2010 Stanley Cup Finals

The 2010 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL)  season. As the culmination of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers faced the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks had home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, by virtue of their better regular season record - 112 points to the Flyers' 88. The series started on May 29, and finished on June 9, with the Blackhawks defeating the Flyers 4 games to 2 to win the Stanley Cup.

This was the first Stanley Cup championship for Chicago since, which had been the longest active Cup drought; the Toronto Maple Leafs' 43 year title drought now stands as the longest active streak in the NHL. In addition, the Blackhawks become the fourth major Chicago sports team to win a championship since 1985, joining the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, and the 2005 Chicago White Sox.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. With teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, he won the Olympic Gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics, adding the three to the list of Ken Morrow, Steve Yzerman, and Brendan Shanahan (both ) as the only players to accomplish this double.

Having played for Team USA at the Olympics, Patrick Kane joined Chris Chelios and Brett Hull (both 2002) as having won both the Olympic Silver medal and Stanley Cup in the same year.

Marian Hossa became the first player in NHL history to play in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams.

Jonathan Toews also became the twenty-fourth player and the seventh Canadian player to become a member of the Triple Gold Club having won an Olympic Gold Medal, an IIHF World Championship Gold Medal and the Stanley Cup.

Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks finished the regular season as the Central Division champions with 112 points. This is the fourteenth division title in franchise history for the Chicago Blackhawks but the first since when it was called the Norris Division. As the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Blackhawks defeated the seventh seed Nashville Predators and the third Vancouver Canucks, each in six games, and then swept the first seed San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final.

This was Chicago's eleventh Stanley Cup Final appearance and first since. They won the Stanley Cup for the first time since, which was currently the longest active Stanley Cup drought, this distinction now falls to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were also the first Original Six team other than the Detroit Red Wings to reach a Stanley Cup Final since the New York Rangers in their championship season of 1994. Marian Hossa is the first player in NHL history to appear in three straight Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams, having previously made the Final with the Pittsburgh Penguins in and with the Detroit Red Wings in. Also, along with Hossa, the other half of Chicago's preseason acquisition from Detroit, Tomas Kopecky, was also playing in his third straight Stanley Cup Final.

Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs after finishing the regular season with 88 points, and winning the tiebreaker over the Montreal Canadiens for most wins (41 to 39). The Flyers, although the seventh seed from the Eastern Conference, were the very last team to qualify for the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. On the final day of the regular season they met the New York Rangers in a winner-take-all match-up for the final playoff spot. Philadelphia beat the Rangers 2–1 in a historic shootout, the first do or die shootout for a playoff spot in NHL history.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Flyers upset the second seed New Jersey Devils in five games. In the second round, against the sixth-seeded Boston Bruins, Philadelphia became the third NHL team to win a seven game series after being down three games to none (the others being the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders).

In the Eastern Conference Final, the Flyers eliminated the Canadiens in five games. This was Philadelphia's eighth Stanley Cup Final appearance and first since. They were also the first team to reach a Final with less than 90 points in the regular season since the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, when they had 85. The Flyers attempted to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in and.

Game one
The Chicago Blackhawks won game one by a score of 6–5 on the strength of two goals by Troy Brouwer. Throughout the game, the two teams traded goals with neither team having a lead greater than one. The Flyers opened the scoring at 6:38 of the first period on a goal by Ville Leino that deflected off the face of Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Blackhawks responded with two quick goals, one of which was shorthanded, to take the lead. The lead would not last long, however, as the Flyers would counter with two goals of their own to re-take the lead 3–2 after the first period. Patrick Sharp scored 1:11 into the second period to tie the game once again. Both teams would trade goals once again and tie the game at five after the second period. Michael Leighton was replaced by Brian Boucher after allowing the fifth Chicago goal. In the third period, Tomas Kopecky scored what would eventually prove to be the game winner at 8:25. Antti Niemi finished the game with 27 saves on 32 shots while Leighton saved 15 out of 20 shots. Boucher stopped 11 of 12 shots faced in relief of Leighton.

