Because its the cup: 2013 Stanley Cup Finals

Jonathan Toews has led his team once again to the Stanley Cup Finals. By Resolute, via Wikimedia Commons

Why isn’t anyone talking about the Stanley Cup Finals? I understand that is isn’t as highly followed as the NBA finals or any other “main” sport but at least I still consider it a top-four sport behind football, basketball and baseball. Nonetheless, the NHL and especially the Stanley Cup Finals should be covered more with more people talking about or at least put every game on national TV. The story lines this season make the series that much more enticing to watch.  Both the Bruins and Blackhawks showed

First off, it is the first time in 34 years that two of the original six NHL teams (Bruins, Blackhawks, Rangers, Red Wings, Canadeins, and Maple Leafs) have met in the Stanley Cup Finals. For the Bruins, getting to the Stanley Cup wasn’t easy, as they had to defeat the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Penguins to do so. In game 7 of the first round, the Bruins came back from a 4-1 deficit in the third period and won 5-4 in overtime.

In the second round, the Bruins routed the New York Rangers four games to one. In the Eastern Conference finals, they cemented their 2013 playoff resume by annihilating Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since they won the title in 2011. From the second the Bruins made the astonishing comeback against the Leafs in round one, I predicted the Bruins to make it to the Stanley Cup.

As opposed to the winding road the Bruins traveled, the Blackhawks were a favorite to make the finals. They stacked-up a 24 game win streak early in the season and never looked back. The Blackhawks would go on to clinch the number-one seed in the Western Conference and plow through the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, and Los Angeles Kings. The Red Wings series was the only one that was close, including a game-7 overtime game.

As for the current Stanley Cup finals, so far the first two games have gone past regulation with game 1 going to three overtimes and game 2 just going to one overtime. Both games have been amazing to watch. They have played two games this series and as the series shifts from Chicago to Boston for game 3, both teams should feel good about themselves because this series I believe will go seven games. It already feels like one of the best series in any sport that I have watched in a long time. The games have been so close and so physical. Playoff overtime in the NHL is one of the most exciting things in sports The series is tied 1-1 right now and I seriously can’t wait to see what happens from here on out in this series. It doesn’t always happen, but hockey fans lucked out this year and actually got the two best teams playing in the finals. Considering the fact that we almost didn’t have hockey this season, this series makes up for missing half the season and if you miss the rest of it, you’ll be sorry.