Boston Bruins Win First Stanley Cup Since 1972; Tim Thomas Claims Playoff MVP.

For the first time since 1972, the Stanley Cup will be taking up residence in the city of Boston. Last night in Game Seven the Bruins clinched the first Cup for Boston in 39 years by beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in Vancouver. For good luck before the start of the contest, injured Bruin Nathan Horton squeezed a water bottle full of melted TD Garden Ice onto the ice at Rodgers Arena for good luck. The move paid off.

Play was pretty even through the first half of the opening period. Then things changed at the 14:37 mark when Patrice Bergeron scored his 5ht of the playoffs, and what would turn out to be the eventual cup winner, off a great play. It started with Brad Marchand getting to the puck after Vancouver had won a faceoff. Marchand then spun away from Canucks checkers and slid it over to Bergeron who beat a stunned Luongo for the goal. That was the only scoring in the opening period. In that opening period, Vancouver outshot the Bruins 8-5, but Boston got the only goal. The Canucks had maybe one quality chance on Thomas in that opening period.

Moving on to the middle period, things went from bad to worse for the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks outshot Boston 13-8 in the 232nd period but Boston would score twice in the period to take a 3-0 lead. The Bruins took a 2-0 lead at the 12:13 mark thanks to Brad Marchand's 10th of the playoffs. Then Zedeno Chara got called for interference, allowing Vancouver its first powerplay. The Canucks not only came up empty on the powerplay but allowed this beautiful shorthanded goal by Patrice Bergeron:

The goal came at the 17:39 mark and was Bergerons 2nd of the game and 6th of the playoffs. Boston would put the icing on the cake in the 3rd period when Brad Marchand scored his 2nd of the night and 11th of the playoffs into an empty net at the 17:16 mark of the 3rd period. At the end of it all Roberto Luongo stopped 17 of 20 Bruins shots, while his counterpart Tim Thomas stopped all 37 shots the Canucks threw at him.

It was no real surprise to anybody that at the end of it all Tim Thomas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Playoffs. This year Thomas put up incredable numbers, starting 25 games and had a record of 16-9, a 1.98 GAA and a .940 save %. 4 of Thomas's 16 wins were shutouts. Tim Thomas set the record for most saves in a single Post Season with 798, and the most saves in a Stanley Cup series with 238. He becomes the 17th goalie all time to win the Conn Smythe trophy. He is the oldest player to ever win the award at 37 years, 62 days old, and becomes only the 2nd American-born player to EVER win the trophy, the first being Brian Leetch with the 1994 New York Rangers.

Now for some final thoughts and numbers on the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs and finals. First here are the final stats for the top skaters and goalies in this years playoffs. Here are the final stats for the skaters in the playoffs: David Krejci lead all players in playoff scoring with 12 goals 11 assists for 24 points. He is followed by Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks 3 goals and 19 assists for 22 points. Tim Thomas lead all playoff goalies with th numbers listed above.

What surprised me the most about not only Game Seven but most of the finals as a whole was the Vancouver Canucks as a team. The showed life in the first two games then went AWOL in Games 3 & 4. Game 5 they showed flashes, but Games 6 & 7 there was nothing. Roberto Luongo to his credit did what he could, but the Sedin Twins were nowhere to be found in the finals at all. The first two games the Canucks looked in control of the series, but in my opinion things changed completely in Game Three when Arron Rome threw that big check on Nathan Horton, knocking Horton out for the rest of the finals. After that point Boston really seemed to turn it on, with the exception of Game Five. Vancouver seemed to have lost its heart and its desire to win after Game 3 and Boston really found theirs. Vancouver basically no-showed the rest of the finals after Game Three. It really was a poor showing by the Canucks towards the end of the series.

Now that we have that small rant about the Canucks pathetic play out of the way, I will say this much this has been without a doubt the most entertaining playoffs in a good long time. In total through all four rounds there were 22 games that had to be decided in Overtime. Of the four rounds the Bruins played three of which had to go Seven games all of which were won by Boston, an NHL First. Between the 2000 Cup Finals and right now, of the 11 cup finals that have been played 6 of them have required all seven games to crown a champion. The 6 finals are: 2001 Colorado over New Jersey, 2003 New Jersey over Anaheim, 2004 Tampa Bay over Calgary, 2006 Carolina over Edmonton, 2009 Pittsburgh over Detroit, and 2011 Boston over Vancouver. Hockey fans have been spoiled over the past two months with the level of play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it really was incredible hockey to watch.

