Hockey Hall Of Fame Adds New Members

By definition, a hall of famer is a group of persons judged outstanding, as in a sport or profession. It means that you were the best of all time, or one of the best of all time, at your profession. You were so much better than anybody else to ever come along to play a specific sport. In terms of hockey, if you get the call that you are being inducted into the hockey hall of fame, it means that you were the best in the sport of hockey to ever come along. Now there will be seven new names to take enshrinement at the Hall in Toronto in November. Those seven names just happen to be Bill Hay, Peter Kramanos Jr. Angela Ruggiero, Phil Housley, Chris Pronger, Sergei Federov and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Bill Hay got his start in the league as a player with the Chicago Blackawks, playing in the windy city from 1959-60 to 1966-67. Hay is known for becoming the first NCAA graduate to play in the NHL. His resume includes contributions while serving as president and chief operating officer of Hockey Canada, president and chief executive officer of the Calgary Flames, and most recently as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hay was known for building a pretty good Hawks team during the 1990's.

Peter Karmanos has been involved in hockey for more than four decades. He started the Compuware youth hockey program, has owned Ontario Hockey League franchises for 30 years (including the Plymouth Whalers, which was the first in the United States) and bought the Hartford Whalers in 1994 and moved them to Raleigh, N.C., to become the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. If it wasn't for Pete Karmanos, the Hurricanse wouldn't be as settled in and popular in Carolina as they are. Him and Billy Hay will be inducted into the builders category in the Hall.

Now to the players who are going to be inducted. Angela Ruggiero Ruggiero has done a number of great things to really help put women's hockey on the map, not only in North America, but on an international level as well. She won gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Olympics and bronze at the 2006 Turin Olympics with the United States women's team. The 2004 Patty Kazmaier Award winner at Harvard as the best player in NCAA women's hockey, Ruggiero helped the United States win the world championship in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011 and finish second six times. In 2003 she was voted the best women's hockey player in the world by The Hockey News, which is a huge honor. Having been an active hockey player from 1998 to 2011, Ruggiero has taken the level of Women's Hockey to new heights, helping set a new standard for blueliners.

Keeping with American players who helped change the game, enter Phil Housley. The St. Paul Minnesota Native is the 2nd highest scoring american born player in league history. His 1,232 points is 2nd only to Mike Modano amongst American born scorers. Those point totals were amassed over 1,495 games played during 21 seasons with eight teams. Housley has suited up for the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only are those 1,232 points 2nd among American born scorers, it puts him 4th in NHL history for points among defensemen. One of the top offensive defensemen of his generation, Housley had at least 60 points in a season 12 times. Housley had good hands and great vision on the ice, as evident by his high assist totals. He had himself a pretty good shot, but was known more for his great passing and great skating.

Housley did more than just prove himself at the NHL level, as he was also a force on the international level. He represented the United States at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, winning a silver medal, and two times in the Canada Cup. Housley also appeared in the NHL All-Star Game seven times.It's been quite a long time for Housley, who last played a game in the NHL in 2003. After twelve long years, his wait list is finally over.

Joining him in the hall is fellow blueliner Chris Pronger. Pronger started his career in 1993-94, playing for the Hartford Whalers, then moved along to the St. Louis Blues, where he had his longest tenure. Pronger followed that up with a stop over in Edmonton with the Oilers, before playing with the Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers. That's a pretty impressive team list to cover over an 18 year career. Pronger finished his career playing in 1,167 games, scoring 157 goals and adding in 541 assists, for a grand total of 698 points. He wasn't put out on the ice for his scoring touch. Pronger quickly became known as one of the most physical defensemen of his era. His hits were hard and could be heard almost anywhere in the entire building. Pronger also logged an incredible amount of ice time. He averaged more than 30 minutes per game in two seasons for the Blues, and more than 25 minutes per game in every full season he played from 1998-99 to 2009-10.

One thing that Pronger can hang his hat on is that he and Bobby Orr are the only two blueliners in league history to win the Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy in the same season. Orr did it in 1970 and 1972, while Pronger pulled it off in 2000. Pronger also is a member of the Triple Gold club. He won the 1997 World Championship with Canada, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Ducks; He also won gold at the 1993 World Junior Championship and reach the Cup Final with the Oilers in 2006 and the Flyers in 2010. Pronger was a tough as nails leader who would carry his teams on his back. He logged big minutes night in and night out, was a physical presence on the ice and was a game changer. He could shut down the opposing forwards better than most blueliners in the game.

