25 IN 25: Shaw Loves Shin Pads

The Blackhawks knew one thing prior to taking the ice for the third overtime of Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Bruins.

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"We knew it wasn't going to be a pretty goal that won the game," said Andrew Shaw, the kind of player who thrives on scoring not-so-pretty goals.
Shaw and his teammates were right, it wasn't the most picturesque goal that ended Game 1 to give the Blackhawks an epic 4-3 victory over the Bruins and help spark them to their second championship in four seasons.
With the clock ticking toward midnight and the United Center fans as drained as the players on the ice, Shaw ended an epic contest in the most Shaw-esque way possible: A double-deflection off his shin pad that sailed past goaltender Tuukka Rask and into the Bruins net.

"It was one of those games that just wouldn't end," Shaw said. "Then there was a scramble in the corner and me and (Bryan Bickell) were there and we got the puck to the point. (Michal) Roszival walked the line, took a wrister and Dave Bolland had a high tip and I was just driving to the back post and he tipped it into my leg and it deflected straight into the net. It was just all joy after that."
Sometimes when a TV network mics up a player during a game it produces something magical and that was the case in Game 1.
NBC had attached a microphone to Shaw and in the aftermath of the goal he uttered words that thrill Blackhawks fans to this day.
"I love shin pads!" Shaw exclaimed while his teammates mobbed him.
"I guess it's just pure joy and excitement and you stay something stupid like that forgetting that you're mic'd up," Shaw said. "It was in the heat of the moment and people ended up loving it and it was just a very entertaining moment."
The Blackhawks went on to win the Cup in rather spectacular fashion when Bickell and Bolland scored 17 seconds apart in Game 6 in Boston. It might not have gotten that far had Shaw not found a way to find the back of the net without using his stick in Game 1.
"'Bicks' used to tell me I never scored with my stick-I scored a lot of goals off my body," Shaw said. "I'll take them any way I can get them."