2010 Stanley Cup

Lore & Background

The Blackhawks became the fourth major Chicago sports team to win a championship since 1984, joining the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, and the 2005 Chicago White Sox. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 playoffs, and was the first Blackhawks player to receive this honor. He and teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook won the Olympic gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Patrick Kane joined Chris Chelios and Brett Hull (both 2002) as having won both the Olympic silver medal and Stanley Cup in the same year. Jonathan Toews also became the 24th player and the eighth Canadian to become a member of the Triple Gold Club.

In Their Own Story

The ice is slick under the bright arena lights as the final seconds tick down on Game 6. Corey Crawford glides back to his crease, chest heaving, knowing this might be it. The scoreboard freezes at 4–2 in Chicago's favor. Confetti cannons blast from the rafters, showering the players in red and black paper. Jonathan Toews steps onto the podium, the heavy silver cup rising above his head as the roar of twenty thousand fans shakes the floorboards beneath their skates.

Reader's Guide

The Blackhawks finished the regular season as the Central Division champions with 112 points. As the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs, they defeated the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks in six games each, then swept the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final. The Flyers earned the seventh seed with 88 points, upset the New Jersey Devils in five games, rallied from a 3–0 series deficit to beat the Boston Bruins in seven, and eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the Eastern Conference Final. The series was played over six games, with Chicago winning Games 1, 2, 5, and 6. Game 6 was played in Philadelphia, where the Blackhawks won the Cup.

Did You Know?

• Chicago's Marian Hossa is the first player in NHL history to appear in three straight Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams (Pittsburgh 2008, Detroit 2009, Chicago 2010).
• The Flyers were the first team to reach the Finals with less than 90 points in the regular season since the Vancouver Canucks in 1994.
• Philadelphia became the third NHL team to win a seven-game series after being down three games to none, rallying from a 3–0 deficit against Boston in the second round.
• The Blackhawks' starting goaltender was Antti Niemi, a rookie, who made 27 saves in Game 1 and 32 saves in Game 2.