Tuesday, October 1, 2013

HAPPY HOCKEY DAY!!!

Sorry Red Sox, I'm still bitter and just don't care, frankly.  Rest of baseball, you never had me.  BORING.  I tried watching the Rays and Rangers last night.  I lasted less than an inning.  I'd rather watch commercials.

Sorry basketball, you had me in the 90's, but I just don't care anymore.  Home to the toughest sissies.

Sorry football, we had a nice little thing going and I'll still give you some attention because you dress all fine on Sundays....and I have some mullah mullah invested in ya.

HHHEEELLLLLOOOOO HOCKEY!  My girl is back in town and I am giggly with excitement!!!  The Caps and Hawks kick off the ceremonies tonight with the B's getting back into action Thursday night.


Oh! I almost forgot!  Sorry liver, but there is scientific proof that the Bruins do much better when I drink during games and take a shot a Jameson before the 3rd (and OT...and SO...and for victories.........and for losses).

It'll be interesting to see who is benched for the forwards (Caron? Smith?) and for the defensemen (Bartkowski? Miller?) on Thursday.

Brush off the jerseys!

Prediction : 82-0

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

CAMP STARTS TODAY!

With temperatures rumored to hit 90 degree's today, it's hard to believe that the hockey season OFFICIALLY STARTS TODAY.  #BOOM All the players hit up camp which means we have another exciting and hopefully successful hockey campaign upon us.  Time to dust off my Lucic jersey and prepare my liver...

Now I'm not going to talk about the people we know.  I don't believe there's such thing as a casual hockey fan.  You know hockey or you don't.  No pink hats allowed.  We'll assume that everyone knows who Patrice Bergeron is and if you don't, leave this blog right now! LEAVE!  That man is a saint, my vote for next mayor of Boston, and unanimous choice for the new Batman.

Instead, I'll touch upon other prospects that I'm intrigued to follow during camp: 

1)  Jared Knight (2010 Draft 2nd Round by Boston) : This was the third and final piece to the Kessel trade.  Everyone obviously knows who Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton are, but I'm intrigued by Knight as well and I expect him to make some noise in the near future.  He was the 2nd pick in the 2nd round, which is basically a late first round talent.  He suffered some injuries last year, but hopefully this year if he plays well for Providence we'll see him for a few games in Boston.  Who knows, if Caron goes Peppy Le Pew on us and stinks, we may see him earlier.

2) Alexander Khokhlachev (2011 2nd Rnd BOS) : You always have to worry a bit about Russian players (see Ily Kovalchuk), but I'm excited about this dude.  Not because he has a sweet sounding last now (no idea if I pronounce it right but I say Cocoa-la-chev), but because he's dominated the OHL. Two years ago he scored 69 points in 56 games.  Then he decided to take his skills to Moscow where he didn't fair too well in the KHL.  He comes back to the OHL and BAM 48 points in 28 games.  The jump to the KHL might have been too much at the time, so hopefully he joins the Baby B's this year and continues to develop in our system.  If that doesn't happen, he could be part of a deadline deal to bring someone else in (he was originally part of the Iginla deal).

3) Reilly Smith (2009 3rd Rnd DAL) : Straight up, I know nothing about this guy.  I'll send you over to Stanley Cup of Chowdah for a nice recap of him.  The reason I'm putting him on this list is because he was part of the Seguin/Peverley trade.  I'm hoping that at least 2 out of the 3 prospects we got in return will play some quality minutes for the big boys at some point.  If that happens, I'll be much happier about the trade.

4)  Joe Morrow (2011 1st Rnd PIT) : Just like Smith, I don't know much about this guy.  I remember when the Penguins trading him to the Stars for Brenden Morrow he was one of their top D-prospects.  To get another first round defensive prospect is pretty exciting.  Besides Eriksson, Morrow was probably the most important piece of the Seguin/Peverley trade.  With the likes of Hamilton, Krug, and Bartkowski, to have another solid defensive prospect would have to make the Bruins defensive pipeline one of the strongest in the league.  Again, here's the Stanley Cup of Chowdah's take.

5) Niklas Svedberg (undrafted) : The Providence Bruins rookie had a stellar regular season for the Baby B's, earning Baby Vezina Award for best goaltender in the AHL.  With first round pick Malcom Subban playing well, and obviously Rask playing like an elite goaltender, the B's have some SOLID goaltending depth.  If Svedberg plays well, he will earn the backup spot in Boston allowing Subban to be the main guy in Providence.

Here's too a good season and my on again off again blogging of it!!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

We Need More Swedes....

