The Stanley Cup won't be up for grabs, but Saturday's morning match-up will be the biggest game of season for both the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. It will be a Stanley Cup Finals re-match, featuring the two teams that battled all the way to a final and deciding game seven last June. Boston, of course, came away victorious, and are the defending champions.
Neither team had large personnel turnover in the off-season. Vancouver's notable departures were Christian Ehrhoff and Raffi Torres. Torres is considered notable because he was one of the few Canucks able to handle Boston's physicality. Boston lost Mark Recchi to retirement, and Thomas Kaberle to free agency, but based on the way both teams have performed their departures aren't very noticeable.
Vancouver Canucks: First in West
The Canucks hit their official half way mark of the regular season on Wednesday by shutting out Minnesota and taking over first place in the Western Conference with 53 points in 41 games. The Bruins, victims of a slow start as were the Canucks, have been nearly unbeatable in the last 25 games, posting a record of 21-3-1. Bostons sits second in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the New York Rangers, with 53 points through 37 games.
Boston completely dominated Vancouver in Boston during last years finals. In fact, in the last two games in Boston, Vancouver was outscored 17-3. Blame for that lopsided number can be tossed anywhere on the Canucks side, from goaltender Roberto Luongo to leading point scorers Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Luongo was lit up in all three games in Boston, while the Sedin twins only managed to muster up a few points in a 5-2 game six loss.
Boston Bruins: Lopsided Wins at Home
Canucks forward Alex Burrows somewhat downplayed the game, saying, "It's going to be a real fun game to have another crack at them. It's a different year, but we want to show we're still an elite team, and who knows, we might play them again down the road."
Boston will come into the game having won their last two home games by a combined score of 17-0, and their last two games overall by a combined score of 15-1. If Vancouver shows up the same way they did in June, they will be in big trouble. Boston's Conn Smythe winning goaltender, Tim Thomas sits second in goals against average, first in save percentage.
Thomas knows what to expect from Vancouver, "I'll try to treat it like any other game. I know it will be a little bit different, and probably a different mood because we did play each other in the final. It's an important game. They want to show up and play their best game, so I think it will be a hard fought battle"
Now there won't be a January riot in Vancouver if the Canucks lose Saturday, but there might be tough questions to be answered by head coach Alain Vigneault, and every one of his players. The motivation of avoiding those questions should be enough for Vancouver to show up in this one.
Michael Roscoe - I am a graduate of Camosun College's Creative Writing program in Victoria, British Columbia. My main passions are sports, and travel.
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