From the 2-0 deficit against the hated Montreal rivals
To the sweetest revenge of a sweep versus the Philadelphia nemesis
On to a clash with a new adversary in Tampa Bay
And finally to a showdown with the alleged best team today, in Vancouver
The Boston Bruins triumphed truly against all odds
- with a battle-weary team that comprised it all already -
even before the little tweaks that brought in Chris Kelly,
Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin - and sealed the deal, basically!
Unfortunate for those Bruins warriors who came so close before
and were traded away just before the fulfilment of this tremendous team's potential:
The Blake Wheelers, Matt Hunwicks, Mark Stuarts, Dennis Widemans,
just like Boston Bruins of yesteryear such as Randy Burridge, Brian Curran, Steve Kasper, Peter Douris, Glen Murray, Steve Leach, Dave Reid, Keith Crowder, Terry O'Reilly, Dave Poulin, Moe Lemay, Rick Middleton, Glen Wesley, Greg Hawgood, Gord Kluzak, Geoff Courtnall, Ken Hodge Jr, Barry Pederson, Michael Thelven and so many others...
All the teams led by Ray Bourque
And goalies such as Matt Delguidice, Blaine Lacher and my favorite: Doug Keans.
All of them, and many more who have worn the uniform before them even, were so deserving of winning the Cup themselves.
Alas, for the majority of them, something was always missing - or going awry, at some point, in the course of the 16-team tournament each and every spring. Bad luck was oftentimes the sole reason of defeat. All of these Bruins of the past could have and should have been Stanley Cup champions too.
But the team of 2010-2011 had it all, or all that was required in order to go all the way and "get over the hump" as Mike Milbury would say. This team truly had all the tools it needed as of May 2011 - and they went all the way indeed.
Team owners Jeremy M. Jacobs and Charlie Jacobs, long criticized for not being able to or not being willing to provide the necessary commitment to build a champion, finally answered all the demands and criticisms by simply giving the green light to their general manager to go ahead and make ALL the changes that were deemed to be necessary...
And so a tremendous team started to take shape, as early as 2006, I would say...
Years of adjustments that saw the comings and goings of the likes of Petteri Nokelainen, Glen Metropolit, Peter Ferraro, Randy Robitaille, Brad Boyes and... Joe Thornton - finally led to the dream team of this spring of 2011.
Brad Marchand proved to be the better Brad.
Nathan Horton - a sturdier version of Peter Ferraro.
Shawn Thornton - a bulkier, brainier, all-around better Thornton, better suited for the task at hand...
This tremendous team of 2010-2011 accomplished it all
even when deprived of not merely one but two of their best offensive weapons in Marc Savard and Nathan Horton - both victims of vicious and highly reprehensible and arguably premeditated acts of violence meant to take them both out of the game.
Just as, many years earlier, a similar and definitely premeditated act had taken out of action the greatest Bruin of all, arguably - Cam Neely.
Neely was deprived of a well-deserved Stanley Cup championship of his own, as a player, whether in the years 1988 and 1990 or the years 1991, 1992 and 1993 - for, in those years, the Bruins were top contenders, arguably peaking in 1993, when they were the best team in the Eastern Conference at season's end... That team, built around Neely, would come so close but would be denied the ultimate prize hockey can offer and, in effect, be denied the fulfillment of its true destiny.
But no one could deny Cam Neely the right to hoist that trophy, one day - and he did just that, finally, as the team president of all things, in the year of Our Lord 2011.
No one could deny this well-deserved crowning of a champion - no one!
Not the execrable ghosts of the Montreal Forum - he'd dealt with them in 1988 and all throughout his remarkable -if short- career.
Not the hated Montreal Canadiens of the day.
Not the putrid Pennsylvania hockey teams, be them from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.
Not the rivals of old, envious as ever: Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Hartford Whalers (RIP).
Not any supposed western Canada powerhouse, be it hailing from Vancouver or Edmonton!
Not any supposed "pure winners" and up-and-coming forces to-be-reckoned with from down south...
Not any Badgers, Bobs, Ulfs or Samuelssons, alive or dead and buried!
NONE of these adversaries could prevent
the crowning of a
TRUE CHAMPION!
The Boston Bruins:
Cam Neely
Peter Chiarelli, Jim Benning
Scott Fitzgerald, Scott Bradley, Harry Sinden
Don Sweeney, Wayne Smith, John Weisbrod
Andy Brickley, Mike Chiarelli, Adam Creighton
Jack Higgins, Jukka Holtari, Denis Leblanc
Dean Malkoc, Mike McGraw, Tom McVie
Ryan Nadeau, Jeremy Rogalski, Svenake Svensson
Claude Julien
Doug Houda, Geoff Ward, Doug Jarvis
Bob Essensa
John Whitesides, Don Delnegro, Scott Waugh
Derek Repucci, Keith Robinson, Matt Falconer
Jim "Beets" Johnson
Amy Latimer, Jen Compton
Jim Bednarek, Chris Johnson
Tim Thomas
Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg,
Andrew Ference, Adam McQuaid, Shane Hnidy
Tuukka Rask
Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron
Mark Recchi, David Krejci, Milan Lucic
Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, Michael Ryder
Steven Kampfer, Shawn Thornton, Matt Bartkowski
Normand Léveillé
and more
- so many, many more*
(* = all of the fans
helped win this one -
ALL OF THEM!
Because they
BELIEVED.)
This entire organization, all the individuals that comprise it, past and present, and all of the team's fanbase - they can all seek solace now for, in the future, whatever rough times may come off the hockey rink ice or on, they can forevermore fondly remember that they saw here - one of their dreams come true.
The HC (hockey club, I presume) Liberec Tigers of Prague know a thing or two about dreaming themselves --- dreaming of championships, heroics on ice, crowd-cheerings...
From that 7-1 win over the HC Liberec Tigers in Prague that ended the pre-season and heralded the 2010-2011 season that would be a dream one, to the mid-season mini-shake-up and the subsequent adjustments the team made: there was that special feeling surrounding this team all the while through as the season progressed...
One could feel that something was finally going to fall into place for this team - that nothing could deter it, rob it of fulfilling its destiny as it had happened countless times in the past.
And that feeling was RIGHT - completely right.
Several players (seen in the video{s} above) would not complete the season with the Boston Bruins - and, thus, would not taste the sweet nectar of victory come round 4 of the NHL playoffs...
Players such as Blake Wheeler, Mark Stuart and Matt Hunwick vacated their spots in favor of newly-acquired weapons Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly and Nathan Horton who did win the Stanley Cup with the team instead of the previous trio therefore. These moves (and others like them) were regrettable on the spot but, in retrospect, they were obviously the right ones to make as the new chemistry produced by the new pairings of players was a championship-clinching one.
A trip to Europe seems to bring out the best in NHL teams: it ressources the few players that originate from there just as it gives a new perspective to the majority that are Canadian or American born - although many of these have played there before too; just ask netminder and 2011 Connie Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas, unquestionably the most valuable player on the champion Boston Bruins team that took to the ice in Prague -most notably- before the regular season -the season of vindication- started in the fall of 2010.
The Boston Bruins also went to Belfast, most notably - facing other local heroes...
May The Bruins make many more trips abroad like this - both they and I made such trips (in the same year too - what a coincidence) and 2010 was the year of our DREAMS COME TRUE...! (Okay - for the Boston Bruins, it was really 2011... Let's settle for the 2010-2011 season, alright?)
