Showing posts with label Boston Bruins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston Bruins. Show all posts

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Yeah in Review 2013



Personally, I think that 2013 was a crummy year, however, it was a very good year for sports. There's been some really nice stories. When it looked like the Boston Bruins were going back to Chicago for game seven, but it wasn't meant to be, as the Blackhawks scored two goals in 17-seconds to win the Stanley Cup over the Boston Bruins.



The last team in the NCAA tourney, wins the NCAA tourney by going through a bunch of one and two seeded teams. Also, Yale becomes the first Ivy League school as well as the first ECAC team since 1989 to win the NCAA title. With the NCAA title win, the ECAC sheds the EZAC label.

The Minnesota Wild sign the big-time free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise in the summer of 2012 and the Minnesota make the Stanley Cup for the first time since the 2006-07 season. However, the Wild playoff drive is short lived as they are quickly dispatched in five games (4-1) by the eventual Stanley Cup champion the Chicago Blackhawks.



After much discussion, hand wringing and teeth gnashing, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference begins play in Oxford, Ohio as North Dakota and Miami play in the first ever game. North Dakota would go on to win game one by a score of 4-2.



The Toronto Maple Leafs looked like they were headed to the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Leafs had what looked like a comfortable 4-1 lead. Then the roof fell in on the Maple Leafs during the third period. The Bruins would move on to face the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.



Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand, aka the Little Ball of Hate, would get things rolling in round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Boston Bruins would win in overtime.

Like I mentioned earlier, personally, for me, 2013 has been one of those years that I will soon hopefully forget, but there's been some great sports stories. Happy New Year and see you next year.
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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Bettman upholds Thornton's 15-game suspension

The Ruling has come down. The NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld Shawn Thornton's 15-game suspension.


NEW YORK -- Commissioner Gary Bettman today upheld the 15-game suspension that was assessed to Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton by the Department of Player Safety for punching and injuring an unsuspecting opponent, Brooks Orpik of the Pittsburgh Penguins, in NHL Game No. 438 at Boston on Dec. 7.

Commissioner Bettman heard Thornton's appeal at a hearing in New York on Friday, Dec. 20. The original decision was assessed Dec. 14.

The incident occurred at 11:06 of the first period. Thornton was assessed a match penalty for violating NHL Rule 46.15.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Thornton will forfeit $84,615.45. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Click here to view Commissioner's complete ruling (PDF)

Monday, December 16, 2013

Shawn Thornton to appeal 15-game suspension



Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton is going to appeal his 15-game suspension. I can't imagine an independent arbitrator ruling in his favor, but we will soon find out.




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(Video) Milan Lucic Fights outside Vancouver Club



This happened after the Boston Bruins lost to the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Saturday night. From the Sporting News.
After his Bruins lost to the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday night, video surfaced of an angry Milan Lucic cursing outside a Vancouver nightclub following an apparent altercation.

No punches are thrown in the video, and Lucic was not the aggressor, but he did say he'd been hit twice and was upset that an officer suggested that he leave.
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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand kisses ring finger



Apparently, Brad Marchand kissed his ring finger that his Stanley Cup Ring sits on and the Boston Bruins hating fans went nuts.

As most Boston Bruins fans know, there's a whole group of NHL fans that hate the Boston Bruins and go nuts no matter what the Boston Bruins do. It's the same thing being a member of the UND fan base as well. I heard about this little incident last night, as I was going home from the Engelstad Arena, after the game last night. I kind of figured some would be getting all spun up about this today.







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Saturday, December 14, 2013

(Video) Boston Bruins: Shawn Thornton Suspended 15-games



Update: The NHL has thrown the book at Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton for his attack on Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik.

According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton is suspended 15-games for his attack on Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik. That means that Thornton will not be eligible to return to the ice until January 11, 2014 against the San Jose Sharks. Developing.







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Monday, December 09, 2013

James Neal suspended 5-games for kneeing Marchand

I think the suspension should be longer, but that's the breaks. It's a good thing that Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand wasn't hurt by the dirty play. Nice to see that Dion Phaneuf will probably be getting suspended for his dirty hit on Kevan Miller.






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Sunday, December 08, 2013

Bruins Kevan Miller boarded by Leafs Dion Phaneuf



Boston Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller is absolutely destroyed by Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf. There's no sense to this hit, this is a major penalty, in my opinion. This is a dangerous hit and has no place in any level of hockey. The refs in this instance should be fined for not making the proper call.



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Bruins Hockey: Chris Kelly Out With Broken Ankle



s/t KK... Before Pittsburgh Penguins fans lecture us about the Boston Bruins being dirty, check this out. Chris Kelly is out with a broken ankle after he was slashed by Pens forward Pascal Dupuis last night.

Doesn't look good for Shawn Thornton




I going to predict that that this isn't going to end well for Boston Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton. Now, it's just a matter of how long the suspension is going to be... That discussion will happen on Monday.

Again, it doesn't matter that Brooks Orpik caught Loui Erikkson with a questionable, late, high-hit early in the game. The hit in question sent the Bruins forward to the locker room with a concussion. That's his second concussion of the season. None of that matters.

The Department of Player Safety won't look at that, when they make their decision on Monday. What they will look at; Thornton attacked a guy while he laid on the ice. That's not acceptable behavior in any league.
Shawn Thornton has a hearing and will not be traveling with the team to Toronto ^CS— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 8, 2013
s/t puck daddy... Shawn Thornton said this, in an ESPN interview recently.
DOES THE CODE STILL EXIST? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU TAKE PRIDE IN/ABIDE BY?

I take a lot of pride in that. I do. People could probably criticize that I’m a little too honorable, I suppose, in some instances. I've been a firm believer my whole life that what goes around comes around. If you’re one of those guys that suckers someone when they’re down or you go after somebody that doesn’t deserve it or isn’t the same category as you, that will come back and bite you at some point, too. I also take a lot of pride in the fact that I can play 8-12 minutes a night. I’ve had to work extremely hard on that part of my game to bring more to the table than just fighting. That’s part of my game, but I can do a lot more.

There's some good news for Boston Bruins fans. NHL announces Pittsburgh forward James Neal to have a phone hearing Monday with the NHL's Department of Players Safety. A phone hearing means that Neil won't be suspended more than five-games.

Lastly, I was reading the one of the local Pittsburgh Newspapers and this is what they have to say on the matter. James Neil doesn't sound very contrite for his bush league kneeing incident on Brad Marchand.   For the record, Neil has been suspended before.
Rob Rossi, Trib Live -- About four minutes passed before Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tripped Bruins winger Brad Marchand near the Boston bench. Neal skated past and clipped Marchand in the head with his knee.

“I was skating by him,” Neal said, noting he had not seen a replay of his hit, which resulted in a minor penalty for kneeing. “I hit him in the head with my leg or my foot or my knee or my shin area; I don't know. He went down. I guess I need to try and avoid him.

“I need to be more careful and get my knee out of the way. I'm not trying to hit him in the head or injure him or anything like that.”

Marchand said he “could not comment” on Neal's hit.

Bylsma said Neal “didn't make an attempt to get out of the way on Marchand.”

Saturday, December 07, 2013

VIDEO: Loui Eriksson concussed after hit from Brooks Orpik: Shawn Thornton Attacks Orpik



First, this is the hit by Brooks Orpik on Loui Eriksson that caused Shawn Thornton to snap tonight. This hit also injured Eriksson, and from the video, you can see that the puck was nowhere near Erikson. 

While the hit definitely a penalty; it's probably nothing more than a two-minute minor penalty for interference. 

That being said, there’s no excusing what Shawn Thornton did, this is unacceptable. I believe that Thornton broke the hockey code by attacking a player that was laying on the ice. You can't have that. 

Thornton is going to have a hearing with the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety. While Thornton has never been suspended by the NHL, they have to respond to this hit.


I think that it would be safe to say that Thornton will be looking at a very long suspension. The NHL has to respond harshly to this act of violence. I am going to predict that Thornton is looking at a 10-game suspension, minimum. Some might compare what There's no excusing what he did. Before Boston Bruins fans eviscerate me, I am Boston Bruins fan, but we can't excuse this. 


