2011-2012 Boston Bruins (Offseason)

[BDL]

Hi. Welcome to Rant-fest 2012. Excuse me 1 second...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Sorry. (hee heh, hee heh, hee heh, hee heh) The past few games, (hee heh, hee heh, hee heh, hee heh) have really put a lot of stress on my mental state. (hee heh, hee heh, hee heh, hee heh)

Ok. I've caught my breath. But seriously... What's going on here? First I'll talk about things outside of the Bruins. Looks like Shanahan isn't as serious about head hits as we thought. I can understand why he'd suspend Ferrence for going barreling after the puck and slamming someone into the boards. But Hartnell wasn't even playing the puck. He was coating around and just decided to throw a shoulder into Kelly's head. Did he get a suspension? NO. Did he even have to call into the NHL offices? NO. Instead, he gets a call from the NHL, to inform him that he is now an All-star. This news plus all the talk of Matt Cooke being considered a Lady Byng candidate id driving me nuts. Why not make Bernie Madoff the Secretary of the Treasury because he hasn't cheated at the card games in prison.

The Bruins are giving up more breakaways than a last place NBA team. Sure the B's have gotten 3 points out of the last 3 games. But in each of those games the team has been leaving their goalies out on an island way too often. Come on guys. I know you have 2 top 10 goalies, but help them out. No more fluffy passes point to point. Especially 10 minutes into a period. With the fresh ice, you can get away with it. The puck will get there sooner. But these passes look like they are going up hill in molassas.

Also, the skating lately isn't like it was in Nov and Dec. Either they will refuse to leave their lanes to make a play on the puck or they are skating into each other. I know this isn't 100% their fault. With the occassional injury or more common suspension, you are going to have people who aren't used to skating with each other. But you shouldn't be seeing a winger skating into a center, in transition, at least 5 times a game.

But dispite all the faults lately, they are still the #2 team in the conference. Still have a group of guys that stand up for each other no matter what. Also, Seguin keeps progressing and Krejci is starting to put all his tools together. Let's hope we'll see an amazing 2nd 1/2 of a season.

 

[BDL]

The NHL really has a hit on their hands with the All-star Fantasy Draft. The best improvement over last year's draft was allowing the crowd to be that much closer to the stage. The heckling and chants were hilarious. Without their proximity we wouldn't have had gems like the crowd telling Chara to draft a Sedin or Hartnell. Speaking of which, the quote of the night was when Alfredsson and Lundqvist drafted Daniel Sedin, you could hear 1 fan yell "You sure that's Daniel?!". I laughed out loud. But the highlight of the night was watching Carey Price get picked and then seeing the camera pan onto him just as he took a drink of something. His reaction was PRICE-less. Then something occured to me, and I wondered if anyone else thought about this. Chara chose to draft the Habs goalie (even over the Vezina front runner Howard) before even considering drafting a Sedin.

The crowd was never so loud as it was when Kessel was picked. But I loved how Chara made Lupul pick him. "Ok. That's YOUR pick." I wish they had more candid sound bites. That was the 1 thing that was better last year than this year. The reason I know this, is because that whenever they COULD HAVE showed some TV gold, they played clips from last year. When they did play clips from the draftees, the best of the lot was watching Kane lean over to (I think it was...) Campbell, and say "That blonde is unbelievable." when referring to the jersey presenter for Team Chara. Bravo TSN/NBC Sports. That is impecable timing. For the longest time I felt bad for that girl. For some reason, she never got on camera close up (not like the brunette presenter for Team Alfredsson). But I guess someone WAS watching. But the blonde got the last laugh. She got to present Logan Couture (Mr. Irrelevent) with the key to his new Honda.

I hope they still do the draft format if/when they have the All-star Game here in Boston.

 

[stevea20]

Well, let' s see. Chara wins another Hardest Shot(WOW), scores the game winner, Thomas get his fourth straight ASG win and Kessel gets booed with every goal he scored. Pretty good day for the Bruins.
I don't mind this "draft the teams" format but it's really no different than any other that's been done. You just have to accept that this is a game where the players are going to have fun, do things they would never do in an actual game, (Thomas' second goal allowed for example-he'd have held that puck in a real game), and no defense at all. Still, a lot of fun to watch.
I was at the last ASG played here, the one where Bourque got the game winner. That was a good game and I too would like to see it return.
I got to admit my focus is elsewhere this week. I've got an old Pats DVD on right now, getting ready for Sunday. Hope they do it but must admit I don't have the greatest feeling about this one.
GO PATS, GO B'S

 

[BDL]

How painful/embarassing must it have been in Ottawa's film session yesterday for Anderson? Not only did you let the B's get back into it, by letting Lucic score with less than a minut in the 2nd period. You let a blue liner, who has less goals than he has fingers on his right hand, score from center ice. For a punishment, they should make him listen to Jack's evaluation of the goal for an hour.

