It’s easy for me to gush praise for Senna, because I was raised a Formula One fan. But it’s still a great film, even if you aren’t a racing fan. Granted, you’ll probably come back a racing fan if you do watch, but there are plenty other reasons to open up your wallet and spend just a tiny bit of money to view this great documentary.

It’s not just about Ayrton Senna, arguably the greatest, most gifted F1 racer to ever live. It’s not just about Ayrton Senna the man, either. It’s a tale that speaks of politics in a sport, bitter rivalries, and what it’s like to toe the fine line between racing aggressively and dangerously.

The documentary represents more than a time long gone in the sport, as Formula One fans very well know. Knock on wood, but Senna’s death was the last in the sport. His death is what prompted new safety innovations that have no doubt saved the lives of many F1 drivers in the years since.

It shows safety problems of the time, as well as the political problems of the time. It illustrates the life of one of Brazil’s heroes, someone who donated back to Brazil and the people worshipped and loved.

Most of us have never experienced the purest form of ambition, but that was Senna’s life. And that’s what the documentary shows — he was a ruthless driver who would do almost anything to win. He hated to lose. Senna shows how far ambition can take you, what it can do for you, and what it can do to you.

Senna pushed the limits in many ways, and that’s what made him a great driver. That’s why F1 fans love him and miss him, and that’s why they flocked to theaters to see it and made it one of the most successful documentaries to release in Europe ever.

It’s hard for me to ask for people to go see it without talking about the racing aspect. The film has some amazing F1 footage. It contains riveting and enthralling on-board views — none so more than the on-board footage of Senna’s Williams as he drove his last, fateful lap around Imola in 1994. There are clips of some great overtaking maneuvers, and of course clips of the stomach-churning crashes during that one weekend at Imola, and many more.

One of the best reasons I can use to try and convince you to watch Senna is because it’s an amazing illustration of the impact he had. It happened so long ago, that most of us don’t understand how widely he was loved. But by watching testimonials of Brazilians and by watching F1 personalities like Ron Dennis, Sir Frank Williams, and even his rival, Alain Prost, cry after Senna’s death, show better than a thousand words could ever tell us of what he meant to the sport and Brazil.

Senna once said: “Every time I push, I find something more, again and again. But there is a contradiction. The same moment that you become the fastest, you are enormously fragile. Because in a split-second, it can be gone. All of it. These two extremes contribute to knowing yourself, deeper and deeper.”

Grade: A-

After LeBron James’ decision, Miami seems to be the most sought-after destination
for athletes. Florida has never been a place where hockey players have been dying
to go, and for good reason. As my friend from Miami constantly points out, they’re
all fair-weather fans. And the Panthers don’t have a fan base anywhere near that of
the Red Wings, the Bruins, or even the Lightning.

But it’s time to give credit to Panthers’ GM Dale Tallon, who seems to have
some kind of magic touch. He managed to convince defensemen Brian Campbell
of the Blackhawks to waive his no-trade clause for a trade to Florida. Tomas
Fleischmann, Marcel Goc, Sean Bergenheim, Scottie Upshall, Ed Jovanovski, and
Jose Theodore, signed with the Panthers.

That’s 25 years in total and $67.6 million to those players.

Tallon is a great general manager, and these were all great signings by a mediocre
team struggling to stay alive in a market that isn’t extremely hockey-friendly. The
Panthers can’t dip below the A-range for their free agent signings because all the
team did was improve. Will they win a championship? Definitely not anytime soon.
Will they make the playoffs? The jury’s out on that one, but it’s probably a no. Will
they be a better team than last year? Definitely.

But I can’t give the Panthers a higher grade because of the contracts. Take a look
at the money the Panthers and Tallon threw at Scottie Upshall – a four-year, $14
million contract. Upshall is a great player who brings energy when he plays, but he’s
not worth that kind of money. Don’t forget Campbell’s contract. It’s not cheap, and
part of the reason why Chicago had to part ways with him.

The bottom line: part of the reason the Panthers did so well in free agency was
because they were under the cap minimum. It allowed them to throw very lucrative
contracts at these players.

Yes, the Panthers did well, but they could have done better, perhaps by not
overpaying some of their players. Still, the Panthers are currently one of the most
improved teams in the NHL

Also, as a quick note before I leave you: the tweet that I mentioned in the beginning
was something I tweeted to the NHL, because I really do miss hockey.

Still, it’s getting harder not to notice how badly this must affect the players. When Mike Richards was traded, it was shocking. I’m sure most Flyers fans were upset over the deal. I know a couple, and they weren’t too happy. But what about Richards? He had signed a long-term deal not that long ago, and it seemed as if he was going to retire a Flyer. No one thought he would leave. Especially Richards himself. Richards sounded fairly broken up in the interviews he did shortly after the trade.

