BLOG: Brouwer, Ladd, Bolland and Versteeg Look Back on 2010

The 10-year anniversary of the Blackhawks' historic run to the 2010 Stanley Cup championship is bringing back a flood of memories to those who were on the ice.

Four key contributors to the team that captured the Blackhawks' first championship in 49 years appeared together during Wednesday's broadcast of "Be Chicago: Together We Can" on NBC Sports Chicago. Former Blackhawks Troy Brouwer, Andrew Ladd, Dave Bolland and Kris Versteeg reminisced about that magical season via a video session.

"It seems like it was just yesterday, really," Ladd said. "You jump on a call with these guys and all those memories start flooding back and it takes you back to a lot of good times that we had, (including) the years leading up to that Cup run and just really the journey from us turning into a real team that was a powerhouse."

Added the recently-retired Versteeg: "It's pretty wild to look back, especially thinking that it was that long ago. (It was) just all a bunch of buddies playing hockey and winning together."

The rag tag group that dispatched the Predators, Canucks and Sharks before defeating the Flyers in the Cup finals was special in its versatility and youthful exuberance, according to Ladd.

"With pretty much most of the guys in their early to mid-20s it's tough to find a team that young with that much talent," he said. "And, really, guys that could shift up and down the lineup - I think that's what made us so special. You had guys that could slide up and play top minutes and then slide down to the third line and grind it out."

The players cited goaltender Antti Niemi and defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Sopel as unsung heroes of the run that was capped with Patrick Kane's game-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of the finals in Philadelphia.

The group agreed that the pivotal moment in the run to the Cup was the Game 5 victory over the Predators in the first round. The Blackhawks snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Kane scored shorthanded with 13.6 seconds remaining in regulation and Marian Hossa ended it in overtime shortly after leaving the penalty box.

"I don't think anyone really sat down between the end of the game and overtime and when 'Hoss' scored the goal, everyone in there just knew that we were going to do something, we were going to play for a long time," Brouwer said. "For me, that was the turning point, when if there were any doubts in our mind going into that playoffs, they were gone right there."

Said Bolland: "I felt after Nashville, like, 'Hey, this is special, we've got something going here and we're going to have a chance to win a Cup.'"