Tag: NHL

Bruins vs Leafs

The series between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs is sort of following the Boston tradition as far as confidence vs panic is concerned. The Bruins took game one pretty easily. Fans started planning the Stanley Cup victory parade. In game two, the Maple Leafs kicked our sorry asses. Boston fans responded by wandering out onto the Tobin bridge, prepared to hurl themselves off. Last night the Bruins took game three and again the Cup is ours, guaranteed.

But they sure played like crap in the third period, didn’t they?

Death to the NHL

So is it true that people who bought into the NHL’s radio broadcast via their iOS app have to buy in again for the playoffs? This despite the fact they only played half of a season this year?

This better not be true. It most certainly better not be true.

2013 NHL Quarterfinal Predictions

This is the time of year when I have some goofy fun making NHL playoff predictions.  This year?  I could give a crap.  I am still so pissed off about the lock out that the entire league has been boring to me.  I just don’t care that much about a league that doesn’t give a rats ass about its fans.

So this year I am just going through the motions.  I’ll watch the playoffs.  I’ll root for my Bruins, even though they spent the better part of the last two months playing as if they couldn’t give a rats ass about anything.  I’ll try to be engaged, but I’m not holding my breath.

Every year when I make my first round picks I preface it by saying that these are not based on anything other than my gut, and my gut is often wrong.  This year I mean that even more because in the abortion of a half-a-season we were stuck with, I barely noticed any of these teams at all.

So here goes.  Starting in the East.

Penguins vs Islanders.  Congrats, Long Island (soon to be Brooklyn).  You got back to the playoffs.  Now die quickly so the Pens can work on getting healthy.  Go Pittsburgh.

Canadiens vs Senators.  Obviously the Canadiens are going to kick the holy hell out of the Senators, but I am rooting for Ottawa here.  They are a shell of themselves, what with the 11,036 injuries (that’s a Tempest Fero reference, for those in the know) and all.  Because of this, they are the cinderellas of the East.  They should have fallen apart ages ago, yes the term “ages” is sarcastic in this 48 game bullshit of a season.  Still, I am going to pick them to hang on long enough to beat the team that I hate the most.  Go Ottawa.

Capitols vs Rangers.  Who gives a shit.  I completely hate them both.  Go Refs.  Urgh, but if I had to pick one… I guess the Rangers, but I hate them too much to say Go New York.

Bruins vs Maple Leafs.  Obviously, I’m picking the Bruins.  Unfortunately I am pretty sure they are going to lose, and their death will be not with a bang but a whimper (that’s a TS Elliot reference, for those in the know).  The team that prides itself on defense can’t hold a third period lead.  How many games do they have to throw away before people stop seeing them as contenders and start seeing them for the mediocre crap team that got off to a really fast start that they are?  I’ll give them the Go Boston, but don’t come crying to me when the Leafs knock them out in the first round.

Blackhawks vs Wild.  Congratulations, Wild.  You get to be destroyed by the Blackhawks.  Enjoy your four games.  Go Chicago.

Red Wings vs Ducks.  It sure is going to be fun watching the storied Detroit franchise get blown away by a Disney Movie.  Go Anaheim.

Canucks vs Sharks.  I am going against my better judgement and picking the team that always always always lets me down, and as a result I always always always swear I will never pick them again.  Yet I some how always do.  Go San Jose.  I think I just guaranteed you’ll lose, but I am picking you anyway.

Blues vs Kings.  The Kings didn’t let me down last year.  I’m sure they will this year, but hopefully not in the first round.  Go L.A..

There you have it.  My stupid, pointless picks for a stupid, pointless lock out season.

Go Bruins.

They Got Their Defenseman

For weeks now, we’ve been hearing that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was going to try to add  a forward and a defenseman.  Yesterday they got the forward in Jaromir Jagr.  Today they got the defenseman.

Wade Redden.

Unfortunately.

Redden is a former Ottawa teammate of Zdeno Chara and Chris Kelly.  I can recall a while back when Ottawa was in a pickle over which of their two excellent defensemen they were going to sign and which they were going to let get away via free agency.  They signed Chara.  They let Redden walk.  He signed a large contract with the Rangers and ended up being the captain of their AHL affiliate.  He became the poster child for NHL teams who hide huge, bad contracts in the minors.  When the new CBA eliminated that loophole, the Rangers bought him out and he signed with the Blues.  He has five points in 23 games this year.  Not exactly a show stopper.