Consider this. I’m a Devils and Bruins fan, and I hate the Flyers more than any other team in professional sports. That’s right, more than the Yankees, Colts and Lakers. Yet I still feel sorry for Mike Richards. I still feel bad for him even though he’s earned a reputation as a dirty player (I’m sorry Flyers fans, but it’s true) thanks to cheap shots, like the one he laid on David Booth two years ago.

Flashback to a few years ago. Ryan Smyth, long-time Edmonton Oiler and British Columbia native, loved the team. Edmonton drafted Smyth in 1994, and he played there until the 06-07 season, when he was traded to the Islanders.

Smyth’s trade might not have been shocking, but it was certainly hard on him. While with Richards’ call we can only infer that his voice betrayed how broken the move had made him, with Smyth, we could actually see it.

In his farewell press conference, he was crying. Crying. Don’t just take my word for it; YouTube “Ryan Smyth crying.” It’s really heartbreaking, to watching him cry like that because the Oilers pushed him away from his home and his team. It’s just one indication of how badly this affects players, as well as fans.

It all worked out for Smyth. After a four-year absence, he’s returning to Edmonton, the city he always wanted to be in.

I’m just saying that sometimes we’re so caught up in what we want, as fans, that we never think about what the players are going through. I’m not saying they deserve more attention or more sympathy than we already give them, but it’s something to keep in mind.

I’ll be honest—I’m attached to very few of these Bruins. I love Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard, Tim Thomas, Andy Ference, and Zdeno Chara. Of course I still like the other players. Who doesn’t like Mark Recchi, Milan Lucic, and Nathan Horton?

The reason I love this championship so much is because of how much hockey means in my life, and how close I’ve been to the sport. It mainly hinges on the fact that I’ve seen the Bruins go from being terrible to Stanley Cup champions, a move that Ference, Savard, Thomas, Chara, and Bergeron were key in.

Lucic, Horton, Recchi, Boychuk, Ryder, and the other players weren’t a part of the Bruins when they were bad. In 06-07, the Bruins were still a really bad team. In 2007, they became a good team. They made it to the playoffs, and it was the first year of the Bruins’ upswing. Yes, the Canadiens swept the Bruins in the first round that year, but it was the first time in a little bit, especially after the Joe Thornton trade, that the Bruins were showing signs of improvement.

When I was at the parade, watching Savard, Thomas, Chara, Bergeron and Ference pass by on the duck boats meant everything. Probably because 2006 is still a fresh memory, and I still remember the Bruins being terrible. For me, it was so nice to see those players so happy. Especially Savard, even though he was unable to really help the Bruins this year, thanks to his concussion.

My parents, being from Cleveland, were never hockey fans. I randomly started watching hockey in 2006, and I was immediately hooked, so the first game I ever went to was Bruins-Flyers in March of 2007 at the Wachovia Center, third row seats. There are a few things I remember from that game, most notably Jeremy Riech getting into a fight (remember him?) and Bergeron fighting for the puck along the boards. But the one thing that stuck with me was the look on Savard’s face after the game, as the players were heading into the locker room, after the Flyers had beaten the Bruins pretty handily.

It was a miserable look of disappointment. Savard looked so sad. And I never, ever forgot that look. Which is why seeing him as happy as he was on Saturday, the happiest I’ve ever seen him, made me happy.

It was special because 2006 was the year when Savard, Ference, and Chara all started with the Bruins. Bergeron had been playing since 2003, and Thomas had played for the Bruins before, but he took on a bigger role in 2006. So for as long as I’ve been following hockey and rooting for my hometown Bruins, they’ve all been a part of the team.

The remaining part of a team that I loved, of course, since fan favorites Glen Murray and P.J. Axelsson departed a few years ago. Other players left and were traded, Dennis Wideman, Chuck Kobasew, Marco Sturm, Phil Kessel, Mark Stuart, Matt Hunwick and Aaron Ward, just to name a few, but those five players stayed.

Those five players suffered the heartbreak and pain that, as a fan, I suffered too. They were there when things were tough, and they helped turn the team around.

The other reason why I loved watching those players celebrate a championship?

Two years ago I got their autographs. Well, not Thomas’, but Chara, Bergeron, Savard and Ference’s. I waited outside after they’d lost to the Devils, 1-0, just hoping that Bergeron would sign my Bergeron jersey, since he’s always been one of my favorites. The entire team had to pass by where we were standing to get to the bus, and while Thomas and Krejci declined to sign for us, the others did.

I can’t forget Bergeron walking out the door; it was kind of like a dream come true. I had waited a year for him to come back after that brutal concussion, sworn I would buy his jersey, and getting him to autograph it was like a little bonus. I first asked him to sign a page in my program, like I was asking everyone else to sign, and then I asked him to sign my jersey. He very politely said “sure” and signed it.