Boston Offense Explodes Again in Game 6 to Force Game 7

As has been the case all series long, the home team once again came out victorious in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals. Home Ice has been key in this years finals and the Boston Bruins again held off elimination with a 5-2 victory last night at TD Garden in Boston. The Bruins are unbeaten on home ice in this finals as are the Canucks in Vancouver, setting the stage for what will be an emotionally charged and very exciting Game Seven Wednesday night in Vancouver.

As was the case in the first two games in Boston in this series, Roberto Luongo was again chased from the nets on this night by a smothering Bruins attack. The whole series of events in this contest started early when it looked like Vancouver had jump to start the game but 20 seconds in Henrik Sedin was left all alone and had a wide open net staring at him but simply missed the puck. About a minute later things started to go downhill for Vancouver as Mason Raymond was hit hard into the boards and had to be helped off the ice. After that it was all downhill. Boston got on the board first at the 5:31 mark thanks to this sick shot by Brad Marchand:


For Marchand it was his 9th of the playoffs. Then at the 6:06 mark Milan Lucic scored his 5th of the playoffs to increase the lead. Finally Boston put Luongo on the bench at the 8:35 mark thanks to a powerplay goal from Andrew Ference, his 4th of the playoffs. After the 3rd Bruin goal Luongo was pulled in Favor of Cory Schneider. Boston kept the offense up on Schneider scoring again at the 9:45 mark thanks to Michael Ryder's 8th of the post season.

The middle period was a quite one on the score sheet as Boston was able to hold their 4-0 lead. The 4 goals Boston scored in the first came in a span of 4:14, which is the fastest 4 goal outburst in finals history. The previous record for 4 goals was 5:29 set by the 1956 Montreal Canadians. The only major news of the 2nd period was three minor penalties given to Patrice Bergeron of Boston.

The 3rd period finally saw the Sedin Twins show up in the series. Vancouver got on the board 22 seconds into the 3rd thanks to a powerplay goal from Henrik Sedin, assisted by his brother Daniel and Christian Ehrhoff. For Henrik Sedin it was his 3rd goal of the playoffs. It was the first points for the twins in the finals. Boston responded at the 6:59 mark with a powerplay goal of their own from David Krejci his 12th of the playoffs, which leads all skaters in goals. Vancouver would add one more goal at the 17:34 mark on a beautiful passing play resulting in a goal from Maxim Lapierre getting his 3rd of the playoffs and 2nd of this series. It wasn't enough though as Boston easily took the game 5-2 setting up a decisive game seven in vancouver.

Tim Thomas ended this night making 36 saves allowing just the two goals. Cory Schneider allowed 2 goals on 32 shots in relief of Roberto Luongo. Luongo has been a good example of almost like a Jeckyll & Hyde in the finals. Luongo played a total of 8:35 in this game and allowed 3 Bruins goals on 8 shots. In the three games Luongo has played in Boston in this series he is 0-3 with an 8.05 GAA and a .773 save percentage. In just 111 minutes and 52 seconds of playing time in Boston he has allowed 15 goals on 66 shots in Boston. Meanwhile when playing at home in Vancouver, Luongo is 3-0 with two shutouts, a 0.67 GAA and .979 save percentage. For a guy who is up for the Vezna Trophy as goalie of the year he can't be having those kind of differences in numbers. Meanwhile his counterpart Tim Thomas has been spectacular in the playoffs and in theses finals. In the finals Thomas is 3-3, has faced 209 total shots and allowed only 8 goals. Thomas is cementing his chances at winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP with the numbers he has put up. Heading into Game Seven Thomas has started 24 games and is 15-9 with a 2.06 GAA a .937 save percentage and 3 shutouts.

Game Seven is Wednesday night back at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Stanley Cup Finals Now Even At 2 After Boston Wins Game 4

The Boston Bruins have come back and pulled even in the series with Vancouver Canucks after a big victory in Game Four last night. As we all know Vancouver won the first two games on home ice to start the series, but Boston has responded in the same fashion by winning both games on their home ice. Game Four was a bit quieter in regards to penalties but not in action, as Boston hung a four spot on the Canucks and were able to chase Roberto Luongo in the 3rd period.

