Finally showing up...

I'll admit it. It's been a little depressing watching the last couple Bruins games down in North Carolina. Not only has the home ice advantage been prevalent in the relevant PIMs, but Boston has been unable to kill penalties in anyway whatsoever. I think their 5-on-5 was getting a lot better in games 3 (which they could have easily won, taking it to OT) and 4 (which was a lot closer than the score would let one, tied 1-1 going into the third). Still, this wasn't the Bruins we were used to seeing.

Until Game 5...

First of all, I just want to state the fact that every playoff game I've been to this year the Bruins have won (side note: the Yankees have won every game I've been to). Unfortunately for the B's, should this go to a Game 7, I will be on the left coast and unable to attend. If they wanted to send me a jet and hook me up with a suite for Thursday night's showing, I wouldn't object. But I digress...

The most shocking thing for me last night was looking up on the scoreboards at the Garden and seeing the shot totals. I'm not saying that the final score of 4-0 wasn't impressive, because it was. We saw offensive performance from proven goal scorers Recchi and Kessel. I'm also not saying that Timmy's performance in net was lacking, because it wasn't. He had to work for all 19 of his saves. However, when I looked up on the board and saw shot totals in the area of Bos 8 - Car 0 and Bos 15 - Car 2, I had to turn to the people next to me to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong.

In a big change from the last few games, Boston dominated its PK. They were pushing the action even down a player, giving up few (if any, I honestly didn't keep track) shots for Carolina's PP. It was great to see such an improvement in this and really all areas of the Bruins' game. Great Game 5 win. Hopefully, this momentum will carry over into games 6 and 7.

A to be continued is left for this post as I'm awaiting Colin Campbell's decision about how many games to suspend Scott Walker for for sucker punching Aaron Ward at the end of the game and possible breaking the left orbital bone in his face (see: decided outcome, message sending, and injured player).

Bruins Games 1, 2 Recap

In an absolute shocker last night, I watched the Bruins, averaging 4 goals a game through the playoffs so far, get shut out by the a mediocre 'Canes team. Maybe it's because a bunch of jerk-off bandwagon fans got tickets instead of me. All I'm saying is that so far in the playoffs when I show up the Bruins win. Anyway, let's break down what the difference was between a dominating win Friday and a pathetic loss Sunday...

Physical Play: Friday night it was apparent the the Bruins had the freshest legs on the ice (probably thanks to the rest). Not only were they finishing checks and winning one-on-one battles (something that was only around for the first period Sunday), but they were consistently pestering shift after shift which gave way to Carolina mistakes and Bruins goals. Sunday was completely opposite with Carolina players taking every liberty they could to hit after the whistle, none of which was reciprocated by a sluggish Boston team. If the refs are going to allow the Carolina big men to shove Savvy/Kess/Chuck/Bergy around after the puck is frozen then Chara needs to step in around Thomas and clean house. (It got really pathetic at the end when the refs appeared to be letting every late shot go, unlike Round 1 or even the first game of this series.)

Neutral Zone: Another complete reversal of roles from Friday to Sunday came between the blue lines. Boston was really able to dominate Game 1 by always being a step ahead in the neutral zone. They read Carolina's breakouts well and capitalized while a flat footed 'Canes team got minimal penetration and even fewer quality scoring chances. Now substitute "Boston" for "Carolina" in that last sentence, and that is what you saw last night. When Boston got it into the offensive end they cycled well but the staggering of Carolina's D and confrontation in the neutral zone made Boston look especially sloppy.

Cam Ward: Ward saw something like 39 shots from the Bruins and stopped all of them. Part of this was the poor scoring chances by Boston, but I think a lot of this was Ward having the game of his life. I've seen him through the season put on these spectacular shows but the reason the 'Canes are 6th in the East is because it's not something he does every night. If he brings it again the rest of this series, though, it'll be tough for the Bruins to win another game.

That's all. I've got to get off the blog so I can buy my Game 5 tickets. I'll leave you with the quote of the night from Aaron Ward: "That's obviously a display of how not to play hockey on our end."

Catching Up - Bruins

Well, I just dropped the fiance off at the airport so she could go on a cruise with her girlfriends. What am I going to do with the apartment to myself for a few days? I think I'll start by catching up on my banters...

I think a big part of my lack of interest in writing has been the days off for the Bruins. It was not at all shocking (to me, at least) that the B's completed their sweep of Montreal a week ago today. To all of you people that thought the series would go 5 or 6 games, shame on you. (I don't even want to acknowledge people who said there would be a game 7 because they are oblivious to the sport of hockey.) Ask my friends. I knew this would be a sweep from the get go. The only doubt I had (which, I admit, is embarrassing) was after Lucic got suspended. I thought some directive might have been passed down in a secret memo that the Habs having no post-season game wins in their 100th season would be bad for the league. Nonetheless, the Bruins prevailed and waited a week before even knowing who they were going to play.

