The Boston Bruins are Stanley Cup champions once again. The Original Six franchise ended their 39-year drought with a convincing display in Game 7 to beat the Vancouver Canucks 4–0.
Boston played a perfect road game on Wednesday night, shutting down Vancouver and making the most of their chances. By the score line, one might think that the game was played in Boston.
Patrice Bergeron scored two goals and Tim Thomas shut out the NHL’s highest scoring team for the second time in seven games.
Thomas, 37, was spectacular for the Bruins, outplaying his fellow Vezina-trophy nominee Roberto Luongo. Thomas was named Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the Finals.
“This team just has so much character. Every time we had our backs up against the wall, we came through every time,” Thomas told CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.
He also had praise for Luongo and his opponents. “I respect Roberto Luongo. I respect the Canucks. They’re a great team.” Thomas wanted to smooth over a war of words that the media had blown up based on comments between the two goalies.
Vancouver came into the series as favourites. They were the best team during the regular season and took a fortuitous 2–0 series lead with two one-goal wins in Games 1 and 2.
But the story of this series is the Bruins’ domination of the Canucks in Boston. Boston won Games 3, 4, and 6 by a combined score of 17–3. Meanwhile, Vancouver narrowly won Games 1, 2, and 5 by a combined score of 5–2.
In fact, CBC mentioned a statistic that reveals a lot about the gritty effort Boston put in to win the Cup. They became the first team to win three Game 7’s on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
Boston had a miserable power play coming into the Stanley Cup Final against Vancouver, scoring only on 8 percent of their chances. Vancouver, on the other hand, had the league’s best regular season power play.
But this Stanley Cup Final series turned that trend on its head. Vancouver’s power play went cold and Boston rediscovered how to score with the man advantage. Boston scored 4 goals in 25 chances, while Vancouver only scored once in 29 chances.
Boston’s superior depth and greater contribution from third and fourth lines was one of the differences in the series.
The top defensive partnership of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg manhandled the Sedin twins. In fact, Henrik had only one goal in the seven-game series while Daniel had four points.
“It’s a huge honour and a privilege,” Chara said about receiving the Stanley Cup from Gary Bettman. About how he and his teammates handled the NHL’s best team in the regular season the 6-foot-9-inch defenceman said, “We had to play hard, play physical, play on the edge. We had to find a way to slow them down.”
Forty three-year-old Mark Recchi had a memorable series. The ultra-veteran was certainly not out of place recording seven points in the series. In an on-ice interview with CBC, Recchi said, “We never made things easy on ourselves. Helluva a way for me to go out.”
Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault told CBC, “Our players are disappointed. I’m real proud of what they did.
“You gotta give credit where credit is due. They were going to be physical. Their goaltender [Tim Thomas] was phenomenal. We couldn’t beat him in their building.”
Recchi was the second player to carry the Cup after it was handed to Chara from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. After that, Bergeron, the longest-serving Bruin, got his chance, followed by Thomas.
Boston’s fourth liner Gregory Campbell summed up the Stanley Cup experience best: “It’s so hard to win the Stanley Cup. That’s why it’s so gratifying.”
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