NHL Predictions 2012: The Boston Bruins Will Repeat as Stanley Cup Champion

On Saturday morning, things looked pretty bleak, Bruins fans.

The team was arguably in its worst prolonged slump of the Chiarelli-Julien era.

They had gone just 3-6 in their previous nine games, and were in the midst a four-game losing streak during which they let up five or more goals in three consecutive outings.

Even Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers felt somehow like winning a “Tallest Hobbit in the Shire” contest; it was nice, but in the grand scheme of things, still only a small victory.

Then, Monday night came and 8-0 happened. Then, a 13 save shutout happened. Then, the Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to a pulp in every imaginable way, stating loud and clear that they are no seventh place team.

"Don’t panic," said the Bruins, collectively.

Really, things looked much worse than they actually were for the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

While it's a valid point that the team has played poorly for a stretch of games that has now spanned the majority of the season, there is a reason teams in the NHL play all 82 games and not just the first or last 41.

The Boston Bruins may not be the same team that effortlessly cut through the entire league like Obi-wan Kenobi through a platoon of battle-droids in November and December, but they’re certainly not the team they have looked like in the majority of games since New Year’s Eve.

There are many explanations as to why the Bruins have played so poorly for so long.

Jack Edwards himself pontificated recently on Boston sports radio that last year’s lengthy playoff grind, coupled with a compressed and busy summer break has made for an exhausted team.

Perhaps more telling is that recently, both Claude Julien and Tuukka Rask echoed those sentiments during various interviews.

Combine said mental and physical wear with multiple injuries at every position, a suspension or two, an absolutely brutal schedule, and the fact, realistically, the team just could not burn with the fire of a thousand suns for the entire season, and it seems more reasonable that a team with such talent, skill, and work ethic would play such a deflated brand of hockey for so long. 

Putting aside the reasons this team has been treading water since January, there are still plenty of reasons the Bruins should be favored to repeat as Cup Champions.

First and foremost: Tyler Seguin.

Perhaps the Bruins’ best offensive threat also happens to be the most rested player on the roster, except for maybe Jordan Caron.

If Seguin is able to sustain his regular season production and elevate his play the way he did in limited chances last spring (remember three goals in two games against Tampa Bay and “History doesn’t act its age?”), Seguin's offensive capabilities alone make the Bruins a serious threat in the playoffs. 

Second, and perhaps more importantly, even though March has not represented the change in fortunes the team was likely hoping for, the Bruins’ best players have started playing like their best players again.

For example, Seguin, David Krejci, and Milan Lucic have combined for 15 goals and 15 assists in 11 games. It's difficult to dislike those numbers and both Lucic and Krejci are historically solid playoff performers.

In contrast, the trio barely contributed to the eight goal explosion against the Leafs, signaling the return of Boston's valuable secondary scoring—a weapon that made the Bruins a dominant force in the early parts of the season.

It was secondary scoring and a relentless four line attack that gave the Bruins an edge over every team they faced in the 2011 playoffs and this year's postseason should be no different.

Third, the reunion of the bash-bros.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on defense is bad news for opposing forwards and now that the Bruins boast a completely healthy defensive corps for the first time since before the trade deadline, they can finally sit Joe Corvo.

To be fair, Joe Corvo seems like a good guy who competes hard and plays with heart, but it's been clear for some time now that he doesn't fit Julien's system.

Perhaps he's just not skilled enough a defensive player, perhaps he's a little too soft.

Who really knows?

However, Boston has lost its defensive identity over the last few months and if the 13 shots the Bruins held Toronto to on Tuesday night is any indication, sitting Corvo is the right move going forward.

That 13 shots against number also means the Bruins are ready, willing, and able to play the stingy, mistake-free style of hockey necessary to win in the playoffs. The eight goal margin of victory means their offensive production in November and December was no fleeting dream.

Finally, the shutout means that Tim Thomas may yet have some magic up his sleeve. And let's not forget the fights, won handily by Lucic and Gregory Campbell, respectively.

Defense. Powerful offense created from solid defense. Goaltending. Physicality. These four qualities defined the Boston Bruins' 2011 playoff run.

Saturday's victory over Philadelphia and Tuesday's win over Toronto may only be small steps in the right direction, but they're also a reminder that this team was always, first and foremost, built for the playoffs and for the Cup.

Oh, right, and there happens to be a trio of guys by the names of Rich Peverly, Tukka Rask, and Nathan Horton waiting in the wings, relaxing and taking their time to recover properly with every Bruins' victory.

In the modern era, back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships are possibly the most difficult to achieve in all of sports.

But, like so many Boston faithful proclaimed in living rooms, bars, on the TV, and around water coolers last spring as the Bruins' fell 2-0 to the Montreal Canadiens, as they faced down their own fear of repeated failure in taking on the Philadelphia Flyers, as they were pushed to the brink by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and as they traveled thousands of miles across country to face the Vancouver Canucks in a one game, winner take all showdown ... if any team can do it, it's this one.