from Bruce Arthur of the National Post,

It is not a clash of civilizations, if only because the Chicago Blackhawks led the league in goals allowed this season, which means they’re not exactly the ’84 Edmonton Oilers. It is a meeting of solitudes, since in this lockout-shortened season Chicago and the Boston Bruins did not play one another, and did not play anybody else who did, either. They have examined tape, but they won’t know what they are until they are on the ice in the Stanley Cup final, Wednesday night, with the anthem still ringing in their ears.

This is a Stanley Cup of cracked mirror images, and the burnishing effects of age. Two Original Six teams; two familiar ones, in more ways than that. Chicago won the Cup in 2010, and its core is similar, but more mature. (“I feel like I’m more focused about hockey now,” said Patrick Kane on Tuesday.) Boston has 17 players left from the team that won the Cup in 2011. (“Mostly I was just glad that Vancouver didn’t win,” said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.) Both have had near-death experiences this spring — Chicago’s climb back from a 3-1 deficit against Detroit, and Boston’s miracle escape from over the lava pit the Maple Leafs had so unexpectedly built for them.

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