FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 16th, 2015
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS WIN 2015 STANLEY CUP FINAL ON NBC
Notes and Quotes from Game 6 on NBC
“They’ve waited a long time for this to be at home. For the third time in six years, the Blackhawks are Stanley Cup Champions.” – Doc Emrick
“This is why we play the game, for the group in the room, and for these great fans in Chicago. It unites the city.” – Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews to Pierre McGuire
“An incredible renaissance for this organization and this franchise.” – Eddie Olczyk
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 15, 2015 – The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 2-0 tonight in Game 6 on NBC to win the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, Chicago’s third Stanley Cup title in six seasons, as Conn Smythe Trophy winner Duncan Keith scored the eventual game-winning goal late in the second period, and goaltender Corey Crawford made 25 saves to record a shutout victory.
Three-time Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member and analyst Eddie Olczyk, and Emmy Award-winning Inside-the-Glass analyst Pierre McGuire had the call of Game 6 from the United Center in Chicago, Ill. This marked the ninth consecutive year that Emrick, Olczyk and McGuire combined to call the Stanley Cup Final for NBC Sports Group.
Coverage began at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live led by host Dave Briggs, alongside analysts Jeremy Roenick, Anson Carter and Brian Boucher on-site at the United Center. Coverage continued with host Liam McHugh, who was joined by analysts Mike Milbury and Keith Jones.
Tonight’s pre-game coverage on NBCSN also featured interviews with former Blackhawks Denis Savard and Chris Chelios, and actor and Blackhawks fan Jim Belushi.
Post-Game on NBC and NBCSN
Olczyk on rebirth of Blackhawks in last decade: “This team was a blip in the city of Chicago. It was irrelevant for the longest period of time. Three championships in six years. (Blackhawks General Manager) Stan Bowman, also the help of Dale Tallon, the former general manager…an incredible renaissance for this organization and this franchise.”
Emrick on handshake line: “”I never tire of the sportsmanship we see at the end of a series.”
Emrick on arrival of the Stanley Cup: “The fans chant ‘We want the cup.’ It is here. It looks pretty good for one hundred twenty two, doesn’t it?”
Emrick on the Stanley Cup: “All the names are etched on there. Well over 2,000 of them. It weighs 35 pounds, and it is always remarkable that with hernias and other injuries… players and executives have still been able to lift that 35 pounds… even under doctor’s warning to not lift more than two.”
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews: “It doesn’t feel real right now. It feels like a dream. Every time we do it, it gets better and better. There were a bunch of guys in our room who were looking for their first one (a Stanley Cup). You want to do it more for them than anything…this is what it’s all about. This is why we play the game, for the group in the room, and for these great fans in Chicago. It unites the city.”
Olczyk on Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville: “His third Stanley Cup as a head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in six years, and he’s done it with three different coaching staffs. You don’t see a lot of turnover when you have great success. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Joel Quenneville is a slam dunk going into the Hockey Hall of Fame.”
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford: “These fans have been so great to us…everything you went through the whole season, the playoffs, the battle to get to this moment, it pays off with the Cup at the end.”
Milbury on Blackhawks fans: “We still have a third of the building filled about an hour after the game has been over. This city is as good a hockey city as there is in the National Hockey League.”
Jones on Blackhawks: “It was great to see the home team win tonight. The fans were revved up and ready for it. They provided a lot of energy…it’s incredible what the Chicago Blackhawks have accomplished in the last six seasons, but nice for them to finally win one at home, and celebrate it with their fans.”
Emrick on Blackhawks 40-year-old retiring defenseman Kimmo Timonen: “You will see a guy wearing number 44. He is retiring. He wanted to win a Stanley Cup in the worst way…he got the chance…the best feeling of all, for a guy like him to finish his career exhausted, but victorious.”
Olczyk on Blackhawks goaltender Scott Darling: “How incredible for this man. A Chicago native, who grew up a Blackhawks fan, to be the first ever hometown Blackhawk, born-and-bred, to be a member of the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks.”
Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook on the Lightning: “You’ve got to watch out for them. They’re going to be doing for the next six years what we’ve been doing for the last six years.”
Third Period
Olczyk on Kane goal, 2-0: “I think everyone in the building knew Richards was going to look for Kane. No chance for Bishop.”
Emrick: “They’ve waited a long time for this to be at home. For the third time in six years, the Blackhawks are Stanley Cup Champions.”
Second Intermission
Milbury on the Lightning: “It was a terrific first five or six minutes in the second period for the Lightning. But the tide did turn.”
Jones on Duncan Keith: “He’s got the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Hawks can win it in the third.”
Second Period
Olczyk on Corey Crawford’s save on Stamkos on breakaway: “What a chance for Steven Stamkos. Just not able to elevate that puck.”
McGuire on Lightning’s offensive opportunities: “Tampa is manufacturing more than enough chances to win on the road tonight.”
McGuire on Keith goal, 1-0 Blackhawks: “You just do what you’re supposed to do. Shoot the puck and follow your shot to the net. Juicy rebound and Keith sticks it, but it all started in the neutral zone with the bad line change by Tampa.”
First Intermission
Milbury on Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop: “He got comfortable early because he was able to see all of those shots…then the Hawks went to the power play, and things got a little more interesting. He was really scrambling, but for Lightning fans, that was a great period for Ben Bishop. It doesn’t look like the injury is a problem.”
Jones on Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa: “He’s been the Blackhawks’ best forward in this series. If you’re Joel Quenneville, you feel great throwing him on the ice as often as you can.”
First Period
Emrick: “Niklas Hjalmarsson continues to impress, number four in red.”
Olczyk on Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison’s scoring chance late in period: “This puck goes on edge right before he shoots it…Hossa gets a piece of it and denies a wide-open net for Garrison.”
Game 6 on NBC (8 p.m. ET)
Pre-Game
Olczyk on the Blackhawks: “There’s great anticipation trying to win their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. Hard to believe that seven or eight years ago this team was irrelevant in a great sports town like Chicago.”
NHL Live on NBCSN (6:30-8 p.m. ET)
Roenick on Blackhawks: “They’re custom-built for big games. There’s no question that this is the biggest game of their lives. Even though the Blackhawks have won two Stanley Cups (since 2010), in 77 years that cup has not been able to be celebrated in Chicago.”
Boucher on Blackhawks: “The core group of Blackhawks, they recognize it and smell it. There’s blood in the water tonight.”
Milbury on Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson: “His ability to read the play and get into the proper position to make something positive happen is amazing.”
***
NBC Sports Group’s NHL coverage continues with the 2015 NHL Awards from Las Vegas, Nev., next Wednesday, June 24 at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as well as live coverage of the 2015 NHL Draft from Sunrise, Fla., on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
