Ok, wow

Getting stuck at work for a B's/Habs home game is bad enough. Why did I have to miss this one? I was lucky enough to attend the 8-6, 187 PIM, Iron League like battle last month. Last night, through the TV, that building sounded like it was going to fall down. Remember when the NHL series on Sega Genesis used to show you the highest decibel attained for the crowd? I would love to see that statistic or even an average decibel level from last night. It sounded louder than a Slipknot concert. Did it feel great to beat the Habs to a bloody pulp? Wasn't it wonderful to watch the Pea Soup Eaters legs turn to rubber halfway through the third and look like a typical Bruins team as the real B's skated circles around them? Could Jack Edwards ask for a better birthday present? Yes, yes, and no.

BUT.......as I am a typical New England sports fan, here's my real spin on this game. We're in trouble. If the B's/Habs match up does happen in the playoffs, the B's and their fans are screwed again. Those of you in the building last night, I have to think you just watched the Bruins win their Stanley Cup. The mentality of this team (i.e. we made the second round of the playoffs two years in a row!!) is akin to bringing home a C+ to your parents and asking them to hang it on the fridge. They will ride this win for at least two weeks, thinking they have the affection of Boston fans because, hey, we beat Montreal and their stupid 911 abusing fans. Prove me wrong Bruins.

God I hope I'm wrong and this is the spring board they need to get their sh*t together for a playoff run that would cost me a crap ton of money. Here's to hoping that my tax return is spoken for this April/May/June.

B's win

The B's woke up from their slumber and beat the Devils, 4-1.

• Goals by Lootch, Recchi (en), Chara, Thornton. Since Chara knocked out Pacioretty, he has been on a bit of a scoring tear. Okay, I just checked. Maybe not. 2-5-7 +4 totals in the last 7 games.
• Thought we were in for another Devils/B's snoozer, you know, with teams combining for 25 shots the entire game. Not to be had, as the Devils outshot the B's something like 503 to 3 in the 1st period. Most of the Devils shots did not produce rebounds, Thomas just gobbled them up and got faceoffs.
• BUT we finally scored a PP goal, now we're 2 for our last, what, 4,905. Lootch set up Chara with a nice pass. Bergeron also made a bit of a circus pass to Lootch for Lootch's goal, making the pass against his own momentum.
  
• Mahk Recchi, stirring the shitstorm yesterday on Felga & Mazz. (Mazz is not funny, btw. He is the worst of typical nerdboy hangers-on. Never good enough to start for the high school football team (or even make the team), he decided to write about it so he could get in close on the action, get close to the players. sycophant, he is. That's what so weird about sportswriters these days - trying to be as big as the players themselves. It reminds me of Lester Bangs and how he make rock 'n roll journalism better than rock 'n roll itself at times. HE was the rock star, not the clown he was writing about. The difference being that Bangs is good and Mazz, et al. are less than good. Also, ESPN really sucks. Really, who GIVES A SHIT about college ball??? Just that d-bag in your office who still reads Bill Simmons (and not ironically, either) and still talks about his bracket. Look, no one cares about the bracket unless they're in the money and the only reason they're in the money is pure luck. "gee I really thought State University of Basketweaving was gonna beat CU of North Texas". College hoops and College football are hugely retarded. But I did fill out my frozen four bracket with NDAK going all the way.) What was I talking about before going on some convoluted, incomprehensible, baseless rant? oh yeah. Recchin ball alleged that the Habs exaggerated Pacioretty's (sick of typing that name) injury in order to get Chara suspended. Yeah, probably their abilities for diving/embellishment extend right up from the ice to ownership & management.
• I don't think there will be any funny stuff tonight. Maybe 1 or 2 fights or something, but it'll be closely officiated (first four penalties on the B's, easy) with the B's being shorthanded most of the game.
  

B's Lose

The B's are something like 1-100-3 in the past 7 games and it's time to hit the panic button. Remember in 2007, when the Devils sacked Julien with a week left to the regular season, despite a first place standing, because they felt that he didn't have the team ready for the playoffs?

