2011 NHL Playoffs Recap

Note: In case you missed it, here is my summary of the 2011 NHL playoffs!

When thinking about what to write about these NHL playoffs, I realized how great they were this year. It had classic overtime thrillers and low scoring matches and there wasn’t a game that was lacking in action. In addition, there were four first round series that went the distance. 3 of the 4 7 game series were from the Eastern Conference. The one Western Conference series we saw the Blackhawks almost come back from down 3 games to none and forced a game 7 in Vancouver. That game 7 was probably the best game of the first round playoffs and saw a late game tying goal by Jonathan Toews to send the game to overtime. There, Alex Burrows scored the goal for Vancouver and the Canucks finally beat the Blackhawks in the playoffs (who have beaten them the previous 2 years in the first round).

The great first round series with the Canadiens and the Bruins was also an instant classic. The Canadiens too tied the game late on the powerplay and sent the game into overtime. There, Nathan Horton scored the goal for Boston and ended the series between these 2 great rivals.

The Penguins were leading the series against the Lightning 3 games to 1 before Steven Stamkos came alive and brought the Lightning back in the series before Dwayne Roloson shut out the Pens in game 7.

The Flyers also won their series in 7 games.

So the first round in all, their were 9 days in a row of overtime games and 14 games in all. This is 1 short of the record that was set in 2001 when there were 15 overtime games in the first round. Their four game 7’s were a rarity as well. 

Though the second round wasn’t as magical, it still had its moments. The Nashville Predators made everyone believe in them against the favoured Vancouver team. You wanted the series to go 7 games just so the Preds would have a chance at the upset but the Canucks were able to finish up their business in 6 games.

The Sharks almost choked again in the playoffs, this time almost blowing a 3 games to none lead against the Detroit Red Wings. The historic Red Wings battled well and just barely lost the game 7 in San Jose’.

The Eastern Conference series finished pretty quickly. The Capitals continued their playoff struggles and Tampa Bay walked all over them and swept the series.

Last year the Flyers came back against Boston from down 3 games to none and won the series. This year they found themselves down 3 games to none once again but Boston made sure to win the series in 4.

In the Conference finals, The Canucks and the Sharks were both facing ‘choking’ tendencies that they would have to overcome. The Canucks started off strong and won the first 2 games convincingly. The Sharks put up a fight for games 3 and 4 but only managed to win one of those games and Vancouver went on to win in 5 games.

The Lightning were hot and were on a 7 game winning streak going into the series with Boston. The series went back and forth with both teams gaining and losing momentum. At the end of the day, however, the Bruins were just too strong and beat the Lightning in 7 games.

This set up a historic Stanley Cup Finals matchup. The Boston Bruins, a team who won their last Stanley Cup in 1972, and the Vancouver Canucks, a team that hasn’t won a cup in their existence, since 1970.

Game 1 was very close and it took 59 minutes and 42 seconds for the first goal to be scored. The Canucks cast the first stone of the series. And now you suspected how the series was going to go. Most likely it would be a very low scoring series with great goaltender. If you thought that, you’d be correct with a little less than half of the games.

In game 2, it was still pretty low scoring. The teams went back and forth exchanging leads and the game eventually went to overtime. Just 11 seconds into the extra frame, Tim Thomas gives up a goal he would like to have back and Alex Burrows’ wrap-around gave the Canucks a solid 2-0 series lead.

Game 3 was when it all changed. Aaron Rome, a defenseman on the Canucks, leveled Nathan Horton of the Bruins. Horton wasn’t moving for several minutes and the Bruin fans were upset and once the game continued they rallied behind their team and perhaps gave them the extra push they needed.

And because of the change of attitude of the Bruin players and fans because of the giant hit (which resulted in the suspension of Rome, and the ‘severe’ concussion for Horton which ended his series), the Bruins routed the Canucks on home ice in games 3 and games 4 and outscored them 12-1 in those 2 games.

So now you’d think the Bruins will easily win the next two games and get the cup right?

Well the Canucks were able to muster up another 1 goal win on home ice.

So back in Boston, the Canucks struggled again and lost 5-2.

This set up a highly anticipated game 7 matchup. This game brought in the most views for a game 7 hockey game since 2003 where a New Yorkmarket team (the Devils) faced off against a Los Angeles market team (the Mighty Ducks). Not only that, THE VIEWS FROM CANADA DON’T FACTOR INTO THIS. The Canadian channel (CBC) was not connected to the views of that from NBC, the channel that had the game in America. So the fact that there was a Canadian team in the game and the viewers north of the border didn’t even factor into the equation is something remarkable for the NHL.  The reason for this climb was because of the lovely fans from Boston. In Boston, game 7 had a 43.4 rating and a 64 share (meaning that 64% of televisions in Boston were tuned in for game 7). This was the best rating for a hockey game in Boston AND, get this, it was the most viewed sporting program featuring a Boston team since the Patriot’s Super Bowl. And wait, it doesn’t stop there. The average views from the 7 games (INCLUDING the 2 games that was on Versus which is not a big market channel) were HIGHER than the average of the 7 games of the NBA finals when the Celtics were involved. Once again, another sign that hockey is making a comeback.

So back to the game. The first period of game 7 was one of the most action-packed periods of the playoffs. Vancouver did a pretty good job controlling play while both teams had their fair share of chances. Then the Bruins attacked. First it was Patrice Bergeron, and then eventually, the pest, Brad Marchand, got a goal as well. And before you knew it, the Bruins were ahead 4-0 and would go on to win the game.

And then of course there was celebrating on one end and rioting and sadness on the other.

So to sum up the last few weeks of playoff action I’ll say this:

There was goal scoring, there were great saves, there were hard hits. Also, there were some cheap shots, some suspensions, and some diving. But at the end of the day hockey is hockey. And this year, I truly believe, we saw hockey at its best.