The Hockey Stop

Today, Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas put himself in front of his team, league and country by making a self-righteous political statement instead of attending a White House ceremony to honor the Bruins' Stanley Cup victory last season. In boycotting this event he selfishly stole the attention away from his teammates and the entire Bruins organization on a day that should have been a diplomatic, nonpartisan celebration of an amazing achievement in professional sports.

Championship sports teams have been honored in Washington by countless administrations over the years. It doesn't matter if there is a Democrat or Republican in the Oval Office, political disagreements have never entered the picture. That is until now. This is not about President Barack Obama, but respecting the Office of the President of the United States of America. Tim Thomas may have exercised his right as a "Free Citizen," as he posted on his Facebook page, but that does not excuse his actions. He represents an organization that is paying him millions of dollars. He represents the National Hockey League that is trying to broaden its appeal into minority communities. And as one of only two Americans on the team, he represents this country (players from Canada, Slovakia, Finland and other nations were honored to be at the White House with President Obama).

There is a time and place for political protests. This was not one of them. Sports are supposed to be an escape from everything that divides us. It is supposed to be a safe place free of partisan politics. Today, Tim Thomas broke that sacred trust and it will take a long time for those wounds to heal.

Here is video of President Obama honoring the Bruins at the White House.

The Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup in stunning fashion over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 at Rogers Arena by a final score of 4-0. Many in hockey circles didn't give the Bruins a chance against the super-skilled Canucks, especially after having gone down 2-0 in the series.

But the Bruins dominated the Canucks in Boston, and lost by only one goal in all three games in Vancouver. So perhaps it was inevitable that Boston would dominate this Game 7 in Vancouver. They had simply out-willed the Canucks and played a more physical game that wore down Vancouver's skill players. The injury to defenseman Dan Hamhuis in Game 1 and the suspension of defenseman Aaron Rome after a devastating hit on Nathan Horton in Game 3 did not help Vancouver's cause. That hit to Horton also became a motivational factor for Boston and the series seems to have swung in Boston's favor after that hit.

The story now is the gritty Boston Bruins. What a season for Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas. What a way to go out in style by 43-year-old Mark Recchi. What a stone wall on defense by Captain Zdeno Chara. What an amazing effort in Game 7 by two-goal scorer Brad Marchand. What a coaching performance by Claude Julien. And the list goes on and on.

Bottom line is congratulations to the Boston Bruins on winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years.

The Canucks flag flies in front of the B.C. Legislature.

An epic Stanley Cup Final series between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins will come to a fitting conclusion on Wednesday night with Game 7 at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks have the edge because they are simply a better team at home.

I've never seen a more Jekyll and Hyde team and goaltender then the Canucks and Roberto Luongo in this series. At home in beautiful British Columbia they play with more energy and passion and get the clutch goal and timely save to secure victory. But on the road in Boston they are just atrocious and have been dominated by the Bruins.

So which team will show up Wednesday night? Will it be the good 'Nucks or the bad 'Nucks?

My money is on the team that ran circles around the rest of the league during the regular season on their way to a Presidents' Trophy. The team that battled the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to a first-round Game 7 victory. The team that put away the pesky Preds and ferocious Sharks. And the team that is now facing their toughest challenge yet in a tough-as-nails Boston Bruins team.

But this is not 1994, when the New York Rangers defeated Vancouver in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden in NYC. In that heartbreaking loss, the Canucks had to watch Mark Messier jump up and down like a little kid after scoring the winning goal to give the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 54 years.

That won't happen this year. It is why you play during the regular season for home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. For moments like this. There will be 18,000 excited and anxious fans cheering on the Canucks inside Rogers Arena; thousands more gathered in public areas around the city of Vancouver; and millions more across Canada cheering on the Canucks to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history and the first Cup in Canada since Montreal won it in '93.

Regardless of who wins, these two teams have blessed us fans with an amazing series. It's been one for the ages and it's a shame someone has to lose.

Wow. What a Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. The most television viewers in 12 years for an SC Final opener witnessed finger biting, hip checks that flipped players in the air, unbelievable goaltending, and a last-second goal to seal a 1-0 victory for the 'Nucks.

What makes the 3.2 overnight rating and 6 share on NBC so remarkable is that these figures are for American audiences and one of the teams resides in a mid-sized Canadian city tucked way up in the fringes of the Pacific Northwest. That means that, unlike last year when two major American markets -- Philadelphia and Chicago -- battled it out for Lord Stanley's Cup, this year Boston is the only American city in the Finals.

