Thursday 9 May 2013

The Stanley Cup Winner


The Stanley Cup Playoffs. All of us hockey fans love it. It is a time to be on the edge of your seat and shout for joy or burst in tears. Who doesn't love that?

            The players in the NHL live for this moment. The moment that defies everything. The moment you hoist the Stanley Cup in the air victoriously. They put their blood, sweat, and tears for this very moment... To be known as a Stanley Cup Winner.

            The question is, what team will win the Cup this year? Could it be the fan-favourite being the Chicago Blackhawks? Or will it be the underdog being the New York Islanders? Maybe it will be the team stuck in the middle such as the Toronto Maple Leafs. How many people would like that? Maybe the real question is, how many people would hate that? Usually, the team that makes the journey to winning the Cup is not the fan-favourite, nor the bottom team, but a team like Toronto. I'm not saying Toronto will win, no sir. I'm just saying, their that kind of team that makes it. Although the question still remains, who will win the Stanley Cup?

            My opinion is what counts here, isn't it? All jokes aside, I believe the fan-favourite takes the gold in this one, Chicago. My long list of reasoning would have to start with the team's domination. Their season was started with an impressive winning-streak, shattering the record that was once held by another team. They were already guaranteed to be in the playoffs by just over the half-way mark of the season. Chicago then went on, ruthlessly, destroying anyone in their path taking 1st place in the league for the 48 game season. Clearly, they are not a force to be reckoned with. If they keep this up for the playoffs, which, so far, they have, they will be unstoppable. Will they keep it up?

            I believe Chicago will continue their path of destruction as they have too much depth in their team to let it go. They have been coached with perfection leaving little room for error. One of the key aspects in their game is the mix of players they have on the roster. They have the veterans guiding the younger stars along the way. After this leaves the young stars taking care of the rookies who are shredding it up this year. They have a complete balance of skill when it comes to age. We know they have the offensive skill along with defensive power, but who is between the pipes? In net they have a shaky yet reliable goalie being Crawford. If there is anything that is going to kill the Blackhawks it is the goalie but even this is unlikely as Crawford is a strong goalie. He can be shaky as stated before but he has a good back-up goalie and his own skill to keep him covered. As you can see, the Blackhawks seem to have everything going for them. All they must do now, is keep it going. This will be their greatest challenge. This will determine whether they are a truly deserving Stanley Cup team. Can they repeat what they did in 2010? Can they win the Stanley cup? I think so. Only time will tell....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think that chicago has a great chance but I also think that ottawa and san jose have a great chance too being the "middle teams" as you said. If pittsburgh keeps playing the way they did against the islanders in the first round, I think that ottawa is gonna give them a run for there money. Also san jose swept the canucks this year and so did kings last year and look who won the cup. Anyways, great post Riley.
-crazyroyal12man