Lord Stanley #103

St. Louis and Boston celebrate victories as they prepare for the 103rd NHL Stanley Cup. Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports

Well the unthinkable has happened yet again for us NY sports fans, we find ourselves witnessing another Boston franchise on the brink of a title. In a year where the Red Sox and Patriots have already been crowned champions, the Boston Bruins now find themselves with home ice and a chance to complete the trifecta against the St. Louis Blues. This has been a common theme since the start of the New England Patriots dynasty, an era that has consumed the majority of my life so far, and one that has seemingly inspired the rest of the Beantown teams to follow in their footsteps. Before this new wave began, there was the Curse of the Bambino for the Red Sox and a yard sale auction over the Patriots that gave us Robert Kraft. I know the Celtics were dominant in the second half of the 20th century but basketball has never really moved the needle for me (sorry), which brings us to the Bruins. The hockey affiliate has been arguably the most consistent Boston franchise over its long tenure. The B's were part of the original six (the league's founding teams), they have built a reputation based on hard-nosed play and winning culture, and they are a tough out every season. Despite all this, a few months ago I guaranteed my Boston friends that they would never win the cup this season. 'They have a solid team this year,' I said, 'but not a championship caliber team.' In some ways I still believe that, but as the NHL has proven year after year (and this is what makes it the most exciting playoff sport besides the NFL in my opinion), the most talented team on paper doesn't always win, in fact they usually don't... the hottest team does. Either way, I was wrong about the Bruins, and I'll own up to that... so how did we get here?

The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been anything but ordinary... that's the understatement of the year... it has been quite possibly the wildest, most unprecedented and unpredictable postseason in the league's history (or at least in my lifetime). The first round yielded five upsets in its eight match-ups, but not only that, the teams that were knocked out were regarded as many of the league's best, starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning finished the season with 128 points, winning the President's Trophy in a blowout by 21 points over the second place Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins. They were the clear favorite to raise the cup, but as many President's Trophy winners have done in the past, they choked. The hungry albeit unlikely Columbus Blue Jackets caught the juggernaut completely off-guard, turning the lights out in Tampa before game five of the series. The Flames suffered a similar defeat in the West to the eight seed Colorado Avalanche, as well as the Nashville Predators to the Dallas Stars, and the defending champion Washington Capitals to the Carolina Hurricanes. In the blink of an eye, all four division winners were out, and the playing field was wide open. The Pittsburgh Penguins (a very successful playoff contender and Stanley Cup winner in recent years) and the Vegas Golden Knights (last year's Western Conference Champs) were also ousted. Analysts and pundits scratched their heads, while fans watched in awe as history unfolded.

Of course I neglected to mention two first round match-ups, the two that had their advancing teams emerge as our 2019 conference champions, but before I get there I must do their season's justice. If we're being honest, the Bruins and Blues couldn't have had more different years. Our Eastern Champ was a contender from the start, a steady squad with a genetic makeup to get the job done, whatever the cost, whoever is on the ice (sound familiar). They weren't necessarily flashy or dominant, but they played well from the back and didn't let anything come easy against them. With the fourth lowest goals against in the league and a deep mix of both veterans and youth, the Bruins were never in doubt to make the dance. Not only that, most Boston fans will probably tell you they already knew their first and second round playoff opponents at New Year's. With the new playoff format focusing on division rivalries, the Bruins and Maple Leafs had been pitted against each other since December, maybe earlier, and the winner had its sights set on the Lightning. That didn't happen of course, but the B's did stun the Leafs in another game seven victory. From there, they took down the upstart Jackets in six and weathered the streaking Hurricanes (coming off an upset sweep of their own) in four. This team continues to take care of business at every turn, beating teams they feel they should beat behind a loyal home crowd and a goaltender (Tuukka Rask) who's playing at the top of his game right now. I don't want to downplay these two series, but there wasn't too much to talk about in them, Rask was a brick wall and Boston a steamroller.

St. Louis told a different story this season. They started 7-9-3 and fired their coach, Mike Yeo, before handing over the reins to two key figures... assistant coach, Craig Berube, who took over for Yeo (good luck finding your next job Mike), and rookie goaltender, Jordan Binnington. The new net-minder entered the scene on January 7 of the 2019 season (with a shutout in his first start by the way) and has yet to relinquish the duties since then, breaking the Blues franchise record for wins in a rookie season with 24. After Berube (and Binnington) took charge, the team went 30-10-5, finishing third in the Central just behind the Winnipeg Jets. This gave the Jets a home ice advantage in the opening round, but it didn't matter as the road team won games one through five of the series. This gave the Blues a 3-2 lead, and in game six in St. Louis, the home team was finally triumphant. The Stars came next, a similar style team led by defense and goaltending, that was coming off a surprising victory of their own. Dallas gave them all the trouble they could ask for, pushing the Blues to the brink of defeat after five, but St. Louis showed their resilience yet again, winning game six on the road and game seven at home. In the Western Finals the threat level seemed to grow. Up against what most people considered to be a stacked San Jose team (with plenty of playoff experience and big money skaters), the Blues fell down 2-1 after a heart-breaking OT loss at home. To make matters worse, they lost on a blown call. I never thought I'd see a player fight a referee, but a couple Blues players came close after this one. Fate seemed to be on the Sharks side, or the referees at least, as they advanced over Vegas on another notably bad decision by the officials... but fate and the refs couldn't stop Binnington and St. Louis either, three games later they were in the Stanley Cup Final.

