Gophers sign a goaltender from Ontario

This came across on Twitter tonight and I found it entertaining so I thought I would share it. It’s from the beat writer for the Minnesota Gophers. I wonder who many Gopher fans are upset they have "gasp" a Canadian joining their team in the 2011-2012 year. I wonder what took them so long? There is one point that does reek of entitlement; "the Gophers have not really told him how much he will play his first season." Yeah!

It has been reported for days that G Joel Vienneau of Hearst, Ont., has committed to the Gophers for 2011-12. Finally reached him...
[On Twitter]

He said he verbally committed three weeks ago. "When I went up to visit, I felt comfortable with their team and their place," he said.
[On Twitter]

Vienneau: "I was always leaning toward Minnesota." A number of other schools were recruiting him, Michigan was the Gophers' biggest rival.
[On Twitter]

Vienneau: "The fans were all into the game and all of them were cheering." He has signed to play with Muskegon, the new Michigan team
[On Twitter]

He said the Gophers have not really told him how much he will play his first season. He will be a freshman when Kent Patterson is a sr.
[On Twitter]

in the USHL next season. "It's a stronger league than the Canada or Ontario junior A leagues, so it will get me better prepared" for WCHA.
[On Twitter]

The Eye thinks coach Lucia will ease him into the goalie spot and give him more time as the 2011-12 season progresses.
[On Twitter]

Bemidji State men's hockey: Nagle coin set in concrete at each end of BREC arena

Here is an interesting story about the BREC Robert H. Peters Rink. A nice honor to a great guy Galen Nagle. I can't wait to golf in the Galen Nagle Tourney again this season.

Before the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, Canadian ice makers placed a Loonie coin on the arena floor under the center ice face-off dot before making the ice for the hockey tournaments.

The Canadian men and women won the gold medals.

In 2008, a Boston baseball fan buried a Red Sox jersey in the concrete at the new Yankee Stadium construction site.

At great expense, the jersey was chipped out.

Even the John Glas Fieldhouse on the Bemidji State University campus was infiltrated last summer when a member of the rival Alabama-Huntsville team placed a horse, representing their Chargers mascot, somewhere in the arena. It has yet to be found.

The Bemidji Regional Event Center, new home to Beavers hockey, will have its own talisman, or maybe it could be considered a memorial to a fallen teammate.

Tom Kaplan, a defenseman for the Beavers in the mid 1970s and current public address announcer, came up with the idea to place a Galen Nagle medallion in the concrete floor of the new arena.

Nagle was a goalie for the Beavers from 1980-84. He worked as a coach and teacher in Minnesota for several years before losing his life to cancer in 1996 at the age of 34. [Read the rest of the story]

Buffalo a hockey hot bed?

Chris Dilks from Western College Hockey had this article on his linkorama post and while the article brings up some thought provoking points, I found a few of his ideas to be quite laughable and almost hilarious. Canisius isn’t ever going to be anything but a door mat and hardly on the same level as the CCHA power house Miami University.

Heck, it should be an arms race.

Rochester Institute of Technology became a national contender in five years. RIT last season emerged from Atlantic Hockey, which included Canisius, and reached the Frozen Four. It was a great story, one that could easily be repeated if administrators in our region get their heads out of the sand. This is a no-brainer, a belt-high fastball down the middle.

Canisius coach Dave Smith has done a terrific job, but he's tangled in an unfair fight despite the pretty campus, excellent academics and rich tradition. Recruiting hits a wall when he's forced to admit the home rink rests — where? — on Buffalo State's campus.

Rumblings had Sabres owner Tom Golisano willing to donate some $10 million toward an on- campus events center, which would house graduation ceremonies, basketball and hockey, if Canisius approached him. School officials are waiting for him to come to them.

Good heavens, people, make it work. Canisius hockey with a 4,000-seat rink could become Miami of Ohio hockey, which spent most of last season as the top-ranked team in the country.

Niagara was going in the right direction before pulling back when it should have pushed. The Purple Eagles had 18 scholarships and planned to expand Dwyer Arena; then its conference folded. It joined Atlantic Hockey, which allows only 12 scholarships. The concrete had been poured, but why expand the arena after contracting the program?

