Stanley Cup Final Reaction

Kane nets Conn Smythe - Despite a familiarity with the big moment, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane couldn't comprehend what he had accomplished Monday night. His Blackhawks had just finished a comeback for the ages, scoring the tying and winning goals 17 seconds apart in the dying moments of Game 6 to fashion a 3-2 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden and win the Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons, and the usually unflappable Kane was at a loss. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had already handed Kane the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he already had a twirl with the Stanley Cup hoisted above his head, and had posed for the team picture with the most cherished trophy his sport knows. Now, though, he was at a loss for words. "It is an unbelievable feeling," said Kane, who scored the winning goal when Chicago won the trophy against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010. "My head is spinning. I don’t know what really happened the past 20 minutes."

What happened is the Blackhawks showed the heart of a champion erasing a 2-1 deficit with Bryan Bickell's extra-attacker goal with 1:16 remaining and the winning goal by Dave Bolland 17 seconds later. Suddenly, despair had turned into delirium for the Blackhawks, who frolicked wildly around the TD Garden ice. And, though Kane did not factor in the scoring of any of his team's goals in the Cup-clinching game, he was on the ice for the first and second, there was no question this celebration likely wouldn't have happened without all the earlier contributions he made. Kane scored two goals in the Blackhawks’ first 15 postseason games this spring and questions began to be asked about his slump. Then, just like that, with the stakes at their highest, Kane found his scoring groove. In the final two games of the Western Conference Final against the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, Kane scored four goals. His hat trick in Game 5 put that series to bed. In the Final, he managed one assist in the first three games as Chicago fell into a 2-1 hole. In a wild Game 4, after being reunited with Jonathan Toews and Bickell, he had a goal and an assist when Chicago took a 6-5 overtime decision to even the series. In Game 5, a 3-1 victory at United Center, Kane finished with two goals, including the game-winner.

What, exactly, caused the turnaround? "I don't really have a specific answer," Kane said. "I think it was Game 4 in L.A., I knew I needed to get the puck and start moving with it and try to create some chances. It ended up working out. I mean, you're playing with two great players with Toews and Bickell. They made hockey really easy the past couple weeks for me. We actually came up with a name for myself this morning, calling me the 'Benefish', for the beneficiary of all their hard work. I had a couple chances to finish and ended up doing that, so got to give them the credit.

Certainly, Kane had help in waking up his game, but he was the one who converted on the opportunities that were suddenly coming against what had been a stingy Boston defense, using his speed to devastate a Bruins blue line that preferred to play a physical game. As a reward, he became the third straight American to win the Conn Smythe, joining Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick (2012) and Boston netminder Tim Thomas (2011). New York Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch is the other American to win it, doing so in 1994. Kane finished the postseason with nine goals and 19 points, second to Boston Bruins forward David Krejci (27 points). "I’m sure it will be something looking back that no one can take away from you," Kane said. "Someone said it is the fourth American to win the award. I’m blessed. I play with great players all playoffs and wouldn’t have been capable of this without my teammates. There were other guys who could have won too. You look at [goalie Corey] Crawford, maybe he got snubbed a little bit. [Bickell] and [forward Patrick Sharp], but it is a great feeling."

Chicago an example to others - Facing the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semifinals gave the Chicago Blackhawks the chance to beat the team that has been the gold standard in the NHL for the better part of two decades. When the 2013-14 season begins in October, a lot of other franchises may be looking at Chicago as the NHL's new model franchise. The Blackhawks became the first franchise to win the Stanley Cup twice in the salary cap era Monday night by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 at TD Garden in Game 6 of the Final. Given the construction of their roster, they might not be done. "Two times. Two times in four years. There is something about this core," Patrick Kane said. "We've got to stay together, because I think we can do some special things in the future." There have been several new contenders for the title of top organization in the NHL since 2005, when the salary-cap era began. Other clubs have tried to build a consistent contender in the mold of the Red Wings, who won their fourth Cup in an 11-year span in 2008.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Red Wings to win the Cup in 2009, but haven't been back to the same level in the postseason since. The Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Bruins each had a chance to become the first team to win twice in the past eight seasons, but all of those teams' seasons ended at the hands of the Blackhawks. Instead, it is the Blackhawks who have won twice in four seasons and look poise to contend for years to come. "We're as good as it gets from our perspective that we're so lucky to be in Chicago experiencing the crowd, the enthusiasm," coach Joel Quenneville said. "The city is going to go bananas again. It's a special place to play and work and coach and be a part of because the enthusiasm in the city is a different level of excitement and just feel privileged to be a part of it. It's tough to win, even though it's not back-to-back. We had two learning curves the last two years, but I thought they applied it very well this year."

