By Pat Pickens
Monday night, the Stanley Cup playoffs ended.
Sure, they went out in style — more on that below. But one could make the case that 2013 was one of the all-time great playoff years. After all, 33 per cent (five of 15) of the series went seven games, and between upsets, amazing performances, these playoffs won’t soon be forgotten.
So as such, we decided to compile the Top 13 moments of the 2013 playoffs.
Honourable mention: Players, Owners agree to new CBA, Jan. 6. It’s callous, but without this moment, the playoffs would have never happened.
I could call this the best moment, but then Gary Bettman wins.
13. Voynov for the win, May 8. Slava Voynov decided to score a lot of important goals this post-season. Few could argue that without this overtime winner against the St. Louis Blues, the defending-champion Los Angeles Kings wouldn’t have advanced past the first round.
Instead, Voynov’s goal lifted Los Angeles to its only road playoff win this year and a six-game series win over St. Louis.
12. Playoff hockey return to Toronto. The NHL is a better place when the Toronto Maple Leafs are good. And somehow, this year, the Leafs figured out how to be good again.
The Maple Leafs’ return to the post-season — inspired by a fun, young group — lit the fuse for the NHL’s most passionate fan base to become relevant. Now we’ll see what Randy Carlyle’s bunch can pull off for an encore in 2013-14.
11. Vokoun comes through when it counts. The New York Islanders — and more specifically their fans — dominated and got into in Marc-Andre Fleury’s head. After pitching a Game 1 shutout, Fleury allowed 14 goals in three games, and the Penguins were on the ropes.
Dan Bylsma inserted backup Tomas Vokoun, and that move made all the difference. Vokoun pitched a shutout in his first game — the first of his six playoff wins this year. If not for the 36-year-old’s performance, imagine how large a bust the Pens would’ve been?
10. First-round fireworks. The Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators was littered with overtime, fights and blowouts. The Kings/Blues series was epic. The Islanders/Penguins series went longer than it was supposed to, and the Washington Capitals/New York Rangers series went the distance. Boston vs. Toronto was an all-time classic — more on that below.
Seventeen games went to overtime — more than any playoff round ever.
9. Marleau sinks Canucks, May 8. John Tortorella is the Vancouver Canucks coach, and Alain Vigneault is coaching the Rangers. Roberto Luongo will undoubtedly be traded this off-season, in post-season that will reshape the Canucks’ franchise.
All that was made possible the San Jose Sharks’ four-game sweep, which ended — thanks to a controversial penalty on Daniel Sedin — on Patrick Marleau’s power-play goal in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series.
8. Kings PP comes through in a pinch, May 16. For some reason — maybe it’s the East coast bias, or perhaps because it was only Game 2 — but this classic didn’t get the press it deserved.
Thanks to a pair of late third-period power-play goals, including Trevor Lewis’ eventual game winner, the Kings won game 2 of their Western Conference semifinals series against the San Jose Sharks, 4-3, en route to a seven-game series win.
Thank you puck over the glass rule for making this possible! .
7. Seabrook saves Chicago, Part I, May 29. The Chicago Blackhawks were down 3-1 against the Detroit Red Wings but rallied to win both games five and six, earning home ice in Game 7.
After surrendering a 1-0 lead early in the third period, it appeared that Niklas Hjalmarsson’s goal late in the frame would lift Chicago to the Western Conference finals. That was until Stephen Walkom decided to blow his whistle mere seconds before the Blackhawks’ defenceman scored.
Still, the teams went to overtime tied, and mercifully for both Walkom and the NHL, Brent Seabrook became the hero.
6. Boston wins marathon, June 5. The playoffs’ second-longest overtime game happened to go down in Game 3 of the Bruins vs. Penguins Eastern Conference finals.
And Jaromir Jagr may have gotten away with a hook, he helped set up Patrice Bergeron’s game-winning goal as the Bruins went on to sweep the heavily favoured Penguins in four straight.
5. Kane sends Hawks to the Finals, June 8. Patrick Kane had a remarkable post-season. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy and it was thanks to performances like the one he had in Game 5 of Chicago’s Western finals series with the Kings.
The American they call “Kaner” authored his second playoff hat trick — Vancouver Canucks fans undoubtedly remember his other one — scoring the game-winning goal in overtime.
4. Shaw lifts Hawks in Game 1, June 12. There is a case to be made for this being the greatest Stanley Cup final Game 1 ever. Chicago overcame a two-goal third-period deficit to force overtime.
Then the teams played, and played, and played, and played.
When it was all done — at 1:15 eastern time and 12:08 of the third OT — Andrew Shaw had redirected Dave Bolland’s redirection past Tuukka Rask, and the Blackhawks had a 1-0 series lead.
3. Seabrook saves Chicago, Part II, June 19. The Blackhawks were one shot from falling behind 3-1 in the Stanley Cup final, and the way Corey Crawford was playing in Game 4, that shot didn’t have to be a sharp one.
But Seabrook, just as he did in Game 7 against Detroit, set the stage for Chicago to take the series, beating Rask and evening the series at two.
2. Bruins defy the odds in Game 7, May 13. The Leafs were so close to overcoming a 3-1 deficit and winning their first playoff series in nearly 10 years.
Then this happened.
And this is how you reacted.
Fear not, Leafs nation. All that set the table for…
1. Hawks score twice in final 1:16 to claim the Stanley Cup, June 24. Seriously. How do you trump this?
Or this?
Or this?
Of course it was the No. 1 moment. We’ll all be talking about this for a long time.
And thanks to labour peace, we all know that 2013-14 is going to begin in October.
