Matthew Stewart: I’m rooting for the Bruins for a few reasons: 1) They’re owned by an East Aurora guy who might eventually have interest in buying the Bills, and that can only be considered a good thing. 2) The Bruins are built exactly how I want the Sabres to built: a combination of scoring and toughness. Why do I think the Canucks will win then? Well a few reasons. The first, I don’t really want to share with you because I’ll be writing about it soon, but let’s just say that statistically teams similar to the Canucks are historically much more likely to win than teams like the Bruins. The second is that the Bruins have seemingly built their entire team around being tough to play against and the Canucks have essentially accomplished the same goal with Ryan Kesler. I think Boston physically dominates the series and maybe even has a series lead in the early going, only for the Canucks superiority in talent to win out. Vancouver Canucks in Six.
Fake Darcy: This prediction is simple for me, being a Canadian. Luongo is the Team Canada Gold Medal winning goalie. Vancouver is located in Canada. These are facts no one can deny. Also, we owned the Bruins this year. I can’t bear the thought of “what could have been” replies to me on Twitter if Boston wins. Canucks in 6.
Brian Bund: The Western conference was the better conference all season long, going 142-88-40 against the East. The Vancouver Canucks were the best team not only in the West but entire NHL. Being able to put the Sedin brothers and Ryan Kesler on the ice gives them the best players in the series and their blue line has provided more production throughout the playoffs. Boston’s best and maybe only chance is for Tim Thomas to be brilliant and completely outplay Roberto Luongo. The Canucks are too good and too deep to let this slip away after the early round scare. Prediction: Vancouver in five.
Joe Pinzone: As I alluded to in my “Who should we root for?” post, I want Boston to lose and frankly, I think they will. Vancouver is loaded. They have grit, they have scorers, they have a solid defense and they have a great goaltender. I’m sure we have all been beaten to death about how the Stanley Cup winners over the last 3 years were loaded at center/wing. I think that trend holds up once again. The Sedins vs Bergeron/Horton? Advantage: Sedins. I just don’t see Boston outscoring Vancouver. I think the goaltending match-up is a toss-up. Again, it goes back to the forwards and talent. Mothercanuckers in five.
Chris Trapasso: I’ll try to keep my bias against the Bruins out of the this one, although that’ll be extremely difficult for me. Both teams are built for the playoffs, but in different ways, and it’s been intriguing watching both of them on their journeys to the Cup Finals. Without looking at statistics, the Canucks are the most offensively dynamic team in the NHL. Henrik Sedin doesn’t get the notoriety he deserves on the East coast, but I’d call him the best passer in the league today. Ryan Kesler is probably the best American you haven’t heard of, and Roberto Luongo deserves a championship. They get it done with skilled offensive sets and stellar goaltending. The Bruins’ physical play and timely goal scoring are what brought them to this point of the playoffs. In the end, I think the Canucks are too fast, fundamentally sound and can match Boston’s goaltending. The power play will be the difference. Vancouver is efficient as they come with the man advantage while the Bruins struggle mightily. Canucks in 6.
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