2010-11 Stanley Cup Playoff Breakdown & Prediction: Bruins Vs. Canucks

Added on Jun 01, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

This is it, for all the marbles! The Vancouver Canucks and The Boston Bruins are the last two teams standing after 6 plus weeks of playoffs. 14 teams had their chance to toast with hockey’s most prized possession, and now one team will have that chance to be etched into the history books forever and one will not. This is my breakdown of the final road to sport’s hardest to earn trophy.

On February 26 the Canucks and Bruins met in Vancouver for their only regular season game, and the Bruins came out on top with a 3-1 win. Thats the story of the history of the two teams in a nut shell as Boston has only lost 25 times in the 108 club meetings since Vancouver joined the league in 1970. Both teams are entering game one of the Finals with 12 wins and 6 losses, and the Canucks will have the home ice advantage tonight and in the series.

Also important to mention here that no matter what happens after this series, one of hockey’s longest title droughts will come to an end. Boston has failed to take home the cup in their last 5 trips to the finals since they last one the cup in 1972. So far the Canucks have been the bridesmaid but never the bride. The team has never won the cup since its inception in 1970, as they fell two times in the final. They lost to New York in 1982, and to the Rangers in 1994.

Vancouver Forwards

Henrik Sedin, who currently leads all the playoff goal scorers with 21 points will make a difference in this series. Henrik not only plays with his brother Daniel(who has 16 points) extremely well, but all the forwards have been stepping up. Rounding out the leading scorers for Vancouver are Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows who have 25 points between them. Henrik and Daniel made San Jose look silly at times on the low post, and if these two can start clicking and overwhelm Chara, this might be a short series.

Boston Forwards

Boston has been known as a grinder of a team that has been able to keep the scores low in games with a great defense, but don’t fall asleep on their ability to beat goalies. When you score a hat trick in a game six of the eastern conference finals you send a message that you are a presence on the ice, and thats what David Krejci did. That’s not even mentioning his game 7 winning his assist either. Even if the defense is able to keep the games score low they still have to get points, and people like Krejci, Nathan Horton who has 17 points too, and Patrice Bergeron need to be the guys who do it. The wild card here is Horton, who has the ability to make clutch goals. He is the only player in the history of Stanley Cup Playoffs who has two Game 7 winners in the same post season.

Vancouver Defense

With their third pairing Christian Ehrhoff and Aaron Rome still questionable for the series, and who have both missed the past two games, the slack will need to be picked up. However, Vancouver arguably has the deepest defense in the league, and with Kevin Bieksa (who has become a BC legend, with his game 6 double overtime goal) on the ice things become a little more calm. Dan Hamhuis is Bieksa’s partner and also plays close to 27 minutes a game will also play a major role in defining this series, and I think both guys can easily pick up the slack of the missing players. Vancouver also has a decent stable of players to turn to, and they typically keep 9 defensemen around. For instance, Keith Ballard and rookie Chris Tanev stepped in and played well for Ehrhoff and Rome in Games 4 and 5 against the Sharks.

Boston Defense

After losing the first two games of the post season the Bruins paired Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg and it has turned out to be a winning combination. Just look at their Game 7 shut out performance. Seidenberg has come into his own since the move, and is tied with 8 points for Boston’s leading scoring defenseman Tomas Kaberle, and is now playing close to the 29 minutes a game. When you add in the 55 block shots and the 40 hits you have yourself quite a hockey player on your hands, and then there is Chara still to deal with. The 7 foot monster is impossible to ignore on the ice, and his quality of play seems to be rising. Boston’s second pair Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk has been streaky in the playoffs, but have since started to really find their groove. If they can take even a little of the pressure off Chara and Seidenberg, the Sedin twins are going to have a hard time even getting the puck in their offensive zone.

Vancouver Goalies

Roberto Luongo has a tremendous amount of momentum heading into this series, and he might be playing the best hockey of his career. He stopped 54 of 56 shots on goal in game 5 against the Sharks that included 30+ minutes of overtime proving that he is at his best when Vancouver needs him. Luongo is known for taking chances leaving the net, but his 2.29 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage should qualm a lot of Canucks fan’s fears. Luongo has been so good that backup Cory Schneider hasn’t played since Vigneault shockingly started him in Game 6 against Chicago.

Boston Goalies

All you need to say about Tim Thomas are 4 words: “Game 7 shut out.” That should send a message to every person who takes a shot on Thomas for the rest of his career. He has had his ups and downs in the Eastern Conference Finals, but a game 7 like that is something you can’t put aside. It seems like when teams figure out how to score on him they do, but he obviously makes it hard to get that first one. He has played every minute of the post season so far, and has is 12-6 with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. He also has momentum he has had 2 shutouts in his last 5 games.

Prediction

I see more heart break in the Stanley Cup future for Boston, and I would love to make my prediction after seeing one game, but I see the Canucks really frustrating them in the series. Boston needs to prevent the Canucks from setting up their offense in the zone, and while I think they can do that a lot of the time-I don’t see them doing that all the time. Vancouver has been able to move the puck really well, and really adapt on how they enter the zone depending on who is playing on the ice. Boston isn’t going to go away quietly, but I see Vancouver winning the cup in 6 games.