The Good, The Bad, and the newfound cap space

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.

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

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.

Hardware Speculation Spectacular

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.

A Little Love for the Alma Mater ...

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.

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

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!

Suit Up for the Stretch Run

A much weaker Phoenix Coyotes team (read: sans Olli Jokinen and their top tough guy, Carcillo) is rolling into town to face the new Boston Bruins tonight. With the deadline passed and a couple new faces to an otherwise unaltered big league roster, the Bruins are beginning the stretch run.

I have spent the last 36 hours lamenting the fact that the only guy on the ice Tuesday who looked worth his salt was Bergy. Ironically, he's the only guy who was really missing from the first 2/3 of the season's success. So here we are, with 18 games to play and an 18 point lead in the division over the Russian mafia run Habs (thanks Sergei and Andrei!) and a 6 point lead (and shrinking) over NJ. We haven't had a win over a good team in weeks and we're just in a rut if you ask this reporter's opinion.

Time to snap the fuck out of it. Put on the foil, stop bitching to the refs, just go out and play some Boston Bruins-style hockey. Beat the shit out of 'em.

NOW

Speaking of which, let's take a moment to welcome the newcomers with some highlights!

First, we'll examine Mark Recchi. A veteran of over 20 years, Recchi sports a great resume with 500+ goals, 1400+ points and plenty of PIM. In this first video, you'll get a great vintage look at Recchi showing some toughness against Chris Chelios back in 1996. Be sure to take note of the cheap shit pulled by Damphousse at the tail end.

Now for the other facet of his game, the offense. In the following clip, you'll catch a hat trick that the Reck (i just coined that, fuck you) posted for the Pens back in '06.

Obviously, he can be a help on the power play when paired with people who know how to move the puck.
Now we'll move back to the blue line and check out the newest member of the defensive coprs, Steve Montador. Monty is a gritty guy who will throw his body around and doesn't back down from a challenge. Fortunately, we don't lose points in the standings for bad performances in fights. Each of these two videos show Monty dropping the gloves. In one, he holds his own for a while against Brad May, who could really throw down. In the other, he gets outright killed by none other than the P Bruins Jeremy Reich (enjoy the Jack fight call).

Like I said, good thing we don't get penalized for having a fighter get his fuckin ass handed to him. That said, i like the type of player he clearly is. His bigger body of work is important though, and i think this next clip is the kind of thing a good scout would've noticed. This is an Anaheim power play, wherein Montador storms down from the far slot and levels Andrew Alberts (BC SUCKS) to clear the way for a veritable 3 on 1 in front that leads to a goal.

We'll learn alot more over the next 19 games, but I can understand why these moves were made. Much like the GM himself said, i'm glad they were depth moves that did not cost us anything from the core roster. This is exactly what should allow a good team to get better!