Stanley Cup Final schedule:

Game Date Time Location Network
1 Wed. 6/3 8 PM Amalie NBC, CBC, TVA

It's implausible that we're here. There were moments in the first series against Detroit where I thought (along with Jon Cooper), "Great -- another first-round sweep." I especially thought this after dropping two games in a row to Mrazek and Detroit's superior "cheating." If you remember back, Jon Cooper had a huge learning curve with playoff hockey, and said,

"There are 30 teams in the league and nobody does (interference) more than the Detroit Red Wings, hands down," Cooper said, via the Tampa Bay Times. "The old saying is, 'If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.' They do it to a 'T'. (here)

From the superior instruction methods of Mike Babcock, Cooper learned how to cheat.

Beyond all hope, Tyler Johnson stole a game for us in Detroit. That moment was when I realized that even if the rest of the team was out to lunch, Tyler Johnson wanted the Stanley Cup, and he'd strap the team to his back to get us there. Do you remember how it went? We were down 2-0, and Johnson's line scored twice with six minutes left to send the game to overtime. And then, two minutes into OT, Johnson scored the game winning goal. I'm tearing up again just thinking about it, but that was the moment when Tyler Johnson gave me BELIEF.

Next came the most satisfying series to certain Leafs fans, the one in which we beat the pants off the Habs in six games. This was also due to Johnson. Do you remember his buzzer-beater in game three? I was there in the stands for this one, and I had to jump as high as I could to see over the heads of the cheering fans that had all lept to their feet as soon as he started racing toward the goal. We all held our breath for several minutes while the goal was reviewed, and when it was apparently that the goal was good, the whole building erupted. I've never screamed so loudly at a game before -- I hope it's the start of years of screaming in the post season.

Then came the series that we shouldn't have won, the series against the Rangers in which, against all odds, we won game 7 at Madison Square Garden. I'd lost hope at that point -- I'd gone to see my boys get their asses handed to them in person in game 4, a hockey experience which was arguably the worst I'd ever had. And then I suffered through game 6, mostly from under a blanket. But when I watched game 7 with you guys here, I saw something beautiful, something I'd never seen before. I saw Tampa play a perfect defensive game. They won, and we know the result.

Tonight is the result.

What will we see? Will we see a team that is snakebitten by their own reverence and awe of the Blackhawks? Will we see the team that shit the bed so many times due to immaturity that it had the Rangers ordering their conference winner shirt a little early?

Or will we see a team that is quiet, methodical, and fierce, a team driven by Steven Stamkos's urge to no longer take a back seat while his fellow Canadians get their cup rings, and by Tyler Johnson's absolute unwillingness to lose?

I don't know. I just know that the Bolts have four games in which to prove themselves, and with this team, I'm no longer willing to bet on the better odds.