Boston got on the board early in the hockey game, at the 11:59 mark of the opening period, thanks to this beautiful goal from Rich Peverley:


It was Peverley's 3rd of the playoffs. A couple of things stood out on this goal. First was obviously the shot itself, sliding five hole on Luongo. Also was the great chip pass by David Krejci to get the puck up to Peverley. Finally the surprise on the whole play was the lack of defense by the Canucks, allowing Peverley to get in on Luongo. What made the whole thing somewhat funny was the attempt by Raffi Torres to stop the pass, he missed the puck and then got caught flailing around trying to stop Peverley who was behind him and in the clear for the goal. All around a great play. So that was the only scoring in the opening period, which saw a total of two penalties taken, both of them by Boston.

Moving to the middle frame, each team took two penalties, but neither club could capitalize on the powerplay opportunities. Boston would strike for two more goals in this period. First Michael Ryder scored his 7th of the playoffs at the 11:11 mark to make it 2-0 Bruins. Then at the 13:29 mark Brad Marchand scored his 4th of the playoffs to make it 3-0 Bruins. Marchand had one of the two interesting and entertaining moments during the late stages of the 3rd period but we'll get to that in a moment.

The third period proved to be the choppiest period of the three on the night. Boston put the nail in the coffin on the scoring for the night when at the 3:29 mark Rich Peverley scored his 2nd of the game to seal the 4-0 victory for the Bruins and chase Luongo from the cage. Luongo allowed 4 goals on 20 shots, and his replacement Cory Schneider stopped all 9 shots he faced. Meanwhile Tim Thomas was stellar in net getting the shutout, stopping all 38 of Vancouver's shots. The 3rd period was the choppiest of the three periods with a total of 15 penalties called including two 10 minute misconducts. The coolest moment of the hockey game came late in the 3rd period when Tim Thomas had a bit of an altercation with Alex Burrows:


With his play in the net the past few games Tim Thomas may be cementing his case for Conn Smyth Trophy winner as Playoff MVP. He is also starting to remind me a bit mroe of former Flyers Goalie Ron Hextall, in that he has been playing more physical in his cage.

Now as far as the Vancouver Canucks go, they better start to wake up and get it together. They played pretty well in the two games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, but have looked really flat in the last two games in Boston. The Sedin Twins have been AWOL in the finals in the first four games and REALLY need to step up and lead the team again starting in Game Five tomorrow night. Roberto Luongo also needs to find his game again. As with the Canucks as a whole he looked great in the first two games, but has been average at best in the last two. If Vancouver is to have any chance of winning the cup this year the Sedin's and Luongo both have to wake up and start playing their game again. As for the Boston Bruins, they just need to keep playing their game and play like they have in the last two, and they will bring the cup back to Boston for the first time since 1972.

Boston Offense Explodes in Game 3; Game 5 Forced Back in Vancouver

When the scene shifted to Boston last night for Game Three of the Stanley Cup Finals, it was a completely different story from the first two games of the Finals back in Vancouver. The one similarity between the three games so far in the finals has been there is a ton of physical play and after the whistle activities, which will be consistent the rest of the series, that's almost going to be a guarantee. The biggest change in game three from the first two where the Boston Bruins. The Bruin offense, which had a bit of trouble solving Roberto Luongo in Vancouver, was able to solve him and explode for eight goals in game three. If your a Boston fan, you were left holding you breath in the first period.

The game started the way, the first two had, with solid goaltending, and hard hitting. Game three had a different vibe to it. Things changed about five minutes into the hockey game when Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome delivered this huge hit on Nathan Horton of Boston:


The was so devastating that Nathan Horton is now done for the rest of the playoffs. It was announced early this morning that Horton will miss the remainder of the finals due to the severe concussion that he suffered from this hit. Arron Rome, the guy who threw the check, has a meeting with the NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations to discuss disciplinary actions resulting from the play.

The first period went by without a goal being scored. But the check by Rome on Horton really light a fire under the Bruins as they got on the board first 11 seconds into the 2nd period on a great goal from Andrew Ference. Boston wasn't done in the middle period, connecting three more times in the frame. First came a powerplay goal from Mark Recchi at 4:22, then Brad Marchand scored a great shorthanded goal at 11:30, and to cap off the 4 goal period, David Krejci at the 15:47 mark.

So after 40 minutes of hockey Boston held a 4-0 lead. They would stretch the lead to 5-0 at the 11:38 mark of the 3rd period thanks to another shorthanded goal scored by Daniel Paille. Vancouver finally gets on the board at 13:53 thanks to Jannik Hansen, cutting the lead to 5-1. Boston would not get their collective foot off the gas pedal as they scored their final three goals on their final three shots. The final Boston goals came from Mark Recchi, Chris Kelly, and a powerplay goal from Michael Ryder. Tim Thomas stopped 40 of 41 Vancouver shots, while Roberto Luongo stopped 30 of 38 Boston shots.

