Fear not, Bruins fans

I remember back in 1990, Red Sox fans were all psyched because they knew that based on their last World Series win being in 1918, their beloved Sox had this habit of winning the Series in years following Russian revolutions. But of course the Sox did not win the 1990 World Series, giving evidence that the Red Sox-Russian revolution correlation is not so simple. (If the communists return to power, and then the Red Sox, maybe we'll have something here. They are the Red Sox, after all.)

Now, at lunch today, the TV at Subway was on Sportcenter, and they pointed out the interesting trend how with the cancellation of the NHL season, the two times that Lord Stanley's cup has not been awarded, 1919 and now 2005, it followed the Red Sox winning the World Series. This year it is due to the labor strife. The 1919 championship series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans was cancelled due to a flu epidemic.

So what are fans of the Boston Bruins, who presumably also root for the Red Sox, to do? Will a Red Sox championship prevent the Bruins from skating around with the Cup held high? Let's look at what happened to Lord Stanley's Cup in the years the previous four times the Red Sox won the World Series. (Oh yeah, the Sox won 5 of the first 15 World Series, and now only the Yankees, Cardinals, and A's have won more World Series than the Red Sox. (The Dodgers also have 6 titles.) What have the Sox fans been complaining about all these years?)

1903 Sox win --> 1904 Ottawa Silver Seven win Stanley Cup
1912 Sox win --> 1913 Quebec Bulldogs win Stanley Cup
1915 Sox win --> 1916 Montreal Canadiens win Stanley Cup
1916 Sox win --> 1917 Seattle Metropolitans win Stanley Cup

So fear not Bruins fans. Cheer on your Sox--two thirds of the time there is a Stanley Cup final in the year after the Sox win.