Tomorrow might be the last game of this hockey seasons. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals might always be. Last year, Chicago's Patrick Kane decided it with a great goal in OT, this year, I expect the Bruins to take the valuable victory and go back to Vancouver.
One of the factors in this series are the fans. Both teams have a great core of fans that are hungry for success, especially for the Stanley Cup. Boston, unlike Vancouver, knows how great it is to win it. And, it's just a matter of time, when the Bruins capture it again. It can be this year. For no surprise, of course. Before the season started, I did my personal research of who has the biggest chance to get to the Finals. I rarely find someone who believes me, but the result was Vancouver-Boston, with Boston ending as victors. It might be just a coincidence, but there is a lot of reasons why to think about those teams when you say Stanley Cup.
Everyone knows that the teams have two of the greatest goalies in the game today. Luongo has won the Olympics with Canada and wants to add another great trophy to his list of successes. Thomas wants to prove that he's not the type of goalie that falls when you go all in. Both netminders have been heroes for their respective teams and whichever team wins it, it is completely guaranteed, that a goalie will be the winner of Conn Smythe. As of now, I would give the trophy to Thomas, because he didn't need to give up so many times to lose. Luongo really didn't prove his qualities in the games at TD Garden.
Both teams have wonderful defences, although Vancouver's one is very deep. Many experts criticize Keith Ballard for his performance in game 4 in Boston and it's really neccessary to say, that Chris Tanev did much better than the American defender. But Ballard is a great hard-working defender, who deserves credit at least for his great hit on Jamie McGinn, which was one of the turning points in San Jose series. Boston's defence is better than Canucks' defence, because they have one thing. Ability to stop Sedins. Just like Weber's defence in Nashville or Keith and Seabrook for Chicago, they have Chara and Seidenberg, who know how to play physical and how to stop danglers like Sedins.
And finally, here are the attacks. Sedinds are really erased in this series and it's bad for Canucks that even Burrows and Kesler were turned into agitated stars, who can't concentrate on their game well. Plus, there is not much to say about Canucks' offence, since nothing like an average offence has been created from Vancouver side yet. When I turn my head on Boston side, I see one guy stepping out of the line. His name is Brad Marchand and did well playing in the TD Garden, doing whatever it took to stop Sedins, scoring amazing goals and playing impossibly well for a rookie. If only Calder Trophy nominees had been announced after the play-offs. Then, we saw a turning point in Raymond's hit on Marchand, which can have similar impact like last year's Byfuglien's hit on Pronger.
My suggestion for Boston? Bring Raymond Bourque to the building, cover rebounding Canucks, get Marchand hitting them hard early and I think Rich Peverley will score the game-winner. No, enough with predictions, give a lot of credit to David Krejci, too, and, now seriously, this series is like fans=sixth skater.
One of the factors in this series are the fans. Both teams have a great core of fans that are hungry for success, especially for the Stanley Cup. Boston, unlike Vancouver, knows how great it is to win it. And, it's just a matter of time, when the Bruins capture it again. It can be this year. For no surprise, of course. Before the season started, I did my personal research of who has the biggest chance to get to the Finals. I rarely find someone who believes me, but the result was Vancouver-Boston, with Boston ending as victors. It might be just a coincidence, but there is a lot of reasons why to think about those teams when you say Stanley Cup.
Everyone knows that the teams have two of the greatest goalies in the game today. Luongo has won the Olympics with Canada and wants to add another great trophy to his list of successes. Thomas wants to prove that he's not the type of goalie that falls when you go all in. Both netminders have been heroes for their respective teams and whichever team wins it, it is completely guaranteed, that a goalie will be the winner of Conn Smythe. As of now, I would give the trophy to Thomas, because he didn't need to give up so many times to lose. Luongo really didn't prove his qualities in the games at TD Garden.
Both teams have wonderful defences, although Vancouver's one is very deep. Many experts criticize Keith Ballard for his performance in game 4 in Boston and it's really neccessary to say, that Chris Tanev did much better than the American defender. But Ballard is a great hard-working defender, who deserves credit at least for his great hit on Jamie McGinn, which was one of the turning points in San Jose series. Boston's defence is better than Canucks' defence, because they have one thing. Ability to stop Sedins. Just like Weber's defence in Nashville or Keith and Seabrook for Chicago, they have Chara and Seidenberg, who know how to play physical and how to stop danglers like Sedins.
And finally, here are the attacks. Sedinds are really erased in this series and it's bad for Canucks that even Burrows and Kesler were turned into agitated stars, who can't concentrate on their game well. Plus, there is not much to say about Canucks' offence, since nothing like an average offence has been created from Vancouver side yet. When I turn my head on Boston side, I see one guy stepping out of the line. His name is Brad Marchand and did well playing in the TD Garden, doing whatever it took to stop Sedins, scoring amazing goals and playing impossibly well for a rookie. If only Calder Trophy nominees had been announced after the play-offs. Then, we saw a turning point in Raymond's hit on Marchand, which can have similar impact like last year's Byfuglien's hit on Pronger.
My suggestion for Boston? Bring Raymond Bourque to the building, cover rebounding Canucks, get Marchand hitting them hard early and I think Rich Peverley will score the game-winner. No, enough with predictions, give a lot of credit to David Krejci, too, and, now seriously, this series is like fans=sixth skater.
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