Nhl Stanley Cup Finals Tickets: Stanley Cup Finals Will End One Of The League's Longest Cup Droughts

The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals will be the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL) 2010/11 season, and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. This will be the 118th year of the Stanley Cup's presentation.

The Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins will play the Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks it is the first ever postseason meeting between the two teams. This year's Stanley Cup Finals will end one of the league's longest Cup droughts.The Vancouver Canucks, who entered the league in 1970, have never won the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins last won the Cup in 1972.

The Canucks will have home ice advantage in the Finals by virtue of winning the Presidents' Trophy as the team that finished with the best regular season record (117 points).The first game will be held on June 1, while the seventh game (if necessary) is scheduled for June 15.

In their previous Finals appearances, both Boston and Vancouver lost to a team captained by Mark Messier.In 1990, Boston was defeated by Messier's Edmonton Oilers in five games, while Vancouver was defeated by Messier's New York Rangers in seven games during their Cinderella march of 1994, with Messier himself scoring the Cup winner.Messier played in Vancouver from 1997-2000.

The Bruins finished the regular season as the Northeast Division champion with 103 points, earning the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In their 33rd postseason meeting, Boston eliminated their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the playoffs in seven games. The Bruins went on to sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, outscored the Flyers 20/7 in four games.

Later, in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.This is the 18th appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Bruins, and their first since 1990, when they lost in five games to the Edmonton Oilers.Boston will be seeking their sixth Cup championship, and their first one since defeating the New York Rangers in 1972 in six games.

The Canucks, in their 40th season, finished the regular season with the best record at 117 points, winning their first Presidents' Trophy in team history, and the Northwest Division championship.In the first round of the playoffs, the Canucks met the Chicago Blackhawks for the third straight postseason, having lost both previous series in six games. After Vancouver won the first three games, Chicago won the next three to force a game seven.

Vancouver won the seventh game in overtime on goal by Alexandre Burrows to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after taking a 3/0 series lead. The second round saw the Canucks eliminate the Nashville Predators in six games, with each game in that series decided by just a single goal (with the exception of an empty net goal scored by Vancouver in Game 4).Vancouver then went on to defeat the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals in five games.

This is Vancouver's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In their other Finals appearance before 1994, which came during their Cinderella run of 1982, they were swept by the Islanders.The most recent Canada-based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The Canucks are the first team from Canada to make it to the Final since the Ottawa Senators in 2007.

With Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics the Canucks hope to continue the good omen that an Olympic games in Canada has led to the NHL team in the host city winning the Stanley Cup in the following year.Montreal hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics and the following year, the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, a year after Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics.