May 25, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid (54) acknowledges a cheering crowd after the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers in game five of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports
The Eastern Conference finals will soon be under way. In fact, Lyndon Byers just posted on Facebook that Game One will be Saturday, June 1st, aat 7:30 PM. As per usual, the tickets prices have escalated into the stratosphere. We’re also getting to see the teams engaging in the pre-battle interviews. CSNNE.com caught up with Milan Lucic in the B’s locker room, and asked him what he thought about the upcoming series would be like with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“No doubt they’re a great hockey club. In my mind they’re almost like the Miami Heat of the NHL with all the star power they have. Probably the two best players in the world and a 40-goal scorer and the former 50-goal scorer, a future hall of famer and a Norris Trophy candidate on their team,” said Lucic. “They definitely have a lot of weapons and in saying all that, I think what makes them successful is they play real well as a team.”
“I think that’s what you’re going to probably see going into this next series, is two well-rounded teams going at it. For us, we’ve got to be ready and excited for the challenge.”
“We appreciate the compliment,” responded an amused Sidney Crosby told NHL.com. “I’m sure he won’t have too many once we start playing.” Crosby I don’t know how much is meant by it, but at this point I don’t think it really matters what we’re classified as or what we’re like on paper,” Crosby said. “There’s always going to be comments and things like that said, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and play.”
The Bruins should have their hands full against Pittsburgh. They went 0-3 against them in the regular season. (All three games were decided by one goal.) It will come down to who is the better crease policeman. After Marc-Andre Fleury‘s inability to close out games in the first round, Tomas Vokoun has stepped up and worked wonders in the crease. Although Pittsburgh on paper looks like a better team, I don’t need to remind the faithful that everyone said that Vancouver was going to win in five or six games back in 2011.
The Bruins left all that lackluster team behind them in game seven against Toronto. It took several minor acts of God to get the Rangers to win even one game. Will the Bruins be in for a good fight? Sure. Do you think people have counted them out? Yes. Do the Bruins and Bruins Nation believe we’re going to see the Cup again? Absolutely!