The 2013 season is officially in the books and the Blackhawks are Stanley Cup champions yet again after what can only be described as an utterly amazing season. It’s hard to express just how fun this season was for the city of Chicago and its patrons. Mere words don’t seem to do it justice, but I’ll give it my best. From beating the Kings on their banner-raising day to the most memorable seventeen seconds since @trot71 lost his virginity, this season was remarkable.

Up until that fateful day back in January, when fucking Adrian Dater of all people broke the news of a CBA agreement, it didn’t feel like we’d see NHL hockey until the fall of 2013. Fortunately for everyone involved, the puck dropped in Los Angeles two tortuous weeks later. Preseason optimism ran high as it often does for every team, but many felt the Kings would again represent the Bestern Conference in the Final. No, what was to transpire surpassed even the most optimistic of homos homers.

Finally. After months of vitriol between the owners and the players that tested the patience of millions of hockey fans, game day had long-last arrived. The unnecessarily long Kings banner-raising ceremony seemed a fitting way to begin a season already so delayed from its previously scheduled start. Not too long into the game, Patrick Kane potted the first goal of the NHL’s and Chicago’s season. The Blackhawks controlled the rest of the game and beat the Kings in front of a sold-out house 5-2. A win to begin the season was nice, but expectations were still somewhat tempered. It was only one game, after all.

Just over a week later, and coming off a thrilling overtime win over Detroit, the Blackhawks found themselves unbeaten after six games. They showed a glimpse of how good they were, and how good could they could be. Starting a season by rattling off six wins wasn’t an easy thing to do, and the Blackhawks did it in thrilling fashion. But there was plenty of season to go and only the worst of teams don’t have stretches where they play well to some degree.

Coming off two consecutive shootout losses in the Twin Cities and in Vancouver, a bit of air in the Blackhawks bubble seemed to have been let out. They traveled to Cow Town where they found themselves trailing to and heavily out shot by the metaphorical dumpster fire known as the Calgary Flames.

It seemed that the Blackhawks were finally coming back down to Earth. Well, not exactly. At 59:58 into the game, Marian Hossa tied the game at two apiece. The Blackhawks would go on to pull a shootout win out of thin air and preserve their point streak. This team’s resilience became apparent to all who watched them. Preseason optimists seemed to be looking pretty smart, but again, the season was still young.

Fast forward to the Blackhawks’ third shutout in February; a 3-0 win in St. Louis. The Blackhawks didn’t have a shutout during the entire 2011-2012 season and they already had three a little less than halfway through their 2013 season. The point streak had reached 20 games and the record for longest point streak to begin a season had been broken a few games ago. Expectations had skyrocketed and the Blackhawks were the talk of the league. Questions such as “How much longer could they go?” “How does this streak feel?” “Does this streak even mean anything to the team?” made regular appearances in the post game interviews.

The players all thought it was a neat accomplishment, but they resoundingly agreed it didn’t mean anything without a Cup run. A couple of games later, #GorillaSalad scored a game-winning goal against the Colorado Avalanche with under a minute to go on the clock to preserve the 10-game winning streak and the point streak. The Blackhawks had gone 24 games – half of their season – without losing a game outside of the shootout. An unbelievable feat. Yet, the players echoed their sentiments from before; it didn’t mean anything without a Cup.

The regular season ended with the Blackhawks winning the President’s trophy and clinching home ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Expectations for this team had risen to “Stanley Cup or bust”. Anything less than Toews taking the Cup from Bettman’s grimy, fidgety little hands and hoisting it over his head would be considered a failure. The division and the President’s trophy didn’t mean anything without a Cup.

A 4-1 series win over Barry Melrose’s confident pick to win the Cup was nice, but the Blackhawks had played poorly compared to what they were capable of. The Detroit Red Wings wouldn’t roll over and die like the Wild did. They certainly did not.

After the 2010 Cup run, obnoxious Scum fans repeated “you didn’t have to go through us” almost as often as they do “how many cups do you have?” (s/t to @jrlind). Well the Blackhawks would get their shot to do the seemingly impossible; shut Detroit fans up. A dominating performance in game one preceded three straight losses and they found themselves one game away from elimination.

