June 9th, 2010…the best sports day of my life…the anniversary of the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup is only a week and a half away, and although I am disappointed that they’re currently golfing, not much makes me happier than attempting to relive those days by looking at old pictures, video clips, highlights, and newspapers depicting the victory and the partying afterward. I could go on and on about last year, but instead I’ll report on this year’s FInals: Vancouver Canucks vs Boston Bruins.
I predicted that San Jose would win in 6 vs Vancouver, but San Jose just didn’t have it going in that series. Luongo played much better than good ol’ Antti Niemi, and San Jose’s offense just didn’t show up. They took too many undisciplined penalties, couldn’t kill any of them, and couldn’t take advantage when they had a power play. In fact, San Jose looked like an inexperienced, young team in the 1st round of the playoffs while Vancouver looked like the experienced, mature, older team. It looked more like a 1st-round matchup. Anyways, as much as I hate to admit it, Vancouver looked damn good, but can they keep it up for ONE more round?
I predicted Boston to win it in 6, and I was almost correct (it took 7). I unfortunately was not able to watch game 7, but I saw the highlights, and it looked like a typical Game 7: low scoring, high intensity, and a close game to the bitter end. Boston deserved to win this series. Tim Thomas was remarkable in goal (for the most part), and the stars on Boston really shined when the opportunities arose. Tampa Bay played extremely well though. Game 7 could have gone either way. Dwayne Roloson probably should have come up with a couple more key saves earlier in the series. He looked poor late in the series (except game 7). The Lightning aren’t going anywhere though. Look for them to fight Washington yet again for the division title next season. The star power on that team is remarkable.
Now, on to the Finals. I must say that I did not watch one full game of hockey since Game 7 of Chicago vs. Vancouver. I haven’t really had time since the school year is winding down, I’m getting ready to get back to Illinois for some time, trips are planned, grades have to be in, graduation parties to attend, and so many other things. Therefore, I will try my BEST to watch as many full games of this Vancouver/Boston series as possible. Vancouver seems like the popular pick here since they were the President’s Trophy winner, have great forwards and D, a gold-medal winning goaltender, and a coach who helps them on long flights (wow…what a joke THAT is…). Still, Boston should not be counted out. Tim Thomas has been known to steal games with his crazy style of play, and he most likely is going to be the Vezina winner. I would LOVE to see Zdeno Chara and Kevin Bieksa get into a massive brawl (with BIeksa’s face ripped up in the aftermath). I don’t think the NHL would be helped at all if Canada won the Stanley Cup. Having an American Original 6 franchise win it all would be much better. In fact, an Original 6 team has made the Finals in 4 straight years, and 2 of the last 3 champions were Original 6 teams. Sweet. Still, I do have the following thoughts: Similar to the San Jose/Vancouver series, if the Sedin twins are able to perform their magic on the ice, this will be a 5-game Canucks victory. If they struggle, Boston will take it in 6. It all boils down to that, I feel. Boston needs to stay focused on their defense and not get caught up with forcing the puck up the ice. Vancouver will steal the puck and get odd-man rushes often. With their passing and TIm Thomas’s willingness to not stay disciplined in the net on 2-on-1s or 3-on-2s, Vancouver will score goals often. All playoffs long, there have been games when Vancouver would get minimal shots on goal while the other team would get tons. Boston MUST make Vancouver pay if one of those games happens to occur in this series. They must make Vancouver feel as if the Cup is SO far away, like Philly did to Chicago after Game 4 (Aww, sorry Philly, you still lost and still have no goalie). I hope this is a long, hard-fought series. Even thought Vancouver seems to have an edge, I’m going with
BOSTON IN 6 GAMES.
Original 6…for the win…