The Bruins gave up a seventh round pick for him, so it’s not that bad a deal.  I hope Redden can find a little of his old self by being around Chara again.  I sort of expect him to be a spot starter who is a healthy scratch more often than not.  He’s probably better than some of the Providence players we’ve had filling in for injuries, but not by much.

The big news for Bruins fans, however is that Patrice Bergeron seems to have suffered concussion last night.  Without him, we aren’t going far.  Get well soon.

Is That All it Took

I don’t get it.

The Bruins opened the season on fire, but then went into a skid. Over the last few weeks they have looked at times bored, confused, and just plain bad. Yeah, they beat the Sabers the other night, but they looked like they slept through the first 40+ minutes or so. It was enough to make one worry about the future.

Then yesterday they get a 41 year old fossil in a trade. Yes he can still play, but his career is older than some of the players. I’m not knocking him, really, he’s just very old in hockey terms. Lets face it, Jagr and I are the same age.

The newly acquired Jaromir Jagr will join the team today and make his game debut tomorrow. What about last night though? The Bruins played the Never Say Die Senators without their new future hall of famer. How did they play? Like maniacs, that’s how. They still managed only three goals in their 3-2 win, but they were flying around the ice like they had something to prove. They actually looked awake and into the game. It was awesome to watch!

My question then is, was that all it took? Was the difference between boring and awesome simply grabbing a fossil off the rental heap? If so, why didn’t they grab some old guy two weeks ago?

In all seriousness, I’m looking forward to seeing Jagr play in a Bruins uniform.

In more all seriousness, I still would have preferred getting Iginla.

In still more seriousness, if Patrice Bergeron is going to miss games due to what ever caused him to leave in the 2nd period last night then the season is over. Bergeron is by far our best player (no offense to Zdeno Chara) and we simply are not winning anything without him. Fingers crossed.

Jagr to the Bruins?

The Hockey News is reporting that the Bruins have acquired Jaromir Jagr from Dallas for two draft picks and two prospects.  Here is the story.

So the question is, do we believe it?  Is Jagr going to wait until midnight tonight and decide he would rather go back to Pittsburgh?  Should we believe anything the hockey press tells us?  Should we believe anything NHL General Managers tell us?

If it’s true, is it a good pick up?  Yeah, it’s okay.  He’s ancient at 41 years old, but he still has some of his old skill.  Every year the Bruins try to trade for some one who will beef up their anemic power play.  Jagr has as good a chance of righting that particular ship as anyone in the league.

I would have greatly preferred getting Jarome Iginla.  I have no proof to back this up, but I have always been given the impression that Iginla is a major team guy, while Jagr is much more selfish.  I guess Boston will find out.

Assuming, of course, he doesn’t end up in Pittsburgh.

Is Iginla Coming to Boston Tonight?

Word on the street is that Calgary has scratched Jarome Iginla tonight, and that the Providence Bruins have also scratched a couple of players.

Is Jarome coming to Boston as soon as tonight?

That would be SO FREAKIN’ AWESOME!

Of course we trail Montreal 2-1 right now.

Jarome Iginla

The NHL trade deadline is coming.  It’s time for the annual, “Wouldn’t Jarome Iginla look good in a Bruins uniform?” discussions.  Whenever Calgary starts slipping the conversation inevitably begins.  He should ask for a trade for the good of the team.  The team needs to trade their best player ever for the good of the franchise.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.  Eventually the topic always turns to how Boston should go out and get him.

A few years ago I was fully in the do-whatever-it-takes-to-get-this-guy camp.  Now… he’s getting old.  He’s 35, which is very old for most hockey players.  He’s not going to come into Boston and light the lamp 50 times in the final month of the season.  He’s not going to show up and solve all of our offensive problems.  He’s probably not even going to be one of our top scorers.  Should we still pay the unquestionably high price to get him?

HELL YES!

