Stanley Cup Champions 2013

It was entering the third period of Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals when things seemed like it would be heading into overtime and likely a Game 7 situation. The best-of-seven series between two of the league's oldest teams, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins, looked like it was about to be tied despite the former having a 3-2 series lead. These two teams were the first of the Original Six to meet in the Finals since 1979. To say things in the league had changed slightly would be an understatement.

This season started out rough. There was a lockout that lead to a shortened season of only 48 games. The Blackhawks even managed to do something that had never been done before and went 24 games without a loss in regulation. Fans were in awe and were watching history happen.

The year before the Los Angeles Kings made history by going on to be the first eighth seeded team to win the Cup and also the first team to go 3-0 in all of their series. The past two years have been ones for the history books.

But these playoffs were different. Some fans, whether disgruntled that their team never made it or was eliminated, said that winning the Cup this season wasn't like winning it any other time because of the fact that there 34 fewer games than normal. These were tough games though. Surprises happened like Boston's game seven in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They had an amazing comeback after being down two going into the final minute and a half of the game. Chicago came back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

These games were hard fought. Going into the final game of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron was suffering from a broken rib and Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa was dealing with disk issues that left him without feeling in his right foot. During the game, several players were injured, and all returned to the game. Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw took a puck to the face, but he came back out and played despite the fact that he could have had a concussion. His stitches kept bleeding throughout the contest, but he said anyone who could play but wasn't was crazy.

The game ended just the way no one would have predicted. Within 17 seconds, the Hawks had come from behind to win the game with two goals. These playoffs were not won easily and they were not easy to predict, but in the sports world, that's what makes games like these so much fun. Now we just have to wait and see who will try and win Lord Stanley's Cup in 2014.

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