One Night Only! Colin Campbell Comes Boston

I'm a complete ass.

 So according to Eric Wilbur of the Boston Globe, NHL Head Disciplinarian, Colin Campbell, will be in town on Thursday to watch the Bruins take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m sure Campbell intends on giving the lads a stern talking to about being good little hockey players and will later hunker down and will watch a 60 minute train wreck, like everyone is hoping for .  

Campbell has no one to blame but himself if someone gets hurt Thursday night. If he used that thing, that’s three feet from his ass and suspended Cooke when given the opportunity – I’m sure the calls for blood wouldn’t be as bad. Instead, there’s been talks about sitting Malkin, Crosby & Cooke for the game and it’s not fair for Cooke’s teammates to clean up the mess he made. 

I’m sure Campbell is going to pull Penguins coach, Dan Bylsma, aside and recommend he consider sitting the wonder twins for the night.  I mean, since it’s so close to the playoffs and after that rough game in Tampa Bay on Sunday(Hey Pittsburg, it sucks when it’s your guy, huh?) and let’s not forget they play the night before against the Devils – maybe it’s time for them to have a break. But if Bylsma is an honorable guy, he’ll put Cooke out there and Crosby & Malkin(providing neither are hurt) and keeps it business as usual.  

It’s been a week since Matt Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard and Bruins fans have been looking at this date like an expecting mother. When justice wasn’t served, that’s when it was crystal clear that the players were going to have to take the situation into their own hands and hopefully they do. But I’m not about to put money on it.  Would I be shocked if nothing happened and it was business as usual at the Garden? Nope, not at all. But it’s about time  the Bruins live up to their “big & bad” moniker. If I had my say,  Steve Begin would whispers “Prepare to die” in Matt Cooke’s ear in French, smile, kiss him on the cheek and then proceeds to gnaw off his face. But we don’t always get what we want.

 

Thanks to Puck Daddy for the heads up!

King Crosby

It had to be “him”. If Canada was going to win the gold, you know “he” had to be the reason why. We all know who “he” is and for some reason, the fact that “he” scored that goal last night – made the US’s over time loss to Canada burn a little more for some people.

I know a lot of you out there uttered the phrase, “Anyone but him!” after Crosby scored the goal. But let’s drop the hate for five minutes? I know you think he’s a cry baby, boring and there’s a laundry list of other reasons why you don’t like him. But, let’s face the kid can play. He’s talented – he didn’t get as far as he has based on looks alone. Don’t get me wrong, the kid is a looker and has a great ass – but he’s worked that ass to get where he is today.

Just moments into over time, the kid from Cole Harbor, Sidney Crosby, got the puck past Ryan Miller and his legend grew a little bit more.

But it wasn’t just Sidney who won the game, Roberto Luongo proved why he is the best goalie in the NHL. Corey Perry scored his fourth goal in the series, with the help of his Ducks teammate, Ryan Getzlaf. Jonathan Toews was one of the unsung heroes – getting his first goal yesterday and he was named the top forward in the tournament.

Plus, you’d be an idiot if you didn’t give props to Team USA. According to most people out there, they were going to be a non-issue. They were the youngest team in the tournament and in-goal was a guy who had hit the skids prior to the Olympic break. They proved everyone wrong. They made people like Brian Rafalski and Ryan Kesler household names and hopefully inspired a few kids out there to pick up a stick and put on some skates.

Team USA wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did, if it wasn’t for the performance of Ryan Miller. He was undoubtedly the star in many people’s eyes of the Olympic games and watching him so visibly upset was hard to handle.

This isn’t the first time Miller had an unfortunate run in with Sidney Crosby. Picture it, Buffalo, 2008. It’s a snowy New Year’s Day at Ralph Wilson Stadium and a young, Sidney Crosby gets the puck past Ryan Miller during the shoot out and wins the game. Hopefully Miller doesn’t go all Ray Finkle on the people of Buffalo, he was amazing during the Olympics and I know he wanted a gold medal – but a silver is nothing to look down on. You were the star, sir and I tip my cap to you.

If that doesn’t help, Team USA – well, just remember…  at least you’re not Russia.

CHOKE-VECHKIN

"Do you think my medal will clash with my Stanley Cup ring?"

I was nervous  – but extremely excited. Russia, historically, usually was a tough opponent and I didn’t want Team Canada to blow their load, excuse the term, on them and have nothing to offer later. But, I couldn’t wait to see the two powerhouses battle it out. I mean, this was suppose to be the gold medal game and instead, the top contenders were holding on for dear life. It was Thunderdome!

