Times guest blogger Ryan Getzlaf breaks down Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals
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Well ladies and gentlemen, another hockey season in the books. Congratulations to the Boston Bruins!
Overall, I thought the series was a case of two hockey teams that had been good all season long and they both definitely deserved to be there. They put on a great show for the fans.
I thought Game 7 was a great hockey game where both teams showed up. I expected a closer game, where it would come down to one or two goals, but Boston took over early.
They had that sense of urgency right off the hop and they were able to carry that throughout. Once you get the first goal in a game like that, you just keep going and don’t let up. That was a big part of their game and why they had success. The Patrice Bergeron short-handed goal to make it 3-0 was like a dagger when you are trying to get some momentum back. It would have been really tough for Vancouver to come back from that.
I was surprised Vancouver wasn’t able to get more pucks to the net at the start of the game. They obviously got it going later because they finished the game with 37 shots. Boston’s Tim Thomas just played really well. The Canucks weren’t able to generate as much as they normally do early on and obviously that is what ended up hurting them.
Speaking of Tim Thomas, he was my Conn Smythe pick as playoff MVP. There wasn’t much doubt that he earned it, not only how he played in the playoffs, but throughout the whole year as well. The fact he was able to go into the playoffs and continue to play that well just shows his consistency. Even if Boston had lost, he only allowed one or two goals throughout most of the series, so it was well deserved.
In the final minutes of the game, I saw guys on the Boston bench start to get excited because they knew they had the game. I felt chills when it was at that point, because I know what that feels like from our 2007 run. It’s nice to see a team that has worked so hard all season get rewarded. They worked right through to the end.
Congratulations to my former teammate Shawn Thornton. He’s one of those role-playing guys and he accepts his role. He played hard when he was in and he played big minutes for them in Game 7.
Watching the presentation of the Stanley Cup brought back old feelings and memories that you want to get back. It’s tough to put into words what those guys were feeling. Just being in that moment of knowing you get to hoist that Cup over your head after working all season long… well, working hard for pretty much your whole life, I guess. Watching those guys celebrate gives you that burn to get back there and be in that boat again -– and we’ll get working on it again in September. Hope everyone has a great summer!
RELATED:
Bobby Ryan discusses Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals
George Parros discuss Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals
Bobby Ryan discusses Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals
Corey Perry breaks down Game 4
George Parros breaks down Game 6
--Ryan Getzlaf
The Times is pleased to have Ryan Getzlaf, George Parros, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan of the Ducks analyzing the Stanley Cup finals for us.