Blackhawks Clinch President's Trophy For First Time In 22 Years
Best save of the year by Crow. Foley bringing it as always.
…
(Source) EDMONTON, Alberta — The Chicago Blackhawks used a sizzling start and a fantastic finish to capture the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in 22 years.
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists, and the Blackhawks clinched the NHL’s best regular-season record with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.
The Blackhawks (35-6-5) held off the Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh Penguins for the top regular-season record in the NHL.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya also scored for the Blackhawks, who have gone 10-1-2 in their past 13 games and assured themselves of the NHL’s best mark for the first time since 1991.
Chicago began the season with at least one point in each of its first 24 games.
“To have the start to the season that we had and to keep playing consistently is an amazing thing for our team,” Toews said. “We’ve shown a lot of character, we’ve definitely learned from our mistakes the last few years and we’ve grown. I think everyone has matured as players in this locker room.
Lets get one thing out of the way to start off. Every single Blackhawks fan knows that the President’s Trophy doesn’t guarantee a Stanley Cup. In fact, in the history of the game the President’s Trophy winner rarely takes home the Cup. No one is celebrating this or bragging about this like it means anything other than best team in the regular season. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a nice thing to have. You play to win the game. The Hawks won more games than everyone else. That’s a pretty cool thing. And if I’ve learned anything as a sports fan its that it is as much about the journey as it is the destination.
When your team wins a Championship it is the best feeling in the world, but it’s over in a blink of an eye. Ask a Ravens fan how quickly the draft snuck up on them, how quickly their core group of guys disappeared and how next year will be an entirely new group of guys. As a fan, if you can’t enjoy the steps in the process then there is no reason to watch. So yeah, I will put a little feather in my hat for this one. The Blackhawks this regular season were incredible to watch. Now lets get the playoffs going, its about damn time.