Caveman Strong: A Boston Bruins Blog

West Coast Trip - Win One Lose One

2010-01-15T08:20:00.006-05:00

Two games out of three are out of the way on the Bruins west coast swing. All things considered, I'll take the results and I'm betting Claude Julien would agree.

On Wednesday the Bruins fell 4-3 to the surging Anaheim Mighty Ducks (I still call them that, fuck Disney). Then, in what has to be one of the worst scheduling breaks of the season for any team, the banged up Bruins had to hop up to San Jose last night for a tilt against the NHL's best team (they finished the night tied with Chicago for the points lead). Oh yea, for those east coasters out there, SJ isn't a 45 minute flight from LA, its a real plane ride.

The Bruins somehow managed to withstand a 42 shot barrage from the Sharks and thanks to Timmy and a flurry of good forechecking by, well...I don't know what the hell line they are anymore but - by the Whitfield-Paille-Thornton line, the Bruins snuck into a shootout where Chara bombed a slapshot 5 hole on Nabokov for the 2-1 win.

Chara logged something like 27 minutes of icetime last night and frankly, i don't know how he's going to be upright after the Olympics at this rate. I can't believe i'm saying this, but we need Mark Stuart like Haiti needs purified water right now. Fortunately, both appear to be on their way to their respective destinations.

If the Bruins pull a Kurt Russel and snake their way out of LA on Saturday, they'll have managed 4 out of 6 points against 3 very solid teams in 4 days, all with a blatantly depleted roster.

Paging Mr. Chiarelli - trade deadline is less than 6 weeks away. More thoughts on that later, especially since NESN seems to think the B's brass has interest in an aging PP specialist with no PP goals this year (no, i'm not talking about Sergei Gonchar, we did that once). James Murphy...why the blank would we want an overpaid Sheldon Souray (3-9-12 in 30 games and no PPG)?

Bruins Flat - Handled by Rangers

2010-01-10T12:35:00.006-05:00

As I watched the Ranger fans rise in excitement towards the end of the first period yesterday, it was instantly clear to me the Bruins were already on the ropes. Marco Sturm's missed penalty shot was the chance the young Bruins team had to grab momentum in this game - a chance that went right by the wayside. Despite only being down 1-0 at that point and outshooting the Rangers through the end of one period, the Bruins were a team on the ropes from the first faceoff yesterday and this will remain the case against most teams for the next few weeks.

Offense is key, and no doubt the absence of Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron is going to be front and center with every broadcast of a B's game over the next 2-4 weeks. The bigger problem this team faces though, is the lack of depth on the blueline. Last year, when Andrew Ference, Aaron Ward and Dennis Wideman missed extended periods of time, the Bruins were able to tap into a plethera of defensive reserves chomping at the bit down route 95 in Providence. Guys like Matt Hunwick stepped up and showed how deep the organization was in young, talented defenseman. This year? Not the case.

As I witnessed firsthand yesterday, there is no Matt Hunwick or Matt Lashoff waiting in the wings this season to step up. All three goals in the Bruins 3-1 loss to the boys from NYC were a result of defensive lapses that can be specifically pinpointed to a young, inexperienced defensive corps. I'm betting if I told you at the start of the season that the Bruins' momentum in mid-season would be most jeopardized by the loss of Mark Stuart and Andrew Ference, you'd have laughed it off. But let's take a look at the replacements for these guys...

Johnny Boychuk - 24 career games played and personally responsible for the second goal last night. He made a number of mental mistakes giving up the puck in his own end or at the opposing blueline. Worst of all was his overreaction to a bump from Brandon Dubinsky in the second that led to Dubinsky scoring the second NY goal.

Adam McQuaid - 5 career games played. McQuaid looked amazingly slow to the puck last night (worse than Mark Stuart, believe it or not) and is a -4 in these first 5 games.

Now granted, Boychuk is promising offensively and set a franchise record with 66 points from the blueline for the P Bruins last year, but he's basically a bigger, slower Dennis Wideman with a harder shot. Good for offense, not so good for a team that is built on keeping the puck out of the net.

Finally, when a pretty good team loses top players like Savard and Bergy, the other top players have to be playing at their peak, and guys like Chara simply were not yesterday. Z made a really poor decision pinching up on the first Ranger goal yesterday which left a 3 on 1 behind him down in the slot. This kind of breakdown kills a team that's already on the ropes.

The Bruins need to weather the storm out west for a week or so now. How much water they take on is going to depend on these young d-men.

GNH: Bruins Impeach Senators

2010-01-06T12:07:00.002-05:00

B's score early, often

Wheeler stops being a bitch

Sens still can't beat Tim

Winter Classic Photo's

2010-01-04T11:05:00.003-05:00

I want to tell you all about the Winter Classic (what i remember of it) but for now, i only have time to show you some pictures.

I was in section 37, row 7, seat 17. Here's what it looked like just before the puck dropped. Now go ahead and imagine watching the game from there.

Here's me and the fiance after the first period (we weren't losing yet)

More to come later!

Atlanta Brings the JV Goalie, Loses 4-0

2010-01-01T10:52:00.005-05:00

B's fire up scoring

Chase Pavelec once again

Tuuk leads the boys home

B's Salvage .500 Road Trip

2009-12-22T10:50:00.002-05:00

Technically, the Bruins come home .500 on this latest road trip, having gone 1-1-1. The recent trip is easy to see-saw on. On one hand, you had a decent showing against the best team in the Western Conference on the road and lost on a night where the defense was hampered by injury playing back-back games. Then to rebound, they corrected their mistakes (better neutral zone play, capitalized on scoring chances) and beat a divisional foe that was ahead of them in the standings 2-0. Not bad.

The flip side is that you went 0-2-2 before the Ottawa win last night and continue to show a lack of offense against weaker foes (2 goals combined against TOR/OTT makes NO sense at all).

Bergeron and Krejci are practically carrying the team at this point and that's NOT a good sign when you look at their half decent numbers:

Bergeron 9-18-27 +5; Krejci 7-12-19 -1.

Those aren't blowing anyone's hair back...and they are first and third respectively in team scoring. So we need what we've needed since day one this year: More production from the top 6 forwards. The Bruins have scored just 90 goals this year (only the Hurricanes have fewer) and last night, Marco Sturm netted his 10th of the year to become the first Bruin with double digits in the goal column. So how are we six games over .500? We've allowed the 5th fewest goals, as well. Despite Thomas' struggles, we're a +3 in goal differential.

I'm not breaking any new ground here, i recognize, but it goes to the heart of the matter to note that this Boston team is capable of bigger things. Are they a cup contender as comprised right now? No. But can they compete for the division and remain a top 6 team through to the deadline in February? Absolutely, so long as the offense comes around.

Up next: 3 straight against the Southeast (Atlanta, tomorrow at 7pm is up first).

Guest Spot - First Quarter Awards

2009-12-12T17:26:00.002-05:00

Guest writer Tony Cappuccino gives us a quarter-post awards and prediction column, below...

The Boston Bruins swept through the NHL Awards Banquet in Las Vegas last summer: Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Claude Julien all took home hardware (as well as a Jennings Trophy that the slightly-less deserving Manny Fernandez also had a share of). Just beyond the quarter post of the 2009-2010 NHL Season, Caveman takes a look at how that awards ceremony would unfold were it held this evening.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender): Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

While Marty Brodeur’s pursuit of every mark in the goaltending record book has taken center stage this season, Ryan Miller has quietly pieced together a masterful first quarter to the 2009-2010 campaign. He is currently first in save percentage (.935) and goals against average (1.90), second in shutouts (3) and third in wins (16). All of this while 10^th among goalies in Time Played, and little defensive help. Miller has single-handedly led the Sabres to a Northeast Division lead for much of the first few months of the season, and is surely giving all USA Hockey fans some excited jitters in what is proving to be an exceptional run up to the Olympics in February. Ryan Miller is the clear winner of the quarter-pole Vezina.

Finalists: Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes (17-8-1, 1.99GAA, .925 Save percentage; Responsible for backstopping the rise of the Coyotes), Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils (Setting records on a weekly basis with no signs of slowing; 18 wins are first in the NHL. 2.11GAA, .922 save percentage, and pacing the Devils to first place in the NHL-best Atlantic Division).

Calder Trophy (Best Rookie): Jon Tavares, F, New York Islanders

The number one overall pick in Jon Tavares has more than lived up to his billing on Long Island, easily securing the Calder Trophy at this point in the season. Tavares l

eads all rookies in games played, goals, points, and his six power play goals—also first among rookies—have reinvigorated the Islander power play. More importantly, Tavares has injected life and competition into a bottom-dwelling franchise. One could argue that the Islanders are suffering from Penguins disease—pick high enough in the draft for years on end and you’re bound to win a few games eventually—but Tavares is proving to be a very special player who will be the identity of this hockey club for years to come.

Finalists: James vanRiemsdyk, F, Philadelphia Flyers (Stake rose early with Philadelphia’s success, and Philly’s struggles correspond with his droughts; Leads all rookies with 13 assists), Simeon Varlamov, G, Washington Capitals (Exceptional numbers: 12-1-2, 2.21GAA, .924 Save percentage, but can’t win the award while splitting time with Jose Theodore).

Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman): Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks

The Norris Trophy is less of a numbers game than the other awards, and Duncan Keith will be glad for that. Despite not being much of an offensive power—a respectable 5-18—23—Keith is the rock on a defensive corps that

was tasked with solidifying shaky goaltending this season. The results have been nothing less than outstanding—command of first place in the Central Division, just 64 goals against in 28 games, and a 13-year contract extension for Keith. In a tight contest, Duncan Keith emerges as the quarter season Norris winner.

Finalists: Mike Green, Washington Capitals (Defensive lapses becoming fewer; Again excusable for outstanding offensive numbers—5-25—30 in 29 games; Team’s success largely driven by Gre

en’s ability to move the puck), Dan Boyle, San Jose (Outstanding defensive player dominates all facets of the game; Leads NHL in TOI (26+ minutes per game), third in points among defensemen (25), best defenseman on the NHL’s best team at this point in the season).

Jack Adams Trophy (Best Coach): Joe Sacco, Colorado Avalanche

First-year coach Joe Sacco has returned the Colorado Avalanche to prominence after a noticeable and embarrassing absence from the upper echelons of the Western Conference. Second only to San Jose at this point in the season, Sacco has made use of young players incredibly well, and has finally extracted performance from his goaltenders—a problem that has plagued the team since the lockout. A familiar set of names prowls the bench alongside Sacco—Sylvain Lefebrve, Adam Deadmarsh, Jocelyn Thibault, and Steve Konowalchuk—and all deserve equal credit in earning Sacco the quarter mark Jack Adams.

Finalists: Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes (A close second to Sacco; Has led team from off-season

public embarrassment to a playoff seed in the loaded Western Conference; Makes excellent use of talented and young players), Jacques Lemaire, New Jersey Devils (Same face, different year; In the league’s toughest division and again losing star players through free agency, Lemaire oversees a monster of a franchise whose identity comes and goes with Marty Brodeur; First in the Eastern Conference, and a franchise record for consecutive wins on the road (10).)

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP): Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

In my opinion, the MVP trophy too often goes to the league’s best player. Generally, the player makes those around him better, but rarely does the MVP go it alone. In other words, if you could possibly vote for two players on the same team for MVP, then neither is the MVP (see Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, et al). Therefore, for the reasons mentioned above for his Vezina-winning performance, Ryan Miller is the Hart winner at the quarter mark. Miller has little defensive help, and the Sabres are far from an offensive powerhouse (73 goals for is second lowest in the conference in futility on to Carolina). Miller’s contribution to the team’s 62 goals against (second best only to Brodeur’s defensive-minded Devils) is the only reason for the team’s success in the early going.

Finalists: Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings (Leading the resurgent Kings—just four points behind San Jose---by jumping out to an early season NHL-points lead; Since fallen to 7^th with 14-21—35 numbers, 15 power play points, Ryan Smyth’s 23 points are second on the team.), Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers (The oft-injured Gaborik is the steal of the off-season for the Rangers; 21-17—38 in just 27 games; Second in team time-on-ice, first among forwards; team struggles at defensive end continue, but Gaborik is lone answer to offensive problems).

If the playoffs started today:

1) Washington def. 8) Montreal 1) San Jose def. 8) Dallas

2) New Jersey def. 7) Ottawa 2) Colorado def. 7 ) Nashville

3) Boston def. 6) Ottawa 3) Chicago def. 6) Phoenix

5) Atlanta def. 4) Buffalo 4) Calgary def. 5) Los Angeles

1) Washington def. 5) Atlanta 1) San Jose def. 4) Calgary

2) New Jersey def. 3) Boston 3) Chicago def. 2) Colorado

2) New Jersey def. 1) Washington 1) San Jose def. 3) Chicago

1) San Jose def. 2) New Jersey

Bruins Score Early and Often, Take Down Bolts 4-1

2009-12-02T21:30:00.002-05:00

Bloggers ignore blog

B's start to play real hockey

lets keep it rolling

Savvvvvvvvy Move

2009-12-01T11:41:00.002-05:00

In the words of my brother:

"Calling all associates: Price check on Ilya Kovalchuk, that's a price check on Ilya Kovalchuk in aisle 'boston playoff push'"!!!

Bruins just inked Marc Savard to a 7 year extension averaging 4.2 million a year!!!

Three Stars - Bruins slip past Thrashers 4-3 in SO

2009-11-20T09:05:00.008-05:00

Instead of a Haiku, i'm gonna give a quick "Three Stars" out for last night's game. We won't talk about the fact that i haven't posted in two weeks despite having attended both the Buffalo and Pittsburgh wins, because like David Krejci, I've been swined for the last 5 days.

