Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Blackhawks Claim Cup Again

Alumni trio of Toews, Keith and Sharp captures its third Stanley Cup in six years; Keith wins Conn Smythe.

Blackhawks Claim Cup Again
Jonathan Toews joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players to captain three Stanley Cup winners by age 27.

Led by captain Jonathan Toews (North Dakota) and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Duncan Keith (Michigan State), the Chicago Blackhawks have laid their claim to an NHL dynasty, winning their third Stanley Cup championship in six years Monday night in Chicago.

Hawks Rely on NCAA Talent | Stanley Cup Winners

Toews, Keith and Patrick Sharp (Vermont) have been a part of all three of those titles, becoming the 14th, 15th and 16th former NCAA players to win the Cup three times. Toews is the only member of that group to have captained a Cup champion.

Keith’s Conn Smythe Trophy makes him the seventh former U.S. college player to be named the MVP of the playoffs and the fourth in the last six years.

Joining Toews, Keith and Sharp’s names on the Cup will be Scott Darling (Maine) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (New Hampshire). Darling becomes the second former Black Bear to win the Cup, joining Dustin Penner (2007, 2012), while van Riemsdyk is the first former Wildcat to win the Cup since Bryan Muir in 2001 (sixth overall).

Nearly two dozen members of the Blackhawks’ front office played college hockey as well, the most of any team in the NHL. The Hawks had the most prospects playing college hockey this season (13) and the most NCAA players among their draft picks at last June’s NHL Draft (7).

This marks the 39th straight season that at least one former NCAA player has won the Stanley Cup as a player.