NFL Preview 2011

Everyone take a big sigh of relief.

That’s because the NFL is back and he won’t have to worry about wondering what life is like without football.

As early as mid-July, I was worried that this blog post was going to be a “Top 10 ways to survive the NFL Lockout”.

But thankfully, it is an NFL Preview blog.

Here is what I think will go down in the 2011 NFL season.

AFC EAST

1. New England

2. New York Jets

3. Miami

4. Buffalo

It didn’t take long for Jets coach Rex Ryan to make another bold guarantee after his team lost to the Steelers in last year’s AFC Championship game. About a month after the team’s loss, he came out and said “"I believe this is the year we're going to win the Super Bowl” at the Scouting Combine.

The fact is that he’s said this same statement for a couple years now, and the Jets have been not been able to make it that far. Who does this guy think he is? Hey, Rex, take a good long look in the mirror and ask yourself why your team went down 24-0 in the first half of that game against the Steelers? Maybe it was your fault for not having your team ready to play that game?

The Jets will never win a Super Bowl with Rex as their coach, and will never win one with that anemic offence. And I don’t even think they’ll be in the playoffs this year.

The Patriots do not have an anemic offence and are poised to replicate that 14-2 regular season of last year except with a better finish (lost to the Jets in the playoffs). Remember, Tom Brady was the first player to unanimously win the MVP award last year. The big question is if Chad OchoCinco and Albert Haynesworth can regain their old form as they start over in a Patriots uniform. The Patriots have a history of bringing in guys who looked like they were done, only to see them turn in superior seasons (Corey Dillon, Randy Moss). Expect OchoCinco and Haynesworth to have solid seasons. The Pats will win the AFC East.

Key game: NY Jets @ New England October 5^th- The Jets walked into Foxboro last January and shocked the 14-2 Patriots. Don’t expect Bill Belichick’s crew to repeat that same embarrassing performance.

AFC NORTH

1. Baltimore

2. Pittsburgh (Wildcard)

3. Cleveland

4. Cincinnati

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the NFL’s version of a soap opera. First, Hines Ward gets caught drinking and driving in the offseason. Not smiling so much anymore, are you Hines? Then James Harrison goes on a rant and rips everybody from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, to his own QB, Ben Roethlisberger for playing a bad Super Bowl game last year. And after Harrison ripped the commissioner of the NFL, it seems the league punished the Steelers by giving them a pretty hard start to the season (@ Baltimore, vs Seattle, @ Indianapolis, @ Houston). The Steelers could easily be 1-3 after the first quarter of the season. And you can bet there are still some issues in the Steelers room, even though they’ll say that everything is fine.

With the Steelers soap opera potentially having a crippling effect on their season, it’s time for the Baltimore Ravens to step up. We might be seeing one of the final times that this defence can be one of the most feared in the league with guys like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed getting up there in the age department. The Ravens should have beaten the Steelers in last year’s playoffs, building a 21-7 lead in the first half before letting it slip away. And as much as I don’t trust Joe Flacco in a big game, I’ll give the Ravens the division, with the Steelers snagging a wildcard berth.

Key Game: Pittsburgh @ Baltimore- September 11^th- Basically, whoever wins this game wins the division. Can you imagine losing to your division rival in the very first week of the season? How do you bounce back from something like that? Edge to the Ravens here because it’s in Baltimore.

AFC SOUTH

1. Indianapolis

2. Houston (Wildcard)

3. Tennessee

4. Jacksonville

Peyton Manning is breaking down and we can all write off the Colts, right? Not so fast. First of all, Manning said on national television that his goal is to play Week 1 of the season, meaning his neck surgery might not be as bad as we all thought. Second, when Manning plays, the Colts do well. Even last year, when Manning basically had guys off the street posing as his receivers,
the Colts won the division title. I’m not worried about the Colts like a lot of people are.

And make no mistake about it; the Houston Texans are a good football team. I have them as the other wildcard in the AFC. But I don’t know if they can overtake the Colts yet. Just getting to the playoffs would be a huge accomplishment for this team, especially considering all the hype around this team in the last few years, only to see one disappointing finish after another.

