by Matt Corder

20:00 – Boston leads 3 – 0 after a less than impressive performance by Roberto Luongo.  It’s gotten so bad that after every shot he instantly looks behind him to see if he let it in the net.  In sharp contrast is Tim Thomas.  Nothing is getting past this man tonight.  He has stopped more advances to the net than whoever was opposite LeBron James.  It’s really too bad for the Canucks, they dominated possession early, but the Bruins stuck to their M.O. and got the scrappy/hustle goals that have come to be the identity of this team.  That and Tim Thomas is channeling his inner Patrick Roy right now.

19:59 – We were just told this is the same arena where the Americans lost in overtime to Canada in the Olympics last year.  USA-USA-USA! Revenge is sweet.

18:27 – Tim Thomas gets away with murder with a stick to the face of a Canucks player.  Gotta love this sport.  One of the announcers remarks, “he’s fine there’s no blood.”  Hockey!!!

17:12 – Tim Thomas…beast.

16:22 – Luongo save on an easy wrist shot!  Cue Bruins fans’ sarcastic cheers back in Boston.

Quick tangent:  One of the best parts of hockey is that the refs have a sense of the moment once the playoffs start.  There’s no way they’re going to ruin any part of this game and you almost rather forget that they’re even present on the ice.  The players will decide this outcome unless one of them commits first degree murder on the ice.  As it should be. 

14:27 – And on cue one of the Canucks players channels his inner Todd Bertuzzi and mars game seven with an absolute cheap shot on a Boston player.  What a D-Bag.  The refs rightly call the penalty.  The sole reason I’m rooting for Boston over Vancouver in this matchup is that I still cannot forgive the Canucks franchise for ending the career of Steve Moore.  USA baby.  Screw Canada.

12:21 – Brad Marchand is everywhere for Boston in this series.  I swear his name is involved in every goal or near miss that Boston has had.  He’s a punk and he’s dirty…but you love to have him when he’s on your team.

11:54 – Thomas stones the Canucks best chance of the period, including a great rebound opportunity.  Really starting to pray that he gets the shutout.  Question: what are the odds Vancouver riots again after losing the cup?  I say even.

11:04 – Luongo showing a little heart.  Too little too late though.

10:24 – Thomas…again.

9:51 – Ditto.

Commercial break – does anyone else wonder as much as I do about why Bud Light and Miller Lite dominate Coors Light in the crucial beer commercial competition?  Coors Light hasn’t had a good beer commercial in almost a decade.

9:48 – Vancouver’s fans try to give the team their last wind.  They respond with a barrage of shots but none lands on net. 

9:18 – Thomas of course ends the momentum with a wise freezing of the puck.

9:06 – Will we remember this series more for the lack of execution by Vancouver’s forwards?  The poor play of Luongo?  The all universe play of Thomas?  It seems like it should be the latter but after all the whiffs by Vancouver this series, couldn’t you easily make the case for the former?

8:26 – Penalty on Boston.  The Canucks have life.

6:51 – Seidenberg delivers a punishing blow to Burrows, who has done everything in this series to deserve it (the bite, the cheap shots, and weakest of all, the dives to try to draw a penalty).  I’m calling it now.  The Boston Bruins are the 2011 Stanley Cup champions. 

6:26 – Penalty killed easily.

5:51 Thomas save again.

2:44 Brad Marchand, my vote for runner up MVP, comes through with an empty netter to seal the deal.  I am so happy Canada is cup-less for the 18^th straight year.  The curse of Patrick Roy lives!

Presentation of The Cup – Disgusted by the Canucks fans.  As Bettman tries to congratulate Vancouver and their fans, they erupt in a series of boos and jeers that completely drown out his speech.  I’m also 92% positive they threw objects at the Bruins players down on the ice.  Unbelievably classless move.  I think it’s time for Obama to invade our neighbor to the north.  I’ll openly vote for him next year if this actually happens.

Chara skates over and holds the Cup higher than any man who’s ever come before him.  Cannot believe how tall he is.  The crowd goes completely silent.

It’s bizarre, but every single fan is still in the building to watch this presentation, despite their team losing.  You can tell how much this meant to these Canadians and how highly they regard this trophy, as if the bones of Jesus Christ himself were being carried around inside the arena (sidenote: they’d show more reverence for the cup). 

The Canucks fans semi-redeem themselves with a polite applause for Tim Thomas and home town boy Milan Lucic.  Still doesn’t change my opinion of this franchise and this city.  It’s really too bad because I’ve heard Vancouver is one of the prettiest cities in the world and that the people couldn’t be nicer.  You can write me down as the only person in the world who doesn’t buy a word of that crap.

(I’ve learned that the fans weren’t actually booing the Bruins, they were booing Bettman, which is completely deserved and understandable.  I’ve also learned they were chanting “Bett-man-sucks!  Bett-man-sucks!” which is 100% forgiveable.  If you get a chance go back and watch the moment.  It’s extremely bizarre to see all the fans still in the building watching in awe at what they wish was theirs.  It’s semi-heartbreaking until you remember they won the damn gold medal on this ice about a year ago.  U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!)

And we have our first shots of riots on the streets of Vancouver.