Horton, who was knocked out of the finals by an illegal late hit from Canucks’ Aaron Rome in Game Three, traveled with his team to the west coast for the decider and was spotted by TV cameras prior to the opening faceoff pouring water on the Rogers Arena where they had lost three times.
“I can’t take credit (for the idea), but I put it on. I was trying to be sneaky about it, but they saw me,” Horton told the Toronto Sun.
“It’s from our Garden ice back home. We wanted to put it on their ice and make it our ice.”
But Bruins hardly needed any luck, using the same formula for success they had used in Boston, grabbing the lead then riding the netminding of Tim Thomas to victory and the Bruins first Stanley Cup since 1972.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored two goals for the Bruins while Thomas claimed the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs most valuable player turning away all 37 shots that were fired at him to notch his second shutout of the finals.
“Tim Thomas in these playoffs just totally dominated,” praised Boston coach Claude Julian. “That’s the sign of a great goaltender.
“He was on top of his game from start to finish and especially in this final round. He was outstanding every game.
“I know everybody expected him to have an average game at some point. Never came.
“He was in the zone, focused, never let anything rattle him and never questioned his style of play.”
Until Game Seven home ice advantage had been the one consistent in a hard-hitting and occasionally ill-tempered series that has seen wild swings in momentum with both teams holding serve in their own building.
But the series had also swung in favor of the team that scored the first goal in each game and this time it was the Bruins who drew first blood.
“Scoring that first goal has always been important for our hockey club,” said Julian. “Certainly when we scored that first goal, it did give us confidence because we hadn’t scored here that much and now in Game Seven, you’re playing with the lead.
“We’re a team that’s done a pretty good job of playing with the lead.
“Before we went out for the third period, everybody in there was telling each other that there is no way in the world that we could let up for a second, that we had to play a full 60 minutes.”
Having ended a 39-year title drought, the Bruins will return home to a celebration on Thursday and a Stanley Cup victory parade, which Boston knows how to do with the NFL New England Patriots, NBA Celtics and MLB Red Sox all having won titles the last decade.
“I would have rather won as a player but this is second best, this is incredible, said Bruins president Cam Neely, who played for the Bruins 10 years as player but never hoisted the Cup.”It’s been a long time coming for our fan base, they deserve it, ownership deserves.
“They’ve been waiting for this, it’s a special moment for everyone involved.”
