juniors

nhl talent?

Playoff beards

Trend started by hockey players now trending through to the fans. When the +boston_bruins won the cup two years ago I happened to go to a family reunion the following weekend and saw a cousin of mine I hadn't seen in at least a year. He was wearing a Stanley Cup champions bruins hat, bruins shirt, and sporting a matching Stanley Cup beard. I asked sort of jokingly "whats that your playoff beard? Yeah, he said. At the time I thought he was crazy, but have seen the trend grow. This run at the cup our beloved +boston_bruins found themselves down 3 goals with 11 minutes to go in the 3rd period of a game 7 that would of abruptly ended the season along with our hopes and dreams. Most people turned off the TV. Others helled obscenities. I continued to watch, a little disappointed but hey I love hockey and even more the bruins so I just watched. I didn't have much hope but still Iwas going to watch the complete game the postgame and even listen to the disgruntled players. Then it happened lucic to Horton the deficit is 2.then lucic on a rebound of a chara shot their within 1.By now there was only 90 seconds left and I mean come on they aren't really gonna tie it, are they? Then they get possession tuukka leaves the net 6 attackers they cycle bergy to chara back to bergy he shoots he scores. BERGERON SCORES. And yes they did end up winning in ot. Guess who? Yup Bergeron wins it.
   Anyways back to the beard I realized I hadn't shaved in two days and said" I'm not shaving until the playoffs are over. The stanley Cup finals start tomorrow and the bruins go to Chicago to face the blackhawks and although its very itchy and somewhat uncomfortable I'm not shaving till we win the cup.

UnBelievable

Patrice Bergeron and the bruins celebrate the greatest game 7 comeback in Stanley Cup playoffs history. The bruins come back from 4-1 deficit in the 3rd period. They will face the NY Rangers in the 2nd round. They have not played each other in the playoffs in 40 years. This should be a hard fought original 6 matchup. Go Bruins.

This is the front page of the Toronto sun

Sometimes a picture doesn't have to say 1000 words.

What just happened?

That's a great question. What happened? Bruins fans have been asking each other that question since Toronto won game 5 and made it a series. Again I asked myself that question after game 6 and for the first time in the series it got uncomfortable. But we did have home ice advantage, and we did win the cup two years ago with pretty much the same team. So I still liked our chances. I was sure that whoever drew first blood would win the game and yes we did both of those things but it didn't seem likely in fact it seemed down right impossible. By the start of the 3rd period the Leafs were up 2 - 1 and had momentum. All we had to do was get even and quick. And even quicker it 3-1. At that point in the game I looked at my wife and said "that's it, we lost" I had already fired coach Julien, Traded Lucic and started looking forward to football season. And then it happened or started to anyways lucic set up horty to cut the deficit in half. Still we were down two goals. Then they pull Rask and get another back but come on. Nobody scores two goals with an extra attacker, if you get one the opposing team just ices the puck any chance they get to kill the clock if for no other reason. But not tonight with 50.4 seconds left in the season Bergeron does what we all knew would happen he tied the game. I almost hit the roof. When the horn sounded for the first time all night I was confident we were going to win. Back and forth we go chances for both teams but still I was confident. I could see through movement's and body language the Leafs goaltender was losing his. And all of a sudden "he scores, Patrice Bergeron wins the series for the Boston Bruins" Jack Edwards goes crazy along with the TD Garden and every bruins fan on the planet. Reimer (Leafs goaltender) layed face down stunned for at least 30 seconds and the rest of his team shaking their heads. The live shot from the air Canada Centre was also stunned hands in the air and jaws on the ground. What a game. What a night. What a series. Thank you Kessel.

Gronkowski

It seems like everyday Gronk is in the news and in the offseason that usually isn't a good thing. Pat's fans are again wondering if the TE will be healthy for the start of next season. But the injury concerns surrounding his forearm remain serious. According to the Boston Herald, he'll have a fourth surgery to "change the plate that’s securing the broken bone in the forearm.d And then if he can heal without any setbacks ie infections he most likely will be ready for the season opener. With welker gone the pat's are going to lean on him that much more. Hernandez has been surprisingly good throughout all of Gronkowski's injuries considering he was thought to compliment him.
  The media has been tough on gronk from posting pic's of him dancing shirtless bartop hours after a tough super bowl loss, to even reporting that he and his brother were wrestling weeks after his second surgery. They have even try to get headlines by releasing photos of rob with infamous porn stars.
   What we have all been guilty of at one time or another is the fact that he's only 24 years old. And with all the attention that was focused on him and a multimillion dollar contract he earned mixed with his gronk sized personality I think he has handled himself appropriately. These athletes are people just like the rest of us and unlike movie stars they lack the training that is needed to balance life, success, and the media scrutiny that comes with it.
   The Patriots have accepted him for the person he is off the field in order to get the player he is on the field. And coach Belichick has seemed to tame the big TE enough to avoid the circus atmosphere the media tends to create. Visit
    As fans we are attracted to the off the field antics and on the field spikes he has made famous. We were his shirts eat his cereal and are almost always gronking around on sunday I just hope Rob will be too.

Bad goals

Tukka rask has been outstanding through this series with the Leafs and pretty much all season long. Still he hasn't won me over yet. Why? This isn't my first column on this topic either. I mean 46 saves twice in this series (career high)  and at times he looks impregnable so why? Maybe its because the goals he does let in are usually bad goals and a lot of times the five hole is the culprit. Tukka is very talented and confident sometimes too confident and he lets his emotions get the best of him. I've seen him break a stick or two. To be honest after the Leafs jumped ahead 2 nil in the first I was calling for dobbie but when he settled in he was phenomenal. I guess Its me but I am coming around.