Third Star - Michael Ryder

Look, much has been made of Ryder's prowess for not finding twine this year. I think we forget that he started slow last season too. But two goals last night, including a very important bounce back goal at the end of the second that by all rights saved the game for us by virtue of slowing ATL's momentum? That's a good step forward.

Second Star - Daniel Paille

I'm growing more and more impressed with the younger, cheaper and faster Chuck Kobasew. Props to Chiarelli for seeing that the lack of goal scoring in Buffalo was irrelevant when lined up against this guy's speed and tenaciousness. Yea, i went there. His tenaciousness (oooo) really shines on the PK, where i shit you not, he's played a huge part in the Bruins suddenly having the #3 ranked kill in the league. More of the same last night - every time we broke up a play, it felt like he was there.

First Star - Tuukka Rask

I don't care that he gave up three goals. The kid has minimal experience starting on the road and turned in a great performance against a hot team and one of the most gifted goal scorers in the NHL. He gave up a tip in, a screen bomb (from Ilya) and a traffic goal to Maxim the Magazine. Anyone gives those up. NOT anyone makes the saves he did in the shootout and NOT anyone makes the glove save he did in the second. Well done.

On to first place Buffalo tonight. After tomorrow morning, i'll free up for alot more posting so check back.

Bruins knock off 1st place Sabres, 4-2

2009-11-08T11:22:00.005-05:00

I'm betting the Bruins feel about like DJ Qualls' character once did...

"I had sex last night, with a GIRL."

OK, Congratulations boys. You finally got bounces (literally, in the case of the first goal). The whole idea of quality in addition to quantity came to fruition last night and resulted in a win over a very solid Buffalo team in front of some excellent goal-tending from Tuukka Rask.

Let's remember one thing though: the powdered sugar has been wiped off this win by Ryan Miller's absence from the game and the presence of a Horatio Sanz-like Jhonas Enroth in net for the Sabres. When your first real offensive outburst in two weeks comes against a guy who's making his NHL debut and looked clearly to be unnerved by the circumstances, you need to temper your excitement.

As a wise man once said, "let's not start sucking each other's dicks just yet".

Bruins Lose in SO, Narrowly Avoid Historically Bad Shut-Out Streak

2009-11-05T21:39:00.005-05:00

On a night that saw the Boston Bruins dominate the scoring chances department, it was this save that kept the B's in it tonight at a critical moment in the second period. Sure, they lost the game. But is anyone else just happy they scored a fucking goal? The Bruins are in sad state of affairs, to be sure.

No one could finish tonight and that proved to be their undoing. The Habs took advantage of the one real bad mistake the Bruins D made at their blue line and sure enough it ends up being enough to get them into a shootout, and eventually the win.

So, there's your silver lining: they played better than they have and score A goal. One. That's it. Wheeee.

Oh, and I think Maxim Lapierre has taken over as my most hated player on the Habs. That guy is a douche.

The Matrix Has Swine Flu

2009-11-05T10:54:00.004-05:00

Peter Chiarelli announced today that David Krejci has been diagnosed with everyone's favorite new communicable disease, H1N1. I personally know 4 peple who've had it and according to them, is sucks. Let's just say you lose a few pounds and get, eh, dehydrated.

There is a little bit of news media covering this disease too, so if you need more information make sure to watch any channel, at any point during the day.

Looks like he's out about a week and please for the love of god keep him away from the rest of the team. Just in time for the Habs tonight, too. Excellent!

Numbers That Make Me Puke

2009-11-03T21:31:00.004-05:00

02:12:58 - Time played since the last Bruins goal.

0.0512 - Power-play conversion over the past 12 games.

12 - Times I screamed "Fuuuck!" throughout tonight's game.

Bruins Lose Right on the Heels of Yet Another 'Maybe They Figured it Out' Win

2009-11-01T17:24:00.004-05:00

Game Notes Haiku: On the Upswing

2009-11-01T11:25:00.004-05:00

Depth begins to show
The boys are becoming men
Tuukka does the rest

Next! The Hated Oilers of my childhood

2009-10-30T11:22:00.007-04:00

Who here remembers 1990? I do. That was the all time most memorable season of Bruins hockey in my lifetime. I remember individual games from that year like people their kid's Christenings. Not to mention the fact that the whole season was burned into my brain over and over again by the immortal "Reach for the Stars" video, narrated by the one and only Michael J Fox (yes, i mention this at least three times a season). That season was ended by a sweep in the cup finals at the hands of the then Gretzky-less Edmonton Oilers and highlighted by one of the most heartbreaking finishes to a game in Boston sports history. Petr Klima's triple OT winner will forever stain my brain like a lemon party.

So, let's get past last night's loss to a team that's 6-0 on the road this year (gulp) and move on to tomorrow's Halloween tilt with a team that i hate as much as my cohort hates the Devils (we've been over that recently).

The Oilers come in to town on the heels of a 6-5 SO win over the Red Wings last night, at home, in which they led 5-1 in the second period. Let's just note - this team can be scored on. Also fun is the inclusion of Zach Stortini (pictured, right, in a rendering from NHL '10) who is single-handedly helping them average over 14 PIM per outing. I hope Shawn-O takes a few knuckles to his face tomorrow.

The more i think about it, the more i love the way we played last night. Guys like Sobotka and Bitz really played good hockey consistently throughout the night. Sometimes the puck just doesn't go in for you.

Finally, a special treat, courtesy of my brother, is the below Jack-O-Lantern (in honor of Jack Edwards, of course).

In Game: Bruins/Devils

2009-10-29T19:37:00.006-04:00

I feel like giving some end-of-period, in game thoughts tonight, so you are the beneficiary of those.

After a period of play the Devils hold a 1-0 lead which, frankly, doesnt at all represent the way play went in that first 20 minutes. Outside of the last 60 seconds, it really felt like the Bruins took a lot of aggressive and smart play to the Devils, keeping the puck in the NJ end for most of the game so far. Unfortunately, a bad decision by Shawn Thornton who was covering for a step up by Andrew Ference led to a three on one and a goal for the Devils.

What was really encouraging was our fore check and puck control in the offensive zone both even strength and on the PP. The Devils play a collapsing form of defense and this places the oweness on the offense to have awareness of open areas and quickly move the puck there to capitalize on excess space left by collapsing defenders. If you can also join this with a physical puck control style, you're in good shape to counter the Devils style of play. Overall, we did a great job of this, but none of the bounces went our way.

Props to Byron Bitz who looked like a dervish out there. It's too bad he got stuck with a minus one as the fourth line gave up the goal, because he played as well as anyone on the ice, particularly on a couple of shifts with his own possession displays down low (tiring out the Devils defenders).

One last thought on the first: Our PP may be turning a corner. Granted, when you're 2 for 27 in an 8 game stretch, calling a turnaround in that trend is the same thing as predicting that a pitcher will throw a strike on a 3-0 count (it's bound to happen eventually). Now that you're past that, let's see if the B's carry over the differences that they seemed to apply in their first man-advantage tonight to the next. For weeks they've been stuck in a rut, not willing to move away from the wing to D pass on the high point and playing a far-too-predictable drawn up play with no movement away from the puck. Tonight, they moved away from the puck, and were willing to drop passes down low opening up the high slot alot more. Let's hope this is a sign that practice is helping (otherwise, i'm gonna start blaming the coaching staff).

End of Second Period: Tied at 1 a piece.

You can see I'm running a diary of "Devils Suck" photos tonight. It really soothes the soul. Another very good period of hockey. A bit more even, but ironically, the Bruins get a goal back following another decent powerplay with Bergeron scoring his fourth of the year. Thomas is looking very good tonight, and necessarily so, of course. It goes without saying that they need him to be on top of his game for the next 4-6 weeks until Savvy and Looch return.

The B's outshot the Devils 13-10 that period and its 25-23 overall now. For a game between these two teams, that is a helluva good dip, er, i mean a helluva lot of offense. Speaking of offense, the three Bruin forwards on the ice for the goal were Ryder, Bergeron and Sturm. I'm sure i'm not alone in saying i really like that line and would think that we could benefit from seeing them together alot more in even strength situations.

One other though, Bob Sweeney just made Kathryn Tappen look retarded, twice. The first time, he hadn't even spoken yet. I'm pretty sure she took that granny outfit off for him before the game.

After Game Thoughts: That guy up there really sucks. Yikes. Can you imagine what his kids look like?

Just a tough loss. I thought we outplayed NJ all night. Sometimes that's not enough. We just missed a number of opportunities, none closer than Chara's deflection that rang off the cross bar with about 40 seconds to play. Forget about the fact that the Linesman just blew a call like he was trying hard to get into an amatuer porn. I won't even begin to say that we'd have scored, but it's a kick when you're down, nonetheless.

This is a team coming together though. Remember, coming out of October last year we were 5-3-3 and then went on a tear. I don't think they're about to do the same, but there's signs of hope.

Reasons I Hate The New Jersey Devils

2009-10-29T09:55:00.007-04:00

We all have teams that we hate.

Some are universal: Red Wings, Yankees, anyone who employs Mike Ribiero. Some are more obscure: Canucks (seriously, that old-school sweater looks like what this kid is about to crawl into), Panthers (ridiculously stupid stadium growling noise - NHL & NFL), Hurricanes (the in-excusable discontinuance of the Brass Bonanza).

I hate the New Jersey Devils for a varierty of reasons. Some pretty obvious, some less so. Allow me to elaborate ...

1.) Ruining offensive hockey and creating the lock-out (maybe). Ask anyone to name reasons that hockey was no fun to watch for a good portion of the pre-lockout years and they will will say "not enough scoring". Some of that can be attributed to the clutch/grab stuff but more of it can be attributed to the pervasive neutral-zone trap. Who brought that into the limelight? The Devils. It's easy to do, doesn't require skilled players, and chokes the shit out the offense.

2.) I drafted Patrik Elias in my fantasy league in the fall of 2005. Immediately after making the pick I was informed that he contracted Hepatitis A while playing in Russia, thus making him a perfect waste of space for the majority of the season, and making me the target of many a joke. Thanks, Patrik.

3.) The team is named after this thing. Yes, people think it's real - and maybe it is. But more likely they're just idiots. For comparison's sake, the Bruins are named after a bear. An actual animal, and according to trusted national news agencies, the animal we really need to be worried about.

4.) My good friend, and scribe of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, used to beat me a little more often that I beat him in NHL 00 back when we were in college. His weapon of choice? The Devils. Nothing can make a man more irate than having his best players injured after the whistle by an out of control Scott Stevens. He contends that this is allowed for within the rules of such a contest - we disagree to this day.

Enjoy the game, everyone. I'll have my Elias voodoo doll on hand, so when he goes down in the 2nd holding his groin for no apparent reason you only have me to thank.

GO B's!

10 Games Deep: Report Card

2009-10-25T09:20:00.011-04:00

Peter Chiarelli, I hope you get home before Mom does because you're going to need to take this report card out of the mailbox. You've been a bad monkey.

10 games in and, the final minute of last night's game not withstanding, the Bruins have a lot of work to do. In grading this year's team I'm trying not to take into account the high expectations that we all had (have) for the team. Let's try and take a step back and look at numbers instead of just acting off of shear emotion. Mmm-kay?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Forwards: So far we haven't seen a consistent effort from these forwards with respect to offensive zone pressure or the 2-man fore-check we all heard so much about. We've heard forwards tell Naoko in between periods about 'getting too cute', and needing to 'getting pucks to the net'. What that tells me is that these attackers seem to think they have the midas touch and that defenses will simply pull the parking cone defense, let them skate past (we haven't played against Hal Gill YET) and score the goal they apparently earned through virtue of a good record last year. Yes, you still have to TRY, guys. I know it's hard, we'll get through this together. Try cycling the puck once in a while, good things will happen.

We're averaging 2.8 goals per game and 29.1 shots per game, good for 17th and 21st in the league respectively. So, way to get those pucks to the net, fellas! The Bruins are winning 49.4% of their face-offs, also good for 17th in the league. A little bit less than average across the board. Very Meh.

Everyone needs to look at Steve Begin - he's one of our best guys thus far. Injuries happen, so I'm not being lenient just because of Savard and Looch. Suck it up.

Grade: C

Defensemen: So far these guys have likely been our best players - even with all the moving parts and new personnel. Derek Morris is looking like the guy that we thought he was and Chara has been the leader that we need him to be. Shit, he's tied for the points lead on the team (7 points) with a guy who has a broken foot.

The team as a whole is allowing 31.3 shots per game, good for 21st in the league. Not good. Blocked shots? Well, Morris is our best player there too - tied for 35 in the league with 18. No one else is even close (Ferrence is next at tied for 44th). His predecessor, Aaron Ward? Oh, he's tied for 11th with 24. I'm just saying, it's interesting, ok?

There have been breakdowns, but they haven't been completely terrible. I've seen a couple of bad pinches, but overall I think they've been better than the offensive counterparts. But not by much.

Grade: C+

Goaltending: Look we all like Timmy, but last night not withstanding - he's been suspect. GAA is 2.97 with a .902 save percentage. Tuuka, for all that we love to hype him, hasn't been lights out either, posting a 3.17 and .899. They both had some great saves (Tim last night, absolutely filthy stop against Alfredsson). But no one has been consistent yet, which is what they need to be. I heard Kluzac say last night that Tim would go 20 games without a stink-bomb last year and so far he's thrown up 2, maybe three.

Small sample size? Yes. But that's why we speculate, because what else would I be doing on a Sunday morning? Are they good now? Not really, will they play better - almost definitely.

Grade: C

Special Teams: Oh, they've been special all right. How special you might ask? Think 'Ralph Wiggum in English class' bad. How about killing power plays at 83% and scoring on them at nice even 15%. Those are both shitty. Very shitty. 24th and 27th in the league shitty.