I didn’t speak much to Chara or Ference, but Chara was pretty nice to the 10-year-old boy standing next to me. I do remember that Ference said “you’re welcome” when I thanked him for his autograph, and I asked Savard to take a picture with me, and he let me. It was an amazing experience, and I won’t ever forget it. My dad also got some nice pictures of Bergeron and Lucic signing for me.

Oh and another thing. Ference isn’t the most popular Bruin by far, at least he wasn’t before they won, but he’s been one of my favorites since my first hockey game, because of another thing. I didn’t have my camera then, so I was taking pictures on my phone, and Andy Ference was standing right in front of us during the pre-game warm-ups. When Ference was standing there, Savard came up and playfully rammed into Ference, and I took a picture of the two of them standing next to each other. It was my wallpaper on that phone, and ever since Savard has been the wallpaper for every other phone I’ve used.

Part of what makes it great for them to win is that they’re pretty nice. You hear stories of the players being humble and singing for fans and being kind, and trust me, those five definitely are. Especially Bergeron. And when hockey players are nice, it’s so much easier to root for them.

I love the Patriots more than any team in the world, but I’ve never talked to any Patriots players and I’ve never gotten any of their autographs. But I did with the Bruins, and I couldn’t help thinking that when the duck boats passed us by.

Growing up in New Jersey, I was away from all of my favorite teams. I wasn’t much into basketball so I never really went to see the Celtics play the Nets, but hockey was always accessible to me and I loved going to watch the Bruins play the Devils. I watched the Bruins every time there was a televised game, and I went to see them at the Continental Airlines Arena/Prudential Center whenever I could. Because of that, I grew close to the team in a way I never could with the Patriots or the Red Sox.

I’m a huge Bruins fan, so I was euphoric when they won. But it honestly made me happier to see Ference, Chara, Bergeron, Thomas and Savard celebrating the way they did. They’re the remaining pieces from a huge team transition, they’re all great guys, and they all deserve.

Thank you to the 2011 Boston Bruins for brining the Stanley Cup back to Boston, on behalf of the die-hard Bruins fans. Thank you for letting me see this in my lifetime.

Do I start with Nathan Horton’s magic? Tim Thomas’ superhuman saves? Brad Marchand’s unbelievable series? Mason Raymond’s spinal cord injury? How the Sedins and Ryan Kesler were neutralized? There’s so much to cover on all fronts.

It’s hard to believe they’ve actually won, and especially if you’ve been following the team for years and are a true die-hard fan. Five years ago I never thought the Bruins would win. I look at the picture of Patrice Bergeron kissing the Stanley Cup and I need to blink twice. I remember him as a young player, a player struggling to live up to his potential, in the old CCM Bruins jersey. And I think to myself, can this kid—this kid who’s my favorite currently-playing hockey player—really be holding the Stanley Cup? The team has come so far from what they used to be that it’s so hard to believe. But I guess it’s like 2001 and 2004 all over again—part of me still thinks those two championships never really happened and are just some part of a dream sequence.

Well it’s time to move past the disbelief. There’s one reason why the Bruins won this championship, and it’s Nathan Horton. Okay that’s not entirely the truth, but I think he had a large part to do with it. Look at how the Bruins started playing after Horton went down. He inspired the team, there’s no question. Yes they played badly back in Vancouver for game 5, but Horton wasn’t there. He was there for game 7. Oh, and in case you missed it, he also sprinkled some Boston water on the ice before the game.

Here’s the thing: The Bruins had failed to win any of the first three games in Vancouver. Yes Vancouver outplayed them, but all the games were one-goal games, each of which the Bruins had a chance to win. It was like all they needed was one thing to push them over the edge into victory, and that happened in game seven. I think a lot of that comes from the experience the Bruins have in game sevens this year (they took Montreal and Tampa Bay to game seven). I also think Horton’s presence could have been enough to make the Bruins victorious.

But in reality it’s Tim Thomas. The defense wasn’t always there to help him out, and Thomas was left to fend for himself a lot. He faced the task and conquered. He won the Conn Smythe and he deserved it—much like Antti Niemi did last year. To be sure, luck played a huge part in his success. Remember that save on Steve Downie from the ECF? Should have been a goal. Thomas even said he just stuck his stick out and he got lucky. Luck or not, Thomas played well when he needed to and kept the Bruins in it against the Canadiens and against the Lightning when situations started to get sticky, and again against the Canucks.

Now Brad Marchand. What do I say about him? I remember when he used to play in Providence—although it really wasn’t too long ago. He’s still a rookie, remember. But the way he played in the Stanley Cup Finals, you could easily mistake him for a seasoned veteran. He came up huge on offense when the Bruins needed him to, and he scored some pure skill goals—like his wraparound shot against Roberto Luongo in game 7 to put the B’s up by two.

