The Stanley Cup Finals are underway and this year's edition features the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Blackhawks look to cement themselves as a true dynasty in the NHL and capture their third Stanley Cup in six years. On the other side, the Lightning will try to bring the Stanley Cup back to Tampa Bay for the first time since 2004.

Minnesota's own, J.T. Brown will be competing in this year's Stanley Cup and will be looking to get his first ring. The Lightning's right winger spent his adolescent years in Burnsville before going on to play collegiality at the University of Minnesota - Duluth. J.T. Brown is son of former Viking running back, Ted Brown, who played for the purple and gold from 1979-1986.

Brown only played two years at UMD, but made the best of his two seasons there. As a freshman, Brown skated in all 42 games for the Bulldogs, scoring 16 goals and racking up 21 assists. He also was named the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player after leading UMD to their first national championship in school history. Brown played one more season at Duluth in which he scored 24 goals and had 23 assists, before opting to forego his junior and senior season to play professionally.

In 2012 Brown made the U.S.A. U-20 team, which competed in the Wold Junior Championships. In six games, Brown recorded 1 goal and 1 assist, helping them finish in seventh place.

After being signed to a two year deal by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brown spent most of his first season playing with their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Brown scored 10 goals and had 18 assists in 51 games for the Crunch, helping them reach the AHL finals before losing to Grand Rapids.

J.T. Brown has spent the majority of the last two seasons on the Lightning's active roster and getting regular minutes with the team. In 2013-2014 Brown played in 63 games with the Lightning while scoring 4 goals and assisting on 21 goals. Brown made it to his first NHL playoffs as well last season, where he assisted on 2 goals.

This season Brown played in 52 games and saw his numbers dip. He only scored 3 goals and had just 4 assists this past season. The bright side to the down numbers for Brown is that he is playing on one of the two best teams in the NHL, and though his numbers are down, he has the chance to put his mark on these Stanley Cup finals.

Through his career from college, to the AHL,to the NHL, Brown has been consistent on one key aspect; winning. As a freshman in college he won a national title. In his first year in the AHL he reached the finals, and yet again he is in the position to win a championship, and this time, the biggest of them all, the Stanley Cup. Though the Wild were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, J.T. Brown gives every hockey fan in Minnesota, the state of hockey, a reason to watch this years Stanley Cup Finals.

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