Recap of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals: Chicago Blackhawks are the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions

The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins in 6 games to win the Stanley Cup. This their fifth Stanley Cup Championship in team history. The Blackhawks won the last three games of the series, after Boston toke a 2-1 lead in the series after Game 3. This series was incredibly close with 4 of the 6 games being decided by 1 goal. Also a Game 7 looked certain before the Blackhawks scored 2 goals in a span of 17 seconds in the close minutes of Game 6 to claim the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks became just the 8th team in NHL history to win the President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season since the Presidents' Trophy was created in 1985-86. They became the first team to achieve this feat since Detroit in 2007-08. Patrick Kane won the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the MVP of the playoffs. In 23 games during the playoffs Kane had 19 points with 9 goals and 10 assists. He also had a plus/minus of +7. He was tied for second in the NHL during the playoffs in points only behind David Krejci who had 26 points. He also led the NHL in goals during the playoffs. Chicago has a decent chance of repeating next year. It is really hard to predict next season since it is the first season the NHL will use the new 4 division format. Boston have a decent chance of making it back to the Stanley Cup Finals. Again it is hard to judge due to the new format the NHL will use next season. This year was a weird one due to the only 48 regular season. At least we had a regular playoff and someone hoisted the Stanley Cup and we didn't miss out on an entire season like in 2004-05. 

2013 NBA Draft 1st Round Predictions

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

Nerlens Noel

Center

University of Kentucky

2. Orlando Magic

Victor Oladipo

Shooting Guard

Indiana University

3. Washington Wizards

Otto Porter

Small Forward

Georgetown

4. Charlotte Bobcats

Alex Len

Center

University of Maryland

5. Phoenix Suns

Ben McLemore

Shooting Guard

University of Kansas

6. New Orleans Pelicans

Trey Burke

Point Guard

University of Michigan

7. Sacramento Kings

Anthony Bennett

Power Forward

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

8. Detroit Pistons

C.J. McCollum

Point Guard

Lehigh University

9. Minnesota Timberwolves

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Shooting Guard

University of Georgia

10. Trail Blazers

Cody Zeller

Power Forward

Indiana University

11. Philadelphia 76ers

Steven Adams

Center
University of Pittsburgh

12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Houston via Toronto)

Sergey Karasev

Shooting Guard

Russia

13. Dallas Mavericks

Michael Carter-Williams

Point Guard

Syracuse University

14. Utah Jazz

Shane Larkin

Point Guard

University of Miami

15. Milwaukee Bucks

Dennis Schroeder

Point Guard

Germany

16. Boston Celtics

Lucas Nogueira

Center

Brazil

17. Atlanta Hawks

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Small Forward

Greece

18. Atlanta Hawks (from Brooklyn via Houston)

Kelly Olynyk

Power Forward

Gonzaga University

19. Cleveland Cavaliers (from Los Angeles Lakers)

Shabazz Muhammad

Small Forward

University of California, Los Angeles

20. Chicago Bulls

Mason Plumlee

Center

Duke University

21. Utah Jazz (from Brooklyn via Golden State)

Jamaal Franklin

Shooting Guard

San Diego State University

22. Brooklyn Nets

Tony Mitchell
Power Forward

University of North Texas

23. Indiana Pacers

Isaiah Canaan

Point Guard

Murray State University

24. New York Knicks

Allen Crabbe

Shooting Guard

University of California, Berkeley

25. Los Angeles Clippers

Glen Rice Jr.

Small Forward

NBA Development League

26. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Houston via Memphis)