Probably the best European defenseman ever gets a call for the hall on his first ballot. Nicklas Lidstrom will go down in history as one of the greatest blueliners to ever step foot on the ice in the NHL. He was so good at his position, he was awarded the Norris trophy seven times, tied with Doug Harvey for the 2nd most ever. The only blueliner to win more is Bobby Orr with eight. North American hockey fans first got a look at Lidstrom during the 1991-92 season, when he debuted with Detroit. Lidstrom spent his entire twenty year career with the Wings, playing in 1,564 games, scoring 264 goals and adding in 878 assists for a total of 1,142 points. His games played is 4th most amongst d-men all time and his points are good for 6th. Lidstrom won the Stanley Cup four times, and in 2002 he became the first player born and trained in Europe to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He was also the first European to captain a Stanley Cup champion, in 2008. with the Wings, his last cup ring.

Lidstrom can do a little bit of everything. One of the best skaters at that position, could move quick to cut off the walls for the opposition. Only three times in his career did Lidstrom fail to score double digits in goals in a season, his career best being 20 goals in 1999-2000. He was a leader and one of the most composed defenders in the game, only hitting the 50 minute mark in penalties once in a season, that coming in 2006. He never really wanted the spotlight on himself. That showed great character from a great leader.

Rounding out this group is a teammate of Nick Lidstrom in Detroit. He may be one of the best two way centers in the 1990's. Sergei Federov came over from Russia in 1990-91 to play with the Wings after defecting from Russia. While playing in Moscow, Federov, Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny made up one of the greatest lines ever put together. After joining the Wings, Federov became a part of another very dangerous unit in the Russian Five: Federov centering Igor Larionov and Vyacheslav Kozlov, with Viacheslav Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov on defense. Fedorov played 18 seasons in the NHL with the Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. He had 483 goals and 1,179 points in 1,248 games, and 176 points in 183 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Towards the end of his career, Federov's numbers started to decline. In fact, after the 2004-05 mlockout his play began to go downhill. Before that, Federov had scored at least 25 goals in every season except one (that was 1997-98 when he only played in 21 games). He hit the 100 point plateau twice in his career. Fedorov won the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award in 1994, and was a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy (1994, 1996). Those two Selke Trophy wins showed how great of an all around player Federov was. To be able to excel at both ends of the rink takes a special kind of player, and Sergei Federov was that and then some. He could create magic on the ice, and was able to do it at top flight speed, which is an even rarer combination.

So there you have it, your Hockey Hall of Fame, Class of 2015!

And The Awards Go To............

Now that the NHL season has come to an end, its time to hand out some hardware. This is always the time of the year to honor the individuals in the great team sport known as hockey. Some guys cleaned up the hardware, while others came as a bit of a surprise. So lets not waste any time and jump right in. Here's who walked away with what hardware last night in Las Vegas.

Mark Messier Leadership Award: (Awarded to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season. Awarded by Mark Messier, himself)
Winner: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

William M. Jennings Trophy (Awarded to the goaltender(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it in the regular season)
Winners: Corey Crawford (CHI) and Carey Price (MTL)

Art Ross Trophy (NHL Scoring Champion)
Winner: Jamie Benn Dallas Stars (87 points)

Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer)
Winner: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (53 Goals)

NHL Foundation Player Award (Awarded to the player who applies the core values of hockey to enrich the lives of people in his community)
Winner: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community)
Winner: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability)
Winner: Jiri Hudler, Calgary Flames

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey)
Winner: Devan Dubnyk Minnesota Wild

Ted Lindsay Award (Awarded to the NHL's outstanding player as selected by the members of the NHL Players Association)
Winner: Carey Price Montreal Canadiens

NHL General Manager of the Year Award (Awarded to the top National Hockey League General Manager)
Winner: Steve Yzerman Tampa Bay Lightning

There were a couple of other guys who were up for this award that it could have gone to. Look at Glen Sather of the Rangers, for assembling them into a Presidents Trophy winning team. You could mention Bob Murray of the Ducks, for getting that team to the best in the West. You could even have looked at Garth Snow for building the Islanders into a playoff team. But they got this one right by giving it to Yzerman. Just llok at what he has been able to do. Yzerman has turned the team around in the last five seasons. He made the moves to help propell this Tampa team into the Eastern Conference Champions.

