Gregory Campbell and Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale fight

I think teams had better take notice around the NHL, this is what happens to you when, you take a run at the Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. This is the correct response to said moment of stupidity by the Penguins Joe Vitale, hence the ensuing fight between Gregory Campbell and Joe Vitale.

Seriously, If players around the NHL think they are going to take a run at the Bruins net they're going to get the full wrath of angry bear. The Boston Bruins don't have to wait for the Brendan Shanahan and the NHL Department of Player Safety, they will take the matters into their own hands and settle it on the ice like men. This is one reason that I don't like the idea of taking fighting out of the game of hockey. It keeps players honest and the players will police the game via the hockey code.

I think that Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale will think twice before coming into the Bruins crease next time because Tim Thomas will also protect said crease.

NHL Awards 2011

The 2010-2011 NHL hockey season is officially over after the NHL awards were handed out in Las Vegas. Two Boston Bruins won awards, no surprise to anyone that Tim Thomas won his second Vezina Trophy in three seasons. Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara won the Messier Award. Former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews finished second in the voting for the Selke Trophy. I do have a question; how's Peter Chiarelli General Manager of the Boston Bruins not a Candidate for the GM award?

Norris (Outstanding Defenseman): Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings

Art Ross (Regular-Season Scoring Leader): Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

Selke (Outstanding Defensive Forward): Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks

Jack Adams (Coach of the Year): Dan Bylsma, Pittsburgh Penguins

Calder (Top Rookie): Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes

Jennings (Fewest Goals Allowed): Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, Vancouver Canucks

General Manager: Mike Gillis, Vancouver Canucks

Rocket Richard (Most Regular-Season Goals): Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

Ted Lindsay (MVP as Voted by Players): Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

Masterton (Perseverance and Dedication to Hockey): Ian Laperriere, Philadelphia Flyers

King Clancy (Leadership and Humanitarian Contributions): Doug Weight, New York Islanders

Lady Byng (Skillful and Gentlemanly Play): Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning

Vezina (Top Goaltender): Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

Hart (MVP): Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

Can you imagine if the Bruins had traded Tim Thomas?

Imagine if the Boston Bruins had traded Tim Thomas to the Philadelphia Flyers or the Washington Capitals? I don't think they would have made it out of the first series against the Montreal Canadians. Going back to last season I can remember a lot of fans wanting to get rid of Tim Thomas who ended up getting hip surgery in the off-season and returned to his Vezina Trophy winning form of 2008-2009.

Tim Thomas of old 

Tim Thomas came back like gang busters during the 2010-2011 regular season posting a record breaking 2.00 GAA and .938 Save percentage and a 35-11-9 record. Tim Thomas was even more impressive in the post season racking up an impressive 1.98 GAA  and a .940 save percentage with a 16-9 record in 25 playoff games. Thomas retook the starting job away from the younger Tuukka Rask 2.67 GAA and .918 save percentage and a regular season record 11-14-2. I think Thomas proved the Nay Sayers wrong by proving that he could still play at a high level. I can't even phantom what would have happened to the Boston Bruins had Thomas been traded.

Joe Haggerty; CSNNE.COM ---- The B’s goalie was great from his first appearance of the regular season, and broke through with an epic postseason performance after never finding the secret sauce during his previous Game 7 experiences.

A .940 save percentage, a 1.98 goals against average, four shutouts, and a 16-9 overall record following a Vezina Trophy-winning season mean that years from now people will refer to 2010-11 as “The Year of Tim Thomas.”

But it almost didn’t happen that way for Boston, or for the goalie that went into training camp with a snow white set of goalie pads and a white mask free of all Bruins logos that revealed a few hard feelings headed into the season.

That can happen when a player is dangled on the trade market as a necessary evil due to salary cap issues, and it pushed Thomas into “prove people wrong” mode headed into this year. That’s always a good place for Thomas to be once he’d gotten over the initial vexation at being involved in trade whispers.

Chiarelli admitted on Friday morning he’d taken phone calls about Tim Thomas, and sources indicated then to CSNNE.com that the most seriously interested parties were Washington and Philadelphia. The Bruins and Flyers had casually discussed a deal involving Thomas to the Flyers while the goalie was recovering from hip surgery after losing his playoff starting role to a younger goaltending model in Tuukka Rask.

