"We wouldn’t have won it without him," Thornton said…
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| Goalie Tim Thomas, NHL Hockey player for the Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Zito declined to discuss any other specifics of Thomas’s decision not to play next season. On Sunday, Thomas confirmed that he will not play in 2012-13 via a posting on his Facebook page. Thomas has one season remaining on his four-year, $20 million contract. Thomas’s no-movement clause expires on July 1.
The chatter around the league is that Thomas does not want to play for the Bruins next season, thus prompting his decision. The Bruins, who would be responsible for his cap hit next year, would be eager to rid themselves of Thomas’s $5 million number.[Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe]
But to go a perfect 10-for-10 away from the land of the rich and famous, well, that seemed like a dream, or a Hollywood script. Nevertheless, that's just what the Kings did with Jeff Carter's game winner 13 minutes and 42 seconds into overtime for a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Saturday.
The Kings not only extended their record to 10 consecutive wins to start a postseason, they became only the fourth team to win 10 road games in a playoffs, matching the 1995 and 2000 Devils as well as the 2004 Calgary Flames. [Tim Wharnsby, CBC]
Dave Stubbs, National Post --- “Typical New York,” veteran New York journalist Stan Fischler said Sunday with a laugh.
Next to this lunacy, Tortorella is just a cloudburst whose 15-second, syllable-short news conferences add to this season’s delicious drama on Broadway.
Torts’s act is well known in hockey, fittingly showbiz in the world’s headquarters of the theatre as his team prepares to face the New Jersey Devils Monday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.
The coach’s shtick probably is carefully crafted to take heat off his team, give the opponent as little information as possible and keep the media off balance. It quickly wears thin with many and is viewed as disrespectful not just of reporters, but of the many great communicative coaches who have gone before him.
Predictably, Torts’s players will tell you they respect their leader who will go to the wall for them. And his results —the Rangers now eight victories from a Stanley Cup championship — speak for themselves.
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| TSN broadcaster, and former National Hockey League coach, Pierre McGuire prior to a playoff game between the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks, in Calgary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
tsn.ca ---- Francois Gagnon of La Presse reports that NBC commentator and former NHL on TSN analyst Pierre McGuire had an interview with the Montreal Canadiens for their vacant general manager post.
While it wasn't known if the talks were done in person or over the phone or whether McGuire met with Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson or advisor Serge Savard, sources told the paper that a meeting did take place over the last few days.
McGuire won two Stanley Cups as a scout and assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins and was also head coach of the Hartford Whalers. He also worked as a pro scout and assistant coach for the Ottawa Senators before going into radio broadcasting in 1997.
McGuire joined TSN in 1999 and was an analyst/colour commentator for 12 seasons.
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| Goalie Tim Thomas, NHL Hockey player for the Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
“I think he’s a great goalie,’’ Johnny Boychuk said. “He’s saved our butts a lot throughout the year. Throughout the series, he made plenty of saves and you know he’s going to be battling for you every night. And when you have a guy like that behind you, you don’t have any worries.’’Some of the reports don’t sound so good coming out of the Boston Bruins Locker-room. There seems to be a bit of a of a disconnect between Thomas and his fellow teammates; or this story is being manufacturing in the media? It's hard to tell because a few of the Boston media guys have failed to let Thomas live down the "famous" White House snub last January.
The issue now, though, is the long summer ahead. [Boston.com]
"Our best players, we probably needed more out of their game," said Boston coach Claude Julien, referring to a number of Bruins. "I didn't think our team was in tune as much as it was this time last year."This little tidbit from the Obnoxious Boston Sports fan, apparently Tim Thomas referred to his fellow teammates as they. Boy what a difference a year makes and how soon they all forget, last year the fans and media in Boston were singing Tim Thomas’ praise as he was leading the Boston Bruins through the Stanley Cup playoffs. What have you done for me lately?
