Stanley Cup Finals Preview

The Stanley Cup Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins is being pushed as a battle between two original six teams.  The reason is because this is the first time since 1979 that original six teams have made it to the finals.  However, we have already explained why the whole idea of the original six is pretty meaningless.  The real story is the roller coaster ride that each of these teams took to get here.

The Blackhawks had a dominate season, pulling off a streak that rivaled the Miami Heat’s big win-streak.  Then, it looked as though that the ‘hawks would be bowing out of the playoffs to the Detroit Red Wings.  They then won four games in a row to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Bruins also had an up hill battle to the finals.  The Bruins were taken all the way to Game 7 by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  It looked as though that the Maple Leafs had the Bruins number in this game going up 3-1, only to have the Bruins battle back and win the game and keep their Stanley Cup hopes alive.

Now these two teams will engage in a best of seven series with Game 1 happening tomorrow  (Wednesday, June 11) in Chicago, and we can expect this series to be a classic showdown.

The Bruins will be coming into Game 1 the underdogs.  The Blackhawks are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.  However, Boston has a key to victory and it lies in Tuukka Rask.

Rask currently is 12-4 with a 1.75 GAA and a .943 save percentage.  He is hot at the moment and will need to carry this hot-streak over into this series with Chicago.  The Blackhawks have top notch scorers, however, Rask kept Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scoreless previously, which means he should also be able to stop Chicago’s offense at the goal.

Chicago has to be worried about Rask as he is what stands between them and victory. If Rask manages to shutdown Bryan Bickell like he has been shutting down offensive play makers all postseason, the ‘hawks will be in real trouble.  The ‘hawks also have to consider that Tyler Seguin has been too quiet all postseason and is due to explode into the player he was during the regular season at any moment.  Chicago maybe the favorites, but they may feel they have their backs against the wall.

If you look at the money lines at Bovada you will see, as previously predicted, that the Blackhawks are the favorites to win Game 1 with a -150 money line.  The Bruins money line is set at +130.  Game 1 is Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET.