Here we go posted by Johnny C

So we all know by now that the story ended the way it shouldn't have.  This was supposed to be the season that the Black and Gold would redeem almost three decades of inferiority to the Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots in terms of championships won--that's still not the case.  This blog will provide insight and analysis on the Bruins moves starting with this offseason as well as commentary, rumors and other interesting stuff that I can find.  Please feel free to comment and click on the ads!Continue reading "Here we go"

The Celtics Lose Game 7 and Boston Officially Loses it's TrophyTown Title posted by Hank Hill

This is just not the Celtics' year. Last night's game 7 looked like a game 4 in a 3-0 series. The Celtics came out without their energy, all out of sync. Clearly, they missed KG. Ray Allen, who we needed to step up, finally did, but he was the only one who showed up to play. Meanwhile, Orlando 21-13 from three point land, was just too much to handle and every shot they took led to me biting my nails off and praying for a comeback that never came. This game was a tough one for Boston to handle; we were losing all game and never made the run that they usually can.

And they just kept adding the pressure and smoking us making MIT, The Professor, Jr, G, Rach, Ro, Dato, KC, Jon, me, and even Murray, wanting to change the channel. But we didn't. We knew that we needed a miracle that just wasn't in the cards. The final score of 101-82 adds to the devastating losses in all of Boston sports. The Pats lost to the NYG in the superbowl; Sox lost to Tampa Bay in game 7; Bruins had an awesome season but just lost game seven last week in the same building as the Celts.

Back to the Celts, they had a good year but losing Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe pretty much ended the Cs season even though we still had a good run.  I believe we should have/could have won last night, as everyone says, but that's the pain of being a sports' fan. But we learned a lot this year--now we have some free agents the Cs need to sign: Big Baby Davis was impressive as was House, Powe, and even Marbury. So this year may be over, but next year you don't want to have the Celtics on your schedule. Off to the Sox.

Boston, you're still my home posted by Tony Rossi

Before I go into my “woe is me” mode for yesterday, let me just say that there was some incredible defense on both sides of the Sox-Angels game.  Although I was furious as the game concluded, I can’t say it wasn’t a fun game to watch.  Whether it was Nick Green cleanly fielding a bunted ball, or Jason Bay diving for a fly in left, the Sox made it clear (at least defensively) that they wanted to win yesterday’s ballgame.    And how about that play by JD Drew to keep the game scoreless in the 8th?  What a play. 

Also, as awful as it was to watch it, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the catch that Hunter made against Pedroia yesterday.  That was one heck of a play.  Sure I was angry in the 10th, but that was one of the best catches I’ve seen.  It wasn’t a diving catch, but it was a great one.  Props to you, Hunter.

Okay, now it’s time to be depressed.  If there was ever a bad day to be a Boston sports fan, yesterday was it.  As if it wasn’t frustrating enough to watch the Sox lose (after loading the bases with only one out in the top of the 12th), then we had to watch the Bruins lose in overtime.  I’m not going to go into a big thing about the Bruins because I don’t know nearly as much about hockey as I do about baseball.  But I will say that they put up one heck of a fight last night.  Great season, B’s, can’t wait to watch you next year!

Yes, I was depressed about both the Sox and Bruins last night.  Although I am not a Celtics fan, I flipped to their game a couple times during commercials for the Bruins and saw that there was yet a third Boston sports team that was not going to get a W.  What a day to be a Bostonian. 

Goaltender Options for the Flyers - Part 2 posted by Kevin Christmann

Part 2 of this series will include Restricted Free Agent options as well as possible acquisitions via trade.

In Part 1 of this series I covered some of the more realistic Unrestricted Free Agent options for the Flyers in their quest to acquire a starting goaltender. In addition to the Unrestricted Free Agent options, there are several viable Restricted Free Agent options. The benefit of restricted free agents is that they are all young…that is, after all, why they are restricted free agents. They are often times coming off their entry level contracts, and just haven’t played enough seasons to be eligible for unrestricted free agency. The bad part about restricted free agency is that, depending on how much the player is signed for, the team is required to pay some sort of draft pick compensation.

The compensation thresholds are dependent upon the salary cap ceiling for that respective season. Since we don’t know what the salary cap will be set at for next season, the compensation thresholds have not been set either.

Last year’s compensation was as follows:

-at or below $863,812 = no compensation

-$863,813 to $1,307,812 = One 3rd round pick

-$1,307,813 to $2,615,625 = One 2nd round pick

-$2,615,626 to $3,923,437 = One 1st round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$3,923,438 to $5,231,249 = One 1st round pick, one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$5,231,250 to $6,539,062 = Two 1st round picks, one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$6,539,063 or above = Four 1st round picks

My Top 10 NHL Defenseman posted by Kevin Christmann

I thought I’d give a top 10 list a shot, and I thought defenseman was the place to start. I’ve noticed that the thoughts regarding the top 10 defenseman in the league are quite erratic, and there doesn’t seem to be a widely accepted pecking order. So I present you with mine. I’ve taken all around play into consideration. Both defensive and offensive abilities have been considered.

