We all know who the stars of the Chicago Blackhawks are. Duncan Keith won the Conn Smythe, and may be the best defenseman in the league right now. Jonathan Toews just won his third Stanley Cup as captain of the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane has scored in each of the three close out games to win those three Stanley Cups. Patrick Sharp pulled off a momentum-shifting goal in Game 5 that gave Chicago the decisive Game 5 victory. Marian Hossa is a living legend with 1056 career points.

While all these stars are getting the recognition they deserve, the role players have their contributions, for the most part, go unnoticed. Three of these role players are under 25, yet have already proven themselves in the playoffs. Without Brandon Saad , Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen, the Blackhawks could not have won the cup.

Brandon Saad

The 22-year-old from Pittsburg Pennsylvania has been experiencing a breakout year this season. During the regular season, Saad managed 52 points to go along with his 23 goals. He also proved himself an asset on the penalty kill, becoming one of the most important two-way forwards on the team.  In the postseason was where he really shined, scoring eight goals; in Game 4 he not only scored the game winning goal, he also blocked a shot with less than a minute left to preserve the win. The fact that Blackhawks coach Joel Qenneville has enough faith in Saad to put him out there with a minute left shows how responsible of a player he is.

Andrew Shaw

The 23-year-old from Belleville, Ontario played his most consistent hockey in this postseason. In a win or go home Game 6 against Anaheim, Shaw scored two goals to help the Blackhawks force a Game 7. Despite only seeing 15 minutes of action a night, he has scored a goal in series against Minnesota, Anaheim and Tampa Bay. His 12 points this postseason are actually better than Saads, even though Saad averaged 20 minutes a game.  He got three points in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Finals, including setting up Teuvo Teravainen for the game tying goal in Game 1, which the Blackhawks eventually won.

Teuvo Teravainen

The 20-year-old from Helsinki, Finland has been getting better and better as the stage has been getting bigger and bigger for Chicago.  He got an assist in his first postseason game. In the next series, against Minnesota, he added two points to his assist in the first series.  To continue the trend, Teravainen scored three points in the next series against Anaheim, as well as improving his +/- to 2. Teravainen and Shaw were important to Chicago’s Game 1 win over Tampa Bay, with Teravainen scoring to tie the game 1-1 and then assisting the game winning goal by Antoine Vermette. He was the first star of the game, and wasn’t done producing yet. He managed a goal in the next game, and was named the third star of the game. He also picked up an assist in the pivotal Game 5 that turned the tide of the series in Chicago’s favor.