On Saturday Jan 7th, the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins reprise their epic Stanley Cup Finals showdown.
The media, in both Vancouver and Boston as well as nationally, have been hyping up this game since before the fires died down in the infamous Game 7 riot back on June 15th.
But this game doesn't matter.
Or to be more exact, it doesn't matter any more than any other game for the Canucks against an Eastern Conference team.
Despite the media hype, this isn't some sort of rubber match.
Two points are on the line, not the Stanley Cup.
The general perception of the Canucks as a soft, diving team, fuelled in large part by the simple media story lines perpetuated during the Stanley Cup Finals, isn't going to be changed by this Saturday morning game.
The Canucks could march into Boston and win by a touchdown this Wildcard Weekend, and it wouldn't change who won Game 7 last spring. (Although it might help Henrik and Daniel Sedin in the scoring race).
Anyone with an axe to grind against the Canucks would simply say they won in the regular season. And to be fair, the Canucks have something to prove in the playoffs, not in the regular season.
If the Canucks lose in Boston, then those same people would simply point to the game as proof that the Canucks can't play against the Bruins.
Either way, the perception of this team isn't going to be changed by who wins a regular season game, regardless of the opponent. Reputations are forged in the playoffs.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the Canucks come out and stomp all over the Bruins, especially in their own building. But it is game 42 of the regular season, not Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
This is simply a game between a pair of good teams who are amongst the favourites to come out of their respective conferences.
Enjoy it for what it is, but it would be foolish to read anything into a single game, especially played at an unusual 10 a.m. Pacific time, when 40 regular season games and three whole playoff rounds would have to come to pass before they could play a match that actually matters in June.
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