Toews had yet to score a goal, the power play was an abomination on skates, and people were already talking about Quenneville’s eminent demise as conductor of the Blackhawks’ express. A thrilling season and promising beginning to a possible Cup run felt like ages ago. It seemed poetic; the hated Red Wings looked like they would end their Bestern Conference tenure by destroying Blackhawks fans’ hopes and dreams one last time. But as long as the Hawks kept winning, they’d survive.

Game 5. Toews scored a power play goal and Andrew Shaw netted two of his own and the Hawks lived to fight another day; a 4-1 win. They had dragged themselves back into the series, but still had two more wins to go. It seemed an extremely tall task but one they’d have to complete in order to keep their Cup aspirations alive.

Game 6. Corey Crawford let up probably the softest goal of his entire career in the second period and all hope seemed lost. The doom and gloom ran rampant throughout the fan base and reached even the most optimistic of devotees.

It appeared the Blackhawks wonderful season had come crashing to an abrupt and devastatingly unexpected halt…until. Until trade deadline pickup Michael Handzus beat Jimmy Howard blocker-side just under a minute into the third. Not long after, Ronny Pickle put the Hawks ahead 3-2. Michael Frolik – AKA Taters or GROIN RIPPER – scored on a penalty shot and the Hawks forced a game seven back in Chicago; a 4-3 win.

Game 7. Of course it came down to a game seven, because the Detroit Red Wings aren’t dead things. A late Niklas Hjalmarsson goal that essentially would’ve sent the Blackhawks to round 3 was waived off because Stephon Walkom is a turd. United Center didn’t even realize the goal was waived off until about 2 minutes after Walkom made the call; they were too busy celebrating. The building and its patrons experienced the dizzying highs and crushing lows of sports fandom within minutes.

They couldn’t believe the goal was waived off. The Hawks somehow avoided a goal within the last minute and they headed to overtime. Only three minutes after the puck dropped in extra time, Brent Seabrook sent the Detroit Red Wings home and United Center up for grabs. The Blackhawks had finally “gone through Detroit”. It was a phenomenal comeback that will easily go down in Blackhawks history as a legendary series. But it wasn’t going to mean anything without a Cup.

The Los Angeles Kings were the defending Stanley Cup champions. They were to be the last obstacle before Chicago got the right to fight for the Cup. Going up 2-0 was as good of a start to the series as you could’ve asked for. But as soon as the Kings won a game in LA, the sky was falling and the Kings were leading the series 1-2 according to the local media and meatball fans. Patrick Kane drew a lot of ire in particular, with some people wondering if he #shouldof been traded to Buffalo after all.

Quenneville decided to move Kane onto the first line with Bickell and Toews, a combination that he used during the 2010 Cup run, and suddenly Kane scores and he’s the messiah. Kane follows up his game 4 performance by completing a hat-trick in double-overtime of game 5 to send the Blackhawks back to the final. He scored the first and last goal of the 2013 Kings season. But a series where the defending Cup champions never really felt legitimately threatening didn’t mean anything without a Cup.

A triple overtime victory after being down 2-0 and then 3-1 in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins was about as exhilarating as it gets. A heart-breaking loss in overtime of game 2 followed by a 2-0 loss in game 3 put a lot of doubt into the hearts of Blackhawks fans everywhere. But the players didn’t doubt themselves. Not for one goddamn minute.

A ridiculous game 4 overtime win where 11 goals total were scored put the Blackhawks right back into the series. They bailed out Crawford on the only clunker performance he had all postseason and brought the series back to Chicago knotted at 2 apiece. Game 5 almost killed Patrice Bergeron and put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 in the series. They were only one win away from recapturing the Cup, but they had to beat Boston at TD Garden in game 6 to do it.

The Bruins played well throughout most of game 6, including absolutely dominating the first 20 minutes of the game. The Hawks were lucky to only be down 1-0 at the end of the first. The Captain put the Hawks on the board as he burned Chara and shot the puck through Rask’s legs. Fast forward to a few minutes past the midway marker of the third period. Milan Lucic punishes the Blackhawks for some sloppy play in their own end and puts the Bruins up 2-1 with about 7 minutes to go. A game 7 seemed all but inevitable at this point. It looked like the slobbering NBC executives were going to get their wish.

