Coach Julien always likes to talk about 60 minute hockey.
Well, what we saw last night was a fantastic example of 20 minute hockey.
Great first period for the B's. All is well on Causeway, and then BAM.
Two stupid penalties. Why was the crowd chanting "Bullshit"? The Sturm penalty was clearly a hook. Is the new Garden crowd this stupid?
And we are down 2-1., and it gets worse and worse...Final 6-1 Mighty Ducks.
Good points- The 4th line I swear played more than anyone else. That Begin, Bitz, Thornton line is going to be something. Great job by Bitz drawing that penalty.
How sweet was that Perry goal on the drag? Wow.
Horrible- Why didn't anyone challenge Parros in the 2nd when the B's were lifeless? Very un-Bruins like. Surprised Thornton didn't try to get something started.
Also Horrible- The Red Sox. Wake up and swing the damn bats.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Lunchpails Lost
Why were the 2008-09 Bruins so successful? Because they had 20 guys who brought their lunchpails every night. Apparently, the top 3 lines think they can just show up and be successful. The Finnish Flash scores two power-play goals and everyone but the Band of Bitzes decided to quit. I love our 4th line, but they're not supposed to be the best line on the team like they were last night.
Timmy Thomas also didn't bring his best game to the table. We'll see Tuukka on Saturday. If we lose that game, I will officially hit the panic button.
Penalty killing. Mark Recchi was out there on the PK. I don't like that and this has been a weakness so far this year. PJ and Yeller anyone? This first three games is making me wish they brought PJ back. I feel like he was one of the catalysts for the lunchpail attitude that made this team successful. My speculation is some of these guys are getting a little too full of themselves and buying into the hype.
Krejci's line was invisible last night. I'm chalking that up to Krejci still getting his timing back after missing camp, Ryder a slow starter, and I've never liked Wheels, but that's just a personal vendetta that has no place in this space...today.
On a positive note, we had a mayor wannabe visit in Row 10. He provided some mild entertainment for a little while.
Timmy Thomas also didn't bring his best game to the table. We'll see Tuukka on Saturday. If we lose that game, I will officially hit the panic button.
Penalty killing. Mark Recchi was out there on the PK. I don't like that and this has been a weakness so far this year. PJ and Yeller anyone? This first three games is making me wish they brought PJ back. I feel like he was one of the catalysts for the lunchpail attitude that made this team successful. My speculation is some of these guys are getting a little too full of themselves and buying into the hype.
Krejci's line was invisible last night. I'm chalking that up to Krejci still getting his timing back after missing camp, Ryder a slow starter, and I've never liked Wheels, but that's just a personal vendetta that has no place in this space...today.
On a positive note, we had a mayor wannabe visit in Row 10. He provided some mild entertainment for a little while.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Got Looch?
The latest Bruins news from Causeway Street is that Milan Lucic has signed a 3-year contract extension worth a total of $12.25M.
I'm somewhat ambivalent, not because I think Looch doesn't deserve the money, but rather because I sense that this means that the Bruins will have a hard time keeping Marc Savard. I think other capologists would agree. I'd start to quote numbers, but www.nhlnumbers.com and www.nhlscap.com have not updated their respective roster matrices. But generally speaking (going off of Minnesota's analysis), the Bruins have about $15M to play with in the off-season to get 5 forwards, 3 d-men and Tuukka. I see Marchand & Hamill staying up with the parent club next year, as well as at least Boychuk. Maybe their relative cheapness will help shoehorn in some deal for Savvy.
But gee whiz, when Looch hits the ice, you can't help but grin whenever he delivers a punishing hit, knocks in a cheap goal at the crease, or changes the play due to opponents' fear of getting crunched in the corners. From a marketing standpoint, the guy is probably worth more than the money that is coming to him. Cam Neely has Looch as the centerpiece in re-making the Bruins in his own image.
Recurring themes in my grumblings to folks who sit in 311, just random crap:
I'm somewhat ambivalent, not because I think Looch doesn't deserve the money, but rather because I sense that this means that the Bruins will have a hard time keeping Marc Savard. I think other capologists would agree. I'd start to quote numbers, but www.nhlnumbers.com and www.nhlscap.com have not updated their respective roster matrices. But generally speaking (going off of Minnesota's analysis), the Bruins have about $15M to play with in the off-season to get 5 forwards, 3 d-men and Tuukka. I see Marchand & Hamill staying up with the parent club next year, as well as at least Boychuk. Maybe their relative cheapness will help shoehorn in some deal for Savvy.
But gee whiz, when Looch hits the ice, you can't help but grin whenever he delivers a punishing hit, knocks in a cheap goal at the crease, or changes the play due to opponents' fear of getting crunched in the corners. From a marketing standpoint, the guy is probably worth more than the money that is coming to him. Cam Neely has Looch as the centerpiece in re-making the Bruins in his own image.
Recurring themes in my grumblings to folks who sit in 311, just random crap:
- Does it feel weird to hear a National Anthem performed by anyone OTHER than Rene Rancourt? No offense to the others who have performed the song (notoriously difficult to sing, and props to anyone who has the stones to attempt it in a sports arena), but it just seems "off" if it ain't Rene. The National Anthems (both American & Hoser) are not auditions for American Idol, so cut the melismata.
- I lament the lost art of the backhanded shot. Recently, Lord Bitz had a shorthanded breakaway and Joe Corvo bit real hard on Bitz' fake, as did Cam Ward. Bitz had all sorts of net to shoot for, but couldn't roof a sexy backhander past the goalie, and ended up scuffing some dribbler on Ward. HORRIBLE.