And, oh by the way, they have 3 short-handed goals on their watch too. Where does that land in the old statistics pool? NUMBER-FUCKING-ONE!

Grade: F-

Overall Team Grade: C

I just re-read what I wrote and I've decided that we're pretty goddamned lucky to be 5-4-1. Given the injury situation,the poor to mediocre performances by the front and back lines, not to mention to complete disaster that has been the power-play - I'm feeling good. Not like George Jung in the 70s good, but good.

If there is something to be excited about it's that they have a lot of room for improvement and they seem to be coping alright without Lucic and Savard. No doubt they responded well to the adversity of the injury bug, but we hope that this doesn't start to fade as they move forward.

Marchand looks like a guy who can really skate and move the puck. No question, he is making all the rookie mistakes but this kid looks to be a regular contributor down the road.

Lastly, if anything could be a springboard for building some identity and momentum it was last night's game. As my co-conspirator already wrote this morning, they turned it around in about 1 minute thanks to timely goals and great goal tending.

OK, it's football time. I'm starting Michael Crabtree - that's how bad my receivers are. FML.

Recipe for win: 58.5 minutes of sloppy hockey + Tim Thomas

2009-10-25T08:45:00.004-04:00

How did the Bruins manage to escape Scotia Bank Place with 2 points you ask? I am asking the same question this morning. Let's face it, we some some terrible individual performances last night and while i enjoy watching the home town 23 skate every day, I'm damn glad the next 5 days will be practices under coach Julien's supervision.

After fifty eight and a half minutes of terrible hockey, overall (Wheeler's goal was a brief bright spot), the Bruins looked like they were this guy:

Tim Thomas had singlehan- alright, Chara played very well -dedly kept Boston within two goals. All this after the third Ottawa goal went in off one of Thomas' teammates. Dennis Wideman and Derek Morris both played the game as though they were skating in mud or simply didn't want to be there (i was SCREAMING at Wideman to get motivated, i don't think he won a single one on one battle to the puck and YES i saw his helmet come off - he still sucked).

To make matters worse, our coaching staff apparently is more comfortable with a 6 on 5 than they are with a 5 on 4 (more on this in a second). Every Bruins power play was the same predictable pattern. 3 guys stand still down low, while Bergeron and Morris play catch and turn the puck over in a small space at the blue line. We really don't seem comfortable using motion to create space (something we're highly vulnerable of on the PK, so you think we'd have come to recognize it by now!). I can't say enough about how baffled I am that we had so good a PP last year and so bad a PP now. I may have to go research this and then eat a shotgun barrel.

So that brings us to the 6 on 5. Improbably, we spent the last 96 seconds of the game skating as though our lives depended on it and won every conceivable battle to the puck in that timeframe. Derek Morris (previously noted for NOT being a puck moving defenseman) suddenly assumed the form he was advertised to possess and before I knew what was happening, we were tied. NOTE: with 8 minutes to play, i turned my XBOX on. Something, and i don't know what, kept me from turning off the game though. Between this game and the Islanders game, if we're down 2 goals, i'm not changing the channel. They're reaching '04 Red Sox status in my head right now.
A solid overtime period and more heroics from Timmy (who had the save of the year in the second period - i'll post it later today) and a patient shootout goal from Bergy equaled the 2 points.

Phew.

Bruins Lose a Tough One, 4-3 SO Loss to Philly

2009-10-22T18:32:00.005-04:00

"What, the FUCK, was that ABOUT?!"
-Lewis Black

I realize that this game earned us a point. I know this. I should be happy, after all the B's were on the road playing in the second of back-to-back games against a team that, at least for now, appears legit.

I am not happy, and too angry to write anything worth reading. Check back tomorrow for something more worth your time.

Injury Update - Savard Out 4-6 weeks

2009-10-21T10:08:00.001-04:00

Savard was placed on long term IR (means he has to miss 24 days or ten games, minimum) with a broken left foot. 4-6 weeks is the expected timetable for return. Great. We're officially snake-bitten this year with the injury bug.

Trade News: Bruins Acquire Daniel Paille

2009-10-20T18:20:00.005-04:00

This news just hit my text inbox. The B's have dealt a pair of draft picks (3rd in 2010 and conditional 4th in 2010) to Buffalo for 25 year old forward, Daniel Paille. Paille has 35 goals and 42 assists in 195 career NHL games, all with the Sabres. The 20th overall pick in 2002, Paielle did most of the above damage in the last two seasons and has only played in 2 games this year (i'm not yet sure why) but was a second liner in Buffalo and figures to take Kobasew's slot on the third line in Boston at first glance.

Interestingly enough, bostonbruins.com reports that this is the first trade EVER between the division rivals.

More to come...

Goon It Up Tuesdays

2009-10-20T15:11:00.003-04:00

Welcome to a new segment dedicated to the day of the week on which the Bruins play the least hockey games (i think). Since we never seem to have anything to write about on Tuesdays, except the occasional night game, we're starting a segment dedicated to highlighting the Goons of the NHL.

Each Tuesday we'll provide highlight reel (usually courtesy of HockeyFights.com) of one of the previous weekend's top bouts. Feel free to submit ideas in case you think you're better at tracking these down than us. Or just video tape yourselves helmet boxing drunk and send that in too. At the end of the first half and second half of the season, we'll vote on the best, if you're well behaved.

This weekend's submission is Rick Rypien (Canucks) and Zach Stortini (Oilers). Rypien clearly wins this one. Enjoy.

The Good, The Bad, and the newfound cap space

2009-10-19T10:41:00.006-04:00

Goodbye Chuck, BC Sucks and you'll be playing golf somewhere else next summer.

The Bruins ended an eventful (and very up and down) weekend with a trade that may be telling of things to come. In what this writer deems an obvious cap clearing move, the B's sent Kobasew to Minnesota for the rights to two players and a draft pick. With Kobasew a $2.3 million cap hit this year, the B's just went from $700k to $3 million (ammortize that to about $2.4 for the remainder of the year) in space under the cap. Remember, we're still being hit by 3 guys we are paying, but not getting the benefit of their sucktitude (Murray, Schaeffer and Eaves). What's this all mean?

Multiple sources of rumor and conjecture are spelling out the future that we'd all LOVE to see happen: the Bruins are clearing the way for a run at Ilya Kovalchuk. Let's face it, his best goal scoring season was in 05-06 playing alongside Marc Savard, so there's virtually no reason to argue with a trade run at a guy who's 26 and already has 300 career goals.

However, i'm advising cautious optimism. While i do believe this has been in the making since the Bruins began stiff arming Phil Kessel, it's far from a foregone conclusion that Atlanta is even going to trade their captain. I know from a source inside the Atlanta organization that they are very high on their young talent and with Ilya only 26, they'd have to consider throwing the kitchen sink at him in contract negotiations. The bigger question is Ilya himself, i.e. will he WANT to resign.

Think about all of that. It's not simple because the Bruins will have to dump other $ before this becomes a reality, too. I'll be back with further breakdown of trade possibilities and some cranky writing about the inconsistency of the play our boys put forth on their short southwestern roadtrip this weekend (3-o win in Dallas and 4-1 loss in the desert that is hockey purgatory). Oh, and Lucic was placed on long-term injured reserve. Fuck.

Can This Kid Teach Forwards Something?

2009-10-15T08:36:00.002-04:00

Special Thanks to MSTI for the tip...

No game till Friday?

2009-10-14T14:57:00.003-04:00

Thank God. Those boys need some practice. After pounding Patron shots during the third period/OT comeback win on Saturday with the Caveman and then watching the Bruins sleep their way through a 4-3 loss to the Avs on Monday, I could use the practice too. That doesn't make any sense.

Look, the B's are flat - plain and simple. They seem to be in the same type of shape they were early last season where they only get up for one period a game. This doesn't bode well for a team that's already played 5 home games and zero on the road. I'm not ready to rant at all but suffice to say i hope Julien is beating the pulp out of the boys this week. Dallas and Phoenix suck and there's no reason we shouldn't take four points home this weekend, three at worst.

Check back Friday for more thoughts.

Game Day Thoughts

2009-10-08T10:36:00.007-04:00

Let me ask you this. How sorry a state is the NHL in when not a single fucking bar in the Causeway Street area carries the Bruins opening night tilt against the Capitals and the best player in the league? Let's put it this way: there's a reason you're reading my blog right now. Ahem.

So there I am, last Thursday night, rushing to get downtown to meet my brother and a few friends at Greatest Bar for some boobs, beers and what turned out to be a hockey game I barely saw any of in the end. I get through traffic just in time to roll up to the bar at 7pm.

"Holy shit, this place is dead", i think as I order a pitcher for the table we've taken over right in front of the biggest tv on the first floor. Within a minute, our waitress comes over with the beer and my brother asks her if they plan to turn the channel to Versus.

"No", she replies in a coy manner.

I immediately berate my brother for not recognizing her sarcasm.

She repeats herself. I fall off my barstool at this point.

Are you fucking kidding? You're not? Why? Direct what? Direct TV doesn't carry Versus?

We proceed to leave a two dollar tip on a twenty five dollar tab, pound two coors lights each and storm down the street looking for a new bar. Ten bars, a ciggarette and a string of expletives unloaded on scalpers and hobos alike, and we're rounding the corner to Johnny' on the side mad as rattlesnakes.

Sure enough, no game. All we found at every bar in Causeway was a meaningless Red Sox game with Chris Woodward starting at Shortstop. Yea, Chris Woodward. That's who i want to see right now (jabs eyes out with parking cone). If i'd seen that Hummer, it would be a charred pile of metal right now.

Anyway, needless to say, my blogging this year started off the way my hockey viewing did. Slow and uncoordinated. But I'm back!

A few thoughts before getting to tonight's matchup (yes, the cavemen will be there).

First, John Buccigross can kiss the fatest part of my ass. I love the man. For my money, Bucci is not only the last bastion of hockey knowledge at ESPN, but he's a man cut from the same cloth as me (New England boy, builds a rink in his backyard, longs for the original 6 teams - a true aficionado of the game). However, in his season preview, he lambasted the Bruins Brass for the Kessel trade. Here's an excerpt.

"Instead of feeding off last season and building momentum, the Bruins hit a speed bump after strange negotiations with their best pure goal scorer, Phil Kessel. Kessel is a soon-to-be 22-year-old whose career arc looks to be peaking toward a 40- to 50-goal annual turnaround. How this didn't turn into an eight-year contract extension with about a $5.5 million cap number I will never understand."

Excuse me? 8 years? This isn't Rick Dipietro we're talking about (insert any Garth Snow jab here). What the hell is Buccigrass smoking? Can i have some?

Kessel has had one, count 'em, one good year. He has one, count 'em, one mother fucking move. By mid-December, every defenseman in the Eastern conference had figured out the "off wing, top of the circle toe-drag quick release" and was simply poke checking his shots high and wide. Let's see how he does in Toronto without a center the likes of Savard, or even Krejci, to feed his stick in the slot.

Oh wait, there's more.

"You just don't let players with this kind of skating and release go. And during his young career, he has shown he can take his game into the postseason."

Really? Like that time he was benched? BENCHED. Against the Canadiens? Look, i'm not living in a cave (sort of) and i understand that he got better after that experience, but you're not really bringing a huge body of work to the table here. Phil is not someone who makes others around him better. He's not someone who plays two way hockey. There's a reason that despite 36 goals and a spot on the top line, he only had a +23 last year. Compare that to Krejci's league leading +36? Now you tell me that Kessel's worth a full million a year and double the contract length more than Krejci? They're both under 24!!!

"These players sell tickets and jerseys. Oh, and win games. Red Wings fans have Datsyuk; Penguins fans have Malkin and Crosby; Caps fans have Ovechkin; the Hawks have Patrick Kane..."

That does it. Pull this truck over to the side of the pretentiousness turnpike. If your argument goes so far as to compare Kessel's meaning to the franchise and city to the likes of Ovechkin and Crosby, then you need to take a nap. Phil may have sold a few jerseys (more because he became a fan favorite by surviving cancer and winning some exciting shootouts - didn't he go 7 for his first 7 attempts at one point?), to me included, but he's not even the third best player on the Bruins.

Let's play a game. It's called: "List the best players on the Boston Bruins 09-10 roster"

1. Chara
2. Savard
3. Thomas
4. Krejci? Bergeron (if healthy)?

Did Kessel go here? Maybe. But does that warrant locking him up for 8 years with only one full season of history to go off of? Hell no. We don't know where the cap is headed and if Chiarelli's shown us anything, it's that he's loading up on two kinds of players:
- Guys that play two way hockey
- Guys that want to be here
Phil didn't fit either and what's worse, he had a skewed perception of his market value. Just because Toronto paid him something, doesn't mean he's worth that.

Am I dejected by this trade? Yes. Do i know it was the smart business move for the team long term? Yes. Can we make up for his "offense" and "lack of defense"? Abso-god-damn-lutely.

Now on to tonight. The Ducks are in town which means only one thing. Emilio Estevez photo moments! I think this is a tough matchup for the Ducks. They're no longer the defensive team they once were, especially without Pronger. For the record, I completely agree with Bucci in his assessment of the Ducks, ironically.

They rely on scoring now, and the Bruins have a perfectly structured defensive core to stop their not-so-small forwards. If the B's get out to an early start against whichever interchangeable keeper is in net tonight, The Ducks will be reeling. Plus, they're in the midst of one of those not so fun cross-country road trips; Meanwhile, the Bruins are at home and well rested.

Prediction: Bruins win, 4-2. Enjoy the game!

Bruins Add New Ticket Package - Boobs Now Free!

2009-10-07T11:44:00.005-04:00

If it was any secret that girls at hockey games are cooler than girls at just about any other professional sporting event, Barstool Sports has busted the story wide open (relatively NSFW).

If you were puzzled by cheering from the hometown crowd during the Bruins stink-fest of a home opener, perhaps these two ladies were responsible. Come to think of it, this sort of activity actually makes sense, given that the food that comes with the 'Hungry for Hockey' tickets is on par with a strip club buffet.

Anyway, well done, ladies. I'll be in Section 304 on Thursday.

Breaking News: Lucic Extended

2009-10-06T17:19:00.005-04:00

The Bruins announced today that Milan Lucic, F, has signed a 3 year extension through the end of the 2012-13 season. Read the official release here.

Obviously, we love every damn bit of this.

Heroes of Fort Wilderness - B's mess up Canes, 7-2

2009-10-04T08:05:00.008-04:00

Remember that part of the Patriot when Mel Gibson and his two pre-adolescent sons save Heath Ledger from 20 redcoats and a hangman's noose? At the end of that scene, Gibson (Benjamin Martin) takes a Cherokee Tomahawk to a redcoat who he'd already wounded, and finishes him off to the tune of 17 or 18 hacks and more blood than a Mike Myers movie. Later in the story we come to discover that this was a resurgence of brutality from his youth whereby he led a platoon of men to take revenge on French/Indian troops at Fort Wilderness after they'd abused a group of English Settlers and left them for dead at another camp. Brutal, but loyal and protective to no end.

Last night, the Bruins began a road towards redemption. Brickley summed it up best in the third, after the 6th Bruin of the night (Matt Hunwick) had dropped a tally in the goal column, when he said "Balance and Depth". That Bruins team reminded us why we fell down a stairwell in love with them last year and introduced some new faces (Hello, Steve Begin: I'll come back to you later) in the process of doing so with a 7-2 scalping of the sorry Carolina Hurricanes; They're basically Tropical Depressions at this point.

My favorite moments weren't the goals, though man were they pretty at times (Savard's feed to Sturm was much more difficult than the casual observer will realize, as was Sturm finishing it off). No, my favorite and i believe the most telling sign that this team is going to be as good as we hope this year came in the second period when old "friend" Andrew "the ankle bender" Alberts took a bit of a high attempted check at Marco Sturm of a faceoff. This was just moments after Lucic had won a game of uncle against Jay Harrison (Harrison was literally begging for mercy at the end, watch below). After Sturm got ran, Marc Savard jumped on Alberts like Quagmire on a panty-less Asian flight attendant. Savard's defensive manuever led to a full on 5 v 5 scrum with the hated Tom Kostopoulos trying to take on Chara's shinpads for a time.

This kind of shellacking is exactly what makes the Bruins good. They're physical, they're smart and they are hard to play against. Most importantly, they don't back down. Savard saw a teammate recently recovered from a season lost to both a head and knee injury get pseudo run (i only denote this because Alberts basically missed, but the intent was there) by a former teammate he knew to be a goon - He didn't hesitate for a moment. Savvy was in on Alberts like he'd talked about his sister. That kind of camaraderie and fight is what makes them big and bad. It's what makes them the Bruins. By the time we were done in this one, it felt as though the Bruins were committing a massacre the likes of which we'd not seen since the days of Benjamin Martin. These guys had stolen our dream last year. They'd punctured our proverbial balloon and then they'd come into our building and tried to run us. Not a chance. Beat 'em on the scoreboard, beat 'em in the fight and beat 'em in their hearts.

The fact that seven different people scored in this one? Well, let's just say it won't be a one man massacre this year. All 23 of these guys want to be that hero of Fort Wilderness, together. Just for good measure, let's all enjoy Shawn Thornton reminding Mr. Alberts why you don't fuck with a man with a Positron Pack on his back.

My Fellow Nerds and I Will Retire to the Nerdery With Our Calculators

2009-10-03T14:31:00.007-04:00

It was a rough morning around my house.

Last night started at the Sox game and ended at a law student kegger in Allston, MA. There were a lot of things that took place in between but lets just say drinking was a focal point.

For whatever reason, this hangover got me thinking about statistics. Maybe it was the Beer-aide served out of a plastic bag lined cardboard box, maybe it was how I angry I got about the guy with dual-popped polo collars (Duke colors, too - this was no accident), I don't know.

In any case I went over to Puck Prospectus and started checking out some of their predictions for the year. They just came out with the season previews for all 30 teams - including, of course, your Bruins.

Take a look at the defense:

          2009-2010 VUKOTA Projections

Name            Age  GP     G     A    Pts   GVT
Dennis Wideman  26  77.0  10.9  34.4  45.2  12.7
Zdeno Chara     32  73.8  12.2  33.8  46.1  12.6
Matt Hunwick    24  57.2   6.3  19.9  26.2   7.2
Derek Morris    31  64.7   4.5  15.5  20.0   4.8
Mark Stuart     25  66.6   3.4  10.6  14.0   3.9
Andrew Ference  30  51.4   2.5  12.9  15.5   3.2
Johnny Boychuk  25  27.9   1.6   5.3   6.9   1.4

I've altered the table slightly to fit in this space, but the last stat on the right is Goals Versus Threshold (explained here). It's similar to VORP in baseball and attempts to put a number on how much better any given player is than a replacement.

So Wide-Man projects to be just as valuable as Chara in 2009, at least according to this metric. We'll certainly see how the whole thing shakes out. He's got the talent and if he can stay consistent and healthy then I don't see why he can't build on last year's success.

Like all projections, it's just that, an educated guess. Perhaps the nerds won't win. Perhaps I won't drink Beer-aide out of a garbage bag lined box. It's really all up in the air at this point.

Check out the season preview and projection article on the Bruins, lot's of great stuff in there, as usual. In any case, we've got a big revenge game against the Canes tonight. Remember Scott Walker?

Game Notes Haiku: We'll Start on the Road Again Next Year , Thank You

2009-10-01T21:25:00.005-04:00

Season starts tonight

Ovechkin got the memo

No one told the B's

Opening Night - Jitters, Thoughts, Kid's Names

2009-10-01T10:10:00.006-04:00

I've decided to spare you all the 200 page novel of a season preview I've been dreaming about writing. Thank me later. This is my version of a cut to the chase, season opening post. Man, I'm more jittery and nervous than a paparazzi taking photo's of a Brady/Bundchen dinner party.

The Bruins kick off the 2009-10 season tonight against the hated, but very talented, Washington Capitals and the most entertaining player in hockey, Ovie. A few questions have been running through B's fans head's these last few weeks, so let me give you some answers while you stir about your office trying to look busy until pregame. Just try not to think about the fact that you named your newborn son Kessel.

How do we assess the team and its moves...?

1. Kessel Trade - look, this was inevitable. You need to look no further than the descrepancy between Krecji's contract and Kessel's deal in Toronto to understand the overwhelming fact in this case: Peter Chiarelli knows what he's doing. I'm starting to develop a Scott Pioli/Bill Belichek type trust for his business decision making (don't get me started on Derek Morris though, he's the Joey Galloway of the Bruins until proven otherwise). Straight up, i'm dissappointed that i'll have to re-thread my Kessel jersey, but the guy had to go and they got a very good return considering the economic condition of the league.

2. The Goal Scoring - the Bruins didn't do much to bolster their front line scoring potential. I know what you're thinking, "Bonesaw, come on, maybe Steve Begin will be this year's Michael Ryder". If that's your thought process, go ahead and take that last step off the Tobin and rid us all of your bullshit. Fact is, the Bruins didn't need to bolster this. There, i said it. Between the return of Sturm (the team's leading goal scorer in 07-08) and the eventual re-emergence of Bergeron we'll be well on the way to making up for that production lost in the Kessel trade. I haven't even mentioned the growth of guys like Wheeler (totally fell off in the second half after hitting the rookie wall around game 50 last year) and Krejci. Plus, we don't need to score as much. Why?

3. Defense/Goaltending - Funny you should ask. Few teams can win both the Jennings and Vezina trophies in a season and actually have BETTER goaltending the following season. But, the Bruins will have exactly that. Now, i'm not guaranteeing both trophies show up again, but Rask is the real deal. I watched him shutout the Rangers 1-0 last year while turning back 41 shots and he is hands down a better keeper than Fernandez. Consider that along with the fact that he's in a contract year and knows that the starting job for 2011 and beyond is his to lose (Timmy has one year left and will be 36 next season), Rask will prove himself and will make Timmy better at the same time.
As for defense, we lost a slow old man in Aaron Ward and replaced him with a slow middle aged guy, in Derek Morris. Otherwise, we get better with age because the combination of Wideman, Hunwick and Stuart all project to improve on solid seasons last year.

I think that's enough food for though for one day. We're all gonna have to wait and see how things like Sturm/Lucic/Savard and the D-pairings play out, but rest assured, this team is going to continue to step in the right direction. We don't need 116 point season to get better this year. We need to solidify the experience they've acquired in the last two post-seasons, win the Northeast handily and be healthy come playoff time. Game 1 of 82, at a minimum is tonight. Let's drop the fucking puck already.

No More Tomfoolery, No More Ballyhoo

2009-09-19T13:25:00.003-04:00

“The sleeping fox catches no poultry.”

Benjamin Franklin quotes (American Statesman, Scientist, Philosopher, Printer, Writer and Inventor. 1706-1790)

We're not sure Mr. Franklin had hockey blogging in mind when he said this, but we can be sure that it applies to our blogging this entire summer. We have been sleeping, ergo, no poultry - er, posts.

Whatever simple pleasures that you derive from reading this blog, rest easy because we're back to provide them once again. After a summer of complaining about the B's early play-off fade we've fallen way, way behind in the news. There have been trades, awards, contract extensions, and a whole mess of shit we haven't thought of yet.

We've got some new faces around the Cave and that can only mean more hockey discussion, homerism, analysis and, of course, dick jokes for everyone.

To prove we're serious, we even took down the play-off banner that was up all summer at the header. Now, if only we knew how to get rid of the one at the bottom ...

Check back soon and GO B's!

NHL 2010 Preview

2009-08-18T13:04:00.005-04:00

It's time to get fired up about hockey again...and what better way to do so than by viewing the trailers for the next iteration of NHL for our gaming systems (360, in my case). The below video is pretty interesting, but my favorite part is definitely the post-whistle play. EA clearly got their act together this year and stopped behaving like a bunch of pansies, because i've read that they added this type of ability to Madden, as well. Nothing like hitting a guy after the whistle and having it affect the team's composure!

Off Season Dolldrums: Episode 2 - Free Agency

2009-07-07T10:30:00.001-04:00

Today, we bring you a special guest appearance from Tony "Cappucino" Morash, he of Hingham High School fame.

July 5, 2009

The free agency period began on Wednesday afternoon with a bang for many teams, but the Boston Bruins were not among them. As of July 4, the Bruins had resigned Byron Bitz, Johnny Boychuk and Mark Recchi, and added a prior-Julien product in Steve Begin. Recchi is back for one last shot at the Cup, and as a veteran who knows what it takes to win it, Bruins fans can be buoyed by his choice to stay.

The Bitz signing gets a bit more complicated. While I don’t mind the choice—particularly because Bitz played very well in his final playoff games—I wonder if Peter Chiarelli thinks Bitz might be a more attractive trade piece now that he has been signed. The Bruins management has not been shy about the desire to add a strong, gifted defenseman to the mix (see Tomas Kaberle). Johnny Boychuk stands to be good, but on a one-year contract, the Bruins clearly aren’t sold on his long-term potential. Thus, a signed, sealed and delivered Bitz, as opposed to the rights to Bitz as a free agent, may be more likely to grease the wheels of a potential trade. Then again, it’s possible he is part of the Bruins long-term plans. Food for thought.

On to the puzzler. There is no doubt the Bruins were after some prized free agents in the early going, and also no doubt that the lack of cap space has hindered these efforts. Steve Begin was apparently the compromise. Begin played for Julien in Montreal, and made some very speculative comparisons of himself to Michael Ryder as a man who simply got a chance to play—and thus played better—under Coach Claude. The comparisons simply end there. Begin has never scored more than eleven goals in a professional season and, in ten NHL season, averages no fewer than 41 games per year. More importantly, Begin did not record a point nor a penalty minute in five playoff games this past season with Dallas, averaging about ten minutes of ice per game. His role is admittedly different than that of Ryder, but we should not hold our breath for the renaissance of Steve Begin.

Perhaps the Bruins management has seen the (*ahem*) sniper potential of Shawn Thornton and need a banger to replace him. Perhaps there won’t be an effort to re-sign a personal favorite in Stephane Yelle. Either way, it’s a bizarre fit for the Bruins. Begin will undoubtedly play the system well. But until he can stay healthy, put up consistent numbers, and help a club in the playoffs, I am decidedly skeptical.

Now on to the rest of the League, with the Winners and Losers of the first few weeks of the offseason:

Winners:

Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks added a huge piece in snatching Marian Hossa away from the Red Wings. Granted, Hossa has become a perennial Finals loser, but his combination of skill and experience is an enormous upgrade to each player on the roster. So too will the veteran experience of acquired free agent John Madden help this young Blackhawks squad. The only negatives to be seen were in letting Sami Pahlsson slip away, and relinquishing Nikolai Khabibulin’s massive contract. While this freed up necessary cap space for Hossa’s contract, Cristobal Huet will have a firm load of a true Stanley Cup contender on his shoulders.

New York Islanders. No, the Islanders are not fit for the Cup Finals yet, and maybe not even the playoffs, but this team significantly upgraded over the last two weeks. The selections of John Tavares and Calvin de Haan with the number one and eleven picks in the draft give the team two excellent potential stars, one of whom (Tavares) could be ready for NHL action by training camp. Also, seemingly sick of the oft-plagued Rick DiPietro, GM Garth Snow opted to sign solid backstop Dwayne Roloson away from the Oilers. Roloson may simply be an insurance policy, but remember how well the tandem of Roloson and Manny Fernandez served in Minnesota, when both got plenty of rest and stayed healthy throughout the season. There is nothing more DiPietro needs at this point in his career.

