Andrew Ference

Orr and Esposito-led Bruins the most underachieving great team in NHL history

There’s a wonderful moment in Peter Yates’s 1973 crime thriller picture, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, when the titular character, played by Robert Mitchum, is taken for a night out to the Boston Garden to watch the Bobby Orr/Phil Esposito-led Bruins play the Chicago Blackhawks. Coyle is loaded on cheep Garden beer, but he can’t stop marveling at Bobby Orr, a “kid” with his entire future in front of him. This, friends, is Boston’s version of Eden, the Gallery Gods edition.

Stanley Cup Final: Who has the better narrative?

Leading up to Monday’s Game 1, Puck Daddy is previewing every facet of the Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators — on the ice and off the ice. The Pittsburgh Penguins have a chance to become the first time in 19 years to win back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. This used to happen all the time in the dynasty years – four straight form the Montreal Canadiens begot four years of the New York Islanders begot four Cups in five years for the Edmonton Oilers begot back-to-back Cups from the Mario Lemieux Penguins.

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  Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Nashville Predators: Stanley Cup Final preview and prediction

  Yardbarker
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  Laviolette, Sullivan meet in 1st all-US coaches Cup Final

  The Associated Press

Best matchups of the finals

Tal Pinchevsky After securing the first Stanley Cup finals appearance in franchise history, the Nashville Predators had three full days to sit and wait before learning who their opponent would be. Though that was enough time to game-plan for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators, the degree of difficulty was likely raised when the defending Stanley Cup champions punched their ticket with a 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 7 Thursday night. "You're a champion until somebody knocks you out," said one NHL scout. "So I'm going with Muhammad Ali until someone knocks him out." There's no shortage of compelling matchups to look for in a series that will feature a number of the game's biggest

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  Here are your officials for the 2017 Stanley Cup Final

  NBC Sports
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  Pittsburgh and Nashville clash in Stanley Cup of contrasts

  Reuters