2013 Stanley Cup Finals: Why Chicago is the lesser of two evils

It isn't much of a secret that Canucks fans like myself aren't real fond of this year's Stanley Cup Finalists: the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins.

Now I for one have no problem with an Original Six final.  In fact, there hasn't been one since 1979, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in five games for their fourth straight championship.

But there's something about this Original Six final that has me less than excited for it, and it largely has to do with those very two teams meeting in the finals that Canucks fans love to hate.

Let's start with the Chicago Blackhawks.  They had the NHL's best regular season record, as they started their lockout-shortened season with a 24-game unbeaten streak (no regulation losses).  They're led by captain Jonathan Toews (left), sharpshooting winger Patrick Kane, and hard-hitting defenseman Duncan Keith.  All three played key roles in the team's 2010 Stanley Cup victory, the franchise's first since 1961.  Chicago is a team that will dominate their opponents with their great skill up front with Toews, Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Viktor Stalberg, and Bryan Bickell.

Then there's the Boston Bruins, a team that is known for dominating opponents not just with skill, but they are also a team that will intimidate at will with their physical play.  The big, bad Bruins are led by skyscraper defenseman Zdeno Chara (right), who captained the Bruins to the end of a Cup drought of their own in 2011, beating (and to an extent, battering) Vancouver in seven games for their first championship since 1972.  Other key players for the Bruins include veteran winger Jaromir Jagr (who last won a championship with Pittsburgh in 1992--which ironically was against the Blackhawks), center Tyler Seguin (who was drafted second overall in the 2010 Entry Draft by the Bruins), and super-pest Brad Marchand (who has a penchant for stirring up stuff to agitate his opponents, primarily behind plays or after whistles).


THOUGHTS: While I respect the history of both teams and the legends that have played for them in the past (most notably Bobby Hull & Stan Mikita with the Blackhawks, and Bobby Orr & Phil Esposito with the Bruins), I really don't like either team at all.  My resentment towards the Blackhawks has worn off some over the past couple of years (they knocked out the Canucks in the second round of the playoffs in 2009 and 2010, but the Canucks ended their Stanley Cup defense in 2011 in a tough seven-game, 1st round series), but my resentment towards the Bruins is a different story.

As I alluded to earlier, the Bruins are a big, bruising team that will play their opponents with a mentality equal to the school bully stealing the geek's lunch money--and that's beyond the physicality.  Most of their dirty acts that typically go uncalled by officials include hooking, face-washing, jabbing, holding--which usually happens behind plays or after whistles when the play is blown dead.  And Brad Marchand is the resident pest of the team that loves to get under the skin of his opponents.  Other big bruisers on the team include forwards Milan Lucic & Shawn Thornton, and defenseman Adam McQuaid.  The team's rep as bullies began to take wing during their 2011 Stanley Cup run, as a result of this hit by then-Canucks d-man Aaron Rome:

The truth is, it was actually a clean hit because Rome's skates were actually on the ice as he drove into Horton's chest.  But the officials saw it the other way, and Rome was ejected from the game and suspended for the rest of the series, as Horton was knocked out cold with a series-ending concussion.  Rome's hit on Horton got the ball rolling for the Bruins to build their reputation as bullies during the postseason.  Boston dominated Vancouver in the three games played at TD Garden, outscoring the Canucks 17-3 and battering Vancouver so badly from a physical standpoint, they shut out the Canucks in Vancouver in the 7th & deciding game 4-0 to put the icing on the cake.

The following season, my resentment towards the Bruins got even higher when Milan Lucic made this beeline towards Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller (which did not result in supplemental discipline from the NHL):

But there is, however, a nice silver lining to this finals matchup.  It is essentially a matchup between two of the NHL's best anthem singers: Chicago's Jim Cornelison and Boston's Rene Rancourt.

PREDICTION: From a personal standpoint, I'd like nothing more than to see the Chicago Blackhawks, the lesser of these two evils, get out their brooms and sweep the Bruins away for their second Stanley Cup in four years (and no need for Chicago fans to wait another 49 years for their next title).  But the game of hockey doesn't exactly work that way because the Bruins are a team that you can't count out because of their bully-ish style of play.

In reality, Chicago wins the series in seven games, with Jonathan Toews winning the playoff MVP award.