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Thursday, December 05, 2013

Max Pacioretty boards Johnny Boychuk (Video)



Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty was given a two-minute minor penalty for this dangerous, but not really malicious hit, against Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk. I do not like this hit. I also think that Pacioretty should have been given more than a two-minute minor penalty. Not dirty, but it was worthy of a five-minute major. Boychuk was taken by ambulance to a Montreal hospital.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Boston Bruins: Torey Krug O.T. thriller



Thank you Michigan State. Torey Krug has become kind of a rock star in Boston. The Boston Bruins (16-6-2), first in the Eastern Conference are 7-0-2 in their past nine game at home. Torey Krug also has points in three straight games (1g-2a—3pts) and has scored (7g-8a—15pts) on the season and is fourth on the Bruins in scoring.
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Monday, November 11, 2013

NHL Hockey: Lightning Star Stamkos injured in loss to Bruins



This is a scary video. Tampa Bay will be without their superstar forward Steven Stamkos who was injured today during the second period of today’s game against the Boston Bruins.


The Tampa Bay Lightning forward broke his fibula when he crashed into the Boston Bruins goal post. Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher and transported to a Boston Hospital.  Stamkos will undergo surgery to fix the broken fibula. Stamkos was also going to be a member of the 2014 Canadian Olympic team, that’s a huge loss for the Canadians. 
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Saturday, November 09, 2013

Finding a silver lining in a mountain full of garbage



This makes me very happy; the Boston Bruins continue their domination over the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the UND vs. UNO game, my wife’s cousin asked me what I thought and I told him, I was a fan of the Boston Bruins from 1988 to 2011 and I had to wait a long time to watch them win a Stanley Cup. I am not going to let this team ruin day. I am no too upset about this. This is just one part of the season. There’s a lot of season left. This is one game.

I must admit, I didn’t think that the season would play out like this, not with the players that this team has on the roster. So far, this team is under achieving and they’re really not doing much on the ice. Tonight they played better. I think it’s all minor things that the coaching staff will fix and fix quickly. If not, the coaching staff will sit the players that aren’t playing well and try another player.

As far as fixing what ails this team, It will happen either tomorrow night, next weekend, or soon. A Dave Hakstol team will not continue to play like this for very long. This is a coach that bag skated his team after they lost 1-0 to the BSU Beavers in November of 2011. If he doesn’t have their attention, he will soon.

I thought that UND played well against UNO tonight, In the second period. Bad goals have killed this team so far this season. I also think the goaltending has been poor all-season long. I also think that the forwards have been lazy getting the puck into the offensive zone and the defensemen have been doing things a step slow.

UND has lost four straight game for the first time since 2006. Something has got to give. So, their either going to get their act together and play well, or their going to get buried in the bottom half of the NCHC standings, time will tell. They have a tough schedule ahead of them in November. 
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Friday, October 25, 2013

No hearing for Zdeno Chara for his hit on Tommy Wingles



Last night, Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara put this high hit on Sharks forward Tommy Wingels at the 02:28 mark of the first period. Today, the National Hockey League said that Chara will not face any additional supplemental discipline for his high hit on the Sharks forward. Is there a double standard? I guess that's up to the fans and pundits to decide. In this case, my star player theory does seem to carry some merit.

Joe Meloni of Stanley Cup of Chowder has an interesting take on the matter. I thought after seeing the hit that Chara would get suspended for a game, based on some of the hits that have garnered a suspension so far this season.


