It doesn’t matter if you’re a diehard hockey fan, a casual viewer or someone that barely plays attention to the action on the ice – sit down and watch one game in the Stanley Cup Finals and chances are you’re going to be hooked.
Maybe not to the point that you’re ready to gear up and watch an entire season with your face painted in your team’s colours, but all it takes is one experience with the back-and-forth action that marks the final series of the season in the NHL to make you appreciate why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are undeniably the most compelling and entertaining championship competition in all of sports.
Every year, there are a handful of intriguing stories that captivate the audience.
From a veteran looking to win their first Cup or a Cinderella squad making an unexpected to a team trying to live up to expectations or a group aiming to be etched into the history books as a dynasty, each iteration of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has something to get you hooked and this year was no different.
You had the upstart Tampa Bay Lightning – a young squad led by second-year coach John Cooper – looking to knock off a fourth Original Six team on the way to hoisting the Cup squaring off with the Chicago Blackhawks, a veteran-laden team that has already won two titles in the last five years hoping to make it three in six.
Over the course of the six-game series, no team had a two-goal lead until Chicago went up 2-0 at the five-minute mark of the third period in the clinching game.
Even in winning their third title in six years, the Blackhawks still accomplished something they hadn’t done in decades, hoisting the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time since 1938.
It’s not just the Finals that stand out either.
Every round is tense, tightly contested and filled with excitement. Rivalries are formed and continued. New stars emerge and established talents take their games to the next level, while others wilt under the pressure.
As the kids say on social media these days, Overtime hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs >>>>> Everything.
If you’re not convinced, check out the video below showing the final seconds ticking off the clock at “The Madhouse on Madison” and the annual Hockey Night in Canada playoff montage.
Thanks for another great year on the ice and congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, your 2015 Stanely Cup champions.