So since the departure of PJ Axelsson I've really been harping on the fact that the Bruins need more Sveeedes.  This has absolutely nothing to do with skill or talent and everything to do with my fellow blondies donning the black and gold.  Kicking ass and looking good while doing it.

Disclaimer: I just assume everyone from Sweden has blond hair.  Even if it doesn't look like you do, I bet you do.  You're probably just hiding it, so girls don't scream at the top of their lungs while you're playing.

Okay okay, I have a small obsession with good to mediocre (sorry PJ) Swedish players.  Except the Sedin Sisters, I'd renounce their citizenship if I was the Emperor of Sweden.  I was a fan of Mats Sundin, even though he was on the Leafs and I'm still a fan of Daniel Alfredsson, even though he stood me up for the prom and chose to take that stupid jock Detroit instead.

This past season, Crazy Carl Soderberg decided to join us after a few years in the Swedish Elite League.  Alright he only has one GOOD eye and he forgot how small the American rinks are, but you know baby steps here.  I like the effort.


Sidebar: How awesome are you if you name the league, "Elite League"?  There can't be just a Swedish Hockey League.  NO ONE is going to want to play there.  If you had a choice between Swedish Hockey League and Swedish Elite League, you pick Elite.  Even if the other is better.  Duh.


Then this draft, Chia-pet selected two Swedes!  Our first pick, which was in the second round, was Linus Arnesson.  While I'm not totally positive, I think I see a pattern in Swedish folks last names.  Whoever this sson guy is got...a....round.  In the sixth round (soo we probably won't ever see him, but still!), the B's selected Anton Blidh.  Don't ask me to pronounce that.  Weh willh assumeh thath theh "h" ish silenth.

Alright this team is looking more a more beautiful!  Which is usually the deciding factor if a team is going to win the Cup or not. 

BUT WAIT... Chiarelli goes HGTV on us flips Seguin and Peeves for Loui Eriksson (<< see last name, YOU KNOW he's born raised groomed manicured Swedish).  Hot digity dog!  Two Swedes in the line-up next year, this is fantastic.  PJ Axelsson would be so proud!!

Then what happens next?  THE BRUINS HIRE PJ AXELSSON HIMSELF!  What better way to pipe more Swedes to the B's than to have the original (in my opinion, no Swede before him matters... well only in this article) scout them IN SWEDEN. 

Man, this article needed to happen, I don't think I'll ever type so many "sson"'s or Swede in a post again for the rest of my life, but I'm okay with that.

Friday, July 19, 2013

New Bruins Schedule Released

I still haven't watched a full baseball game yet, but I'm already itching to get back into hockey.

After coming to an agreement allowing NHL players to participate in the upcoming winter Olympics (YES!), the 2013-2014 schedule has been released.

Here are my top 10 games that I will either be attending or glued to the TV for:

#10 December 10, 2013 @ Calgary Flames
This could be the only time you ever see me put the Flames in a "top 10" games to watch.  This will be Jarome Iginla's first game back to Calgary since being traded last season.  Do you guys remember that?  It was one of those moves that no one really talked about, nor did it ever come up in the playoffs.  Especially not the Eastern Conference finals.  It'll be pretty cool to see the fans react to Iginla and I expect him to be amped up to perform.


#9 November 14, 2013 vs Columbus Blue Jackets
Flames...and now the Blue Jackets?!? I promise I'm not high.  This will be Nathan Horton's return to the garden.  While I wish there was a way to keep him, he clearly desired a market significantly more lax than Boston.  Well, Nathan, you found it.  Still think he'll get a good ovation.


#8 November 5, 2013 vs Dallas Stars
The big trade for the B's this offseason was obviously unloading Plexiglass Peverley and Party Boy Seguin to the Stars in order to increase our Swedishness (Loui Eriksson).  I'll discuss more about the trade in a later post, but it should be interesting to see this game.  I'd assume Seguin will want to show the B's that they gave up on him a little too soon.


#7 February 4, 2014 vs Vancouver Canucks
Boom.  Bring me right back to June 2011....  LLLUUUOOOONNNGGGOO, the Swedish Sisters and the Vegetarian come back to Boston for another 2011 Cup Finals rematch.  They have a new but familar coach in ex-Rangers head coach Tortarella, but mostly the same key players on the team.  Oh man, this is going to be a good one, just for the fact I love our fans and they will never let this team forget what happened in 2011.