And then there's UB, which could build a major D-I contender in no time. The backward thinking common in state government suggests a lack of funding is the problem. Top officials haven't caught on to the idea that strong hockey programs often turn a profit. Just ask Michigan.

My fantasy: Canisius and Niagara leave Atlantic Hockey, which has 12 teams but only one automatic bid. Ivy League schools band together, as they do in other sports. Toss Canisius, Niagara, RIT, UB, Mercyhurst, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and perhaps Syracuse, if it also wakes up, into a new conference.

It seems like a natural. [Read the rest of the Article]

While the run that Rochester Institute of Technology made this spring was an awesome story, in reality RIT is a decent not great team in a very weak cupcake laden Atlantic Hockey Association. I also think RIT are going to be hard pressed to replicate that feat again, the AHA brings in RMU and Niagara and the AHA teams will soon fall victim to the former CHA teams.

Finally, check out the teams that he threw out there; Canisius, Niagara, RIT, UB, Mercyhurst, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and perhaps Syracuse. Yeah! Nothing screams mediocre like that list of teams.

Luke Johnson picked 11th in USHL draft

Central Knight's sophmore forward Luke Johnson was picked 11th in the USHL draft. Luke is the son of former Fighting Sioux star Steve Johnson and current coach of the Fargo Force.

1 DubuqueBarber, RileyRWLivonia, MI5.10179Compuware(T1Min)Feb 07/94
2 MuskegonCockerill, GarretRDBrighton, MI5.11170Compuware(T1Min)Feb 19/94
3 Sioux FallsMoore, BryanCMatthews, NC5.11175Carolina(NAPHL)May 25/94
4 Waterloo (From Sioux City)Hinostroza, VincentCBartlett, IL5.08144Chi Mission(T1Min)Apr 03/94
5 OmahaChlapik, AdamC6.00190Jr. Kings(T1Maj)Feb 04/94
6 Des MoinesKoules, MilesRWLos Angeles, CA5.10171Shattuck U16(MinnM)Jun 25/94
7 IndianaPolesello, RobertCBolton, Ont.5.06160Tor Jr. Canadians(GTHLMn)Apr 27/94
8 FargoWade, JustinRDAurora, IL6.01196Chi Mission(T1Min)Apr 13/94
9 Green BayStoick, GavinRWLittleton, CO6.02189Thunderbirds(T1Min)Jul 02/94
10 Waterloo (From Tri-City)Stepan, ZachCBalsam Lake, WI5.11155Shattuck U16(MinnM)Jan 06/94
11 Lincoln Johnson, LukeCGrand Forks, ND5.09149GF Central(ND-HS)Sep 19/94

Eulogy: Remembering the 2009-10 Boston Bruins

This was posted on Puck Daddy yesterday and as a Bruins fan it becomes more funny as the day elapse after the infamous and historic choke job. When people look back at the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs people will remember how the Bruins lost a 3-0 series lead and a 3-0 lead in game seven.

We come here not to merely bury the 2010 Boston Bruins in a lovely sun-kissed corner of Milan Lucic's(notes) caged enclosure, but to celebrate their exceptional life and extraordinary demise. While we remember most Bruins teams of the past as dull, cheap and usually lacking in championships and charisma, the 2010 model has left this mortal coil leaving a season's worth of memories to savour.

Always desperate for scoring, but more desperate to save noted skinflint owner Jeremy Jacobs a few dollars in the long run, the 2010 Bruins began their life in a protracted off-season salary dispute with 36-goal scorer Phil Kessel(notes). Unwilling or unable to see that their undeniable lack of scoring punch would cripple them, and hamstrung by Jacobs' cheap ways and the asinine contracts handed out to perennial 15-goal thug Lucic and defending Vezina Trophy winner and corndog eating champion of Genesee County, Michigan, Tim Thomas(notes), the Bruins traded Kessel to their division rival Toronto for a package that included what turned out to be the 2nd overall pick in this year's draft. We eagerly anticipate history repeating itself in 3-5 years when Taylor Hall demands fair market value and is promptly Joe Thortoned or Kesseled away.

