Bruins Watch Blues Hoist Stanley on Garden Ice

The Boston Bruins played their final game of the 2018-2019 season on Wednesday night in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues. It definitely didn’t go the way the Bruins wanted, as they lost 4-1.

Throughout the game, there were tons of “fans” throwing in the towel and blaming players for their inability to score, keep the puck out of the net, and many more things that I stopped reading because those fans missed the point.

Watching a hockey game, it is easy to say “Tuukka Rask should have had that goal.” or “What’s wrong with David Pastrnak, the Bruins should shop him this summer.” And so many more criticisms of the team they say they believe in. Wednesday night there were people who had given up at the end of the first period when the Blues were up 2-0. There were “fans” who paid inordinate amounts of money to see the Bruins play that game who left the game before it was over.

Imagine how the players felt? They have played 82 regular season games and then another 24 postseason games. Zdeno Chara was out on the ice the last three games playing with a broken jaw. Matt Grzelcyk had just returned to the lineup from a concussion. Chris Wagner had a puck go off his wrist, ending his season and forcing him to just watch. In the coming days the laundry list of unknown (though suspected) injuries, upcoming surgeries, and more will come out, but it won’t be enough for those “fans” who felt the Bruins somehow failed them.

I often wonder if those fans think the players woke up and said “You know, today is a good day to just lose the game.”

Was Wednesday night’s game the Bruins best game? Absolutely not. Rask would like to have one of those first period goals back. But that is not to say that the loss is on Rask. The team was unable to solve Jordan Binnington in that first period when they had twelve shots on the rookie netminder, including the only power play of the game. Brad Marchand made a bad decision going off the ice with seven seconds remaining in the first period that helped contribute to the Blues second goal. Yes, Pastrnak and Torey Krug each had four giveaways, which were eight of the 13 unforced giveaways in the game. Patrice Bergeron was only six of 12 in the faceoff.

And while the Bruins had struggles, the Blues had Binnington stopping 32 of the 33 shots he saw. The Blues saw their defensemen in the correct place almost all night long to keep the Bruins from doing much damage with some of those shots. The Blues had the season for the ages, especially once the calendar turned to 2019..

The Bruins and the Blues are cut from much the same cloth as teams go. Strong leadership in both rooms. Hard hitting, blue-collar style teams, that know the meaning of hard work. And just as the Bruins in 2011 had the ending of a drought, for the Blues it was their opportunity to win the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup.

As the Blues were shouting with joy as the game came to an end, the Bruins were holding back tears. As the Blues players, while still out on the ice, continued to share in their happiness and answer questions of the media about something that they still had yet to grasp as real, the Bruins players were in their locker room likewise grappling with immense emotion and trying to answer questions of the media they weren’t yet prepared for. Some, like Jake DeBrusk, were sitting in their stall, still in full gear and speechless. Others, like Chara and Marchand, showing that there is crying in hockey. Broken bones? Stitches? No tears. Not getting to hoist the Stanley Cup? They would rather give up a body part then come that close and not be the players hoisting the silver chalice.

So, to the St. Louis Blues congratulations are in order for the precision with which they played Game 7. And for the Bruins, no amount of criticism by the fans will be as harsh as their own self recriminations, despite what they told the media. No amount of condolences will heal the giant gaping wound that only they can see and feel at the moment.