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Monday, October 14, 2013

Boston Bruins: Milan Lucic scores the 100th goal of his career



Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic scored  the 100th goal of his NHL career. Lucic has been in the NHL for six seasons and has scored (100g-144a—244pts) in a 410 games. Lucic is also having a good start to the 2013-14 season scoring (3g-2a—5pts).
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Wednesday, October 02, 2013

NHL Hockey: Anti-Fighting Cabal uses Parros Incident to Push Agenda

Last night, newly acquired Habs tough guy George Parros while fighting fellow Leafs Pugilist Colton Orr, slipped and fell awkwardly on to the ice, landing on his chin.  The violent fall knocked the Habs tough guy out. Fortunately, Parros wasn’t seriously injured and this is the tweet that George put on twitter account this morning.  [Video of incident]




Now, the anti-fighting cabal which never lets an incident go to waste, immediately jumped on the Parros injury to make their call to ban fighting from hockey. Almost on cue, the tweets and articles to ban fighting in hockey started showing up from the usual suspects, you know who they are. Proving once again, that the people that write about hockey probably never played the game, ever. 



Whether you want to admit it or not, fighting is part of the game of hockey, that’s a historical fact, I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Sure, Fighting is not legal in college and most levels of youth hockey, but it’s part of the "culture" of junior hockey and the professional game. Let the hand wringing begin. Checking one of my favorite hockey blogs this morning, I found a few very predictable examples of the anti-fighting cabal’s stance on the issue. Obviously, they just can't help themselves. 

There's also an emerging theme starting to reappear almost every time the topic of fighting comes up in the Eastern Conference. Team are getting tougher because they're tired of getting beat up by the Boston Bruins. I kid you not.
Michael Grange, Sports Net -- With modest skills, he was smart enough to recognize that at six-foot-five and 230 lb. his best chance to make it to the NHL was as a fighter. He took boxing lessons (fighting is not allowed in college hockey) and fought every chance he could in the American Hockey League. He made his NHL debut in 2005–06 and has been in the league ever since, amassing 141 fighting majors and earning about $4 million.

This season he’s part of an arms race of sorts that threatens to make play in the Atlantic Division something like a UFC card on ice.

Parros’s name was added to the Canadiens’ lineup in part in response to the presence of rugged types like Orr in the Leafs’ lineup. The Leafs added fighters under head coach Randy Carlyle because he thought the club he inherited from Ron Wilson was too easily intimidated by the likes of the Boston Bruins, who won the 2011 Stanley Cup and were the toughest in the league.

Here's a few of the examples that I was talking about.
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.com -- Everyone who reads me understands that I believe the game could survive without fighting. My belief is simply based on my fear that one day a player will die in a fight on the ice. Pure and simple. I say that because Don Sanderson did die in a Senior A Ontario game fight in 2009.

Am I concerned how the game would look if the "rats" in our game weren’t policed? Yes, I am. And I don’t have a good answer for that other than I’d hope the refs would police it as well as they could.

And you cannot discount the emotional lift that some fights do provide in games. The Habs seemed buoyed by Parros’ first fight with Orr, as well as Travis Moen taking on Mark Fraser.

I totally understand that and do not argue that fights in games have an impact. No question, they do.

But I come back to my one and only concern, the only one I’ve ever held on the sensitive subject: I’m worried we’ll have a tragic incident one day, because today’s players are just stronger and bigger than ever.
I believe that LeBrun is right about one thing, the NHL can't let the "Rats" in the NHL run wild. If the NHL takes fighting out of the game of hockey, the Patrick Kaletas and the Matt Cookes of the NHL will flourish and will run wild. Unchecked these players will be free to take runs at the leagues star players without the fear of retribution. You might want to ask Sidney Crosby if he want's the leagues "Rats" to have more freedom to take runs at him if fighting was banned from the NHL. To me, that's unacceptable. 

You must read this one, below is a blurb from the Hockey News, the anti-fighting hockey web page. It's almost like you have to be have an anti-fighting bias to write for them. 
Adam Proteau, the Hockey News -- In one respect, the injury could have happened on any play; it was an unexpected shift in weight and momentum that could’ve happened on a body check, as we saw with Kevin Stevens in 1993. As always, the standard disclaimer about how the game will never be 100 percent safe has to be issued, lest the straw-clutchers in the comment section get riled up.

But there’s no arguing one point: if Orr and Parros had been ejected from the game after their first fight in the first period, there’s no way Parros is hospitalized tonight. Tell me again why there shouldn’t be an automatic ejection for NHL fights?

