from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The new Blackhawks versus the old Blackhawks, that's what the 2015 Stanley Cup finals has in store for us.

I'm surely not alone in looking at the young Tampa Bay Lightning and seeing the Chicago Blackhawks, the team they face in this year's finals, on the rise from half a decade ago. You are just not a hockey fan if you're not salivating at a matchup that pits what are for my money the two most exciting teams in the NHL against each other. Both clubs play the game with such a high aesthetic quality, and yet still know how to buckle down and defend when it matters.

You want star quality? We bring you Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on one side; and then present you Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman on the other. Mercy, there's some serious quality on these two rosters.

The opening two rounds of the playoffs on the whole were a regression in the overall quality of the game. The conference finals brought it back with high-end play on each side. Both seven-game series were a treat to behold. The Cup finals has the chance to be one of the very best in a very long time, as long as the new kids on the block from Tampa aren't overwhelmed by the stage. They stared down Joe Louis Arena, the Bell Centre and Madison Square Garden on the way here, so I can't imagine why this stage suddenly would be that much scarier.

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