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for a repeat. Bruins will sweep the Canes and Ovechkin/Crosby will run to 6 games (if the Caps can bring it more than they did against NY). Once again, the NHL will pay no attention to the Bruins as they walk all over Carolina. Instead, expect to see a lot of press on the NHL's wet dream of a match-up between the Caps/Pens.

A couple more media clips for the B's...
Aaron Ward, who is hilarious on the Toucher and Rich Show's "Ward Wednesdays," was talking this morning about his intimate knowledge of the Canes' playbook from his Stanley Cup-winning time in Raleigh. Also, there's an article in the Globe today about Ward. Read it here.

Also, I had to throw in the Vezina press release. Thomas, ever the wizard with words, gets interviewed below. (For the record: Flint, Michigan also produced Michael Moore; and my brother, who went to UVM for a semester, can speak just fine.) Congrats, Timmy.

Looch-Gate Wrap-Up

While this issue is still bugging me and is probably going to until the B's prep for their second round opponent, I thought it would be a good idea to post a closing entry (wow, accounting terminology) just to collect what I thought were good, bad, and ugly pieces that have run on the Lucic saga and the events across the league leading up to it.

I thought I'd start off with this first video just to start off on a lighter note:



I love the fact that Kovalev loses the stick. This was tough to watch from where I was in the balconey, but I can't stop watching the replay now. Anyway, I've heard people say that this late hit should have resulted in a Lapierre suspension if Colin Campbell (d-bag extraordinaire) wanted to be consistent. Either that or this elbow on Hunwick in the last seconds of game one:



Or the eye gouging that followed (watch Komasarek shake off his glove and go in with his bare hand):




While i think it's dumb that an elbow to the head and an eye-gouging are ignored, none are 100% clear on video replay. NHL VP's remarks stated they were part of the game, but if you're going to let that go, you need to get Looch's hit go, too. Here's the Lucic hit:



After the joke of an explanation given by Colin Campbell, we're all still left to question why exactly Lucic was suspended and what in the future is a suspension-worthy offense. (See previous post for ruling and my reaction.) Looking for some sort of sick justice I found the video below before and was happy when Jack Edwards in a great piece he wrote in his blog entitled "Dartboard justice in the NHL." Ron MacLean who's an acclaimed hockey reporter in Canada, asks Campbell the tough questions about Looch-Gate and other events in the first round of the playoffs. Campbell's response is priceless and really shows how out of touch with the game he really is.




That's all I'm going to say on the issue. Go B's. I'm hoping for the sweep tonight so that I can watch the Yanks/Sox series this weekend.

I Shot the Sheriff

I just had to make another post today...today the NHL punished Milan Lucic with a one game suspension for dealing out the type of punishment you would expect in return for having your teammate nearly lose an eye a couple nights before. Below is a link to the article and the comment I posted on NHL.com in response:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=419078

Colin Campbell should probably worry about death threats now. I mean come on. How stupid do you think we all are, Colin?? Do you think we should all just sit around and take this up the ass from you and the NHL??? This has to be the most disgusting case of favoritism I’ve ever seen in my life. This is just about as bad as O.J. getting away with murder. Expect a book coming out in the next few years entitled “(If) I Rigged the NHL.”

Colin let’s roll back the clock to last Friday (4/17) and your comments from “The Situation Room” (which I’m pretty sure you are stealing from CNN and they should sue your ass)…

When you suspended Carcillo, you said the NHL looked at “number of criteria there to satisfy doing what (you) had to do” including the time in the game (at the very end), the decided outcome of the game (the Flyers were going to lose), and the apparent intent of the imposing party to send a message (we need to beat you up now to show you we can beat you next game because we lost this one).

When you did nothing after the infractions at the end of the Bruins Game 1 you state that, despite the actions coming at the very end of the game when there was a decided outcome and as an attempt by the losing team to send a message, “You’ve got to let the games unfold. You’ve got to let hockey be hockey, playoffs be playoffs.” The only fathomable excuse you could have for tolerating eye-gouging is the fact that it’s not 100% clearly caught on camera (you only see Komasarek face wash Hunwick, then pull his hand away, shake off his glove, and grab at Hunwick’s face with his bare hand).

Now Lucic comes along and has been hit late and hit high by Montreal throughout game one and game two. He gets high-sticked and retaliates by cross-checking, both of which resulted in correct corresponding calls. Two Montreal players then engaged Lucic in a scrum afterward at which time Lapierre finally gets the courage to skate in and attack Lucic. However, he doesn’t get the chance as Lucic swings a fist (albeit while holding his stick) and connects with Lapierre. You even have the audacity to admit that “it is unclear whether Lucic’s glove or stick makes contact with Lapierre.” But because you watch this 30 seconds of the game and because you think that Lucic is the only one doing anything reckless on the ice all night (when having a league embarrassment like Laraque on the ice is reckless in and of itself), all of a sudden this is completely different than the events at the end of game one.

