If you missed part one last week, you can find it, along with a more elaborate explanation of these rankings online at keene-equinox.com. Basically, I’m attempting to rank Boston’s championship teams of the twenty-first century by measuring three criteria: each team’s playoff run, team likability and the historical implications of each title. Last week the commentary started with the 2008 Celtics, and here’s number four: the 2011 Boston Bruins.
The Recap
In stark contrast to last year’s finals-bound team, as the 2011 Boston Bruins entered the playoffs there was little talk of championship aspirations. Although the team was coming off of a respectable 46-25 season that gave them the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, it was difficult to erase the memory of an ugly playoff collapse to the Philadelphia Flyers the year before.
With a middling offense and a downright dysfunctional power play, it seemed the only thing the Bruins had going for them was their quirky goalie in net. Tim Thomas had led the league in save percentage and verbal shots at the president during the season. The eccentric, ultra-conservative Thomas appeared to be the only hope for a young roster that held 15 players at or under the age of 25.
As it turned out, that wasn’t such a bad situation to be in.
The playoffs started with the rival Montreal Canadiens quickly winning the first two matches in Boston, pushing the Bruins playoff losing streak to six consecutive games (get those duck boats ready!). But in the following five games of the series fans learned something about the team that would ring true throughout the postseason: the Bruins were better with their backs against the wall.
Three of the next five games would go into overtime, and the Bruins would win all of them, including a memorable game seven at home.
Next up was Philadelphia, the culprits of last year’s disastrous meltdown. From the start of the series, however, the Bruins made it clear they would leave nothing to chance, taking game one 7-3.
The blowout set the tone for the series, and the Bruins would go on to sweep the Flyers, out-scoring them 20-7.
The Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning would not be so easy. The Bruin’s 6-5 game two win was indicative of the way the series would play out, with each team trading blows and neither winning consecutive games. Game seven was scoreless through the first 52:27 of play before center David Krejci’s pass found forward Nathan Horton crashing the net for the only goal of the game. Thomas saved all 24 shots he saw to secure his second shutout of the series. The Bruins would be going to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1990.
It would have been difficult to script a better villain than the team Boston met in the finals, the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks had cruised through the Western Conference Finals and were a heavy favorite to dispatch the over-achieving Bruins. The notoriously soft Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, were the antithesis of a physical Bruins team that seemed to score as much with brute force as with finesse.
A heartbreaking game one in which the only goal of the game slipped by the outstretched arms of Thomas with 19 seconds left in the third period didn’t help the Bruins chances.
When Boston dropped game two in overtime, hope was understandably dwindling for the upstart Bruins.
Then the series changed, as only it can in hockey, where momentum shatters like a tooth in the way of a slap shot.
Just over five minutes into game three, Canucks defender Aaron Rome delivered a disturbing hit to Horton, which play by play commentator Mike Emrick described as “absolutely way too late.”
Rome was ejected as an unresponsive Horton was taken off the ice in front of a horrified Boston Garden crowd. Rome would be ejected for the remainder of the series.
Whether you want to call it a turning point or not, a previously silent Boston offense went on to score four goals in the second period, and tacked on another four in the third to blow the Canucks out.
Things didn’t stop with the horn of game three; Boston would out-score Vancouver 21-4 after the dirty hit and rally to take the series in seven (sound familiar?).
The Ranking
The players’ diverse personalities seemed to make the team easier to rally around.
There were the young unknowns trying to make names for themselves (Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand), the more established veterans (Michael Ryder and Zdeno Chara) and the old guys who were playing as if they were young again (Mark Recchi and Thomas). Unlike the big names that carried the Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox to crowns, this team won as a unit.
The playoff run was one for the ages, featuring three game sevens, two of which were decided by just one goal (both off the stick of Horton). There were many times when it appeared the Bruins’ run was over, only for them to rally back with the flip of a switch. It seemed each round brought a foe more hated and imposing than the last.
AP Photo / Charles Krupa:
Zdeno Chara (left) and David Krejci (right) were integral parts of the Bruins 2011 title run.
Historically speaking, the title returned the Bruins, one of the original six teams in the NHL, back to prominence. It was their first championship since 1972 after they had come up short in their previous five Stanley cup appearances. But perhaps most importantly, it brought hockey back to the eyes of Boston, where titles in the other three major sports had overshadowed the city’s rich tradition on ice.
The Lasting Image
Forty-three-year-old Mark Recchi hoisting the cup. After previously stating he would “sail off into the sunset” if the Bruins won, Recchi announced his retirement moments later.
Stay tuned for numbers 3-1 in coming weeks!
Zach Winn can be contacted at zwinn@keene-equinox.com