When Patrick Kane's seeing-eye shot somehow squeezed through the legs of Michael Leighton, the Philadelphia Flyers goalie, in overtime of Game 6, it ended the longest cup drought in the league.
When the puck drops on the 2010/11 season tomorrow, the Blackhawks will be trying to defend the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. The celebration in Chicago was somewhat short-lived as they were forced to dismantle their roster due to salary-cap constraints. But the Hawks kept most of their core players and are talented enough to repeat.
Some other compelling storylines heading into the season: Ilya Kovalchuk in New Jersey: Unrestricted free agency, that crazy first week of July when NHL teams spend money like Paris Hilton in a purse store, hit a new level of insanity when Kovalchuk went on the open market.
The long-time Atlanta Thrasher, who was sent to the New Jersey Devils, is a pure goalscorer with few equals in the game. It makes sense, then, that his free agency foray was a one-of-a-kind experience.
He chose New Jersey and after wrangling with the league over the contract terms, Kovalchuk and the Devils reached deal for 15 years and US$100 million (Dh367m). Now the question is, can the free-wheeling Kovalchuk thrive in the Devils' traditionally tight style of play?
Sidney Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin: This is the superstar-on-superstar rivalry that drives the NHL - Pittsburgh's Crosby, a determined talent who says all the right things, and Washington's Ovechkin, an over-the-top goal-scorer with a gap-toothed smile and ripped jeans.
Their skill unites them, but they have little else in common other than a burning desire to outdo the other. It might be too much to say that they saved hockey after the lockout, but there is little doubt that they are two of the most superlative young talents to come along in decades.
The Edmonton Oilers' rookies: Not much went right for the Oilers last season as injuries and a lack of talent dropped them to the league basement.
The silver lining was the chance to select Taylor Hall, the left winger, No 1 overall at last June's draft. Hall is joined by fellow rookie hopefuls Jordan Eberle, a key cog on Canada's last two world junior teams, and Magnus Paajarvi, a smooth Swede with an abundance of offensive upside.
The kiddie corps hat-trick has reinvigorated a franchise that has struggled to remain competitive since the 1980s. Oh, Canada: A Canadian-based team has not claimed the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
Considering the Habs' Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference final last year, it would seem logical to pick Montreal as the Great White North's great puck hope. But it is more likely to be Vancouver who bring that national shame to an end.
The Canucks have the Sedin twins, with reigning NHL MVP Henrik, leading a deep group up front. They have a bolstered blueline and, of course, there is Roberto Luongo in net.
Division favourites
Atlantic
• Pittsburgh Penguins. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and their teammates are motivated to make up for last season's bumpy up-and-down ride.
Northeast
• Boston Bruins. The Bruins have all-stars at every position, led by Zdeno Chara on defence, and are poised for a bounce-back year.
Southeast
• Washington Capitals. Simply too explosive for anyone in the division to compete with them, the Capitals are the cream of an otherwise mediocre group.
Central
• Chicago Blackhawks. It will not come easy to the defending champions, but they have enough star power to overcome the off-season fire sale.
Northwest
• Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks added defencemen Keith Ballard and Dan Hamhuis and are determined to get past the disappointment of being bounced from the play-offs by the Blackhawks.
Pacific
• San Jose Sharks. There has never been any question about the Sharks in the regular season – they are dynamite.
Predictions
• Eastern Conference regular season: Washington Capitals
• Western Conference regular season: San Jose Sharks
• Stanley Cup finalists: Pittsburgh and San Jose
• Stanley Cup champions: Pittsburgh
• Hart Trophy (MVP): Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
• Vezina Trophy (top goaltender): Robert Luongo, Vancouver
sports@thenational.ae
Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Results
2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili
3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
Tori Amos
Native Invader
Decca
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
Dubai World Cup Carnival Card:
6.30pm: Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.40pm: Zabeel Turf Listed $175,000 (T) 2,000m
8.15pm: Cape Verdi Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m
8.50pm: Handicap $135,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,600m
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
