All Hail Lord Stanley and Tim Thomas!

Another NHL season has come to a close with the awarding of the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins. I'm not one to bandwagon-hop, but seeing Tim Thomas skate the cup was pretty damned gratifying. As a fellow "senior citizen" goaltender, the no-nonsense manner in which Thomas carried himself (and his team) was something I could totally get behind.

Clearly Vancouver was the better team statistically, and though it pains me as a new Canadian to see the Cup stay on the south side of the 49th parallel for another year, I can't say I'm not pleased with the end result. When all was done, the Bruins had spent more time working their game, and less time working the referees, than the did Canucks. And TT polished off gem after gem for all of us to see.

I'll steer clear of the sport-as-metaphor-for-life angle, for it's way, way overdone in my view. Heck, for all I know Tim Thomas could be a total jerk. But I doubt it. Part of me wants desperately to believe in the triumph of will over skill that I think we all can relate to at a certain level. And deep down, I know that what we saw from Tim speaks volumes about his character. In my mind, he is the real deal.

As I myself look forward to another season of beer league hockey - knowing each year could be my last at this point - I'll keep Tim Thomas clearly in mind as my example. Work hard, play your guts out, have fun and let the results speak for themselves. And really, isn't that all any of us can aspire to...?