I could go on and on about all the players on the team and how they all contributed, especially the fourth line and Shawn Thornton when he was called back to play in the Finals, but there’s one player I really want to give a shout-out to—Patrice Bergeron. As aforementioned, he’s my favorite. And a good guy, I’ve met him and he’s really nice. I told my friend before the game that he would score in game 7, and indeed he did. Even without the points, Bergeron is one of—if not the best—forwards on the team. He can score, but he plays so well defensively too. He wasn’t always like that, but he’s grown a lot over the years, and it’s so special to have watched him become the player he is today.

And if you haven’t hear, Mark Recchi is retiring. He said it’s a good way to go out when you win the Stanley Cup. He’s right, but he’s become a huge part of the Bruins over the past couple of years and he’ll definitely be missed. His veteran leadership can’t be overlooked.

The main reason the Bruins won is because they were so much more physical than the Canucks in games three, four, six and seven. It wasn’t even close. Every Bruin was ready to fight if needed, and they all refused to back down. Johnny Boychuk and Dennis Siednberg kept hitting, and Bergeron, Marchand and captain Zdeno Chara weren’t afraid to throw in some punches and checks.

While I can keep talking about how great the Bruins played, I think it’s time we look at how badly Vancouver played. Especially in game seven and every game in Boston.

First off, it was embarrassing how Henrik Sedin refused to fight back. There’s a clip from game six where Marchand is punching Sedin, and Sedin just skates away. I know he wants to take the high road and stay out of the box, which is fine, but there’s a limit. He’s the captain. Captain. Wearing that “C” means he needs to stick up for his team, and he wasn’t doing that. If he had decided to fight back, he might have been able to inject some much-needed emotion and spark into the Canucks. He’s the captain. That’s his responsibility.

The Canucks still tried to be physical, at least some of them did. And of course Maxim Lapierre and Raffi Torres are some of the least likely players to back down from a fight.

Here’s another shout-out to two Canucks who really deserve it—Mason Raymond and Manny Malhotra. Malhotra came back for the Canucks and was just phenomenal. He was out thanks to an eye injury, and his eye is still really swollen, but he still excelled at winning faceoffs.

Now onto Mason Raymond. For those of you that missed it, he suffered a fractured vertebrae after Johnny Boychuk slammed him into the boards in the most horrible, awkward way possible. It was gruesome, to say the least. I can’t stomach it enough to describe it, so I’ll leave it at your discretion to youtube it or not. But beware—it’s a very gruesome hit. You’ve been warned. Losing Raymond was a huge blow for the Canucks, a team who was already hurting. On top of that, Raymond couldn’t even fly back to Vancouver because he wasn’t stable enough. It was a really tough break for Raymond and here’s hoping he has a speedy recovery.

The reason why the Canucks lost? Simple. Roberto Luongo. He’s not a good playoff goalkeeper, end of story. There’s a reason why the Canucks haven’t won the Stanley Cup, despite being a fairly good team over the past few years. Luongo chokes in the playoffs. Yes he has an Olympic Gold Medal, and he’s most certainly one of the better goalkeepers in the regular season. But not the playoffs. And he was awful against Boston.

Awful doesn’t cut it, especially in Boston and in game seven. A lot of those goals he let in were terrible goals, and he should never have allowed them. It was just a poor performance on his part, and that’s what ultimately killed the Canucks.

Good goalkeeping is what wins Stanley Cups. Ask Cam Ward, Marty Brodeur, Antti Niemi, among others. Simply put, the Bruins had a good goalkeeper. The Canucks didn’t. And that’s what decided the series.

If you’re a Bruins fan, you’ll understand this. But even if you’re not, keep reading and see if you agree with this or not. I am a Bruins fan, but I tend to see things objectively. And if these events had happened to a different team, I probably would consider that an injustice as well.

It seems wrong. Burrows shouldn’t be playing. He should be suspended. It’s really that simple. There’s only one reason why Burrows should have been allowed to play in game two—if the NHL allows biting. Normally I would say they don’t, especially because Jarkko Ruutu was suspended for biting Andrew Peters in 2009. So the NHL should have suspended him, and it’s ridiculous that they missed such a huge call in the Stanley Cup Finals. Well, the league did what they wanted, Burrows played, and scored the first goal to put the Canucks up early.

Burrows scored the first goal of the game and assisted on Vancouver’s second goal.

This wasn’t the first piece of injustice done in the playoffs recently. Remember 2009? The one year that’s been sewn into my heart, the one year I’ll never forget, and the one failed suspension I will never forgive.

Game six, Bruins-Hurricanes. The Bruins, who looked like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, were leading Carolina 3-2. The ‘Canes won game six, shifting the series back to Boston for game seven. Before the clock struck zero in game six, however, the Bruins were dealt a staggering blow, literally. ‘Canes forward Scott Walker and Bruins’ defenseman Aaron Ward were pushing and shoving, and Walker sucker punched Ward in the face.

He broke Ward’s jaw, ensuring that Ward wouldn’t play in game seven.