As we look fondly back on the 2010 Bruins, some notable memories come to mind. The evening Boston played their traditional role of whipping boy to Montreal during the Canadiens' 100th anniversary game celebration was a moment to cherish. The New Year was rung in with the Bruins hosting the Winter Classic versus the Flyers at a jam-packed Fenway Park. The majority of Bostonians attended because they heard "Fenway" and assumed their beloved Red Sox were involved; a collective 'hell, we-ah already he-ah" resulted in the sell-out crowd of drunken Southies sticking around to see the Bruins beat the Flyers 2-1 in retro-chic uniforms designed by noted fashionista and former Bruin winger Cam "played a gay trucker opposite Jim Carrey" Neely. [Read the rest of the story]

Too many men is only one reason...

Just for the record, the reason the Bruins lost this series is they failed to put up a good effort after they won the 3rd game of the series, they didn't put up a very good effort after that game. After game three the Flyers beat the Bruins in all three zones of the ice. The Flyers played with fire the Bruins were listless.

Everyone I talk to mentions the too many men on the ice penalty but it's more than that, it's about a team that stopped playing as a team and started playing like individuals. The too many men on the ice is just one minor thing that happened along the way to the EPIC failure. The more I hear Barry Melrose talk the more I think the guy is out to lunch.

Five keys to failure

1.) Didn't play disciplined hockey, lacked leadership.
2.) Didn't cash in on offensive opportunities.
3.) Too many turn overs that lead to scoring opportunities for the Flyers.
4.) Too many passengers not pulling their weight.
5.) Poor defensive efforts at key times in the games.

The loss left the Bruins one of three teams in NHL history to blow a best-of-seven series after holding a 3-0 lead.

"The bottom line is we had a 3-0 lead in the series, we had a 3-0 lead tonight, and we blew them both," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We have to take the responsibility that goes with it. Everyone."

There's no word. No phrase. No historical statistic. No excuse that can be made to describe the second coming of the Boston Massacre.

Visions of Ruth, Dent, Buckner, Boone and Manning quickly entered one's mind at the sight of Bruins players sitting at their locker room stalls, wary and trying to comprehend how something like this could happen. [ESPN.COM]

Will Savard own up?

Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.COM wrote this article about the Bruins star Marc Savard needing to own up for his costly mistake that led to the historic game winning goal and epic collapse. I don't think Savard's mistake is the sole reason the Bruins lost that game, while some of the onus should be on Savard there are other reasons (mulitple) the Bruins lost the game and series. I honestly don't see Savard owning up for his mistake.

BOSTON – There's a golden opportunity approaching for one of the Bruins to step and do the right thing when the players pack up their lockers, sit in for exit interviews and shut it down for the summer after crumbling against the Flyers.

The B's will meet Tuesday morning and go their separate ways, and it will provide the stage for Marc Savard to speak up and prove he learned something amid one of the worst playoff collapses in sports history.

The B's center will have the chance to own up to the critical mistake he made in the third period of Game Seven when he waved his stick for a line change, looked away from the bench after his replacement, Vladimir Sobotka, didn't immediately come over the boards and then skated deep into the play while Sobotka hopped onto the ice to replace him.

Bruins coach Claude Julien admitted as much amid the rubble of Game Seven when he said that "a player waved for a change then changed his mind." That "player" was Savard, who requesting a line change and then experienced a sudden change of heart in the middle of a change.
In terms of Ice Hockey 101, that mistake was on Savard for not immediately getting off the ice.

Forget about the timing of the play, and whether the call was appropriate or not in the throes of a tied Game Seven during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Forget also about the four hooking calls against Savard in the series and how far his game dropped after Game 3 -- the player came back from a Grade 2 concussion after two months and shouldn't have been expected to be in peak form. Those are side issues, of course, but it was the correct call with six Bruins skaters on the ice and referees under a directive to call "too many men on the ice" much more stringently than in years past.

There were 33 "too many men" penalties called after two rounds of playoffs this season, compared to only 17 through all four rounds last year.

The penalty led to a Simon Gagne third-period goal that gave the Flyers their winning margin. [CSNNE.com]

Lindsay Lohan's latest club tantrum

I saw this on another blog and I thought I would share it with you. Why does it seem like trouble always follows Sean Avery around?

Lindsay Lohan started another fight in a club -- this time with New York Ranger skaters Aaron Voros and Sean Avery at 1Oak. The troubled starlet threw a drink over Voros' model girlfriend, Jessica Stam, and then tried to get all three thrown out of the Wildfox fall-collection party the other night. A spy relates, "Lindsay threw a fit because she wanted to be at their table near the DJ. But she claimed she didn't want to sit with Aaron and said, 'He's my ex-boyfriend. I don't want him anywhere near me.' Voros denied knowing her. A drink then flew in Jessica's face, and Lindsay demanded their table be moved out. Club bosses refused and tried to calm her down. Stam, Voros and Avery were shocked but didn't retaliate, and Lindsay left shortly afterward." We await Lohan's inevitable denial, but we have multiple witnesses. A different source said "Lindsay threw a fit. There was total drama for absolutely no reason." [Link to the story]

Second round highlights (or painful memories)

I suppose it's a matter of perspective, if your team lost in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoff it wouldn't be a highlight video. For me there are way too many clips of Flyers forwards scoring goals, also there are way too many clips where the Flyers are blowing by the Bruins defense like they were pylons and scoring. I have to admit that I have enjoyed watching the second round of the playoffs, because it has been one of the better playoff round in some time.

Hockey Night in Canada; Scott Oake with Gary Bettman (2010-05-11)

This is why a lot of people don't like Gary Bettman, and neither do I. Bettman is one of the most pompous, smug and arrogant people and he is not good for the NHL. The NHL has been doing this dance with the Phoenix Coyotes for a long time and blowing 30 million dollars a year in losses. It's almost like Bettman is going to go down with the Phoenix Coyotes just to prove a point. The guy should run for congress because he fails to ever answer a question directly.

Hacks, agitators and goons; men of dishonor...

There has been a discussion over on Sioux Sports and Hockey Wilderness about players that you hate to play against because they play on the edge, are seen as agitators or even players that are cheap and commit disgusting acts. I have also seen the argument where you’d love to have these players on your team but don’t like them when they play against your team. That’s up for debate and usually seems to be a never ending discussion that takes place from year to year.

I would not cheer for the Boston Bruins or the Minnesota Wild if they signed a hack like Matt Cooke, Todd Bertuzzi or Daniel Carcillo, they would no longer be my favorite teams. There is no way. I would also hope that my favorite team would not challenge my loyalties by signing a questionable player like this. There is too many good players out there to even entertain signing one of these morons.

here are some phrases that get tossed around in sports debate so often that we come to simply over look them. It goes beyond cliche to simply being a part of the vernacular, to being generally accepted as fact. These phrases are sometimes over simplified reaction to a complicated topic, or they are used to simply brush off the opinion of someone you really don't have an argument against.

One of those phrases is, "You would love him if he were on your team." this is almost always in response to the outcry over a player such as Derek Boogaard, Patrik Kaleta, Todd Bertuzzi, Jarkko Ruttu, or in the case of this post, Matt Cooke.

Make the jump and let's discuss, shall we. You really don't have anything better to do, right?

All of this stems from a link that came across Twitter via @Tepherguy. In the upcoming Hockey News issue is a cover story about the top 12 free agents, and Matt Cooke appears to be at the top of that list. The cover of the issue even reads "Matt Cooke is Hockey's Biggest $*&#!... and You'd Love Him if he Played for Your Team."

This phrase is pervasive. It is said about every pest in the NHL, and it is said about every guy who has ever been suspended. Even friend of the blog Greg Wyshynski has said it about Daniel Carcillo.[Read the whole article here]

The players name changes but their brutal gutless cheap acts remain the same. I am sure you can come up with a list of your own, my list includes thugs, players/hacks like Daniel Carcillo, Todd Bertuzzi, Scott Hartnell, Alex Burroughs, Matt Cooke, just to name a few. They're thugs players that are all cut from the same thread. These players lack honor ussualy hide behind a half shield and is no limit to the cheap acts they will commit.

