So, you’ve read my previews, going through the defensive, offensive and goaltending matchups for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final between Chicago and Tampa Bay and you want to know who’ll win? Read on!
Make no mistake, these are two very good hockey teams. You don’t get all the way to the Stanley Cup Final by accident. A quick overview of both teams:
Chicago:
Hailing from one of America’s premiere hockey cities, it’s fair to say that the Blackhawks have had the tougher road here, defeating a very good, and highly-fancied Nashville squad in the first round, easily counting for Minnesota – a four-game sweep, engineered, in large part, by Patrick Kane – in the semi-final around, before defeating Anaheim in Game Seven in Anaheim. Remember, the Ducks were highly favoured in that series, and were a popular pick to win it all.
A model of sustained consistency with a strong coaching unit led by the moustachioed Joel Quennville and backed by a front office that’s as good as there is in hockey, the Blackhawks return to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in six seasons, and retain the core of the teams that won in 2010 and 2013.
They are an ominous outfit, led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the most famous Chicago sporting tandem since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the Bulls back in the nineties.
Tampa Bay:
Tampa Bay, an expansion franchise from what is known as a non-traditional market, has come through the Eastern Conference, which probably hasn’t been as tough a road. They took seven games to defeat the plucky Detroit Red, then defeated Montreal in six and needed a conference-deciding seventh game to beat the New York Rangers – in Madison Square Garden, no less – to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for just the second time in franchise history. The Lightning are the first team to face an Original Six franchise in every round of the playoffs, on their way to the Final.
There are no survivors from the 2004 squad who won the Stanley Cup. In fact, Tampa are a young team, and still rising. Like his team, which features young talent like Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Ben Bishop in net, Tampa’s coach, Jon Cooper, is a relative newcomer to the league, but he’s won big at every step on his way to his first NHL head coaching gig.
How will Tampa Win?
Simply, by defending. Their blue line corps is young and talented, led by Hedman and his partner Anton Stralman. So, too, is Bishop, and he’s been historically good at times during the playoffs. He won’t be able to afford a game where he gives up a bunch of goals, which happened twice in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Rangers. Chicago are too good and will capitalise.
Along with stout defence, the Lightning are going to have score often and get Chicago’s goalie, Corey Crawford, questioning himself between the pipes. Tampa certainly have enough talent up forward – Steven Stamkos and the triplet line of Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson – but whether they will have any room to operate against the brilliant Chicago defence is the real question.
On the bench, Cooper is going to have to get his match-ups right, especially on the road against a wily old veteran in Joel Quenneville, who knows all the tricks.
How Will Chicago Win?
By letting Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews go to work – with some support from Corey Crawford in net. #88 and #19 in Blackhawk red are the best duo in the National Hockey League and, throughout these playoffs, when Chicago has needed a lift, it’s invariably come from one of those two.
The Chicago defence will again have to survive a man down, with Michael Rozsival out of action. Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith will play giant minutes. When they’re not checking hard thus making it incredibly tough for Tampa to score, they’re going to contribute offensively, as they’ve done in big games for years. With the top four defencemen for the ‘Hawks playing such giant minutes, they might just strangle Tampa offensively.
My Pick:
I’ve got Chicago winning the series in six games. They’re simply too good right across the board.
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