The league didn’t suspend Scott Walker. He scored the game-winning goal in game seven’s overtime, winning the series for the ‘Canes.

Sound familiar?

It was one of the most painful things I’ve ever witnessed. To watch that player, who should have been suspended, score a goal to send the Bruins packing was more than heartbreaking. It evoked sadness, anger, hatred, and other burning emotions.

It’s horrible when you watch players who should have been suspended score. It hurts that much when it’s your team that suffers the loss.

During game two, Max Herman, who works as a Devils reporter for WFAN in New York, tweeted about Burrows’ goal. I tweeted him back and told him it was exactly like Walker’s goal in 2009 against the Bruins. He congratulated me for knowing that, but there’s a reason why I knew.

As a Bruins fan, that’s not something you forget.

It creates one of those never-ending hypothetical questions. Scott Walker should have been suspended for game seven. Would the Bruins have won? Would someone else have been the hero for the Hurricanes? If Burrows hadn’t been playing, would the Canucks have won?

But those questions are really irrelevant. The Bruins got the short end of the stick (no pun intended) and they suffered from the league’s missed calls. You can whine and complain, but ultimately the league screwed up and you were a victim but there’s nothing else to do but move on.

This just bothers me as a fan because they were such blatant violations. There was no question Walker sucker-punched Ward. There was no question Burrows bit Bergeron. Those things are illegal in the NHL, so both players should have been suspended. So neither player should have scored.

I can sit here and complain how the Bruins are facing the brunt of injustice, but Tampa Bay’s faced their fair share in these playoffs as well. Boston Bruin Nathan Horton scored the game winner, but he could have been suspended. He probably should have been, considering he spit at a Lightning fan in game six.

This is what it looks like: the NHL makes rules, but they never seem to follow them. And it’s just getting annoying and frustrating. The NHL is already having trouble fighting for attention in the U.S., and they definitely are not helping their cause by failing to implement punishments.

21 years. Nathan Horton. Stanley Cup Finals. Tim Thomas. Dwayne Roloson. Patrice Bergeron. Marty St. Louis. Steven Stamkos.

Throwing a bunch of names in represents last night’s back-and-forth contest between the Lightning and the Bruins. It was only a fitting end to a tightly-played series, full of high-octane scoring chances and high-caliber saves.

In a penalty-less game, it looked as if both teams would go into overtime, but Nathan Horton made sure that didn’t happen. It was a perfect play—David Krejci was racing down the ice at Dwayne Roloson’s right side. He received a pass from Andy Ference placed a perfect pass to Nathan Horton who was standing at Roloson’s left, with a wide open net to shoot at. He didn’t miss.

And now he’s a hero in Boston—one of the men who lifted the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup Finals in 21 years. Coincidence, fate, or whatever you want to call it, but it was also 21 years since there was an NHL playoff game without penalties.

This was the Bruins’ best game of the series. They controlled the tempo of the game, putting on an offensive show. It may have been the first time the Bruins controlled the puck more than the Lightning.

Of course Tampa Bay, the upstart team who upset the Capitols, refused to give up. So with time winding down in the third, their offense kept coming. But as always, luck, missed passes, and good saves, kept Boston’s lead.

Strange. All of Boston must have been holding their breath when Roloson finally escaped from the ice, leaving Tampa Bay with that all-dangerous extra attacker. But maybe it was written in the stars that the Bruins should win, because the Lightning refused to do more than dump the puck in Boston’s defense zone, leaving the Lightning unable to form a legitimate offensive drive.

So when the clock hit zero, Boston celebrated. Almost as if their beloved black-and-gold team had won the Stanley Cup, even though they hadn’t. Even though there’s a long way to go.

One that might not be completed this year.

The collective celebration and sense of relief was a bi-product of all the years the Bruins have come so close and failed, particularly in the last couple of years. After watching the Bruins collapse against the Flyers and the Hurricanes, it must have been comforting for fans to finally see the Bruins get to the next level.

Enter the Canucks, the best team in the National Hockey League. A Team that ousted the defending champions, stifled the Predators, and defeated the Sharks. There’s no doubt that the Bruins have been underdogs for most of the playoffs—probably because they’ve tended to choke a lot—and there’s no doubt that the Bruins are underdogs against the Canucks.

Vancouver features one of the greatest shows on ice right now—the Sedin twins. If you haven’t seen them play, watch the Canucks. When Henrik and Daniel Sedin start scoring, they never stop. Just ask the Sharks and goalkeeper Antti Niemi how hard it is to play against them.

The twins are like magic. Sometimes it isn’t fair how good they are together, and how good they make linemate Alex Burrows.

Don’t write the Bruins off, though. Vancouver’s biggest question mark could be Boston’s biggest asset. The Bruins have an offense that can be prolific, especially if they’re facing a sup-par goalkeeper.

That’s exactly what Roberto Luongo, Vancouver’s goalkeeper, is. During the regular season Luongo is one of the best; he always has been. Also on his resume is a nice, Olympic Gold medal. Olympics and regular season aside, Luongo is not the best. For some reason he always ends up being a very shaky goalkeeper, and he’s illustrated that again this year.

The best matchup of course is going to be the Sedin twins against Tim Thomas. The Sedin twins worked wonders against Antti Niemi. As a former Conn Smythe Trophy recipient, Niemi is no pushover. Thomas, who’s in line for the Vezina Trophy (and possibly the Conn Smythe Trophy as well) is no pushover in his own right.

So it comes down to this: how good will Boston’s defense be at stopping the Sedin twins, and the rest of Vancouver’s offense? Boston’s defense hasn’t been spectacular against the Lightning, but the defense showed up when it counted: in game seven of the series.

If Vancouver’s defense caves, and Luongo fails to show up, the Bruins have a chance to beat Vancouver. But it’s going to take a lot of luck, something Boston’s been using throughout the playoffs.

On the other hand, if Boston’s defense fails to show up, then…well the damages will be hard to overcome. Vancouver has a prolific offense, and they showed that when they destroyed San Jose in game two of the series.

Regardless of who is going to win, the series is going to be close. Both teams have shown their hunger for the Stanley Cup, and both teams have had their fair share of lucky bounces (although I think luck, defensively, has favored the Bruins more).

As far as picking a winner, I’m at a loss. Originally I had picked Detroit to win the Cup, over Boston in the Finals. One of my picks panned out, with Boston ultimately making it.

My gut is telling me to go with the Bruins, partially because, as a fan, I’ve been steeling myself against any possible heartbreak and always secretly picking them to lose. I was convinced they would lose to Tampa Bay, or rather I made myself believe they would lose. The Bruins proved me wrong, though, and they played very well in game seven. That makes me want to choose them, especially since luck has favored Boston heavily in these playoffs.

But I also know that luck can run out, and I keep asking myself when it will. Throughout the playoffs, and especially against the Lightning, the Bruins found themselves in close situations where they survived thanks to blind, dumb luck. Take Thomas’ stick save in game five against Tampa Bay. It saved the game for the Bruins, but Thomas had no clue where he was throwing his stick. He just got really lucky.

I keep thinking that their luck is about to run out. How often can a team survive like that?

Don’t get me wrong: Vancouver’s had some luck as well. I just don’t think they have relied on it as much as Boston. Game five against the Sharks proved that. Would Vancouver have won if the puck hadn’t taken a crazy bounce, disguising itself to every player on the ice except Kevin Bieksa? We’ll never no, but things could have ended differently.

For both teams, it comes down to the key players. The Canucks need their top line of Henrik and Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows to keep producing, and Ryan Kessler. The Bruins need David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, and of course our game seven hero, Nathan Horton, to keep taking the lead when it counts.

Perhaps this stems from the heart of a Boston fan used to heartbreak, but I can’t pick the Bruins this time. Vancouver is a great team, the best in the NHL at season’s end, and they have a good, well-rounded team that can pounce on any Boston mistakes.

Vancouver gets the edge because they’ve played hard in most of their games, while Boston hasn’t. The Bruins have played a few games without a lot of energy where they lacked awareness. The same can’t be said of the Canucks.

Ultimately I just think Vancouver’s offense is going to be too much for the Bruins to handle. Tim Thomas is a great goalkeeper, but if Boston’s defense plays like it did during games one, four and six, Thomas won’t be able to stop Vancouver on his own.

Before I end this already long post, I need to throw a shout out to Tampa Bay. They were absolutely brilliant this year in the playoffs, and they had a huge chance at winning another Stanley Cup. They pulled out a valiant, hard-fought victory over the Penguins, followed by a dominating sweep of Washington, and they could have easily beaten the Bruins.

Tampa Bay constantly fought back, making the Bruins defense work hard and capitalizing on Boston’s mistakes. How often do teams overcome an early 3-0 deficit with four consecutive games to steal the victory? Not often. But Tampa Bay did. And even when Boston scored in game seven, Tampa Bay’s offense charged Boston’s defense, determined to tie the game. In fact, the Lightning’s offense was spectacular during the series. They were just beaten out by a great goalkeeper and some ill-fated luck.

Of course, let’s not forget about the courage both teams showed. Stamkos came back and continued playing after a shot from Johnny Boychuk slapped him in the face. Stamkos returned and continued to play, with a cage protecting his blood-spattered face and nose. Horton also suffered a knee injury in a collision early on, but he also returned…to score the game-winning goal.

Every series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year has been amazing, and there is no doubt the finals will be as well. It’s going to be a treat to watch these two high-caliber teams battle it out in two very passionate cities.

For those of you that don’t know, the Thrashers are leaving Atlanta for Winnipeg, a city that’s been deprived of a hockey team since 1996. Sure, the Thrashers don’t have the biggest following in the world, and hockey isn’t very popular down south, but this is still sad.

