The Boston Bruins recently have been a sports afterthought in the Boston area. The Red Sox are the two-time World Series winners this past decade, the New England Patriots of gridiron football won three Super Bowls, and the NBA's Celtics recently won their 17th championship three years back, something that overshadowed the Bruins' long list of playoff failures.
But since head coach Claude Julien took over in 2007, the Bruins seem to be on a revival, something not seen during the late 80s and early 90s. The Bruins won two division titles during this stretch, and have made the playoffs four straight seasons. However in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs the Bruins unexpectedly let a 3-0 lead slip away, losing in Game 7 to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-4. The loss served as a rallying cry for the 'Big, Bad Bruins', and in the following year's playoffs they didn't even allow the Flyers in the series, finally sweeping them in the conference semifinals. The Bruins finally punched a ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 with a seven-game win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Including a seven-game comeback over the Montreal Canadiens, the B's have played in 18 playoff games so far. On Wednesday, they'll play the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup title, something that eluded them since 1972.
This one's for legends such as Cam Neely, Terry O'Reilly and Ray Bourque who have never won a Stanley Cup title wearing the iconic 'spoked B' logo on their uniforms. And this one's for long-suffering Bruins fans. Four wins to Lord Stanley, baby.
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