And apparently every single TV set in the Boston-New England market was tuned in to the game because the ratings were a full 14 percent higher than last year's Game 1 between the Blackhawks and Flyers.

Besides the fact that one of the teams isn't from an American city, the other fact that makes the ratings so remarkable is the relatively late start time of 8 p.m. on a weekday. No doubt there were a lot of hockey fans who stayed up late to watch the game despite having to go to work or summer camp early the next morning.

According to the initial figures, more Bostonians tuned into the Bruins-Canucks Game 1 than did last year's Game 1 between the Celtics and Lakers. It will be interesting to see the breakdown of the ratings by region. The ratings should be through the roof in the entire New England area -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine.

And this doesn't even factor in the ratings in Canada, where the entire country is rooting for the Canucks to bring the first Stanley Cup to their country since the Montreal Canadiens won it in 1993.

When the playoffs started if you had told me that the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins would be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, I would have nodded my head and said, "Yep."

The 'Nucks ran away with the Presidents' Trophy this year and seemed to be operating on another level all season. The Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo and their mates simply dominated the rest of the league. Of course they had a scare in the first round from their arch-nemesis Chicago Blackhawks. But after they got that big monkey off their backs, everything started clicking for Vancouver. And after putting away San Jose in five games, they are peaking at just the right time.

Like the Canucks, the Boston Bruins were another team looking to put past playoff defeats behind them. In Boston's case, this season they became much more mentally tough after last season's collapse against the Flyers, in which they blew a 3-0 lead in the series and a 3-0 lead in Game 7. They weren't going to let that happen this year. And after beating Montreal in seven games in the first round and sweeping Philadelphia, the B's beat the Lightning in seven games behind stellar goaltending by 37-year-old Tim Thomas and a game winning goal from forward Nathan Horton.

Now the best team from the east and the best team from the west will battle for Lord Stanley's Cup in what will hopefully be a great series. You certainly couldn't ask for two more hockey crazed cities than Vancouver and Boston. People in British Columbia, Canada and Massachusetts, USA live and breathe the sport of hockey.

Here is the Stanley Cup Finals Schedule (all times are Eastern Standard):

Game 1 — Wednesday, June 1 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Game 2 — Saturday, June 4 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Game 3 — Monday, June 6 (VS 8PM) at TD Garden, Boston

Game 4 — Wednesday, June 8 (VS 8PM) at TD Garden, Boston

Game 5* — Friday, June 10 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Game 6* — Monday, June 13 (NBC 8PM) at TD Garden, Boston

Game 7* — Wednesday, June 15 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

* If Necessary

No. 1 seed Washington Capitals. Done. No. 2 seed New Jersey Devils. See ya. No. 3 seed Buffalo Sabres. Eliminated. No. 4 seed Pittsburgh Penguins. It's tee time. No. 5 seed Ottawa Senators. Have a nice summer. No. 6 seed Boston Bruins. Bye bye.

Improbably the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens will be flying to Philadelphia to take on the seventh-seeded Flyers at Wachovia Center for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Wow.

Unlike the Western Conference, where the two top seeds -- the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks -- will be battling it out for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, two Cinderella teams will dance on the East Coast.

Tonight the Flyers came back from a 3-0 series deficit and 3-0 goal deficit in Game 7 in Boston to become only the third team in NHL history to climb back from three games down to win a series.

Simon Gagne scored on a power play with 7:08 left in the third period to propel the Flyers into the history books.

And what makes this win even more remarkable is the fact that Philadelphia needed an overtime shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the final game of the regular season just to make the playoffs.

And on top of that the Flyers are riddled with injuries, including losing top goalie Ray Emery earlier in the season and then losing backup Brian Boucher in the Bruins series. So they had to go with untested netminder Michael Leighton, who played solid in relief against the woeful offense of Boston.

And I also heard there was an NBA playoffs going on too, but I've been too busy watching the most exciting NHL playoffs in years to pay any attention.

I'm happy to report that the Los Angeles Times has finally added links to the Ducks and Kings from the top navigation bar on their new homepage.

Plus, the King and Ducks both won their games last night. L.A. dispatched Minnesota 6-3 at Staples Center while Anaheim dominated the Bruins 6-1 in Boston.

Oh yeah, and I heard the Dodgers and Angels won their playoff games yesterday but that hasn't been confirmed.