Losers:

New York Rangers. But they signed Marian Gaborik, you say. And yes, this is true, and it was a tremendous coup at that. However, the Rangers are this year’s true loser because they have shown yet again that they simply do not have a game plan. This is a team that was downed in the playoffs by a lack of consistent goaltending and an enormous hole in the defensive core. The solution? Signing Gaborik and talented Avs forward Tyler Arnason, and trading for Kings prospect and Boston local Brian Boyle, who spent almost all of last season at forward for the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. While plugging a hole left by the departure of woeful Nik Antropov, the Rangers have done nothing to address their needs as a contender, even swapping Scott Gomez for a left wing in Chris Higgins. The Rangers emerge from these past few weeks in no greater position than they were after game seven with the Capitals a few months ago. Inexcusable for a team with such potential.

Toss-up: Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens were the busiest of teams on Day 1 of free agency, locking up several key players in Brian Gionta, Mike Cammalleri and Jaroslav Spacek, and dealing for Scott Gomez. While significantly upgrading at forward, the defensive corps is now anchored by Andrei Markov, Spacek and…Hal Gill. Every Bruins fan would surely find this funny, were not the largest woman on skates getting a day with Lord Stanley’s Cup this summer. Quite frankly, however, as long as Cary Price and Jaroslav Halak between them cannot figure out how to consistently keep pucks out of the net, the Habs remain a true enigma.

Final thoughts: Poor Jordan Leopold. He is a tremendous (though injury-plagued) young defenseman who is sought after by so many clubs that he is usually the centerpiece of a deal going the opposite way of a superstar. A very talented defenseman, he has signed with Florida as part of the Jay Bouwmeester trade.

Woe is Scott Clemmensen. He too will find his way to Miami to don the Panthers colors, his reward for virtually assuring the Devils a high seed in last years playoffs, only to be summarily seen off to the minors upon the return of Martin Brodeur. He is likely to start the season behind Tomas Vokoun, though he could very well play himself into a starting role.

Dany Heatley seems stuck in Ottawa for now. He’s tried to play games with GM Bryan Murray and Murray won’t have it. After declining to waive his no-trade clause on a deal that would have sent him to Edmonton, Heatley waited until a $4million bonus kicked in earlier this week. Murray subsequently said that he would make no deal since he would be paying the bonus, and Heatley seems stuck. Negotiations are apparently still ongoing, but surely the new package will have to include compensation for the $4million the knuckle-headed Heatley is owed by the Senators.

Steve Sullivan is true to the Nashville Gold and Blue. The veteran predator has signed a multi-year deal to stay on with the franchise, despite an almost-certain depth of interest for his services elsewhere around the league.

Finally, the Coyotes seem exceptionally concerned with their goaltending situation, indicating they feel the need to rebuild from the net out. With Ilya Bryzgalov still showing flashes of brilliance, but with no great consistency, the Coyotes pursued former Flyer Robert Esche. Esche declined the offer to remain in Russia, an indication of the true chaos in which the Coyotes find themselves. The backup replacement target was Jason LaBarbera, who signed this past week and, while starting the season with a bang, failed to show the fans in Los Angeles and Vancouver what all the hype was about. The entire showing did, indeed, show us the true state of the franchise. Are you ready for this, Hamilton?

Off Season Dolldrums: Episode 1 - Trade Rumors

2009-06-26T10:18:00.003-04:00

Are you at all surprised that we haven't put anything in this space for the last month? Well, you shouldn't be. In fact, until the B's extended Krecji, I couldn't stomach reading about them. Now...I'm ready to start making the summer pass a bit quicker. Maybe a weekly post or something to keep the overwhelming masses at bay. All three of you.

Let's look at what's coming up...

The Bruins have some decisions to make in the next week. They have multiple RFA's (Kessel, Bitz to name two) who they will be tendering offers to and they have the draft this weekend. With the 25th overall pick, the Bruins are supposedly looking to move up. They certainly have chips to do so with guys like Kessel and Bergeron who they clearly haven't committed to long term (i dont care what Bergy's contract says...they aren't sold on him past Monday).

And now as I'm writing this i read the following from the Boston Globe:

"Boston's interest in acquiring Tomas Kaberle, reported here on Boston.com last night, took an interesting twist here today when TSN.ca's Bob McKenzie reported that the Bruins have offered Phil Kessel to the Leafs for Kaberle and the Leafs' seventh pick in tonight's NHL draft here at the Bell Center."

I texted my brother this news and he said "Maybe i'd jump on it for a 5th rounder". No Mike, not the 7th ROUND pick...the 7th OVERALL!

Kaberle is 31. He averages about 8 goals and 42 assists per season and is a career +43. He has two years remaining on a 5 year, $21.5 million deal he signed in February of 2006. Interesting to note that Kabrele and Ray Bourque have something in common...they are two of the four players to hit all four targets in just four shots in the skills competition at AllStar Weekend.

Interesting...More to come...

GNH: Bringing it back home...

2009-05-13T10:45:00.003-04:00

Bergeron sparks B's
To another win; which brings
the series back home

Now we're right back where we left off last year. Storming back from a 3-1 series deficit against a bunch of clowns with red in their jerseys. Let's look for this year to turn out differently in game 7 as we're a far superior team to last year and maybe, just maybe, this video will be all too appropriate...

GNH: Bruins show signs of life...

2009-05-11T08:52:00.000-04:00

Physical effort

Leads to much improved chances

and they're not dead yet

A flood of emotions

2009-05-04T20:38:00.004-04:00

That was an intense sports weekend. I'm not gonna lie, i spent the entire weekend thinking about what to write in this space, or any other, for that matter. Landing on substantive analysis just didn't seem like something i could pull off. And then the Bruins went ahead and lost their first playoff game of the year...let's just say that didn't serve my emotional state well. Thankfully, i'm a blogger (allegedly) and i'm damn sure that restrictions on bloggers overtly displaying emotion as a means of release are non-existent. Let's face it, Simmons does it every time he writes.

I went from a dominant Bruins win in game 1 (sort of unexpectedly) accompanied by a few Jager shots to a wierd Kentucky Derby that made me smile ear to ear (don't ask, Calvin Borrel just does something wierd to me) and a great Celtics victory in Game 7 to last night. What happened last night anyway? I spent over $150 to watch Game 2 in a suite with the girlfriend, Caveman, Mr Friday Night and a number of new friends in the Boston Media who shall remain nameless for the time being. Then an ominous sign came: As I watched the first period, i noticed Glen Wesley in the suite next to us - wearing a nice red tie to emphasize his affiliation with the Hartford Whalers, er, 'Canes. At that point, as i became momentarily starstruck, i realized we were boned.

No way were we winning a game in which the Robin to Ray Bourque's batman shows up in the opponent's colors. Then to boot, Patrice Bergeron nearly broke a scoreless tie with a shot that flipped inches over the crossbar of an empty net...shades of Mr. Wesley himself from Game 1 of the 1990 Cup finals. I felt like Michael J Fox was suddenly calling the game in my head and it was only a matter of time before Peter Klima would break the city's collective heart.

Well, i was right. From the Bruins skating in mud, to bad decisions by Thomas and Chara, to a hot Cam Ward, we simply couldn't muster a meaningful shot from there on in and fell 3-0 in anticlimactic fashion.
Thankfully, this is not 1990. This is just one game. This is still the beginning. The Bruins will rebound and i'm pretty sure that no team has ever gone 16-0 through the playoffs - so you could say this was inevitable. (Dwight Howard is huge and i want him to die)
Right now, i know that Claude is hammering the Bruins for not being more aggressive and will have them coming out strong Wednesday night, but frankly i'm still pissed as hell at the showing they posted last night. Hopefully, the Bruins are composed. Like Mark Recchi said, "Never get too high, never get too low"

Timmy Receives Vezina Nomination

2009-04-27T13:42:00.003-04:00

As expected, Tim Thomas was announced as a finalist for the Vezina, awarded to the league's top netminder.

The Awards are to be dished out on June 18th in Las Vegas. I've already laid out my argument for why Tim should and will win and you can read my debate with the Caveman about it, and other awards, here.

Rangers, Penguins or Whalers?

2009-04-26T21:21:00.006-04:00

Fun stuff coming out of these other series in the Eastern Conference. Just to bring everyone up to speed...

John Tortorella was suspended for game six of the series against Washington. This guy has gone full retard. There is no way you can take yourself out of a potential clinching game on account of squirting fans with a water bottle, throwing said water bottle at those same fans, and then trying to get at them with a hockey stick. Bravo, John. And this is the same guy who expects Sean Avery to act mature.

Oh, and Washington won 4-0 on Sunday in John's absence and now has all the momentum in the series.

The Whale is beating Dirty Jersey right now by a score of 4-0 late in the 3rd period so it's looking like a game seven there, too. This is awesome because if the Whale can pull it off, and the Caps win that means the B's get the Whale and not the Penguins. I hate the Penguins and I think they're beatable ... but if we can avoid them I'll take it. Plus I get to break out my Kevin Dineen jersey.

I shot a 113 today at Mount Hood in Melrose. I suck at Golf.

I'd Say We're Whores, But No One Paid Us

2009-04-26T19:51:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness for helping me wade through the suck that is HTML and officially whore out some of our space to the good folks at Versus. Here comes the fun-cooker!

Yep, me and HTML go together like lamb and tunafish. Or Kovalev and effort.

Just watch the games, OK? As if you weren't going to already. I know. Shaddap.

Awesome Hockey Fight

2009-04-24T10:38:00.003-04:00

Last year, for Christmas, I gave my father a DVD of classic Fred Cusick games, calls, etc. I had nearly forgotten about it until an email showed up in my inbox this morning from Dad, linking to a you tube version of one of the fights on said DVD. Check it out. Note that the Bruin (Jonathan) is wearing number 17...ironic?

GNH: Have fun with Tiger, Dickheads

2009-04-22T22:13:00.002-04:00

How 'bout you boo this...

B's send Habs packing in 4

Enjoy golf season

(Hab's Fans)

I also really enjoy this as a notice to the pansies Montreal employs this off-season ...

Bruins Throw the Habs Off the Cliff, Sweep Series

2009-04-22T21:27:00.004-04:00

With apologies to Steven Colbert, Canada's number one threat: Bears

Holy shit does this feel good. The Bruins just blew Montreal straight out of the water in game 4 by a score of 4-1 and if that doesn't make you smile then you should take a moment to re-evaluate your internet browsing skills(z?).

I'd break down the game, but it was quite simple. The Bruins were better. Much better.

How many times did you see a Bruin win a battle in corner, make that extra pass, or clear out a juicy rebound in front of Tim Thomas. These Bruins came in with a solid game-plan and executed it from start to finish. Don't do anything dumb, don't get baited, and just work harder.

Maybe my favorite moment of tonight came in the 3rd when Mike Komaserik grabbed Milan Lucic after a little contact along the Habs bench and roughed him up for no apparent reason. Luc glares at him, ducks out in between the linesmen, and glances back with a grin and heads for the bench. What does Mike get for his trouble? A game misconduct. That was the series in a nutshell.

Perhaps Jack put it best when he said "have a great summer, Mike". Damn straight.

Game, set, match. So long, suckers. In the language of the great city of Montreal: Via con dios, Les Habitants.

Bring on the Rangers (maybe?) and their poorly, poorly lit arena.

Game Notes Haiku: Bruins Withstand Habs Best Effort, Take 3-0 Series Lead

2009-04-21T19:43:00.004-04:00

Fans boo our anthem
their coach, goalie, team, et al
Tuesday will be sweet

No Lucic, No Problem...B's up 3-0

2009-04-21T12:10:00.003-04:00

No Lucic? No Problem. 3-0. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

One step at a time though. Let’s get the next one, first. The Bruins are a game away from getting this classless monkey off their backs and moving to the second round for the first time since 1999. At least my doctor isn’t spending hours at my bedside monitoring my blood pressure (he was last week - sorta) but we’re not there yet, folks.

Count me as one of those who were absolutely terrified (but not surprised) by the ferocious start Montreal brought in the first fifteen minutes last night. I give tremendous credit to our defensive corps and Timmy for not imploding from the pressure. One goal in that stretch was commendable and they clearly have the mental toughness to be where they are, as demonstrated by the responses to both the first and second goals Montreal netted, each of which could be called "breakdowns" by our defense. We never got down as a team and kept coming right at them.

I think Montreal may have spent its stack at this point. Sure, they’ll come out hard in game four, but let’s face it, they probably missed their chance. With Lucic, our physical initiator, out serving a suspension (Footnote: i won’t argue with it and i’m impressed with the maturity Lucic displayed in not appealing it), the Habs had a fired up hometown crowd and every opportunity to sieze the momentum - but they could not. In this case, it was Phil Kessel, who’s defelction home late in the first that tied things up, reminding the Canadiens that they aren’t ever going to be able to keep momentum for long in this series. Their only lead of the three games lasted exactly 6:43. If Montreal couldn’t capitalize on that setup, I’m gaining confidence that they simply won’t ever do it this year. I know, that statement isn’t much of a stretch.

Final though on last night’s game. What has happend that we’re suddenly "ok" with an entire fanbase repeatedly demonstrating an utter lack of class and maturity? I have some rich French Canadian heritage in my blood and many of my relatives going back four or five generations called Quebec home. Frankly, the behavior of these Canadiens fans to boo the National Anthem in now two consecutive years emabarrases me and should embarrass the Montreal organization. Once is a mistake, twice is a tradition. I’m ashamed to see this moronic display of disrespect in a game, that has nothing to do with countries, politics, or anything else remotely related to it. How do you think the players on the Bruins (or their coach?) feel about these idiots booing the American National anthem…and i’m talking about those who are FROM Quebec?

