The 2011 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2010–11 season, and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins defeated the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.
The Canucks had home ice advantage in the Final by winning the Presidents' Trophy as the team that finished with the best regular season record (117 points). They were also the first Canadian team to have home ice advantage in the Final since the Montreal Canadiens had it in 1993. The Canucks were also the last Canadian team to reach the Finals until 2021. It was the furthest distance between two cities in NHL history for the Finals, at , until 2024 and 2025 as both were between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.
The series began on June 1 and ended on June 15. The games varied widely between those played in Vancouver and those in Boston. Prior to game seven, the Bruins scored two goals in three games played in Vancouver (games one, two, and five), against 17 scored in three games at Boston (games three, four, and six). On the other hand, while he posted two 1–0 shutouts in Vancouver (games one and five), Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was replaced with the backup Cory Schneider twice in three games (games four and six) in Boston. The Bruins scored almost three times the number of total goals as the Canucks, (23–8 in the series), and scored as many goals in a single game (game three) as the Canucks did during the entire series, but the Canucks still won three games (games one, two, and five, respectively). The eight goals scored by Vancouver is the lowest number of goals scored by any team in a full seven-game series in NHL history. It was the fourth consecutive Stanley Cup Final in which the road team won the Stanley Cup.
The Final marked the first time that two francophone Canadian head coaches, Claude Julien of Boston and Alain Vigneault of Vancouver had coached the opposing finalists. Both coaches also had nearly identical backgrounds. Both had grown up near Ottawa, both had played together with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, both had coached the Hull Olympiques and Montreal Canadiens and both had won Coach of the Year honours. The two were friends, but that changed for the Final. According to Julien, "To be able to get through all that and meet in the final is great. But right now, that's where it ends."
Paths to the Finals
Boston Bruins
The Bruins finished the regular season as the Northeast Division champion with 103 points, earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference. In their 33rd postseason meeting, Boston eliminated their bitter rivals, the sixth-seeded Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the playoffs in seven games. The Bruins went on to sweep the second-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, outscoring the Flyers 20–7 in the four games. Later, in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston defeated the fifth-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.
This was the eighteenth appearance in the Stanley Cup Final for the Bruins, and their first since , which they lost in five games to the Edmonton Oilers. It also allowed Boston to join New York City and Philadelphia as being the only cities to have all their teams play in each of the four major North American professional sports leagues' title rounds since 2000, following the Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVI in 2002, XXXVIII in 2004, XXXIX in 2005, and XLII in 2008. The Red Sox winning World Series titles in , , and the Celtics in the NBA Finals in and and winning in 2008.
The Bruins won their sixth Cup championship, and their first one since defeating the New York Rangers in in six games, which made Boston the first city to have championships in each of the four leagues in the new millennium.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks, in their 41st season, finished the regular season with the best record at 117 points, winning their first Presidents' Trophy in team history. In the first round of the playoffs, the Canucks met the Chicago Blackhawks for the third consecutive postseason, losing both previous series in six games in the second round. After Vancouver won the first three games, the eighth-seeded and defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks won the next three to force a seventh game. Vancouver won the seventh game in overtime on a goal by Alex Burrows to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after taking a 3–0 series lead. The Canucks then eliminated the fifth-seeded Nashville Predators in six games during the conference semifinals, 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 second-seeded San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals in five games, winning the fifth game in overtime with Kevin Bieksa winning it for the Canucks.
This was Vancouver's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. They appeared in the Finals against New York-based teams with the Islanders in and the Rangers in losing both series in four and seven games, respectively. The most recent Canada-based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in . The Canucks were the first team from Canada to make it to the Finals since the Ottawa Senators in .
With Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Canucks hoped to mirror the other two Olympic Games held in Canada in which the host city's NHL team won the Stanley Cup the subsequent 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 , the previous year Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics.
With the loss, Vancouver became the third team to lose in the Finals after winning the Presidents' Trophy, after the Bruins in and the Detroit Red Wings in .
Triple Gold Club Center Patrice Bergeron became the twenty-fifth player to enter the "Triple Gold Club", consisting of individuals who have won the Stanley Cup along with gold medals at the Winter Olympics, and World Championships, as a result of the Bruins winning the series. Bergeron also won gold medals as a teammate of Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo at the 2004 Worlds and 2010 Olympics with Team Canada. Luongo – who also won the 2003 Worlds – would have become the first goaltender ever to enter the "Triple Gold Club", had the Canucks won. Both Luongo and Bergeron later got a second Olympic gold in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Game summaries Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the entire four rounds of the playoffs
Game one
Raffi Torres's goal with 18.5 seconds left in regulation broke a scoreless tie to give the Canucks the victory. The entire game was seen as a duel between the two opposing goaltenders; both Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Boston's Tim Thomas were Vezina Trophy finalists for the 2010–11 season. Thomas stopped 33 of 34 shots while Luongo made 36 saves for his third shutout of the 2011 playoffs. Both of Luongo's two previous shutouts of the 2011 playoffs had also occurred in a game one (a 2–0 victory against Chicago in the first round, and a 1–0 victory against Nashville in the second round). This was the first time since that the opening game of the Cup Finals was scoreless through two periods.
