2010 Stanley Cup Final

Did You Know?

• Game one produced the best overnight rating in the United States for a game one since the 1999 Final.
• In Canada, game one was viewed by 3.164 million people on CBC.
• Chris Pronger picked up the game puck after games one and two and said he threw them in the garbage.

Paths to the Final

This was the third consecutive Finals in which the Western Conference team was an Original Six club that won the Central Division and the Eastern Conference team was an Atlantic Division team from Pennsylvania. The Blackhawks and Flyers had previously met in the 1971 playoffs, with Chicago winning in four games. As the second seed in the Western Conference, they defeated the seventh-seeded Nashville Predators and the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks in six games each, then swept the first-seeded San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final.

Tomas Kopecky, also acquired from Detroit before the season, joined Hossa in playing in his third consecutive Final. Philadelphia earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with 88 points, winning a tiebreaker over Montreal on more wins. They were the last team to qualify for the playoffs, securing the final spot with a 2–1 shootout win over the New York Rangers on the last day of the regular season—the first do-or-die shootout for a playoff spot in NHL history.

In the first round, the Flyers upset the second-seeded New Jersey Devils in five games. In the second round, they became the third NHL team to win a seven-game series after trailing three games to none, rallying from a 3–0 deficit in game seven to defeat the Boston Bruins 4–3.

Game summaries

In game one, Chicago won 6–5 behind two goals from Troy Brouwer. The teams traded leads throughout, with neither holding more than a one-goal advantage. Philadelphia led 3–2 after the first period, but Patrick Sharp tied the game early in the second. After the teams exchanged goals again, Tomas Kopecky scored the game-winner at 8:25 of the third period. Michael Leighton was replaced by Brian Boucher after allowing Chicago's fifth goal. Antti Niemi made 27 saves for the win. Game two was a low-scoring affair, with Chicago winning 2–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. Neither team scored in the first period. Marian Hossa broke the deadlock late in the second period, and Ben Eager added a goal 28 seconds later. Simon Gagne scored a power-play goal for Philadelphia in the third period, but Niemi stopped 32 of 33 shots, while Leighton rebounded with 24 saves on 26 shots.

Impact and aftermath

Jonathan Toews joined the Triple Gold Club, having won Olympic gold in 2010 and an IIHF World Championship gold in 2007. Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook became the fourth, fifth, and sixth players to win Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year. With Chicago's win, the Toronto Maple Leafs became the only Original Six team not to have appeared in the Finals since the 1967 expansion. Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley declared June 11 Chicago Blackhawks Day, and an estimated two million people attended the team's parade. The loss was Philadelphia's sixth consecutive Finals defeat, tying the record for most consecutive Finals lost. The Cup-winning puck became lost after getting stuck under the padding in the net; a Chicago restaurant offered a $50,000 reward, and the FBI investigated the case.

Stanley Cup engraving

The Stanley Cup was presented to captain Jonathan Toews by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman after Chicago's 4–3 overtime win in game six. Among those engraved on the Cup were Dave Bolland, who played in every playoff game despite missing 39 regular-season games due to injury; Adam Burish, who played 13 regular-season games and 15 playoff games, including the first three games of the Finals; and Colin Fraser, who met the minimum 41 regular-season games requirement.

Kris Versteeg's name was initially misspelled KRIS VERTSEEG but was corrected. Chicago did not request an exemption for ten players who did not meet the qualification criteria. Bryan Bickell, who played 16 regular-season games and four playoff games, was not engraved but was included in the team picture and received a personal day with the Cup. Kim Johnsson, who played eight games for Chicago after being acquired from Minnesota and missed the playoffs due to a concussion, was not submitted for engraving and never played in the NHL again.

Jack Skille and Jake Dowell, who spent most of the season in the AHL, were also not engraved. Video coach Brad Aldrich was initially engraved but his name was later marked out with X's following a 2021 investigation into sexual assault allegations.