• Horton & Phaneuf simply hate each other. Horton was ready to kill him in the 3rd period tonight. They fought, Phaneuf hid behind his visor, nothing much came of it.
• Seguin with 5 shots tonight, robbed twice by Reima. Seguin had a jump in his step tonight but still doesn't play the body or fight hard enough for pucks.
• Garbage time (19.8 seconds left) goal by Paille (been calling him "Pie-nay" instead of "Pie-yay" at the games since we don't want him out there), time for everyone to pick him up on your fantasy teams.
  
• Quaider did a pylon impression on the Schenn goal, but redeemed himself with a hustle goal a few minutes later. Then the game pretty much went awful from there as Reima stopped everything that was shot at him and the Leafs buried every chance that came their way.

Here's McQuaid on the Schenn goal.

• Tim Thomas is rockin' some serious mustache there.

Marchand Suspended

Brad Marchand got 2 games for hitting R.J. Hamburger to the head. No surprise here - the league's getting goofy about this stuff and here was just wrong place/wrong time for both Marchand/Umbergah. Marchand's 5'-9" in hooker heels and Umberger's 6'-2"...

If you can't get enough of Marchand's hit, here ya go, courtesy of the Youtube Bruins Jesus, Dafoomie.

B's win

B's won in a shootout last night, 3-2. Seguin with the OT goal, Rask with some great saves in the 3rd period and during the shootout.

• As you probably know by now, Habs fans have been protesting outside the Bell Centre. The league has decided not to do much about headshots, etc. really, except keep an eye out for boarding/charging. For those of you who can't get enough, follow Pacioretty's twitter here. He liked the movie "Hall Pass".
  
• Long-awaited display of Peverley's skill last night on his sweet shorthanded goal.
• Ryder finally given a seat. Accountability, etc. seen as the reason, as Ryder has been slacking the past few weeks after heating up for awhile and showing some skillz. Seguin played in his place, didn't do much, but got the game-winner during the shootout. Seguin needs to drink a little of that dunks coffee he pimps during the hi-energy play schtick on NESN.
  
• Last night was the franchise's 2800th win.
• Scottie Updouche continues to kill the B's, scoring a goal last night. Maybe the Habs will figure this out and sign him someday, have him skate on a line with Plekanec.
• The B's got about 5 seconds? or something of PP time last night, whereas CBJ had, like, hundreds of power plays. Curious to see if this is a trend...Islanders game featured 4 penalties on the Isles and 3 on the B's...11 penalties on the B's and 7 on Buffalo...that's, what, +8 on the Bruins since the Chara hit. Might have to watch this to see if there's a trend...
  

Don Cherry HNIC

Nilan Butt-end

Check about 1:30 of the video.

Bruins losing, 3-2

As this post goes to press (ha), the B's are playing a sloppy game vs. the Isles. Isles are a sad-sack team but they're playing like they got nothing to lose...so why not.

To start, let's witness some of the Canadiens' greatest "hits".

Just think of any Canadien dirtbag of the past 25-30 years and do a youtube search.

Chris Chelios (whose career is a highlight reel of cheap hits) on Brian Propp:



Pacioretty boards Eaton




Lapierre on Nichol




Latendresse on DiMaio



Mon dieu! Hockey is a violent sport - was there an investigation after this? Shit, I think this is only a "part 1" of the Battle of Quebec.



Pat LaFontaine's career ended by concussions. Certainly this high hit by Guy Carbonneau didn't help.



Martinson sucker punches Byers



Who can forget that dickslap Petr Svoboda?



Brian Skrudland lays out Don Sweeney with an elbow/shoulder to the chops.



Patrice Brisebois (breeze-by) hits Darcy Tucker, Tucker's head goes right into the boards. Okay, Tucker probably had it coming...

