Stanley Cup Finals 2011: Why the Vancouver Canucks Will Beat Boston in Game 7

This is what everybody in the hockey world absolutely loves: a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final between the two best teams of the playoffs.

This series has been everything that the NHL could want—fast-paced, physical, hard-fought and incredibly exciting to watch.

Though Boston came out with another convincing win at home in Game 6, there are still several reasons why the Vancouver Canucks will take down Game 7 on home ice.

Home ice advantage

Vancouver has been excellent on home ice throughout the entire playoffs.

Vancouver is 10-3 on home ice in this postseason and has played incredibly well overall against Boston in Vancouver.

Boston has gotten a lot of shots on goal, but the quality of shots for the Bruins in Vancouver vs. the quality of shots for the Bruins in Boston are night and day.

Plus, the fans are playing a huge part in this series, and each home crowd seems to elevate the home team's game.

Physical Edge

This is actually a very interesting stat.

Vancouver is outhitting Boston in Vancouver by a total of 117 to 89.

Boston has outhit Vancouver in Boston by a total of 109 to 96.

It just seems that whatever team is at home is more willing and able to find that edge in physical play necessary to win in the long series that you find in the playoffs.

This bodes well for Vancouver going home in Game 7, as it clearly has the bigger physical edge in games played north of the border.

Roberto Luongo

For whatever reason, Luongo has been far more effective on home ice than on the road.

Luongo has shown the biggest disparity in play in the Stanley Cup Final, giving up 15 goals on the road while only surrendering two at home.

Whether he just sees the puck better in Vancouver, elevates his play more in front of the home crowd or the team just manages to play better as a whole while in Vancouver, this bodes well for the Canucks.

History

As NBC documented during its coverage of Game 6, Vancouver has a couple of bits of history on its side.

Teams that go up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final win a vast majority of the time.

Teams that win Game 5 in a series that is tied 2-2 go on to win the series far more often than not.

Then the most interesting piece of history that was brought up tonight is that of the Olympic Games being held in Canada.

Both Montreal and Calgary won Stanley Cups the year after their city hosted the Olympic Games, and Vancouver now stands poised to do the same.

Conclusion

However this particular series ends, it will be good for the game of hockey.

Either you have an Original Six team finally managing to bring the Cup back to its town after nearly 40 years without it, or you have a Canadian team winning the Cup for the first time since 1993.

Not only a Canadian team, but one that has yet to do it in its 40-year history.

As I mentioned at the start of this article, this Stanley Cup Final has given hockey fans absolutely everything that they could have hoped for.

Now we all get to see one last game to determine who will win sport's greatest trophy.

Due to all of the reasons that I have mentioned above, I believe that it will be the Canucks who will prevail when Game 7 is all said and done.