Now, after a 4-0 throttling of the Canucks last night at Rogers Arena, it will be winter for a while. The boys of pucks and pluck kept the ice frozen until well after the tulips sprouted and the Swan Boats returned to the Public Garden. Only the air leaking from Roberto Luongo’s tires could melt the ice now.
“Just so much pride,’’ Daniel Paille said as he stood on the ice after the win. “I’m so proud of everybody. I guess proud is the word.’’
For the first time since 1972, players with spoked-B’s on their chests raised the Stanley Cup over their heads. And after seven games in the final, seven in the previous round, and seven in the first series, the Bruins felt every ounce of the Cup’s heft.
“It was actually pretty heavy,’’ said Dennis Seidenberg. “You get weak during the playoffs. It was pretty heavy.’’
There is nothing light about the Cup. It is Clarence Stanley’s greatest gift, a picture-perfect symbol of what hockey is all about. The Cup is not a dinky trophy like the ones baseball and basketball players lift with as much effort as it takes to palm a BlackBerry. Even a strongman like Zdeno Chara, after first hoisting the Cup, leaned back because of its weight.
The Cup takes work. For the Bruins, it was about 82 regular-season games. Then 25 more in the playoffs. And an effort from the first man on the roster — Tim Thomas, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, certainly counts as No. 1 — to the bottom rung.
Last night, the Canucks charged out of the starting blocks with the ferocity of Usain Bolt. They nearly bullied the Bruins out of the building with a ferocious forecheck, speed to the puck, and a wave-after-wave approach on Thomas.
When it came time for the Bruins to push back, they didn’t look to their star players. Instead, they leaned on their plumbers.
Paille, Gregory Campbell, and Shawn Thornton held the fort. They took three of the Bruins’ five first-period shots. They hemmed the Canucks in their own zone. They belted everything in sight.
And because of that, the Bruins found their game, grabbed a 1-0 lead — Patrice Bergeron one-timed a Brad Marchand dish from the slot at 14:37 — and ultimately fell into their rhythm.
