Boston
Bears are awesome
The Goods
Ask any guy which team most resembles a bear, and, besides the above picture, they'll pick this one.
They've got a soft "honey" heart with Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin. They dazzle you with speed and their plus-minus. They've got skill to boot.
But the exterior of this team is built like a tank. Lucic. Thomas. And "Tiny Norris" CHARA. They'll maul you if you get close (i.e. Vancouver last year), and hell, they're very good at it. The core of this team is the same that lifted Lord Stanley last year, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
This bear is not broken.
The Bads
But there's a small problematic question that much of the universe is dying to answer: What did Boston do to keep up with the rest of the league?
Vancouver adapted to Boston, Philly and Pittsburgh did too. New York became the new Boston, and St. Louis is trying to too.
Is this team still the watermark for success? Or is this team, just a year old, a relic of the past? May the Bruins have lost at their own game?
Tuuka Rask's injury, after he outplayed Vezina Trophy holder Thomas most of the year, does not bode well. Marty Turco, here we go.
The Bruins win the Cup if...
Thomas still has enough in the tank to play like last year, Philly/Pittsburgh beat each other up enough to be weak in the East, and the Western representative isn't a particularly physical one.
The chances of all three happening are rare, to say the least, but history does occur in patterns.
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