Aside from the goal scoring, the highlight of the game had to be this hit from Tim Thomas on Henrik Sedin:


Tim Thomas has been known to do this in the past in games, but to see him do it on not only on one of the Canucks star players, but to do it in the Stanley Cup Finals shows the kind of player he is.

Now I will admit that Vancouver did come out and look flat in game three. If the Canucks want to bring the cup back to Canada, they have got to turn in a better performance in game four on Wednesday night. The Canucks I felt gave Boston too many chances in front of Luongo. As for Boston, this was a performance that was really needed. They had to show Vancouver that they weren't a pushover. Also I feel that the Rome hit on Horton really pissed off the Bruins. Boston came out wanting payback for the hit and they got it by embarrasing the Canucks. Now the big question is going to be going into game four, will the Canucks rebound or will Boston dominate and take back home ice? Only time will tell. Game Four is Wednesday Night at 8pm on Versus from TD Garden in Boston!

Stanley Cup Finals Game 2 Goes to Vancouver in Overtime

Game Two of the Stanley Cup Finals goes the same way as Game One, in favour of the Vancouver Canucks. Unlike Game One this game had Boston's offense finally wake up and even went into Overtime. Vancouver got on the board first in the opening period at the 12:12 mark with a powerplay goal from Alexander Burrows. Moving on to the middle frame, Boston's Offense wakes up finally as they scored twice in the middle period. First at the 9 minute mark Milan Lucic got the game tied at 1. Then Boston took the lead for the first time in the series at the 11:35 mark on a powerplay goal from Mark Recchi.

The lead for Boston held up through most of the third period. Then at the 9:37 mark of the final period, Daniel Sedin connected for his 9th of the playoffs to tie the game at 2, sending Game two into overtime. This overtime took a total of 11 seconds before this he Alex Burrows Struck again to win Game Two. The goal looked a little something like this:



The goal took on eleven seconds one of the fastest ones in the playoffs this season. Tim Thomas stopped 30 of 33 shots while Roberto Luongo stopped 28 of 30 shots. The big story of this hockey game was Alex Burrows who scored two of the three goals in this hockey game. Many people feel he should have been suspended from this game because of the incident in game one with the hand eating incident. But if you look at the tape from game one the incident was too close to call, which is why he was able to play in game two.

Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 Goes in Favor of Vancouver

Game 1 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals is in the books. Many NHL analysts were predicting this series to be one of the most entertaining in years. Game 1 did not disappoint, as the Vancouver Canucks knocked off the Boston Bruins 1-0 and take a 1-0 series lead. Through the first two periods of the game the officials had called 13 penalties for 28 total minutes, s 5 on 5 play wasn't exactly happening through the first 40 minutes of play. That has been a strange trend throughout the playoffs. Me personally I would like to see the refs keep the whistles in the pockets just a little bit more, but I digress. As has been the trend through most of the playoffs, Game One was very physical with a ton of good clean hitting including this beautiful hip check by Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis:




That was without a doubt the highlight hit of Game One.

During this first game goalies, Tim Thomas of Boston and Roberto Luongo of Vancouver, stood on their heads during this 1st game, in what was an epic goaltending duel. Luongo got the shutout making 36 saves including 17 in the first period alone. His counterpart Tim Thomas made 33 saves allowing only one goal.

Through most of regulation with the teams deadlocked at 0, it looked like this contest might have needed overtime to decide it. Then with 19 Seconds remaining in regulation Raffi Torres struck for the game winner and lone goal in the hockey game:



Vancouver held on for the 1-0 victory and took a 1-0 series lead. This game had it all, good hitting, low scoring, spectacular goaltending, basically everything a fan could want in a game. Both teams looked a bit off here in Game One. Boston had just come off a hard fought seven game series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Also since the game was being played in Vancouver, it was a 5PM start time in Vancouver and an 8PM start time on the East Coast. So that may have thrown Boston off its routine just a bit. As for the Canucks, the only thing I could see being this slow start was the long layoff, as they finished off the Sharks in only five games and had more time to rest. It might have thrown them off their game just a little bit. Game Two of the series is on Saturday night at 8 on NBC. If Game One was any indication, game two should be just as entertaining.