Related articles

• Chiarelli talked to Flyers and Capitals about moving Tim Thomas (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Bruins G Tim Thomas named playoff MVP (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Bruins' Tim Thomas has had season to remember (theglobeandmail.com)
• Bruins G Tim Thomas Named Playoff MVP (abcnews.go.com)

Breaking down the stats from the Bruins magical season.

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Boston Bruins made NHL history last night with their first Stanley Cup Championship in 39 years. The Boston Bruins needed three (3X) game sevens to win the 2011 Stanley Cup, with that accomplishment the Bruins were the first team in history to do this.

The Boston Bruins' All World goalie and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas had shutouts in those two of three game sevens (Eastern Conference and the Stanley Cup Finals).

Boston Bruins faced adversity in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

It would not be an understatement to say that the Boston Bruins faced a bit of adversity during the Stanley Cup Playoffs; first Patrice Bergeron missed two games with a concussion after he was knocked out by a hit from Flyers forward Claude Giroux in game four of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers and missed the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Boston Bruins also suffered a major blow when they lost one of their top six forward after Vancouver Defenseman Aaron Rome knocked out Nathan Horton at the blue line in the first period of game 3 with a questionable and unneeded hit. That bush league hit seemed to wake the Slumbering Bear as the Boston Bruins won 4 out of 5 games from that moment on.

Cutting it close with no margin for error

How close did the Bruins make it; breaking it down further, the Boston Bruins went down two games to none (2-0) in two for their four series they played during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Before you dismiss that fact, that is no small feat, the Boston Bruins had to win two games on the road in a hostile building in Montreal just to get back into the Eastern conference quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs. But it didn't stop there; the Boston Bruins also went 3-0 in overtime in their series with the Montreal Canadians, winning one of the games in overtime in Montreal. Overall, the Boston Bruins were 4-1 in overtime during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they lone loss came in game two of the Stanley Cup Finals. I think one could say that the Boston Bruins were battle tested and faced many tests along the way.

In Tim Thomas we trust

[1], [2]While the Bruins sprinted across the ice to mob him at the buzzer, Tim Thomas tapped both goalposts, sank to his knees and rubbed the ice in front of his empty goal.

I think it’s safe to say that if it wasn’t for Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas the Bruins could have been eliminated a long time ago. Thomas became the 15th goaltender to win the Conn Smythe, Tim Thomas posted an impressive 1.98 GAA and .940 save percentage and 16-9-0 record during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tim Thomas’ final crescendo was even more impressive as he stopped 37 of 37 shots securing his place in history as being one of the best goalies in NHL history.

Michigan a factory for All Star goalies

It would appear that Michigan is home to some of the better American goalies in the NHL. The last three goalies to win the Vezina Trophy (I don’t think that I am going out on a limb and assuming Thomas is a lock to win his second Vezina Trophy in three seasons) are both goalies are from the State of Michigan, Tim Thomas hales from Flint Michigan and fellow Olympic team mate Ryan Miller is from East Lansing, Michigan. Both All Star goalies played their college hockey at American universities; Ryan Miller was an All American at Michigan State University and Tim Thomas was an All American at the University of Vermont.

Related articles

• Bruins capture Stanley Cup (search.japantimes.co.jp)
• Boston Bruins Win Stanley Cup (npr.org)
• Tim Thomas Wins Conn Smythe Trophy As MVP Of 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs (sbnation.com)
• Boston Bruins Win Stanley Cup, Beat Vancouver 4-0 (freenhlpicks.wordpress.com)

Brad Marchand feeds Sedin...

This incident or dust up between Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand and Sedin sister Daniel Sedin has some Canucks fans upset with Bruins forward Brad Marchand. It was another incident that I found amusing that Brad Marchand was able to hit/tap Daniel Sedin four times in the mouth in front of the ref.

What is even more classic the response by the NHL ref Kelly Sutherland on if he was going to call Marchand for a penalty. I guess the refs have seen enough of the Vancouver Canucks antics as well?

Darren Dregger; TSN ---- But late in the third period of Game 6, Brad Marchand of the Bruins punched Daniel Sedin four times and the Canucks forward did not retaliate.