And with that, a year in which Boston's season was at least partly defined by Thomas' refusal to visit the President in the White House with his teammates in January ended with some degree of irony. Some Boston reporters said Thomas walked on the sacred Bruins logo after the game; there is speculation that the divisive former Vezina winner will be on the market this summer. And it was Ward and the Capitals who sent him there. [Montreal Gazette]
With the Bruins' exit, Thomas will be freed up to focus on Mitt Romney's choice of a running mate. Thomas, who played good but not great, will draw the ire of plenty of fans and others, who will continually make the mistake of linking his Facebook posts and political edicts to the fact that his GAA ballooned to 2.14 in the playoffs this season and his save percentage tumbled to .923. Tuukka time was likely going to arrive whether or not Thomas went to the White House and appears even more likely with Thomas' use of the dreaded "they" word while discussing his teammates last night. [Boston.com]
Joe Haggerty, Bruins Insider ---- It would have been difficult for the Bruins to even entertain dealing Thomas heading into next season if he’d repeated his Conn Smythe, Vezina and Stanley Cup efforts again this spring, but that doesn’t appear to be happening. But his average playoff performance after turning Boston’s regular season into his own personal political agenda loosens up their attachment to the veteran goaltender quite a bit.Related articles
Thomas’ no-trade clause is gone as of July 1 and his actual 2012-13 salary drops to $3 million while retaining a $5 million cap hit – a wrinkle that will make the veteran netminder attractive to a goalie-starved team looking to hit the cap floor while saving ownership a few bucks.
While it’s clear to those that closely watched the Bruins Thomas wasn’t the same goalie this year once the calendar hit January, there is still enough value associated with the goalie to net the Bruins a few picks and a prospect this summer.
David Shoalts, Globe and Mail --- The Los Angeles Kings have apologized for a flippant tweet from their official Twitter feed that mocked the Vancouver Canucks.
“We encourage our digital team to be creative, interactive and to apply a sense of humour whenever possible. To anyone who found it offensive we sincerely apologize,” Mike Altieri, the Kings’ vice-president, communications and content, said in an e-mail message Thursday afternoon.
Coming Down the Pipe --- Our 2012 draft prospect will be Stefan Matteau of the U.S. National development program. The budding power forward is another in the growing list of sons of NHLers. His dad Stephane is a Stanley Cup Champion.
James Murphy; ESPN.COM --- The ritual started late last season and continued throughout the playoffs. Recchi had been given the jacket after Game 7, when he registered an assist in what would be his last NHL game.It was a really nice touch to see Andrew Ference give Mark Recchi the "Jacket" one more time and it's only fitting that the last one to wear the "Jacket" was Recchi the grizzled veteran of 22 NHL seasons who retired right after his team had won the Stanley Cup. I don't think Hollywood could have drawn it up any better.
“It meant a lot to our team. It was a very proud thing for the guys after games, and we were very proud of it,” Recchi said. “When Andrew brought it in and we started it, it was a special thing, and to be able to get it last in Vancouver and then get it repeated tonight, in front of your home crowd, is something I’ll never forget.”
For Ference it was an easy move to make since Recchi was such an inspirational leader to him and his teammates over the last two-plus seasons. As Ference pointed out, Recchi defined what the jacket symbolized and deserved to be the last one to wear it.
Image by Getty Images via @daylife Fluto Shinzawa; Boston.com --- The Bruins have confirmed that Brad Marchand has agreed to a contract extension. According to TSN, Marchand has signed a two-year, $5 million contract, giving him an annual cap hit of $2.5 million. Marchand will earn $2 million this season and $3 million in 2012-13. Marchand will be under contract and alongside his teammates when camp officially opens on Friday at TD Garden.
“From the get-go, I never was going to miss a day of camp,” Marchand said during a conference call. “I never wanted that. I wanted to be here the first day and show everyone I wanted to be here. I wanted to go through the whole camp with the guys and be part of the team. I’m very happy it didn’t have to come down to [a holdout] and that we could get a deal done before camp.”
Marchand’s extension was framed primarily by the two-year, $5.75 million contract that Logan Couture signed with San Jose. Couture, one of three finalists for the Calder Trophy last year, scored 32 goals. Marchand scored 21 goals and 20 assists.
