Congrats Boston! Now to go with your championships in football, baseball, and basketball in recent years you now will be bringing home the greatest trophy in all sports ... the Stanley Cup! Great fight, great play, great season!
Congrats as well to those damn Nucks as well for an incredible season that left them just short. While I don't like the team and some of the players I do respect what they managed to do as a team and respect a number of their players as well.
Some thoughts on the series...
Tim Thomas : The hands down Conn Smythe winner before even stepping on the ice in game 7 he was the difference in the series easily. He only allowed 8 goals in the 7 games, shutting the Nucks out twice including in the final game of the year when it counted most. He was spectacular shutting down the Vancouver offense all series and appeared unbeatable at times. Even in the games that Vancouver was blown out they had chances early but Timmy was there to shut them down. Who knows, an early goal there in Boston and perhaps the series ended sooner and in Vancouver's favor but instead Thomas stopped everything they could throw at him.
Roberto Luongo : I've never been a fan of his, no question. I hate that every simple stop brings a "LUUU!" from the crowd and I think he's overrated. Yes, he is very talented and when on can be great. However he isn't the best in the game by far. He was said to have been proven a big game goalie in the gold medal game against the USA, but I think Canada won that game, not Lu, and there were rebounds he let out there he shouldn't have in that game that if the US could have been there the outcome would have been different. As he showed in this series when he is on he is very good, but when he isn't on he can be downright bad and his play may be part of what cost the Canucks the series. Certainly not the entire blame is his, but part of it. Given that consistency is part of being great he really hasn't done anything to make me change my mind about him being overrated and many fans in Vancouver are questioning if he or Schneider aren't better for the team going forward, but he does have 11 years left on his contract...
The refs : Plenty of Vancouver fans have complained about the officiating. It is unfounded in my opinion. Yes, there were some missed calls and some questionable calls but it wasn't one sided. The fact that the Nucks became known as divers and continue to try drawing calls didn't help them as it went on. Examples? How about a Kesler slash last night. How about after the Chara missed high stick the fact that the retaliation only got 2 minutes when it should have been 5 and the game. In the end the refs didn't decide this series and weren't biased either way.
The home difference : Over the first 6 games anyway this was a different series depending on where it was played, and while a part of that was at Luongo's feet not all of it was. Boston seemed to be a place that Vancouver just couldn't play in. In Vancouver the first three games were all close, low-scoring affairs that the Nucks won. In Boston the Bruins controlled things and chased Lu out of the net with their scoring ability while keeping the Nucks from scoring themselves. Game 7 was the anomaly where it was more like a Boston game than a Vancouver game, but for the first six it was certainly a tale of two cities.
The physical play vs. the diving : This was a very physical series and while everyone talked about how Boston was the physical team and Vancouver was the skilled one, however I think everyone saw that both teams have both elements in their games. Between the whistles both showed great speed and skill and also threw hits regularly. There were more hits than shots in many games which speaks huge volumes about the physical play of both teams. Between the whistles you got to see that Boston was certainly more physical, clearing the crease, getting chippy, and so on where Vancouver really shied away from it. Another difference in the two teams is that you could see Vancouver regularly embellish to try to draw calls, diving regularly, and in the end it could have hurt them as they stopped getting calls they could have gotten because of it. They are also lucky that they didn't get further disciplined for their antics as well as even media and Nuck fans were asking for it to stop.
The strange hits and suspensions : Speaking of physical play there was some of it that certainly wasn't needed. First game of the series during a normal facewash back and forth Burrows goes and bites the finger of his opponent. This has been suspendable before, and this act certainly doesn't belong in hockey, yet the league comes out and states there is "no evidence that he intended to bite him" and there is no suspension despite the finger being shown to the refs right after and clear video of the bite. Should have been a game but went without discipline. Then in game three Rome clearly hits Horton late, not even turning back towards him until after he had made the pass. The NHL then comes down hard on him with a 4 game suspension ensuring he wouldn't play again in the series. They cited the injury as part of the reason behind it which I don't agree with (the act, not the result should be subject to discipline). I thought he should have gotten 2 games but could live with 4. Then came a strange play where Boychuk taking Raymond out of the play spins Raymond awkwardly and they glide into the boards. Vancouver fans wonder why there wasn't a suspension given that Raymond suffered a fractured vertebrae, but I agree with the league. I don't think there was malice and could have been a minor for interference but certainly wasn't something suspendable. It was an awkward position and unfortunate but not suspension worthy. Then you come to game 7 and Jannik Hansen after taking an uncalled high stick from Chara targets Ference in retaliation. With the puck not even on the same side of the ice he skates at Ference, then launches himself into Ference. He only got 2 minutes but should have gotten a 5 minute and game in my opinion. There was no need for it and it should receive discipline equal to or more than the Rome hit, however I don't know what will come of it. Overall lots of questionable play in this series and much of it from the Nucks.
Kesler and the Sedins disappear : This could have been on Vegas as great as this disappearing act was. Henrik had only a single point, a late goal in game 6, in the entire series after leading the playoffs in points until the end. Daniel, his brother, had a goal and 3 assists in the 7 games. Kesler, he only had a single secondary assist and that came in the first game of the series. These slumps, along with great Boston penalty killing, probably were one of the most key contributors to the horrid powerplay Vancouver had in the series.
Overall it was a great series and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. I think that the Canucks did a disservice to themselves and to the league with some of their antics, and I also think the disciplinary office could have done a better job with suspensions, but overall I loved the playoffs once again and the Finals themselves were a blast to watch. It is unfortunate that a select handful of idiots rioted in Vancouver last night (and I'll touch more on sports riots in a later post) as that really is taking the focus away from a great series and puts a black eye on the league and the city when it really isn't needed nor deserved.
Now we can look forward to the upcoming draft, the awards show, and the start of free agency and then we'll have a brief summer as in just a couple of months camps will start up again and the new season will be upon us once again.
Congratulations Boston Bruins, players, city, and fans alike!
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