Both teams killed off all penalties in the game, including a five-on-three power play Boston had in the second period, and a double minor high-sticking penalty called on Vancouver's Daniel Sedin in the first. At the end of the first period, Vancouver's Alex Burrows was called for a double minor roughing penalty on Boston's Patrice Bergeron, while Bergeron also got a roughing minor. Replays showed that Burrows could have bit Bergeron's finger, but the evidence was inconclusive. Despite Bergeron's pleading to the referees, no additional penalty was assessed to Burrows. However, despite biting being a suspendible offense, Burrows did not receive a suspension from the NHL on the grounds that no conclusive evidence that Burrows actually bit Bergeron could be found.
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st None 2nd None3rd VANRaffi Torres (3)Jannik Hansen (5) and Ryan Kesler (12) 19:41 1–0 VAN Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st VANDaniel SedinHigh-sticking – double minor 04:03 4:00 BOSChris KellyHigh-sticking 08:47 2:00 VANAlex BurrowsHolding 10:18 2:00 BOSBrad MarchandHolding the stick 13:25 2:00 BOSPatrice BergeronRoughing 20:00 2:00 VANAlex Burrows (served by Raffi Torres)Roughing 20:00 2:00 VANAlex Burrows Roughing 20:00 2:00 2nd VANKevin BieksaHigh-sticking 00:28 2:00 BOSDavid KrejciCross-checking 04:00 2:00 BOSDennis SeidenbergKneeing 09:28 2:00 BOSRich PeverleyHooking 09:54 2:00 VANAlex BurrowsTripping 10:02 2:00 BOSPatrice BergeronTripping 17:50 2:00 3rd None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 17 9 10 36 12 8 14 34
Game two
In the second-fastest overtime in Stanley Cup Final history, Alex Burrows scored 11 seconds into the first overtime to give Vancouver a 3–2 win. Burrows faked a shot, causing Boston goalie Tim Thomas to move out of position, then skated around the net to put the puck into the empty net for the game-winning goal; Thomas was not able to recover his position. This was Burrows's second goal of the game. He opened the scoring with a goal in the first period during the final seconds of a power play. Boston responded with two goals in the second period, one by Milan Lucic and a power play goal by Mark Recchi. However, Daniel Sedin tied the score at 2–2 about midway through the third period.
The game featured the return of Vancouver forward Manny Malhotra, who had not played a game since March 16, when he suffered a severe eye injury after taking a puck to the face from a deflection by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson. Both Thomas and Roberto Luongo stopped 30 of 33 shots and 28 of 30 shots, respectively. With his second period goal, 43-year-old Recchi became the oldest player to score in the Cup Finals.
Before the game, the Boston Red Sox baseball club moved their game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park from 7:10 p.m. EDT to 1:10 p.m. EDT to allow for Bruins fans to watch the game.
Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score1st VAN Alex Burrows (8) – pp Chris Higgins (4) and Sami Salo (2) 12:12 1–0 VAN 2nd BOS Milan Lucic (4) Johnny Boychuk (4) and David Krejci (8)09:001–1 BOS Mark Recchi (3) – pp Zdeno Chara (4) and Patrice Bergeron (12)11:352–1 BOS 3rd VAN Daniel Sedin (9) Alex Burrows (8) and Alexander Edler (8) 09:37 2–2 OT VAN Alex Burrows (9) Daniel Sedin (9) and Alexander Edler (9) 00:11 3–2 VAN Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st BOS Zdeno Chara Interference 10:24 2:00 2nd VAN Kevin Bieksa Delay of game (puck over glass) 01:03 2:00 VAN Aaron Rome Holding 10:26 2:00 VAN Aaron Rome Interference 18:59 2:00 3rd BOS Dennis Seidenberg Tripping 00:52 2:00 OT None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT Total 11 14 5 0 30 11 10 11 1 33
Game three
Boston scored four goals in the second period, and another four goals in the third, which resulted in an 8–1 rout. Mark Recchi scored two of them; Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille each scored shorthanded; and Andrew Ference, David Krejci, Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder each tallied one of the other four. Tim Thomas stopped 40 out of 41 shots, only allowing a third period goal by Jannik Hansen.