Did we get Thunderdome? Nope. What did the Olympic viewing audience view? What most of us viewed from the comforts of our own home, was basically the varsity football team beating up on the kids in the slow class.  You know it’s bad to beat up on the retarded kids, but sometimes you got to smack’em around & show’em who’s boss.

It was great to see Canada put the goal in the net over and over again, but a blow out is never a good time. It was depressing almost. I had the honor of catching the game with my father, Hank, and as an older gentleman, he was bummed that Russian wasn’t the beast that they use to be. Gone are the days where the Russians are the athletic superior and stacked with the best of the best. Back when their female athletes looked just as rough and masculine as the men.

Instead Russia’s team seems to be filled with victims of the Chernobyl disaster & coked up, emaciated male models. Don’t hit too them too hard or they’ll break their frail bones. Even Alexander Ovechkin couldn’t score on Canada. Maybe if he spent more time practicing like a his Capitals teammate, Brooks Laich, he’d be the superstar that he supposedly is.

Who knows, maybe Russia decided to take a year off and focus on Sochi in 2014? It’ll be interesting to see who’s in and who’s out when the Olympics come to their neck of the woods.

With last night’s win against Russia, Canada is now one game away from the gold medal round and we all know they want a rematch against Ryan Miller and Team USA. Who wouldn’t want to see that? Well, maybe Russia and the other losing teams in Olympic hockey tournament – but they should have won those all important games if they wanted their vote to count.

Canada takes on Slovakia Friday night, while the US takes on Finland.

Olympic Hockey Recap: The Nobody Cares About Jarome Iginla Edition

“You like me! You really like me!”

After days of sitting through filler, all eyes are on men’s hockey in Vancouver and no matter how hard NBC tried to keep their viewing audience from watching the games, the viewing audience lucked out and caught a glimpse of what they can hopefully expect during the medal rounds.

Team USA kicked off the day by taking on the delegation from Switzerland. The Swiss team was anchored by Anaheim (Mighty) Duck goalie, Jonas Hiller. Prior to the Olympic break, Hiller posted a record of 5-2  and was having a little more success than Team USA’s goalie, Ryan Miller. The Buffalo Sabre, had recently hit the skids and was struggling as of late. Miller had only one win the month of February. But much like the playoffs, the Olympics are an entirely different.

The US were the first to strike 18:59 into the first period. Robert Ryan, not to be confused with Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks, scored the unassisted goal on his NHL teammate. The  Cherry Hill Giant will be holding his head a little bit higher today.

Bobby Ryan told reporters after yesterday’s win, “Once I scored, I was able to settle down and come back into my own a little bit.” US General manager, Brian Burke understood her team would be nervous and they had every right to be. “This is the big stage. This is Broadway.”

St. Louis Blue David Backes, scored 6 mins into the 2nd and that was followed up by Tampa Bay’s Ryan Malone’s power play goal half way through the second period. By the end of the 2nd period, the US was ahead 3-1 and were up 22 shots to Switzerland’s 15 shots.

Now, I don’t want to say the US mailed it in and didn’t give their 100% during the 3rd period, but they only had 2 shots on goal. TWO – count’em 1-2 shots on goal. It’s bad enough the US Women’s hockey team did it against Russia, but you’re there to win and you want to be intimidating. Enough of this sportsmanship crap. Kick some ass and show these other countries they can’t mess with the stars & bars. The US takes on Norway next.

The US’s next opponent lost last night to Canada in a shut out. Hometown hero, Roberto Luongo, blocked all 15 shots on goal. But the real star of the night was Jarome Iginla. The man who according to Sean Avery nobody cared about because he was too boring, captivated the crowd the with his hat trick – one of which came on the power play.

Dany Heatley followed up Iginla’s performance with 2 goals, Philadelphia’s Mike Richards(who Doc referred to as Washington Capital, Mike Green – Ouch! Burn!) and Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry of the (Mighty) Ducks each scored one. Canada’s #1 son, Sidney Crosby, had three assists for the night. Unlike, the US – Canada didn’t lay down in the 3rd period and led with 42 shots on goal. Canada takes on Switzerland on Thursday.

Finally the Russian Federation or Russia as I like to call them, beat Latvia 8-2. Washington Capital, Alex Ovechkin and AK Bars Kazan(not to be confused with the cinematic gem, Kazaam) Danis Zaripov each scored 2 goals. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburg Penguins and Ilya Kovalchuck of the Atlanta Thrasers New Jersey Devils each scored a goal and recorded an assist.  Russia hits the ice next on Thursday and takes on Slovakia in a game we probably won’t be able to see because NBC are ass hats.

