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Boston Bruins

It’s clobbering time!

Normally, we would say that you should never throw down with somebody who has a helmet on. It just doesn’t make any sense, but, then again, we can’t argue with results.

There is really nothing better than a little blood on the ice. And, by the way, we love the whole “Tale of the Tape” graphics that are being incorporated.

Links:

[Larry Brown Sports]: Don’t **** With Zdeno Chara

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Thrashed By Lightning


1. As Ugly As It Gets
Talk about a severe shellacking: Tampa Bay demolished the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night by an astounding score of 8-0. Where did this offensive explosion come from? It came, in large part, from Vincent Lecavalier, who scored a hat trick and also added two helpers to the stat sheet–now that’s a monster night by any human beings’ standards. Marc Denis recorded the shutout but had a relatively easy night, only having to sop 21 shots from a usually potent Thrasher offense. For the Lightning, it concluded a four-game losing streak, and kept them in the middle of the road in a Southeast Division led by Atlanta.

2. BIZZARO NEWS BREAK: Florida Beats Buffalo?!
No, folks, you do not have to adjust your computer screens. The headline was correctly written, and we apologize for any sudden outbursts of shock or disbelief. Strange things happen in this game of hockey, and a very strange thing happened on Thursday in Florida: the Panthers defeated the Sabres, 3-1. Stephen Weiss had a solid night for Florida, contributing to the tune of a goal and an assist. For the Panthers, it was their second straight victory–but perhaps more importantly, their offense was able to put pressure on Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller. Miller made 35 saves, and gave a solid performance despite the loss. Don’t look now, folks, but we think a Panther comeback is in the works…

3. Beantown Shreds The Leafs
The Boston Bruins made sure that Toronto stayed cold on Thursday night, downing the Leafs by a score of 3-1. Boston’s Wayne Primeau had a goal and an assist– and also assisted netminder Tim Thomas to a easy night. Thomas stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his twelfth victory of the season. It was the sixth straight loss for Toronto, who has dropped back down to the middle of the road in a busy Northeast. The Maple Leafs could be in danger of slipping to last if they keep performing as they have been of late.

Check It Out
CBC Sports takes a look at the retirement of Joe Nieuwendyk, and explains why he decided to hang it up without regret. With a guy like Joe Nieuwendyk, it doesn’t seem too surprising that he’s not dissatisfied or unhappy with his decision.

Game of the Night: Edmonton at Dallas
Stars have won three straight games

The Last Shot
San Jose winger Mike Bell was arrested and charged with a hit-and-run as well as a DUI on Thursday. Reports say his vehicle slammed into a truck waiting at a stop sign… can you say “dumb”?

Categories
General Sports

Nov 30 in Sports History: Brian’s Song


In 1971: ABC-TV aired “Brian’s Song,“ one of the most famous sports movies ever. The movie was a tearjerker about Brian Piccolo (played by James Caan) and Gayle Sayers (Billy Dee Williams), two Chicago Bears teammates who, despite their differences, became best friends, blah, blah, blah. Piccolo ends up dying of cancer, and we didn’t cry, there was just a lot of dust everywhere that day. (imdb.com)

In 1996: In a win over the Spurs, Michael Jordan of the Bulls scored 35 points and recorded his 25,000th career point. Jordan finished his 15-year career with over 32,000 points and a 30.1 average. Jordan was only the tenth player in NBA history to hit the quarter-century mark in points scored. (basketball-reference.com)

In 2005: The Boston Bruins made one of the worst trades in sports history, as they jettisoned captain, former top draft pick and franchise player Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau (not Keith, the better of the two brothers) and Brad Stuart. The Bruins immediately went into the tank, missed the playoffs and GM Mike O’Connell was fired, while Thornton flourished with the Sharks. He teamed up with Jonathan Cheechoo to lead the league in scoring and also won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. (nhl.com)

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Goaliefest



45 saves for Tim Thomas

The goaltenders took center stage on Tuesday, as the NHL action was sparked by some serious defensive numbers:

-585 total saves
-Three shutouts (each with fewer than three total goals)
-Nine goalies with 30 or more saves (two with at least 45)
Here are some of the highlights:

1. Down to the Wire
In the NHL, it’s rare to stop all 39 official shots that get thrown your way- and still get tacked with the loss. Just ask Panther goalie Alexander Auld, who had a monster game against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, going 39-for-39 on save opportunities to earn a shutout in the stat books. Sometimes, though, posting a perfect save percentage just isn’t enough to win you the game. Montreal’s Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu both got the puck by Auld in the shootout period, and gave Habs netminder Cristobal Huet his second shutout of the year. This was only the second time in NHL history that a goalie posted a shutout and received the loss. Huet was outsaved by his counterpart on the opposite side of the ice, but still had an amazing game in his own right with 36 saves. It was Florida’s fourth straight loss, as the Panthers remain at the pit of the Southeast Division.

2. Terminator Tim
Boston Bruins’ goalie Tim Thomas stopped 45 pieces of vulcanized rubber from Toronto sticks on Tuesday night, only letting one puck hit the twine behind him. Unlike Alex Auld, Tim’s career night actually ended with a win, as the Bruins’ offense clicked to the tune of four goals. Thomas picked the right time to come up big, as last-place Boston is barley clinging to relevance. Tim’s comments, from the AP:
“We’re fighting to get back into the race. We had a meeting this morning and Coach [Dave Lewis] said this was the closet thing we’ve had to a playoff game. To get to the playoffs we have to beat teams like the Maple Leafs. He basically challenged us.”
If the Bruins want any chance at playing in the postseason, they’re going to need Tim Thomas to answer the challenge as he did on Tuesday.

