16 years of Champions Bracket [QuarterFinals] - 4. CHICAGO 2010 vs. 5. PITTSBURGH 2017

[Tufted Titmouse]

This one would be a war - Crosby vs Toews, Malkin vs Hossa and Sharp.

5. PITTSBURGH 2017						4. CHICAGO 2010
Player	GP	G	A	PTS		Player	GP	G	A	PTS
Evgeni Malkin	25​	10​	18​	28​		Jonathan Toews	22​	7​	22​	29​
Sidney Crosby	24​	8​	19​	27​		Patrick Kane	22​	10​	18​	28​
Phil Kessel	25​	8​	15​	23​		Patrick Sharp	22​	11​	11​	22​
Jake Guentzel	25​	13​	8​	21​		Duncan Keith	22​	2​	15​	17​
Justin Schultz	21​	4​	9​	13​		Dustin Byfuglien	22​	11​	5​	16​
Chris Kunitz	20​	2​	9​	11​		Dave Bolland	22​	8​	8​	16​
Bryan Rust	23​	7​	2​	9​		Marián Hossa*	22​	3​	12​	15​
Patric Hornqvist	19​	5​	4​	9​		Kris Versteeg	22​	6​	8​	14​
Matt Cullen	25​	2​	7​	9​		Brent Seabrook	22​	4​	7​	11​
Ian Cole	25​	0​	9​	9​		Troy Brouwer	19​	4​	4​	8​
Ron Hainsey	25​	2​	6​	8​		Niklas Hjalmarsson	22​	1​	7​	8​
Olli Maatta	25​	2​	6​	8​		Tomas Kopecky	17​	4​	2​	6​
Nick Bonino	21​	4​	3​	7​		Andrew Ladd	19​	3​	3​	6​
Conor Sheary	22​	2​	5​	7​		Brent Sopel	22​	1​	5​	6​
Scott Wilson	20​	3​	3​	6​		Brian Campbell	19​	1​	4​	5​
Brian Dumoulin	25​	1​	5​	6​		Ben Eager	18​	1​	2​	3​
Trevor Daley	21​	1​	4​	5​		John Madden	22​	1​	1​	2​
Carter Rowney	20​	0​	3​	3​		Bryan Bickell	4​	0​	1​	1​
Carl Hagelin	15​	2​	0​	2​		Nick Boynton	3​	0​	0​	0​
Tom Kuhnhackl	11​	1​	1​	2​		Adam Burish	15​	0​	0​	0​
Mark Streit	3​	0​	2​	2​		Colin Fraser	3​	0​	0​	0​
Josh Archibald	4​	0​	0​	0​		Jordan Hendry	15​	0​	0​	0​
Marc-Andre Fleury	15​	0​	0​	0​		Cristobal Huet	1​	0​	0​	0​
Matt Murray	11​	0​	0​	0​		Antti Niemi	22​	0​	0​	0​
Chad Ruhwedel	6​	0​	0​	0​
Player	GP	SV%	GAA	GSAA		Player	GP	SV%	GAA	GSAA
Marc-Andre Fleury	15​	0.924​	2.56​	2​		Antti Niemi	22​	0.91​	2.63​	1.3​
Matt Murray	11​	0.937​	1.7​	5.1​		Cristobal Huet	1​	1​	0​

For me, the difference here would be the support pieces for Chicago's forward core, and a deeper defence, so I went Chicago.

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[missionAvs]

Hawks. That depth is just ridiculous.

 

[banks]

A good Pens team, to be sure. But that Blackhawks squad was perfect everywhere except in goal. That was the year Sharp was at his peak, big Buff was a roaming menace as a forward, and Brian Campbell. Just... Brian Campbell!

 

[cg98]

Pittsburgh was missing Letang for the entire run in 2017. It didn't sink them then and they still won it, but this Hawks team in 2010 was just stupid OP. Just look at those forwards and defense. Byfuglien was a forward at this time ffs!!!

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Pittsburgh was missing Letang for the entire run in 2017. It didn't sink them then and they still won it, but this Hawks team in 2010 was just stupid OP. Just look at those forwards and defense. Byfuglien was a forward at this time ffs!!!

I miss Buff as a forward. Absolute wrecking ball.

 

[LightningStorm]

2017 Pens had one of the most resilient cup wins with Letang out, but the 2010 Hawks are simply too deep for them to overcome. You also have Toews and Kane having the best postseason as a combo that they ever had.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Blackhawks in 5.

 

[JaegerDice]

I think the Blackhawks would win, but Pittsburgh’s offensive potency through 3 lines and significant advantage in net would make it closer than some think. I could see it going 7.

But ultimately, I think better and deeper defense makes the difference for Chicago.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Looking like the 2010 Hawks are going to be a tough out - 4th seeded but I would call them the favourites to win this whole thing at this point.

That team was absurd. Might just be that Niemi is the big hurdle for them in their quest to be the Champ.