May 23, 2010

Chicago Blackhawks sweep Sharks, advance to Stanley Cup Final : Dustin Byfuglien was born in March, 1985, meaning he had just celebrated his seventh birthday the last time the Chicago Blackhawks qualified for the Stanley Cup final. That was the era of Mike Keenan behind the bench, Ed Belfour in goal and Jeremy Roenick, leading the way. Chris Chelios had come over from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Denis Savard, but Steve Larmer was still around, and so was Brent Sutter, Michel Goulet and Steve Smith. Dominik Hasek was the back-up. Byfuglien was celebrating again yesterday, scoring a power play goal with only 5:55 to go in regulation to give the Blackhawks a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks and a sweep of their best-of-seven Western Conference final .


posted by tommytrump to hockey at 07:17 PM - 5 comments

Can I take comfort in the fact that the 90's Red Wings at least waited until the Finals to get swept when they couldn't live up to their potential?

posted by MeatSaber at 02:29 AM on May 24, 2010

I figured Chicago would beat them, but I did not expect a sweep. At times it looked as though the Sharks just mailed it in.

posted by roberts at 07:04 AM on May 24, 2010

Well, Thornton did not do much this series to rid himself of the "No Show Joe"/big game bottler reputation (although I thought he did have a very good series in the previous round against Detroit). It seemed like the only Shark who really wanted it (at least the past two games) was Marleau, who I thought was pretty great, and not just on account of his goals.

posted by holden at 08:54 AM on May 24, 2010

Marleau did seem like the only one on the Sharks going full speed on the backcheck. Conversely, San Jose couldn't get over the blue line without harassment by Toews, Kane, Sharp, and Versteeg.

BTW, did Versteeg play that way all year? And how many Selkes is he going to win playing like that? Guy makes John Madden look like a cherrypicker.

posted by tahoemoj at 02:57 PM on May 24, 2010

Thornton just looks like he doesn't have another gear. He plays the same pace of game whether it's a Thursday in January, or a Saturday in May. Given his age, his performances need to stop being such a surprise.

Now Jonathon Toews on the other hand... There's a big game player right there.

Again though, it wasn't a particularly physical series. None of them really have been - save for all the series that Philly's been involved in. It's been a bit strange for me. San Jose just wasn't nearly physical enough, but Philly won't make that mistake.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:36 PM on May 24, 2010

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