Key Game: Houston @ Indianapolis December 22nd- The Texans have never beaten the Colts in Indianapolis. This game might be for the division title, and for the Texans to prove they are for real they have to win at Lucas Oil Stadium.

AFC WEST

1. San Diego

2. Kansas City

3. Oakland

4. Denver

The San Diego Chargers will not get off to another horrific start this year. It’s been the same old story the last few years as the Bolts start 1-3, or 2-4, or in last year’s case 2-5, before they battle back and have an outstanding second half of the season and win the division. Last year, even though they fought back and finished with a 9-7 record, it wasn’t enough to catch Kansas City. I would not be shocked if this team comes out and just destroys the opposition in their first 5 games, (vs. Minnesota, @ New England, vs. Kansas City, vs. Miami, @ Denver). It’s a really easy schedule, minus the visit to Foxboro. And a really dangerous offence, led by a leading candidate for MVP this year, Philip Rivers.

Key game- Kansas City @ San Diego- September 25^th – The Chiefs went into San Diego last year and lost 31-0. The Chargers will hammer the Chiefs yet again and prove they are the class of the division.

NFC EAST

1. Philadelphia

2. Dallas (Wildcard)

3. NY Giants

4. Washington

The common opinion among many was after the Eagles spending spree in the offseason, that they’re the odds-on Super Bowl favourite. I wouldn’t go that far, but they are clearly the team to beat in the NFC East. There are going to be some hard-fought games in this division, and I think the Cowboys, with new defensive co-ordinator Rob Ryan, are a team who will have a monster bounce-back year and snap up a wildcard berth. And by the way, Giants QB Eli Manning has to stop throwing 20 picks a year if he wants to be considered an elite NFL quarterback. That will be tough against the Eagles and Cowboys secondary.

Key game- Philadelphia @ NY Giants November 20^th- The scene of last year’s epic Eagles comeback (trailed 31-10 with 8 minutes left and won 38-31 in regulation) capped off by a last-play DeSean Jackson punt return TD. The Giants will be ready for this one.

NFC NORTH

1. Green Bay

2. Detroit

3. Minnesota

4. Chicago

The defending Super Bowl champions won last year with a whole bunch of guys on IR. This year, they’ve got everyone back healthy. Look out. Aaron Rodgers has to be the pre-season favourite for the MVP. The surprise team might be the Detroit Lions who will be above .500 if they can keep everyone healthy, including the NFL’s equivalent of Buck Pierce, Lions QB Matthew Stafford. I think the Lions will just fall short of the playoffs, but 6 teams make it in the NFC, and I think the Lions will be a very close 7^th. (P.S. I didn’t mention the Bears because I think Jay Cutler bombs hard this year)

Key Game: Green Bay @ Detroit- November 24^th- When’s the last time a Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit actually meant something to the home town team? It just might this year, with the Lions expected to be a good team and the defending champs coming to town.

NFC SOUTH

1. New Orleans

2. Atlanta (Wildcard)

3. Carolina

4. Tampa Bay

The Falcons showed us who they really were last year when the Packers went into Atlanta and destroyed them in the playoffs, 48-21. I’m not saying Atlanta is a bad team, but I don’t think they are a Super Bowl contender just yet. They’ll snap up a wildcard berth. The New Orleans Saints are looking to bounce back after a comical loss to the Seattle Seahawks in last year’s playoffs. The Saints were still 11-5 last year and should have that many wins, if not more, this year.

Key game- Atlanta @ New Orleans- December 26^th- This Boxing Day battle will be anything but a defensive slugfest. Still, it might determine the winner of the division.

NFC WEST

1. Arizona

2. San Francisco

3. St. Louis

4. Seattle

One thing I know for sure about this horrid division, the winner will not be under .500 like last year’s division champion 7-9 Seattle Seahawks. The Cardinals have a decent QB again in Kevin Kolb, and it should be the determining factor in winning this division over three other mediocre teams.

