Dave Bolland's Stanley Cup-winning goal emotional for his family

BOSTON - Drew and Carol Bolland knew what to expect this time. Travelling to Boston for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, they remembered what it was like when their son Dave and the Chicago Blackhawks won in 2010.

Even Bolland's wife Julia had a feeling it would happen again Monday night at TD Garden. She told everyone on the flight from Chicago her prediction.

But none of them could have imagined it would happen this way: Bolland scoring the game-winner with just under a minute left, the second goal in 17 seconds to stun the Bruins. And while the 27-year-old winger from Toronto seemed too stunned amid the Cup celebration to revel in his hero status, Julia — six months pregnant — couldn't contain her emotions in the moment.

"At first I didn't know that he scored," she said. "And then when I found out I started crying and fell to the ground. My mother-in-law's like, 'Get up, you're going to hurt the baby.' It was crazy. It was so fast."

Drew Bolland was worried too, but no harm was done. The Bollands beamed as they posed with the Cup.

"It's like a dream," Drew Bolland said. "It's one thing winning the Stanley Cup back three years ago, but to come back here, you start thinking, 'Hey, it'd be great if he won the Stanley Cup again.' But to score the winning goal just blows your mind away."

Bolland made one of the more thrilling endings in Cup final history sound routine. Bryan Bickell tied the score with 1:16 left, and defenceman Johnny Oduya's shot found its way to Bolland on the doorstep.

"The puck went back to the D, he shot it," Bolland said. "All I knew was it was sitting in front of me, so I had to tap it in."

There's plenty of history between Bickell and Bolland, who played together in the Greater Toronto Hockey League from the ages of 12 to 15.

"They were friends all through hockey, so that was unbelievable," Drew Bolland said. "A GTHL guy scores the tying goal, and David scores the winning goal."

Bolland, almost stoically called it a "big feeling" to score the Cup-winning goal.

"We all dream about scoring that Stanley Cup winner to hoist the Cup, so check that one off the bucket list," he said.

In four years, Bolland will have his name on the Stanley Cup twice. A tattoo on his wrist marks the 2010 title, and he'll get another for 2013 "somewhere."

With Julia due to give birth to the couple's first child in three months, the Bolland family has plenty to celebrate. They already know it's a girl, and her name will be Lincoln.

"Maybe Stanley," Carol-Ann joked.

"Not for a girl," Julia said, still smiling.

That's not even necessary, as Bolland's goal made for an unforgettable Stanley Cup story to tell his daughter one day.