In the salary cap era of the NHL, an era littered with parity, repeating as Stanley Cup Champions has been an impossible task. Since the lockout ended, there have been six Stanley Cups awarded, with ten different teams battling for the crown jewel of the sport. There have been no repeat victors; there has been a repeat Finals matchup though, when Detroit and Pittsburgh faced off in 2008 and 2009, splitting the “series”. There have been no repeat Champions since the Red Wings accomplished the feat by winning in 1997 and 1998. Before that, it was a regular occurrence: Pittsburgh won in 1991 and 1992; Edmonton won in 1987 and 1988, and also in 1984 and 1985; Montreal won four Cups in a row from 1976-1979, followed by the Islanders doing the same from 1980-83. Last year’s Stanley Cup Champs, the Boston Bruins, have never repeated. Essentially, there are no prerequisite stats that are in Boston’s favor in terms of successfully defending their Cup victory. Still, there are reasons to believe it is entirely possible. One key factor is their roster is almost the same. Up front they have replaced Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder with more Tyler Seguin, and new addition Benoit Pouliot. Seguin is outplaying both Recchi and Ryder from last year, earning himself the first of many trips to the All-Star Game. Pouliot has been a decent third-line player, albeit one easily replaceable. On defense, they have replaced Tomas Kaberle with Joe Corvo, which is pretty much a wash because Kaberle didn’t live up to expectations. Another reason for optimism in Boston: goaltending. While he has proven to be a lightning rod for criticism on the way he expresses his personal opinions, Tim Thomas remains an elite goaltender in the NHL. After a Vezina and Conn Smythe performance last year, his numbers remain strong: 22-10-0, 4 shutouts, 2.16 GAA, .932 SV%. Thomas’ backup, Tuukka Rask has been even better than him; Rask is 4th in the league in GAA at 2.01, and his SV% is identical to that of Thomas. No matter which goalie is healthy come April, May and June, Boston should be very confident. And with how ridiculously strong their play has been since the start of November (30-10-2 since a 3-7 start), it is scary to know that they could add significant talent if they so desire at the deadline this year. I don’t quite understand the math behind it, but according to CapGeek.com, the pro-rated numbers suggest they could add almost $14M in cap hits on February 27th. Now would they be so bold? Not likely. A lot of their success is attributed to chemistry, and the fact that the majority of these guys played on the same lines last year. The top line last season has gone untouched, with David Krejci centering Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand played together on the second line last year, and this year they play with Seguin instead of Recchi. On the third line, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley have been valuable two-way players, both of whom were acquired at the deadline a season ago to shore up the bottom-six. Gregory Campbell, Dan Paille and Shawn Thornton are fixtures on the fourth line again. Conceivably, the Bruins will probably add a speedy, two-way winger to play on the third line with Peverley and Kelly; this will make Pouliot either expendable or a healthy scratch most nights. It wouldn’t hurt them to bolster the back end of their defense either, finding someone with more impact than Adam McQuaid/Steve Kampfer and making them even tougher to play against. Although with the recent development of Horton’s concussion symptoms returning, that $14M in cap hit room available suddenly could make them a player in higher profile forwards; perhaps they try to make a run at Ryan Smyth, Teemu Selanne, Ray Whitney or Ryan Malone, if any would be willing to waive their no-movement clause. Even if their roster doesn’t change at the deadline, there are many reasons for Boston to feel good about their chances to repeat. And whether it is their post-October record (particularly their 12-0-1 record in November), the fact they lead the league in goals per game (3.4), that they are fourth in goals against (2.2) or that they are familiar with what it takes to win in the postseason, we should all view a repeat as a definite possibility. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan