Image via WikipediaIf you haven't seen this article by Ian Mendes it's worth a look and I do think the author is right, the pressure in all on the Vancouver Canucks and not the Boston Bruins because the Canucks are the "lone" remaining Canadian team all the other
NHL teams from
Canada have been eliminated.
Ian Mendes; Sportsnet.ca ---- It didn't matter that his Lightning team had finished first in the Eastern Conference with 106 points, while the Flames were the sixth seed from the Western Conference with just 94 points. The American-born coach masterfully changed the dynamics of the series, by painting his club as the underdog inside the dressing room.
"It was something we tried to perpetuate in Tampa. John Tortorella, at the beginning of that series, he kept putting the pressure on Calgary," explains Jay Feaster, who was the general manager of the Lightning at the time.
"He constantly talked to our team there and said 'Look at the pressure on them. All of Canada wants them to win and needs them to win. There's no pressure on us.' There is no question that is part of the strategy Torts employed in 2004."
I had a chance to speak with Feaster a few months ago. And I was fascinated by the fact that American teams played the pressure card when taking on Canadian opponents in the playoffs.
Vincent Lecavalier remembers being inside the dressing room and hearing Tortorella's words. He and his teammates never felt the pressure -- even when the Flames took a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 at the Saddledome in Calgary. There was never a sense of panic for the Lightning because they always felt relaxed and confident.
"There was a lot of hype in Canada with Calgary in the Stanley Cup Final. The whole country is talking about it and wanting to win," remembers Lecavalier. "There was a lot of pressure on them. With Tampa being a smaller market, the pressure actually was more on them. It made it easier for us to breathe, I guess."
Sitting across from Lecavalier in that Lightning locker room was Cory Stillman, an underrated forward who scored 80 points for Tampa Bay in their championship season. After winning the Stanley Cup with the Lightning, Stillman signed a free agent contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.
In the spring of 2006, Stillman once again found himself in the same situation: playing for a southern American team against a Canadian opponent in the Stanley Cup Final.
So when his Hurricanes faced the Edmonton Oilers, Stillman knew exactly which team was going to face the pressure, even though his team won their division with 112 points and the Oilers squeaked into the post-season.
"People in the southern states cheer for their team, but in Canada, they cheer for their team and when they're out, they cheer for the next Canadian team. And when we played against Calgary and we played against Edmonton, it was Canada's team. And they do feel that pressure that's talked about," says Stillman.
While it’s no mystery that the Vancouver Canucks are a good hockey team, however, I don’t think the Canucks can just show up and expect to win this series. Since the series between the Lightning and Bruins ended in Boston, I have read a lot of clueless comments by fans and media types that think the Vancouver Canucks are just going to roll over the Boston Bruins. I am going to say Bruins win this series in
6 games.
Image via WikipediaIf you haven't seen this article by Ian Mendes it's worth a look and I do think the author is right, the pressure in all on the Vancouver Canucks and not the Boston Bruins because the Canucks are the "lone" remaining Canadian team all the other NHL teams from Canada have been eliminated. 
