What a team. I thought they'd win over TB and they got it done in 6. This is probably the last year they make a deep run like this for a little while. Their cap situation is atrocious going forward with Kane/Toews tying up over $20M between the 2 of them plus $5M+ on Hossa for the next 6yrs that they will not be able to get rid of. That is one awful contract.
You sometimes pay for success but three cups in six years is what any team would strive for with a core of players.
Forwards Antoine Vermette C UFA Brad Richards C UFA Marcus Kruger C RFA Brandon Saad LW RFA Andrew Desjardins C UFA Joakim Nordstrom C RFA Daniel Carcillo LW UFA Defense Johnny Oduya D UFA Kimmo Timonen D UFA (ret) Michal Rozsival D UFA David Rundblad D RFA Minors Matt Carey C RFA Dennis Rasmussen C RFA Mac Carruth G RFA Viktor Svedberg D RFA Drew Leblanc C RFA Kyle Cumiskey D UFA Spencer Abbott LW UFA Cody Bass C UFA Pierre-Cedric Labrie LW UFA Michael Leighton G UFA
Rangers aren't in the same area code as the Blackhawks. - 3 cups in 6 years. Rangers have proven these last few years that they struggle in every playoff series, and ultimately can't get it done. Blackhawks will win more cups before the Rangers ever get close.
The same Vermette who was benched in the playoffs and you morons don't want to acknowledge it and think he played a big part of why they won. He didn't. He played 13 minutes a game. I'm sure somebody else would have had the game winners on that team because that is what they do. They have done it for 6 years. Hawks won because of their core and because they continue to have picks like Saad and Teravanien who come up big. Not because they gave away a 1st rounder for a guy they benched and gave 4th line minutes to. Morons.
Dump, i agree that Vermette was nothing special and should not be touted as a great trade that put them over the hump. However, the purpose of the game is to win the Stanley Cup and if losing that 1st rd pick on the Vermette deal is part of the cost of winning it, then so be it and i'd say it's worth it. They do have to make significant changes and probably will have a down year next season, but they are a very well run team so the window is not closed on them by any means. They just need to retool the way they did after the first Cup.
Amazing that with all the great players on the Hawks a few clowns here credit a guy who played 13 minutes and was benched. Typical of those posters.
as you usual you totally fucking miss the point. smh..what ever the draft is right around the corner, cant wait to see all the cut and paste jobs to hear about how great the next great class of two way smallish forwards the Rangers will draft or perhaps another defenseman who fail to live up to first round billings
Hawks only scored 13 goals in 6 games and Vermette scored 2 game winning goals in the 3rd period to win 2 games including the pivotal game 5 on the road. Dismissing that is idiotic. Sure maybe they would have won the cup without him but he came up big for them, end of story. Trade was a success period. I don't care what he did in the playoffs overall.....he scored 3 huge goals in the WCF and Finals.....BTW this is exactly the type of huge goals this team has not scored and is why they don't have a cup despite 3 trips to the ECF. Using this logic you could argue the Amonte trade for Matteau and Noonan was WAAAAAY worse despite the huge goal Matteau scored that helped allow them to win their first cup in 54 years. Because, you know, someone else on the Rangers would have scored in maybe 3 OT vs the Devils in 94......and they would have had Amonte for 10 more years. Chicago won a cup and Vermette had 2 game winners in the finals. Great trade for the 30th pick in 1st round. End of thread
Trade was an absolute failure. When you give up a first round pick, bench the guy in the playoffs twice and play him 13 minutes a game, the trade was a failure. You aren't giving up a good prospect and a first round pick for a guy you play 4th line minutes and bench twice. The Rangers gave up 1st round picks for St. Louis and Yandle who they basically were counting on to be impact players. You people are on crack. The reason the Hawks won was not Vermette. It was a lot more Teravanien who was a first round pick. He had 4 points in 6 games in the finals. Vermette had 2 G, 0 A in 6 games and played 10 minutes a game in the finals. 4th line minutes. That is not what you give up a first round pick for. That's one more minute a game than Tanner "I suck ass" Glass played in the finals. He had a couple of timely goals. Other than that, Vermette sucked in the playoffs for the Hawks. If he was a huge part of them winning, the trade would have been a success. He wasn't and that is a fact. He's also a UFA now. It was the same guys as always that won them the cup. Kane, Toews, Hossa, Keith and a couple of players like Saad and Terevanien.
probably 98% of NHL players will never score a game winning goal in a Stanley cup final, let alone 2. The Vermette deal paid huge dividends for the hawks.
probably 98% of NHL players will never score a game winning goal in a Stanley cup final, let alone 2. The Vermette deal paid huge dividends for the hawks.
and while i'm at it, since none on the board mentioned it, congratulations to Brad Richards and Michael Rozival for having there name etched on the cup for the second time. Both players consummate pro's who handle themselves on and off the ice with class.
