Vancouver (1) West VS Boston (3) EastThe last Stanley Cup parade in Boston was 1972.
The last Stanley Cup parade in Vancouver was 1915.
There were no Canucks in 1915, just Millionaires.
The NHL was formed in 1917/18.
The Bruins came in in 1924/25 and have made the playoffs 66 times and won the Cup 5 times.
Vancouver came into the league in 1970/71 (with Buffalo) and have made the playoffs 24 times. 2 of those times, 1982 and 1994 resulted in a Stanley Cup Finals loss to a team from New York.
Boston has never faced Vancouver in the playoffs, let alone the Stanley Cup finals.
Now this year.
Both their coaches have been behind the bench of the Montreal Canadians in the 2000s.
Offence
Vancouver
Thank god (for all you Canucks fans) that Henrik (I'm tired of typing in "Sedin", so there!) isn't a pitcher in baseball and his goals aren't wins and his assists aren't losses.
He's picked up this postseason where he left off this regular season. He has only 2 goals so far in the playoffs. Yet, he has 21 points to lead the Canucks!
Kesler is a little better goal wise with 7 plus 11 helpers. From there, we have Daniel with 8 goals and 8 assists. Then we have Alex Burrows with 7 goals and 7 assists.
Two left wingers, Mason Raymond and Chris Higgins, have 8 and 7 points respectively.
From the point, you have Christian Ehrhoff with 11 points, although like Henrik, only two of them are goals. Bieksa and Edler have 9 points each.
Oh, I haven't talked about Malhotra. That eye injury rivals Crosby's concussion as career threatening. However there is talk of him returning. As to when? I'm looking at Game 3 at the earliest. In the regular season, he had 11 goals and 19 assists.
Boston
David Krejic and Nathan Horton have 17 points each, and then two strong centers. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand have 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Another center, Chris Kelly has 11 points, while Micheal Ryder also has 11.
The team's top left winger is Milan Lucic with 9 points.
Rich Peverley has eight points.
Look out for Mark Recchi, 43 years young. But this is his third team to make the final two that he has played with. He has 7 points.
The teams top two defenceman (in points) are Dennis Seidenberg and Thomas Kaberle. Each also has eight points. Don't overlook Andrew Ference, who has 7 points as well. Boychuk has 6.
And yes, another will he play? Should he play or should you know, Tyler Seguin? Actually, when he has played, he's played quite well. All of 19 years old, he looks like the playoff warrior with 6 points in 7 games. Sometimes being in the Stanley Cup finals makes injuries go away quicker!
And yes, another will he play? Should he play or should you know, Tyler Seguin? Actually, when he has played, he's played quite well. All of 19 years old, he looks like the playoff warrior with 6 points in 7 games. Sometimes being in the Stanley Cup finals makes injuries go away quicker!
Edge: (Slight) Vancouver
Defence
Bieksa lead the 'Nucks with a +10, but several other players need to up it come right now!
Dan Hamhuis is a +5, Aaron Rome is a plus 2 in only 11 games. Alexander Edler is only a 0 in all 18 games. Salo and Ehrhoff are both minuses.
It's a little better up front as Jannik Hansen is a plus 6 and left winger Burrows is a plus 4. Another left winger, Chris Higgins is a +4 and Raffi Torres is a plus 3. Maxim Lapierre is also a +3. Raymond is a plus 2.
Both the Sedin's are minus 4, however.
Boston
Big Z is still a plus 11, but that's nothing to take lightly. Nor is Dennis Seidenberg's +8. Kaberle is looking erratic at times, making Maple Leaf fans rejoice at the thought of, "We didn't need him after all". But he's still a plus 7, and Ference is right behind with a +6. Boychuk is a plus 5 as is Johnny McQuaid.
Actually, the only defenceman without a plus is vetran Shane Hnidy, who has played only three games and is a zero.
Up front, Horton is +10 for second on the team, and then Bergeron and Kelly are both +9. Marchand and Ryder are both +6. Peverley and Krejci come in with +5, and right behind them is Recchi with a plus 4. Seguin's +3 is far from bad when you consider the amount of games played.
Edge: (Wide) Boston
Goaltending
Vancouver
So Luongo stole the last two games against San Jose? Can he keep doing it? We'll see say the hockey gods.
I really think he's been getting better with every round, now that he's upped his record to 12-6 and S% to .922. His GAA is down enough (2.29) for the offence to be off and still come out on top. Better still, many of the goals that San Jose scored were on the power play. So if the Canucks can just stay out of the box...
Corey Schnieder has made 3 appearances without getting a decision. Will he play here? It will depend on how well, Luongo plays, of course. But I can't imagine him getting a start.
Boston
Having said all that, the same could be said of Thomas. Hey, nothing too small about a game 7 shutout, especially if it sends you into the Stanley Cup finals. That's two game 7 victories under Timmy's belt. Now to up the ante. For the first time, he'll be looking at home ice disadvantage.
12-6, 9.29S%, 2.29 GAA. Hey! The W-L and GAA is exactly the same as Luongo's. Plus his S% is almost identical.
This one is going to be tough to call.
As for Rask, when Niagara flows upward!
Edge: NIETHER!
Prediction: Vancouver in seven games
And Phoneix in Quebec in 2012/13, hopefully!
References
"Official Site of the National Hockey League” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 01 June, 2011. <https://www.nhl.com>
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 01 June 2011.
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