1)      Zdeno Chara
Chara is just the most dominant force in the game in my opinion. He is so big players just can’t match up with him. He skates very well for being so big, and it’s damn near impossible to beat him one on one. He can swallow you up physically, and nearly reach from board to board, so he plays incredible defense. He’s a physical presence, and he puts up great offensive numbers, with the NHL’s hardest slapshot this past season. He is currently a nominee for the 2008-2009 Norris Trophy (as the league’s best defenseman).

2)      Nicklas Lidstrom
What can be said about Nicklas Lidstrom? One of the greatest defenseman of All-Time, and he’s been doing it for…well, forever. The guy is 39 years old and has won the Norris Trophy 6 of the past 7 years; with no hockey being played in 2004-2005 due to the lockout. The guy just does it all. He is also currently a nominee (AGAIN) for the Norris Trophy; however, I see Chara taking it from him.

3)      Chris Pronger
Chris Pronger is a guy you either love or hate. If you’re a fan of a team from the West, you probably hate him because he’s been punishing, annoying, and playing stellar defense against your team for years. He is a hard nosed, and frankly, probably a pretty annoying guy, but that is what makes him such a great player. He’s physically imposing, plays fantastic defense, and puts up offensive numbers. As a Flyers fan, he is exactly the kind of player I’d love to see in Orange and Black.

Bruins Cup could give Boston Most Dominant Decade Ever posted by D.M. Lannon

The American sports landscape has been continually tattooed with dynastic labels like “Team of the Year” or “Team of the Decade.”  The NFL in particular has been defined each decade by a juggernaut winning …. a lot.  The dominance of franchises like the 70’s Steelers, the 80’s Niners, the 90’s Cowboys, and the Patriots of the new millennium has immortalized the likes of Bradshaw, Aikman and Montana to deific status.  The NBA has also provided its share of dynastic runs from the Celtics to the Lakers to the Pistons to the Bulls, and examples abound exist in both hockey and baseball as well. 

With the Red Sox being two championships deep this decade, the Celtics with one themselves, and the Bruins…. well….I’ll stop right there for the sake of superstitious Bruin fans; but the current Boston run raises the question: Has any one city or major sports market ever experienced the perfect storm of dominance - that is - has any city with all 4 major professional sports ever won championships in each of the 4 sports in one calendar decade?  If the Bruins do hoist the cup this season, Boston would have championships in all four major sports since the Pats got the ball rolling in ’01.  But would it be the first time?    

And yes.  For the point of this research I am presuming (perhaps incorrectly, but that’s another debate) that hockey is still considered one of the four major sports.

With the help of my handy stat-geek (I call him Google) I decided to look into this question.  It’s important to note that there is a limited group of markets that have all four major sports; 13 in fact.  At least one of these markets won in 3 out of 3 sports in a decade, with the A’s, the Warriors, and the Raiders winning titles in the 70’s, prior to hockey arriving.  Furthermore, there are a number of markets with the advantage of having multiple teams in multiple sports.  New York, Chicago and the Bay Area jump to mind (and yes Bay folk, while you may not want to hear it, everybody else considers San Fran and Oakland the same market).  For the purpose of my research I did not count the New Jersey Nets or Devils as NY teams, but NY still has two teams in each sport except basketball (even though both football teams actually play in Jersey! Hugh?).

NHL Playoffs Rock On! First the East posted by Joshua Tarkoff

Welcome everyone to my first post here on the hockey blogs! I know I am a Floridian, but hockey certainly runs through my veins. Today, I will first be talking about the Eastern Conference. And...how about them Bruins! They look like the team they were when the season started. I was a bit concerned about them in the middle of the season, I mean after all they lost to the Panthers and the Lightning in one road trip. I did not think they were contenders when the playoffs started, but I am starting to rethink that now. Their power play gives me nightmares. Bruins in sweep, I say.

The biggest surprise series so far has to be Caps-Rangers. Just like the Bruins, I was not much of a believer in the Rangers, but after taking the first 2 in Washington, they may just have a chance. I must say that the Washington fans are tough, I watched them lose to my Panthers in March and the team started booing after just giving up 2 goals...rough crowd! Things do not look good if Ovie gets going though. Maybe it was because he was caught watching the Rangers practice the other day ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4083635). Lol, that Ovie. Whatever his off the ice antics, I firmly believe he is the best player we have in the game right now. I had the privilege of watching him twice this year and I was astounded at how good he is. Caps in 7.

And NJ is quietly doing their thing without much fanfare. While I am not too much of a Devils fan, it is tough to go against Brodeur and company. They may not be pretty, but they do have a solid playoff system going there. I was thinking upset by the Canes at first as they finished the regular season so strong, but I can't go against Brodeur quite yet. Devils in 6.

The NHL Playoffs Are Finally Here posted by Julia Borgini

Playoffs start on Wednesday, April 15th, with the Montreal Canadiens playing their first game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, April 16th in Boston. If that last game against the Bruins was any indication, it's going to be a spirited series, with lots of penalties and power plays. Let's see if the Habs can keep up their good power play of late and keep the goals coming.