Fuck the Habs fans and their bullshit behavior. I've had enough. Let’s end this series and send them packing.

Playoffs - Wooooo!

2009-04-17T17:52:00.004-04:00

So I had a real job type obligation that forced me to watch last night's game on DVR. I spent the entire day hoping no one would text me (including the Bruins.com thing) the result before i could get home and watch what turned out to be quite a barn burner. Since i was remote, and delayed, I turned to my good buddy Jim the Baptist to present some first hand analysis of what it was like to scalp tickets and be at the opening game of this rivalry's return to action.

"Game 1: Bruins vs Canadiens, from the perspective of a fan in the balcony.

Watching a Bruin's game from the balcony is certainly an experience. If you are between the ages of 18 and 30, its a lot of fun and hilarious at times. If you are a parent brining a young impressionable human along with you, not so much.

Having never been to a Bruins vs Canadiens playoff game, I had been told I'd run into a lot of crazy Habs fans at the bar before, and during the game. Well, they were a no show at the Greatest Bar before the game, all Bruins fans. And they were few and far between at the game, which was great to see. I think last year was different because the Bruins were the 8 seed, and hadn't really become relevant in the city of champions just yet.

I got to see both ends of the spectrum for Montreal fans. There was one cocky, Jersey Shore looking kid, who really took a ton of shit for being short/Canadian. He had about 3 sections of Bruins fans chanting "your gaaaay, your gay your gay your gaaaaay" directly at him.

Then there were two fans sitting on my right, father and son about 50 and 25 yrs old, who were trying to keep to themselves. Obviously just die-hard Canadien fans taking advantage of $100 seats instead of $200+ in Montreal. They were getting harassed quite a bit, and you actually felt bad for these guys. There were getting screamed at by some obnoxious Bruins fans that almost make you feel embarrassed that they represent you. The two Habs fans to my right shook my hand after and said it was a great game.

Overall, well worth the $90 for the seats."

Love it. Sounds like the bleachers at Fenway in 1994. Exactly the way it should be. Let's face it, hockey went wrong and lost most of its casual fans when prices started rising above 100 bucks a ticket. This is a blue collar sport with (mostly) a blue collar fan base and the reality is that no one should ever be making more than 9 million a year (enjoy Russia, Jagr) and no fan should ever pay more than 200 bucks for a loge playoff ticket. I don't mean to go on a rant here, but, ah nevermind.

One other thought about last night. It's already been mentioned in this space that the Canadiens are a bunch of pansy's and sore losers. Well, leave it to Patrice Briesbois and Tom Kostopolous to prove that once and for all by initiating two separate and COMPLETELY unnecessary skirmishes in the final 13.6 seconds of last night's game (hows THAT for a run on sentence?) These two clowns, and Kovalev, deserve fines and frankly should've been tossed for their antics. Honestly, who throws a punch at a guy for scoring an empty netter? Answer? A Canadien. I'm all for emotion, but there's a point when you're just being a moron.

Habs: We care for nothing Lebowski

2009-04-17T09:38:00.003-04:00

I wrote this yesterday afternoon, but couldn't post it. Bear with me:

Uli and his band of Canadiens approach tonight, Nihilistic and ready to rob us of our dreams. Is Uli from Quebec? No. Do I care? No. Ride with me on this.

The Canadiens have knocked us out of the playoffs three times since 2001, including twice when we were the Division champs and held home ice. The Canadiens are lucky to be in the playoffs, as one of the most penalized teams in the league, one of the worst defensive teams in hockey, and show up as literally the walking wounded with their second best forward (Lang) and best defenseman (Markhov) gone for the series. Do you think these Canadiens care about anything? Do you think, seriously, that they have anything to lose? If you do, get outa Malibu, Lebowski!

There’s only one expectation from fans in Montreal now (I know some, so trust me) - make it respectable. If they win, we’re the humiliated, sad, sorry excuse for a franchise that they always make us out to be. If we win, big deal, they were hurt and we’re not.

One of my favorite sites for analysis, if you’re looking for something intelligable that is, is Puck Prospectus. The same sabremetric wizards that gave us VORP in baseball, now give us GVT (goals versus threshold, read more here) in hockey. They have a phenomenal preview of the series available here.

Great tidbits…

1. Did you know that Tim Thomas posted the second best save percentage mark EVER? Only DominiK Hasek in 98-99 did better (by 0.004).

2. The Canadiens are one of 8 teams in the NHL to allow more than 10 Shorties this year (11).

3. The Bruins rank 3rd in offensive GVT and the Canadiens rank 25th in defensive GVT (eeeeek!)

4. I’m stuck in an airport right now…wait, that’s not pertinent.

Montreal fans are pumped up, no doubt, but from a pure hockey standpoint, they’ve got to be about as fired up for this series an LA cop searching for a tape deck who’s working in shifts with no good leads. But statistics to not apply anymore. What applies now is what the teams leave on the ice in these next two weeks. Can the Bruins bury the ghosts of Quebec Separatist past? Can the Canadiens muster the consistency to stay with the young B’s for 6 or 7 games? One thing’s for sure, a longer series favors the Habs. If you don’t love every inch of this, hockey just isn’t for you.

Go B’s!!!

Calvin Hates the Habs

2009-04-14T16:13:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of my brother, Mike.

GNH: Go Back to Canadia, for now...

2009-04-10T12:50:00.002-04:00

Bruins Make Statement

Despite Blunders, PIMs, Tempers

See you in 1st Round(?)

Let’s face it. Odds are we’ll be watching the Canadiens roll into town next Thursday as the Bruins’ first round foe for the third time in the last 6 seasons. The Rangers hold the tiebreaker with Montreal and neither has a desirable match-up in their respective final games this weekend (so, let’s call it 2:3 odds that we see the Habs and not the frustrating boys from NYC). Montreal gets to host the long haired chumps from Broad Street (there’s alot, alot of culture there) and the Rangers visit the Igloo (er, Melon Arena) to get beat up by Geno one more time.

Look, we all knew this was coming. To this man, it is no different than Aaron bloody Boone. The Bruins, and the city of Boston, have unfinished business with our neighbors to the North, just like the Sox going through the Spanks following the Boone Series en route to the 2004 Title. Let’s accept reality, put the anxiety behind us and bring ‘em on. I want to play them. I’ll go so far as to say it will be good for this team to bury the ghosts of Le Habitant. Call it a cleansing excercise, if you will, but come Sunday evening, round about 8pm ET, the Rangers will finish up their tilt with the Penguins and we’ll know who to expect next week. Granted, if the Habs lose tomorrow, we’ll already know.

Get ready Boston. There’s a familiar storm brewing in the Adams’ Division of old and last night our guys just stood up and said "we’re ready, come hell or high water". I’m ready, too. Maybe its time to buy one of those "Canadiens’ Suck" t-shirts that some guy made in his basement with food coloring and a stencil he bought at Osco Drug. Oh wait…I already have one.

From the Bonesaw's Box of Amazing...

2009-04-08T11:56:00.004-04:00

There's this box of amazing i keep around, for days like this, when the B's have just lost to a crappy Ottawa team. Forget the Haiku today. Just enjoy this video. To use a line from the Big Head Braden (WZLX morning show), this is "more awesome than a whole bunch of chocolate covered awesome rockets".

Game of the Night: It's, well, a mess

2009-04-07T16:44:00.010-04:00

Herb Brooks: "That look like Hockey to you?
{pauses}
"To me it looks like two monkeys trying to hump a football"

Sounds about right for the fight at the bottom of the Eastern conference playoffs. In tonight's "Game of the Night" let's focus on two games...a double dippah!!!

First, the 4th place Flyers host the 9th (technically tied for 8th) place Panthers in a must win for both. If Philly loses, they lose the division to NJ and could easily drop out of having home ice in the coming days. If the Panthers lose, well, they get to keep the football and are a day closer to playing golf, folks.

The second game is Montreal visiting the NY Rangers. This battle of 7th vs. 8th is crucial to both teams.

Coming out of tonight, we could very well have the following scenario battling it out for the last two spots...

6. PIT - 93 pts
7. NYR - 92 pts
8. MTL - 91 pts
9. FLA - 91 pts

Talk about a barn-burner for the last two seeds. The other key is that Slug-a-lo is hanging back with 85 points and 3 to play, so wins by the Habs and Cats all but elminates the Slugs from contention. Watch these games closely, now, as the Bruins first round opponent is definitely coming out of this group. You heard it hear first (like that was difficult to predict).

Oh, and the B's play some clowns in Ottawa tonight, too. Can you guess what Wideman's thinking below?

Phillips Arena Earns LEED Certification

2009-04-07T10:45:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to the Atlanta Thrashers and their ownership on the earning LEED certification for Phillips Arena. From NHL.com ...

"If every one of our 5.1 million existing commercial buildings in the U.S. followed the lead of Philips Arena and worked to become more energy efficient, we could save some $160 billion by 2030 and put a significant dent in our carbon emissions," said USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chairman Rick Fedrizzi. "There are also tremendous water-saving practices that are built into LEED and I know how important that is in Atlanta. Schools, stores, hotels, office buildings, government buildings and sports arenas all have a contribution to make, and Philips Arena is to be congratulated for its achievement and the leadership it demonstrates for others."

For those of us in the real estate industry this is a big deal. I've been through the LEED certification process (LEEDS?! Yea, they got us working in shifts!) very recently and it's a huge time and money comitment. A well deserved glove tap to the Atlanta Thrashers and their ownership group.

What's this LEED business? Read more here.

Hardware Speculation Spectacular

2009-04-06T18:19:00.014-04:00

The following took place over the course of April 5, 2009. No animals were harmed in the production of this post, however, a cat bed was peed on. Seriously.

Bonesaw: You know, Caveman, we have never done a back-and-forth column. Seeing as there's two of us lunatics in this cave, we ought to. Watching the Bruins the last week and in person yesterday, one thing has become incredibly clear to me: Tim Thomas, he of the new contract, should absolutely win the Vezina Trophy this year, in addition the Jennings Trophy the team will be bringing home. The save he made on Scott Hartnell last weekend was one of the best I've seen all season. How he didn't even make the all star ballot is beyond all comprehension. That said, let's have a debate on the top awards (Vezina, Hart, Calder, Norris, Adams and Selke). Starting with the Vezina - who ya got? Who SHOULD win and who WILL win?

The Caveman: The back and fourth email column? Not the most original idea we've ever had but I don't have a better idea.. Actually, screw it. Everyone rips off everyone else. A mutual friend of ours got his blog practically plagerized by Bill Plashke for chrissakes.

Quick note: Hockey has the coolest awards in all of sports. So many trophies, so many cool categories. Except the Lady Byng. That award kinda sucks.

Vezina Trophy: Who SHOULD get it? I say Tim Thomas. The reasons are all over the place:

1.) Lowest GAA in the league
2.) Career high in wins this year
3.) He's been the most consistent cornerstone of the Eastern Conference Champs.
4.) He's a fiery guy who the league can market.

Now, who WILL get it?

They're going to get this one right; Tim Thomas takes it home this year. Everyone likes the guy and his story is perfect. From Flint, Michigan to Sweden, to Boston, to finally getting that huge payday that most people seem to think he deserves. He's been better every year he's been in Boston and his play has been at an elite level all year.

By the way, I don't want to hear anyone crying over the Jacobs not paying people anymore. Can we cut that out, please? Argue all you want about who they pay, but let's stop saying they're cheap. You dig?

Bonesaw: Alright. No surprise, we agree. I think Steve Mason is a serious candidate though. He's played 5 more games and is second in GAA. He's single handedly putting the Jackets in the playoffs, but i still think the Writers/GM's will get this right. Mason's young, and his time will come. I actually think he's a strong candidate for the Hart though. The B's surrounding cast is much stronger than the Blue Jackets (thus removing Thomas from that conversation), but i don't hear Mason in the national debate for the Hart.

I think it comes down to Malkin / Ovechkin and Parise. Parise is the sleeper, Ovechkin is the fan favorite but Malkin is the clear choice. He's the energy behind the Pen's resurgence, he's leading the league in points and assists and he's netted 34 goals to boot. He's still getting better. If his goalie weren't terribly overrated, I'd be frightened of them come playoff time.

The Caveman: This is going to be really boring if we keep agreeing. But you're right, Malkin is the guy. Ovechkin is the sexy pick and fans love him, hell I love him, that goofy bastard. The (probably) fake feud that he and Malkin orchestrated was awesome, one of my favorite story lines for the year.

(Did anyone really buy this? Do you think that two countrymen (kids, actually) in a foreign place who play hockey for millions of dollars really hate each other? Sure they get fired up on the ice, they should, but I'll bet they play Xbox together in the off-season while trying to make Crosby's head bleed in NHL 09.)

But anyway, Malkin should get it and I think he will. Calder Trophy time. Great young talent this year, some of it in Boston, some of it used to be. We already mentioned this guy, but Steve Mason has lit it up for the Blue Jackets. The Bruins saw first hand what this kid can do when he shut them out a short time ago. Oh, yea, he has 7 shut-outs too. SEVEN*. The other candidate is old friend Kris Versteeg. Crazy points, 21-29-50 as of today, will force some voters into picking him over Mason. But I have to go with the goalie on this. He plays for Columbus, keep in mind, not exactly the pillar of great defense.

Go ahead, disagree with me. Please.

*I am a retard on this statistic. I get called out, don't worry.

Bonesaw: Mary, Mary so contrary. That's me. With all due respect sir, I find fault with your adjudication.

Mason is in the discussion and I'd say he's got a good shot (btw he has 10 shutouts, moron). This is really a four man race the way I see it and I'll order them by my rankings.