Also, I would include players from the past like Uber Hacks Ulfie "the Turtle" Samuelsson and Claude "the Fraud" Lemieux. Eventually these players get what is coming to them, the hockey code demands it, live by the sword die by the sword. You might even cheer when you see it happen. Matt Cooke got what was coming to him in these three incidents [Kane becomes an instant hero] and [Duncan Keith gives it back to Cooke] and finally [Dustin Brown smokes Matt Cooke]. Lastly, how many people in Boston wanted to give Tie Domi a medal after he smoked Ulfie Samelsson.

Sabres Prospects on Corey Fienhage

Here is what the Sabres Prospect had to say on Cory Fienhage's status at UND. Not really anything new but reinforces that Fienhage will probably not be back next season. I always wondered why Corey doesn't do what Quinn Fylling take a year off from college and go play a year of hockey USHL and then come back to UND after this class of Senior Defensemen graduate. There is probably also a good chance that UND would probably lose Ben Blood as well.

when the University of North Dakota began stockpiling defensive recruits like Derek Forbort and Dillon Simpson, we began to think long and hard about the impact it would all have on Sabres 2008 third-rounder, Corey Fienhage. When Fienhage was sat late in the year in favor of forward-turned-defenseman Matt Davidson, those thoughts intensified.

When we reported that Fienhage was placed on the protected list by the WHL's Kamloops Blazers, the writing was seemingly being scribbled on the proverbial wall.

But when Fighting Sioux junior Chay Genoway announced that he would be returning to the team in 2010-11, the message on the wall stated that Fienhage was outsy.

Nothing is official, but whispers around Grand Forks are suggesting that Fienhage is as good as gone (along with Isles prospect David Toews). Fienhage needs to play, and since he didn't get in the lineup last season until Genoway suffered a concussion, it isn't too difficult to connect the dots.

My question is where does Fienhage go? If he opts for the WHL, his window to earn a deal is cut down to one season. Another option sees him seek a scholarship elsewhere, thus sending him to the USHL for a season of Jr. A to retain his NCAA eligibility, and in turn allow the Sabres to keep his rights for a longer term.

Fienhage is rugged and tough, and I would be eager to watch his game translate to the WHL. However, Fienhage is just 20 and needs consistent reps after playing a scant 39 games over two seasons with the Sioux. Couple that with the fact that the Sabres blueline prospect cupboard is already crowded, and I fully expect the Sabres to advise him to somehow stay in school.

Another episode of the Redwing77 Good, Bad, and Ugly

Hello again, everyone. It's time for a second round playoff series of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

THE GOOD

Jaroslav Halak - Uh... Hey Crosby, whatcha think of me now? I know they typically give the playoff MVP to a player who plays in the Stanley Cup Finals, but I'm not sure if it won't be the true this year should the Habs lose to the Flyers. This guy has been THE goaltender of the post season. PERIOD. He's simply outstanding. He's also laid to rest the debate about Carey Price, who is just a different version of current (perhaps now ex-) Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj. Big hype, no game. In any case, I may not be the biggest fan of the Habs, but I am a big fan of a goaltender who is dominant. Hello Halak. Please bolt Montreal and come to Detroit. Not likely nor would Detroit (I think)...but...

The Flyers - You have to be good to win 4 straight in the playoffs. Especially when you have 2 career disappointments as your starting goaltender and 1 career disappointment (and probable nutcase) either injured or in reserve (Ray Emery). Now, I'm not down on Michael Leighton. I think he's a quality guy, but I never thought he'd be #1 material. Ok, he still isn't. However, he and Brian Boucher get the Ty Conklin Award for the postseason (most unlikely career backups to win a series with a team). Simon Gagne was fantastic. Michael Richards again proves he's a good leader. Danny Carcillo is still a worthless hack that should be banned from the game.

San Jose - Detroit wasn't really in this series, but they were playing awfully well coming into it. And the Sharks simply blew them out of the (frozen) water. Nabakov has always (to me) been a good goaltender with some unfortunate streaky tendencies and bad luck but he managed to hold things together for another round.