Hockey franchises have been moving constantly. Think of the North Stars who moved to Dallas, or even the Hartford Whalers who shifted to Carolina. My favorite team started off in Kansas City and then moved to Colorado before finally becoming the Devils, all in the span of less than ten years.

I pity the Winnipeg fans because they lost their team. I believe that they deserve a new team, just like the Quebec fans who put on a touching display of their loyalty at the end of the season. But I feel bad for the Thrashers fans as well. This isn’t the first time Atlanta has lost a hockey franchise—the Calgary Flames were founded in Atlanta before they relocated to Calgary in 1980.

I wish the league had stopped this and kept the Thrashers in Atlanta because it isn’t fair for any fans to watch their team move. As one of the fans in the article stated, it’s hard when you can’t change the circumstances and all you can do is voice an opinion, an opinion that has no effect.

The league should just stop shifting teams. Yes, places like Phoenix, Atlanta, and Florida aren’t really hockey places, but they all have fans. There are still loyal followers who buy season tickets who don’t want to see their teams leave.

This resonates with me for a couple of reasons. As a Boston-born girl, I have big-market teams who will never leave. But since I grew up in New Jersey, I have one team that doesn’t have as secure of a future. The Devils have a long lease with the city of Newark, but with the Nets leaving, it makes me wonder what the future is for the Devils.

I understand the pain of those few Thrashers fans because, if the Devils should leave, I would feel the same way. The Devils don’t sell out every game, they don’t have the largest fan base ever, but they still have a group of loyal, die-hard fans who wouldn’t survive without them (me being one of them).

And the biggest reason I can’t watch the Thrashers leave is because I don’t want that notion to spread over the league. Today it’s Atlanta, tomorrow it could be the Panthers, and in a week it could be the Devils. Who knows? Hockey teams moving is a serious threat to fans of small-market teams.

It’s already been done, the Thrashers are going to leave. So there’s no sense in begging the league to keep them. All the Thrashers fans can do is beg the league to bring them a new team, but it can’t be done without moving other teams. It’s just one never-ending cycle, and it’s going to leave many fans disappointed and yearning for a team.

My parents are Cleveland Browns fans, so I know what effect moving teams has on fans. And it’s not a pretty one. It’s not that I’m particularly fond of the Thrashers, Phillips Arena, or even Atlanta for that matter. I just want to see any sports fan anywhere have to suffer. Just look at how Quebec misses its Nordiques, something they show by invading opposing stadiums in their blue jerseys.

As a sports fan it breaks my heart to watch those few Thrashers fans suffer. Atlanta’s not a big hockey market, and they probably can’t support the team, so it makes sense. But still, it just seems cruel to keep doing this to Atlanta. If they were just going to move again, why did the league bother allowing Atlanta to get a new franchise? It’s too much heartbreak as a fan.

On a milder note, the move also means the divisions need to be realigned. There is no way Winnipeg can remain in the Southeast division, and it doesn’t make sense for the league to tamper with the Northeast or Atlantic divisions, both which are fairly good divisions in terms of rivalries and location.

Still, I’ll be honest—the real reason I don’t like the move is because I can’t help but imagining the Devils in the Thrashers’ situation. If you’re a fan of a relatively small-market team, think about it. What if it was your team that was moving?

To start off, I’m going to be honest; I don’t normally pay this much attention to the NHL playoffs. Okay I’m going to be more honest—I wasn’t always a hockey fan. I became one because I watched the Devils religiously, and after maybe about 10 games, I was hooked on the sport. Forever.

I love hockey, but I usually just focus on my team and leave it at that. But since the Devils didn’t make it this year (the first time in 13^th years), I’ve been trying to make up for that emotional void by watching every other game. And it’s been amazing.

Playoff hockey is the best thing to watch, ever. And this is coming from a football girl. My parents, die-hard Cleveland Browns fans, raised me as a football fanatic. But there’s still nothing better to watch then playoff hockey.

It’s the most fast-paced, exciting, heart-stopping, suspenseful, exciting thing to watch. Forget the game itself for a moment—the atmosphere should be enough of a reason to watch. Even if you can’t make it to a playoff game, you can get a really good sense of the atmosphere from watching on T.V. Hockey fans are the craziest—but they’re even more insane during the playoffs. It’s really quite chilling to hear over 20,000 crazed fans screaming when it’s do-or-die.

The best thing about playoff hockey is that it really isn’t over until the clock hits zero in regulation or in overtime. Things can change in a split second—all it takes is a turnover, a bad pass, or the goalie drifting away from the net, among other things. I watched the Devils give up a two-goal lead in less than two minutes two years ago. The Devils should have won, but they didn’t. That’s just one example of how the playoffs can shock fans.

