In every championship team, there are the unsung heroes. The players that do the right thing every game but don't get as much credit. That was the case for the Chicago Blackhawks this year. While players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane led the team when they needed it most, the other guys gave their share of help along the way.
Who are the other guys?
Guys like Antoine Vermette, who scored two game winning goals in the Stanley Cup Final, and Niklas Hjalmarsson who was one of the leading shot blockers for the Hawks and played as many minutes as head coach Joel Quenneville gave him. This shows the key advantage that the Blackhawks have over most teams. They are deep and the "next man up" is ready to step into the spotlight and play well. Even guys like Andrew Shaw, who was moved down to the fourth line, created a line that was matched up with the first line of the opposing team and they did their job. Dump the puck in and force the first line to play defense and they created chances. Kris Versteeg, who was scratched for most of the playoffs, came in and played the role that the Hawks wanted him to play to perfection. Even the youngster Tuevo Teravinen, who at the age of 20, scored clutch goals for the Hawks. Including a power-play beauty in the Stanley Cup Final that caught the attention of the hockey world.
This trend of "unsung heroes" has been there for all of their championship years. In 2013, it was the likes of Dave Bolland, Michael Frolik, and Michal Handzus who led the way. In 2010, Antti Niemi, Tomas Kopecky, and Kris Versteeg led the way. No matter what year, you will always find guys who come out of no where to make the clutch plays.
Chicago will likely have to let go of a lot of key players in this Stanley Cup run due to a hard salary cap. But one thing is for sure, there will always be guys to step up for the Hawk as long as they keep their core of Toews and Kane.