But then Corey Crawford skated to the bench and the extra attacker came on. Toews worked until he gets the puck and passed it out to Bickell who slammed home the puck to tie the game with 1:16 left to go in the game. A mere 17 seconds later, Dave Bolland capitalized on a Rask rebound and the Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead in the game and eventually win the Stanley Cup.

All of those qualifiers about how nothing that happened throughout the season mattered unless they won the Cup were suddenly irrelevant. Toews took the Cup from Bettman’s sausagy hands and hoisted it above his head for all of 10 seconds before he handed it off to Handzus and subsequently Jamal Mayers.

A season filled with so many unforgettable moments and memories was capped off and validated by winning the Stanley Cup. Expectations became extraordinarily high as the season went on and the potential of this club became apparent. It’s fantastic to have those expectations and that potential realized.

The feeling is incomparable. In a town where playoff seasons are reminisced upon, it’s surreal to be able to speak about championships plural, let alone championships within a few years of each other. You can’t help but get the feeling that the Blackhawks are going to hoist a few more by the time all is said and done with this team. With their second championship in four years, they’ve officially entered the dynasty conversation as well as established a precedent that nothing short of a championship can and should be expected at the end of each year. That’s an unbelievable thing to even comprehend for this team just seven years ago.

It’s hard to believe that the season is already over as it seems like the Kings raised their banner only yesterday. But it is, and it ends with the Blackhawks being able to raise a banner of their own when October rolls around; a banner some thought wouldn’t be raised by any team just a few short months ago. Funny how things can change.

Looking back at January, and the very real possibility of an altogether lackluster season for the San Jose Sharks, I don’t see how — OK, aside from the massive losing streak and early playoff elimination — you look at what the Sharks managed to do this season and be all that disappointed. The team opened the season with a franchise-best nine wins before their first loss — not to mention Patty Marleau tying the all-time NHL record with goals in each of the first four games of the season. Talk about a statement from Captain Gutless, eh, JR?

From a management and roster perspective, the big story of the regular season was, of course, the big names, both traded away and acquired: in particular Doug Murray (to the Penguins) and Ryane Clowe (now a Ranger). Now, I love these guys to death, but those moves were astonishing in their addition-by-subtraction nature.

The team had simply gotten too slow to compete in certain facets of the game, and what a hat tip is due to management for pulling the trigger and moving these guys. The decision to make those changes had to rest on confidence in a number of areas including how well the team can do with the spades of draft picks now available to the Sharks in both 2013 and 2014, as well as the more immediate issues of trusting available to call-ups from Worcester, and the ability to make a move for another key piece or two to help build a complete team. Like picking up Raffi Torres (*ducks and covers* — we’re getting used to doing that here in Bay Area, not on account of the earthquakes, but rather how y’all tend to throw things and boo and hiss when we drop that particular name).

As any Sharks fan knows, the nail biting really gets underway in the playoffs. The first round this year, however, the boys in teal were a whole lot of fun to watch. After attaining the 6 seed in the west, the Sharks proceeded to sweep the Vancouver Canucks in the first round. (Sweep! And I don’t mean that to be a swipe at Vancouver, at least not any more than it obviously is.) In doing so, the Sharks, no doubt, shook off some playoff demons and nightmares from match-ups past. And rudely provided fans and media, both, with what eventually turned out to be false hope about the prospects for the match-up in round 2.

I really don’t mean to come down too hard on the team here. The Sharks did indeed take the defending Stanley Cup champions to a seventh game in the conference semi-finals. Yes, they lost that game, in a grinding 2-1 defeat. But as a fan, you sense something unusual: a feeling of disappointment THAT the team lost, which is a real departure from years past, where the disappointment was aggravated by HOW the team lost. Team Teal has certainly done itself no favor in trying to shake the title of “chokers” during its previous eight consecutive years’ worth of postseason appearances.

