After 3 rounds of conference battles, the champions of the
East and the West have been crowned. Each conference started with 8 teams…down
to 4…down to 2. Now, the final two square off for the well-travelled National
Hockey League prize-The Stanley Cup.
The final match-up consists of an “Original 6” Match-Up
between 2 recent Stanley Cup Champions.
The Teams: Boston
Bruins from the Eastern Conference maintained the 16 members of the team that
raised the Cup in 2011…. Goaltender Tuuka Rask is maturing into a star as the
playoffs have progressed by protecting his net from good scoring chances…
Defensive play has defined their success as the penalty killing stood out and
the opposing team’s stars are isolated for the threats they represent to the
scoreboard… Games have created heroes such as David Krecji and Torey Krug… More
amazingly, they are achieving this with a struggling power play.
The President’s Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks of the
Western Conference have fought hard to get to this point. To maintain their two
star players Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the front office was forced to
part with sparkplug Dustin Byfuglien and other pieces of their 2010 Stanley Cup
winning team...Now in 2013, the grittiness of their roster has returned and the
maturation of Toews and Kane has created a dominant defensive style that rivals
that of the Boston Bruins…The goaltending of Chicago is in the blocker and
stick of Corey Crawford, who is sturdy in net.
Players to Watch:
Chicago’s Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith; Boston’s Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic
and Brad Marchand.
Teammates turned
Rivals: Chicago’s Mikael Roszival has to face off against his former
teammate in Boston’s Jaromir Jagr. These two were on the Pittsburgh Penguins
and the New York Rangers as well as the Czech National team that won the Bronze
Medal in Turino. Both have a chance to get the Stanley Cup, a prize that takes
loyalty out of the equation.
The Finals begin this Wednesday.
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