Yes I know I need to write another baseball playoff prediction post, but for now…
Who cares! The NHL opens tonight! Game On!
Bruins and Flyers tonight at 7:30. The revenge of the 2nd round out begins tonight!
Go Bruins!
Tag: NHL
2014-15 Boston Bruins
The Bruins are holding captains practices in Wilmington, leading up to training camp a couple of weeks from now.
The playoff loss to Montreal left a bitter taste in my mouth, but in a different way then losing to Chicago in the finals did the season before last.
After Chicago I didn’t want anything to do with hockey. It was too sad. Too depressing to have come so close and lost.
This year though, I’m PISSED! I want revenge. On Montreal. On the division. On the conference. On the whole bloody NHL!
Kick all their asses, Bruins! Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance!
Now that the summer is unofficially over it is time to start jonzin’ for hockey.
NHL Free Agency Day Update
It took about two and a half hours, but Jarome Iginla signed a three year deal with Colorado.
Well, it was nice having one of my favorite players ever on the team for a year at least. Good luck, Iggy. May the Bruins play a role in dashing any hopes you have of that illusive championship.
NHL Free Agency Day
We are a shade under 90 minutes into the NHL’s annual free agent feeding frenzy.
As of right now, Jarome Iginla is still available. Let’s hope he decided he loves Boston more than long term deals and great big gobs of cash.
Let’s hope.
Hardware for a Couple of Bruins
The NHL awards are tonight. Tuukka Rask won a much deserved Vezina trophy (the award given to the top goalie in the league) and Patrice Bergeron won the Selke trophy in an absolute no-brainer (the award given to the best defensive forward). Zdeno Chara lost out in his bid for another Norris Trophy to Duncan Keith (the award given to the best defenseman).
Congratulations to everyone who took home some hardware tonight, especially to the Bruins.
Still would have preferred a Stanley Cup.
2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions Wrap Up
Sometimes I almost know what I’m talking about, don’t I.
In the first round of the playoffs (are they still called the quarterfinals or are they now called Division semifinals? Who knows) I correctly picked the winner of seven out of eight series. In the second round I correctly picked the winner of three out of the four series (friggin’ Bruins). In the third round I picked the winner in two out of two series. How’d I do in the Stanley Cup Finals?
What do you think? It was a complete no-brainer. The Bruins might have had a chance over the Western Conference winner. The Penguins, if they had their shit together, might have had a chance over the Western Conference winner.
No other team from the Eastern Conference even had a prayer. The only thing that surprised me about the Rangers vs Kings series is that the Kings didn’t sweep. They must have forgotten to eat their Wheaties that day because I can’t imagine any other factor that could have resulted in a Kings loss. Sure the games were mostly close and there was a lot of overtime. Did it really matter? I don’t think so. I find it easier to believe that L.A. was messing with us by letting New York stay close than to believe the two teams were a good match up.
So in summation I picked the winner in 13 out of the 15 series. That puts me at an 86.6% success rate. I would have traded it all to see the Bruins drink from the cup again, but it was not to be.
As for the Bruins, after the events that lead to Shawn Thornton’s massive suspension last season, is it really a surprise that the team is moving on? Yes he’s a great character guy and everyone loves him, including me, but he has some seriously negative baggage to carry around now. The Bruins want to be thought of as big and bad and mean, but they don’t want to have anything to do with anything Matt Cooke-esque and sadly, for one night last year… for one fleeting moment, Shawn Thornton was Matt Cooke-esque. I believe in my heart that he was a huge part of our success in the recent past, but after what happened last year I agree that Shawn Thornton has to go away. I’m sorry about that. I love the guy as much as any Bruins fan does, but he has to go away.
2014 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Predictions
Yippee, Bruins free NHL. Urgh.
Doesn’t it just suck that I have been super accurate in my predictions this year and one of the only pics I got wrong was on my favorite team? Jerks.
I correctly picked the winner in seven of eight first round series, and three of four second round series (friggin’ Bruins).
How’d I do with the two third round series?
I picked the hated Rangers over the more hated Canadiens. The Rangers won. I got it right.
I picked the Kings over the hated Blackhawks. The Kings won. I got it right.
So 7/8 in the first round plus 3/4 in the second round plus 2/2 in the third round gives me 12/14 overall for a winning percentage of 85.7%. Not bad, I guess. The only team I cared about happened to be one of the two I got wrong. (stupid Bruins).
This brings us to the Stanley Cup Finals. Before I make my pick, let me say that since the start of the season it has been a foregone conclusion that the only teams in the East with a prayer of beating the West were the Bruins and the Penguins. Are either of those teams in the finals? No? Can you guess who I’m picking?
Kings vs Rangers. The minute the Bruins lost I transferred my hockey allegiance to the Kings. That is irrelevant. The only way I could have possibly picked an Eastern Conference team in this match up would have been if the Bruins were the Eastern representative. For any other match up, I would pick the Western team. The West has been so good this year that they’ve made the East look like a youth league. I’m picking the Kings. I’m just really glad I get to pick a team I don’t hate.
There you have it, hockey fans. The dork who has been right 85% of the time this year is picking the Kings. Place your bets (but only if you’re dumb because I honestly have no clue what I’m doing)
2014 NHL Conference Finals Predictions That I No Longer Care About
Yippee.
I picked seven out of eight series in the first round.
In the second round I picked:
The Rangers over the Penguins. I got it right.
The Blackhawks over the Wild. I got it right. You suck, Matt Cooke.
The Kings over the Ducks. I got it right.
The Bruins over the Canadiens. I got it wrong. Choke. Epic choke. Enjoy that President’s trophy. Way to tank like assholes in games six and seven. Way to not even show up to elimination games. The last two games of the series were so bad that it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the players had money on the game. Injuries, sure, but that was just pathetic.
So I don’t give a shit about anything else.
I got three of four in the 2nd round, which brings me to 10 of 12 over all. That puts me at 83.3% which is probably the best I’ve ever done, at least since I started writing them down ahead of time. The Bruins are out of it though, so who gives a flying leap.
This sucks.
Conference Finals predictions:
Canadiens vs Rangers. I loathe them both. I pick the Rangers because they are the lesser of the two hates.
Blackhawks vs Kings. I guess I’m a Kings fan now.
Really, three of the four remaining teams are on my eternal hate list. Nice. I am so interested in the remaining results. That was sarcasm. This sucks. I might never watch another game again.
Is Tonight the Night?
So is tonight the night?
Is tonight the night that the curse of the President’s Trophy takes the Bruins out of the playoffs?
Is tonight the night that the team universally favored to win the Eastern Conference gets eliminated by their arch rival after previously holding a 3-2 lead in the series?
After Monday night’s suck fest, my heart and my head are in agreement. I have to say that yes it is.
If the game five Bruins show up tonight they will have a chance. If the game six Bruins show up, it’s time to start booking tee-times.
I don’t want Bruins hockey to end, but after Monday it would almost feel merciful if it ends tonight.
What the Hell was That?
The Bruins had a 3-2 lead in their 2nd round series against Montreal. How did they respond to their chance to eliminate their arch rival in game six?
They sucked.
They sucked so bad that I can’t see them winning game seven tomorrow. If that’s how you play in an elimination game, you almost don’t deserve to advance. Just put us out of our misery now.
Even the deer that’s grazing on bushes behind the house right now says the Bruins sucked last night.
Montreal scored the game winning goal less than three minutes into the first period. Pathetic.
Inside the Red Head's Head 