If you’re looking to fill your hockey fix today: Finland takes on Belarus, Sweden plays Germany and the Czech Republic takes on Slovakia.

Team Canada Becomes A 5 Year Reunion – Olympic Bound Bruins

"You guys want to do this again on 2010?"

 As mentioned on my Twitter, considering the dramatic way Steve Yzerman announced Team Canada this afternoon, Brian Burke should contact Simon Fueller and everyone  at American Idol and have Ryan Seacrest do the announcement of Team USA. 

  “Phil Kessel……You are…….NOT on Team USA.” 

Let’s be honest, the best part (for Bruins fans at least!) was the announcement that Patrice Bergeron would be joining the team in Vancouver. Not bad for a kid who didn’t get an invite to camp this summer.  With the addition of Bergy, the Olympic viewers get to check out a mini reunion of sorts of the 2005 Canadian World Juniors Championship Hockey Team  that featured Sidney Crosby(A) – Pittsburgh Penguins, Corey Perry & Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim (Formerly Mighty) Ducks, Brent Seabrook – Chicago Blackhawks, Shea Webber – Nashville Predators and  Mike Richards – Philadelphia Flyers . For the complete roster of Team Canada, go here. 

And Patrice isn’t the only Bruin heading to Vancouver in February, Zdeno Chara will be going and representing Team Slovakia, Marco Sturm will be representing Germany and David Krejci will be on the ice in Vancouver for the Czechs. 

Team USA will be announced on New Year’s Day in conjunction with the Winter Classic. Here’s to hoping Tim Thomas makes the team!

Firefly For Sale!

So for those of you who may or may not know, The Sandbox on FNX has given Andrew ‘The Package’ Ference, a new nickname. After expressing his dislike for Owl City’s hit single, ‘Fireflies’ – Special Ed decided to take it upon himself and start a campaign to call Andrew, ‘The Firefly’. Hence the artwork he came up with a couple weeks ago.

'Cus I get ten thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs...

BTW, whoever did the musical intro to Ference’s segment is genius. ANYWAYS, so this morning, The Sandbox tried to get him to sign off on the image so WFNX can start producing shirts. Ference tried to weasel his way out of it and mentioned that Lucic shirts are covered in blood and he’ll have a shirt featuring ‘fairy wings’.

Now, Andy(can I call you Andy?), you’re missing an amazing opportunity to raise money for charity and by charity I don’t mean saving Special Ed’s fatty liver, skating lessons for Wideman or a bubble to keep Looch in – so he doesn’t get hurt.

Why not have FNX sell the shirt and have part of the proceeds go to a charity close to you? Perhaps The David Suzuki Foundation or The New England Grassroots Enviroment Fund or maybe you want to save the baby seals? I mean honestly, how can you say ‘NO’ to this?

You don't want me to die - do you, Andy?

So Andy, man up and let The Sandbox sell Firefly Ference shirts – I know an assload of ladies would buy them and how cool would it be to see a sea of  Firefly shirts at a game? And if you want a Firefly Ference shirt – tell Andrew next time you see him….

I bet Sean Avery & Sidney Crosby would say ‘yes’!

Why Ladies Love Hockey Part 2

Last week we heard from a couple of Habs fans, Sarah Spain & Bruins die-hard loved Hockey. This week, we hear from Curl from WrapAroundCurl & creator of Mustache Monday, Caite who’s a Bruins super fan & author of Loochness Monster, Sarah who’s from Oakland who loves the Sharks and who likes to reminds me daily how she hates Corey Perry (stop lying) and Ashley, a die hard Toronto fan who bleeds blue and white. I know this because she told me and threaten my life if I didn’t write that.

You can find part one here, look for part three after Labor Day weekend! Enjoy!

This is the end….

So that's it. The end is here. The Pittsburgh Penguins are now the Stanley Cup champs, the Detroit Red Wings are this year's bitter bridesmaids and Ovechkin is on probably on his way collecting some new hardware in Vegas for the NHL Awards. Woo! *fartnoise*

Was I happy with the turn out of the season? Yes & No. I mean, it's been a tough one for me. I had a chance to cover the Bruins, but because I wanted to be the first hockey blogger to talk about Roman War Helmets in a public forum, that opportunity was short lived. Am I still bitter? I won't lie, I am and it's a tad annoying that I still get emails about it on a daily basis. I guess there are worse things to be known for, right? I still wonder if I should have submitted the piece to Deadspin. But there's not much I can do now. Hey, at least I got you bitches. So that's something to be proud of. But I'm hoping one day, I'll be known for being more than just, according to WEEI's Joe Haggerty, as a habitual line stepper. 