Gorgui Dieng

Center

University of Louisville

27. Denver Nuggets

Reggie Bullock

Shooting Guard

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

28. San Antonio Spurs

Rudy Gobert

Center

France

29. Oklahoma City Thunder

Jeff Withey

Center

University of Kansas

30. Phoenix Suns (from Los Angeles Lakers via Cleveland via Miami)

Tony Snell

Small Forward

University of New Mexico

Recap of the 2013 NBA Finals: Miami Heat are the 2013 NBA Champions

The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in 7 games to win the 2013 NBA Championship. This was one of the best NBA Finals of all-time. They are the first back to back NBA Champions since the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and 6th all-time. They are also the first back to back NBA Champions from the Eastern Conference since the Chicago Bulls who won three straight in 1996, 1997, and 1998. LeBron James won is 2nd NBA Championship and know is building his legacy as one of the greatest player of all-time. Chris Bosh also got his 2nd ring and Dwyane Wade won his 3rd NBA Championship. LeBron James won back to back Finals MVP and claimed his 2nd Finals MVP of his career. He  averaging 25.3 PPG, 10.9 RPG and 7.0 APG. He joins Michael Jordan and Larry to win the NBA MVP and Finals MVP in the same season multiple times. LeBron also tied a record for most points in a Game 7 of a NBA Finals. He scored 37 points and so did Tom Heinsohn in 1957 for Boston. The Heat and Spurs split the first 6 games with no team winning two games in a row until the Heat won Game 6 and 7. The teams' ability to rebound from loses was crazy in this game. In one of game one of the teams could have gotten blown out and then would bounce back to win in the next which just added to the amazingness of this series. I think the Heat are primed to 3-peat next season and I don't see them getting knocked off anytime soon as long as they still have LeBron James. On the other hand, the Spurs will have to face facts they are even older next season depsite the fact every year they seem to ignore the fact. I think it is unlikely the Spurs make it back to the Finals next season but I could seem them doing it. LeBron now should have quieted all of the haters some since he has won 2 championships. We won't have to worry about haters anymore but we will have to keeping winning and dominating the game if he expects to be the greatest of all-time and surpass Michael Jordan. I think the Heat are definitely a dynasty since they have made 3 straight Finals and have won the last 2 but they will have to keep winning in order to keep and build up their in history. 

Recap of the 2012-13 NHL Awards

The NHL awards were announced on June 14th and 15th and here I will give my thoughts.

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP in regular season): This award was won by Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and John Tavares of the New York Islanders were the other finalists. This is the third time Ovechkin won this award. He also won this award in the 2007-08 season and the 2008-09 season. Ovechkin was 3rd in the NHL in points with 56. He was first in the NHL in goals with 32. Ovechkin helped his team have the 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference with 57 points. Crosby was 2nd in the NHL in assists with 41. Crosby was also tied for 3rd in the NHL with 56. Crosby helped his team earn the 2nd best record in the NHL and best record in the Eastern Conference with 72 points. Tavares was 3rd in the NHL in goals with 28. He was also 17th in the NHL with 47 points. Tavares helped his team earn the 6th best record in the Eastern Conference with 56 points. I agree with Ovechkin winning this award. Sidney Crosby won the Ted Lindsay Award for being the most outstanding player even though Ovechkin won this award.

Vezina Trophy (best goaltender): This award was won by Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks were the other finalists. This is the first time Bobrovsky won this award. Bobrovsky was 5th in the NHL in GAA at 2.00. He was 7th in the NHL in wins with 21 and 2nd in save percentage at 93.2%. Lundqvist was 6th in the NHL in GAA at 2.05. He was tied of 1st in the NHL in wins with 24 and was tied for 5th in save percentage at 92.6%. Niemi was 10th in the NHL in GAA at 2.16. He was tied of 1st in the NHL in wins with 24 and was tied for 7th in save percentage at 92.4%. I believe Lundqvist should have won this award. Their numbers are very similar but the additional wins puts Lundqvist ahead in my head.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (best defensive player): This award was won by P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadians. Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild were the other finalists. This is the first time Subban won this award. Subban was tied for 248th in hits with 51 and was tied for 128th in blocked shots with 49. He was tied for 45th in plus/minus his was +12. Letang was 290th in hits with 45 and was 93rd in blocked shots with 59. He was tied for 20th in plus/minus his was +16. Suter was tied for 391st in hits with 33 and was tied for 54th in blocked shots with 74. He was tied for 231st in plus/minus his was +2. I thought Letang deserved this award more than Subbon. Even though Subban had more hits, Letang had a better plus/minus and more blocked shots.

Frank J. Selke Trophy (best defensive forward): This award was won by Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks. Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings were the other finalists. Toews was tied 312th among forwards in hits with 24 and tied for 204th among forwards in blocked shots with 16. He also was 3rd among forwards in plus/minus at +28. Bergeron was tied 282nd among forwards in hits with 28 and tied for tied 83rd among forwards in blocked shots with 25. He was 6th among forwards in plus/minus among forward at +24. Datsyuk was tied 260th among forwards in hits with 31 and tied for tied 46th among forwards in blocked shots with 30. He was 9th in plus/minus among forward at +21. I thought Pavel Datsyuk should have won this award. 

Calder Memorial Trophy (best rookie): This award was won by Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers. He is 19 and was the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft. Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadians and Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks were the other finalists. Huberdeau scored 31 points which was tied for 4th among all rookies. He also scored 14 goals which was tied for 6th among rookies and 17 assists which was tied for 9th among rookies. Gallagher is 20 and was the 147th overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft. He scored 28 points and was 7th among rookies. He also scored 15 goals which was tied for 4th among rookies and 13 assists which was tied for 17th among rookies. Saad is 20 and was the 43rd overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft. He scored 27 points was tied for 8th among rookies. He also scored 10 goals which was tied for 8th among rookies and 17 assists which was tied for 9th among rookies. I agree with Huberdeau winning this award. All three guys look to have bright futures in the NHL.

