It’s a dream
matchup for the National Hockey League: an Original
Six Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since Montreal beat the New
York Rangers in
1979.
Chicago
and Boston represent two of the last four Cup winners and two of the
largest and most rabid media markets in the league, which should equate
to excellent ratings in the states. The Blackhawks dispatched the
defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in five games in the
Western Conference Finals; the Bruins wiped out everybody’s favorite,
the Pittsburgh Penguins, in an Eastern Conference Finals
sweep.
It looks
like an epic series, but can we really say for certain? Due to the
lockout shortened regular season, Western Conference teams did not play
Eastern Conference teams so it’s difficult, if not impossible to get a
gauge on this
matchup.
The
Bruins have been on an incredible run since rallying from a 4-1 deficit
in Game 7 to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the conference
quarterfinals. Since then, Boston has defeated the Rangers in five games
and swept the Penguins. That has led to the predictable notion from the
North American media that the Bruins are an unstoppable force. Of
course, that same opinion held true for the Penguins before the Bruins
dispatched them with remarkable ease, and with the Blackhawks after they
rallied from a 3-1 deficit against Detroit in the conference
semifinals.
The
opinion here? We’re not sure how impressed we should be with Boston’s
accomplishments because we weren’t terribly impressed with the Eastern
Conference this season. All season long, we touted the Bruins as the
toughest team in that conference and that held true, but aside from the
Penguins, we didn’t see another real Cup contender in the
East.
We are
still of the belief that the Western Conference is far deeper but maybe
that’s just our West Coast bias (it felt good to write that).
Again, we have believed all along that the Bruins were the
most complete team in the East but when you’re beating tragically flawed
teams in Toronto, New York and even Pittsburgh, with its suspect
defense and goaltending, what have you really
proven?
Here’s
what we believe holds true of the Bruins. First and foremost, Boston’s
character and resolve are a perfect reflection of the city, which pulled
together after the Boston Marathon bombings. It’s a powerful storyline,
and one many observers like to think could fuel the team’s run to a
championship. But real life doesn’t always mesh with fairytales. Just
ask the 2001 New York
Yankees.
There is
no doubting the play of goaltender Tuukka Rask and the Boston defense
after they utterly muted Pittsburgh’s potent offense, but again,
everyone was saying that about the L.A. Kings and Jonathan Quick before
the Blackhawks made Quick look ordinary with 14 goals in five-plus
games.
There is
no doubting the contributions of David Krejci, Nathan Thornton and
Patrice Bergeron and other Bruins, but again, they did it against
suspect competition the first two rounds, and a suspect defensive team
in the conference
finals.
We just
don’t know how good the Bruins are
yet.
So does that
mean we’re picking the Blackhawks now that Patrick Kane has
found his sea legs, Corey Crawford is matching the
best goalies in the game and Chicago has home-ice advantage, which has
been a real advantage in this year’s
playoffs?
Funny
you should ask. Call it superstition, but we don’t pick the childhood
team in tight matchups. We certainly think the Blackhawks have the chops
to get it done. They’re a better defensive team than any Boston has
seen in the postseason, and they’re as good offensively as any Boston
has seen.
In
spite of all that evidence, and Chicago’s wire-to-wire act the season,
we sense a bit of magic in these Bruins. That rally against Toronto just
felt like manifest
destiny.
Prediction:
Bruins in
6.
Follow
Craig Morgan on Twitter