Jack Adams Award (Awarded to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success)
Winner: Bob Hartley Calgary Flames

I think the biggest reason the Award went to Hartley is because nobody had the Flames going where they did in the playoffs. Calgary hadn't made the playoffs since 2009, they got there this year. Clagary hasn't won a playoff series since their run to the finals in 2004. Guess what? They did that this year too, before they lost to the Ducks in the 2nd round. Bob Hartley had a big factor in that. He managed to take this team of young players to buy into the system and made it work. Work well it did.

Frank J. Selke Trophy (Awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game) 
Winner: Patrice Bergeron Boston Bruins

For the 3rd time in his playing career, Bergeron takes home the Selke as the top defensive forward in all of hockey. Bergeron is quickly establishing himself as one of the best two way centers that the game has to offer. He can do it all. He can win faceoffs, score and shut down the opposition. This marks the 2nd straight year, and 3rd time in the last four years, that Bergeron has captured the trophy. In fact, Bergeron joins Jere Lehtenen, Pavel Datsyuk and Guy Carbonneau as three-time winners. They all still trail behind Bob Gainey, who holds the Selke record with four wins.

Calder Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the league's most outstanding rookie player)
Winner: Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers

You could have made the argument for Mark Stone of Ottawa, or Johnny Gaudreau of Calgary, or even Filip Forsberg of the Predators. But it went to Ekblad of the Panthers. He had one of the best seasons by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history. His 39 points were just two short of the record for points by an 18-year-old rookie defenseman. Ekblad played a significant role on his team after being picked first overall last June.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position) 
Winner: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators

To a degree I think this award is taking on a bit more of an offensive touch to it. It is for the best defenseman in the entire league. this year, for the 2nd time in his career, it went to Erik Karlsson of the Sens. The offensive-minded defenseman had 66 points in 82 games this season while helping the Sens reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was one of the big reasons that the Senators made their late season push to make it into the post season. Karlsson also had a bounce back year personally, after missing a good chunk of time last year to the leg injury. His performance on the Snes blueline this year made him worthy of the award.

Vezina Trophy (Awarded to the league's top goaltender)
Winner: Carey Price Montreal Canadiens

This award looked like it may have been a runaway for a different netminder at the start of the season. For a chunk of the season, it appeared that Pekka Rinne of the Predators was going to have the trophy. He was standing on his head in the early part of the season and he kept the Preditors near the top of the division all year long. Sadly for him, Rinne had to deal with injuries, and wasn't quite the same goalie in the latter half of the year. You could also have made an argument for Devan Dubnyk of the Wild, who turned his game, and maybe his career, around after coming to Minnesota. The Wild rode his stellar play into a solid playoff run, making it into round two. Price, on the other hand, was the most consistent netminder of any goalie in the entire league. Price had the best season of NHL goalie by a mile and is the single biggest reason the Canadiens finished with the second best record in the league in the regular season. He lead the league with 44 wins, a 1.96 GAA and a .933 save percentage. This is Price's first Vezina win and probably won't be his last.

Hart Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the league's most valuable player)
Winner: Carey Price Montreal Canadiens

Carey Price became the first goaltender since Jose Theodore to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP. He finished off an impressive haul that includes the Vezina and Jennings Trophies and Ted Lindsay Award. It was a historic season for the goaltender. Price received 139 of 157 possible votes. It was a landslide win for the Habs netminder who could be adding plenty more trophies to his bustling case over his career. You cloud have made the argument for the other two finalists, Alex Ovechkin and John Tavares as well. With Ovechkin, he scored 53 goals and helped lead the Capitals into the a 2nd place finish in their division. With Tavares, he lead the Islanders from a team last year who missed the playoffs, to this year making the playoffs. He scored big goals, made big plays and finished second in the league in scoring, just one point behind Jamie Benn for the scoring crown.

My reasoning for why Price should have won is sort of the same reason as to why he won the Vezina. He lead the league in wins, the best save percentage and lowest goals against average in the NHL. Montreal won the division, riding the back of their workhorse netminder. The reason for the award is you are the most valuable player to not only your team but to the league as well. Without Price healthy and between the pipes for the Habs, Montreal doesn't sniff the playoffs. He was the best player in the league by a longshot. Price becomes just the 3rd goalie in history to win the Vezina and Hart in the same year. The other three are Jacques Plante in 1962, Domink Hasek in 1997 and 1998, and Jose Thedore in 2002.

So there you have the NHL award winners for the 2014-15 season!

Milestone Weekend In Major League Baseball

When you go to a Major League Baseball game, or any pro sporting event for that matter, you always go with the expectation of something magical to happen. This past weekend, the baseball world saw not one but two magical moments happen within a span of 48 hours. First one came in New York, with the second one happening in Washington DC.

Detroit was in town to play the Yankees for a three game weekend series. When the series opened up, Alex Rodriguez was sitting at 2,999 lifetime hits. Starting for the Tigers on Friday night was Justin Verlander, a guy who Alex Rodriguez has had good success against in his career. So with two outs and nobody on in the first inning, A-Rod came to the plate. On the first pitch Justin Verlander threw, this happened:


It was the 13th homer of the year for Rodriguez, but just as important it was the 3,000 hit of his career. He becomes just the 29th player in the history of the majors to collect 3,000 hits and just the 3rd, joining Derek Jeter and Wade Boggs, to pick up his 3,000th hit on a home run. Of the 29 men who have picked up 3,000 hits in the Majors, Pete Rose, Derek Jeter (but that will change in less than five years) A-Rod and Rafael Palmeiro are the only ones not in the Baseball hall of fame. Jeter will no doubt get in when he comes on the ballot. Palmerio is a maybe, with the steroids and all I highly doubt he is going to get in. Pete Rose isn't in because of betting on baseball. That just leaves Alex Rodriguez in question.

A lot of people will jump on the bandwagon that because of the steroids, Alex shouldn't have the 3,000 hit milestone. I can't see that happening here. When it comes to the home run argument, then yes you have a case to stand on. See when it comes to taking steroids, that only really helps with power hitting. I highly doubt that steroids can help you actually hit the baseball. Being able to hit a baseball is the hardest single skill in all the sports world to be able to do. You need to have great hand-eye coordination in order to be able to hit a baseball moving somewhere around 90 miles an hour in about sixty feet. You need to be able to get your hands and eyes in sync to be able to get a bat on the ball. Steroids can help with the distance, but not really with making contact, at least I don't think so. So you can say what you want about steroids and whether or not Alex took them, that's totally up to you. He still had to be able to hit a baseball 3,000 times, which is a very hard thing to do. Alex wasn't the only one to have a special weekend this past weekend in the Majors.

Then there was the the No-No thrown in Washington. Max Scherzer of the Nationals tosses the second no-hitter in the Majors this season and the 289th in the history of the game. This was coming off Scherzer throwing a complete game one hitter. In his last start, on Sunday in Milwaukee, Scherzer took a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Brewers, only to settle for a one-hit shutout with 16 strikeouts and just one walk in his nine innings.

Then the day before father's day, he would get his revenge. Scherzer was on his game against the Pirates, throwing 106 pitches and striking out six while walking nobody. It should have been a perfect game, but the perfecto was broken up by this:


I mean come on Tabata, you could have gotten out of the way of the pitch. Its's kind of clear that he turned right into the pitch and it cost Scherzer the Perfect Game. That's another argument for another day. Scherzer still kept his composure, getting the next hitter, Josh Harrison, to fly out to left field to complete the No-Hitter.

What makes this no hitter impressive is that Scherzer did it against a hot Pirates team. Pittsburgh came into that game having won 21 of their previous 27 games but that didn't bother Scherzer. He struck out 10 and allowed just 11 balls to be hit out of the infield. Between this start and his last start against the Brewers, Scherzer retired 54 of the 57 batters he faced in the two baseball games. So far, it's safe to say that Max Scherzer has been worth every penny, at least to this point, of the $210 million he's being paid.

So congratulations to Max Scherzer on throwing a no-hitter and to Alex Rodriguez on picking up career hit #3,000!

Golden Championship! Warriors Win NBA Crown

The Drought is Over! For the first time in forty years the Golden State Warriors are the NBA Champions! It comes on the strength of a six game series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State capped off the title win with a 105-97 victory in game six. It's been a long time coming for the city of Oakland, who hasn't seen a championship since the 1988 World Champion Oakland Athletics.

Golden State jumped out to a big lead, going up 28–15 in the 1st quarter. However, the Cavaliers went on a big run to cut the deficit to 2 at halftime, trailing 45–43. Cleveland carried that momentum into the 2nd half, taking an early 47–45 lead in the third quarter. This was the only time in the 2nd half that the Cavs would get a lead. Golden state took over the basketball game from there out, outscored the Cavaliers 28–18 in the 3rd quarter. The Warriors were, at one point, leading by as many 15 before taking a 12 point lead into the 4th, leading 73–61. Once the 4th quarter got rolling, the Cavs cut the deficit down to 7, but the Warriors pushed the lead back to 15.

The Cavaliers, led by J.R. Smith, made a late surge to cut it to 4 with under 40 seconds remaining. However, the Warriors hit their free throws and closed out the series clinching win, giving the franchise their first title since 1975.  Lebron finished the game with 32 points, followed by 19 from J.R. Smith and 17 from Timofey Mozgov and last but not least, 15 points from Tristin Thompson. They were the only Cavs players to hit double digits in points in this basketball game.

Golden State woke up after falling down early. Stephen Curry dropped nine of his twenty five points in the 1st, all of it coming in a span of 4:15. Then Igoudala took over from there. He hit three of four shots after missing his first three shots. Ball movement proved to be the key to Golden State’s early success, as the Dubs recorded assists on 11 of their 12 first quarter field goals. Cleveland didn’t do themselves any favors, as the Warriors notched 14 points off the Cavs’ nine turnovers. Cleveland spent most of the game shooting themselves in the foot.

Its no surprise that J.R. Smith didn't really show up till the basketball game was already out of reach. That doesn't come as a surprise, that has been J.R. Smith's MO his entire career. He plays when he wants to. To a degree I almost felt bad for Lebron. Almost. The guy had a fantastic series, practically carrying the Cavs on his back. He's only one guy, it's not possible for him to do everything himself. The two guys you would expect to be his supporting cast were hurt. The rest of the team had a chance to step up and help. Mozgov did an admirable job, so too did Thompson, but that was about it. There had been some questionable coaching by David Blatt, like not playing Mozgov more early in the series. I'll give Cleveland credit for going down fighting in game six, as they had a couple of good runs in the 2nd and 4th quarters. But it wasn't enough.

Golden State did in the finals, what they did against Memphis in the West Finals. Were down early in the series, made adjustments and dominated the rest of the series.Stephen Curry and Andre Igoudala each dropped 25 points. Then you chip in 16 from Draymond Green, and 10 each from Sean Livingston and Festus Ezeli. This goes to show the difference between Cleveland and Golden State. Golden State had their big gun in Stephen Curry, just like the Cavs have Lebron. Golden State had more depth scoring and role players, something which the Cavs never did. Even if they would play, it wouldn't be until the game was pretty much out of reach. Golden State was a dominating team this season, beating the league going wire to wire to win the crown/

Andre Igoudala, who did not start for the Warriors until Game 4 of the Finals, was named the Finals MVP for his instrumental defense against LeBron James. Igoudala came in the series in game four and had a major impact, shutting Lebron down and forcing the rest of the Cavaliers to try and help out the King, which is something they clearly weren't ready for.

So congratulations to the Golden State Warriors, your 2015 NBA Champions!

Dynasty? Hawks Win 3rd Cup In Six Seasons

For the 3rd time in the last six seasons, Lord Stanley's Cup will make its home in the Windy City. On the strength of a 2-0 win in game six, the Blackhawks clinched their first Stanley Cup on home ice since 1938. Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane provided the offense, while Goalie Corey Crawford was stellar with 23 saves, winning his fourth game of the Final in which he surrendered one goal or less. It was his second shutout of the playoffs.

Crawford had to make a couple of big saves, and get a little bit of help, to keep the Lightning off the board. First came a little bit of luck. Tampa managed just four shots on goal in the first, but came oh so close to taking the lead early, when at the 12:11 mark of the period, Steven Stamkos rang one off the crossbar. He had Crawford beat dead top rights over the catching glove, but couldn't beat the post. Chicago controlled most of the play in the opening period and got a little help form the post to keep the game scoreless. To the 2nd period we went and Chicago got bailed out just 56 seconds into the period. Steven Stamkos got a clean breakaway against Crawford. The puck bounced on him just a bit and he had to settle it down. Stamkos then made his move and was stopped not once but twice by the left leg of Cory Crawford.

Shot totals were a little closer in the 2nd, as it was a 10-7 edge in favor of the Blackhawks. Chicago finally broke through. At the 2:47 mark of the period, Ducan Keith managed to do this:


Patrick Kane got the play going and then found Keith in the middle of the ice. Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop stopped Keith's first shot, but he went around Lightning center Cedric Paquette and put the rebound off Bishop into the net for his third goal of the playoffs. This move and goal was a little like the goal Scott Niedermayer scored in game two against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1995 finals. Chicago would hold that one goal lead going into the 3rd period.

Once that 3rd period got going, so to did the Lightning. Tampa fired off 14 shots in the final period, but Cory Crawford was there to shut the door tight. No save he made in that final period was bigger than the point blank chance that Ondrej Palat had. Tampa was on a powerplay and there was a mad scramble in front of the net. Palat took a couple of whacks at the puck but was stopped, the last one coming on a phenomenal glove save by Crawford.

Chicago had their fair of chances in the 3rd as well, firing off nine shots on net. The Hawks finally added the huge insurance goal when this happened:


Brandon Saad started the rush, took the puck to the line and left a drop pass for Richards. Richards fed Kane with a pass for a one-timer and the first two-goal lead in almost 355 minutes of play in the series. For Kane, it was his 11th goal of the playoffs and 1st goal in this finals series, which is a bit of a surprise for a guy who has a high level for scoring goals as he does.

Chicago held on to that 2-0 lead to clinch the title. Game Six was the only one in the series that had a two goal lead in it at any point. Every win the Hawks had in the series, they managed to score just two goals in each of the games.

A couple of things to note about this series from the Lightning perspective. First of all, Ben Bishop was quite impressive in this series. Why? Because it was revealed that he had played game three five and six with a torn groin. He helped keep the Bolts in this series with an injury and he still played pretty well. I kind of feel that with the way he played, Bishop deserved a bit better of a fate than he got. One of the reasons I fell the Bolts came up short in this series was the triplets line. They were held in check the entire series. Three goals from that entire line over the course of six games? That can't happen. Palat, Kucherov and Johnson had been playing outstanding all playoffs long and then decide to not show up at all in the finals. Bad time of year for that line to go cold.

Once the Hawks finished celebrating, and the teams shook hands at center ice, it was time to hand out some hardware. First up was the Conn Smythe trophy, going to the playoff MVP. This years winner was Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith. Keith was a unanimous choice for the award, in doing so, he becoming the ninth defenseman to win it. Keith was a machine during the playoffs, averaging more than 31 minutes of ice time in 23 playoff games. Also, the 21 points Keith registered are tied for 10th-most by a defenseman in a postseason. It was almost a no-brainer that he was going to win it.

After that the Hawks got the cup. After Jonathan Toews took the trophy, the first person he handed it off to was 40-year-old defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who missed most of this season because of a blood clot in his lung and joined the Blackhawks in late February in a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers. Chicago has a modern day dynasty. This marks the 3rd title in six seasons and is the third championship for eight Blackhawks players, and for Quenneville. Toews, Kane, Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Bryan Bickell were drafted by the Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp joined in a trade in 2003, and Marian Hossa signed as a free agent in 2009.

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, your 2015 Stanley Cup Champions!

Lebron Dominates But Not Enough Against Warriors

Heading into game five, whoever has won this game has gone on to win the NBA championship in 20 of the previous 28 instances. Hearing a stat like that has to make you happy as a Warriors fan, and worried as a Cavaliers fan. Despite the best effort of Lebron James, Golden State came away with a 104-91 win and will take a 3-2 series lead heading back to Cleveland.

The first three quarters were tight, with neither team leading by more than seven points. Both teams scored 22 points in the 1st quarter. The Warriors led 51-50 at halftime, then built on that lead, heading into the 4th quarter leading 73-67. The Cavaliers opened the 4th quarter on a 13-6 run. LeBron's deep three pointer gave the Cavaliers a 80-79 lead with just over 7:30 remaining in the ballgame. However, the Warriors responded with a huge run, closing out the game on a 25-11 run. Stephen Curry scored 37 points, going 13 of 23 shooting from the floor in the victory. In fact, 17 of his 37 points came in the 4th quarter.

LeBron James had his second triple double of this NBA Finals series, posting 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. It was his sixth career finals triple double, placing him second all-time behind only Magic Johnson (8). James also became the second player in NBA Finals history to score 40 points in an NBA Triple Double after Jerry West in 1969 NBA Finals. The Cavaliers lost consecutive playoff games for the first time this postseason. They had been 3-0 in playoff games following a loss.