Afterwards, Sedin said he'll take those punches but he did get upset when referee Kelly Sutherland separated the two players.

Sedin said he asked Sutherland why he wasn't calling a penalty and the referee responded with 'I will'. Sedin jokingly replied, 'When, after the fifth punch?'

So according to the Canucks, there is a theme that has evolved in this series.

Here is the problem; the Vancouver Canucks brought this stuff on themselves during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The buffoonery started in the first round when the Canucks GM complained about the amount of power plays that his team failed to get against the Blackhawks. The nonsense didn't stop there, the Canucks, dove, flailed, bit, taunted, threw their heads back and slashed their way through the Stanley Cup Playoffs... In addition the Vancouver Canucks mouthed off in the media and disrespected the Boston Bruins. I wonder if Roberto Luongo still wants to wants to give goaltending lessons to Tim Thomas. I just don't feel any empathy towards them and I can see why a lot of us hate them. The Boston Bruins have also responded in kind to the Canucks antics.

Related articles

• VIDEO: Brad Marchand Punches Daniel Sedin, Avoids Retaliation In Canucks-Bruins Game 6 (sbnation.com)
• Canucks' D. Sedin guarantees Game 7 victory (sports.espn.go.com)

Sedin sister, 'We're going to win Game 7'

If I was one of the Boston Bruins captains, I would put this quote on the black board in the locker room, who does Daniel think he is; Mark Messier? While I have enjoyed the Stanley Cup playoffs I have become board with the Canucks antics and frankly I am tired of watching them after 7 games. I just hope the Bruins win their first cup since 1972.

The Vancouver Sun --- His team has managed to score just eight goals in six games, but Daniel Sedin has no doubts about the biggest game of his life on Wednesday night.

"We're going to win Game 7," Daniel said emphatically after the Canucks dropped a 5-2 decision to the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final on Monday night.

To do that, he and the rest of the Canucks are going to have to solve Boston goalie Tim Thomas.

Daniel said there is a simple explanation why the Canucks, who scored more goals than any other team this past season, haven't been able to put the puck in the net in the final.

"It's pretty easy because Tim Thomas has been outstanding," Daniel said. "Still, we're 3-3 and we won all three games at home and we have the fourth game at home. So we have the seventh game at home and we'll take that. We are confident."

Related articles

• Daniel Sedin: 'We're going to win Game 7' (canada.com)
• Luongo key to Canucks’ success, or failure, in Game 7 (theglobeandmail.com)
• Daniel Sedin guarantees victory as anxious Vancouver awaits Game 7 (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Bruins Chase Luongo In 1st, Force Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• You: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals Video: Henrik Sedin's Amazing Backhand Goal (bleacherreport.com)

Bruins just need to win and forget about the Canucks' Arrogance…

Here is an interesting story about tonight’s pivotal game 6. I have been amazed at all of the whining the Vancouver Canucks have done, from their coach complaining about the officiating in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the plethora of crap that we have seen in the finals.

Ricky Doyle; NESN ----
The Stanley Cup Final generally features two teams that have seen very little of each other due to playing in separate conferences. Therefore, it inherently possesses little potential for a rivalry to commence. But the Bruins and Canucks have thrown conventional wisdom out the window this Cup Final, generating a rivalry from scratch in a matter of only five games.

Who's responsible? Well, both teams are guilty of trading blows, but there isn't any question the Canucks have been the antagonists this series -- and Roberto Luongo's comments regarding Tim Thomas are just the latest example.

After shutting out the Bruins in Game 5, Luongo insisted that the lone goal that Thomas gave up in that game would have been an easy save for him. That's fine. To make such a claim is a bit bold, but it probably holds a degree of truth. The two goaltenders use completely different styles, and therefore one goaltender is going to make certain saves that the other might not necessarily make.

But it was the comments that Luongo came back with on Saturday that are troubling and downright silly.

Despite no response from Thomas between Luongo's initial comments on Friday and him speaking to the media on Saturday, the Canucks goaltender again went out of his way to take a jab, insisting that he's "been pumping [Thomas'] tires" all series and that he hasn't heard his counterpart say one nice thing about him.

This begs the question: so what? Since when did the Stanley Cup Playoffs require sucking up to your opponent over the course of a seven-game series?

