Chicago Blackhawks Clinch Stanley Cup

Dramatic Ending to Game - It seemed like a fitting way to end this back-and-forth series. With the Boston Bruins leading 2-1 late in the third period in Game 6, the expectation throughout TD Garden was that the Stanley Cup Final would head back to Chicago for a winner-take-all Game 7 Wednesday night. Instead, what ensued Monday was one of the wildest, possibly the wildest, finishes in Final history. With 87 seconds remaining in regulation and Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford sprinting to the bench for an extra attacker, right wing Patrick Kane gained the Boston zone before firing a soft shot that Boston goalie Tuukka Rask steered into the corner. After a spirited scrum along the boards, Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith quickly flipped the puck toward captain Jonathan Toews by the side of the net. The puck was on Toews' stick for barely a second before he directed it to the front of the net, where linemate Bryan Bickell buried the soft pass to tie the game and silence a raucous home crowd. The crowd was still coming to terms with the tied score when Michael Frolik sent a centering pass that deflected all the way to the opposite half-wall, where Marcus Krueger softly dropped the puck to defenseman Johnny Oduya. His shot hit the post, but the puck miraculously found Dave Bolland by the side of the Boston net. With Rask badly out of position, Bolland made no mistake and the Blackhawks had gone from trailing to leading in a 17-second span.

Instead of being forced to try to win their second championship in four seasons on home ice in a Game 7, the Blackhawks rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory. "You think you're going back to Chicago for Game 7," said Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "You tie it up, you think you're going in for overtime to regroup. You score 17 seconds later. It's just an unbelievable feeling. The highs and lows of this game were unbelievable."

Bickell, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 5, finished the postseason with 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 23 games. His tying goal, off a phenomenal feed from Toews, is unquestionably the biggest of his career. "We just got there deep and good things happen when you throw it on the net and you're in a good spot," Bickell said. "[Toews] just got it in front. I got in front and I just buried it. It felt good to get that equalizer. What a roller coaster that was to finish it off the way we did."

In the blink of an eye, the teams went from making travel plans to Chicago to contending with another potential overtime finish, which would have been the fourth of the series. Crawford was placed back in net and Chicago made a line change for the next faceoff. Overtime certainly appeared in the offing, but the Blackhawks weren't done. "They [Boston] kind of got deflated with that late goal against to tie it up 2-2," Bickell said. "We pressed them and we kept on going."

Bolland's game-winner was his third goal in 18 postseason games, a reward for going to the net after the Blackhawks refused to take their foot off the gas after Bickell erased the 2-1 deficit. Scored at 19:01 of the third period, Bolland's goal was the latest Stanley Cup game-winner scored in regulation time. "The puck went back to the D and someone shot it and it was just sitting in front. I just had to tap it in," said Bolland, who was so overcome by emotion he pulled himself from the game with 59 seconds remaining. "I think [Joel Quenneville] wanted to get me back out there, but I was too nervous after getting that goal. I just told him to keep me off."

From a triple-overtime marathon in Game 1 to the Blackhawks' late rally to stun the Bruins in Game 6, the 2013 Stanley Cup Final will go down as one of the wildest of all-time. In the blink of eye, the destiny of an already historic Stanley Cup Final had suddenly shifted. And before the Bruins could come to terms with what had just taken place, the Blackhawks were celebrating on the ice and passing around the Stanley Cup. Chicago's players all agreed it was unlike anything they had ever seen. "I've seen it in soccer in the Champions League," veteran forward Michal Handzus said, referencing the top club soccer competition in Europe. "But not in hockey, especially on this big stage in a Game 6 elimination game, being in a loud building. You score two goals in the last minute to win the Cup, it's incredible."

Throughout Chicago's roster, there was a general consensus this dream season could not have possibly ended in a more surreal fashion. This was a team, after all, that stormed out of the gate to open the 2012-13 season by earning a point in 24 straight games (21-0-3). In the end, the Blackhawks finished the way they began, with the pedal to the metal. "It was one of those seasons we were saying, we're almost charmed the way we started the season and the way we ended. Nobody saw that one coming, either way," Quenneville said. "But the resiliency of our team was in place all year long. It was one of those seasons, fairy-tale ending and an amazing season."

As for the Bruins, the stars seemed aligned for a team that had taken the lead on Milan Lucic's goal with 7:49 remaining in the third period. But a momentary lapse in the team's stout defensive system forced Boston to suddenly contend with how it would come back next season. It was a cruel fate for a team that matched the Blackhawks stride for stride in this series. "It's a tough way to lose a game, tough way to lose a series," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "On the tying goal, it was a quick play. The third goal there was a shot from the point and a deflection, I believe."

