It was an interesting 2009-10 season for Bruins goalie Tim Thomas to say the least, so it seemed only fitting that he was the last Bruin to address the media on the team’s annual -- yet not-so-enjoyable breakup day at TD Garden Tuesday morning.
After winning the Vezina Trophy in 2008-09 and coming into the season as the incumbent starter between the pipes for the Black and Gold, Thomas fell behind the 8 Ball with an early season injury. While his stats (17-18-8, 2.56 GAA, .915 save-percentage) weren’t bad, he never seemed to regain the Vezina form and consistency of the previous season.
Thomas eventually lost the starting job to rookie Tuukka Rask and was the subject of numerous trade rumors at the NHL trade deadline in March. With the team’s offseason underway and Thomas carrying a hefty $14 million salary cap hit spread out over the next three seasons, questions are already being asked if Thomas, who has a no-trade clause, might entertain a change of scenery and waive the no-trade to be a starter again for another team?
"Too early," he said right away. "Those kind of thoughts are something that need to be thought over carefully and over a longer period of time and I haven’t had the luxury of doing that yet. It is so early after the end of the season that I haven’t took the time yet. We have had these end of the year meetings, get our equipment, we have had some other activities. Over the next month I will let things kind of settle in my mind and come up with some of that stuff later, but not yet."
[NESN.COM]
Belief: Sidney Crosby is hockey's best young leader and most clutch performer.
Reality: OK, that still might be true. Nobody can take away Crosby's 2009 Stanley Cup and Olympic game-winning goal. But Jonathan Toews is making his case as hockey's best big-game player.
Toews graciously accepted his role on Team Canada's checking line during the Olympics and emerged as one of the tournament's best two-way players. He had eight points in seven Olympic games and was named to the all-tournament team. If the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup, he'll likely take home the Conn Smythe. He's on an 11-game point streak and leads playoff scorers with 23 points.
"I don't think I've ever seen him this good," teammate Patrick Kane said. "Seems like the guy is a big-time player." [read the whole story]
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]
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]
Heck, it should be an arms race.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.
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]
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
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]
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]
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 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]
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.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.
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]
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.
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]