4. Kris Versteeg

3. Pekka Rinne

2. Steve Mason

and....

1. Bobby Ryan

Versteeg is a nice choice here, granted. He's having a solid rookie campaign. Rinne and Mason are the two brightest young net minders in the game and both are doing it in relative obscurity in the equivalents of hockey purgatory (Nashville and Columbus, respectively). The case for Ryan is clear though. He's played only 61 games and is still leading the candidates in scoring with 56 points and a +15 on an Anaheim team that's been getting old in a hurry. He's averaging nearly a point per game and is a terrific goal scorer. Mason's played 8 more games the Rinne, and that's where the separation is for those two, putting it at a two man race in my mind. Ryan should get it, Mason will.

How about the Norris, Chuck?

The Caveman: Fair enough - Bobby Ryan is legit. Man this is a tough year to be a good rookie, it's too bad Blake Wheeler fell off mid-season or else he'd be in the conversation too.

I think the Norris is a two horse race and I'm not going homer on this one.

Look, captain Ze-deeeey-no is a great, great player. He can shoot the puck and is as close to a 'shut-down' guy as there is in the league. But here is the problem, I really like goals. Who doesn’t? Mike Green can score goals AND play a solid defensive position. When you compare the numbers side by side, and I think that's how it should be done, it's a no-brainer.

Chara: 17G 30A 47P +24
Green: 30G-40A 70P +24

So, yea, Green should get it and I think he will. Sorry folks.

Bonesaw: Green will get it. He should not. You're crazy. Go to bed. The award goes to the best defenseman, not the highest scoring defenseman. I'm so sick of high scoring D-Men winning this award that i could strangle Terry Frei and throw his rug in the trash. Z is the best "defenseman" in the game. The only other guys in this discussion should be Dion Phaneuf, Niklas Lidstrom and Mike Komaserik.

But Chara stands above them all. He logs over 26 minutes a game on a team that truly plays 6 D men deep and is a stalwart on the penalty kill. The fact that he's big shouldn't go against him. Remember, he's got to know how to use that size and not have it be a hindrance like it is for guys like Hal Gill who can't get out of their own way.

Green's going to get it because numbers has taken over this one. But it makes me very, very angry young man. You hear me?

What about the Adams? And if you better muster the creativity, or Google ability, to come up with someone beyond Julien.

The Caveman: Chara?! The numbers, they do not lie, sir. However, voters are a fickle bunch and you never know what will happen. Terry Pendleton won the NL MVP in '91 and he sucked. Go back and look, he was awful.

A challenge on the Adams nominees? Fine. I give you Ken Hitchcock.

The Blue Jackets were a joke; I still thought they were going into this season. Today? Look at the Western Conference standings and after the 3 seed it looks up-side down. The expansion teams have turned on the jets and Hitchcock has the Jackets playing some great hockey. Yea, they're not blowing anyone's doors off but they have a play-off spot all but secured in the West and they have developed a host of young talent.

That said, you're a lunatic if you think Julien won't take this one down. From the basement of the league to a President's trophy contender in 2 years? Triple-stamped it, no backsies.

If you even think I'm going to debate the Selke you're crazy. I have a microwave burrito with my name on it and I'm starving. Have you shampooed your den rug yet? That cat bed really tied the room together - at least Holly is house-broken.

Bonesaw: First of all, sir, there was no rug involved here and "chinaman" is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian American, please.

I like the Hitchcock (giggle, snicker) nod. I also like the job Joel Quenneville has done in Chicago with that young team. They've got a terrific core but their youth and quick rise from the cellar just three years ago is a testament to Quenneville's leadership behind the bench. I agree Julien likely wins it, but don't forget Todd McLellan in San Jose. San Jose is a top heavy team and lacks the depth the Bruins have down the forward lines, so i gotta give him props for making it all work. Especially with a lousy guy like Thornton in the mix. Jesus, why can't we get players like that? What? We had him? Fuck. I think the Selke candidates are as follows:

(crickett noises, tumbleweed)

...

Did you really think i was going to list them? Please. Time for some old fashioned hangover cure: a fantasy baseball draft.

In the ensuing fantasy baseball draft one of us took Arod at #5 (so, so unclean) and the other took Josh Beckett way too early (3rd round?! wtf!). Sadly, Jason Varitek remained undrafted.

GNH: Thomas to receive extension

2009-04-03T11:28:00.004-04:00

Bruins getting close
To locking up home ice and
Timmy for more time

According to ESPN.com's John Buccigross (aka, the one true hockey fan left in Bristol), Tim Thomas is about to receive a contract extension from the B's. The deal is set to be announced Saturday. You can catch the report here. In other news, the boys rolled the Sens 2-1 at home last night earning their 50th win of the season for the 8th time in franchise history.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

2008-2009 7th Player Award Winner Is ...

2009-04-02T21:19:00.010-04:00

All three people listed above share something in common. Do you know what it is?

I know, I'll bet you first guess was that they were all Boston Bruins 7th Player Award winners, but you'd be wrong. The only guy above that has done that is David Krejci.

Yes, Saddam had a twisted wrister and Jessica really knew how to break the left wing lock. But the only 7th player winner was Krejci. Promise. Turns out they all were born on April 28th. Who knew?

But Enough about late ousted dictators and bionic women. Congratulations to David 'The One' Krejci on being voted the 7th Player Award Winner for 2009. He might have scuffled a little bit there but the numbers certainly were amazing this year for the second year pro*. Plus, now that he seems to have remembered how to play hockey we can start to count on him to consistently produce in the play-offs.

Here's hoping the Bruins can lock this kid up for a while - he's one hell of a center and might just be a guy that we can count on for years to come.

Oh, and some dude won a truck as a part of the ceremony, too. Good for him.

*I know, he played 6 games in 06-07. Doesn't count, ok?

Lucic Has Turned Jack into the Mad Scientist

2009-03-31T18:37:00.005-04:00

I'm quite sure this is the most ridiculous play by play in recent memory. Its certainly 8 notches above walking off on Patriot's Day, that's for sure.

Even Tommy Heinsohn (who is the color guy, remember) doesn't approach this level of homer-ism. Hell, even I don't approach it. And well, that's saying something. Oh, and look who's getting killed. It's Randy FUCKING Jones.

Bam.

Transaction Tip

2009-03-31T13:30:00.005-04:00

Sometimes, it's better to just give props to other bloggers in the blog-o-sphere.

The folks at The Bruins Report have very nicely summed up the Bruins signing of Quebec Junior League star Yannick Riendeau (Vincent Riendeau anyone? #37 on Detroit in NHL 94?). Check it out here.

Yannick Riendeau Signed to 3 year deal

Hockey Stocks - Winners and Losers

2009-03-31T08:58:00.006-04:00

In the spirit of the times (EVERYBODY PANIC!) I thought I'd make a quick entry about some rising and falling play-off teams. As Jim Cramer would say ...

BUY! BUY! BUY!

The Hartford Whalers: These guys are on a serious tear right now. They ripped off 6 in a row and even though certain bloggers said they'd be out of the play-off picture - here they are in the 5 seed, threatenting to take the four! Good heavens, man. They could even take the 3 if things played out for them. They even play the Devils in the last game of the season - so that might end up being a very important contest.

SELL! SELL! SELL!

The New Jersey Devils: Man they looked like poop last night against the Rangers. Brodeur was doing a whole lot of complaining to the refs (all three goals were quite legit, even pretty), and their goon squad look like a bunch of amateurs after they tried to take runs at Sean Avery in the second, and again in the 3rd with only minutes remaining in the contest. The Devils have dropped 5 in a row, and if Philly and Carolina turn on the jets we could see a big shake-up in the 3, 4, and 5 spots.

Extra Fun from last night's game: When Sean Avery lets himself get tossed around like a rag doll because he refuses to fight, you know John Tortorella has him by the balls. He was looking at the bench like a German sheppard waiting for his owner to give him permission to rip the dude's face off.

Game Notes Haiku: Bruins Pick Up Two Big Points In Philly With a 4-3 Win

2009-03-29T22:02:00.003-04:00

Thomas stands on head
Looch notches two more tallies
Huge win for the B's

A Little Love for the Alma Mater ...

2009-03-29T12:20:00.005-04:00

This one is long overdue - I haven't given any love to my Terriers in this space. After a regular season in which they played out of their minds, the Boston University Terriers are on a charge for another NCAA title. With wins in the semi-finals against the hated BC Eagles (3 goals in 44 seconds in the 3rd period!) and then against UMass Lowell in the Hockey East Championship BU earned the number one seed in the tournament.

Lots of Terrier slurping going on by the pundits (Melrose, and that former coach of UNH whose face terrifies me) and apparently it wasn't for nothing because BU woke up yesterday and decided to put on an 8-3 hockey clinic for the Ohio State Buckeyes in Manchester, NH.

The game was flat out embarrassing for Ohio State. Led by Hobey Baker candidates Colin Wilson and Matt Gilroy, the Terriers scored often and seemingly at will. I actually had to leave when it was 6-1, thinking that BU would get off the gas pedal, but I was wrong. Freshmen goalie phenom Kieran Millan was strong as usual, making big time saves when the game was still, well, a game. He now continues to have only lost twice in his college career. Twice.

Ohio State was devastated, to be sure. But I think they'll live. I heard they have a football program that is sort of popular. BU moves on the play UNH at 5:30PM today - here's hoping they serve up a similar beat down to the Wildcats.

REASON #271 I HATE ESPN: The second round game, BU vs. UNH, is on ... ESPNU. Which I don't get with Comcast. Eat a dick, ESPN.

Game Notes Haiku: We Don't Need No Stinking Defense! B's Win 7-5

2009-03-29T11:48:00.007-04:00

Manny still not great

B's find scoring touch, lose D
More Tim Thomas, please

Game of the Night (and Preview)

2009-03-28T14:59:00.004-04:00

In today's edition, we'll look at the Buffalo/Toronto tilt in which the Slugs, sporting the old blue sweaters, pulled away with a 5-3 victory to keep their playoff aspirations afloat.

I found this game notable in particular because Buffalo was basically two different teams in this one. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the second only to allow Toronto to battle back to 4-3 at one point. This Toronto team has horrid goaltending, with a 74 year old Curtis Joseph having to be yanked nearly every night, but they are still fighting and we'll see that first hand this evening, when the B's stroll into the Air Canada Center. By the way, the 32 oz. Molsons you get there are fantastic. Buffalo has now strung together 2 wins after managing just 3 points in their previous 7 games and they face Montreal on the road tonight, trailing the Habs by 5 for the last playoff spot in the East.

Tonight's game to watch is the Devils hosting the Whalers in a battle of two very hot teams. After snagging an undeserved point in Chicago last night, the Devils can inch closer to that inevitable Atlantic Division crown and the Whale can push itself just a bit beyond the pack of 6th-10th teams with a victory of their own. Let's hope Brind'Amor decides to crush Parise inexplicably in this one, because i'm sick of looking at the Devils in the rearview.

Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, the B's are finally back in action after one of the more unusual scheduling glitches you'll ever see post February (a 6 day layoff due, in large part, to the NCAA regionals at the Garden). The Bruins needed this rest, forgetting about any potential momentum from the smackdown they showed the Devils last Sunday, and I look for them come out strong against the reeling, but still dangerous, Leafs. Watch Wideman tonight, though, as his groin injury from 07-08 is supposedly flaring again and his health is crucial to our success on even strength play, as evidenced by the +32 rating (not to mention his 23 PP points).

We'll try to post a GNH between tonight's game and the Flyers game tomorrow, but don't hold your breath!

Go B's!

Game of the Night (And Look Who i Found!)

2009-03-27T17:03:00.003-04:00

In today's edition, we'll be looking at (surprise surprise) the Panthers 4-2 road win in Philly last night.

This game was actually very exciting, with the Panthers going up by 1 three separate times before netting the put-away goal. In fact, it had nearly everything from a Scott Hartnell goal to Scotty getting laid out (one of the most enjoyable hip checks i've seen all year) and from a beautiful point tip to Nick Boytnon actually creating offense (!).

The real story was Craig Anderson in the Panthers net. The Bruins know first-hand how good Anderson can be and with Vokoun in the doghouse after Wednesday's loss in Buffalo, Anderson basically kept the Panther's playoff hopes alive in a suprising outcome.

Games to watch this evening: Unfortunately no two playoff bound teams from the east are scheduled tonight, but here's two games that should be great and will impact the race somewhat:
1. New Jersey travels to Chicago - two very different teams on the rise
2. Buffalo travels to Toronto - Classic Adams division tilt, with the Slugs hoping to keep a pulse, while pulling Toronto's respirator plug for real (I can't believe I'm hearing talk of a team making the playoffs that has 8 games to play and is 10 points out).

Finally...my news.

I found Rob Simpson!!!!!!! This may not be news to anybody but me (in fact, i fully expect the Caveman to call me and bitch me out in about 23 minutes for not having caught this). However, i flipped on NHL network today and found EJ Hradek at the mic (in a Whalers track jacket i might add, AWESOME) talking to none other than your host, Rob Simpson.

Thank you NHL network, for continuing to make my day brighter.

Game of the Night

2009-03-26T11:28:00.004-04:00

Alright, thanks to the wonders of NHL network (both online and via cable) i'm going to make a concerted effort to introduce a new segment for the stretch run of the regular season.

It's called: Game of the Night. Usually, this won't involve the Bruins. The idea being to get a look at Eastern Conference playoff contenders in games that preferably have implications on the standings right away.

Last night's winner: Sabres (10th seed, 78 points) hosting the Panthers (9th seed, 81 points).