When the Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games in 2010, they became the poster child for the NHL's new financial climate. Cost reasons forced Chicago to jettison several key role players during the summer after the championship. Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg and Antti Niemi were among those who were gone before Chicago could begin mounting a title defense. Two transition seasons followed. The Blackhawks were able to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2011 and pushed the Vancouver Canucks to a seventh game after falling behind 3-0 in the series. They lost an overtime-filled six-game series to the Phoenix Coyotes in 2012. However, the team's core remained intact, even as general manager Stan Bowman kept tinkering everywhere else. What transpired in 2012-13, from a record 24 games without a regulation loss to start the season to claiming the Presidents' Trophy and then defeating the rival Red Wings, the defending champion Kings and the 2011 champion Bruins, was nothing short of incredible. "It is tough to do it; 2010 was a special team both on and off the ice," veteran forward Patrick Sharp said. "The fact that Stan had to make so many decisions right after we won makes this one even sweeter. He decided to keep myself [and] a couple of other guys around. I feel proud to be part of this organization and to win it again."

If winning twice in four seasons wasn't enough, the Blackhawks have now been to the conference finals three times in the past five years, something no other organization can say. Even better, the 2013-14 edition of the Blackhawks won't face nearly as sizable a makeover as the one the 2010 titlists went through. There are six unrestricted free agents, two restricted, four unrestricted, and according to capgeek.com, the Blackhawks have a little more than $2 million in cap space. However, that number includes a couple of players, Steve Montador and Rostislav Olesz, who are making more than $2 million per season but did not contribute to this Cup run. There is not enough space to sign everyone. Rugged forward Bryan Bickell has earned a rather large raise and might not be back. Forward Viktor Stalberg almost certainly won't be. Backup goalie Ray Emery and veterans Michal Handzus and Michal Rozsival will be interesting decisions. Beyond Bickell, replacements for the other players could be readily available. There are youngsters such as Jeremy Morin, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Hayes who want to earn a permanent place on the roster in the fall. Most important, all of the core players, Toews, Kane, Sharp, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford, are signed for next season; all of them, save Crawford, have at least two years left on their current deals. Kane is going to get his wish, and he might just be onto something. "I think we can be confident in what we can do as an organization," Sharp said. "That goes for the guys behind the scenes in the front office and to our leadership group. I'm proud to be a Blackhawk."

Chara's post game reaction - Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara has a Norris Trophy, several All-Star Game appearances and a Stanley Cup championship on his resume. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound blueliner is widely regarded as the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL. So that he was on the ice for 10 of the Chicago Blackhawks' last 12 goals over the course of the last three games of the Stanley Cup Final was a major shock. There had to be a physical reason for Chara's struggles. Unfortunately, the hockey world will have to wait a couple of days to find out what was hampering Chara other than the Blackhawks' top line of Jonathan Toews, Bryan Bickell and Patrick Kane. "I'm not thinking about my physical status. Sorry," Chara said after the Blackhawks defeated the Bruins, 3-2, at TD Garden on Monday in Game 6 of the Cup Final.

Chara was minus-1 in Game 6 and on the ice for two of Chicago's three goals, including Bickell's game-tying score with 1:16 remaining. Dave Bolland scored with 58.3 seconds to go to give Chicago its second Stanley Cup in four seasons. It was Bickell who did the most to pound Chara and make sure the rugged defenseman paid a price almost every time he touched the puck. The Blackhawks united the line of Bickell, Toews and Kane in Game 4, which turned out to be a 6-5 series-evening win. Whether Chara was injured already or was felled by something in the series against Chicago, Chara and usual shutdown partner Dennis Seidenberg found Toews' line too much to handle for most of the rest of the series. "I think that it was the case for every team. I don't think that it was just Chicago," Chara said. "I think the whole playoffs, no matter who you play, it's going to be physical, it's going to be grinding, and it's not just, obviously Chicago, the whole playoffs, that's just the way it is. It's physical and you have to expect that." Chara refused to concede the Blackhawks had worn him down."I think it was just like any other series. Like I said, it was physical," the Bruins captain said.

