Prague Random Thoughts

So we've had two regular season games on at the time I'm usually watching the English Premier League.  Actually worked out well since the EPL had the weekend off for an international break.  Some random thoughts based on the weekend's action...

Enough already with starting the season overseas:
This can't be helping the NHL.  They can't even sell out the rinks and they have to be spending a lot of money to have 6 teams over there.  The only positive I can see in it is it would be a great excuse for a European vacation if I was independently wealthy.  Since I'm not, I just think it blows.  It takes away a home game for us season ticket holders and it has to be tough on our Bruins.  It's also dumb that we don't see the Bruins play again until Saturday.

Would have been nice to visit and take in a couple games

Comcast sucks:
I'm stuck with Comcast where I now live.  I had DirecTV for years.  Comcast's NHL Center Ice has maybe one game per night in HD and they charge more than DirecTV does for everything.

Nathan Horton is on the 2nd PP Unit:
This boggles my mind and will likely change.  I also don't like seeing Matt Hunwick on PP1.  The PP definitely needs some work.  The Bruins are actually fortunate Phoenix didn't score 3 or 4 shorties in the two games.

The Bruins D has me tempering expectations for this season:
From 1 thru 6, the Bruins D just does not stack up with many of the so-called contenders.  Multiple guys will have to step up their games this year for everything to come together.  Don't be surprised if there is a trade after Ference's groin gives way.

It's nice to have a healthy Chara and Lucic:
Remember last year when Chara was taking little wristers from the point because of his hand injury?  Remember how Lucic never looked like himself after the high ankle sprain?  They both look like more like the 2009 version now.  Chara was also flattening people and getting involved in the offense.  When Marchand found him with a brilliant pass in the 1st period on Sunday, I had to laugh at how he had no idea what to do against Bryzgalov though - that's alright, that's not his game.

It's going to take time for Tyler:
Steven Stamkos looks poised to join Crosby and Ovechkin as an elite superstar in the NHL.  Remember what he did in the first half of his first year?  Next to nothing.  Stamkos turned it up in the 2nd half of his rookie season and that's what we need to hope for from Tyler.  Let's be honest with ourselves, he was nearly invisible this weekend until Michael "Vick" Ryder found him on the post pattern for the breakaway.

Nice debut for the new guys

Horton will lead the team in goals:
Going out on a limb here.  His hands are so good.  Man it's nice to have a sniper again isn't it?  As the Mayor pointed out, he's on pace for 120.  After watching him this weekend, 40 to 50 certainly isn't out of the question.  We'll see if his propensity to take nights off shows up this year or not.  At least he doesn't have a propensity to take seasons off like Mr. Ryder.  Horton has figured in 4 of the 5 goals on the season with his assist on Lucic's goal.  You can't beat that start.

Attaboy Timmy:
Looked good.  Had one of his floppy moments in the 2nd period, but made all the saves and his team certainly played better in front of him.  It will be interesting to see how the playing time shakes out this season.  This blogger projects neither goalie will exceed 50 starts barring injury to the other.

Blake Wheeler is still awful:
I hope this changes because we need the guy to be better, but he is horrible and he's bringing Bergy down with him by being on his line.  He was even bringing Jordan Caron down on Sunday.

Jack made a great point late in Sunday's broadcast:
...when talking about bringing Caron in for Paille today - making players accountable for a poor performance.  Remember last year when Claude kept sending the same bums out night after night even though the effort wasn't there?

Way to go Peter:
Chara and Bergy's combined cap hit this year: $12.25M
Chara and Bergy's combined cap hit the next three years: $11.5M
You have to like locking up these core players and reducing their combined cap hit.  I was actually hoping they could reduce Chara's numbers on the back end of his contract to reduce it further.  According to capgeek, the final two years are $5M and $4M respectively.  Seeing as how he'll be 40 then, I would have thought they could have reduced that some - not Lou Lamoriello/Ilya Kovalchuk style, but some to bring the cap number down further.

I'll take the 2 points after Saturday's debacle.  Good start to the season.  Horton looks awesome, Seguin gets his first, and Chara and Bergy are locked up.

Sully's Here We Come!

In a matter of hours, Section 311 will be downing beers at Sully's Tap. Had to show up at work extra early today to take off early and get to Causeway Street.

This is the greatest time of the year isn't it? Is there really anything better than playoff hockey? Anybody who doesn't enjoy this is soft and probably enjoys watching "The Real Housewives." The weekend's action across the league was just tremendously entertaining. You had the Capitals comeback against Montreal on Saturday night. You had the "cinderella" Phoenix Coyotes taking a 2-1 lead over the Wings and, on Friday, that series gave us one of the most entertaining periods of hockey I've ever seen including a stretch with 5 goals in 4 minutes. You had Craig Anderson stopping 51 shots to shutout the Sharks (laughed this morning when I woke up to see that result - if not for a Joe Pavelski goal with approx 30 seconds left in Game 2, it would be 3-0 Avs right now - Joe Thornton doing nothing again). You even had Daniel Carcillo scoring an OT game-winner.

So since Saturday afternoon, nothing but anticipation for tonight's game. Big and bad were actually back in Game 2 and let's hope they continue with a similar effort in front of us tonight. Vladdy Effin Sobotka! He gets my game puck for Game 2. Remember how much we liked this kid two years ago in the playoffs against Montreal? I can see why now - it appears the B's could have used him last year against Carolina too - 9 hits on Saturday and he scored a goal (only an assist on the scoresheet, but it was effectively his goal). Sobotka/Ryder/Wheels was arguably the Bruins best line. Can Michael Ryder keep this up? He's been great in the first two games - even landing a monster hit in Game 2.

There are people that like to hate on Chara out there. I bet they are silent now. What a great performance by the captain. It was nice to see the B's catch a couple lucky bounces on his two goals (Pominville's tip and Boychuk fanning from point getting Miller out of position).

Lucic blew it twice on Saturday (running around in own zone on Myers goal and horrible turnover on Pominville goal) and got demoted to 4th line duty for the 3rd period, but on a positive note, was landing hits and intimidating when he was out there a la '08-'09. Hopefully he will be better. It will be interesting to see what Claude does with the lines tonight.

Another guy who was sleepwalking through most of the regular season was Steve Begin, but he has been brilliant in his role thus far in this series. That's what Chia hired him for and so far he's delivered.

Unfortunately, I can't be 100% positive. Marco Sturm was invisible again on Saturday and he appears to be slower than normal. I'm beginning to think he has an undisclosed injury he's trying to battle through because he's just not right.

Thomas Vanek is doubtful for tonight and judging by the way he hobbled off the ice, one would think he is doubtful for the rest of the series. The Sabres will of course play the injury game and pretend he's about to come back, but it looked like his knee buckled when Boychuk's stick came down directly on it.

My biggest fear tonight is seeing the team we saw at home all season: tentative, tame, and tense. I'm feeling positive that they've put that behind them and will come out playing the way they did for the majority of the first two games.

If you are in attendance and anybody around you starts booing Dennis Wideman tonight, tell them to shut their ignorant mouths and get behind their team. "Wides" has been pretty solid for the better part of a month now. See you at the Garden...

Dennis Wideman Fan Club

I proposed starting the Dennis Wideman Fan Club for the playoffs to some fellow 311'ers, but I think it fell on deaf ears.  To be honest, I just want more Den-nis-Wide-man clap clap clapclapclap chants.

He is showing some signs of life.  In his last ten games, he has 3 goals and 4 assists and has been a minus player only ONCE in that stretch (the home loss to Buffalo).  That's 7 points in 10 games which is a damn good total for a defenseman on the offensively inept Bruins.  The fans notice every mistake he makes now because they're looking for it and are getting on him pretty relentlessly, but it's not deserved anymore.  DEN-NIS-WIDE-MAN!!!

I should probably eat some of my words on Johnny Boychuk too.  He has really stepped up in Seidenberg's absence and logged nearly 29 minutes of ice time last night.  I'm not getting too hyped up about beating a Buffalo team that was giving a number of key players a rest last night though.

The guy we should be getting on is Michael Ryder.  Blake Wheeler deserves it too, but not as much as Ryder.  The good news is Ryder will be playing for a contract next year so he might show up, but don't hold your breath on that one either.

All eyes on the Rangers tonight - a Ranger loss in regulation locks up the playoff spot for the B's, but the key now is to move into 6th or 7th to avoid Washington.  Eric Staal's 3g and 2a helped Carolina beat up on Montreal last night which helped in that quest.

Nothing's Gonna Happen

Here's my prediction for tonight: Cooke accepts a challenge to fight Thornton in the first period and that's it. The Bruins then go back to playing the boring, in-nobody's-face brand of hockey we've come to know and hate this season. Michael Ryder will breathe a huge sigh of relief as soon as the wrestling match is over because then he won't have to worry about standing up for anyone anymore. He can go back to mailing in his season.

So, after Thornton wrestles with Cooke and everyone in the building realizes all the hype was for a useless wrestling match that isn't going to make Savvy's head feel any better, the boo-birds will come calling. The fans will want heads for this disgrace of a season and tonight could be the defining moment. If my prediction is correct, it may be the final game I attend this season. If I wanted to go somewhere and pay $7.25 for a beer only to end up bitter and angry at the end of the night, I might as well go see Celine Dion in concert.

Please prove me wrong Bruins! Make me want to like you guys again. Don't do anything stupid, but prove to me that you are a hockey team and not a bunch of guys collecting a paycheck.

Isles own B's

The B's lost, 3-2 last night in OT. Yeah, the got a point and played a pretty decent game, but it is disappointing to lose when you've outplayed your opponent all night. Goals by Ryder & Krejci. Ryder's was a nice wrist shot from about 30' away, using the d-man as a screen. Rolo never saw it. Krejci's on a tip-in on a nice cross-crease pass from Ryder. All that said, the B's are 8-1-2 in their last 11, so I guess there's no reason to complain. But there is.
random crap

• Is Blake Wheeler colorblind? This guy just does not see the blue line. He is usually good for 3 or 4 offside infractions per game. Especially frustrating now that he's skating with Savard.
• Nassau Coliseum. Holy shit, this place makes the Worcester Centrum look like a palace. I don't think they have luxury boxes, they got an old-school setup (as pointed out by Jack/Brick last night), plus it hosts the Islanders and their sad-sack fans. Didja SEE the 2 chicks behind the Islander bench last night? WOOF. In the hierarchy of sad-sack hockey fans, Islander fans rank 3rd behind Whaler fans and Jets fans.
  
• I don't know who is worse at not hitting the net - Wideman or Ference. I think Wideman for now. I'd like to know the stats on Wideman/Ference shots vs. SOG
• Spongetech? Did you read the ads on the boards last night? Yeah, you get your typical Dunkin' Donuts, or Geico, or whatever. But Long Island, they got Spongetech, you see. "The smarter sponge". They got SpongeBob SquarePants in their corner, plus they got me going to their website to figure out what's the big deal about some sponge. So who is the idiot now?