Yes you may be hearing it here for the first time but mark it down...The Boston Bruins will be the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions and in doing so will be the first team since 1998 (Detroit Red Wings) to capture Hockey's Ultimate prize in consecutive seasons.
Sure alot of the critics out there will point to all the reasons why in today's salary cap era (see reason # 5) it is nearly impossible to do so as evidence in the demise of so many past Stanley Cup Champions in recent memory.
Well fuck the critics...here are Ashley's Top 5 Reasons the Boston Bruins will repeat.
5. Managing the Cap
- Past winners have blown their load winning a cup with many of their Top Stars due for a raise. They had to dismantle so much of their supporting cast to fit these raises in under the cap it destroyed their chances the next season (Pittsburgh and Chicago come to mind right away).
I know he has his share of haters but personally I think PC has done a brilliant job managing the cap. The long term extensions he signed Chara, Timmy and others too seemed pricey at the time but ask yourself how much money Big Z would have got on the open market this past July???
A quick look at one of my favourite sites Cap Geek will make any Bruin fan rest easy knowing we have the nucleus of our Cup winning team under contract with 7.6 million available under the cap.
4. Balanced Scoring
- Every Cup winning team needs to get production from all 4 lines. Its not the teams loaded with 1 or 2 superstars who do the bulk of the scoring that wins championships. How many teams would like to have a player like Rich Peverley centering their third line?? Look at a player like Marchand for example? Starts the season on the 4th line and eventually turns into a first line winger and all he did was score big goals game after game. You can shut down one line on any given night...but can you shut down 4 lines?? No you can't.
3. The Defence Rests
- A 6'9 Norris Trophy winner and a heart and soul Vezina winner is a pretty good recipe for a very low goals against average. Yes we can score goals and as I mentioned I love our scoring depth but lets face it folks....defence and goaltending wins Championships!
In net what else needs to be said about Timmy?? People were writing him off two years ago...saying he was showing his age, that his style just does not lead to long term success...well all he did last year was go out and have a record breaking Vezina/Conn Smythe/Stanley Cup season. What would lead anyone to believe he won't repeat last year's performance??
I think the key will be to give him enough rest throughout the regular season to keep him fresh. So on those days he eats a few too many cheeseburgers, perhaps falls asleep in YOGA class..or hell just needs a night off..is there a better backup goalie in the league then Milk Crates Rask?? No there isn't.
I love our depth on defence but what I love even more is the security of having a giant in Big Z and a Seidy-Horse on the back end anchoring our D and logging about 30 mins each a night...as I said in the heading...The Defence Rests!
2. Seguin A Superstar in the Making
- I think at times last season many people failed to realize that the 2nd overall pick out of the Plymouth Whalers was just THREE YEARS REMOVED FROM PLAYING MINOR MIDGET HOCKEY...I mean think about that for a second. Talk to fans in Tampa about how some guy named Steven Stamkos looked in his rookie season as an 18 year old??
I know Segs has a lot of fan support but I do think a lot of people fail to realize just HOW much better this guy is gonna be after a full year in the league under his belt not to mention Stanley Cup experience as an 18/19 year old.
And lets face it he wasnt just around for the ride...when called upon he contributed and was a big reason why the B's got past the Bolts to make it to the finals.
I really think the sky is the limit for Seguin and see him being the Bruins breakout star this season.
1. Chemistry
- I'll admit...being down 2-0 to the Habs and going back to Montreal...I was nervous...VERY nervous. But how did the Bruins react to that hole they found themselves in?? They dug deep gave a giant fuck you to the Habs and all the haters (yes Greenpeace we know it was a glove malfunction) and well as we know the rest was just one big History Will Be Made commercial.
How many different times in the playoffs did "the experts" (I'm looking at you Glen Healey you dumb fuck) have this team written off??
And each and every time this team just dug deeper and got a lil bit closer and took care of business.
You don't go through what this team went through in winning last season with their backs against the wall time and time again and not develop an us against the world kind of mentality. Look at how they celebrated together all summer long!! I don't think any of them wanted to leave Boston all summer (the well documented Marchand/Seguin chipendale tour)...
You just get a sense of how close this team is and its because of that...they will do whatever it takes for the guy sitting beside them to get their name back on that Stanley Cup (The dents better be out of it by June Ryder!)
So there you have it...Rookie Camps are underway...Main Camps have yet to start...but we now know who will be the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion.
And if you're still in doubt...well take a look at the pic...Jesus is a Bruins fan!
- Ashley
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