Game Day Thoughts

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!

Off Season Dolldrums: Episode 1 - Trade Rumors

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...

Injury Update

This from Steve Conroy of the Herald this morning...

"Milan Lucic, who missed Saturday’s game against Washington after taking a punch to the jaw from Anaheim’s Mike Brown last Thursday, skated but wore the red no-contact jersey. Julien said he’s “a possibility” for tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Matt Hunwick remained in Lucic’s left wing spot on the Marc Savard-Phil Kessel [stats] line. . . ."

And here i thought it was his hand from breaking the back of Brown's head bucket.

Turning Point

Michael J Fox once narrated the best hockey highlight video ever produced (by Lechmere of all companies) in 1990. Believe it or not, Mike Milbury was our coach back then and many old timers like Neely, Bourque and yes, Andy Brickley roamed the ice for our black and gold boys. In that video, there's a great game around thanksgiving where the Bruins came together as a team and began to go on a run that would lead them to the #1 overall seed, and eventually the runner up in the Cup finals. That game was a 3-2 win over Montreal with some of the most exciting goals i can recall in the regular season. Fuck Roy. Reach for the Stars ruled.

Last night's game had a turning point feel. I sat at lunch today with my Father, trying to guage his growing enthusiasm for the team he loves, but has been so detached from since those days when i was a kid. He brought it up before i could. "Boy, we sure didn't need any help finding the net last night!", he remarked. Darn right. As we talked about the game and its progression i found myself looking to the 3rd goal as really being the turning point. For 35 minutes, the Bruins didn't look ANY different than the Bruins of these last 4 weeks. We were up, but despite a 2-1 advantage in shots, we only held a one goal lead and were actually being run around our own end frequently giving a constant feeling of another shoe, waiting to drop on our defense.

Then something happened. It may have been Kobasew's hit and ensuing fight, it may have been the play of that 3rd and fourth lines (both of whom were the best lines on the ice all game) and it may have been nothing. We may have just awoken from a mid-season slumber, but somehow, Byron Bitz's slam home for a 3-1 lead triggered the most dominant 20+ minutes of hockey this Bruins team has played in a long time. Early on, shots would get through and no one would be there for the rebound. Passes would be made, but they'd be out of reach or bouncing (like a bad high school game). Finally...it clicked. The rebounds were ours, and there were a shit-ton of them. The hits were everywhere and Timmy just did what he always does.

I really believe there was something different in the water bottles after the second period. That was a statement period. Florida is dangerous. They are young, energetic and fighting for a playoff spot - successfully at the moment. They're gaining confidence. On home ice, the B's did the necesarry. They sent a message. We are done rolling over. This is the team we have, this is the team we can and will win with. Chiarelli alluded to as much that morning, telling the Globe's Fluto Shinzawa that he was "apt to keep the young core together". The team got the message.

Now my concern still lies in the shaky D and more urgently, in the first line. Despite Kessel's goal the other night, they've looked at a loss in the offensive zone for weeks now. Kessel was all over the place last night forechecking, but he was also on a completely different page from Savvy in the passing game. Lucic looked like the smartest of the 3, and due respect to the young tough guy, but that shouldn't be the case.

Speaking of Lucic, i've been getting requests for fight video's of his, so here's a beauty with a pleasurable back story for my choosing it (aside from the fact that it involves last night's opponent). Back in 2005, i was in Cleveland Circle at the City Side bar on Marathon Monday. What's that equal, you ask? Drinking at 11am i reply. While doing so, i encounter about 6 Bruins players and a number of BC Eagle Hockey players at the bar. This began with the following drunken (on my part) exchange in the line outside the Men's room.

Me: (taps guy in front of me on shoulder) "Hey there, you probably get this alot, but have you ever been told you look exactly like Brian Leetch?"

Guy: "Heh, i don't mind. Yes, i have" (turns back around)

Me: "Sonofabitch, you're Brian Leetch! You're great!! You should re-sign"

Brian Leetch: "I would love to, but i don't think they want me back"

Me: (mumbles inaudibly, walks away embarrased).

Now this was two weeks after our terrible season had concluded and these guys were just trying to relax. In Leetch's case, he was reaizing his career was over and he'd have to start playing golf 330 days a year...tough life. To me though, it actually was great proof that Hockey players are the coolest, most humble professional athlete's out there, except maybe Curlers. Anyway, I proceeded outside where, to my amusement, i found Nick Boynton bumming a ciggarette off my buddy. Nick Boynton sucks. He sucked here. He sucks in Florida. He's slow...maybe its the fuckin CIGGARETTES!!!

I think that's the message Milan was trying to convey to him here...

Ducks tomorrow...Peking Duck.

Back In Black

Look out folks...we just might be getting healthy.

Significantly strapped and sporting alot of baby (B) faces over the last month, the Bruins have benefited from a January that has seen 8 of the 11 games played at home. We've gone 7-3-1 over that stretch, despite missing all those guys previously lamented about in this space.

Well, now they're coming back. Kessel and Ryder return tonight from illness and Bergy, Ference and Lucic made their returns on Tuesday. The only interesting note on the injury front is Manny, though. Seeming to be our best trade chip going into the February deadline, his recent back woes are obviously cause for concern, but i digress.

Watch out league...