Game 4b

I am having a hard time containing my emotions after the great performance the +boston_bruins put forth in the last game. Poor Toronto didn't know what hit them the Air Canada Centre was packed inside and out they were all dressed in white and blue scarfs around their necks and extremely proud of the #leafs, but when #bruins winger Daniel Paille' scored his 3rd period goal all 30,000 of them hung their heads in disbelief. The place got real quiet real quick as if someone flipped a switch. How will they bounce back tonight?

Home ice disadvantage

Last night I put the wild /Blackhawks game on to get my fill of +nhl craving only to be let down. #stanleycup playoffs are in my opinion the only post season games that keep your attention and on the edge of your seat whether or not your favorite team is playing. The wild at being down 2-1 in the series were undeniably flat. The crowd was half asleep and if it didn't display Stanley Cup playoffs all over the ice I would of mistaken the game for a meaningless end of the season matchup. You know the kind of game where neither team is going to the playoffs. What surprised me the most was the fact that the game was not out of reach, the home team had won the previous game and could have evened the series, but more importantly the venue was played in the great hockey state of Minnesota. Come on. The #wild didn't give them much reason to cheer but hello sometimes a team needs something to feed off you know a fight or a "lets go wild"  "defense" anything. If and when the Hawks knock them off I just hope the game is played in Chicago.

I love it

This was front page of the Ottawa sun this morning. I love it.

Mumbo jumbo o

I heard a rumor or a dream that Steven A. Smith conjured up that Trader Danny Ainge and the LA clippers were having talks of trading KG Paul Peirce and get this wait for it Doc Rivers for the likes of Eric Bledsoe. Caron Butler, and Blake Griffin. Heck why not throw in Rondo for CP3. I personally don't believe it and more importantly don't subscribe to it. The Clippers were a a good team through most of the season but were also bumped out in the first round of the playoffs just like us. Right now Doc is the only thing we can build off this off season. Without him all we would be doing is changing uniforms. I would be all for the trade if we have Doc to coach them. It would be great to watch Rondo tossing lobs to Griffin. And we would finally have a backup for Rajon. But without Doc it doesn't make much sense. One thing I've learned is not to believe everything you hear.

Tukka time

In his first season as the +bruins #1 goaltender Tukka Rask has lived up to expectations and then some. He's ranked. near the top of almost all the major categories for goalies. He's handled his emotions alot better than he has in the past with the exception of a few broken sticks but none the less he's carried himself in a way your #1 goaltender should. With that being said I have to be honest I still have some uncertainties when I look forward in this playoff run and I don't don't think I'm alone. Maybe its the lingering memories of a total collapse of a few seasons back when the bruins had a very comfortable 3 nil lead over the flyers only to have rask slowly let it slip away, or maybe its the way Tim Thomas stood on his head and almost single handedly delivered Boston its first Stanley Cup since the days of Orr and Espo. I'm not sure. When I ask other fans their opinion they can't pinpoint either. Everyone says the same thing #1 is the flyer series, #2 Tim Thomas, #3 his emotions. It looks like Rask is going to have to game by game prove himself to the Boston fans. I don't think its fair to compare him to Thomas because I don't Timmy himself could replicate his Con Smythe winning display of two seasons ago. I guess I'm not alone in feeling this way right or wrong. With some luck and a bounce of the puck here and there maybe just maybe we will come to appreciate Rask.

Not so fast

Game 3 at the Air Canada Centre should be electric. The energy in the building should tip the scale because the Toronto Maple Leafs have not been in the playoffs in 13 years and beating the bruins in game 2 at the garden should only add fuel to the fire. The bruins ended the regular season on a bad note winning just 2 out of the last 9 games they played. Us fans were unsure of what to expect this post season. The B's quickly took control of the game and tempo with their patten big bad bruins play and skated to a convincing 4-1 win. Tukka Rask was sensational between the pipes, and by 10:30 that night we forgot all about the last 11 games. Causeway st was packed with fans chanting "lets go bruins"  and "Kessel"  on the news I even heard one fan state the series is over, we're gonna sweep em".  Tonight we head to Toronto in the middle of a 1-1 split with the Leafs controlling home ice. It's now a best of 5 but some how I still like our chances.

Killer B instinct

Bruins winger Tyler Seguin sharpens his tools of the trade in preparation for the highly anticipated game 3 vs. the Leafs tonight at the Air Canada Centre. While the team sharpens their skills in the morning skate drill. The venue will be amped up giving the fact that the Leafs are making their first post season appearance in over a decade.  The bruins are used to arena intensity but this time it won't be geared towards them but against. Winning the cup two years ago should help the B's chances I mean lets face it they are a very young bunch. We will soon see if the playoffs run from two years ago was a fluke or the beginning of a very successful reign in the nhl. The core players are back in fact 17 out of 20 players on the roster were here to hoist the cup in 2011. And if they play with that "killer instinct"  as coach Julien likes to say. They will be a hard team to beat 4 times.

Keep calm or keep Gronking

New England patriots TE Rob Gronkowski has potential to be one of if not the greatest the game has ever seen.But the past two seasons it seems as though he has his best efforts and concentration have been focused of the field rather than on.There for his statistics have suffered.Most importantly the Patriots as a team have suffered.Opposing defenses don't have to account for him and can double herandez or stack the box to defend the run.With welker now a member of the competition and Gronk dressed in street clothes patriots have evened the playing field wich only puts more pressure on an aging Tom Brady.The fact of the matter is if health and rehab do not out weigh drinking and bar dancing Brady may never get his forth ring and more importantly Gronk will never et his first.