In this year’s playoffs, though, it seems like this Sharks team finally managed to rid the franchise of that albatross; at the very least, I felt like they at least began to make that case, short of winning it all. This team was not one you could say went down without a fight. In fact, we saw a team that stayed in the fight, and that took that fight all the way down to the wire. They lost in game seven, they lost by a goal, and they lost by playing one hell of a series, after simply demolishing a familiar and fearsome foe the series before.

No, that doesn’t change how playoff elimination, especially in a close seventh game, is a gut-wrenching experience. I’m not trying to be a soothsayer in that regard. But, as I wrote at the very beginning of the season, this is not a team in as bad a shape as some people would have you believe. The coaching staff has, I think, proven themselves worthy. As the roster evolved over the season, it, perhaps improbably, became an entirely better lineup than at the beginning of the year, despite a lot of people thinking the roster was in more or less intractable shape.

The cabinet of prospects, bare as could be back in January, is now flush with picks in what was going to be an otherwise slim couple of drafts in 2013 and 2014. Leadership among the team seems to be managing an incredibly graceful transition: Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle — all UFAs at the end of next season, as it happens — as the grizzled vets providing guidance and voices of experience, with Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski well-poised to take the reins for the future, playing in front of Antti Niemi who’s under contract in net for the next couple years yet.

Another season gone by, culminating in playoff disappointment for the San Jose Sharks. You’d be right to suspect frustration as the primary outcome. But if you ask me, the future is looking a good bit brighter than it was at the start of the season, and that’s an altogether pleasant surprise. Of course, every Sharks fan wants to see the boys win a Cup, but if this is plan B, it sure beats some of the other options, like just blowing the team up.

Finally I know I speak for all of us here in the Bay Area when I wish good luck to the Bruins and the Blackhawks as they head into Game 2 in the greatest sporting battle of them all, the Stanley Cup Final. May the half-a-championship* go to the best team, indeed.

* – I’m kidding, I’m kidding! You people are so sensitive about the impending record-book asterisk, aren’t you!?

So here we are. Original Six Stanley Cup Final. Two out of the last three champions. The two teams that make Canucks fans shed bitter tears whenever said championships are mentioned [important]. Saint Patrice versus Captain Grumpy Cat (or, wait, Captain Serious. Whatever. Dude looks like Grumpy Cat. And if his whining and tantrum throwing in the playoffs so far is any indication, basically is Grumpy Cat) [Grumpy Cat. Wow. A meme. We are so topical here. I’m glad we are mentioning memes. This will surely get him. Sick burn, dude.]. The Blackhawks were utterly amazing in the regular season and, following a slight hiccup in the first round vs Toronto, the Bruins have looked unbeatable in the last two rounds of the playoffs.

These two teams very much deserve to be squaring off for the Cup. Ultimately, this starts in goal. Corey Crawford got very little respect going into the post-season, despite he and Ray Emery (lol) somehow winning the Jennings Trophy for the goaltenders on the team with the lowest GAA in the regular season. The assumption was that he’s pretty much Chris Osgood; competent but unspectacular goalie made to look good by the team in front of him.

That may be the case, but if so, he’s doing a damn good Chris Osgood impression – putting up really solid numbers and backstopping his team to the Final [Chris Osgood? LOL Oh honey, please. Let’s cut the crap. He’s as much Chris Osgood as I am.]. Rask, too, has had his share of detractors, particularly the idiot cadre in the hockey media who decided he was a “non clutch” goalie who couldn’t win elimination games. Tell that to the Penguins. As it is, the two goalies in the Final have both the best two GAAs (Crawford first, Rask second) and SV% (Rask first, Crawford second). [While it’s somewhat close, I still think Rask is the better of the two goalies. His .950 even strength save % is much better than Crawford’s .928]

Things might look pretty even in net, but I think the Bruins clearly have the edge on the blueline. In general, the D corps match up pretty evenly. Both have a rock solid #2 D-man who can’t quite anchor a top pair by himself (Seidenberg and Seabrook), seasoned veterans who are usually solid but prone to the occasional terrifying lapse (Ference and Oduya), inexperienced young D on the bottom pair with a bit of offensive flair (Krug and Leddy), cuties with receding hairlines (Boychuk and Hjalmarsson) and, um, well Adam McQuaid likes to punch people and Michal Rozsival is old (the parallels fall down a little there).