There are at least ten times during a playoff game when fans gasp because of amazing saves, or shots that just missed the net and rang off the crossbar instead. There are raging emotions, which expose themselves through elongated entanglements after the whistle.

The best part is that, this year, these high-octane matchups haven’t been limited to one or two series. That’s been the baseline of every series, with the exception of maybe three or four.

Take San Jose’s showdown with Detroit in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, for example. The Sharks were trying to fend off the surging Red Wings, who found life again despite falling down 3-0.  It was game seven, in a packed and hysterical environment at the HP Pavilion. Game seven came down to the wire. With time running out, the Red Wings were trailing by one goal. And they kept knocking at Antti Niemi’s door, vying to tie the game. But Niemi proved unbeatable when it counted, and the Sharks held on to defeat the Red Wings.

Words can’t do that situation justice—it’s something you need to watch to experience, understand, enjoy and love.

Or let’s go back to the first round, when the Bruins and Canadiens, two of the biggest NHL rivals, faced off. They took the series to seven games, and an overtime. Trust me when I say, there is nothing more entertaining than a game seven overtime in playoff hockey. It keeps fans on the edges of their seats and pumps blood furiously out of hearts while sending some fans to cower in fear (when you’re a fan of a team in this situation, you will do all of those things. Trust me).

Or Vancouver’s series against Nashville, or the Sharks’ series against cross-state rivals the Kings, or even the Lightning-Penguins first round affair that lasted seven games. They were all great series, and in those series a lot of games could have gone to either team.

You really can’t script those situations. But it happens in the NHL playoffs anyway, all the time. Miracle runs, miracle goals, miracle saves, miracle blocks…that stuff happens in the NHL playoffs in every game. What else could you possibly want?

As I mentioned before, it’s hard to explain. I can’t really describe the adrenaline that comes from watching hockey. You just need to give it a chance. If you love hits, fast-paced action, close calls, a lot of athleticism, and sizzling emotions, you’ll love hockey.

I sometimes ask myself how I lived without hockey for all those years. I was a victim of New Jersey—a state with one of the best teams in the NHL, but a state that doesn’t care about hockey. So no one pushed me to watch the Devils or see what makes hockey so great. I got lucky, and that’s why I’m a hockey fan. But this is my plea to all those hockey-deprived fans out there: don’t make the same mistake I did. Hockey is amazing, and if you just turn on the TV for a few games, especially for the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, you’ll surely fall in love with the sport like I did.

But the Bruins suffered a tangible defeat last night: Patrice Bergeron suffered a concussion. It was a mild one, but a concussion nonetheless. Claude Julien already said Bergeron will miss the first couple of games in the next series, if not more.

Here are some things to keep in mind for the Eastern Conference Finals, which start tomorrow:

1. Tampa Bay is on fire

Fire doesn’t cut it, not even remotely. Tampa Bay defeating the Crosby and Malkin-less Penguins was no surprise, but Tampa Bay dominating the Capitals was a surprise. Tampa Bay rode their close victory over the Penguins into that series and demolished the Capitals, who rested for a long time after a short series against the Rangers.

2. Which team is better conditioned?

One theme during these playoffs has deal with the length of the series. Teams like the Capitals, Red Wings, and Canucks all wrapped up their first round series in five games or less. All three of those teams have been, or already have, done poorly in the second round. The teams getting a lot of rest lose their momentum in the next series. Both the Bruins and Tampa Bay will get some rest, but the Lightning have been resting for two days more than the Bruins. So now it’s going to come down to which team can carry their momentum into the next round.

3. If Patrice Bergeron doesn’t play…

That was a huge blow for the Bruins. Bergeron is one of the key players on the team, and his line has been doing very well in the playoffs so far. With Bergeron out, the Bruins, who are already missing Adam McQuaid, need to find someone capable of replacing Bergeron’s role on the team and rearrange the lines. It’s going to be a test for this team to overcome, but the Bruins can’t afford to fall behind if Bergeron doesn’t come back until the middle of the series. Here’s something else to keep in mind: the Bruins do not want to bring Bergeron back too early. They made that mistake with Marc Savard last year, and they’re paying for it right now. Bergeron suffered that sever concussion only three and a half years ago, so the Bruins need to be cautious with him.

5. Goaltending

Whoever has the best goalkeeper is going to win. I haven’t really been able to watch the Lightning in this series, but I’ve watched every Bruins game and Tim Thomas has played excellently and gotten more than his fair share of luck along the way. If Thomas keeps playing the way he is, there is no way Tampa Bay will win.

4. So who’s going to win?

Both of these teams are playing well, and playing better than most people expected them too. I would have picked the Bruins blindly, but Bergeron’s concussion has made me re-think that decision. But, the Bruins are still a strong enough team, provided players like Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Michael Ryder, Tim Thomas and Brad Marchand keep producing, the Bruins should be able to defeat the Lightning, although the series might go to seven games.