By Wally
It’s roughly four hours until the face off of tonight’s game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. For what it’s worth, in all my years of watching sports, it’s quite hard to surpass an NHL Stanley Cup Game 7 in terms of drama and excitement … so I’m stoked about watching the game!
It’s hard to imagine that anyone has more pressure on them than Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo. (The “LeBron James of the Cup Finals”). Everyone is wondering which Roberto will show up. Will it be “Good Roberto at home” where he has posted a 3-0 record with 2 goals allowed and save % of .979 ?? Or will it be “Bad Roberto in Boston” where he has an 0-3 record, 15 goals allowed and a .772 save %?? On one hand, he’s back home tonight at his friendly confines. On the other hand, his most recent game experience had him giving up three goals in 90 seconds. I suppose we’ll see more of the good Roberto tonight … goalies are like relief pitchers … they must have very short memories or otherwise go completely nuts.
On the flip side, the Bruins have got to be wondering if they can put the biscuit in the basket at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena. I think they’re gonna need at least 3 goals tonight to pull out a win … and I’m not real confident they can notch those. The Bruins will need to stay out of the penalty box if they hope to hoist the Cup tonight.
I see a pretty close-to-the-vest, low scoring Game 7 tonight. Although I’m rooting heavily for the Bruins to win it (I’m a sucker for the Bobby Orr-Phil Esposito-Derek Sanderson nostalgia from the early ’70s … my second favorite team growing up) … I just have a feeling that the ‘Nucks will somehow pull out a 3-2 win in OT. I’m really hoping for a great game and the Bruins to win, but I just see Good Roberto showing up and an opportunistic Canuck offense barely squeeking by … AGAIN, at home.
Regardless of the outcome, I’m sure Luongo won’t remind us how great his non-sporting life is compared to us small people, like LeBron did 😉
Pinesters … what do you see happening?? Will you be watching??
I can’t take the pressure. Checked in on the score every half hour till the last minute then watched the celebration. Red Sox take one at Crapicana and the Bruins win, not a bad Wednesday.
Well, I’m not surprised, Boog. You never really handled pressure all that well. Regardless, congrats to the Bruins and their fans on a terrific season and of course winning the Cup.
Boston indeed scored 3 goals as I suggested they had to, but didn’t need ’em all. They won this game and the series with their hustle and grit … and of course the fabulous goaltending of Tim Thomas, winner of the Conn Smyth as playoff MVP. Thomas held Vancouver to a measley 8 goals in 7 games! Last night, his goaltending and the short-handed goal in the second period to go up 3-0 seemed to totally deflate the Canucks.
What percentage of NHL players have beards? Watching last night it struck me that a very high percentage of players on the 2 finalists certainly do!
Smart to have a beard, Pete! Cushions the blow for all those times they get hit with the puck, sticks, and the all-too-frequent glove to the mug in front of the net and in the corners 🙂 I continue to be amazed at how physical NHL hockey is and how tough the players are. I don’t think any pro athletes earn their money better than NHLers.
Good question, Pete. I’ve been wondering the same thing. In fact, I’ll add that almost all of them have red beards. Weird, huh?
Actually, my best guess is that they all grow playoff beards. That is, they vow not to shave until they lose.
Yeah, they were all red. hAVE TO LOOK AT THE REGULAR SEASON FACIal hair accumulation to see if your theory is correct.
The beard thing is a superstition type thing. Once a team gets into the playoffs, it’s customary not to shave.
The Bruins win a Game 7 to claim their first Cup since ’72 …. Tim Thomas caps off one of the greatest goaltending performances EVER … and we’re talking about beards, for crissakes! Sheeesh.
Okay … let’s focus on baseball 🙂
Wally, you gotta stop limiting yourself to just the sport part of sports and start seeing the WHOLE irrelevancy!
Helmet Sticker to Pete for that insightful comment! 🙂