#6 November 29, 2013 vs New York Rangers
Besides last year, the B's have always had a home matinee game on Black Friday and I LOVE IT.  Just like they did in 2011, the NHL has decided to piggy-back off of this and air the game on NBC.  I personally think this is a great time to try and get an annual national game.  NFL has Thanksgiving day, and you can't compete with college football and NFL on the weekends.  I'll be recovering from turkey and beer on the couch watching this game!


#5 October 5, 2013 vs Detroit Red Wings
Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you one of our newest members to the Atlantic Division (yes we are now the Atlantic Division, while the old Atlantic division is now the Metropolitan Division).  We add another original 6 team into the fold and our second game of the season is the first time we'll play them as division rivals.  My Swedish crush, Daniel Alfredsson, also spurned us for the Wings.  Just a little added fuel to the fire.  Welcome East, Wings.  Did I mention this is a Saturday NIGHT game??  Get your drank on fans.


#4 November 9, 2013 vs Toronto Maple Leafs
Remember the feeling you had back on May 13th when you thought the hockey season for Boston was ending?  Then the beyond excitement feeling knowing you just completely ruined Toronto fans spring?  I do and I'm sure the Leafs do too.  This should be a very intense match up as the two teams play each other for the first time since Game 7 of the first round.  If Loui Eriksson scores, can we still chant "Thank You, Kessel"?


#3 October 30, 2013 @ Pittsburgh Penguins
The Bruins will have March 27th circled on their calendars (see #1), but I can guarantee you the Penguins will have 10/30 circled on theirs.  That is the date the B's will travel to Pittsburgh in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch.  Remember that one?  The series in which the Penguins were suppose to just man handle us offensively?  Oh yeah..the B's completely embarrassed the team and the two best players in the world by SWEEPING them. #BoomThatHappened


#2 Any game vs Montreal Canadiens
Best rivalry in all of sports.  I'll take on anyone in this argument.  These games never ever lack drama or emotion.  They will be a more skilled team with the addition of Danny Briere and they will definitely be a tougher team with the addition of George "Best Mustache in Sports" Parros.  I guarantee a Thornton vs Parros bout in the first period of the first game against these two teams.  Both teams will be competing for the division title again.  Sad the B's handed it over to the Habs late last season.


#1 March 27, 2014 vs Chicago Blackhawks
Normally the #1 spot is reserved for the Candiens, and while the 4 games against the Habs would take #2-#5, I have to give the Cup Finals rematch the #1 spot.  I'll just say that again, Stanley...Cup...Finals...rematch.  Less than 2 minutes away from forcing Game 7.  I expect the B's and the crowd to be on a different planet with intensity.  I don't even know if that statement makes sense, but it does to me.





Friday, June 28, 2013

Recovering...

My apologies for complete absence from posting over the past several months.  I'll try to be more consistent this offseason...


As painful as the Game 6 loss to Chicago was, I find myself not nearly as angry anymore.  For starters let's be completely honest with ourselves.  The Bruins NEVER EVER do anything the easy way.  They win in fantastic fashion and lose just the same way.  Overtimes, Game 7's, being the sweeper, being the sweepee, you name it.  A waiver needs to be created for Bruins fans stating that the team is in no way responsible for your physical and mental health throughout the season and playoffs.

While the loss to Chicago flat out sucked, I am actually fairly pleased with how the season and playoffs turned out.  A month and a half ago, every single person except for the players in Black and Gold thought the season was over. 

After a historic comeback to advance to the next round, we need to insert not one, not two, (no I'm not doing my best Lebron impression), but three rookie defensemen into the line up.  What we got was glimpse into the very bright future of the B's blueline.  Hamilton will ultimately be significantly better than Krug and Bartkowski, but there was no way the coaches could take Krug out of the lineup.  The kid was on FIRE.  Fans should be happy and excited about the depth the B's posses at that position.

Next up was the most potent offense in the game.  The two best players in the world, a Norris trophy candidate defenseman, and the player that stood you up at the prom.  I personally didn't think the B's had a chance.  Talking to a coworker, we said that the only outcome of this series that 100% won't happen would be a Bruins sweep...   anyone keeping track on how often I'm wrong?   anyone still reading this blog?  No and no... alright, moving on...

And while it still stings, the B's were less than 2 minutes away from forcing a Game 7 to the best team in the league.  They lost to a very good team and provided some very very entertaining hockey.  It's pretty hard to complain. 

It would've been a storybook ending if the B's were able to bring the Cup back to Boston after everything the city has been through, but I think they did their part in taking our minds to a different place during this run.


Coming up: Offseason Priority Numero Uno - Tuukka Tuukka Tuukka