Bruins Claim Sixth Stanley Cup With Game 7 Win; Tim Thomas Wins Conn Smythe Trophy

Back when the NHL signed it’s massive 10-year TV deal with NBC a few months ago, I argued that it was a more valuable marketing tool for the league than other potential deals they could have made simply because of the scope of the corporate giant that owns them, Comcast, is gigantic.

And sure, while Ann Curry clearly has never watched a second of hockey in her life, it’s still the Stanley Cup and its heroes in front of an audience that doesn’t get to see it all that often. Can’t possibly be a bad thing, right?

The scheduling update comes from Fangsbites on Twitter.

It may be the first of many appearances, especially for Thomas. The Bruins goaltender was a brick wall throughout the NHL playoffs, but especially in the Stanley Cup Finals. Thomas was a big reason the Bruins were able to even the series in Game 6 and win it on the Canucks home ice in Game 7 to clinch the Stanley Cup. And for his efforts, he earned the Conn-Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

Believe it or not, there was a hockey game on Wednesday night between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks, and it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. After all the revelry in the locker room and the streets of Boston and after all the anarchy in the streets of Vancouver, it’s hard to forget that hockey was played at Rogers Arena, complete with sticks, pucks, goals and everything in between.

Defensively, the force field the Bruins routinely set up in front of Thomas was brilliant. How many times did we see the Canucks take a shot from the perimeter, have that shot blocked away by Thomas, and then cleared away with ease by the Bruins in front of the net? Boston simply didn’t let Vancouver own the middle of the ice in their end, and that made Thomas’ job relatively easy throughout the series and in Game 7.

Chara, who had never won a Game 7 in his career before these playoffs, clearly rid himself of those demons this year, as his Bruins won three of them en route to the Stanley Cup.

Here’s the video:

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Recchi leaves the sport as a three-time Stanley Cup champion. He had 14 goals and 34 assists in 81 regular-season games and went 5-9-14 in 25 playoff contests.

He assisted on one goal for the Bruins in Game 7 and had three goals and seven points in the Stanley Cup finals.

The City of Vancouver is on fire on Wednesday night after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins at Rogers Arena. Crowds of up to 100,000 people gathered downtown, as they have for the entire postseason, to watch the game on big video screens in the streets.

After the game ended, those crowds turned violent. Here’s an image from the CBC:

The Rogers Arena crowd booed him so loudly that it was impossible to even hear him speak. Keep in mind, of course, that he had a microphone in his hand. Bettman was clearly yelling with all he had into that microphone while announcing that Tim Thomas had won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

To their credit, however, the booing stopped as soon as Thomas lifted the trophy and the cheers began -- only to resume again when Bettman tried to congratulate the Canucks and Bruins on a great series.

The Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup, and they did it thanks to an extremely typical, methodical win against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday night.

Tim Thomas was brilliant yet again, but it was the second line unit of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron that led the way for the Bruins. Marchand scored the Bruins second goal in the first period on a flub from Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo, but it was hit set up on Bergeron’s first period goal that was most impressive.

Unfortunately for Luongo, he couldn’t keep hold of the bouncy puck in the sweaty Rogers Arena air. It fumbled through his glove and just across the goal line, and Marchand began celebrating.

The Canucks now need at least three goals on Tim Thomas in the next 20 minutes. Luongo doesn’t like thinking about that (via Bubbaprog).

NBC’s commentators called this hit from Chris Higgins of the Vancouver Canucks on Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins an “innocent play,” but um, how does one innocently leap at another mans head?

Via Bubbaprog, click to animate:

Don Cherry has a penchant for tough players and crazy suits. Hence, one would think that his Game 7 suit would be the finest statement of the season. One would be right. Here’s the photo, via the 506:

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The Stanley Cup Finals are ongoing, as the Vancouver Canucks battle the Boston Bruins. Stick with this StoryStream for complete coverage of Game 7. For coverage on the Finals, stick with our Stanley Cup Finals hub, our Canucks blog, Nucks Misconduct, and our Bruins blog, Stanley Cup of Chowder.

Most Vancouver fans either weren’t able to secure a ticket to tonight’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, nor were they willing to pay the cost of two kidneys and some other body parts to get a ticket. Most decided to join 100,000 of their friends to watch the game. What does 100,000 people watching a game look like?

Here’s one of many aerial pictures posted by Global BC’s Leah Holive:

He even had that devilish look on his face like he was seriously doing something wrong as he was squirting the contents of the bottle on the ice. Horton was expected to dress and take warmups, but there isn’t much of a chance for him to play in the game.

The Bruins are going to need all the help they can get as they have had some heartbreaking losses in Vancouver in this series, including losing in the final 18 seconds of Game 1 and in the first 11 seconds of overtime in Game 2. This can’t be any worse than putting a looney at center ice, though, to change a team’s luck in the Olympics.

It’s really, really easy to root for him, even if I can’t stand the Spoked B he wears on his chest.

Thomas has already been handed the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP by literally everybody in the media, no matter the outcome in Game 7. But despite my new-found love for the Bruins goaltender, I’m not sure he should be such as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Controversy!)

Wednesday’s Game 7 will without a doubt be the end of the NHL season, and if the series we’ve seen to date between the Bruins and Canucks is any indication, it should be an incredible contest. This has perhaps been the oddest Stanley Cup Finals series in recent memory, but there are a few constants so far.

Really, if this game were in Boston, we wouldn’t have the privilege of expecting great hockey. The Bruins have been far and away the dominant team at home, and that’s what’s made this series so strange. It’s as if different teams are on the ice depending on what building the game is in. At Rogers Arena, though, the Canucks have confidence. Luongo has confidence. And that’s exactly why they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup tonight.