I'll be honest, I don't buy into Belfast being tougher than us at all. My personal opinion is that we were a team built for skill, speed, and particularly special teams. Belfast clutch, grab, hook, hold and play like it's the NHL in the mid 90's, while also having some high end skill guys (thought two or three of their best were also very heavily penalised all year).
Now, in a regular season game when all those things get called, we have a major advantage. As the next game we played after the CC final showed. When the refs put their whistles away however, it works against us.
So I understand why a lot of fans think they were more physical than us. I'm not saying they weren't physical, but certainly in the CC final, the circumstances of the game, shall we say, favoured them imho.
Now, in a regular season game when all those things get called, we have a major advantage. As the next game we played after the CC final showed. When the refs put their whistles away however, it works against us.
So I understand why a lot of fans think they were more physical than us. I'm not saying they weren't physical, but certainly in the CC final, the circumstances of the game, shall we say, favoured them imho.