The match-up:

This is the Boston Bruins 20th Stanley Cup Final appearance, they have won six of those twenty. In 2013, they lost to the NHL champion Chicago Blackhawks in six games. In 2011, they won the cup by defeating the Vancouver Canucks. The team's captain is big bad Zdeno Chara, a battle-tested warhorse of the league, infamous around for his leadership by example, and his dauntingly large frame. Brad Marchand, another long-time Bruin, broke 100 points this season (the first time a Boston player has done that since 2006), and future superstar David Pastrnak (if not already) led the team in goals with 38. Tuukka Rask (who's fan approval rating in the Bean has wavered more than a US president's over the years) had a .912 save percentage this season with a 2.48 goals against average (both worse than backup Jaroslav Halak), but in the playoffs his numbers have jumped to a phenomenal .942 save with a 1.84 GAA. Bruce Cassidy is head coach in is his second full season manning the wheel. It will be his first Stanley Cup Final. The St. Louis Blues will appear in their 4th Stanley Cup Final (a long way from twenty). They have not won a single game in any cup series so far, and their last sweep came at the hands of (wouldn't you know it) the Boston Bruins in 1970. The captain is Alex Pietrangelo, a well-respected defenseman around the NHL, and a staple of Blues hockey the last decade. The points leader was off-season acquisition, Ryan O'Reilly, with 77 points in his first season with St. Louis. The goals leader was Vladimir Tarasenko with 33, a man who is quietly one of the most dangerous and explosive scorers in the sport every year. Binnington finished the regular season with a 1.89 GAA and a save percentage of .927, a finalist in the Calder Memorial (a trophy given to the NHL's rookie of the year). The aforementioned Craig Berube handles the coaching duties, his first final as well.

What you need to know heading into this cup final:

Personally, I believe this will be a long and tight hockey series, meaning the Blues franchise will at least win their first game in a Stanley Cup Final. These teams both have scorching hot goaltenders and both play a similar brand of hockey to some extent. The defenses won't give an inch, there should be constant battles in front of net and down around the boards, and the veteran center-men will lead the way. I won't pretend to be an expert on either team, because I'm not, but I have seen a lot more Bruins games than Blues this season. I'm a Rangers fan in truth, so I always focus more on my Eastern rivals than the rest of the league. I will however give a novice's opinion on what I believe will be the keys to the series.

1. Veteran Presence and Experience. In sports, the players who are able to handle the pressure of the key moments and rise to the occasion are the ones remembered in the history books. Boston has the obvious edge in this category. For starters, the city of champions nickname has become a way of life. Not only do the fans believe it, the players do too, and that's important. Patrice Bergeron (another leader by example) hasn't lost a stride this playoffs, posting 8 goals and 5 assists in 17 games. Brad Marchand and David Krejci have gone 7G 11A and 4G 10A respectively in the same amount of time. Chara (+11 on ice in playoffs) and Torey Krug (11 playoff assists) are stalwarts on the blue-line. Rask has the resume over Binnington as well, and St. Louis will hope the stage isn't too big for the hotshot (even though it has not been thus far). Don't forget David Backes, (long time St. Louis leader turned Bruin) who should provide some toughness and possibility some insight on a few ex-teammates he spent most of his career with. These players have been here before, and it might show early on... this is not to say the Blues don't have vets, they have plenty (Schwartz, O'Reilly, Perron, Pietrangelo, Bozak, Steen, Bouwmeester, Maroon, and more), but very few of these grizzled NHL talents have cup experience.