 

Veterans savor first success - The "old dinosaurs" finally got their due Monday night in part because they never lost faith, never lost the hope that one day they could be champions in the NHL. Mayers signed with the Blackhawks in the summer of 2011. Rozsival jumped on board last September. Handzus was acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline in April. Prior to this season, the closest any of them had come to winning the Stanley Cup was Handzus, who lost in Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Final as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. Rozsival reached the third round for the first time in his career in 2012, but his Phoenix Coyotes lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings in five games. Mayers had twice gotten to the Western Conference Final, in 2001 and 2011, but his teams never won more than a game.

 

"Some of the guys that have raised the Cup before. I guess they felt like there are a few guys on this team at the end of their careers and they might want to be in the front of this celebration," Rozsival said. "Toews is a great captain and he knows. Right away he called for [Handzus], the oldest guy on the team. Then it was [Mayers] and me. I guess the old dinosaurs got it first and then the rest of the team. Last year when I lost in the conference final, I could feel I was so close, getting so close. I had this good feeling. I guess when you get a little bit of this feeling of being so close you want to experience it again."

He felt signing a one-year deal with the Blackhawks on Sept. 11, 2012, would give him his best chance. "My agent and I talked about the best options and he came out with this team," said Rozsival, who played in all 23 playoff games, averaging 19:15 of ice time with four assists and a plus-9 rating. "It worked. I couldn't be happier right now." Handzus was looking lost with the San Jose Sharks earlier this season. He was occasionally a healthy scratch and had two points and minus-9 rating in the 28 games he did play before Chicago general manager Stan Bowman acquired him on April 1 for a fourth-round draft pick. He turned into the Blackhawks' second-line center and had 11 points in 23 playoff games despite playing through injuries to his hand and knee.

"I thought I would have a hard time to draw into the lineup because they've been playing great, they've been on top since the beginning of the season," Handzus said. "I just tried to fill in and help as much as I could, if it was fourth line or faceoffs, whatever. But I got a chance to play second line with the great players. They trust me, coaches trust me, the players trust me and I tried to do as much as I could." He wouldn't discuss what he meant for the team. "Other people can say what I meant," Handzus said. "I tried to just play as best I could. I think we were a team. We weren't individuals. We were a team and we battled for each other. That's why we won."

Toews wins second cup in 3 years - The captain traditionally is the first person to hoist the Stanley Cup after his team wins the Final. After the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Game 6 on Monday, captain Jonathan Toews was summoned to center ice to receive the Cup for the second time in four seasons. It was a fitting reward for Toews following a 24-hour period in which he went from being questionable for the game to leading his team to a championship with a herculean effort in Game 6. "[Toews] is always the same. He's the same player that's never backed down," said teammate David Bolland, who scored the Cup-winning goal with 58.3 seconds remaining in regulation. "Through injury or not, he battles to the end. He's the best captain in the League."

Toews had two assists in Chicago's 3-1 victory in Game 5, but he also sustained a barrage of big hits from Boston's defense, including a blow from Johnny Boychuk as Toews crossed into the middle of the ice. Toews was kept off the ice for the third period, and the big question for the Blackhawks the following day was whether their captain would be able to play in Game 6. It didn't take long for his teammates to figure out Toews was good to go. "I knew it maybe yesterday," Patrick Kane said. "He's a great player. He's played big in a lot of big games. Just a competitor. That's really all you can say about Jonathan Toews. He's a competitor. He leads the team in the right way and we all follow." Not only did Toews dress for Game 6, he made it clear early on that he wasn't there just to provide moral support. After a solid first period, he tied the game 1-1 at 4:24 of the second when he barreled down the right wing before snapping a wrist shot between the legs of Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask.

 

As coach Joel Quenneville shortened his bench in the third period, it was clear he planned to lean heavily on his captain down the stretch. "He had a monster game. He looked ready to go at the end of the last game, and I thought he looked very good yesterday and was ready to go last night and today," Quenneville said. "The bigger the game, the bigger the setting, you know what you're going to get from Jonathan Toews. He just knows how to play hockey. Whether he's productive or not, he absorbs a lot of big minutes from their match-up guys and he never gets outscored. The one thing is he plays the way you want a hockey player to play."

Toews led Chicago forwards with 20:12 of ice time, but he saved his biggest play for the game's final moments. Late in a third period during which he was on the ice for neatly eight minutes, Toews led a comeback as the Blackhawks pressed to overcome a 2-1 deficit. With goaltender Corey Crawford pulled for an extra forward, Toews made a heads-up play to redirect a Duncan Keith pass onto the stick of Bryan Bickell, who was alone in front and snapped the puck into the net to tie the game. "Incredible. He's a warrior," said forward Michal Handzus, whom Toews found first when it came time to pass the Stanley Cup along to his teammates. "To come back after the last game. That pass on [Bickell's] goal and the goal that he scored. A great leader."

