By Drew Murphy

To say the Boston Bruins have been amazing this year is an understatement. Tonight, they begin their 19th Stanley Cup Final and have a shot at winning their 7th NHL championship.

The Bruins started out by grinding out the regular season, finishing second in their division and second in the whole league with over 100 points on the season. In the first round of playoffs, they faced the Toronto Maple Leafs,a league rival and Original Six foe. Over the years, the Bruins have consistently beaten the Leafs in the playoffs, including a miraculous comeback in 2013 when the Bruins scored four goals in the dying minutes of the first game of the opening round series . This year, the two teams went to seven games in a grueling battle that ended with suspension, bruises and blood. 

Next up was the Columbus Blue Jackets, another very tough team who happened to be coming off the most historic first-round ever. As the last-seeded team in the playoffs, the Blue Jackets beat the top seed in a four-game sweep. The Bruins again faced a team that would give them a run for their money.  The Bruins had a 3-2 lead in the series heading into game 6, which started off extremely fast-paced with plenty of scoring chances for both teams. Eventually, veteran forward David Krejci put one home, giving the Bruins momentum and the rest of the game was theirs. David Backes and Marcus Johansson scored and the Bruins won 3-0. 

In the semifinals, they faced the Carolina Hurricanes, an unlikely opponent that grinded its way through the early rounds. The Bruins took care of them in a four game sweep, getting contributions from all four lines and especially Tuukka Rask, the goaltender having one of the best performances in the playoffs.

Going into the finals against the St. Louis Blues, the Bruins are locked in and focused and know what they need to do to win. With contributions from 1st line All-Stars Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak to 4th line standouts Sean Kuraly, Joakim Nordstrom, Noel Accarica and Chris Wagner,  the Bruins will be in great shape. The fans and the team are ready for the Boston Bruins to bring home their seventh Stanley Cup.