Not only is it not Thomas' job -- which he eventually said when addressing the media on Sunday -- but it's even less necessary when numerous players on the Canucks have conducted themselves with such classlessness that there existed a great deal of hatred between the two teams after just one game.

In fact, the Canucks' level of arrogance has quickly catapulted them to near-Montreal Canadiens level when it comes to pure disdain in the minds of Bruins fans

Time to put all of that crap behind them, there is no need to worry about the Canucks antics on or off the ice, the Boston Bruins just need to focus on playing Boston Bruins hockey. If anything, Roberto Luongo’s comments could be used as black board material to get the Bruins fired up for tonight’s game, if they needed to be fired up. Seriously, I think the Canucks are lucky to be leading this series after being out scored 16-6 in five games.

Tim Thomas goes Hextall on Alex Burrows...

Former NHL goalie Ron Hextall would be proud of  Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas... Before Canucks fans start howling how Tim Thomas is a goon and should be suspended for the next game, go back and watch the film, Vancouver Canucks hack forward Alex Burrows chopped the goal stick out of Tim Thomas' hand so he responded appropriately.

Related articles

• Video: Brad Marchand goes wild on Vancouver; Alex Burrows and Tim Thomas tussle (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Tim Thomas the aggressor? Vancouver hopes officials will let them stand their ground (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Much like Tim Thomas before him, Roberto Luongo will stay the course despite defeat (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)

Thomas checks Sedin sister Henrik

Wow! What a game tonight, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas says no to Vancouver Cancuks' forward diver Henrik Sedin as he lays a shoulder into him... This is also not the first time Tim Thomas has done this. Tim Thomas also checked Jason Blake a couple of years back when he was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Bruins stand behind Tim Thomas...

Hockey is a team game and there is a lot of blame to go around for the game two loss, so for the Boston Bruins fans that are blaming the goalie Tim Thomas for the loss, seriously, you can't blame just one person for the game two debacle. Back to the first point; hockey is  a team game and when the systems break down the "team" loses, I think that its short sighted to put the blame solely on the shoulders of Vezina Trophy candidate Tim Thomas.  Go back and watch the video of the goal and you will see what I mean. [Click to view video]

There are a few good points in this ESPN video post above, that are worth looking at, it was a comedy of errors that led to the game winning goal by the Vancouver Canucks, it was a horrible defensive effort all of the way around. (1) The ill advised turn over at the blue line by Andrew Ference, that was brutal, Ference violated a cardinal sin by not getting puck deep, and the Vancouver Canucks who were pressuring hard blew by the Bruins defenders like they were pylons... (2) the bad effort behind the net by Zedano Chara, you have a guy that is 6'9" pull him down if you have to, there is a good chance that the Bruins penalty kill would have killed the penalty. (3) Tim Thomas over played the puck and lost, stay in the net and give your self a chance to make the save.

Roberto Luongo loses his mask...

h/t to the Program... On this shot it doesn't look like Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo had his goalie mask that tight when the puck hit him in the head. The shot didn't seem to rattle Roberto Luongo who has played well during the Stanley Cup Finals so far.

Alex Burrows takes a bite out of the Bruins.

The Boston Bruins lost a game after leading 2-1 going into the third period. The Boston Bruins had won about 88% of their games when they lead after two periods during the regular season and had been perfect in the Stanley Cup playoffs to date, all good things must come to and end.

So fast forward to overtime; this was a textbook example on how not to play hockey, if you want to win the game, turnovers and players being out of position will kill a hockey team every time. But lets not forget that the bad effort started in the third period as the Boston Bruins tried to sit on a lead instead of attacking and they never really tried to stretch the lead. I believe in this instance that the Boston Bruins went to the well one too many times and it might have cost them a Stanley Cup.

Is this Karma? 

Hollywood couldn't have scripted this ending any better for the home town Vancouver Canucks, forward Alex Burrows, who could have been suspended for biting Patrice Bergeron in game one, scored two of the games three goals including the game winning goal just 11 seconds into overtime. The game ending play was a comedy of errors starting with a brutal turner over by Andrew Ference at the blue line, followed up a non challenge of Burrows behind the Bruins net by Zedano Chara and finally bad positioning by Tim Thomas who was grossly out of position. If Thomas stays in the net there is a good chance that Tim Thomas stops the shot by Alex Burrows.

Related articles

• 2011 Stanley Cup Finals: Alex Burrows Not Suspended for Bergeron Bite (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston Media Compares Alex Burrows Bite To Matt Cooke (Yes, Seriously) (sbnation.com)
• NHL won't fine or suspend Alex Burrows for his bite on Patrice Bergeron (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Alex Burrows Escapes Suspension After Biting Patrice Bergeron In Game 1 (sbnation.com)

Call the Canucks a Whambulance

We are going to have to call the Vancouver Canucks a whambulance. I mean seriously, the call against Alex Burrows for knocking over Tim Thomas was the correct call, you can't do that in any league. Also, I have never seen so much whining about the officials, every time there is a call against the Canucks the CBC cameras pan to the Vancouver Canucks GM in sky box for his reaction to the call on the ice. I was also wondering why CBC doesn’t pan the camera to the Boston Bruins GM’s box to see his reaction as well.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks were not surprised by Boston goalie Tim Thomas' outstanding play Wednesday night in the opener of the Stanley Cup final.

They simply took issue with where Thomas played.

Coach Alain Vigneault joined several Canucks in questioning Thomas' aggressive positioning well outside his crease, complaining specifically about a tripping penalty to Alex Burrows for bumping Thomas outside the blue paint.

But, as Thomas and Bruins coach Claude Julien pointed out ahead of Game 2 tonight, the goalie's right to stop the puck unimpeded is not limited to the crease.


"I have the right to go anywhere there's open ice," said Thomas, who made 33 saves -- many spectacular -- before Raffi Torres scored Game 1's only goal with 18.5 seconds to play.

"If I'm set, I have a right to that ice. If I'm out of the paint and I'm set, I also have the right of way to get back to the crease. That's the way I understand it."

There's no doubting Thomas, who joined Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie, is more aggressive than most. He relies on his ability to read and react to plays from his skates, rather than playing the more passive, on-the-knees butterfly style common today.

Related articles

• Thomas' Roaming Goaltending Perplexes Canucks (nytimes.com)
• Thomas' roaming goaltending perplexes Canucks (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• 2011 Stanley Cup Finals: Today's News on Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston Bruins: Goalie Tim Thomas Is Using His Smarts to Help Thwart Canucks (bleacherreport.com)
• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 2: Boston Needs To Find More Offense, Somehow Stop Vancouver (sbnation.com)

Horton and Thomas lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals...

The Boston Bruins are off to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990. I think one could say that game seven between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning will go down as an instant classic, tonight's game was also not for the faint of heart as both teams skated up and down the ice exchanging chances on the opposition's net.

Both goalies Dwayne Roloson and Tim Thomas were stellar and Nathan Horton scored the only goal (8th of the Stanley Cup Playoffs) at the 12:27 mark of the third period and then Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins defense held on for the win as Tampa Bay had a few good chances to even the score.

* The Bruins outshot the Lightning 38-24...
*  The Boston Bruins are 11-10 all-times in Game 7s
*  Tim Thomas had two shutouts during the ECF Finals.  
*  There were two players in their 40's playing in this series Recchi 43 Roloson 41.
* Two of the three Vezina finalist are in the Stanley Cup Finals.

This is what Tim Thomas had to say after the game... 

"I think a lot of people thought I was over the hill,"' said the 37-year-old Thomas, a Vezina Trophy finalist who was sidelined throughout last year's playoffs. "I knew it wasn't true. I put in a lot of work over the summer and I've had an unbelievable year. I've been blessed."

Bruins defense coughs up a fur ball…

Well that was nice! The Boston Bruins blew an opportunity to send the Tampa Bay Lightning to the golf course for the summer and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals to take on the unlikeable Vancouver Canucks. I have have two word for the Bruins defense tonight "absolutely atrocious" add to that,  their penalty killers were equally "absolutely atrocious," these were the same penalty killers who had killed 16/18 Tampa Bay Lightning power plays in the first five games of the series. Tonight the penalty killers was way more generous giving up three power play goals on four power play opportunities.

Bruins second year defenseman Johnny Boychuk was also brutal tonight and worthy of sitting in the press box for game seven as he was on the ice for all five of Tampa Bay’s goals. I am not sure why Claude Julie kept coming back with the young defenseman, an example of his work can be seen in the video above.

The usually  steady Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was horrible tonight barely stopping 80 percent of the shots he faced. Thomas finished the night giving up 5 goals on 26 shots (21/26), no very Vezina Trophy like tonight. Not to be out down the aging Dwayne Roloson was equally unimpressive giving up 4 goals on 20 shots (16/20).

Tim Thomas robs Steve Downie

Check out this unbelievable save by Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas as he robs Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Downie to keep the Boston Bruins lead at 2-1 midway through the 2nd period. The Bruins scored a an empty net goal to win the game 3-1. If it wasn't for Tim Thomas coming up big it could have been an ugly game for the Boston Bruins who were out shot 34-20 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many of the Lightnings shots on goal were of the grade "A" variety. Also, in the second period, Bruins all world goalie, Tim Thomas had another amazing save on  a Tampa Bay 3-on-2.

I think one could make the argument that this was the save by Tim Thomas was a game changer and probably the save of the year for the Boston Bruins. Saves like this, is the reason why Tim Thomas is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.

Bruins choke away three goal lead…

The Boston Bruins were 23-0-0 when leading by three goals. Make that 23-1-0 after today’s unhinging debacle. The Bruins came out flying in the first period and raced to an impressive 3-0 lead in the game, the Bruins even chased the Tampa Bay Lightning’s starting goalie Dwayne Roloson who appeared to be very shaky from the game. Roloson was then replaced by Lightning backup goalie Mike Smith…I think it’s safe to say that everything was going the Bruins’ way until the 6:55 mark of the second period when the roof fell in on the Boston Bruins. Lightning forward Teddy Purcill got the Tampa Bay Lightning on the score board by scoring two quick unanswered goals. It would have been a great opportunity for the Bruins to call a time out but they did not, another #epicfail for the Bruins head coach Claude Julien.

Can’t score if don’t shoot

In my opinion I think it’s fair to say that Mike Smith was hardly challenged the by the Boston Bruins after replacing Dwayne Roloson. If you go back and watch the game you will see that Smith didn’t have to make a lot of difficult saves and most of his shots were logo killers from the Boston Bruins. The Bruins also failed to get traffic in front of the Tampa Bay Lightning net. You can’t win many games with that kind of a game plan you have to generate opportunities down low and get bodies in front of the opposition net.

Sit on the lead = #epicfail...

If this years Boston Bruins’ team has one glaring fault, it’s when they get a lead and then they try to sit on the lead and they fail to compete anymore, they go into a defensive shell which doesn’t always seem to work for them, especially against the talented offensive minded teams. The Boston Bruins can not give a talented team like the Tampa Bay Lightning grade “A” scoring opportunities in front of their net and expect the goalie to make every save, last time I check Tim Thomas was a human being and he isn't going to stop every shot that somes his way. Good teams bury grade “A” scoring chances in close off of turnovers, the defense and the forwards have to be better, they have to be smarter with the puck and get the pucks deep and get offensive opportunites between the dots. The Bruins should have kept the pressure on and continued to attack… Instead the Boston Bruins sat back and watched the Tampa Bay Lightning race by them like they were big orange road cones.

Power outage

The Boston Bruins registered an unimpressive shot total of eight shots during the third period of today’s game and it was many minutes into the third before the Bruins even registered a shot on goal. I would classify that as being unacceptable and that can’t happen if the Bruins want to win this series and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

While the Bruins were caught flat footed numerous times the Lightning continued to race through the neutral zone with speed attacking the Bruins net and capitalizing off the Bruins turnovers. For whatever reason the Bruins abandoned their successful game plan from game three after they got the three goal lead going into the second period… That three goal lead promptly disappeared in four short minutes with two goals from former Maine Black Bear Teddy Purcill and Sean Bergenheim. From the 6:55 minute of the second period on the Bruins also looked uninterested in playing strong defensively as well and became a turnover factory and failed to get pucks deep. There were numerous times the Bruins failed to get puck deeps and turned the puck over to the speedy offensive minded Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tim Thomas takes puck off the noggin, puck ends up in net.

