So, on "random Stanley Cup hockey trivia and fact Saturday", it's kind of hard not to report on the significance of the Boston Bruins' unbelievable collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers, and look in to just how rare their losing the series after being up 3-0 really truly was...
The Boston Bruins have joined what is now a hat trick of teams that have "accomplished" this failure. The other two NHL teams in history to have lost their playoff series after gaining a 3-0 lead include the Detroit Red Wings - the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings back in 1942 - and the Pittsburgh Penguins - who fell in classic fashion to the upstart New York Islanders all the way back in 1975.
"History Will be Made" parodies (UPDATE: they've already started) are likely to follow in the coming days, with lines like "What if the Bruins knew how to score?" and "What if Rask had an offense in front of him?" But those will be short-lived hype. More eternally, the 2009-2010 Bruins will now be a footnote to any story covering an NHL series in which one team goes up 3-0. Their play will be studied over and over again for points on "what not to do" on the rink. And in all likelihood, this Bruins team will now serve as a benchmark on what type of roster you don't want when heading in to the playoffs: in their four losses, the team lacked leadership, goal scoring, and all-around toughness. They had the speed and they had the skill, but without any one of those three additional elements, they lacked the necessary goods to move forward in an NHL Stanley Cup playoff series.
A Hockey Chump stick tap to the Bruins' fans who stuck around and saw their team off the ice last night during what has to be probably the most painful moment in the franchise's history. That's true heart and dedication, which is a lot more than what we saw from the Bruins during the second and third periods.
Hockey Chump: http://www.hockeychump.blogspot.com
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