The Chicago Blackhawks huffed and puffed as they gathered inside their own blue-line, moments after the final horn had sounded on their season.
The defending champions had given their best shot in the final minutes of Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues. But just like in 2011 and in 2014, the Blackhawks failed in their attempt to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Down 2-0 in the first period, the Blackhawks battled back to tie the game. But after one of their former teammates, Troy Brouwer, knocked in a rebound to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead at the 8:31 mark of the third period, there would be no dramatic goal for Chicago despite a series of chances.
Captain Jonathan Toews swooped in off the wing with 9:15 remaining, but his backhand was easily turned aside by Blues goalie Brian Elliott. Brent Seabrook's blast from the point hit the right post and then left, but somehow stayed out with 4:05 left. NHL scoring champion Patrick Kane had a shot attempt from in close blocked by the stick of St. Louis defenceman Alex Piertrangelo about 90 seconds after Seabrook's close call. Marian Hossa fired a slap shot high over the Blues net a short time later. Duncan Keith drove another shot from the blue-line, but Elliott had a clear path to make the save.
And that was that. The team that had won three Stanley Cups in the previous six years – as close to a dynasty as we've seen in the NHL's salary-cap era – was done.
"When you don't win you second-guess what you could have done differently yourself," Toews said. "I had my chances. Like in times in the past, I kept telling myself there was going to be an important time I would find a way to score a big one. I was telling myself right down to the last draw."
Out of depth
The Blackhawks appeared down and out last week, down three games to one to St. Louis and running on fumes after a Stanley Cup in 2013, a trip to the West final in 2014 and another two-month battle to win the title last spring.
But they found some reserve fuel to tie the series, and many felt, because the Blackhawks had come through in the playoffs so many times before, that they would deal the Blues their fourth consecutive opening-round defeat.
It was the Blues, however, who got the job done to keep the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings as the last team to repeat as Cup champions. It will be interesting to see how much longer we'll have to wait in the salary-cap era for a repeat winner.
Here's how the defending champs faired the following year since the salary cap was instituted following the 2004-05 lockout:
- 2007 – Carolina: Missed playoffs, finished 11th in East.
- 2008 – Anaheim: Lost in first round to Dallas, 4-2
- 2009 – Detroit: Lost in Stanley Cup final to Pittsburgh, 4-3.
- 2010 – Pittsburgh: Lost in second round to Montreal, 4-3.
- 2011 – Chicago: Lost in first round to Vancouver, 4-3.
- 2012 – Boston: Lost in first round to Washington, 4-3.
- 2013 – Los Angeles: Lost in West final to Chicago, 4-1.
- 2014 – Chicago: Lost in West final to Los Angeles, 4-3.
- 2015 – Los Angeles: Missed playoffs, finished 9th in West.
- 2016 – Chicago: Lost in first round to St. Louis, 4-3.
The Blackhawks didn't have the depth they had in the past. The loss of Patrick Sharp, Brandon Saad, Johnny Oduya, Brad Richards and Antoine Vermette because of the salary cap was too much.
But this also was a team that has played 72 post-season games in four years. Add in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi for Toews, Kane, Hossa, Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson and others, and these guys have crammed in close to an extra season of hockey.
"Right now, it doesn't feel right," Kane said after the disappointment on Monday evening. "It's pretty quick right now to put into words, but obviously this was not the outcome we were looking for."
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