All of a sudden, this — THIS — is deserving of a one game suspension? How is this an act of bad sportsmanship at the end of the game by a member of the losing team? How is this Lucic trying to say that the Bruins may be losing this game but we want to make a statement so we will win the next one? The only statement the Bruins are making is that they can win and win big despite all of the cheap shots your touted refs are allowing from Montreal, and that if you come out and gouge out the eyes of one of them, your going to have to face a whole pack of bears the next game.

All I can say is that if I were you, I, too, would probably need your cheap Montreal hookers and their drugs to sleep at night. Have fun with the extra security detail you’ll need for the rest of the playoffs.

Manges Merde, Montreal

Wow.

Talk about a statement game. For all of the Canadians fans that ranted on and on since 10pm Thursday about how weak a Bruins team this was and how easily Boston could be beaten, I'd love to hear what you have to say now. Yet, in the blogs and forums I frequent and in the articles I've been reading -- silence.

If you ever wanted proof of how bias the NHL is for Montreal, go no further than NHL.com. Every article written about the series that shows up on that site is how Montreal is going to come back and win the series, how when Montreal gouges out someone's eyes at the end of a game it's an incident that can be laughed off, and how the rules demand the Lucic be suspended indefinitely for punching (with stick in hand) one of the several Canadians players involved in an odd-man after the whistle rush on the B's young enforcer.

Don't worry. This is wear the die hard Bruins fan base comes in (like yours truly) and tears the NHL apart. And while this is normally rebutted by Habs fans talking about "hey we're going to kick your ass next game," today has been different. Today the normally energetic cheers coming down from our northern border are missing and with good reason. Nothing Montreal tried during the first two games in Boston worked. Georges Laraque proved once again that he can't skate or stick handle at all and would have trouble playing against a high school girls team (junior varsity, at that). Good job putting him on the first line, Bob. I think the ultimate admition of defeat may have come when Montreal tried to take on a strategy of instigating offsetting penalties to get in a 4-on-4 situation because they can't beat the B's 5-on-5. It was completely obvious how overmatched Habs were and my previous predictions of 'Bruins in 5' may be overestimating the red plague.

On a more positive note, the Big Bad Bruins steamrolled last night. Savard, finally showing the offensive talent that he is, hit the scoreboard big. I even thought his first goal of the night was actually of Montador until seeing the replay. Savard literally shot the puck while it was still on Montador's stick at the top of the slot. Boston would add 4 more goals before Carey was chased before the start of the third. That was probably the loudest Carey has ever heard his name chanted. It's too bad it was in a taunting manner.

Lastly, who knew Bergy was a lefty? Yes, you know it has to be an intense atmosphere for Patrice Bergeron, one of the most skilled players on the ice, to throw down for his first fighting major in the NHL. It sure didn't look like his first go, though. Josh Georges must have been in shock as he could barely land a single punch while Patrice connected on blow after blow before delivering a knee-buckling left hook to end it.

Bravo, Bruins. Bravo.

A little sluggish, but I'll take the Game 1 Win

First of all, I wanted to say how impressed I am with the representation of Bruins fans. (I won't yell at you all for jumping on the bandwagon just because in March you realized your B's had been on top of the East since November.) Having been around the Garden and at the playoffs last year, I can't believe how absolutely daunting the black and gold colors were amongst the attendees as compared to Hab red. When last year it seemed like about a third of the fans at the games had taken the drive down from Quebec, this year Boston fans have made up for it and then some. Last year, after the busloads of Canadians fans were dropped off in front of the Garden, the crowd of red cheered so loudly that they could be heard from several blocks away. At last night's game, I saw only small pockets of the enemy of no more than 10 in size warily wading through the Bruins faithful.

Despite what I've heard from many analysts after the game, I thought the Bruins fed well off the electricity of the crowd in the first. Maybe not as well as the should have as they completely outmatch the Canadians up and down the roster. Still being up 2 goals 15 minutes in is playing like they should. (I also texted 81 for the first goal contest but didn't win the jersey. Damnit.)

The air was let out of the building after the first Montreal goal near the end of the first. It seemed like the crowd was feeling vulnerable, and the nerves in the stands carried out onto the ice for the second period. The intensity died down, and the apparent overthinking by the home team lead to sloppy clears and minimal time in the offensive end.

Knowing the game was on the line in the third pulled the fans back into it. (It also could have been the Pretender montage they put on HDX at the end of the second intermission. That always gets me fired up.) Shot totals for the B's were up big leading to the PP chance and goal by Chara on a 100+ mph one time slapper (that's 160+ kph in Canada). The buzz in the building was so high after that it was game over. The Lucic to Kessel empty netter was icing and brought out the classiness of this Montreal team. Hopefully if any tempers carry over to the next game Boston will keep a level head.

Boston fans, however, will probably just let it build up for next time. I'll give credit to the Habs fans for putting up with the torment that can be expected in a crowd like last night. (I know exactly what wearing the rival's colors feels like.) That being said, they would have been better off watching from home. Maybe they'll heed this advice for Game 2.