3. Olaf the Great
Tuesday’s saves leader was Washington’s Olaf Kolzig, who fell a measly two saves short of the half-century mark. Ollie went 48-for-50 on save opportunities, and the Capitals’ offense banged home five goals for the victory. It snapped a six-game skid for a second-to-last Caps club, as a potent offensive attack was able to get red-hot Tampa goalie Johan Holmqvist pulled from the game in the second period. Five different players tallied scores for Washington, including last year’s Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Alexander Ovechkin (granted, it was an empty netter- but Ovechkin is Ovechkin, so it is newsworthy all the same).

Check It Out
Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail reminds us of just how similar rookie Paul Stasny is to his dad. His dad Peter earned a reputation for being a go-to guy, which is part of the reason why he stands in the Hall Of Fame today. Paul, a college hockey powerhouse Denver University alum, is off to a good start in the pros with Colorado: through 24 games, he has six goals and thirteen assists.

Game of the Night: San Jose at Minnesota
Sharks have won five of last six games

The Last Shot
Yesterday in Bethlehem, New York, a new YMCA opened–featuring an NHL-sized hockey rink. It is the second YMCA in New York to showcase a pro-sized ice sheet, and the Y would be smart to continue with the trend. Out here in the Rockies, we have several YMCA’s- and to our knowledge, no hockey rinks are to be found. The twelve million swimming pools that are found within one YMCA would get quite a bit more use if they were frozen over.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Penguins, NHL Luck Out



No more red for Malkin

1. Malkin Staying In NHL
After an ongoing dispute with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League, a federal judge ended all debate and declared that rookie sensation Evgeni Malkin could stay with the NHL… from the AP:

Metallurg Magnitogorsk, a Russian Super League team, claims that Malkin is under contract in his native country. The club sought a preliminary injunction that would have banned the forward from playing for the Penguins until the matter is resolved.
But the ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska clears the way for Malkin, a star rookie with Penguins, and minor leaguers Andrei Taratukhin of the Calgary Flames and Alexei Mikhnov of the Edmonton Oilers to stick with the NHL franchises.

The Penguins and the NHL must be thanking their lucky stars. Malkin is what the Pens have needed for a while as far as options on the ice – and he’s a marketing machine for the NHL, much like Alex Ovechkin has proved to be after his incredible rookie campaign.

2. Surviving a Scare
The Nashville Predators were able to hold off a pesky Columbus club on Wednesday night, propelling to a 5-4 win. The Preds scored the final two goals of the game in the third to help themselves to the victory – they were netted by David Legwand and Scott Nichol with less than 10 minutes to play. This was a pretty important victory for Nashville, who continued to stay on Detroit’s tail in the Central. As we said before, it looks to be a two-team dogfight for possession of that division, and the race will be close throughout the remainder of the season. The Red Wings have won nine straight, and are clearly the hottest team in hockey. If there was one positive to come out of this game for the Jackets, it’s the solid play of Rick Nash, who scored two goals and racked up an assist in the game.

3. Can’t Capitalize
The Bruins downed the Caps on Wednesday in Washington, taking it to a shootout and converting for the 3-2 victory. After Boston jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st, the Capitals stepped up their D for the final two periods, shutting out the Bruins for the rest of regulation and overtime. In shootouts, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron got one by Washington goaltender Olaf Kolzig to secure the victory. In the game, Tim Thomas saved 33 shots off the sticks of Caps’ players, including shutouts in the final three segments of the game. The Bruins’ Marc Savard earned two assists, extending his points streak to seven games.

Check It Out
CBS Sportsline’s Wes Goldstein repots that the Capitals’ days of misery have finally passed by. With a building block like Alex Ovechkin, is tough to disagree — Washington looks to be a legitimate contender not only in the Southeast Division but in the Eastern Conference as a whole.

Game of the Night: Minnesota at Nashville
Wild have lost four of last five games

The Last Shot
Alexander Ovechkin fired his agent, Don Meehan, on Wednesday. This comes as a bit of a surprise to us, as Meehan is known to be a solid agent in the hockey world, working for clients like Jerome Iginla and Jose Theodore.

Categories
Boston Bruins

Bruins reality show coming in November



Xbox skills are transferable!

We knew the Bruins were bad but they’ve reached a new low: looking for players through a reality show. NESN must be desperate for hockey related ratings. Filming has started for “Be a Bruin”, a competition where anyone who pays $100 can try out to be a Boston Bruin. Former Bruin greats Brad Park, Terry O’Reilly and Gerry Cheevers wll play the Simon, Paula and Randy roles.

Yesterday, about 200 people showed up for the first round of the tryouts. Out of those, 36 contestants will be invited to an all expenses paid week of competition in July where the field will be whittled down to one goalie, one defenseman, and one forward. Those three will be invited to the Bruins training camp with a shot at making the team. Everything will be filmed and there will be 8 episodes on NESN.

It’s a longshot but hell, for $100, you can tell everyone that you once tried out for an NHL team. That kind of story pays for itself many times over in “interesting-facts-about-me” you can tell chicks in a bar. Or to Alex Trebek if you ever get on Jeopardy.

Links:
[Boston Herald]: Wanna be a Boston Bruin? Now’s your chance
[Be A Bruin]: Official site