2. Depth. The NHL Playoffs is long and grueling, I never played hockey myself aside from the pond but most of my closest friends did. I'm told that you cannot underestimate how tiring the cup run can be, and the deeper teams usually outlast the top-heavy ones. I don't think either of these teams lack this, but the role players will be just as important as lines one and two in this series. Starting with the B's, key trade deadline pickups Marcus Johannsson (3G 6A +3) and Charlie Coyle (6G 6A +9) have fortified the lower lines. They weren't the top players available on the market, they were the right ones, and Boston GM Don Sweeney hit on both as they have been integral in the playoffs. Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen are secondary scorers behind Pasta and the stars. Boston's D is youthful with Charlie McAvoy (+9) poised to someday take over for Chara, and Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Connor Clifton (my own Quinnipiac alma mater), and John Moore as sturdy options beyond him (plus Krug). These D-Men can all skate (besides Chara at this age), watch for them flying up into the attacking zone when they see fit and expect them to score some goals. The breakthrough from the AHL has helped both these teams in this department. The Blues have had big performances from younger forwards like Oskar Sundqvist, Robert Thomas, Ivan Barbashev, Robby Fabbri, and Sammy Blais throughout the year. Couple these new talents with some of the professionals I mentioned earlier and you have an extremely balanced attack. Jaden Schwartz has been a revelation this postseason with 12G 4A in 19 games. Tarasenko adds 8 Gino's, and interestingly enough, every single Blues forward with consistent playing time has scored a goal in the 2019 playoffs (but the Bruins were the same in this regard). Keep an eye on Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak on the lower lines, both can still make huge impacts as an ace up Berube's sleeve. Patrick Maroon was a good addition at the deadline, he's a physical grinder that wears teams down in the playoffs. The Blues defense is a mix of past and future, foreshadowing a changing of the guards. Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, and Carl Gunnarsson provide the experience while Colton Parayko, Joel Edmundson, and Vince Dunn provide the pep with Rob Bortuzzo for depth. They usually pair each vet with youth throughout all three lines. I actually do think the Blues are the more balanced team, and if they can shut down the Bruins top line (Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak) with either Pietrangelo-Edmundson or Parayko-Bouwmeester, they can win this category.

3. Special Teams. The Bruins have topped all playoff teams on the power play with a dominant 34% clip. During the regular season, they were third in the NHL with 25.9%. This is a force to be reckoned with. To make matters worse, the Blues have only stopped the PP 78% this playoff run with a below average penalty kill. It was slightly higher in the regular season, but the bottom line here is that St. Louis must stay out of the box if they want to win their first cup. Discipline will be incredibly important throughout this series, especially in Boston.

4. Goaltending. This could easily be the deciding factor of this series being that both goalies have been so tremendous these last couple months. If this continues, it will come down to which teams are able to grind out victories and goals. I've had a theory that could come into play though, and some very knowledgeable hockey fans have told me this theory has no backing or truth to it... but I'm going to say it anyway. If you ask any former or current hockey player whether they would rather sweep a series or win in six or seven games, I have no doubt at least 90% or higher would say that they want the sweep. First off, you never come close to elimination and that has to help with your confidence. It also gives everyone a chance to rest up a little before their next opponent, and study the teams they may be facing. These arguments are completely sound and I cannot make a case against them, other than what I have seen! In recent history, and this year especially, whenever a team sweeps their opponent they seem out of rhythm and cold in their following round. I'm not saying sweeps are bad, but I also cannot ignore that teams like the Islanders, Jackets, and Hurricanes have looked completely different after getting a long break. I feel like this has to affect with the goalies more than anyone. Sure my theory of losing your momentum applies to everyone on the team (scorers, defensive pairings, everyone), but goalies are the oddballs of the sport. So much of the position is mentality and poise. When these guys are hot (like Bobrovsky or Lehner or Mrazek... or Rask and Binnington now), the last thing I want as a fan is for them to get a week off. Practice is not the same and the longer these guys sit, the worse off they are in my mind. I have no hockey goaltending experience or fact to support this claim, it's a theory I have formed from many years of watching this happen, but it's something I feel Tuukka will have to overcome in the final. Binnington will have a much shorter break after the B's swept the Canes (by the way, Mrazek got benched in that series and was terrible after a similar amount of time off).

I won't make a pick because I'm rooting heavily against the Bruins as usual for all Boston sports franchises, but I will say that I give the edge to the B's from an unbiased perspective. I think in the end, experience and home ice will play a huge role in this one. The best chance for St. Louis is to stay determined with that underdog mentality and win disciplined, shut down hockey games behind one of the hottest goalies I've seen in a long time. Try and get shots to the net and bodies around Rask early to see if there is any rust for him to shake off. For the B's, stretch the ice and capitalize on the mistakes of the Blues... nothing new here, just keep playing your game. They never seem to choose goalies for Stanley Cup MVP, so I won't predict Binnington or Rask, but I will give two surprise MVP picks. For the Blues, Patrick Maroon, who I really think has the intensity and size to match up with the B's and cause havoc. For the Bruins, Torey Krug has really impressed me this season as his game has matured and become more fluid with both offensive and defensive intelligence and prowess. One last thing that I found to be interesting, remember how the Red Sox played the Dodgers in the World Series and then the Pats played the Rams in the Super Bowl (both Boston vs LA)? Well the LA Rams used to be the St. Louis Rams not too long ago, meaning there might be some fans who are having another repeat series (Boston vs St. Louis deja vu), assuming all the St. Louis football fans didn't just switch over to Chiefs nation, ironic?... and can this Boston phase end already?

proud to report... BECAUSE IT'S THE CUP!