June 11, 2010

Toews lifts the Cup

It's the most coveted trophy in sports. Forget the World Cup trophy, the crystal football for the BCS title, and the Vince Lombardi trophy. The Stanley Cup is the greatest trophy in sports. Even ESPN has said so.

The Blackhawks got to raise the cup for the first time in 49 years, snapping the longest championship drought in the NHL. The Blackhawks had the perfect combination of youth and experience. And leading that youth was a former Sioux player, Jonathan Toews.

Toews had an incredible playoff run, scoring 29 points in the postseason, finishing only behind Danny Briere of the Flyers. He was the recipient of the Conn Smythe trophy and was the player who got to hoist the Cup for the first time. Not too shabby for a 22 year old.

I'm not huge into the NHL, but I am loving the influx of youth and college kids making an impact. And I salute the Blackhawks for having a great season.

June 4, 2010

Fienhage heading to Major Juniors

With the return of Chay Genoway to the Sioux this next season, the departure of Corey Fienhage to Major Juniors is no surprise. The Sioux are ridiculously stacked on the blue line next season and Fienhage was going to be looking at limited playing time. While the Sioux will miss him, he had to do what was right for him. I wish him all the best.

David Toews also headed to Canada after having two sub-par season with the Sioux. I'm not sure what happened with the younger Toews, but my thought is that he might have come in with a chip on his shoulder. Adjusting to the speed and toughness that is college hockey takes some serious mental ability, and in all honesty, David might just not have had that.

Aside from the seniors and those two, those are the only departures thus far. Stay tuned...