Boston Bruins
David Backes Faces Former Team, Storylines in the Stanley Cup Final
Forty-nine years after Bobby Orr flew into the air to capture the Stanley Cup for the Boston Bruins against the St. Louis Blues, these two teams will face off again in 2019 for the right to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup. With Game 1 beginning tonight, here are some storylines that will play out in the Stanley Cup Final.
David Backes Plays His Former Team
David Backes will appear in the first Stanley Cup in his career. To win Backes and the Bruins must defeat Backes’s former team in St. Louis. Backes was the captain of the St. Louis from 2011-2016 when he left to sign in Boston. While he still has friends on St. Louis, they have become enemies for the next three weeks. You have to wonder how he will handle the nerves on such a big stage. Backes brings a leadership value that is unmatched in the NHL and has helped the young players on Boston adjust to the element of the playoffs
Jordan Binnington’s Journey Went Through Boston
It has been a long road for Jordan Binnington to get to this point. Two years ago St. Louis was loaned to the Providence Bruins as St. Louis did not have an AHL affiliate. Binnington played the entire 2017-18 season in Providence with the likes of Connor Clifton, Matt Grzelyck, Danton Heinen, and Karson Kuhlman. You have to wonder if those players picked up on any of Binnington’s tendencies when he was with Providence.
Blues Look to Rewrite History
St. Louis will want to flip the script after their loss to the Bruins in the 1970 Stanley Cup Final. Not only that but St. Louis will look to win its first ever game in the Stanley Cup Final. St. Louis is 0-3 in the final and have been swept every single time, twice by Montreal and once by Boston. So St. Louis will look to come out strong and get the series started on the right foot.
Bruins Beware of former Foes
Tyler Bozak and Larry Robinson will once again be thorns in the side of the Bruins. Robinson for years played with the Montreal Canadiens dynasty teams that knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs. Now that he coaches the defense for St. Louis, he will try to continue his trend of beating the Bruins. Tyler Bozak on the hand played on the Toronto Maple Leafs another rival to the Bruins. Bozak knows the Bruins very well and could provide the necessary information for St. Louis to win.
Curse of the Sweep
One thing the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs has taught has so far is that a team should not want to sweep a series. There have been four sweeps thus far in the playoffs and the team that swept lost in the next round. Not to mention the team that had a sweep in the previous series got swept in the next round. In the first round, the New York Islanders swept the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the next round, the Carolina Hurricanes swept the Islanders, then in the Eastern Conference Final, the Bruins swept the Hurricanes to reach the Stanley Cup Final. What is in store for the Stanley Cup Final?
City of Champions
The city of Boston is the new City of Champions. Since the turn of the century, no city has more championships with 12 in 18 championship round appearances thanks in part to the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox. The Bruins are looking to pull off the rare “Sports Triple” with the same city winning the World Series, Super Bowl, and Stanley Cup in the same calendar year. It was 83 years ago went the feat was last completed when Detroit held all three championships as the Detroit Lions were NFL Champions, the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, and the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. The other city to hold the “Sports Triple” is New York back in 1927-28. Boston would like to join their rivals.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup is scheduled for Monday, May 27 at 8 pm inside TD Garden.
Read More:
What It Will Take For The Bruins Or The Blues To Win The Stanley Cup