Key game- Arizona @ San Francisco- November 20^th- Whatever….

AFC Championship: San Diego over New England

NFC Championship: Green Bay over Philadelphia

Super Bowl XLVI- Green Bay over San Diego

HirschStock

With Winnipeg’s annual rock festival, Rock on the Range taking place tomorrow, I thought it would be fitting to introduce something I’ve wanted to write about for quite some time.

MY dream music festival, appropriately titled HirschStock.

For this festival, I have selected 10 rock bands that I would want at my festival, but also, which version of that band I would want to perform.

(Example for all you non-rockers…would you rather have 2000 Britney Spears or 2011 Britney Spears performing? Exactly.)

I want this to be the best of the best.

And maybe with the way technology is moving these days, we’ll be able to bring some of these rockers back from the dead and straight to Hirschstock, which would be in Winnipeg, of course.

Let’s look at the Hirschstock lineup in order from the opening band to the headliner:

10. The Trews (2011)

Maybe this is a bit of an overreaction, considering it was the last concert that I attended, but the band from Antigonish put on an awesome show at SuperSpike at Maple Grove Rugby Park. Might have been the best 20 bucks I have ever spent. I have always been a HUGE supporter of Canadian rock and in my opinion, the Trews are, right now, the best rock band in the country and have many more great albums down the road.

9. The Doors (1970)

No need to get into how crazy lead singer Jim Morrison was during the band’s heyday, because we've all heard and seen it for ourselves. But I’ve said it before, when I fork out money to watch a concert, I want to see a damn good show. Jim Morrison made sure to do that every time he went up on stage. As long he holds off on the indecent exposure, this would be an awesome band to play HirschStock.

8. Pink Floyd (1980)

It’s a rare sight when Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour are together on the same stage. It’s happened only a handful of times in the last 25 years, and despite a lot of bands burying the hatchet and reuniting for cross-country tours, Pink Floyd is one band who have never really thought about doing that. Hirschstock would have the 1980 version of this band (right after "The Wall" was released) when they still got along enough that they could actually play a show together.

7. Foo Fighters (2011)

I believe the Foo Fighters are the best rock band in their prime right now and their newest album “Wasting Light” disproved the theory that bands get worse with age. Coming off easily one of their top three albums, this band is taking over the rock world, led by their superior front man Dave Grohl. Just one problem, WHY WON’T THEY COME TO WINNIPEG THIS YEAR? Hirschstock would solve that.

6. The Beatles (1969)

Those who know me are aware that I’m not the biggest Beatles fan. But let’s make something perfectly clear here. I dislike the Beatles stuff pre-1967 (“I Want to Hold Your Hand, “She Loves You”) but am actually a big fan of albums post-1967 such as “Sgt Pepper” and “Abbey Road”. And what would make this performance at Hirschstock even more special? Well as most people know, they never performed live after 1966 (except on a roof that one time), which would make Hirschstock the site of history.

5. The Tragically Hip (1998)

In my opinion, 1998’s ”Phantom Power” was their last superior album. So imagine a setlist with those songs + songs from “Fully Completely”, “Day for Night”, and "Road Apples". I’m drooling as I write this. And also, 1998 Gord Downie was a lot more rowdy than 2011 Gord Downie.

4. Rush (2004)

Many hardcore Rush fans would want to see this band in their late 70’s-early 80’s, but after watching the 2004 DVD "R30", I was left in awe at how heavy Rush sounded. Yes Rush, the same band whose fan base is sterotypically linked to geeks and nerds. Their last few albums have them going back to their hard rock style that helped them get noticed. And really, how much synthesizer do I want at my festival?

3. Metallica (1999)

Many devoted Metallica fans would disagree and would rather see a show with Cliff Burton as their bassist. But there was nothing wrong with Jason Newsted who played bass for the band from 1986-2001. My selection is also based on the fact that James Hetfield’s voice from 1996-rehab(2001) was the best it’s ever been (see the 1999 "S&M" DVD). And hey, Lars could still play double bass that year, too.

