After half a season of will they/won't they lockout discussion followed by a shortened season and a playoffs mired by injuries and suspensions, the 2013 Stanley Cup Final was finally set this weekend as Patrick Kane's hat trick in Game Five sent the Chicago Blackhawks back to the final where they won in 2010. The Blackhawks made quick work of the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, dispatching them in five games in what many expected to be a tight series between the Hawks and the physical Kings.
Meeting the Blackhawks in the final will be the 2011 champion Boston Bruins. After nearly collapsing after having a 3-1 lead in the first round against the Maple Leafs, the Bruins have went on a tear in the playoffs. Taking out the pesky New York Rangers in the second round before shockingly sweeping Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the East Final. A result that shocked the hockey world maybe shouldn't have been that much of a shock as the Bruins flirted with second place in the East until the final day of the regular season and were every bit as proactive as the Penguins were at the deadline, but the Bruins sweep has now set up what has the potential of a very special Stanley Cup Final between two very proud franchises and teams.
The two teams seem to be as even as can be on paper. Both teams have unworldly depth with four lines of hard working and talented forwards while having the blueliners to boot. In goal, Tuukka Rask is the perfect foil to the Blackhawks steady-not-great Cory Crawford. On the blueline Duncan Keith and Zdeno Chara will both be the focal points of two blueline units that live for the playoffs and love to get things going from the points. Both teams have won the Stanley Cup in this decade and have two of the best American fanbases in the league. The list goes on and on. These two Original Six franchises are as even as they come.
Yet, in terms of style the Boston Bruins may just get the nudge in the physical department. The overblown hype around Gregory Campbell's broken leg penalty kill aside, the Bruins have shown yet again that they are a team that is built for playoff hockey. A team that lacks crossover stars compared to the Hawks, who boast both American Patrick Kane and the arguably best two way forward in the NHL this season in Jonathan Toews, make up for a lack of stardom with the swagger of a team of players that at times play like they know they aren't as respected as much as they should be. Patrice Bergeron is as good as they come and Brad Marchand compliments him perfectly. David Krejci and Milan Lucic combine with Nathan Horton to provide the big body presence on the Bruins top lines on what is a well built hockey team that is just one season removed from beating a Presidents Trophy winner in the Cup Final (As a Canucks fan, I just threw up a little writing that last paragraph).
Still, regardless of the Bruins depth and physical play you would have to be crazy to consider them as the favorites over a Blackhawks team that started out a lockout shortened season with the longest regulation unbeaten streak in league history and cruised through the Western Conference Final, beating a team that is very similar to the Bruins in the LA Kings. It is very likely that the Bruins edge in the size department will once again be a nonfactor in this series after Chicago recently just proved that they can handle playing with a team that will attempt to challenge them physically.
Chicago can also claim that it has two of the best players in this series, as the two superstars playing in this year's final will both be wearing Blackhawks uniforms. Patrick Kane's Game Five hat trick performance that included a late third period go ahead goal and the eventual overtime winner, has once again been one of the league's best offensive talents, coming back from time spent with HC Davos at the Spengler Cup during his European stint during the lockout to pair up with his running mate in Toews. Toews himself has been one of the best players in the league during the 48 game regular season and despite some scoring struggles and trouble during the second round series with Detroit, has been the league's best two way center since the opening of the season and he will likely have to step his game back up to that extremely elite level he has shown throughout his career if the Blackhawks are going to outlast a Bruins team that is designed to wear you down and just stopped the best offensive player in the world in Sidney Crosby for four straight games.
Those two lopsided Conference Final victories for the Blackhawks and the Bruins is what makes this series so exciting and so hard to predict and breakdown. In a year with no inter-conference play and the sample size thrown even more out the window in a shortened season in a league that is all about who gets hot at the right time more often than not in the first place. Boston was no slouch in the regular season by any means, but Chicago's dominance in the regular season and against the defending cup champions over the past week make it hard to see past them when picking a winner in this series.
At the end of the day you can't go wrong with either teams in this battle that could go down as a series that could continue to grow hockey's popularity in the United States. Two major US markets and Original Six franchises who play in loud buildings and with very attractive styles of play is something the NHL always has on its Cup Finals checklist. Last year's Kings/Devils final was an intriguing one, but this is a matchup where regardless of your rooting passion during the rest of the NHL season, that everyone should enjoy,
The hockey fan is the true winner this summer, and I could cop out and not make a prediction, but that is never my style. Last year in this column I picked the Kings winning in six games and despite what I said about the Hawks I am going with the upset special in 2013. After shutting down Crosby/Malkin and the high powered Pens, the Bruins will wear down Kane/Toews in a classic six game series. Chicago may have dealt with what the Kings brought physically, but Boston just has more skill than last year's Cinderella champions. B's in six. Book it. Enjoy the hockey everybody.
This column was written before the Stanley Cup Playoffs began on Wednesday night.