The big difference is in each team’s franchise blueliner. Don’t get me wrong, Duncan Keith is an amazing player, and I’d take him on my team any day, but Chara is simply and consistently one of the best D-men in the league every single year (plus Keith baseball bats people in the face when he’s pissed. Classy stuff) [Oh man, you’re killing me. A Boston Bruins fan lecturing me on “class”. That’s rich.]. Yes, the Hawks have faced great players like Suter, Boyle [WTF?], and Doughty these playoffs, but none of them has the sort of defensive presence that Chara brings.

The combination of Rask, Chara, and Bergeron completely eliminated the Penguins’ much vaunted offensive threat for the entire Eastern Conference Finals. [Chara is far and away the best blueliner on either team, but I don’t think he gives the Bruin a “clear” edge over the Blackhawks on the blue line. Just as the Bruins have relied heavily on their D throughout the year, so have the Blackhawks. Crawford and Emery didn’t win the Jennings just because they played well. I’d say it’s pretty much a wash. And Boychuk is not hot, don’t give me that crap.]

That mention of Bergeron brings us to the forward matchups. Here, there’s a legitimate argument that Chicago has an edge over the B’s. 3 of their 4 top wingers are amazingly good, and the fourth is having a flukey playoff goalscoring run which is going to hilariously inflate his UFA contract this summer (hi, Bryan Bickell). [I’m going to laugh until the end of time when Calgary outbids Buffalo for him with a 5 year $30 million contract] They have the excellent Jonathan Toews centering their first line. That is genuinely intimidating. But at the same time, their second line centre is Michal Handzus, of all people. Their attempt at a Brad Marchand-style pest is Dave Bolland, who this season has been objectively terrible at hockey. [It’s funny how Dave Bolland was the original Brad Marchand and now Brad Marchand is a better Dave Bolland than Dave Bolland is.]

The Bruins, on the other hand, don’t have anyone with the consistently strong career scoring numbers of a Hossa or a Kane, but they do have the two leading scorers of this year’s playoffs: Nathan Horton and David Krecji. Add in a suddenly very dangerous looking Milan Lucic and you have a top line that is the equal of the Blackhawks. Patrice Bergeron matches up very well with Toews as one of the best all-round forwards in the league, in fact he’s probably better. [Let’s not say what we know are inherent lies, ok? Give me a freakin’ break.] Plus the Bruins centre depth is better than the Hawks (Chris Kelly as 4^th line centre is impressive). [Center depth, yeah. Handzus has been pretty meh although he has come up big when you’d least expect it]. That said, Hawks wingers probably shade the Bruins, so I’d call the forwards a wash. [As of right now, I’d say that’s fair. If Toews gets things going, however, I’d have to give Chicago the edge, even if Seguin ever decides to show up.]

Special teams are also a wash, in a rather depressing sense. Both teams have managed only seven powerplay goals each in the playoffs, and both had thoroughly meh powerplay records in the regular season. On the penalty kill, however, both have been beasts. Chicago is killing a ridiculous 94.8% of the penalties they take and, while not as impressive, the Bruins are at a very solid 86.5%. [Which is too bad since the Hawks will spend about 10 minutes on the PP each game thanks to Boston gooning it up.] End result? Expect more shorties than PP goals.

So where does this leave us? Two good teams, pretty evenly matched, possibly an edge to the Bruins at the back and maybe the Blackhawks up front. Unlikely to see many PP goals. Are we in for series of 1-0 or 2-1 slugfests? Somehow I don’t think so. Rask is due an off night, and Crawford is due several. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar to the 2011 final, with the home team dominating, and the first team to manage an away win taking the Cup. [I’d probably agree with this.] Putting my money where my mouth is, I have to go with Bruins in 6. Wouldn’t be surprised if it went 7, or if Chicago squeaked out a win, but there’s just been something about the Bruins these last two rounds.

I think Lord Stanley is coming back to Boston. [I’m obviously going to disagree with this. As much as the Bruins scare me, I could never pick against the Blackhawks. Whichever team wins game one, which I think the Blackhawks will do because fuck Boston.]