Boston Bruins Ex Collegians

For the third year in a row I would like to specially recognize the former NCAA hockey players who led their team to the Stanley Cup, but before I do I want to make a special shoutout to Vancouver’s Chris Tanev.  He was cut from several AAA teams when he was a teenager, was a pretty much nothing recruit for RIT. He then played in a Frozen Four for those Tigers and just over a year after that got  minutes in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s not definitive evidence that college hockey is the best route to go, but it is more evidence that college coaches do an excellent job of developing players, and everyone’s situation is different but  I doubt Tanev would have gone from the Bellevelle Bulls to the Stanley Cup Finals in a year.

Now, your ex collegians from the Bruins:

Rich Peverley (St. Lawrence, ECAC)

Matt Bartkowski (Ohio State, CCHA) (Note: I don’t think he played in the playoffs, so he won’t get his name on the cup)

Steve Kampfer (Michigan, CCHA)

Tim Thomas (Vermont, Hockey East*) *was in ECAC Hockey when Thomas was there.

Also of note: Thomas is the second consecutive collegian to win the Conn Smythe. Jonathan Toews (North Dakota) did it for Chicago last year.