• Last night, as the puck went thru Seidenberg's legs at the point on the power play, a 311-er exclaimed, "dammit, Wideman-berg"
• Bruins released the St. Patrick's Day hats. Drab, olive-green military-style baseball caps with spoked-B in front, TD Bank in bank. I sense a Ference influence here, wanting the B's fans to resemble Fidel Castro.
• The Matt Bartkowski era needs to end.
• So the corporations that have so far threatened to pull sponsorship of the NHL, Via Rail & Air Canada, are both based out of Montreal. OUTRAGE! We were wronged!!!
• Yeah, B's lost to the Islanders. Horrible.
• Seriously, Montreal is a one-team, one-sport town. Folks who got nothing to do but follow just that team. The Alouettes aren't playing, so all there is to do is to get drunk, eat some Timbits and poutine, and whine about the Canadiens and their perception of the team as hockey royalty.
• The game on 3/24 at the Garden is gonna be huge. Homeland Security threat level color(s) will go from orange to bleu, blanc et rouge and the pat-downs we got last night before the Sabres game will be nothing in comparison. I'm actually wondering if they'll have Habs/B's legends do some sort of PSA before the game so the Boston fans don't clobber anyone during/after the game. They did a PSA when all that booing the national anthems thing was going on a few years back. The bitch of it is, is that there isn't going to be some sort of Chara vs. the Habs thing, or Chara vs. Gill (wouldn't that be humorous?), but probably someone on the Habs will take a run at a smaller Bruin forward like Krejci, knock him out, then things get really ugly.
  

B's Lose, 4-1

RAGE.

B's lose in OT, 3-2

Kept from posting during the winning streak due to superstition. It's probable that there was a direct correlation between the win streak and the lack of new posts here at Vf311.

• Hurricane O'Reilly's doesn't have Captain Morgan? wha...??
• No Bergeron last night and it showed. I think we went 0 for 1,000,000 on faceoffs. Okay, I just checked, the B's actually beat the Pens at the faceoff dot, 29 wins to 27 wins. But let's not let the facts get in the way of my misinformation dissemination - Bergy took a personal day to wax his eyebrow and the B's paid dearly for it.
  
• Jackass in front of me and his brat kids were standing about 3 seconds before the Krejci goal that tied it, missed the goal. 1st goal, though, Lootch was just a huge beast, screening Fleury so he never saw Chara take a shot.
• Power play still looks anemic. Things appear smoother with Kaberle around, but they're just not getting anything into the net. It's weird.
• I like the snarl that has appeared in Nathan Horton's game. I'm not sure what has caused this, but it results in him being engaged in the flow of the game, therefore he's taking more shots and beating on people in the corners, looking to make hits, and generally causing a ruckus. It's probably the Lootchian influence. Still, I was watching Lootch & Krejci at the other end of the ice when Horton beat? Craig Adams down.
  
• Shawn Thornton had a rare loss, fighting the much bigger Mike Rupp. Rupp is just a big dude. Rupp is 6'-5", which reminds me of Blake Wheeler. Imagine if Wheels played with Rupp's physicality (or if Rupp played with, uh, Wheels' offensive, uh, finish?) That would be some kind of power forward, yah?

That's a dude. Look at that perm, boinging away. Look at that Letang jersey. Thankfully, he was quiet & respectful. But too many Pens fans (frontrunners) were at the game last night, ruining everything. Also, spied some Nordiques jerseys (huh?), and Whalers jerseys. Son, if you're wearing a Whalers jersey out in public, you're pretty much admitting to the world that you've given up on life.

• Gregory Campbell is due to haul ass on some poor sap's face. I dunno if he got a stern talking to from Poppa Soup, but he's been quiet with his fists lately.
• Bob McKenzie (TSN) chips in with some PHX to Winnipeg talk. So does Darren Dreger ...anything to get rid of Confederate Flag hockey. I'm convinced that the only reason for warm-climate hockey is so the players/coaches, etc. get to play golf during the season.
  
• Is "McKenzie" to Canada what "Chang" is to China? NO. According to this, it's not even in the top 20. Nothing like obliterating a stereotype. Now I feel empty.
• When the B's fire Claude Julien, is the Herald going to use the banner headline "De-Claude" on the back page? I should copyright that shit right now.
• It irritates me to see Seguin pull up on delivering checks, not big checks, but just checks against the boards. It is this whiff of Kesselosity that's in his game that really annoys me. In a somewhat related note, Taylor Hall blew out his ankle the other night in his first fighting major of the season.
• Nice open-ice hit by Seidenberg on Letang, later negated by Seidenberg's assist on the Pens winning goal.