Men’s best successes come after their disappointments. – Henry Ward Beecher

Vancouver makes it to the Stanley Cup finals for their 3rd time in franchise history.

In 1983, the powerhouse New York Islanders defeated an emerging Edmonton Oilers squad for the Stanley Cup. The next year, Gretzky and co. ended the Islanders run of Stanley Cups at four. The Oilers would go on to win four more cups in the next six years.

The same scenario played out two years ago as Sidney Crosby led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a cup win just one year after falling to the old powerhouse Detroit RedWings. The comparison between Gretzky and Crosby and the Oilers and the Penguins was quickly made.

The Vancouver Canucks find themselves in a position this year to finally fulfill all the expectations that have been heaped on them for several years by local media and fans. In 2006, Canucks fans across the province felt it was again their year to take a shot at a Stanley Cup. They had been there once in ’82 (12 years after joining the NHL) only to be swept by the same Islander machine that Gretzky couldn’t beat his first time, then came back in ’94 (12 years after the initial finals run) and went right to the wire with Mark Messier and the Rangers so in 2006 fans hoped for a third coming of their 12-year reunion in the Stanley Cup finals.

Instead, the Canucks missed the playoffs.

Since then the team has made the playoffs four times. Three of those times they lost in the second round. The fourth is still under way.

The Canucks finally look like a team of destiny. Not just happy to make it to the finals, but only to win it. In ’82 they didn’t have a chance, in ’94 it was evenly matched, but this year, it doesn’t look like any team in the league can stop them.

Although both the Bruins and the Lightning have the offence to play step-for-step with the Canucks, neither has the blueline capable of containing the Sedins and Kesler. Boston could give them a scare if Tim Thomas plays well but even then it seems unlikely he could withstand such a constant attack.

So could this finally be the year the Canucks take home Lord Stanley’s trophy?

I think so.