Chicago - Don't know if they belong here or in the bad category, but I put them here for two reasons. Reason #1: They advanced. It doesn't have to be pretty (and it wasn't, I assure you) but it just has to happen and it did. Reason #2: Jonathon Toews. Patrick Kane always gets top billing and Toews always gets the last laugh. Captain Serious has been SERIOUSLY good this post season, even out point scoring Bettman's Golden Godchild Sidney Crosby. He's surely a contender with Halak for playoff MVP. They face a test against the Sharks. Chicago won the regular season matchup against the Sharks winning 3 of 4, but required OT to win 2 of those 3 wins.

Jonathon Toews - See "Chicago" but yeah. He deserves his own record. Halak may be the goaltender of the playoffs thus far, but Toews is the skater of the playoffs thus far. He's outscored Crosby and all others. He may not have the playoff lead in goals, but he's done very well all things considered. I guess what I like about him the most is that, though he can score highlight reel goals, most of his playoff goals seem to be of the "hard work bang to the net" variety. Detroit has a huge problem with players who can't seem to get it through their heads that a garbage goal and a Sportscenter #1 play of the day goal is still worth the same amount of points.

THE BAD

Detroit Red Wings - You gotta play for EVERY playoff round in the books, not just the opening round. We squeaked past the Coyotes and got gobbled by the Sharks. Oh well.

Vancouver - Supposedly dominant, surprisingly undisciplined. Luongo was ok. Team D was meh. Season is over.

Pittsburgh Penguins - What can I say? Luck isn't everything, but apparently that's the only way the Pens fans can term their series loss to the Habs. Oh yeah, giving up 4 goals in 2 periods and really not even showing up to Game 7 might be something to look at. By the way, if you want to know why Fleury made my list of Top overrated goaltenders, you can look to Game 7 as a great example. Getting beat is one thing, but not even playing your best in Game 7? SIEVE!

THE UGLY

Boston Bruins - HEY! We've got a 3-0 game lead in this series. The Flyers will roll over, right? RIGHT? Anyone? Blake Wheeler was awful. The Bruins offense was pathetic. Tukka Rask was human. Boston Bruins choked so bad that Buckner (thanks for the analogy Goon) said "WHEW! I only screwed up once! I'm off the hook now!"

Danny Carcillo - At least Matt Cooke is out of the playoffs. This utter disgrace to the game still gets to go on to play the Habs. Well, maybe he'll go pick on Scotty Gomez or Plekanec and then fall down holding his face the next time Hal Gill hip checks him? Or maybe he'll hold his finger and cry the next time he two hand slashes a Hab player and the player takes exception? Who knows, but if Cooke is a lowlife bully, Carcillo is a cowardly nancyboy hack artist. I loved the fact that he dressed up for halloween as the GEICO caveman. It's a perfect match for his intelligence.

KPD gets it right, Awful (Boston Bruins)

I am not usually a fan of Kevin Paul Dupont's work but this article seems to set the tone on how I am sure most Boston Bruins fans are feeling today. Worse than awful, framed in shame; this is how I would describe last night's effort. Epic fail and brutal also comes to mind.

Awful? Worse than awful. The Bruins tomorrow night should be playing in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, but instead they are framed in shame after last night’s diabolical 4-3 loss to the Flyers.

“We had a 3-0 lead in the series. We had a 3-0 lead tonight. And we blew both,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “There are no excuses.’’

In a season-ender that will live with them forever and a day, like the ball that rolled between Bill Buckner’s legs in the 1986 World Series, the Bruins essentially dismissed themselves from the 2010 postseason — and they underscored their own undoing by getting caught for having too many men on the ice with 11:10 gone in the third period.

Too many men. Haunting. Almost sadistic. A ghost from more than three decades ago, dating to an identical call at the Montreal Forum in 1979, revisited the Boston bench on Causeway Street, and had Vladimir Sobotka jumping on the ice as a sixth, and most unwanted, Boston skater. Only 1:42 later, Simon Gagne used the power-play advantage to pot the winner, completing one of the most dramatic comebacks in Stanley Cup history for the Flyers, and driving a stake into the heart of Bruins fandom.
[Boston Globe]

Lucic (X2)

Milan Lucic missed a slough of games this season with various injuries and started to re-emerge as the go to power forward in the Bruins line up. Last night in a losing effort Lucic scored two goals. [Click to view second goal]

Bruins post game press conference

This one doesn't require a lot of analysis, it is what it is.