But personal issues aside, back to the topic at hand – this year's hockey season. I wasn't happy with how everything ended for the Bruins and I know I'm going to come off as a homer and I should be "over it" - but Scott Walker got off light. He shouldn't have been playing and look what happened? Boom! OT goal, Bruins lose -  out of the playoffs. It wasn't supposed to be like that – they were supposed to go on and win The Cup. Well, that's what I had my money on. Not that I'm condoning illegal betting or anything like that. I already had the parade route mapped out in my head and a laundry list of excuses of why I was going to miss work that day. But instead of a summer learning what the members of the B's did with The Cup, we'll be focusing on whom staying, who's coming, who's going and how David Krejci's graham cracker hip is healing. Better luck next year, boys. But thanks for the ride. It was amazing while it lasted.

As for the Stanley Cup champs, I've has a weird relationship with them this season. The first game I was suppose to cover was a Pens game, but because I was 'accidently forgotten' & omitted from the press list, I didn't get to. At the time, I didn't lose too much sleep over it – I assumed I was going to get a chance to interview Geno, Superstar Talbot, Sid the Kid and the rest of the Pens later on in the season. But instead, I got fired and well, that never happened. Although, I would like to thank Puck Daddy for trying to make me feel better, by telling me I wasn't missing much by not talking to Sidney Crosby. I know I don't have the skills, like Cabbie Richards and I'm sure Crosby would have probably been as entertaining as a wet mop, but I still wanted to get the chance to speak to him. Haha Oh well.

But at the end of the day, I was glad they won. They desereved it and I'd rather see them win,than the Red Wings. By the way, it's nice to see their fans are taking this loss in stride and being classy about it. *rolls eyes*

So now what? The draft is coming up, but we already know where John Tarvares is more than likely going. The NHL releases next season's schedule at the end of July, so there's something to look forward to. I'm sure Phoenix Coyotes drama is far from over and it'll be interesting to see who does what in the off season. So now, all we can do is sit and wait for the next hockey season(or the next season of Project Runway whichever comes first.). As for me, I'll be here and look forward to a review of Alyssa Milano's baseball epic. Because I know you all are dying to know more about it and whether or not I kill myself before the 6th chapter. I figure, it can't be any worse than the bullshit you all read here. 🙂

Game Seven

This is it, people. Game seven! Someone is going to be setting up tee times tomorrow and while the other will be prepping to play the Penguins. The momentum has shifted and the B's have won the last two games. So this will be easy, right? Who knows.

But after the performance we got during Game 6, I'm thinking the people in Boston are going to be very happy tonight. I cannot wait for the game – it's going to be amazing! I could say more, but it's already  been  said. We all know what they need to do.

LET'S GO B'S!!!

Mike Wendt made this great video – add him on Twitter!

If the Bruins needed another reason to win – do it for Mikey!

 

By the way, congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins who demolished the Washington Capitals last night! I recommendy you watch the video Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski, did. Mike Green was just not having it when it came to the handshake. I guess that's what happens when you get pulled in the third period for playing like crap. At least he has his sack to come home to.

Bruins vs. Devils….

I’m going to be honest; I don’t have high hopes for today’s
game. The last time the B’s had this much time off in-between games was in
Florida and that was an epic fail. Plus, take in consideration the momentum the
Jersey Devils currently running on – you can’t help but wonder if the black and
gold can pull this off.  But whenever I
do question the Bruins and their ability as a team, they surprise me and pull
off win like it was easier than a Pine Manor girl at a MIT frat party.

The Devils have 97 points and a win tonight, could put them
one point behind the Bruins. Depressing, isn’t it? But anything is possible.
The Bruins could hit the ice today and give Brodeur his worst loss of his career
– although, I’m being realistic and I’d be happy with an OT win.  Just win? Please? If not for me, do it for the
press up stairs who are desperate to write something positive. Instead of covering your love of Chipotle?

Listen, if the B's win today – I'll buy them their stupid burritos!

P.S. If you get a chance – check out Puck Daddy's mini documentary he did on the public's love/hate relationship with Sidney Crosby.