Jason Kidd is Retiring After 19 Seaons

It was announced on June 3rd that Jason Kidd is retiring from the NBA. Kidd is one of the best point guards ever. He is in the top 5 for me with Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, and Jerry West. Kidd in his playing career played from 1994-2013, he played for the Mavericks, Suns, Nets, and Knicks. He wore 2, 32, and 5 in his career. He won 1 NBA titles with the Mavericks in 2011. He also went to the Finals in 2002 and 2003 with the Nets losing to the Lakers in 2002 and the Spurs in 2003. Kidd is one of the best passers of all-time and he is currently 2nd All-Time in assists with 12,091 assists only behind John Stockton who has 15,806 assists, 3715 more than Kidd. Kidd was also excellent at defense in his prime. He is currently 2nd All-Time in assists with 2,684 steals only behind John Stockton again who has 3,265 steals, 581 more than Kidd. Amazingly he never won a regular season MVP. He was drafted #2 overall by the Mavericks in 1994. He averaged 11.7 PPG and 7.7 APG and was co-Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill in 1994-95. He is a 10-time NBA All-Star. Kidd has 5 NBA Assists Titles. He won these in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. He is tied for 4th all-time with Steve Nash with most assists titles. Kidd had 5 All-NBA 1st Teams and 1 2nd Teams. He had 4 All-NBA Defensive 1st Team selections and 5 All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team selections. Kidd has 2 Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2008. Jason Kidd holds the record for most steals in one season. He had 175 steals in the 2001-02 season. Kidd's career high for assists in a game is 25. This game was on February 8th, 1996 when he was on the Mavericks. He helped the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 136-133 that night. Also in the game he had more assists than the Jazz by himself. Even though he doesn't have numbers that stand out to the normal fan or have a lot of awards, Kidd is still one of the best NBA players to ever player the game. Kidd will be a easy Hall Famer in 2018 after he waits his 5 years. Kidd was actually hired by the Brooklyn Nets today so you will still see Jason Kidd around the NBA for many more years. I think he will do a good job as head coach though I don't think he makes a huge impact for the Nets. He will definitely help Deron Williams grow and he will spread his knowledge of the game to the younger players still in the NBA. It will be very interesting to see how well he does after retiring as a player and immediately becoming a head coach.   

Preview of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals: Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks

The Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhswks will play for the 2013 Stanley Cup. Boston is the #4 seed in the East and went 12-4 to win the East. They beat the #5 seed Toronto Maple Leafs in 7 games, #6 seed New York Rangers in 5 games and upset the #1 seed Pittsburgh Penguins in 4 games. This is Boston's 19th Stanley Cup Final and they are looking to win their 7th Stanley Cup. This is the first time in the Stanley Cup Finals since 2011 for the Bruins and they beat the Canucks in 7 games that year. Chicago is the #1 seed in the West and went 12-5 to win the West. They beat the #8 seed Minnesota Wild in 5 games, #7 seed Detroit Red Wings in 7 games and the #5 Los Angeles Kings in 5 games. This Chicago' 12th Stanley Cup Finals and are looking to win their 5th Stanley Cup. This is the first time in the Stanley Cup Finals since 2010 for the Blackhawks and they beat the Flyers in 6 games that year. Chicago will also look to become the first President's Trophy Winner to win the Stanley Cup since Detroit in 2008. There were also some interested facts in the playoffs that I will share before getting into my predictions. The 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs mark the first time since 1996 that every Original Six team has advanced to the playoffs in the same year. For the first time since 1945, the final four teams remaining in the playoffs were the previous four Stanley Cup champions: Pittsburgh (2009), Chicago (2010), Boston (2011), and Los Angeles (2012). This series is also the first time that two Original Six teams are competing in the Finals since Montreal defeated the New York Rangers in the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals. Goalkeeping will be a huge key in this series. Rask for Boston and Crawford for Chicago have been the best two goalkeepers in the NHL this postseason. Rask is 1st in save percentage at 94.3% this postseason and 3rd in GAA at 1.75 this postseason. Crawford is 2nd in save percentage at 93.5% this postseason and 2nd in GAA at 1.74 this postseason. Offense will also play a big role in this series. Boston and Chicago both have the two of the top 4 goal scorers this postseason. Krejci for Boston is 1st with 9 goals this postseason, Sharp and Bickell are tied for 2nd with 8 goals each this postseason for Chicago and Horton is tied for 4th with 7 goals this postseason. I believe with Chicago strong power-play defense and them being the best team in the NHL in the regular season they will win the series. I believe home ice advantage will play a huge part of this series. I think the home teams goes and 7-0 and Chicago with home ice claims the Stanley Cup in 7 games. Chicago brings home the cup for the 2nd time in the past 4 years. This is also the first time this season that teams from the opposite conferences played each other due to the lockout and the NHL only playing 48 games in the regular season.

Game 1: Boston @ Chicago: CHI 4 - BOS 2. Chicago leads the series 1-0.