Future Bruin Taylor Hall?

There is a good chance that with the Bruins having Toronto's first round pick via the Phil Kessel trade that Bruins fans could be watching Taylor Hall play for the Bruins next season.

Choke job complete in Boston

Well that was a lot of fun to watch. Yeah not! Nothing like watching your favorite team implode right before your very eyes. It was very painful to watch. I think I saw someone refer to these types of epic losses as a arena explosion over on Twitter.

Here is the break down of the numbers - six (6) men on the ice, one (1) too many. Four (4) losses in a row, not impressive. Having the opposition score four (4) unanswered goals, words can't explain. Losing a three (3) game to zero (0) series lead - epic failure. Finally choking away a three (3) goal lead priceless. In conclusion only three (3) teams have lost after being up 3-0, the Bruins are now part of history. I had a bad feeling this game and an upset stomach all day waiting for the game.

Personally, I don't think the Bruins took advantage of their opportunities when they had a chance and in retrospect the first nail in the coffin was not winning game four Philly when they had their chance to end the series. They had a power play in overtime and failed to cash in. I think it's time for the Bruin's owner to conduct a house cleaning and get ride of the head coach and the General Manager.

SHAUN THORNTON:
On the too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty: "Well, I want to play a couple more years in this league so I don't want to bad mouth them too much, but I do think . . . I had a pretty good seat for the third period, and I was close to where the guy was changing and I think it was very, very, very gutsy call with seven minutes left with all of the other [expletive] that's going on out there.

On trying to put the season in perspective after a devastating loss: "I know everyone wrote us off after that last Pittsburgh game [in which the team was criticized for sluggish play and for not standing up to Matt Cooke, who had previously given Marc Savard a concussion on a questionable hit] and I know everyone did a great job of coming together and jelling and turning the season around. As far as the 3-0 thing goes . . . it'll be made out to be a little more because of the 3-0 lead, but if we we're down 3-2 it would be regarded with a different mentality. We let Game 6 get away and Game 7 with a one-goal edge, so it's one of those things you have to live with."

Players in the half shield?

Recently the American Hockey Coaches Association had their annual convention in Florida last month and one of the items that caught my attention is that the American Hockey Coaches Association are in favor of allowing their players to wear the half shield/visor instead of the bird cage or full shield. Personally I think this is a great idea and it would clean the game up a bit because I believe players feel like they are invincible when they wear the full mask/bird cage.

I never understood why the players in the USHL, NAHL are allowed to wear the half shield if they wanted to but the NCAA Division 1 hockey players were not? This decision defies logic because the college kids who are usually older aren’t able to make that personnel decision for themselves? The minute these players leave college hockey they switch over to the visor/half shield. Seriously! These aren’t minor youth hockey players in bantams, and squirts these are adult males. I also don’t buy the argument that the ever so all powerful dictatorship known as the NCAA some how knows better than the experienced coaches and players.

Behind that is a debate that ties into the current emphasis on concussion prevention. Half shield proponents say players show more respect for others when they know they’re wearing less facial protection, and point out that they’re the norm in junior hockey and in the competing Canadian major junior system. Opponents cite the risks of taking off the lower-face protection.

The topic came up at the recent American Hockey Coaches Association convention in Florida, and Karr said he believes that nearly 100 percent of the coaching body is in favor of a move to half shields.

Even if the rules committee went along with it, any decision still would have to get through the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel.[Read the whole article here]

Bruins in need of a Heimlich Maneuver

I hope the Bruins find some intestinal fortitude and find a way to win tonight’s game so they don’t go down as a bunch of chokers. Only two other teams have lost a series after going up 3-0 so this would go down as being a epic failure/choke job.

In three straight games, the Bruins have blown tires in their attempts to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Tonight, they are down to their last spare.

With one more loss to the Flyers, the Bruins not only will have their season come to a close, they will also enter the NHL record book as only the third team to gag up a 3-0 lead and lose a playoff series. It is company they have no desire to join.

“It’s going to be a big game, probably for most of us, the biggest game of our careers,’’ said Zdeno Chara. “We just have to enjoy it.
[Read the rest of the article]