Thomas Most Valuable Already?

It seems to be the perfect combination for the Boston Bruins: larger-than-life Zdeno Chara patrolling up front, smashing people into the boards, while goalie Tim Thomas holds down the fort.

The Bruins are riding them through the Stanley Cup playoffs, with everything coming down to tonight’s winner-take-all Game 7 in Vancouver. The Bruins have made a habit of playing Game 7s in the playoffs this year, with their series against the Canadiens and Lightning going the distance.

If Chara and Thomas are again dominant, the Bruins could be on their way to winning their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. If either one — or both — has an off-night, look out.

The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes the six games of skirmish have revealed little about which team is best. But the struggle has shown how valuable Chara and Thomas are.

“…What we can say with certainty is that the Bruins’ best players — goalie Tim Thomas and 6-foot-9-inch captain/defenseman/shutdown cyborg Zdeno Chara — have been the Bruins’ best players,” Dupont wrote. “If tonight it comes down to best players doing best things, then the Bruins will be champs for the first time since 1972, because Tank and Big Z have put a chokehold on the game’s top offensive collaborators….”

Chara’s game is as big as his 6-foot-9 frame: thundering checks, swarming defense, and a Death Star-like ominous presence in the ice. Thomas has been a model of calm and consistency, refusing to get into a war of words with opposing goalie Roberto Luongo or be suckered out of the net going for too big of a play.

Playing goalie, especially in a pressure-packed Game 7, can be the loneliest spot on the ice. All eyes will be on Thomas, and Luongo too, to see if they will be a hero or a goat.

“The first thing I do is not think about the millions and millions of people that are watching,’’ Thomas told the Boston Globe about Game 7’s pressures. “It shouldn’t matter whether you have a packed building or are playing in an empty rink. You try to get the same focus that you had as a kid when you were out playing on the pond, and you’re just enjoying the game.’’

The argument is floating around that Thomas should win the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the most valuable player of the playoffs, even if the Bruins lose. Two Four goalies have won the Conn Smythe in losing efforts: Roger Crozier of the Detroit Red Wings (1966), Glenn Hall of the Blues (1968), Ron Hextall of the Flyers (1987) and Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Anaheim Ducks (2003).

Toronto Star columnist Cathal Kelly, in a sarcasm-laden column decrying that neither team deserves the Stanley Cup, only respects Thomas.

“There’s only one man here who will leave the Stanley Cup finals with his dignity intact,” Kelly wrote. “If the Cup were mine to give, I’d give it to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Just Tim Thomas.

“Everyone else back away from the table. Henrik Sedin, Zdeno Chara, feel free to paw the conference trophies all you want now. Take them home, put wheels on them and ride them through Europe all summer long. The rest of you can carry Gary Bettman around for a while. Don’t drop him. He hasn’t signed the Winnipeg papers yet.

“Tim, please accept the Cup and our congratulations as long as you promise not to let any of the rest of these mooks touch it. Like naughty children, their brand of noodle-brained hockey should not be rewarded with treats.”

Thomas, if the Bruins win, will become only the fourth goalie to go from being an N.C.A.A. star to Stanley Cup champion. Ed Belfour (North Dakota), Mike Richter (Wisconsin) and Ken Dryden (Cornell), according to NHL.com, all were collegiate starters who won N.H.L. titles.

Thomas, a native of Flint, Mich., played at the University of Vermont, helping his team reach the 1996 Frozen Four.

“I had never even been to Vermont — or even east of Buffalo,” Thomas told NHL.com about choosing to play at Vermont. “I just wanted to go and become the first person in my family to graduate. To be completely honest, I’m sure I was hoping to someday play in the N.H.L., but my ultimate goal was to get the scholarship and play college hockey.”