The story: Down 3-1 in the third, the desperate Sabres score two even strength goals followed by a PPG in 2:07 (!) to go up 4-3 and add an empty netter for the win. In doing so, they pull to within 5 points of the crumbling Canadiens and their 8th seed while hurting the other team they need to hurdle. This is the type of loss that could kill the young Panthers, though the fact that they were on the road will likely lessen the blow. Game video highlights can be seen on the Game Center at NHL.com, here.

To watch tonight: Florida (on the road again) in Philly (probably a season determining game for the Panthers)

Also in action: TB in MTL (Can TB push the Habs towards the cliff some more?)

First Shots...Playoff Preview

2009-03-24T15:20:00.004-04:00

The Caveman and I got together to write a joint playoff preview. We figure with just under three weeks to play, and jockeying for positioning still including 10 teams in the East (screw the West for now), it is time to look at who's for real, who's still finding themselves and who is, well, full of it.

If nothing else, this should get your brain churning cycles on whether or not we really can go deep this year.

Boston Bruins:

I’m not worried. There, I said it. To this writer, the Bruins look bored. Its taken me some time to figure it out, but I’ve landed on the conclusion that they are in “let’s get it over with” mode and they have been for 4 weeks. I think that the moment they hit the last two weeks of the season, a light will click on, just like last year, and they’ll become a force to be reckon with.

Numbers don’t lie. The Bruins are the best even strength team in hockey (+56 goal differential, as of 3/13) and that is a huge key to going places in the post-season. Plus, what’s really killed us lately? Dumb penalties followed by bad power play goals. This is a mental intensity issue – nothing more. Only thing to worry about is the lack of one guy who can just turn it on and dominate a game. We have to hope that we overcome that by being the best team.

-------------------------------------------------------------

New Jersey Devils:

I’d say there’s no hotter team in hockey, but the Penguins screwed that up recently. That said, they have the best goalie in the league, a strong defensive core and a talented and unsung group of relentless forwards.

The Devils are really beginning to look as though they’re the front runner for the “built-for-the-playoffs” team in the East this year. However, I could be completely wrong, because the Devils have the easiest schedule based on T-rating (thanks to Puck Prospectus’ Tom Awad for this) of any team in the league.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Washington Capitals:

Here’s why I’m not sold on Washington getting past the second round:

A. They play in the worst division in hockey and have the second easiest schedule of a playoff team

B. They have, at best, above average goaltending and defense

C. They’re losing to bad teams, at the wrong time.

Now you might think “well Boston is, too”, but in reality, they aren’t. And other than losing to Nashville, the B’s don’t qualify for any of these.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Philadelphia Flyers:

Philly looks like a legitimate cup contender right now. Even without a true #1 net minder (yes, Biron IS one, but he hasn’t been able to hold the job so we aren’t giving him that credit) the Flyers are terrifying and have the games’ best penalty kill. Their ability to hurt you when you think they’ve been weakened is paramount for momentum shifting and winning games in the playoffs is all about momentum (think, ruining home ice advantage). If Briere comes back and is 85-95%, watch out for them to run deep.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Here’s what’s interesting about Pittsburgh. The numbers they put up for 3.5 months were so bad, that they still had the 28^th ranked power play in the league heading into last weekend. Yet, they always seem to be scoring PP goals (just ask Tim Thomas) and they’re 10-1-2 in their last 13 games (as of 3/16).

However, I firmly believe that Pittsburgh is flawed. Their depth got much better with Kunitz and Guerin, but both have weaknesses which will come out in April (Kunitz is NOT Marian Hossa and Guerin’s older than Mickey Rourke). Remember, just a while ago they were in the 11^th seed. Do you think they’re peaking too early and primed to run out of gas in a 7 game series with Philly, IN Philly? Me, too.

-------------------------------------------------------------

New York Rangers:

The Rangers started the season off with 5 straight wins – seeming to light the world on fire with their spiffy new team. Well that was long ago, and they now are the model of inconsistency. I could go on and on, but really all you need to know is that they can’t finish. They don’t score any goals. In the play-offs you need timely goals and to capitalize on every opportunity you can. The Rangers don’t do that.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Montreal Canadiens:

Los Canadiens, my favorite franchise. They score a lot, they give up a lot. New coach comes in to town and they promptly … do the same thing they’ve been doing all along. Hey at least they fired their coach and replaced him with the GM. That never works. Ever. Bottom line - not much to fear, people. Montreal doesn’t have much bite this year and will go down faster than … the balance in my 401k in January. What? You sick bastard, I’m trying to heighten the rhetoric around here. Get with the program.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hartford Whalers:

Look, they have a play-off spot for the time being but this guy doesn’t think that they’ll stay there. Much like the Bruins, these guys have been in a little bit of a malaise recently. And by recently I mean most of the season. The goalie situation is suspect, they don’t have any legit scorers, and the defensively they have 2 warm bodies and a bunch of recently re-animated corpses. Think Weekend at Bernies with hockey sticks. The bright spot is that the golf in Carolina is awesome and they should have no trouble making tee times.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Buffalo Sabres:

Sabres management sent a pretty clear message to fans at the trading deadline: “We have no idea how manage a hockey team – but goddamn if we won’t spend a lot of money trying to convince you otherwise. Tim Connolly? He’s the answer? I never thought I’d say this, but poor Ryan Miller. He watches guys like Briere, Dumont, and Drury walk and he’s left trying to make things happen. He must feel like the only guy on a Star Trek away team without a red shirt on. If you don’t get that joke I’m sorry. It’s funny. Promise.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Florida Panthers:

The Panthers held on to Jay Boumeester at the deadline even in the face of many rumors that he was going the Bruins for Kessel. Somehow I think the Panthers have a fighting chance if they can grab a spot. I liken them to a Bruins team we saw a year ago. They have young talent and if they can jump into the play-offs I feel like they can at least give the #1 or #2 a decent couple of games.

Finland ANGRY!!!

2009-03-24T15:12:00.008-04:00

UPDATE: Tuuka will not be fined (at least by his team) for the antics displayed herein.
On another note, we'll be taking suggestions for alternative titles to this video. The Caveman has suggested the following: "Sir, excuse me, but i respectfully disagree with your adjudication"

Feel free to submit more.

Oh my fuckin god...Tuuka Rask done lost his mind.

You know, Hextall had a temper like this, and he turned out okay i guess. I'm appalled and joyed at the same time, but more than anything, i'm thinking of Izzy Alcantara right now.
Is there any chance he doesn't get like, a 5 game suspension for this?

Nope.

St. Patty's Day in Boston (Kinda)

2009-03-16T09:38:00.008-04:00

Taking a page out of Boston Blue Line's playbook and I took a few days off. Power to the people, Tom.

Yesterday was St. Patty's Day (observed) in a lot of places, Boston being one of them. Turns out there are a couple of Irish people here - I hadn't notcied, but it's true. And most of them look like this:

Although, some of them look like this:

I assure you, none of them looked like this:

But the coolest thing I've seen in a long time happened on 93 North coming back into the city. Please try to keep in mind that this was on a highway. A major one. This is a brand of awesome that is rarely duplicated.

More hockey blogging tonight, I just had to get that off my chest. Give me a break - I watched the Penguins game with a bunch of people from Pittsburgh. I'll be better tomorrow. Maybe.

GNH (3 Gamer): Same Old Story, Same old Song and Dance

2009-03-16T08:26:00.002-04:00

Oh, if only this had been the case yesterday...

B's Beat two bad teams
Then head on road and lose to
Likely playoff foe

Sorry for the recent hiatus, as the Caveman and I are busy working on a Eastern Conference playoff preview, to be out later this week. We'll do one now as the last 10-12 games are ready to be played, and then another in early April when the seedings are firmed up.

Also, a heady congratulations to Mr. Friday Night. You know what you did. Stand Proud.

Ya.

Game Notes Haiku: He's got all the guns now, Sir

2009-03-11T12:25:00.005-04:00

Mason blanks the B's
Must have stole our microfilm
and our Humvees, too

Canadiens' fans have seen this movie before

2009-03-10T15:14:00.004-04:00

The last time Bob Gainey (can do no wrong apparently) fired a coach in the middle of a winning season - it was our own Claude Julien.

James Murphy over at NHL.com points out exactly this today, as Julien was axed by Gainey (who took over) in 2005. The result? A first round exit from the playoff that they were already in line to make.

Julien told reporters "It's never fun to hear that one of your colleagues has been let go,...When it comes to that, we're very supportive of each other." Obviously this is despite the "behind the bench" antics we saw over the last 21 months of hockey between Montreal and Boston, including some very heated screaming matches from bench to bench during last season's playoffs. Maybe Claude will buy Guy an appletini to make him feel better!

Seriously though. Of course Julien is sympathetic. Forgetting about the simple concept that coaches have respect for one another, especially those who've worked for the same GM, it's worth noting that Julien also got fired during a winning season AGAIN in New Jersey. I'd like to personally thank the Devils for that moronic move. I guess it doesn't matter who coaches them - as long as it's not Jacques Lemaire, who, as i've noted repeatedly in this space, ruined hockey for 10 years - but we're very glad to have the big bald man behind our bench.

The real issue here worth noting is Gainey's behaviour and the cohesion of our blue blanc et rouge rivals. They bring in Larocque and then tell him he's not wanted because the coach doesn't like tough guys? Only they follow that up by bringing a total Goon up to fight Chara for one shift? There's a littany of examples like this, including the firing of a guy with a WINNING RECORD, that really just says to me - a passionate observer - that they aren't together as an organization, much less a team.

My point? This is not new to Canadiens fans and as much as this writer likes to see them cry, this is just sad. The league is at its best when the marquee franchises are well run, and i am simply not convinced that this is the case anymore in Quebec. Let's hope they right the ship for a few more weeks, because i was really looking forward to watching them lose in the playoffs!

Carolina Hurricanes Fans Are Funnier Than I Thought

2009-03-09T20:21:00.005-04:00

The New York Rangers are in to see the Whalers tonight and the game happens to be on Versus. I just was flipping around and caught this fun sign in back of the Rangers penalty bench. Conveniently, Sean Avery had just taken a penalty that negated a delayed call that was going to put his team on the power play. I give you Hurricanes fans, in space, creating.

The Frogs Get Slightly Less French, Fire Guy Carbonneau

2009-03-09T17:56:00.005-04:00

News came in today that Guy Carbonneau is out as head coach of your beloved Montreal Canadiens. With a career coaching record of 124-83-23, he wasn't all that bad but not all that good either.

As a player he was a solid 2 way guy, winning three Selke's in the 90s. A pretty popular dude with the the Stars and the Frenchies. His number was actually not worn the year after he retired from the league in 2000 as result of a petition from the Stars fans. Ain't that special!

Don't worry, I sent him a card to make sure he knows that we're all thinking of him ...

Manny Fernandez Makes Me Want to Club Baby Seals

2009-03-08T15:56:00.002-04:00

There really isn't much to say about the game this afternoon at MSG versus the Rangers. The Bruins had a decent effort, really got better as the game went on, but one guy didn't come to play: Manny Fernandez.

Great third period from the road warriors but giving up not one, two, but three soft goals is just unreal. The B's carried the play in the third scoring two to tie it at 3, and you could smell another goal coming as the 10 minute mark approached.

Then it happened.

A hard shot from the blue line goes wide of the net on the near post and entices Manny to slide right to try and play it. He misses the puck, pirouettes towards the goal mouth as the puck comes off the dasher behind the net and right to a streaking Nicolas Zherdev who pots the game-winner.

Maybe he doesn't see enough game time to stay sharp, or maybe his back is hampering his play - but all I know from watching the game today is that he isn't going to get it done with performances like that in the play-offs.

Tough call for Julien after the game - what do you say to the guy? You need him to get better, but at the same time you can't coddle him. He played like shit, plain and simple.

Might be Tuukka time, kids.

What I learned from seeing Claude Julien drinking with his friends last night

2009-03-07T12:06:00.006-05:00

I ran into (read: saw, was too drunk to talk to) Claude Julien last night at Boston's Liberty Hotel. For those of you who don't know what this place is all about, allow me to paint a picture for you. The Liberty is a converted prison in the West End that re-opened about 2 years ago. It is the second swankiest hotel in the city and the bars inside are frequented by over-dressed women of all ages and mid-life crisis aged men with striped shirts unbuttoned down to their mid-chest.

In other words, you will never find a more wretched hive of Hermes and Armani.

And there is our fearless leader, plunked down in the middle of it all in a black leather jacket and sort of Cosby-esque sweater with a couple of friends. Needless to say, he didn't fit in. Now I'm not sure that I wasn't the only person in the place to recognize Claude, but I'm thinking there was a chance that I was only one of a few.

Allow me to get to the point - what I saw last night captures the problem with the Bruins right now: they are pretending to be something they aren't.

Why did they succeed for so long? The did the basics right and didn't worry about getting too cute. Consistent scrappy and opportunistic hockey is what got the Bruins to such a loft perch atop the Eastern Conference. Thankfully they did mount such a large lead or else the team would be looking up at the Devils or the Capitals.

Right now we've got a team that isn't rolling 4 lines deep, isn't going hard to the net, and is letting someone else take care of the dirty work. What drove the Bruins at the beginning of the year was a fear of failure and a fierce competetive fire that comes from a team that feels like it has something to prove. Fear is a great motivator, kind of like when I'm cruising Deadspin at work and I hear the boss coming around the cube. I've never Alt-Tab'd so fast in my life.

The Bruins have lost the fear, lost the edge, and are in danger of losing in the first round of the play-offs if the can't recapture it.

Next time I see Claude at a bar I hope it is on the other side of Charles Street Station at the best dive in the city, the Beacon Hill Pub. A place where the PBR flows like the salmon of capistrano and you can only pay in cash. It isn't pretty, it isn't classy, and you might have to throw down with some douche from BC every now and again ... but it's honest about what it is.

Maybe Claude should just play this before today's game:

GO BRUINS!