- NESN has been airing their bracket for most classic NESN-televised hockey game. I know I should be rooting for all of the milestone Bruins games, but in a non-Bruin-centric, pure hockey fan kind-of-way, I think that Ron Tugnutt's 70 save performance was one of the best games I ever saw on tv, and definitely the most insane goaltending performance ever. It was just pure animal.
- All Section 311'ers have to agree with me when I say that there's something intrinsically wrong with The Mayor watching Confederate Flag hockey 2000 miles away while the Bruins and the Sox are playing on the same night, one right after the other.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
7-2 Good Guys...Cue up Brass Bonanza...
What an effort. What a game. Great win.
Game 2. However, reminds me of the Stars game last year.
Defining moment for the B's.
Savard standing up for Sturm going after Albie...That's team hockey.
How about Steve Begin???
Man, that Begin, Bitz, Thornton line is going to be a-ok.
How about Lucic rearranging Harrisons face? Or Thornton giving Albie the one over?
What a game. What a team.
What a team effort. Morris looked good, the whole team looked good.
1-1. 80 games left.
Let's go Bruins!
Game 2. However, reminds me of the Stars game last year.
Defining moment for the B's.
Savard standing up for Sturm going after Albie...That's team hockey.
How about Steve Begin???
Man, that Begin, Bitz, Thornton line is going to be a-ok.
How about Lucic rearranging Harrisons face? Or Thornton giving Albie the one over?
What a game. What a team.
What a team effort. Morris looked good, the whole team looked good.
1-1. 80 games left.
Let's go Bruins!
Hey Walker...You Suck!
Tonight.
Bruins vs. Whalers.
The return of Scott *%!#* Walker...I can't even get it together to write how much I despise him.
Wardo is back though. He'll definitely get a big hand...
B's need to step up tonight. Obviously only the 2nd game of the season, but need to play 60 minute hockey.
I'm sure Julien will have them amped up, and if they can't get up for Carolina after last year, they just don't have a pulse.
Scott Walker. You Suck.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Ghost of Dave Lewis
Surely, you have encountered various ARRA ("stimulus") work being performed on the Commonwealth's roads during the night. If you're like me, and you live 25-30 miles outside the city, normally you can get home from a Bruins game generally by 10:15pm if you do not dawdle getting out of the game. This was not the case last night, as I encountered no less than 3 ARRA projects on my 90 minute commute home from the game. Entirely frustrating was this drive, as it provided the proverbial icing on the cake after the Bruins dropped a turd last night for their home opener, losing 4-1 to Alex Ovechkin and the Caps.
The intro and the game started out well enough: A new opening video featuring that bear that's been showing up in recent commercials; a montage tying together the grit & scoring of this year's crew with the beloved Bruins of old; player introductions (Mark Stuart was remembered this year) with arguably Tim Thomas getting the loudest of cheers. The game started fast with the Bruins owning the game for the first ten minutes. Caps goalie Jose Theodore barely had to make a tough save as the Bruins could not hit the net with the opportunities they had. Things got worse as the Caps withstood the initial push by the Bruins and began to shove back. B's have too many men on the ice, power play, goal. The tide turned the Caps' way - they scored their 3rd goal at the beginning of the 3rd period. The Caps were controlling the play, and it was going to be uphill from there. Patrice Bergeron scored a pretty goal with about 7 minutes left in the game, breaking in alone and beating Theodore with about 4 moves. Shawn Thornton fought Erskine who didn't look too thrilled about being sucked into a fight. Mostly a draw...Thornton pulled the jersey over Erskine's head and stopped whaling on him after that. The Bruins started off with 10 shots in the 1st period, then 7 shots in the 2nd period, and then 3 shots in the 3rd period. That's pretty much the game right there. Lots of missed passes, bad communication, poor coverage, bad aim. Claude promised a better performance against the Whalers on Saturday.
The intro and the game started out well enough: A new opening video featuring that bear that's been showing up in recent commercials; a montage tying together the grit & scoring of this year's crew with the beloved Bruins of old; player introductions (Mark Stuart was remembered this year) with arguably Tim Thomas getting the loudest of cheers. The game started fast with the Bruins owning the game for the first ten minutes. Caps goalie Jose Theodore barely had to make a tough save as the Bruins could not hit the net with the opportunities they had. Things got worse as the Caps withstood the initial push by the Bruins and began to shove back. B's have too many men on the ice, power play, goal. The tide turned the Caps' way - they scored their 3rd goal at the beginning of the 3rd period. The Caps were controlling the play, and it was going to be uphill from there. Patrice Bergeron scored a pretty goal with about 7 minutes left in the game, breaking in alone and beating Theodore with about 4 moves. Shawn Thornton fought Erskine who didn't look too thrilled about being sucked into a fight. Mostly a draw...Thornton pulled the jersey over Erskine's head and stopped whaling on him after that. The Bruins started off with 10 shots in the 1st period, then 7 shots in the 2nd period, and then 3 shots in the 3rd period. That's pretty much the game right there. Lots of missed passes, bad communication, poor coverage, bad aim. Claude promised a better performance against the Whalers on Saturday.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
TONIGHT TONIGHT
5 and a half hours until the puck drops.
I couldn't be more excited.
Oh and guess who has Lucic in the 311 Fantasy Hockey League, yup..this guy.
And Byron Bitz went in the first round (not a joke). Probably the only league in America where Bitz goes where he deserves.
LET'S GO BRUINS!
I couldn't be more excited.
Oh and guess who has Lucic in the 311 Fantasy Hockey League, yup..this guy.
And Byron Bitz went in the first round (not a joke). Probably the only league in America where Bitz goes where he deserves.
LET'S GO BRUINS!
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