Bruins vs. Canucks: It's called a (North) North American Battle

It was all said and done after Game 7 between the Lightning and the Bruins, but the Bruins finally came out on top and are headed to their first-ever Stanley Cup Finals since 1994 to play another team.

You guessed it: The Vancouver Canucks. They are trying to accomplish something that no Canadian team has done for a long while, and that is winning the Stanley Cup. But the Bruins are not just going to hand them the trophy. They'll going to play physical and maybe they will end up with the cup and not Vancouver.

I play the cards like this: I think these two teams have the most prominent goaltenders in the league in Boston's Tim Thomas and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo. Out of all the teams in the league, I think these two teams got here because of the solid play of their two high-class goaltenders. Tim Thomas worked hard to win his team the games they needed to move on, while Roberto Luongo has kept his team in the games, thanks to strong efforts as well as a pretty hard-checking defense.

I wouldn't say the offenses are particularly good of these two teams, because of the emphasis they put on their defense and on their goaltenders. It might not be as strong as some people suggest, but their ways of working are something that will keep both of these teams in the game for as long as they need to pull off the W. Both coaches of these two teams know it and they'll have to stress that through some pretty-long periods.

Game 1 is on Wednesday and what do I think will happen? I think the Canucks will come out strong and send a message to the Bruins. They're at home. They got the fans behind them and the Green Men (if they're coming to all the games.) Roberto Luongo is the man of this team. He'll stop the Bruins with all the power he has and it'll open up opportunities for the Canucks to take advantage and score on Tim Thomas. So basically, the Canucks win Game 1, because Boston does not do well in opening games, except for the series against Philadelphia.



Game 1 should be exciting, puckheads. If you're looking for a high-class Stanley Cup Finals match, look for it no further than one between the Canucks and the Bruins. We'll see who has the advantage, but what do you think? Who will Game 1? Share your comments below and on Facebook. Just go to Reid's Hockey Insight on Facebook. I don't know my exact URL but type it in Google and you'll find it. See you on the ice, puckheads!