Bolland scored 17 seconds after Bickell to give Chicago the lead and earn Toews his second Stanley Cup in four seasons. It also marked arguably Toews' best game of the series, in addition to scoring a goal and adding his assist, he led all players with 12 faceoff wins and a 60-percent success rate. He also blocked two shots. In typical Toews fashion, the last thing Chicago's captain wanted to do after hoisting the Stanley Cup was talk about himself. "I'm absolutely blessed to be surrounded with great guys, great coaching staff and an unbelievable organization," Toews said. "This group of guys makes you look good every day. It's a special group, special team and they deserve it more than anybody. It's awesome. We're going home. We've got the Cup."

Bolland's dramatic winner - When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, Dave Bolland was a key secondary scorer that postseason and a consistent headache for the top players from opposing teams. Bolland's 2012-13 season was defined by stops and starts because of injuries, and his performance in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs before Monday night at TD Garden was considerably less remarkable than three years prior. None of that matters now. Bolland's name will forever be associated with this postseason, and this will be one of the most memorable years of his career. The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 to the Boston Bruins late in Game 6 before Bryan Bickell tied the contest with 1:16 left in regulation. Seventeen seconds later, Bolland pounced on a rebound near the left post and scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal. It is the first time in League history a Cup-clinching goal has been scored in the 60th minute. "When don't you dream about it?" Bolland said. "We all dream about scoring that Stanley Cup winner to hoist the Cup, so check that one off the bucket list."

If the Bickell goal wasn't stunning enough, Bolland's tally will make this one of the most memorable clinching contests in Stanley Cup Final history. While most of the people inside TD Garden were still buzzing about Bickell's goal and preparing for a fourth overtime contest in this incredible series, coach Joel Quenneville sent his fourth line onto the ice. After the faceoff, the puck traveled back and forth to both blue lines before Bolland carried it into the offensive zone. Goaltender Tuukka Rask directed a shot from the right wing by Michael Frolik toward the corner, and the puck ended up along the left wall on the stick of Marcus Kruger. He guided it back to defenseman Johnny Oduya at the left point for a shot. Frolik tipped the puck en route to the net, and it glanced off the left post before coming to Bolland. "I think [my eyes] were huge," Bolland said. "They almost popped out of my head." Chicago forward Patrick Sharp added, "That was a big one. I don't know what he was doing dropping his gloves [in celebration]. There was a minute left, and it was a long minute."

After Bickell's goal, Boston coach Claude Julien changed his defense pairing, but left the same forwards, his top line, on the ice for the faceoff. Quenneville decided to go in a different direction, and it proved to be a great move. "You equalize the game there. They might have been a little tired," Quenneville said. "I could have kept [Chicago's top line] out there, but Bolland, that line hadn't played in five or six minutes, and offensively, defensively, you know you get a contribution all year long [from] all four lines. No matter who you throw out there is capable of making plays. Next play on the wall, cruised back to the point one time and, bang, it's in the net. Kind of the way you had to score in this whole series. The pretty ones weren't there. It was the ugly goals that seemed to work."

Bolland had eight goals and 16 points in 22 postseason games in 2010. He scored big goals and harassed opposing star players, which made him a popular figure in Chicago. When an injured Bolland returned to the lineup after the Vancouver Canucks went ahead 3-0 in the first round the following year, the Blackhawks stormed back with three straight victories to force a Game 7. Last season, Bolland tied a career high with 19 goals. The 2012-13 campaign was a trying one at times for him. He was out of the lineup at four different points during the regular season with various injuries, including a groin problem that kept him out of the first round of the playoffs. He's spent most of the three rounds as a third- or fourth-line center after being the No. 2 guy for much of the regular season. Before Game 4 of the Cup Final, Bolland had one goal and three points in 15 playoff contests. Then, he had an assist in Game 4 and scored the empty-net goal to clinch Game 5. That was just a preamble for his Game 6 heroics. He scored a goal that changed his and Chicago's season. It will undoubtedly stay with him for the rest of his life.

"This is probably the biggest satisfaction I've ever had," Bolland said. "A hockey season is up and down. I had a roller-coaster year with injuries. Things like that happen. You battle through them and it is the way that you come out of it through the injuries is what matters."

Added Quennville: "[Bolland] is like that. He had one of those years. It looked like he was coming and got hurt, coming and got hurt. His playoffs, he was coming and he was OK. But one thing about [Bolland], the bigger the stage, the better the challenge is, he always welcomes it and rises to it. He's one of those competitors that finds a way to win and now he's a champion twice. I'm happy for him."