2. Led Zeppelin (1973)

They’re the greatest rock band ever, no questions asked. But now the bigger debate is when I would want to see them. Give me 1973, right after they released Houses of the Holy, my favourite Zeppelin album.

1. The Who (1971)

Roger Daltrey. Pete Townsend. John Entwistle. Keith Moon.

This band was an absolute gongshow (a good gongshow) on stage, from explosions, to guitar smashing, to microphone swinging, to windmills. And of course, unreal musicianship.

I don’t think I could ask for anyone else to headline HirschStock.

Take it Easy Swaggerville

Should a CFL team with a 16-26 record over the last three years be making nicknames for their defence and selling $25 t-shirts with that nickname on it?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for the last couple of days.

Yes, just when it looked the Bombers would be pushed aside on the local sports scene this summer due to the return of the Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeggers and Manitobans have caught a case of Swaggerville fever after their beloved Blue Bombers have gotten off to a scorching 5-1 start.

And a huge reason for the surprising start has been because of the superb play of the defence, who are calling themselves “Swaggerville”.

It’s an age-old tradition in sports. Superior defences, and lethal offences, are given nicknames by the media, the fans, or in the Bombers case, themselves.

For example:

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew: A name that might have worked for the current Bombers squad, the New York Giants defence of the 1980s was given this name. Led by Lawrence Taylor, the 3-4 defence is still considered one of the greatest of all time after they won two Super Bowl Championships in five years.

The Purple People Eaters- Just an awesome nickname given to the 1970s Minnesota Vikings, who made 4 Super Bowls on the strength of their defensive unit.

The Steel Curtain- Maybe the most notable defensive nickname ever. The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers defence was so deadly that in 1978, the NFL made rule changes specifically for offences to help contain “The Steel Curtain”. The Steelers won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970s and four members from that defence, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Joe Greene, and Mel Blount, are in the Hall of Fame.

Swaggerville- 16-26 record from 2009-2011. No playoff appearances. Yet to beat the Alouettes and the Stampeders, considered the class of the CFL.

Now which one of those doesn’t belong in that list.

Listen, let’s give the Bombers some credit first. The team has won more games (5) than they did all of last year (4) and when Buck Pierce and the offense is nowhere to be found, the defence holds down the fort and has been the main reason for most of the Bombers wins this year.

But I have a few issues with this whole “Swaggerville” thing.

The first issue being the list of nicknames that we just went through. Each of those three defences, along with many others not named here (Doomsday Defense, Orange Crush, Monsters of the Midway) had success for a considerable period of time. Each of those teams went to Super Bowls and most of them won one and even multiple championships.

But to give your defence a nickname after 6 games?!

And even worse, it was almost always the media who gave those defences their nicknames. But the Bombers have given this moniker to themselves. Can you say cocky?

Which leads me to my next issue. It’s always good to be confident and a little bit cocky. Confidence is a huge part of how football teams and any team in any sport succeed. But to go as public as the Bombers have had with this nickname is something that they may regret down the road.

BC Lions DE Brent Johnson was the first to speak out on Swaggerville saying in an interview on Vancouver radio, “I think they should sell some t-shirts while they can”. And I can guarantee you that Brent Johnson is not the only player around the CFL who is not a fan of Swaggerville.

A few years back, Brent Johnson was part of a BC Lions defence that was easily the most dominant in the league. The Lions could have come up with a nickname of some sort for their ferocious defence. But they let their playing do the talking and from 2004-2008, the team won 4 Western Division titles, and made 2 Grey Cups, winning in 2006.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the other hand, have been dysfunctional over the last couple of years. Yet the defence has no problem talking trash to the rest of the CFL.

What the Bombers have done here is put a target on their backs. Now every time they play, the opposing team will probably be more motivated than they usually are.

The opposing offence will be raring to go and ready to try and tear apart “Swaggerville”.

And the opposing defences will want to prove that they are better than Swaggerville and will come out angrier than ever which, I hate to say it, might put Bombers QB Buck Pierce even more in the line of danger.

You can say all you want on how this nickname was made to pump up Bomber fans and Bomber players. And it definitely has done that, but it has also pumped up the rest of the CFL, which might mean trouble for the Blue and Gold. Swaggerville has pretty much gone mainstream after the Bombers convincing win over the previously undefeated Edmonton Eskimos last Friday. The rest of the league is now ready to welcome in Swaggerville.

And the first Swaggerville test comes Saturday night against Brent Johnson and the BC Lions. The Lions are 1-5 and you can bet the Bombers will be walking into Empire Field with a little swagger in their step, no matter how “humble” their coach seems to think they are.

The Lions are coming off their first win of the year. BC will be fired up.

The Lions are playing at home. BC will be fired up.

Arland Bruce III joins the Lions receiving corps. BC will be fired up.

All signs point to a Lions win on Saturday. (The Lions even opened as 1 point favourites)

If you’re a contender, and if you’re a superior defence, then when the odds are against you, you step up and play out of your minds. In my opinion, this is the Bombers biggest test of the year to date because of the whole Swaggerville phenomenon taking off. If you want to give yourself nicknames, Bombers D, then you better shut down a Lions offence which looks like it could be lights-out for the rest of the year.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are currently in the midst of the longest Grey Cup drought among current CFL teams. It’s been 21 years since this team was crowned CFL champions.

And if this team wants to head back to the Grey Cup, taking place in Vancouver later this year, then Swaggerville might want to quit talking and just start playing football.

Or else this weekend’s trip to Vancouver will be their only trip to Vancouver this year.

ROR-ing to the Top

Many people will remember June 19, 2011 as the beginning of Rory McIlroy's superstar golfing career as he took home his first Major Championship, winning the US Open at Congressional Golf Course by 8 strokes, and also set a record by finishing the tournament at -16, the lowest that anyone has gone in a US Open.

But had a few things gone his way in the last year, yesterday's so-called beginning to a career of greatness, might have actually been the finishing touch on a Rory McIlroy Grand Slam.


A Rare Feat

Winning the Grand Slam consists of winning all four Major Championships in the same calendar year. The Masters, US Open, British Open, and the PGA Championship.


Now nobody has ever won all four in one year, but these four tournaments have not always been considered the four majors.


Bobby Jones won the US Open, British Open, US Amateur, and British Amateur in 1930 and that time, this was considered the Grand Slam. The amateur tournaments were considered majors in 1930. The first Masters Tournament was not played until 1934, and the PGA Championship was just another tournament, not yet recognized as a major.

Six golfers have completed the "career" Grand Slam, which means they have won all four tournaments at some point in their career. Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, and Tiger Woods.

Woods was the only golfer to come anywhere close to the Grand Slam when in the year 2000, he won the US Open, British Open, and PGA Championship. Three out of four ain't bad. So the next year, Tiger came to the 2001 Masters at Augusta National Golf Course and claimed the green jacket. Technically, this wasn't considered the official Grand Slam, since he hadn't won all four in one year. But the fact was that Woods held all four championships at one point. So people dubbed this as the "Tiger Slam".

A McIlroy Slam?

We may never see a Grand Slam, or a "Tiger" Slam, again in golf. But what a lot of people don't realize is how close we were to a "Rory" Slam. And throw in the fact that he's 22 years old.

Let's take a look at the last four majors and see how the Rory Slam almost came to be:


2011 US Open

McIlroy leads from the beginning of the tournament on Thursday to the end of the tournament on Sunday, going wire-to-wire, and winning by a commanding 8 strokes. There was never any doubt he would win this one as he set numerous scoring records and put on one of the more dominating performances in Major Championship history.




2011 Masters

McIlroy leads after the first three rounds, and goes into Sunday at Augusta with a four shot lead. And even after a rough front nine, he still held a share of the lead heading into the back nine. But in one of the more shocking collapses in Masters history, McIlroy shot triple bogey-bogey-double bogey on the next three holes, and then drove his tee shot on 13 into the water. He ended the day shooting an 80, and finishing 10 shots back of the lead.




