Well, can’t say the Blues didn’t earn it. That was one of the most exciting Stanley Cup Finals I’ve ever witnessed in my brief 22 years of existence. It had everything: hard hits (lots of them), suspensions, controversy, immaculate goaltending, and it went seven games.
Where did the Bruins get beat? Or should I be asking, did the Bruins beat themselves? This series doesn’t even go seven games if it’s not for two people: Ryan O’Reilly and Jordan Binnington. O’Reilly provided a spark that St. Louis desperately needed throughout each and every game. He provided goals, assists, hits, and lord knows he didn’t mince words in the locker room. On the other side of things, there’s Jordan Binnington. The amount of times Bruins fans had their hands in their head in disbelief is unfathomable. It just wouldn’t go in for Boston when they needed it to. Binnington now stands alone as the winningest rookie goaltender in the postseason.
There’s questions to be asked towards the other bench that contained players from Boston. Would David Backes have made an impact on this game 7? David Backes now has to have watched his former team lift the Cup before he could, and this very well could have been his last chance to at 35 years old. With the core of the Bruins locker room not getting any younger, was this the last real opportunity for Boston to win a Stanley Cup in years to come? Tuukka Rask is 32, Bergeron is 33, Chara is 42, Krejci is 33, Marchand is 31. While yes, the future is bright for several young stars on the Bruins roster, there is a major turnover in leadership forthcoming. Next season will likely be Chara’s last before inevitably retiring and passing on the captaincy to Patrice Bergeron, who, if able to remain healthy will wear the ‘C’ for four to five seasons at most before retiring.
The Bruins got beat at their own game, Bruce Cassidy got out-coached, and that’s as simply as anyone can put this series.
It will certainly be an interesting offseason in terms of who stays and who leaves. There are several players that I’d like to see stick around, but that I don’t think will.
Players I’d like to see re-signed: Halak, Coyle, Johansson, Kuhlman

Players I think will not return: Halak, Johansson, Backes

 

P.S. Tuukka Rask played about as well as anyone could have asked him to, and anyone who puts the blame on him should sit and look at the numbers. He played phenomenally.

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