The chance to win Olympic gold may only come along once every four years, but for the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks, the opportunity to win a Stanley Cup is an unmatched once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Even for an Olympic city like Vancouver that basked in the golden glow of Canada’s hockey victory at last year’s Winter Games, the chance to watch their team sip from the Stanley Cup trumps everything else.
The pursuit of hockey’s Holy Grail is not limited to hockey-mad Canadians and neighboring Americans. Now, players from Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Russia, Germany and more all dream of having their names one day engraved on the iconic silver mug.
“I think this is obviously the biggest game you can play,” Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin said. “I think you look at Olympic finals, world championships, but when you play this long, with good friends and teammates, it’s the biggest game you can play. I mean, you played 82 games just to get in, then it’s a long run in the playoffs, too. For sure, they are the biggest games you can play in.”
Both the Bruins and Canucks have lineups packed with players who have performed on the international stage representing their countries at both the Olympics and world championships.
Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo backstopped Canada to an Olympic gold medal victory last year in Vancouver, while Swedish twins Daniel and Henrik stood atop the podium at the 2006 Turin Winter Games.
Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas and Canucks Ryan Kesler were US teammates in Vancouver and took home silver, while Boston’s Norris trophy finalist Zdeno Chara anchored the Slovakia defense.
Vancouver team mates Sami Salo and Christian Ehrhoff manned the blueline for Finland and Germany respectively.
“Obviously the Olympics was one of the biggest stages I ever played on,” Kesler said. “I believe this is bigger. I’ve said it before. We worked extremely hard all year and I’ve played with these two guys [the Sedin twins] next to me for close to five years. I played with Alex [Burrows] longer. Every year, we work for the same goal. To finally get here and to finally have a chance at achieving our goal, it’s something special.”
“It’s like the Holy Grail.” Salo said. “It’s a very long road to get to the playoffs. Only a few players have a chance to play for the Cup.”
The bond felt by players also extends to a team’s home city and fans, while in Vancouver’s case, an entire country.
Despite hockey’s global growth, it is in Canada, the game’s birthplace and spiritual home, that the Stanley Cup remains a national treasure.
In the past decade, Canada has won two Olympic gold medals and three world championships, but not since the Montreal Canadiens won the last of their record 24 titles in 1993 has the Stanley Cup been paraded in a Canadian city.
When Raffi Torres scored with 19 seconds left in regulation to give the Canucks a 1-0 win over the Bruins in Game 1 on Wednesday, it sparked a thunderous celebration not heard in Vancouver since Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal to give Canada victory in last year’s Olympic men’s final.
An online survey conducted by Ipsos Reid prior to Game 1 found that eight of every 10 British Columbians were excited about the Canucks performance in this year’s playoffs.
A similar poll carried out prior to the Vancouver Olympic opening ceremonies just over a year go found that just half of BC residents were excited for the Winter Games to begin.
Vancouver chiropractor -Richard Cleland says nothing in the city’s sports history compares to the excitement of the Vancouver Canucks’ bid to win the NHL’s Stanley Cup for the first time.
“It supersedes the Olympic experience,” said Cleland, 38, who attended Canada’s gold-medal victory over the US in men’s hockey last year. “This is the best opportunity we’ve had to win the cup in the 40-year history of the franchise.”
“It’s kind of like the passion the ‘Original Six’ team cities have,” said Jeff McCord, managing director of Vertex One Asset Management in Vancouver, referring to the league’s first teams in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York and Toronto, before the addition of new franchises beginning in 1967. “It’s all consuming.”
McCord, whose firm manages C$1.5 billion (US$1.53 billion), said he expects the level of fan interest in the city of 2.5 million people to rise as the series resumes tonight in Vancouver before moving to Boston’s TD Garden next week.
The Canucks’ victory on Wednesday was on the same rink where Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal on the last day of the Winter Games lifted Canada to a 3-2 victory over the US.
Not far from Rogers Arena, more than 5,000 fans, many wearing blue-and-white colored Canucks jerseys, watched the game on big screens as a light rain and thunder failed to dampen the atmosphere.
“It really brings the town together — even people who aren’t fans are jumping on the bandwagon and supporting our team,” fan Brianna Ashleigh said during the festivities.
The top-seeded Canucks are listed as the 1-2 favorite to win the cup by Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises that city’s casinos on betting lines. Vancouver lost in the championship series in 1982 and 1994.
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