It’s been a while since I covered anything NHL related, so I felt it was only right to show them some love on the eve of the Stanley Cup Finals. As I’ve done in the past, I tapped my friend and avid hockey fan @CMMarzi to give us a preview of the upcoming series between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. Enjoy!
We’ve been treated to another amazing hockey season of hotly contested rivalries, gravely debated head shots and Versus NHL coverage to land smack in the middle of a great Stanley Cup Finals match up of the Boston Bruins vs. the Vancouver Canucks.
The Vancouver Canucks are riding high on an incredible season. They took home the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history, legitimate fears that the Chicago Blackhawks would pull the three-peat in eliminating Vancouver from the Playoffs were assuaged, and the team has been playing better than ever as evidenced by the number of players in the running for various league trophies. The team is also on an emotional high of making the Finals for the first time in 17 years. Lastly, to raise morale even more, Manny Malholtra has been cleared to practice after a devastating injury at the end of the regular season. Vancouver is certainly the team to beat.
The Boston Bruins, on the other hand, are a storied franchise, part of the Original Six teams in the NHL. By no means a sure pick for Finals play, the Bruins battled through two 7 game series (let’s ignore Round 2 and save Flyers fans the embarrassment) to make it to Vancouver. The story lines here will be great with East Vancouver native Milan Lucic returning to try to snatch the Cup away from his hometown.
As if that’s not reason enough to watch the series, here are 3 more reasons to care!
3. If the NFL and NBA are both forced into lock-out next year, you will be sports starved. This is a fact. Next season could be brutal. Hockey can easily fill that void, so why not wet your palate early? Maybe you’re intrigued by Mr. Carrie Underwood, Mr. Hilary Duff , or Mr. Willa Ford? Maybe you love your city and are looking to take on another team? Maybe you consider yourself a true sports fan but have yet to watch the North American rivals face off? Whatever the reason, I’m here to inform you that there is room left on the Canucks or Bruins bandwagon. Hop on this year before it fills up!
2. This is an Olympic goaltender match up! Robert Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks helped the Canadian men’s national team to a 3-2 overtime victory over the USA men’s national team last year. While Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins wasn’t the American goaltender on the receiving end of that heartbreaking Crosby goal, he was on the USA roster. We can all pretend it’s Olympic hockey season again!
1. The high level of play will exemplify what good hockey is. Both teams have incredibly different styles of play. Vancouver, courtesy of the Sedin twins, plays a finesse game, while Boston, courtesy of Milan Lucic and the sheer size of Zdeno Chara play a more physical game. The play will undoubtedly be heated and incredibly exciting.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tomorrow on NBC. Don’t miss it!
| 06/01 |  |
Bruins | vs. | Canucks | |
8:00pm (ET, NBC) | |||
| 06/04 | |
Bruins | vs. | Canucks | |
8:00pm (ET, NBC) | |||
| 06/06 | |
Canucks | vs. | Bruins | |
8:00pm (ET, VERSUS) | |||
| 06/08 | |
Canucks | vs. | Bruins | |
8:00pm (ET, VERSUS) | |||
| 06/10* | |
Bruins | vs. | Canucks | |
8:00pm (ET, NBC) | |||
|
06/13*
|
|
Canucks
|
vs.
|
Bruins
|
|
8:00pm (ET, NBC)
|
|||
|
06/15*
|
|
Bruins
|
vs.
|
Canucks
|
|
8:00pm (ET, NBC)
|
|||
*if necessary
Photo via Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI/Getty Images
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