"Was it tipped (then in a creepy German accent) Or was it GERMAN engineering?"

Also, what do you say if you are the coach and the the only thing that you see between your goalie and a Zdeno Chara slap shot is 1 of Chara's own forwards? "Come on guys!!! We all saw the skills competition. But seriously... Someone's gotta get in front of that shot." Jared Cowen hung in there for a second. But by the time the shot was taken, you can see him wheeling out.

Tonight, the dreaded Whalers come to town. So far this year, the B's are 0-3 against them and each time mad Ward look like Vezina front runner. The B's will need to get more scrappy goals like Marchand did Tuesday.

 

[BDL]

Friggin' Whalers!!!

Since I really have nothing more to add than, the Bruins REALLY need to get their line stability back, I realized that I was remiss in offering gratitude.

And this kills me to do, but, sometimes you just gotta man up. I just wanted to tell the Hab fans "Thank you." During the NHL skills competition, Price's antics stole the show. From Tebow-ing to defending backwards (and making the save), it was all entertaining.

 

[stevea20]

Caro-freaking-lina!!!
I'm going to have nightmares the rest of the season that, somehow, they are going to make an incredible run, just make the playoffs and draw the Bruins in the first round.
The Bruins really have got to wake up though. They have sleptwalked through some of these last games, including getting runover by Ottawa in that second period. The schedual gets tougher with more games against teams like the Rangers, Caps and Penguins. WAKE UP B's!

Let's hope the Patriots come out stronger this Sunday.

 

[declansdad]

Friggin' Whalers!!!

Since I really have nothing more to add than, the Bruins REALLY need to get their line stability back, I realized that I was remiss in offering gratitude.

And this kills me to do, but, sometimes you just gotta man up. I just wanted to tell the Hab fans "Thank you." During the NHL skills competition, Price's antics stole the show. From Tebow-ing to defending backwards (and making the save), it was all entertaining.

This habs fan thanks you.

 

[LBIJim]

Tonight, the dreaded Whalers come to town. So far this year, the B's are 0-3 against them and each time mad Ward look like Vezina front runner. The B's will need to get more scrappy goals like Marchand did Tuesday.

Ah, one of those inexplainable strange things that makes hockey so great. Carolina Whalers sweeping the Bruins and Cam Ward looking like Vezina material.

Jim

 

[Bay Hill]

Blast from the past from Brass Bonanza...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKSpEfPOTo

 

[BDL]

This habs fan thanks you.

No problem. I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Besides, Timmy got his 4th straight All-star win after Carey let in all those goals.

 

[declansdad]

No problem. I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Besides, Timmy got his 4th straight All-star win after Carey let in all those goals.

Only because he cheated and didn't start like he was suppose to.

 

[Monte Cristo]

If anyone cares, Zach Hamill has cleared waivers and will be headed back to Providence. My guess is that barring an injury, that could be the last time we see him with the Boston Bruins. Being a restricted free agent at the end of the year it doesn't really look good for him to be back in Providence next year. ZH may want a fresh start somewhere else...

 

[stevea20]

I didn't get to see either weekend game because of the matinee times but I'm glad they seem to be getting more alert to playing tougher even if the results were a split. Now they need to find the back of the net with more consistency.
Going to be in mourning for a few days due to the Patriots...sooo close. I don't blame Welker, but that's the play where I said,"They just lost this game".

 

[BDL]

This week will tell if the rumor rumblings are true. Little birdies are saying that Krejci may be being dropped to the 3rd line and Kelly promoted to the 1st line. This would work in 2 ways:

1) It serves notice to Krejci. Getting 3-4 pts in 1 game and then being silent for 4 games aint gonna cut it.

2) Kelly's grit will complement Lucic and Kelly's speed will complement Caron's (in for Horton) speed. This could really open things up for passing between zones.

 

[BDL]

An open letter to the NHL

Dear Mr. Shannahan,

I just wanted to applaud your machinations that you must have put into place before the Bruins/Sabres game of February 8, 2012. The Bruins did mock you openly by beating the Capitals. In that game they were scoring AND being physical. Something I know that you have talked to them about. And yet, here they were... Flying in the face of the way you have had officials call their games. How dare they revert back to the form that helped them win the Cup last year. This is not what you were hoping for with that new TV contract with NBC.

But I appreciate how you manipulated the game to get back to the arena football way of play that is better for the passive fan. All scoring. Only fast breaks and slap shots. None of that set plays or hitting or defense type of stuff that takes away from the entertainment.

But you, sir... You have style. Having the refs dis-allow an obvious goal that involved 0 goalie interference, that would have tied it early and maybe take the crowd out of it. And skewing the penalties the way that they did. And especially hitting Thornton with the 'gater. Mike Weber was innocently triying to help Pouliot to his bench (That's how courteous we are here in Buffalo when we are up 4-0). The next thing you know, he is mercilessly beaten down. I think Thornton should be hit with a Season Misconduct. And I heard he said some nasty things about your mother.

I compliment you sir. The way this game went, no one is even thinking about cowardice about not standing up for your goalie or standing in a yellow puddle when time came to do something about it. Also, no one is talking about recently, making on ice comments to a guy about his season ending injury. Thank you sir.

Faithfully yours,

Paul Gaustad. Center, Buffalo Sabres.


PS: Did you see how I bravely skated around Lucic to get to Pouliot after Lucic hit my teammate with his stick? Wasn't that awesome?

 

[declansdad]

An open letter to the NHL

Dear Mr. Shannahan,

I just wanted to applaud your machinations that you must have put into place before the Bruins/Sabres game of February 8, 2012. The Bruins did mock you openly by beating the Capitals. In that game they were scoring AND being physical. Something I know that you have talked to them about. And yet, here they were... Flying in the face of the way you have had officials call their games. How dare they revert back to the form that helped them win the Cup last year. This is not what you were hoping for with that new TV contract with NBC.

But I appreciate how you manipulated the game to get back to the arena football way of play that is better for the passive fan. All scoring. Only fast breaks and slap shots. None of that set plays or hitting or defense type of stuff that takes away from the entertainment.

But you, sir... You have style. Having the refs dis-allow an obvious goal that involved 0 goalie interference, that would have tied it early and maybe take the crowd out of it. And skewing the penalties the way that they did. And especially hitting Thornton with the 'gater. Mike Weber was innocently triying to help Pouliot to his bench (That's how courteous we are here in Buffalo when we are up 4-0). The next thing you know, he is mercilessly beaten down. I think Thornton should be hit with a Season Misconduct. And I heard he said some nasty things about your mother.

I compliment you sir. The way this game went, no one is even thinking about cowardice about not standing up for your goalie or standing in a yellow puddle when time came to do something about it. Also, no one is talking about recently, making on ice comments to a guy about his season ending injury. Thank you sir.

Faithfully yours,

Paul Gaustad. Center, Buffalo Sabres.


PS: Did you see how I bravely skated around Lucic to get to Pouliot after Lucic hit my teammate with his stick? Wasn't that awesome?

LOL, your team's recent poor play is making you sound a little bitter, maybe worried. A 6 - 0 loss is not an issue with referees, it is a team that din't show up.

 

[BDL]

LOL, your team's recent poor play is making you sound a little bitter, maybe worried. A 6 - 0 loss is not an issue with referees, it is a team that din't show up.

Come on, DD... Where's the love? I actually included Gaustad's comments to Pacioretti in the "open letter" and that's the thanks I get. You wound me sir. Words can hurt sometimes too you know?

Oh well, could be worse. The B's could be 1 point away from the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Just kidding...

 

[declansdad]

Come on, DD... Where's the love? I actually included Gaustad's comments to Pacioretti in the "open letter" and that's the thanks I get. You wound me sir. Words can hurt sometimes too you know?

Oh well, could be worse. The B's could be 1 point away from the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Just kidding...

LOL.

The Habs are going for 3 in a row tonight, maybe they make a run.

 

[Bay Hill]

The B's are in a mid-season slump.

Noticed that Jack is getting annoyed the last few games.

 

[BDL]

Saturday's game wasn't a well played game, but it was a great win. It demonstrated that it is possible to ply individual effort to team concept and stresses the never give up attitude that was such a huge part of the Bruins run last year.

Who didn't flash back to the Stanley Cup round last year, when Marchand did the short-handed self-pass? Result was the same, though the scorer was different. But it was a great example of individual effort (steal, self-pass) and team concept (pass to Bergeron for the goal). The same could be said for Paille's goal. He goes flying in the corner to dig out the puck. then passes to Thornton who delivered a great no look pass to Paille just to the side of the net. And Lucic's goal was all NO QUIT. Pev's shot goes just wide of the net, bangs off the boards, and here comes Looch, charging like a rhino to roof the game tying goal with 67 seconds left in the game.

After OT it comes down to a shoot-out. Great goals by bothe Bergeron and Seguin. Especially Seguin. The way he decellerated without exerting any effort was just sick to watch.

Big game tomorrrow night. The conference leading Rangers are coming to town. A win won't affect the standings. But it will still be a great morale boost.

If you're going to the game, watch out for the "Kiss Cam"