Bruins A Gritty Champion

All the experts talked about was the "skill gap" between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. Nobody could have foreseen the "will gap" that resulted in a gutty, gritty seven game win for the underdog. The best representation of the gap was watching one of the Sedin twins (it's hard to tell their ineptitude apart) impersonating a boxing speed-bag as Brad Marchand relentlessly popped him in the face in Game 6. That's all you needed to know. In fact, the Bruins could have won all three of the games they lost in Vancouver and this series would have been a 4 or 5-game laugher. In the final analysis, the Bruins outclassed the Canucks on nearly every element of the game—goals scored, goals allowed, power play goals, short-handed goals, face offs won—you name it.

For those of us old enough to remember the glory years of Orr and Esposito, and the gut-wrenching angst of the Neely Era, this one is especially sweet.