2010 PGA Championship

Everyone will remember this tournament for Dustin Johnson's fatal grounding of his club in a bunker, but many people may not remember the logjam at the top of the leaderboard in the final round. Seven players all held the lead at one point on Sunday, and McIlroy was one of those players. It came down to 18 where Rory needed to hole a 15-foot birdie putt to join Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson in a playoff, but McIlroy missed and ended up finishing the tournament tied for 3rd.




2010 British Open

McIlroy explodes out of the gate, shooting a 9-under 63 to lead after the first round. But in Friday's second round, McIlroy was troubled by a strong wind at the St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland, and shot a disappointing 80. That was the end for McIlroy, but he quietly posted two solid rounds, a 69 and a 68, on the weekend, finishing the tournament tied for third place.





I know a lot of people hate resorting to "what-if's" but what if McIlroy had kept it steady at Augusta? What if the Irish youngster holes the very makeable putt on 18 at the PGA Championship? What if the Scotland winds hadn't destroyed McIlroy in the 2nd round at the British Open?

Had the luck of the Irish been on Rory's side for those last three tournaments, we'd be talking today about one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history. But the way things are looking right now, there may be a few more brushes with a Rory Slam down the road.

We've had a Tiger roaring for nearly a decade at the top of the golf world, but now we have ourselves a new "Ror" at the top. And we might have to get used to this roar for quite a while.

Habs Fans: Don't Jump!

You’re a Montreal Canadiens fan.

One of your biggest rivals just won their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.

You watched as Zdeno Chara, the same guy who tried to decapitate one of your best prospects, lift the Stanley Cup high above his head.



It doesn’t get much worse than this.

But if you think about it, there’s a bright side to the events of last night.

Here are 10 reasons why you don’t need to be depressed if you’re a Montreal Canadiens fan.

1. We were the only team to give the Boston Bruins serious grief this year. 13 times the two teams met during the regular season and the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens won 7 of those meetings.

(Note: Watch Chara flip his lid after this goal)






2. The Stanley Cup Champions needed overtime of Game 7 to beat us.

3. We continue to be the last Canadian team to have won the cup (1993)






4. The Conn Smythe Trophy Winner got ragdolled by our goalie

5. Tim Thomas is 37 years old, his days are numbered.

6. Alex Burrows didn’t win a Stanley Cup.






7. We only riot when we win.






8. At least our captain isn’t a psychopath sasquatch.

9. We get four easy wins next year against the Winnipeg Jets. (Ouch)







10. At least the Leafs didn’t win.

History Repeats Itself..

They say anything can happen in Game 7.

They say it’s unpredictable.

One lucky bounce could be the determining factor in who takes home Lord Stanley’s Cup.

So if we’re led to believe that Game 7 is so unpredictable, why then have we seen a very similar pattern among the 15 other Stanley Cup Finals that have gone to a Game 7

Let’s take a look at the previous Game 7’s in Stanley Cup Finals History: (Home team on right side):

1942: Detroit 1, TORONTO 3
1945: TORONTO 2, Detroit 1
1950: NY Rangers 3, DETROIT 4 (OT)
1954: Montreal 1, DETROIT 2 (OT)
1955: Montreal 1, DETROIT 3
1964: Detroit 0, TORONTO 4
1965: Chicago 0, MONTREAL 4
1971: MONTREAL 3, Chicago 2
1987: Philadelphia 1, EDMONTON 3
1994: Vancouver 2, NY RANGERS 3
2001: New Jersey 1, COLORADO 3
2003: Anaheim 0, NEW JERSEY 3
2004: Calgary 1, TAMPA BAY 2
2006: Edmonton 1, CAROLINA 3
2009: PITTSBURGH 2, Detroit 1

For most people, this list probably looks like a bunch of random scores, but take a closer look and we can find ourselves three pretty consistent similarities between these games which may tell us who wins tonight’s clash between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks.

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1. Home Team Domination

This has to be the stat that stands out the most. Home teams are 12-3 in Game 7’s of the Stanley Cup Final. Home ice advantage in hockey was just beginning to become a bit overrated, as in recent years, road teams kept winning important playoff games (see: 2010 Playoffs, Road teams 4-0 in Game 7’s)



But this year, we’ve seen home ice become very important yet again as home teams are 5-1 in Game 7.

