Remembering the day Patrick Kane became a legend
The Chicago Blackhawks knew they had a future Hall of Famer on their hands, but number 88 became a legend in one moment of one game.
June 15th, 2015. It was a day Chicago Blackhawks fans will all remember very fondly as they won the Stanley Cup for the third time in six seasons. When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was acknowledging this accomplishment during the presentation of the Cup, he declared they were a dynasty, and a dynasty they were.
Everybody knows the contributions of all the great players on that team. Jonathan Toews got his third Stanley Cup as a captain, Duncan Keith won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, and Corey Crawford proved everyone wrong after a shaky start to the playoffs. One player in particular, however, earned legendary status in game six.
Patrick Kane already had established himself as an elite player and it was pretty much a lock at that point that he would have his number retired, be a the Hall of Famer, and perhaps even have a statue. One moment in this game six guaranteed all of that and certified his status as a Chicago Blackhawks legend.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn broke his stick allowing Brandon Saad to take the puck away and skate it the other way. Saad drops the puck back for Brad Richards who stares down Tampa goalie Ben Bishop and delivers the famous no-look pass to Kane who does not miss. The insurance goal that put Chicago up 2-0 with two minutes left and Stanley was coming back to Chicago. That is the moment that Kane became the greatest player in team history.
When Saad dropped off the pass for Richards, it took himself and Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov out of the play, leaving Richards in on a 2 on 1. Everybody in the building knew Richards was going to look for Kane, he did, game over. It is memories like these that will always live on in the fan base, and one day we hope to experience stuff like this again.
light. Related Story. Are The Blackhawks in on Jake Gardiner?
Winning is everything, and once Kane and Toews showed up the Blackhawks started doing plenty of winning. Many awesome moments stick out when thinking of the dynasty, but this is the moment that Kane became a legend. Big time players step up in big-time moments, and that is exactly what happened in game six of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.