After giving up nine goals combined in their losses in Game 4 and 5, the Bruins wanted to tighten up their defensive play in Game 6. They basically had done that until there were 76 seconds remaining in regulation and Bickell scored his tying goal by crashing the net and cashing in on Toews' pass from below the goal line through Chara's legs. Chicago's nose for the net and some fortuitous bounces were the difference, according to Chara. "I think like, if I would have to really talk about defense, I thought that throughout the whole playoffs we did a really good job," Chara said. "They did find some holes and at times, I have to be honest, it's not just a matter of being in the right position or covering guys, you know. It's some bounces you need to have your way. If it gets deflected and goes off skates and this and that, obviously that's not an excuse, but you need to have some bounces and it seemed like we didn't get those like we did before. But they did a good job going to the net, creating a lot of traffic in front and so ..."

Now we wait until the Bruins' breakup day Wednesday, when Chara and a list of other players are expected to reveal what ails them. For now, all we know is that it hurts the Bruins to know how close they were to being on the other side of this series. "Yeah, I thought it was pretty even. It was two teams playing a little bit different styles, but both are pretty effective and it was very close," Chara said. "I think that all six games, end up deciding with one goal, and I think obviously one was them was the empty-net goal that made it a two-goal difference, but all the other ones were one-goal games. So, it was pretty close."

Hawks battle injury list - No team wins the Stanley Cup without injuries, but they rarely, if ever, disclose them while the ride is ongoing. The Chicago Blackhawks' doctors and trainers were certainly busy throughout the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and coach Joel Quenneville revealed some of what they had to deal with shortly after Dave Bolland's goal in the final minute completed Chicago's historic come-from-behind 3-2 Cup-clinching win against the Boston Bruins in Game 6 Monday at TD Garden. Quenneville said Marian Hossa was dealing with a bad back; Michal Handzus had injuries to his hand and knee; and Bryan Bickell, who scored the tying goal Monday, suffered a Grade 2 knee sprain at the end of the Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings. All Quenneville would say about Jonathan Toews, who played in Game 6 after sitting out the third period of Game 5, is that "he got his bell rung, he was fine."

Toews had a goal and an assist on Bryan Bickell's tying goal with 1:16 left in the third period. "He had a monster game," Quenneville said of Toews. "He looked ready to go at the end of the last game, and I thought he looked very good [Sunday] and was ready to go. 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."

Of all the injuries, Quenneville said Handzus, the oldest player in the lineup at 36, was in the worst shape, yet he logged more than 15 minutes in Game 6. He also played more than 16 minutes in Game 4 and more than 17 minutes in Game 5. "Oh yeah, he had more issues than anybody," Quenneville said. "He had a bad hand, he had a bad knee, he had old age, a lot of things going on. But what a game he played and what a playoffs he had. And what an end of the season after we upgraded him [to second-line center]."

Handzus didn't miss a game en route to winning the Stanley Cup for the first time. He finished the Stanley Cup Playoffs with three goals and eight assists. "Everybody is banged up in the playoffs," Handzus said. "I don't think I'm the only guy and we don't have to talk about it. I could play, so I was happy." Quenneville said Bickell's knee injury was the main reason the coach broke up the top line of Bickell, Toews and Patrick Kane, a line that was so good late in the series against the Kings. "Grade 2 knee sprain, that's a three- or four-week injury," Quenneville said. "[Bickell] probably shouldn't have played a game in this series, but after Game 3 it looked like he was back to normal, which was big for us."

Bickell, Toews and Kane were put back together on a line for Game 4 of the Final. They combined for six goals and seven assists during the last three games of the series. "Now why would I do that [break up the line]?" Quenneville asked rhetorically. "Well, we were trying to preserve [Bickell] and get some balance at the same time. We didn't want heavy minutes with him against [Zdeno] Chara basically on one leg." Hossa did not play in Game 3 because of his back injury. He was limited in Games 4, 5 and 6, but played at least 16-plus minutes in each of them and had an assist in Game 4. "The resiliency all year long of finding ways, and the depth I think made it so special for us," Quenneville said.