Image courtesy of loveofhockey.areavoices.com
Tonight begins what some have speculated will be
one of the best Stanley Cup Final matchups in recent memory. I won’t jink the series by making such a claim as I did with the Conference Finals.
When Boston and Chicago face off tonight in the
first Stanley Cup game between Original Six rivals in nearly three and a half
decades, people will tune into see how Boston’s stingy-doesn’t-even-begin-describe-it
defense will plan to slow down Chicago’s creative and deadly offense.
But of course it’s not that simple. There’s so
much more going on here than an inevitable seven-game series where either Tuukka
Rask or Patrick Kane prevails. Each series (and Finals matchups especially) is
filled with storylines, matchups and angles you didn’t consider. Legacies will
be altered, created, built upon and possibly destroyed.
So here are NUMBER angles, matchups and
storylines besides Chicago’s offense and Boston’s defense:
1.
Kane and Jonathan Toews
have been ….ordinary? Kane’s hatrick in the
Game Five clincher over Los Angeles seemed to have made everyone forgot that
Kane has been quite ordinary this postseason. Through the first 16 games
against Minnesota, Detroit and Los Angeles, Kane had only three goals and eight
assists. His possession and corsi numbers took a slight hit as well. But
he wasn’t necessarily playing much worse. He’s a creator above all else. He’s
not much of a physical force or defensive presence and he’s been document to
have been immature at times. But there are few players in the league who create
offense the way he does. He has still taken plenty of shots at net this
postseason and as Gave Five showed, it was only a matter of time before he
started to break through. Don’t count on that consistently happening against
Boston but Kane will require special
defensive attention.
Toews, on the other
hand, is a bit harder to pinpoint. The 2010 Conn Smythe winner has one goal and
nine points so far in the playoffs. And although he’s seemed physically overwhelmed
at times, his corsi and fenwick numbers are among the best on his team.
Toews is the opposite of Kane: he’s not as creative or dangerous with the puck
but he’s a capable scorer and as good in the defensive zone as any forward not
named Patrice Bergeron. He’s a point-per-game player who’s widely regarded as a
World-Class leader. He’s the perfect two-way forward. It might seem like a
stretch, but the only thing plaguing Toews is bad luck and tough individual
matchups.
2.
Unlikely Playoff Heroes Bryan Bickell is tied
for the Blackhawk team lead for goals with eight while Boston’s David Krejci is
on pace to lead the playoffs in scoring for the second time in three years.
Yes, you read that right. It’s only been done twice in the past 20 years (Joe
Sakic and Peter Forsberg). Both players have been vital to their team’s
success; who knows if Boston makes it out of the first round without Krejci’s
heroics against Toronto or if Chicago is able to make it past Detroit without
timely goals from Bickell? Speaking of under-appreciated players…
3.
Best goalie in the
world? Is
Tuukka Rask inching towards the best goalie in the World status? It would seem
so. This assertion would have been
laughable just three years ago when Rask played a major role in Boston blowing
a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers while simultaneously blowing his shot at
unseating Tim Thomas.
But now he seems to be four
wins away from at least moving into the conversation. Rask has posted a .943
save percentage this postseason including an incredible .985 against the
high-scoring Penguins. He turned aside an astounding 53 of 54 shots in a Game
Three that essentially decided the series for Boston. This isn’t a case of
small sample size either. Rask was second to only Sergei Bobrovsky in
even-strength save percentage (a more consistent indicator of goalie
performance) this regular season. So, yeah, Rask is really, really good. Oh,
and he’s a restricted free agent. My guess is, he won’t be going anywhere.
4.
Legacy of each team Winning two Stanley Cups
in a relatively short period of time; that one’s obvious. For the Bruins,
winning this series would mean winning two Stanley Cups in three years. In the
offseason they sign Rask long term, bring back Nathan Horton and they enter
2013-2014 as prohibitive favorites to win a third cup in four years. They’d be
given far more attention than after 2011’s championship and may be treated as a
model franchise (more on that later). Claude Julien probably gets some Hall of
Fame consideration (not joking) and Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and David
Krejci are forever remembered as playoff heroes.
Chicago’s winning
scenario is a little less rosy than Boston’s. The Blackhawks would become
sort-of hockey’s modified version of the Marlins (Notice: modified. Not as
extreme). Only instead of stripping the team after Championships for
cost-saving measures, they’re forced too because of salary cap ramifications.
After winning it all in
2010, the Blackhawks found themselves in trouble with the salary cap (that
tends to happen when EVERYONE gets a long-term deal) and turned over one-third
of its roster in the offseason. The watered-down Hawks finished eighth and
sixth in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Both years they bowed out in the first
round. Not much of a Stanley Cup defense. This year they’re contenders again
but once again they’ll likely face a lot of offseason turnover. They’ll enter
the offseason with less than two million dollars in cap room and eight free
agents from the current roster. Chances are there’s at least one major trade
(and many minor losses) in store for Chicago this winter.
5.
Team-building techniques
As I
mentioned before, a second Stanley Cup in three years would earn Boston the
title of the NHL’s “model franchise.” And that title would be appropriate. Any
team looking to rebuild right now (cough cough Sabres) should use Boston as a
blueprint.
Look at it this way: the
most successful teams in the NHL the last five years have been Detroit, Boston,
Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York, Los Angeles, San Jose and Vancouver in some
order. We’re shown every year in the postseason why Vancouver and San Jose are
poor models, the Rangers haven’t had quite enough success, Detroit hasn’t made
the conference final since 2009, Pittsburgh’s been too lucky to replicate and
Chicago is forced to constantly strip down and rebuild their secondary units.
Boston and Los Angeles are the most workable models. Since they’ve sustained
success with less scoring talent, let’s go with Boston.
The Bruins are
defensively sound, physically tough, mentally strong and lethal when they know
they know they can intimidate you. They have players that deserve to win the Selke,
Norris and Vezina. Bergeron, Rask and
Chara are the best defensive-forward/defenseman/goalie trio in the league.
They built around a
two-way center in Bergeron, a hulking, intimidating defenseman in Chara who can
advance the puck, play special teams, is a threat at the point and can
man-handle nearly any forward. They employ a few forwards who always seem to
play their best when it matters most in Krejci and Horton, the best hybrid
scorer/fighter/hitter in the NHL in Milan Lucic, a world-class pest (incredibly
valuable) in Brad Marchand and a solid defensive unit. They have guys like
Shawn Thornton who can fight (almost) anyone he squares up with.
The most important
factor in Boston’s success isn’t their talent on the ice but the atmosphere
they’ve created in the dressing room. They know as well as anyone that
character is as important as talent. That’s why guys like Danny Paille who join
as free agents immediately take on the personality of the team. It’s why
Gregory Campbell would rather finish his shift with a freshly broken leg than
go to the bench and leave his team a man down.
Bruins in seven. The
long-suffering fans in Beantown can finally rejoice.
Stay hungry my friends.
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