When the Bruins traded for Marc Recchi a few years ago, I was insulted.  Recchi was ancient by hockey standards, and his best years were so far behind him it was sick.  Then he got here and became “The Veteran”.  He set himself up as the elder statesman.  All of the young players looked up to him.  All of them saw him as a role model.  All of them saw his Stanley Cup rings and bought in.  What happened?  Well, just a Stanley Cup a couple of years later.  That’s all.

Iginla is better now than Recchi was then.  He’s never won a championship, but most of the current roster has, so we don’t need that sort of leadership like we did when Recchi got here.  What we do have is a bunch of forwards who go through streaks where they struggle to score goals.  Iginla can assume the role of “The Veteran” and smoothe out all of those scary times when Lucic and Horton and Marchant and Seguin all suddenly forget how to score.  Look at me, he can say, I’m Jarome Iginla and I have twice hit the 50 goals in a season mark.  Learn from me as I demonstrate the wonders of hard work and consistency.

On top of that, throughout his career Iginla has been an A list power forward.  He is what Milan Lucic needs to be.  Wants to be.  Must be.  Trading for Iginla would be worth it just so he could teach Looch what he needs to learn.

People are already complaining about the possibility of the Bruins giving up Malcolm Subban.  Subban is 19, playing in juniors, and a very late first round pick.  In other words, he hasn’t done anything real yet (no offense) and he won’t be ready to contribute at the NHL level for a while.  I hear people saying three years but that seems super optimistic to me.  I say deal him to Calgary and then work your black and gold asses off to sign Iginla for a few more years.

I ask you, wouldn’t Jarome Iginla look good in a Boston Bruins uniform?

I answer you.  Yes, yes he would.

Go get him!

Goal!

Martin Brodeur is the greatest goalie in the history of professional hockey.  Last night, he was also a goal scoring machine.

It wasn’t a case of “he shoots he scores”, it was more like “he makes a save during a delayed penalty and some Whaler makes a crappy pass that banks off the boards in the New Jersey end and deflects all the way down to the Whaler’s end and goes right smack into the middle of the net”.

It was the third goal of his career.  100 years from now, some kid walking through the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is going to see the Martin Brodeur display and it is going to list his career stats:
9 billion wins.
2 billion shutouts.
3 goals.

Note, I have watched this video but I have not listened to it.  I do not know if any hockey announcers say anything stupid or not.  You’ve been warned.

Staying with the hockey theme, as I posted yesterday, I got home from picking up the kids and put the game on the radio.  By radio, I mean the CBS radio iPhone app that streams 98.5 WBZ FM.  As soon as the stream reached my ear pods Ottawa scored.  I listened for a while feeling completely underwhelmed by the Bruins performance.  Before the second period ended I put the game on the TV.  With less than two minutes left in the second the Bruins tied the game.  Intermission started, I went to say good night to the first step child.  I then watched some of the third period and the Bruins were not the snooze inducing hockey boredom machines they had been in the second.  They had a little more life.  I had to go downstairs and do some laundry business, then say good night to the second step child, then turn out all the lights and lock the doors, then get into bed.  I had planned to listen to the end of the game while reading a little, but I was a little late.  I checked the score.  Bruins win 2-1.

This season’s shortened schedule really is an insult to hockey lovers everywhere.  The Bruins have played 29 games and we’re already nearly 75% of the way through the season.  That’s garbage.  The reason you play a long season is so that everyone can get the crap kicked out of them by life itself, and the really good teams separate themselves from the not so good teams.  That’s not going to happen this year.  I mean, the Leafs are in sixth in the East.  That’s all the proof you need!

Having said that, I don’t really see the Bruins contending for the Cup the way many in the press seem to.  They just don’t have the fire yet.  They don’t have the killer instinct.  They have lost four games in which they had the lead in the third period.  When they are good they are outstanding.  When they aren’t good they are maddeningly boring and mediocre.

The third period last night was a nice change from the recent snooze.  Let’s hope the momentum continues Saturday night in Toronto.

Go Bruins.

Bruins Question

I have a question about my Boston Bruins.

Why is it that almost every time I turn on the game, the B’s opponent immediately scores a goal? It just happened again. I came home from getting the kids at karate class, popped the game onto the radio, and BAM, Ottawa scores.

I fear our Stanley Cup dreams are slipping more each day.