A few interesting notes about game five last night. I give Lebron all the credit in the world. Dropping yet another triple double in the finals and another 40 point game are you kidding me!?!?! This guy is playing out of his mind and carrying this basketball team on his shoulders. Lebron has kept Cleveland in this series, and to make this more impressive, there's no Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving. Outside of Lebron, J.R. Smith (14 points), Iman Shumpert (10 points) and Tristan Thompson (19 points) were the only Cavs players to hit double digits in points. Timofey Mozgov played only nine minutes total in the game and didn't score a single point. Matthew Dellavedova, who had been a solid complementary scorer to Lebron, was held to just five points in the game. It doesn't help when you go two for nine from the floor, including one for five from three point range. That's what sets the Cavs and Warriors apart.

Cleveland has to rely on Lebron to do most of the work. He's the best player in the game today, there's no arguing that fact. What is being disputed is how deep the Cavs are. Cleveland just has no support for Lebron. Look at what the Warriors have been able to do. Stephen Curry led the way with 37 points.  Besidse Curry, there were three other starters, Klay Thompson (12 points), Andre Iguodala (14 points) and Draymond Green (16 points), hit double digits. The only starter who failed to hit double digits was Harrison Barnes who had eight points. In fact, the Warriors also got 13 points from Leandro Barbosa off the bench. That's the biggest difference. There's way more depth and a supporting cast behind Curry than their is Lebron.

Golden State can close out the series, and win their first NBA title since 1975, tomorrow night in Cleveland!

Curry, Iguodala Lead Warriors To Even Series

During the first three games of this years finals, the pace was kind of on the slow side, just the way the Cavaliers like to play it. During game four, the speed and pace of the game picked up, a style of play which favors the Warriors. It showed as Golden State came away with a 103-82 victory in game four, pulling the series even at two games apiece.

Golden State showed why they were the best team in the league during the regular season. Stephen Curry dropped 22 points, looking like he had returned to form that most fans were used to seeing. He wasn't the only one to drop 22 points, as Andre Iguodala did the exact same thing. It showed the depth and versatility that this Warriors team posses. Surprising leading the way for the Cavs, at least in the scoring department, it wasn't Lebron James. King James finished with 20 points, well below his average that he's had in this series, and 12 rebounds. Again these are below the standards that the King has set for himself in the finals. It turns out that Timofey Mozgov led Cleveland with 28 points. Then you also saw that surprising stud Matthew Dellavedova had 10. To be fair, Dellavedova had been battling leg cramps after a hospital stay for dehydration following game three. But I give him all the credit in the world for trying to fight through this and keep playing. That's what the finals can do to a person. Not just in the NBA, but in any sport for that matter.

Not having both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving is showing the Cavs are lacking a little bit of depth and firepower. Case in point: The Cavs shot just 2-of-18 from the field and were outscored 27-12 in the fourth quarter. Cleveland got nothing from their bench, J.R. Smith missed all eight 3-point attempts and Cleveland's reserves combined to score seven points. Now I think the Cavs fans are starting to realize how frustrating it is having J.R. Smith in the Lineup. Welcome to the Knicks experience of having J.R. Smith. Cleveland was outplayed by a better, deeper Warriors basketball team in this one.

Andre Iguodala had a big game for the Warriors at both ends of the floor. He drained four 3-pointers as part of the 22 point output he had. Iguodala was also able to keep James in check on the defensive side of the ball. Case in point: King James went 7-of-22 from the field and 5-of-10 from the free throw line. Yeah, I'd say thats a pretty good way of keeping the King in check. Of course Stephen Curry made four three pointers as well, including a deep dagger in the fourth over Iman Shumpert to end any thought the Cavs had of a comeback. Draymond Green added 17 points and Harrison Barnes had 14 for Golden State, which didn't lose three straight games all season while racking up 67 wins. Hell, if the Warriors get a lead of fifteen or more in any basketball game this season, they are a perfect 57-0. I'm not sure about anybody else, but this looks a lot like what happened in the last round against Memphis.

Golden State's ball movement was better, the shots that didn't drop in the first three games were on the mark and the Warriors are headed home feeling much better about things. They are still the team to beat. They may have found their groove again at the end of game three. If that was a sign of things to come, the tide may have just changed in this finals series