Game 2: Boston @ Chicago: CHI 1 - BOS 0 OT. Chicago leads the series 2-0.

Game 3: Chicago @ Boston: BOS 3 - CHI 1. Chicago leads the series 2-1.

Game 4: Chicago @ Boston: BOS 4 - CHI 3. The series tied 2-2.

Game 5: Boston @ Chicago: CHI 2 - BOS 1. Chicago leads the series 3-2.

Game 6: Chicago @ Boston: BOS 3 - CHI 1. The series tied 3-3.

Game 7: Boston @ Chicago: CHI 2 - BOS 1. Chicago wins the series 4-3.

Chicago Blackhawks are 2013 Stanley Cup Finals Champions.
Corey Crawford is the 2013 Conn Smythe Trophy Winner. 

Preview of the 2013 NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs will face each other in the 2013 NBA Finals. The Heat won the Eastern Conference going 12-4. They beat the Bucks in 4 games in the Conference Quarter-Finals, the Bulls in 5 games in the Conference Semi-Finals and the Pacers in 7 games to in the Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs won the Western Conference going 12-2. They beat the Lakers in 4 games in the Conference Quarter-Finals, the Warriors in 6 games in the Conference Semi-Finals and the Grizzlies in 4 games in the Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals. This is the Heat's 3rd straight NBA Finals after losing to the Mavericks in 6 games in 2011 and beating the Thunder in 5 games last year. They became the first Eastern Conference team since the 1996-1998 Chicago Bulls to winning the East 3rd straight times.   This is their fourth NBA Finals appearance in franchise history making it in 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Heat will try to win their 3rd NBA Championship in team history winning before in 2006 when they beat the Mavericks in 6 games and 2012 when they beat the Thunder in 5 games. This is the Spurs' 5th NBA Finals in franchise history. The made the Finals in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. The Spurs will try to win their 5th NBA Championship in team history. They beat the Knicks in 5 games in 1999, the Nets in 6 games in 2003, the Pistons in 7 games in 2005 and the Cavaliers in 4 games in 2007. The are looking to become the first repeat NBA Champions since the 2009-2010 Lakers did it. For the Heat this is LeBron James' and Dwyane Wade's 4th NBA Finals. LeBron will look to win his 2nd NBA Title and his 2nd NBA Finals MVP award. Dwyane Wade will look to win his 3rd NBA Title. Chris Bosh is making his 3rd NBA Finals appearance. For the Spurs, Tim Duncan is making his 5th appearance in the NBA Finals and will look to winning his 5th NBA Championship and 4th NBA Finals MVP award. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are making their 4th NBA Finals appearance and will look to win their 4th NBA Championships. Tony Parker his looking to win his 2nd NBA Finals MVP award. This series should be very entertaining to watch the see Miami's Big Three go against the San Antonio's Big Three. The best match-up to watch will be LeBron James vs. Tony Parker who have been the top two players in the NBA Playoff this year. It will also be interested to see Chris Bosh vs. Tim Duncan. LeBron will also be looking for revenge after the Spurs swept his Cavaliers back in 2007. This 2013 Heat team though is way different then LeBron's 2007 Cavaliers. LeBron has a way better supporting case and bench than he had in Cleveland back in 2007. He now plays along side Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh both stars compared to Cleveland when he had to carry the entire team. Also this Heat team is much more experienced than the 2007 Cavaliers team. LeBron has now won one NBA Championship and this is his 4th NBA Finals compared to 2007 when he had no Finals appearance before that series. LeBron also is a lot older now and has more NBA experience. He is now 28 and has 10 years of NBA experience compared to 2007 when he was 22 and had only 4 years of NBA experience. Rest will also play a big roll in this series. Spurs are old and then welcomed the 10 days off they will have once the Finals get started after sweeping in the Conference Finals. Miami is a much younger team and will be able to deal with only 3 days rest once the Finals get started after winning a a long and stressful 7 games Conference Finals. Miami has home-court advantage since they had the best record in the NBA with 66 wins and the Spurs only won 58 games and were the 2nd seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. Here is my game by game predictions:

Game 1: San Antonio @ Miami: MIA 101 - SA 98; Miami leads the series 1-0.

Game 2: San Antonio @ Miami: MIA 105 - SA 100; Miami leads the series 1-0.

Game 3: Miami @ San Antonio: SA 97 - MIA 90; Miami leads the series 2-1.

Game 4: Miami @ San Antonio: SA 100 - MIA 94; Series is tied at 2-2.

Game 5: Miami @ San Antonio: MIA 98 - SA 96; Miami leads the series 3-2.

Game 6: San Antonio @ Miami: MIA 103 - SA 101; Miami wins the series 4-2.

Miami Heat are the 2013 NBA Finals Champions.

LeBron James is the 2013 NBA Finals MVP. He averaged 28.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG and 7.5 APG.