Final Thoughts on 2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks: A shortened season that produced even more memories

Oh, right. So this is what it was supposed to feel like. I guess I kinda forgot after two straight years of first round exits in the playoffs. None of that bullshit this year though, no sir.

I entered this year with my expectations for the Blackhawks somewhat tempered by the fact that the defending champion would be bringing back essentially the entire roster it won the Cup with in 2012—not to mention the fact that some of their players were getting about three more months of rest than Cup winners normally do. However, when Chicago came storming out of the gate and made through each of the first two quarters of this 48-game season without losing a single game in regulation, those expectations were raised about as high as they could be set by the time we got to the third and fourth quarters of the year.

Entering the playoffs as the top seed, anything less than winning the whole damn things seemed unacceptable. That said, this year's run did not seem to be quite the formality it felt like in 2010. I might be downplaying some of the more stressful moments from that postseason, but you could see supposed fans of the team this year leaping off the bandwagon at numerous times when Blackhawks trailed in games or series. Judging by the parade turnout yesterday, I think most of them came back. Maybe they now realize what fans in other cities learned this season the hard way: you can never count this team out.

Final Thoughts on 2013 NHL Season: All's (Really) Well That Ends (Really, Really) Well

It's still rather hard to believe that less than six months ago, many of us we're sitting here thinking that we were on the brink of seeing an entire NHL season wiped out for the second time in less than a decade. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, the puck dropped, and things could not have worked out more perfectly.

I will clearly get to my fawning Final Thoughts wrap-up of the beloved Blackhawks' season in the next post (hopefully tomorrow), but it's important to step back and look at the Playoffs and the entire season as a whole. It apparently wasn't just me who was enjoying the hockey this year. Following the conference finals, the playoffs were the second most-watched in 16 years. This year's Stanley Cup Final was the most watched on record (which, admittedly, only goes back to 1994), and the deciding Game 6 was the ninth-most watched game ever in the United States.

But let me not read too much into those numbers. It is customary for most hockey fans to complain about the lack of attention the sport is receiving, but if we can acknowledge that this cult sport remains fourth in popularity among the four major sports, those of us who did watch were royally treated these past two months. There were overtime games galore, a good number of competitive series and a Stanley Cup Final that at time seemed to be about as evenly matched as any I've ever seen. Much like last year's shortened NBA season, it felt as though this 48-game NHL campaign not only compelled viewers to pay closer attention during the regular season, but brought out another level of competitive spirit from the players as well. The end result is a conclusion so glorious, I suspect many might even forget there was a work stoppage in the first place.

Final Thoughts on 2012-13 NBA Season: Your Anti-LeBron Argument is Hereby Invalid

My pick for the NBA Finals last round made no secret about my borderline boredom with a majority of this year's playoffs, but I thought I made clear that I had pretty high expectations for the final series of this basketball season. Consider those expectations completely shattered. Decimated. What I just saw is certainly among the greatest NBA Finals of my lifetime, and I would not be surprised if in future posts I refer to it as the greatest of all time.

As the fact that I picked against Miami each of the past three years when predictions are made for the final round indicates, I have enjoyed rooting against the Heat as much as the next non-Floridian or Cleveland resident. You know that I was sharing some of the giddy joy in that bar on Tuesday night when the Spurs were less than a minute away from a fifth title. Alas, that legendary game bears so much resemblance to another Lone Star State Game 6 meltdown, the Texas Rangers twice being within one strike of winning the 2011 World Series. I'm relatively certain that at this rate, it's either going to be the Cowboys, the Texans or maybe even the Stars choking away a title in 2015.

While I think a good majority of this NBA season unfolded pretty much as expected, the way it finished was spectacular. And at this point, you are either ignorant or bitter to deny giving credit to the Miami team that ultimately delivered the championship it was favored to win all season long. This team has been a deserving favorite for the past three years, and—barring an unprecedented trade or dramatic overnight rebuilding of some other entire roster—will almost certainly be favorites next year and maybe three more after that. As I remarked to a co-worker today, now I guess I know how other fans in other cities felt during the Jordan years.

NHL Stanley Cup Final Prediction: More Than a Feeling

That title's play on the Boston song title was admittedly swiped form a Facebook post by 670 The Score's Nick Shepkowski. I'll elaborate on that when I get to my pick at the bottom of this post, but I need to take a moment to note that, Stanley Cup winner aside, the rest of my original preseason picks for winners and losers of the last round and now, hopefully, this round, have been right on. I will elaborate on that overall performance this year in the final NHL post of this season, when I am hopefully celebrating Chicago's second Stanley Cup in four years.

Rest assured, this time around is nowhere near the gimme that 2010 felt like when the Blackhawks drew the seventh-seeded Philadelphia Flyers. Indeed, the Boston Bruins have simply been playing lights-out hockey ever since the remarkable opening round Game 7 comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Of course, they've been doing it in the Eastern Conference, so make of it what you will. Me? I've got my doubts. Of course, I'm a tad biased.

NBA Finals Prediction: The Big Finish

The hopes were so high as we entered the conference finals, and the dramatic conclusion to Game 1 in the East certainly gave lots of people reason to believe that we were finally, finally going to get some basketball that was worth tuning in for. And, well ... not so much. San Antonio quickly did away with Memphis and while Miami and Indiana indeed went seven games, the finale was a predominantly one-sided affair. Alas, we arrive at the final matchup of the NBA season, and this one should definitely make for a pretty riveting conclusion to what has otherwise been a pretty forgettable basketball postseason. With the exception of, say, the upstart Golden State Warriors, the NBA Playoffs has more or less gone as expected and completely paled in comparison to what's been going on over on the NBC Sports Network most every night. But hey, don't take my word for it:

The NHL playoffs have been exponentially better than the NBA playoffs this year.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) May 22, 2013

As @danwetzel said, the NHL Playoffs have been miles more compelling than the NBA Playoffs this year. Not even close.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 22, 2013

Now, you're bound to hear some people complain that the Spurs are "boring," that the Thunder were the preferred opponent, that this year's playoffs suffered when some of the game's best point guards (Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose) were unable to compete. However, San Antonio has been exceeding expectations, and this year's Finals has a nice narrative. Tim Duncan, arguably the greatest power forward of all time, against LeBron James, perhaps the greatest player of all time, period. A Spurs team that has never won consecutive titles trying to deny a Heat team back-to-back championships. LeBron getting an opportunity to avenge being swept by San Antonio in the 2007 NBA Finals. And, of course, Gregg Popovich getting the opportunity to accept what will be David Stern's final Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy presentation less than a year after the commissioner levied a ridiculous fine against the team for resting star players in a nationally televised game against this same Miami team. Yep, should be fun.