Tim Thomas, Bruins Make Childhood Dreams Come True for Themselves and City of Boston

It might have been Daniel Sedin with the Game 7 prediction, but it was Tim Thomas with the line that stood out the most. The day before the biggest game of his career, Thomas laughed as he traded barbs with reporters, reminiscing about the childhood days in his driveway.

"You're saying Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, you're not saying Game 6," he said. "This is what every kid dreams about."

The stakes Wednesday night could not have been higher. The pressure cooker of Rogers Arena could not have been greater. Thomas and the Bruins were entering enemy territory –- a place where the team had not won a single game in the series. What was on Thomas' mind?  Childhood dreams.

It is at the heart of that "it" quality that championship teams possess.  And now you can count the Bruins among them. Yes, they execute. They focus and deliver when it matters most. Sometimes they do it in a dominating fashion, like a 4-0 shutout. But through it all, they have fun.

Shawn Thorton was quoted in The Boston Globe on the morning of the day the Bruins broke the team's 39-year drought, saying, "Pressure's five kids, no job. This is Game 7. This is fun, right?  We get to play a game for a living. Just enjoy it."

Enjoy it, these Bruins will.

Zdeno Chara's elated yelp and ear-to-ear grin as he hoisted the Cup high above his towering figure said it all.

The history is lengthy. The 2010-11 Bruins add their names to the record books with the sixth championship in franchise history. They become the first team in league history to win three Game 7's in a single postseason. They are only the fourth road team to win Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final.

But as Chara handed Lord Stanley's chalice off to Mark Recchi, who raised it above his head for the third time in his career, the elation only grew. And as the Bruins passed the Cup from one player to another, that elation travelled more than 3,000 miles from Rogers Arena to Causeway Street, Boston and beyond.

The "it" quality this Bruins team captured, and their ability to have fun on the game's greatest stage, in turn fulfills the childhood dream of millions of Bruins fans. Tonight, next week, and for years to come, it won't just be Tim Thomas reminiscing about playing in a Game 7 as a kid. Millions will join him. And a new generation of children will take to the driveway, the ice rink or the pond with their own dream.  Maybe some day, like this day, their dream will come true again.