e ice and in the back of the house, so to speak," Jacobs said. "I can't speak enough for the total organization and how it's moved forward. I'm just so proud of what they've achieved."It wasn't easy. Even though goaltender Tim Thomas has two shutouts and an impressive 2.29 goals-against average, and David Krejci and Nathan Horton each have 17 points through three rounds, the Bruins still had to play 18 games to get here. Wrapped around a surprisingly thorough four-game sweep of the Flyers in Round 2, were two emotionally draining seven-game series vs. the Canadiens and Lightning.Round 3 ended with a classic 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay on Friday night, in front of a charged home crowd."I think it was disciplined hockey at its best. You had to dig deep," Jacobs said. "And I thought it was great hockey. This city thought it was great hockey. That's more important than anything - that the fans came out the way they did, and that they responded the way they did. I couldn't have been more pleased with it."And keep in mind, the Bruins - in a sports town that is quick to push the panic button - opened the playoffs by dropping the first two games at home to Montreal.Boston is 12-4 since."I was disappointed we were down 2-0. I had a lot of confidence in our team, but I have to tell you - when you're down 2-0 - you've got to be concerned about whether or not you can pull that off," Jacobs said. "And to go into Montreal, and win the next two, well that was very refreshing."The Bruins will journey back into Canada on Monday after a practice in Boston. The Canucks, who defeated Chicago, Nashville and San Jose to win the West, haven't played since last Tuesday, when they defeated the Sharks 3-2 in Game 5 of the conference finals.Vancouver led the NHL with 117 points this season, 10 more than any other team. After a tougher-than-expected first round, in which they needed overtime of Game 7 to dispose of the Blackhawks, the Canucks ha many disciplines. One winner wants to create a mobile banking system for the developing world. Another is working to create cheaper biofuels. One wants to build robots that can help out around the house. The prizes come at a time when debate in the U.S. over the value of higher education has become heated. New graduates mired in student loan debt are encountering one of the toughest job markets in decades. Rising tuitions and diminishing prospects have led many to ask whether college is actually worth the time and money. "Turning people into debt slaves when they're college students is really not how we end up building a better society," Thiel says. Thiel made his fortune as a co-founder of online payment service PayPal shortly after graduating from Stanford Law School. He then became the first major investor in Facebook. In conversation and as a philanthropist, Thiel pushes his strong belief that innovation has stagnated in the U.S. and that radical solutions are needed to push civilization forward. The "20 Under 20" fellowship is one such effort. Thiel believes that the best young minds can contribute more to society by skipping college and bringing their ideas straight to the real world. And he has the shining example of Facebook to back up his claim. Thiel's faith in the world-changing potential of Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg's idea led him to invest $500,000 in the company, a stake that is now worth billions. Still, the Zuckerbergs of the tech industry are famous because they are the exceptions. Silicon Valley is littered with decades-worth of failed tech startups. Vivek Wadhwa, director of research at Duke University's Center for Entrepreneurship and a writer for TechCrunch and Bloomberg Businessweek, has assailed Thiel's program for sending what he sees as the message that anyone can be Mark Zuckerberg. "Silicon Valley lives in its own bubble. It sees the world through its own prism. It's got a distorted view," Wadhwa says. "All the people who are making a fuss are highly educated. They're rich themselves. They've achieved success because of their education. There's no way in hell we would have heard about Peter Thiel if he hadn't graduated from Stanford," he says. Thiel says the "20 Under 20" program shouldn't be judged on the basis of his own educational background or even the merits of his critique of higher education. He urges his critics to wait and see what the fellows achieve over the next two years. According to data compiled by the Ge