The Stanley Cup preview.

The general consensus is that i'm not big on previewing sporting events, however, given that this years "Stanley Cup" (which starts 1am CET Thursday) is pitting the Vancouver Canucks going head-to-head with my Boston Bruins. Without bias coming to the forefront of the article, the tension and excitement awaiting this series is something which isn;t experienced often, and with the Bruins, ever.

Onto the series itself, and a mouth-watering prospect it is for all Hockey fans. The Canuckleheads mix of solid defence, good special teams and "The Sedins's" (Daniel and Henrik), Vancouver since day one has been regarded as the best team in the NHL, and the favourites to win the cup. The regular season saw the Candian outfit amass an astounding 117 points (14 more than the Bruins 103) and won the "Presidents trophy", for garnering more points than any other team in the NHL.

The Bruins on the other hand have had to combat their inconcstencies, overcome the demons of last summers playoff "choke" against the Flyers, and undergo a meteoric rise to prominence inthe landscape of sport in New England. A season that started in Prague, Czech Republic, saw the Bruins start the season with great form before a mid-season drop-off saw them in a battle with the hated Montreal Canadiens for the Northeast division. The "Chara-Pacioretty" incident (linked above) seemed to spark a rivalry between the players that mimiced the same passionate dislike for one another the fans had. From that moment, maybe co-incidentally, the Bruins fortunes seemed to change for the better in the preperation for the playoffs'.

The playoffs' themselves have seen both teams' undergo "heart attack hockey" and have to dig deep to stay in the tournament.

Round 1

Canucks-Blackhawks (4-3)

The Canucks race out to a 3-0 lead in the 7 game series against the champion Blackhawks. However after Jonathan Toews decided to release his inner superman and drag the 'Hawks off the floor and tie the series up at 3, it took a spirited, determined effort for the Canucks to finally oust Chicago in 7th, and final game.

Bruins-Candiens (4-3)

How fitting? In retrospect, the Bruins going through the Habs to win their first cup in 39 years, is almost a given. THe Celtics had to go through the Lakers in 2008. The Patriots had to go through the "Greatest show on turf" in '2001 and most famously, the Red Sox come back from 3 games down to beat the Yankees in 2004. New England sports seems to dictate, you have to overcome all obstacles if you're in a title drought.

After going 2 games down (both on home ice) the Bruins rallied and won two games at  the deafningly loud Bell Centre, with a bunch of seething French Canadians booing captain Zdeno Chara everytime he touched the puck. Andrew Ference offered them "the middle finger salute" in my favourite moment of the 2011 postseason. The Bruins went up 3 to 2, with a double overtime game in the books, and a long, draining series, the Habs tied the series at 3. A Nathan Horton overtime drive that sailed past Carey Price sent the Bruins into the 2nd round.

Round 2

Canucks-Predators (4-2)

I'll be honest, early. I didn't watch alot of this series, as the Bruins series and the Red Wings-Sharks series seemed to eat most of, if not all my hockey time. However highlights and articles tell me that this was a great battle of goaltenders. Roberto Luongo overcame his first round issues and outdueled fellow Vezina candidate Pekka Rinne. The Canucks split the first to games at home, but 3 wins in Nashville was the difference as they booked their ticket in the "conference finals".

Bruins-Flyers (4-0)

If beating the Canadiens was bittersweet, overcoming the Flyers was a mix of revenge, and karmaic payback. After being 3-0 up last year and inexplicably losing the series, after a game 1 deomlition in Philadelphia this year, the Bruins didn't let up with an overtime win in game 2, and two 5-1 victories in the TD Garden saw the Bruins breeze through to the conference finals.

Round 3

Canucks-Sharks (4-1)

To say describe the Canucks as in "imperious form" doesn;t do justice to how dominant they looked in the first 2 games as they dispatched the talent-laden San Jose Sharks, a team accustomed to regular playoff faliures. After a game 3 loss, the Canucks slammed the door shut on San Jose with a game 4 win and a game 5 double overtime victory, where they tied the game with 13 seconds left of regulation, showing their "never say die" spirit.  A Kevin Bieksa goal saw the Canucks one series away from their first Stanley cup since their inception in 1970.

Bruins-Lightning (4-3)

If the series against Montreal wasn;t enough for the ticker, the Bruins thought it would be more enjoyable to play more "heart attack hockey". After being thrashed in game 1, the Bruins won a crazy game 2, then went to Tampa and behind a Tim Thomas shutout led the seires' 2-1.

Game 4 saw "a game of two halves", to quote a cliche. After being 3 goals up very early in the game, including 2 goals (one shorthanded) from Patrice Bergeron, the Lightning reeled off 5 unanswered goals to tie the series up, and send it back to Boston at 2-2.

Boston won game 5, before Tampa returned the favour in game 6 in anothe rcome from behind win. Game 7, for a game that had so little, never offered so much, with no penalties in the whole game, and no goals until Nathan Horton (again) scored a tap-in past the veteran Dwayne Roloson to send the Garden delirious, leading to "We want the cup" pouring down all the way from up in the "nosebleeds".

For the Bruins, the key to the series is to keep the twins as quiet as possible, meaning the 28 minute marathon outings from the Chara-Seidenberg partnership becomes crucial for the Bruins. The series doesn't seem like it will be full of goals, with the likely Vezina winner (Tim Thomas) facing fellow nominee Roberto Luongo. The two goalies are tied gor a 2.29 GAA in the playoffs, and they were 1st and 2nd respectively in GAA in the regular season (the first time the two leaders in the stat have met in the finals since Roy/Vernon in'89)

On the offensive end, the Bruins top line of Horton-Krejci-Lucic needs to carry on delivering in clutch situations, and sporadic production from the other lines, and solid defence will be the key for Boston to have a chance of stopping a Canadian team lifting the cup for the first time in 18 years.

Prediction:

First i predict the green men to be totally outrageous during this series, almost distracting attention from the game, with their juvenile, yet hilarious antics by the penalty box.

However this is tough, because after all the momentum the Bruins have garnered, it's hard to pick against them, and their my team, so i don't want to. However, the prowess and ability of this Canucks team, they just seem to be a class apart above any other team in Hockey. After they saw off Chicago, they have gone from strength to strength, and seemto have the upper hand on Boston on special teams and offensivley, so disicipline is crucial for the Bruins. I see a herculean Bruins effort, but similar to the Celtics last summer, i see that effort just falling short.

Vancouver Canucks win the Cup in 7 games (4-3).