2015 Stanley Cup Final: Hard Lessons For Buffalo Sabres

Tonight marks game five of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final – and the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning have in theory turned this series into a best of three battle for the greatest trophy in North American sports. For the Buffalo Sabres watching and learning what it takes to win the ultimate prize at the end of the season, this years finals presents a very difficult challenge.

More From SabreNoise – 2015 Stanley Cup Final Predications

On one end of the spectrum you have the Chicago Blackhawks. It is very difficult to peg a team as a dynasty in hockey in the modern era, because the salary cap and free agent have created so much parity in the league. The Chicago Blackhawks are one team though that should be considered in the mix to be considered a dynasty.

With nerves of steel they have shown the propensity to bend this post season, but they have never broken, and have come back from some pretty daunting odds this year. Are they a perfect hockey team? Far from it, but they have the right pieces in the right places to matter at the best and worst of times.

If you really wanted to – the players in the Blackhawks dressing room could pool there Stanley Cup rings together, sell them, and buy themselves an island country somewhere in the world and retire peacefully, and probably still have money leftover.

Seeing the Chicago Blackhawks succeed this year in the post season could be very damaging in the Buffalo Sabres locker room, give the number of guys who are just coming into the National Hockey League rounding out and leading this roster – and the lack of any major veteran presence let alone the type of veterans with the nerves of steel that know what enduring a grueling post season are like, let alone winning 16 games in the post season.

2015 Stanley Cup Finals – Eastern Conference Underdogs

Despite being the team that had the better regular season record, in my humble opinion the Tampa Bay Lightning are the underdogs in this matchup. Scanning up and down their roster they have but one lowly Stanley Cup card carrying member?

If you want to talk selling rings again in this room, I am in the market for a new car, and one year would do that well, could probably catch me up on my student loans. But your not buying the kind of real estate the jewelry in the other room is picking up.

Now I am not saying that the Buffalo Sabres can take a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning and have that doe-eyed look in their eyes when they get into the playoffs as the eight seed thinking “all we have to do is get in”. On the contrary. This year’s team of Bolts players are looking at the Stanley Cup after finishing with 108 points in the regular season. That leaves only four teams better after 82.

What does it teach the Buffalo Sabres if the Tampa Bay Lightning are able to overcome the odds and beat Chicago? Chicago has their problems, but so does Tampa. It teaches the Buffalo Sabres they should have no fear if they reach the Stanley Cup Final – the guys on the other side of the ice lace their skates up the same way you do, regardless of how many rings they have.

Game five is tonight at eight o’clock, and a Chicago Blackhawks victory keeps my pick of ‘Hawks in six alive. But it is already the middle of June – why not hope for the best at this point and push this series to seven games as well?

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