Game two
The Blackhawks took game two of the best-of-seven series by a score of 2–1, thus giving them a 2–0 series lead heading into games three and four in Philadelphia. In contrast to game one, game two was a low scoring affair with much tighter defense displayed by both teams. Neither team would score in the opening frame as the game entered the first intermission tied 0–0. It was not until late in the second period that Chicago managed to get the ice breaker with a goal from Marian Hossa. The Blackhawks quickly added another goal just 28 seconds later on a wrist shot by Ben Eager. The Flyers would eventually reply in the third period on a power play goal by Simon Gagne but it would not be enough. Both goaltenders were much stronger as Antti Niemi stopped 32 of 33 shots for the Blackhawks while Michael Leighton rebounded with 24 stops on 26 shots.

Game three
The Flyers won game three in overtime, 4–3, to pull within 2–1 in the series. Danny Briere opened the scoring for Philadelphia with a power play goal at 14:58 of the first period. Duncan Keith tied the game at 1–1 early in the second period, and both teams added another goal to leave the score at 2–2 entering the third period. Patrick Kane scored with 17:10 remaining in the game to give the Blackhawks their first lead, but Ville Leino responded with the tying goal 20 seconds later. In overtime, shortly after a review determined that a shot by Gagne was not a goal, Claude Giroux scored the game-winner at 5:59 of the extra period.

Game four
The Flyers evened the series at two games apiece by winning game four, 5–3. The Flyers took the lead 4:35 into the game on a Mike Richards power play goal. Matt Carle extended their lead to 2–0 at 14:48 of the first period. Sharp cut Philadephia's lead in half with 1:28 left in the period, but Giroux restored the Flyers' two-goal advantage 51 seconds later. Following a scoreless second period, Leino gave Philadelphia a three-goal lead 6:43 into the third period. Dave Bolland (on a power play) and Brian Campbell scored later in the third to leave Chicago trailing 4–3 with 4:10 remaining. However, Jeff Carter scored an empty-net goal with 25 seconds left to clinch the Flyers' victory.

Game five
The Blackhawks took a 3–2 lead in the series with a 7–4 victory in game five. At 12:17 of the first period, Brent Seabrook scored on a power play to give Chicago the lead. Within the next six minutes, the Blackhawks tripled their advantage, adding goals by Bolland and Kris Versteeg to make the score 3–0. At the start of the second period, the Flyers again took Leighton out of the game, replacing him with Boucher. Four goals were scored in the second period—two by each team—and the Blackhawks entered the third period with a 5–2 lead. James van Riemsdyk pulled Philadelphia within two goals at 6:36 of the third. Sharp made the score 6–3 with 3:52 remaining, but Gagne answered for the Flyers 1:16 later. Thirty-one seconds after Gagne's goal, Dustin Byfuglien tallied an empty-net goal—his second goal of the game—which concluded the scoring.

Game six
Game six required overtime, as the score was tied 3–3 at the end of the third period. Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks scored the series-winning goal at 4:06 into the overtime period, a shot in which the puck crossed the goal line and then got stuck underneath the padding in the back of the net. Everybody including most of the players and all the officials initially lost sight of where it went. Only Kane started to celebrate immediately, and was soon followed by the rest of the Blackhawks. It was only after a video review was the goal officially awarded.

Jonathan Toews won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and was the first Blackhawk to hoist the first Cup to be won in overtime since. This was the first Stanley Cup win for Chicago in 49 years. The win also vaulted Toews into the Triple Gold Club, having won the Olympic Gold medal in Vancouver earlier in 2010 and an IIHF World Championship Gold medal in 2007. Toews and defencemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook also became the fourth, fifth, and sixth players to win Olympic Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year. With Chicago's Cup win, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now the only Original Six team to not win the Stanley Cup or play in the Finals since the 1967 expansion; their most recent finals appearance came in their championship season of that year.

Officials

 * Referees: Bill McCreary, Dan O'Halloran, Kelly Sutherland, Stephen Walkom


 * Linesmen: Greg Devorski, Steve Miller, Jean Morin, Pierre Racicot

Television
In Canada, the series was televised in English on CBC and in French on the cable network RDS. In the United States, NBC broadcast games one, two, five, and six (which were all won by the Blackhawks); while Versus televised games three and four (which were both won by the Flyers). In Europe, Viasat Sport broadcast the televised finals in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia), through five regional divisions of Viasat Sport. Its sister channel Viasat Sport East broadcast in the Russian language to the European and Eurasian countries of Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

Ratings
Game 1 produced the best overnight rating in the United States for a Game 1 since 1999. The 2.8 overnight rating and 6 share was a 12-percent increase from the first game of the 2009 Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, in Canada, Game 1 was viewed by 3.164 million people on CBC.

Game 2 of the series, on Memorial Day, earned a 4.1 rating. The number of viewers increased as the game averaged approximately 6 million viewers with a peak of 6.940 million at 10:30 pm Eastern Time Zone. According to NBC, this is the highest Game 2 since at least because data prior to then is unavailable. Game 2 also saw a 21-percent increase over 2009's second game. In local markets game two drew a 25.1 rating and 39 share in Chicago along with a 18.5 rating and 28 share in Philadelphia.

Game 3 returned to cable on Versus where it received a 2.0 rating and 3.6 million viewers. The broadcast peaked at 5.1 million viewers at 10:30 pm ET. It ranked as the highest rated and most viewed program in the history of Versus. It also ranked as the highest rated and most viewed Stanley Cup Final game on cable television since.

Game 4 saw a decline of 9% from the 2009 Final between the Penguins and the Red Wings as just 3.1 million viewers tuned in to the game.

With the series returning to broadcast television on NBC, the ratings trend rebounded and improved over the 2009 Final ratings trend. Game 5's prime time portion of the broadcast received a 3.3 final rating and averaged 5.8 million viewers, an increase of 38% in the ratings and 32% in viewers over the 2009 Final. Locally, the Chicago market received a 26.0 rating while Philadelphia had a 19.7 rating. The three game average for NBC broadcasts rose to 5.4 million viewers, an increase of 800,000 compared to 2009. This increase came despite going head to head with the 2010 NBA Finals.

Game 6 was the most-watched NHL game since Game 6 in, when Gene Hart made his famous announcement of the Flyers winning that game, drawing a 4.7 rating and 8 share, up 38 percent vs. 3.4/6 for Game 6 in. The top two markets were Chicago, with a 32.8/50 and Philadelphia, 26.8/38. In Canada, Game 6 was the most-watched All-American Stanley Cup Final game on the CBC, with 4.077 million viewers. The Final averaged 3.107 million viewers, up 44 percent from 2009.

Quotes
"Campbell holds the puck into the line, turns, won't shoot. Kane, watched by Kimmo Timonen. To the net&mdash;Leighton stopped it. Where's the puck? It came loose on the other side. (Glenn Healy interrupting, It's in.) It's over! Patrick Kane has scored the goal! The Chicago Blackhawks long drought is over! For the first time since 1961, the Chicago Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup."

- CBC's Jim Hughson, calling Patrick Kane's winning overtime goal in Game 6. "The puck taken back by Campbell, drops it to Kane on the left half boards. Here's Kane now, juking his way to the right from the left corner, he shoots, he sco&mdash; oh no that's turned wide by Leighton. Loose puck in the crease; and, no, it's in the net! They score! They score! The 'Hawks win the Stanley Cup! The 'Hawks win the Stanley Cup!"

- John Wiedeman, calling the same moment for WGN Radio.

"Here's Campbell, handing on to Kane again. Lots of head fakes there, trying to shake Timonen. Threw one in front, they ... Oh my! It rattled around, and it kicked on back and then ... Score! We saw no light [from the goal judge], we saw no signal [from the officials], and we're not sure if they said a signal to the goal yet, but they [the Blackhawks] are celebrating at the other end of the ice! What chaos!"

- Mike Emrick, calling the same moment on NBC.

"[It's] one of the more unusual finishes, but it's a goal. The Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks!"

- Emrick, who waited until after the video review to declare the Blackhawks the winners in Game 6.

Blackhawks
An estimated two million Chicagoans attended the Blackhawks Stanley Cup parade on June 11, eclipsing the amount of people that attended the parade for the Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series championship, as well as the rallies at Grant Park for any of the Chicago Bulls championships in the 1990s. The Blackhawks' celebration also overshadowed the series between the White Sox and Chicago Cubs taking place around the same time.

US President Barack Obama, a former US Senator from Illinois and Chicago resident, phoned Joel Quennville to congratulate his team and to invite them to the White House. Obama joked that he now had "bragging rights" over Vice President Joe Biden, a Flyers fan.

Philadelphia Flyers

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Chicago Blackhawks

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