Rochie's Stanley Cup Thoughts From Vancouver
VANCOUVER (CBS) - Nice to see Zdeno Chara emerging from planes and buses back in Boston hoisting the Stanley Cup. What an amazing run.
Just a few final thoughts from Vancouver.......
-This team reminds me of the 2003-04 Red Sox. Had the lowest of lows and then bounced right back the very next season and knocked off that team en route to the Stanley Cup.
-Went through customs this morning and the very serious agent says, "Did you bring anything back with you that you didn't have coming into the country?" Replied, "Yes sir, the Stanley Cup!" He didn't laugh......
-Tim Thomas was absolutely locked in from the start in Game 7. However, once the Bruins scored, as I heard Gerry Cheevers say, Thomas wouldn't have let anything by him if you kept playing for days.....
-How about Nathan Horton? When I asked him about the TD Garden water pouring on the Rogers Arena ice he said no one was supposed to see that. He also added it wasn't his idea. Loved to see that huge smile on his face as he was on the ice celebrating......
-Very cool to see wives, Moms and Dads, kids, etc on the ice for the celebration too. Family means everything and the sacrifices these people have made all their lives so they can play hockey is amazing.......
-Claude Julien was also smiling from ear to ear while holding his 5-year-old daughter Katryna in his arms in the locker room(his wife was also right there too). Claude told me a while back that all he wanted to do was sit back and soak it all in if the team won the Cup. He did. Classy guy who was under way too much scrutiny all season long.......
-Had to feel good for Cam Neely, who has lost family members to cancer here in his hometown of Vancouver. As he said, his Mom and Dad were sure proud smiling as they watched from up above........
-Both Thomas and Chara could be picking up some more hardware next week at the NHL's Awards show in Las Vegas. Thomas is expected to win the Vezina and Chara may get the Norris. I'm sure both could care less about that today......
-Also, don't look at the 60-70 fools who caused all the problems with the post-game rioting. This is a wonderful and beautiful city with lots of good people. Huge hockey fans too. I hope they get a Cup one day soon.
-Finally, Kevin Bieksa walked into the elevator I was in after the game. He sipped a beer...looked down...and uttered..."this sucks".
Enjoy the Cup and everything that goes with it Boston. It is an awesome thing.....
CBSBoston.com will carry the Bruins Stanley Cup Championship Parade live Saturday at 11am.