And if you didn’t believe it is making an impact, just look at what we’ve seen in this 2011 Stanley Cup Final. A road team has yet to win a game. So a lot of things are going in favour of Vancouver here.

Now let’s take a look at the road teams and some of the players on those teams who managed to win Game 7’s away from home. The 1945 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, and the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins.


1945 Leafs
Sweeney Schriner- HHOF (Hockey Hall of Fame)
Ted Kennedy -HHOF
Babe Pratt -HHOF
Frank McCool- Calder Trophy Winner

1971 Habs
Jean Beliveau- HHOF, Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy
Henri Richard-HHOF
Jacques Lemaire-HHOF
Yvan Cournoyer- HHOF
Frank Mahovlich-Calder Trophy, HHOF
Jacques Laperriere-Calder Trophy, Norris Trophy, HHOF
Guy Lapointe-HHOF
Serge Savard-HHOF
Ken Dryden-5-time Vezina Trophy Winner, Calder Trophy, HHOF

2009 Pens
Sidney Crosby-Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy,
Evgeni Malkin-Art Ross Trophy

My point is that those three teams had unreal talent on their teams. The Boston Bruins do not have unreal talent. They have 1 (maybe) future hall of famer in Mark Recchi.. The Bruins did not have anyone score more than 65 points this year. David Krejci, their leading scorer, is certainly not Sidney Crosby. Zdeno Chara is nowhere near Guy Lapointe. And Tim Thomas should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Ken Dryden.

The Bruins are a bunch of hard working players (the “lunch pail gang” as former coach Don Cherry called them) who get their noses dirty in the corners and throw their weight around. But as history shows, teams like these usually come up short in Game 7 of the Finals due to the lesser amount of talent.

And when they want to be, The Canucks are easily the more talented team in this series.

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2. Low scoring/close games

Roberto Luongo will not puke all over himself again tonight. At least, that’s what history says. Expect both goaltenders to be on their "A" games tonight. Only once in 15 Game 7 Finals has there been more than 5 goals total. As you see above, the common score tends to be 2-1, 3-1, 3-0.

The last Finals Game 7 was the Penguins/Wings 2009 clash, and believe it or not, I recall this game being a real snoozer. The shot totals for both teams were very low, and it appeared that everyone was scared to make that crucial mistake and become the goat. (Detroit’s Brad Stuart was the eventual goat, giving the puck away which led to Pittsburgh’s first goal)

And as history shows us, this pattern will continue tonight.

Also, look at the margins between scores. 12 of the 15 games are decided by 2 goals or less, including 7 one-goal games. Basically, expect the team to score first tonight to just go into lockdown mode and play extremely defensive hockey.

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3. An unexpected hero

Expect the game winning goal to be scored tonight by some 3rd/4th line grinder.

Or at least that’s what history tells us.

I just finished saying how the teams with more skill usually win these games. And yes, that’s still usually the case, but for whatever reason, it will usually be a lesser known individual who will be the Stanley Cup hero in Game 7.

Here are the names of some players who have scored game-winning goals in Game 7

Pete Langelle-1942
Pete Babando-1950
Tony Leswick-1954
Alex Tanguay-2001
Mike Rupp-2003
Ruslan Fedotenko-2004
Frantisek Kaberle-2006
Max Talbot-2009

Who are these guys????

The last 5 game 7’s all have pretty average guys scoring game-winners. (Yes, Alex Tanguay is very average…)

Basically, over half of the time, we see some plug who really hasn’t done a lot in the playoffs step up at the right time. And, ironically, there are a lot of plugs on both the Bruins and Canucks tonight.

Can anyone say Raffi Torres??

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If history has any effect on tonight’s game, the home team Vancouver Canucks will win a low scoring and close 2-1 game, with a game-winner from either Raffi Torres, Maxim Lapierre, or Victor Oreskovich and take home the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.