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TORONTO -- The Stanley Cup final opens Wednesday in Chicago as the Blackhawks host the Boston Bruins. Here are five storylines to watch in the seven-game series: 1. Original Six returns Its the first time two Original Six teams are meeting in the Stanley Cup final since the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers in 1979. Its also the first time two of the past three champions will play for the Cup since the Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976. More than anything else, Boston and Chicago being back in the final speaks to the revitalization of two historic hockey towns that until recently, hadnt experienced this kind of success in decades. The Bruins last title before 2011 came in 1972, and the Blackhawks last before 2010 came in 1961. Winning makes up for a lot of lost time, and since then Bostons TD Garden and Chicagos United Center have featured sellout crowds and electric atmospheres. And while the careers of Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull made for plenty of Bruins and Blackhawks history, its the first time these teams are facing each other in a Cup final. For just the third time in major North American sports history, teams from Chicago and Boston will play for a championship. 2. Conn Smythe watch David Krejci is scoring at a remarkable pace, but hes still not the Conn Smythe front-runner for the Bruins. Krejci leads all players with nine goals and 21 points and Nathan Horton has 17 points of his own, but goaltender Tuukka Rask has been Bostons standout performer. Rask has a playoff-best .943 save percentage and two shutouts, and he stifled the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference final. Following in the path of 2011 Conn Smythe-winner Tim Thomas, Rask is the reason the Bruins have got this far. From Chicagos end, its a wide-open race. Goalie Corey Crawfords numbers arent far behind Rasks, including a 1.74 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. His play hasnt earned him as much acclaim as Rask, but Crawford outduelled Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and has done everything asked of him so far. Still, dont forget about Patrick Sharp (14 points), Marian Hossa (14 points) and Bryan Bickell (eight goals), any of whom could earn the trophy with a strong series. 3. Goalie change Rask was on the bench two years ago when Thomas carried the Bruins to the Stanley Cup with a 1.98 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. A year earlier, Rask was on the hook as the starter when the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. With Thomas taking a year off and being shipped to the New York Islanders for some welcome salary-cap relief, its Rasks job as Anton Khudobin serves as the backup. Rask has a ring from 2011, but its not the same as winning the Cup as the No. 1 guy. Crawford doesnt have a ring from 2010, when he was the third goaltender watching Antti Niemi win the Cup for the Blackhawks. Crawford lost his two previous series before this years playoffs, stumbling to a sub-.900 save percentage in last seasons loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. But after splitting duties with Ray Emery during the regular season, Crawford has the reins for the Blackhawks in the post-season. He could start making a nice career for himself like Niemi after this impressive run. 4. Power outage The Bruins and Blackhawks have plenty of offensive firepower, but the conference finals didnt feature a whole lot of anything on the power play. Even in breezing into the Cup final, Boston and Chicago combined to go 1-for-27 on the power play in the last round. The Blackhawks were 1-for-14, while the Bruins were 0-for-13. Credit Quick and the Penguins Tomas Vokoun for some of that, but getting the power play back on track may be key in a series that could have a shortage of goals. For Boston, it starts from the point. Rookie defenceman Torey Krug has a team-best three power-play goals despite playing in just nine games. The Blackhawks count on Hossa, who has three, and on their penalty kill to stifle opposing power plays. Chicago has allowed just three power-play goals on 58 chances, good for 94.8 per cent. 5. Chara effect Few defencemen can change the complexion of a game or series like the six-foot-nine Chara, who, despite a lack of mind-blowing stats, should be a Norris Trophy finalist every year. Chara skates almost 30 minutes a game and is a factor in every situation. Along with Rask, he played a huge role in the Bruins holding Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to zero points. The Blackhawks depth will test the Bruins, but Chara and Dennis Seidenberg thrive on heavy workloads. Unless coach Joel Quenneville can design a way to free his top players from Charas suffocating presence in the defensive zone, its a tall task to beat the Bruins. 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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Two weeks ago, the Texas A&M Aggies were in position to nab a spot in the College Football Playoff after they were ranked fourth in the first installment of the rankings.Now two straight losses to unranked teams and an injury to quarterback Trevor Knight have the 23rd-ranked Aggies (7-3) looking for a way to end the downward spiral when they host UTSA on Saturday.No one in this building, from players, coaches, people around us, are happy about last two weeks, coach Kevin Sumlin said. No way you can be. Because those are two games we wanted to win and where we were headed and what was at stake were big games.This week, Texas A&M seems likely get a shot of confidence it desperately needs to move on from losses to Mississippi State and Mississippi when the team hosts the Roadrunners, who have only had a football program since 2011.The Aggies host LSU on Thanksgiving to wrap up the regular season. Sumlin and his staff are trying to get the team back on track by stressing what winning the rest of the games could do for their season.When all is said and done, depending on what happens these last two games, it will say a lot about where this team going to be, Sumlin said. Because of what happened in college football the last few weeks, with two games to go, winning those two games could put you in lot of different scenarios that are very positive for this program.The Aggies will look for Jake Hubenak to be more consistent after up and down play since taking over for Knight, who is out for the regular season with a shoulder injury. Hubenak came in for Knight in the first half against Mississippi State and made his second career start last week against Mississippi and threw an interception in both games.UTSA coach Frank Wilson doesnt love playing a non-conference game this late in the season, but he and his team are embracing the challenge of facing a Southeastern Conference opponent.ddddddddddddIn an ideal world, you like to be in conference because of the parity, he said. But the way the schedule is set it allows us to get up and really measure ourselves against one of the better teams in the country.Some things to know about the UTSA-Texas A&M game:COMING HOMESaturday will be a homecoming UTSAs top two receivers, Josh Stewart and Kerry Thomas, who both grew up in College Station. Stewart has 29 catches for 591 yards and four touchdowns and Thomas has 22 receptions for 303 yards and seven scores.Some guys are late bloomers, Sumlin said. Cant get them all. Those guys will be excited to play here, to be basically back home to play at Kyle Field.CHASING 1,000Texas A&M RB Trayveon Williams needs 124 yards rushing to become the first true freshman in school history to rush for 1,000 yards. Williams had 17 carries for 72 yards last week and has six touchdowns this season.GOING BOWLING?The Roadrunners (5-5) need to win one of their last two games to become bowl eligible for the first time in school history. UTSA won seven games in 2013 but the school was not eligible for a bowl because it was in its final year of reclassifying to the Football Bowl Subdivision.DANGEROUS KIRKTexas A&Ms Christian Kirk leads the nation with three punt returns for touchdowns this season. He is two shy of tying the NCAA record for punt returns in a season set by Chad Owens of Hawaii in 2004 and North Carolinas Ryan Switzer in 2013. Kirk, who is a sophomore, has five punt return touchdowns in his career.---More AP college football http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '