For the Blackhawks, Antii Niemi didn’t invoke memories of Chicago’s last Stanley Cup goaltender, Glenn Hall. Niemi was marginally better than Leighton based on his athleticism and relied on an excellent defense to clear his numerous rebounds. Chicago was able to win with Niemi partly because Leighton was at the opposite end of the ice.

On May 9, 2008, I wrote that the Canadiens had a rare opportunity to hire one of the league’s premier coaches in Joel Quenneville when he was dismissed by Colorado. Instead, the Habs held on to the incompetent Guy Carbonneau for another year before finally dumping him. The Blackhawks, on the advice of Scotty Bowman, hired Quenneville in October of that year.

Now Quenneville has adeptly guided his team to a Stanley Cup victory and Bowman can add yet another championship ring to his collection.  At age 76, Scotty is still one of the keenest eyes for talent in hockey. Perhaps the Canadiens brass should heed his stern recommendation not to trade Carey Price.

Scotty won five Stanley Cups as coach of the Canadiens.  It was one month after his first Cup win in 1973 that his aptly-named son, Stan(ley) was born in Montreal.  Now, Stan, as General Manager of the Blackhawks and Scotty, as Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations have collaborated on what has to be an extremely satisfying family project.

Stan Bowman and owner Rocky Wirtz should be congratulated on chartering a plane to ensure that players’ families were attendance in Philadelphia when the Cup was presented. It was a classy move by a management group who have done wonders in rebuilding a proud organization in a short amount of time.

The Blackhawks will celebrate their fourth Stanley Cup title with a ticker-tape parade on Friday beginning at 10:30 am. No word whether the Chicago city council will follow the lead of their curmudgeonly colleagues in Montreal and send the team a bill for the clean-up.

Are you already looking ahead to next Fall? We’ll know about the Canadiens start to the season on June 22 when the full 2010-2011 NHL schedule is released. What we do know is that the league is sending six teams to Europe to open the next campaign for the Cup.

Phoenix Coyotes and Boston Bruins will play a pair of games in Prague, Czech Republic. The Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild will play two games at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. The Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks will square off for two games at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

(photo credit: Getty)

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