All I can say is ouch, at first thought that the play should have been stopped because Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas had his masked knocked off of his head, however, it does appear that the refs made the right call according to the rulebook.

9.5 Protective Equipment - When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has possession of the puck, the play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask. When the opposing team has possession of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity. This stoppage of play must be made by the Referee. When play is stopped because the goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask, the ensuing face-off shall take place at one of the defending team’s end zone face-off spots.

Tim Thomas is consistently inconsistent?

hockeyindependent.com

Check out this scouting report on Tim Thomas by Philly.com . I tell you one thing that the Boston Bruins have a huge edge on the Flyers in net, it's not even close. The Flyers have a stable of horrid goalies, the Boston Bruins have a Vezina Trophy winner in Tim Thomas and an awesome back up in Tuukka Rask as well. 

GOALTENDING

Flyers: When Peter Laviolette drew up his game plan for Buffalo back on April 14, do you think he really included starting three different goaltenders? Despite the circus, Brian Boucher did not have an awful series for the Flyers. He gave up 10 goals in more than 14 periods worth of work, including two brutal goals in a span of 3 minutes. Erase those goals - scored from the corner and behind the net - and his goals against-average is under 2.00 and his save percentage jumps to 94.7 percent. You can't argue with those numbers. Boucher, a New England native, is now Laviolette's guy unless he proves otherwise.

Bruins: Tim Thomas is consistently inconsistent. He is easily the NHL's most unorthodox goaltender, making saves in a variety of ways that make coaches and players scratch their heads. Thomas, who has again reinvented himself after a mediocre season last year following his 2008-09 Vezina Trophy-winning campaign, somehow finds a way for the puck to hit him. There is little technical work involved. The knock on him, though, is that teams can figure out a way to beat him when steadily facing his tendencies throughout a series.

EDGE: Bruins

So is Tim Thomas off the mark when it comes to the Habs' P.K. Subban?

So after reading the quotes from Tim Thomas do you agree or disagree? Like I mentioned earlier that there was going to be some hurt feelings no matter who won this heated series. Looking back just a few days later this was an epic series and an instant classic in my opinion. That being said, there has been a lot of whining and complaining from the press and fans in Montreal (some of it was warrented) most of it has started when Zdeno Chara hit on the Canadiens' Max Pacioretty then it continued when the Boston Bruins brutalized the Canadians in a lopsided game on March 24th 2011 by a 7-0 score; during that game the Bruins beat the Canadians on the scoreboard but also beat the crap out of them on the ice as well.

On to P.K. Subban, like I have said before, P.K. Subban is an amazing talent and I believe he is an up and coming super star in the NHL but he is a bit of a “punk” or some might say a “show boat.” In my opinion someone needs to sit him down and have a serious heart to heart talk with him and remind him to act like you have been there before, not ever goal requires an over the top celebration. I personally don’t have a problem with Tim Thomas’ comments because Thomas is a class act.

Montreal Whine Feast --- In the moments after his team's 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday, and for part of a Boston sports-radio interview on Thursday, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas did speak gracefully about Canadiens counterpart Carey Price:

"He battled hard from start to finish in that series," Thomas said. "I've got to give him a lot of credit. . He pushed me to be as good as I could be. I kept waiting for him to break and it just never happened. . My hat's off to the kid."

(Price had lauded Thomas the night before: "Timmy played great, he should win the Vézina Trophy in my opinion. . He's the best goalie in the NHL.")

Then the radio hosts got to chuckling as they asked Thomas about Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban, whom they said of a first-period scrum with Boston's Gregory Campbell "falls down like he's had a brick dropped on his chest and clearly he might have been flailing around there a little bit."

The way their question was posed to Thomas wasn't unlike the way Mark Recchi, M.D., was led by a different pair of Boston radio hosts to better diagnose the concussion of the Canadiens' Max Pacioretty.

Thomas, usually one of the more polished pieces of cutlery in the drawer, was all kinds of tarnished in his reply.

"I had respect for the Canadiens and the way they played that series and the way they battled," he began. "But to be completely honest, I don't have respect for actions like that.

"That's a travesty to the game. It's not the way the game is supposed to be played. . It can be infuriating, you know?