Alex Burrows:
Bruins fans should thank Burrows every time they see him because his actions, along with a few other Canucks’ liberties, helped give the 2011 B’s the resolve to shake off a 2-0 Final series deficit and win the club’s first Cup in 39 years. In Game 1 of what would become one of the most bitter series of the decade, Patrice Bergeron, just growing into his own as an inspirational leader, got in a post-whistle scrum with Burrows. As the linesmen tried to separate them, Burrows chomped down on Bergeron’s fingers. The next day, a seemingly bemused Bergeron showed off the still visible bite marks on his finger to a couple reporters. But it would soon become clear how much that chomp angered the B’s. During Bruins’ rout in Game 3, Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi took off their gloves and mockingly stuck their fingers in Burrows face, daring him to take a taste. And late in Game 4, another big win for the B’s, goalie Tim Thomas took a healthy slash at Burrows in front of the net and the two briefly swung at each other before Dennis Seidenberg gabbed Burrows from behind. The series was now 2-2 and the Burrows bite had clearly fortified an already tight-knit Bruins team. The B’s, of course, won the series in seven, but the bad blood even spilled over into the next season when the B’s-Canucks played one of the more acidic regular season games in memory. The Canucks won that game, but it had to be cold comfort for them after the B’s lifted the Cup in Vancouver the previous June.