NHL Stanley Cup Finals - Game 6

The Chicago Blackhawks are on the verge of winning their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961, thus ending the longest championship drought in the NHL. The honor of the longest length of time without a championship will fall to the last of the Original Six teams without a Cup victory since the NHL expanded in 1967, the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The Blackhawks are still one win away from winning the Stanley Cup and Chris Pronger and the Philadelphia Flyers will do everything to deny Chicago for another year, the Blackhawks have proven a model for success that can be followed in the future by other long suffering teams.

Drafting the best provides the best results. The best performers for Chicago all came through the draft, Patrick Kane was a first overall selection (2007), Jonathan Toews third overall (2006), Brent Seabrook 14th overall (2003) and Duncan Keith 54th overall (2002). Tanking is never a popular topic but finishing at the bottom of the league for a few years does have its advantages if the team drafts well. 

Add scoring depth particularly on the third line. The Blackhawks boast a tough checking line that can find the net, what makes the Blackhawks so unique is that Toews and Kris Versteeg are tough checkers as well as scorers. Chicago Coach Joel Quenneville has been able to break up the top line and spread the skill across three lines making it impossible for the Flyers to matchup against. 

Don’t blow your wad on the goalie. Neither goalie in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals earns a million dollars a year but with solid defensemen, you can keep out just enough goals to let your scorers win the games for you. 

The turnaround can come quickly. Yes, the Blackhawks were at the bottom of the league for several years. They finished 26^th in 2007 but once the pieces were in place, Chicago shot up the standings and were in the conference finals last year and are one win away from the Stanley Cup finals this season.  

Over the past few two years, we have seen a changing of the guard in the NHL, with the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils losing their dominance and giving way to the Penguins, Blackhawks and Flyers. The one thing these three teams have in common is that they were stuck in the NHL’s basement for several years before making a meteoric leap up the standings and through the playoffs.  The next time you see your team sitting in last place don’t give up hope because the change can come fast and you could be cheering the Stanley Cup Champions in just a couple of years.