To do so would allow fans of fighting and those who see it as a stress release valve to still watch fights. They just wouldn’t get to see the same guys punch each other repeatedly, repeatedly. Given what we’re learning about the long-term risk regular fighters such as Parros and Orr may face after their careers are over, the least we can do is acknowledge the toll one fight can take on them and not make them face two or three fights in the same night.

This is the nuance many fight fetishists can’t wrap their minds around. They throw out empty arguments such as the classic “you want to ban fighting”, when, at least for most people I know, that isn’t true at all. You can no more ban fights in hockey than any other sport. But you can punish it appropriately. And in all other sports, a fight gets you ejected.
We can’t have the anti-fighting debate without Adam Proteau chiming in. Proteau is a one of the founding members of the anti-fighting cabal. Proteau is a dove that hates fighting,  and sees no use for any fighting what-so-ever, in the game of hockey. Of course he’s right as well, Parros’s injury could have occurred even if he hadn't been in a fight. How about all of these grotesque checking from behind calls that aren't punished to the full extent of the rule book? I am more concerned about those kinds of hits. 

We can't forget Damien Cox from the Toronto Star. I used to follow this guy on Twitter but I had to unfollow him because I got tired of reading his political views in my twitter feed. Again, hockey is an awesome escape from the realities of real life. I don't care what these Canadian sports writers think of our countries flawed political system. Just write about hockey.  

But I digress.

Cox is another member of the anti-fighting cabal, that never misses an opportunity to slam the NHL's stance on fighting. I wonder sometimes if he wouldn't be happier covering baseball or figure skating. Hockey is a contact sport, people are going to get hurt no matter what. Injuries are a fact of life in the NHL. One NHL hockey player got hurt eating a stack of pancakes in his home. 
Damien Cox, Toronto Star -- After a summer in which the Bettman adminstration fiddled with silly rules like tucking in hockey jerseys and made changes to icing into a debate worthy of the Meech Lake Accord, of course it was the elephant in the room that made itself heard on opening night of the 2013-14 NHL season.

Fighting. The dangerous, pointless, bloody shame of fighting in the NHL, the combination of a league terrified to let the sport stand on its own two feet and a union that refuses to protect its workers.

In his 211th professional fight, Montreal’s George Parros went down for the count on Tuesday night, missing Maple Leafs enforcer Colton Orr with a wild haymaker and awkwardly hurling himself face-first into the ice as the bloodthirsty Bell Centre crowd, so thrilled with its new goon, roared.

And then went deathly, eerily silent.
Lastly, no one wants to see anyone get killed on the ice, that would be a travesty. However, fighting only accounts for about 10-percent of the on-ice concussions. Personally, I am more concerned about the dirty head shots, and the God awful, dangerous, checking from behind calls that need more scrutiny. Why doesn't the anti-fighting cabal members show as much disdain for these acts of violence as well?


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Monday, September 16, 2013

Shawn Thornton on the Mandatory Visor Rule

22 Shawn Thornton I think this is my favorite ...
22 Shawn Thornton I think this is my favorite Shawn Thornton shot thus far (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is worth a read, you have to wonder what is going to happen to the players that wear the visor and get into a fight. Just for the record, the American Hockey League has a mandatory visor rule and the players seem to work their way around it. Junior leagues in the USA and Canada also have mandatory visor rules as well.
Joe Haggerty, CSNNE.COM -- One change about which at least one Bruins player feels very strongly is the adoption of the protective visor.

Starting this season, any player with less than 25 NHL games played will be forced to wear a protective visor, following the path of the protective helmet introduction where eventually every player will be donning a visor.

For a dyed-in-the-wool NHL enforcer like Shawn Thornton, there is no love for the visors and the hardship it will create for guys in his role.

“I don’t even know all the new rules yet. Nobody has explained them to me,” admitted Thornton. “What if a guy’s helmet is taken off during a fight? Are they going to stop the fight? I know he’s not allowed to take off his own helmet. I’m not looking forward to punching [a visor] when I’m throwing at somebody’s face. If I’m in the middle of a fight with a guy with a visor on, I’m getting his helmet off. That’s the first thing I’d be doing.
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