Montreal's schedule for Round 1 is:

• Thursday, April 16, at Boston, 7pm
• Saturday, April 18, at Boston, 8pm
• Monday, April 20, in Montreal, 7pm
• Wednesday, April 22, in Montreal, 7pm
• * Saturday, April 25, at Boston, 7pm
• * Monday, April 27, in Montreal,TBD
• * Wednesday, April 29, at Boston, TBD

 Check your local tv listings for more details.

Blues Have Been Strong Without Brewer, Legace posted by Jeff Ponder

The Blues were on the outside looking in on the NHL playoff picture on December 13th, 2008 when they received even worse news; captain and leading minute-man Eric Brewer went down with a herniated disc in his lower back.  Things seemed dreary for the Blues hockey club.  Fans already started calling for the first-round draft choice in 2009 and pretty much gave up hope on any playoff dreams.

Something changed with the young team though.  Looking back, fans cannot even seem to recall these unexciting times.  The play picked up and now, with two games remaining in the season, the Blues are tied for the seventh seed in the standings and just four back from the sixth seed.  What caused this drastic change on the ice?

Blues play-by-play man John Kelly was recently interviewed on PuckPodcast.com and says that the turn-around is owed to the Blues miraculous 5-4 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on January 19th.  With just eight-tenths of a second remaining in the hockey game, David Backes knotted the game up at four goals apiece, and T.J. Oshie and Brad Boyes both scored in the shootout to seal the deal.  Kelly says the win sparked the club, and the team has only lost eight games in regulation since the big win.

Looking at the statistics though, something else rather unusual could be the spark that ignited the Blues that John Kelly speaks of.

The first ten games after the Brewer injury, the Blues went in one of the biggest slumps in recent history.  Going just 2-8-0 in the span, Blues President John Davidson even tried calling up rookie Tyson Strachan to help the defensive corps.  After the 2-8-0 stretch though, the Blues went on an absolute tear.
Continue reading "Blues Have Been Strong Without Brewer, Legace"

O.J.? Oh, No Thanks, and Hold the Mayo posted by Eric McCoole

Sons of Westwood:  You can take that big sigh of relief.  The disgusting display of hoops by the Bruins on Sunday February 10 in Seattle against a clearly weaker Washington Huskies team was just a small let down and not dreaded back-to-back defeats.  And, oh yeah, the Bruins beat down their cross town rivals the USC Trojans, avenging their loss earlier this season at Pauley Pavilion on January 19th. 

Darren Collison rebounded well with a cool 14 points after he could not buy a bucket against Washington.  The unstoppable Kevin Love had another typical “K-Love” night, with another double double while going for 13 points and 11 boards.  These are the Bruins that we know can get it done.

Hey, Josh Shipp: Where are you? I know, I know, nice dunk in SC’s face on Sunday and yeah, yeah, you had 19 in a losing effort against Washington (losing being the key word in that sentence).  But in the last few weeks you have been a non-factor for UCLA going down the stretch of Pac-10 play.  It’s time to think about stepping up and being that 3-point shooter that we have seen you be, it’s time to take over a game.  You should be able to do it because you are a veteran leader of this team, aren’t you?

Finally, O.J. Mayo got a full dose of one, Russell Westbrook.  Nice try O.J., who is the Trojans all everything super stud. 4 points against your archrival Bruins, you really stepped up on Sunday.  In two games against UCLA, Mayo has had only 20 points.  I want to give Westbrook huge credit for locking down a guy that many think to be the best freshman in the country but I want to crack Mayo even more for bring absolutely nothing to the table against the best team the Trojans play all season.

Likely 1 last season for Bruins' Recchi (AP)

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Recchi, 41, agrees to stay with Bruins (AP)

Mark Recchi joined the Boston Bruins hoping to win his fourth Stanley Cup, and he decided to stay with them for another shot at it. The NHL's sixth leading active goal scorer agreed to a one-year deal, his agent, Richard Curran, told The Associated Press on Thursday. The team had no comment. The 41-year-old Recchi, obtained on March 4 from Tampa Bay, said four days after the Bruins were... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Bruins' Julien named coach of the year (AP)

Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins has been chosen as the NHL's coach of the year, earning 35 first-place votes from the NHL Broadcasters' Association. Julien won the award Thursday night after guiding the Bruins to the best record in the Eastern Conference. Boston (53-39-10) finished with the league's second-best offense with 275 goals after ranking 25th in the 2007-08 season. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Bruins D Ference has abdominal surgery (AP)

The Boston Bruins say defenseman Andrew Ference has undergone successful surgery to repair an abdominal hernia and a torn groin. Ference's recovery time is estimated at four to six weeks following the surgery Wednesday at Massachusetts General Hospital. The 30-year-old Ference played in 47 regular-season games for Boston, recording a goal and 15 assists. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Bruins extend GM Chiarelli for 4 years (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports