There's no way the NHL's championship round could live up to the hype of the NBA's title, but it didn't have to. The Stanley Cup Finals were excellent in their own right. In the end, the Boston Bruins went the distance to top the Vancouver Canucks on the road in game 7 to capture their first championship since 1972. The hero of the series, and for the entire playoffs for that matter, was Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas. More so than in any other sport, a hot goalie can almost singlehandedly carry his team to a title, and that's exactly what Thomas did en route to the Conn Smythe trophy.
