Is Marian Hossa a curse?

I was thinking about this yesterday after the Blackhawks had won their game against the San Jose Sharks and you have to wonder if Hossa's fellow Blackhawk teammates are looking at him and going no, not that guy again.

CHICAGO — Marian Hossa is either blessed, or cursed.

We’ll find out soon enough when the Chicago winger makes his third straight trip to the Stanley Cup final with his third different team.

Having lost in Game 7 with Detroit last year and Pittsburgh the year before that, Hossa is hoping (actually he’s long past the point of hoping and has moved on to agonizing) that this time he will finally close the deal.

“It’s a great feeling coming to the finals again, definitely,” said the 31-year-old ex-Ottawa Senator. “This time I want to finish in a much more positive way than the last two years. That’s my goal. It’s a huge accomplishment (winning the West), but we don’t want to stop here.”

It will help Chicago’s chances greatly if Hossa actually scores a goal or two in the final, a fact that’s not lost on a sniper searching far and wide for his trigger finger.

“I am frustrated, trust me,” said Hossa, who has two goals in 16 playoff games so far.

History will be made; Dustin Byfuglien and don't touch the trophy

I think the emergence of Dustin Byfuglien is one of the feel good stories of this years Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nice to see the Roseau that came from a modest upbringing kid doing well and succeeding at a very high level.

Superstitions

What is the deal with NHL and college hockey players not wanting to touch the trophy after they win a conference title in their respective leagues? This season the DU Pioneers looked like they were unhappy or at least unenthused to receive the MacNaughton Cup and yesterday former Sioux hockey player Jonathan Toews wanted nothing to do with the Clarence Campbell trophy. I think the Blackhawks are that good they don’t need to worry about touching a trophy.

People say/write the silliest things

This is my candidate for moron of the week.

Can you imagine how good UND would have been if we could have got him to play at UND? Wow he is great!

I hope he gets hit super hard by pronger in the finals!!!!

Posted by: Toews wow! on Monday, May 24 8:48 AM

When Toews came to UND he was 17 years old and I believe he made at a young age of 18. Doesn't happen very often and Toews is a special player. The kid is 22 years old, he is the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. Toews has won (2X) WJC titles with team Canada, a world championship and a Olympic gold as well.

Chicago Moves on in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I will have to admit that the Chicago Blackhawks have grown on me. I am a Bruins fan by heart and have always respected the Chicago Blackhawks. Being a Fighting Sioux hockey fan I have enjoyed watching former Fighting Sioux star Jonathan Toews playing a big role in the Blackhawks success. Toews is leading the NHL in points with during the Stanley Cup Playoffs (7g-18a-28pts) in 15 games. Toews is probably going to be the Conn Smythe Trophy if keeps up his torrid place in the finals.

At the beginning of the season I had predicted that the Bruins and the Blackhawks would be playing for the Stanley Cup Final. I guess I am half right. I would like to see another Ex-Fighting Sioux players name on the Stanley Cup.

Keith loses teeth, but shows plenty of heart

Ouch, I can't even imagine having your teeth knocked out and coming back to play in the same game. This is why I think hockey players are the toughest athletes in all of sports.

CHICAGO -- The chicklets came pouring out of his mouth, and one even got stuck in the back of his throat. Duncan Keith lost seven teeth in all, three on the top and four on the bottom, when the puck came off Patrick Marleau's stick and hit him square in the mouth.

That was with 12:30 remaining in the second period of Sunday's series-clinching win over the San Jose Sharks. Seven minutes later, after some pronto dental work behind closed doors, Keith was back on the ice for the Chicago Blackhawks.

May 22nd, 2010 Post-game with Ron MacLean & Don Cherry

True North confirmed as owner in waiting

Another day, another turn of events in the on going saga that is the Phoenix Coyotes. It’s like an on going bad soap opera that never ends. I do wonder if the Jets are being played in order to secure a buyer for the Phoenix Coyotes?

The NHL has told the City of Glendale to sell the Phoenix Coyotes to a buyer willing to keep them in Arizona by Dec. 31 or the team will be moved to Winnipeg.

True North Sports and Entertainment, a group led by Mark Chipman and David Thomson, have had the framework of a relocation deal in place with the league for some time, and is the third party the league is referring to in an agreement reached between the NHL and the city of Glendale on Friday.

A document sent by the league to the city of Glendale last week says the NHL has a bona-fide offer from a viable purchaser who would relocate the hockey team to another market for the 2010-11 season and contemplates that the owners (the NHL) would break even on their investment in the team through the end of the 2009-10 NHL season as well as the NHL potentially receiving a relocation fee.

True North had no comment when reached on Saturday, but the Free Press has learned they are the third party the league refers to in the agreement.

On Friday the City of Glendale reached an agreement with the league to cover operating costs up to US$25 million to keep the Coyotes in Jobing.com Arena for the 2010-11 NHL season.

The league has held discussions with the Ice Edge group and Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Whitesox. Both say they want to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix.

It is believed Ice Edge isn’t interested in further talks without exclusivity that would make it the only prospective buyer to keep the team in Arizona.

"The owners currently have a bona-fide offer from a viable purchaser who would relocate the hockey team to another market for the 2010-11 season and contemplates that the owners [the NHL] would break even on their investment in the team through the end of the 2009-10 NHL season as well as the NHL potentially receiving a relocation fee..." the document obtained by the Globe reads. [read the rest of the article]

Ice in his veins (Dustin Byfuglien story)

Here is a really nice story that I found on line about Dustin Byfuglien. It's worth a read and a nice story about a kid from Roseau that made his way through life struggles to be the NHL player he is today.

Hockey Is Life reads a banner hanging at the Memorial Arena in Dustin Byfugliens hometown of Roseau, Minn., 10 miles south of the Canadian border.

The statement isnt hyperbole for the 20-year-old Norfolk Admirals rookie, who has skated out of a difficult childhood and is on the cusp of an NHL career.

Raised by a single mother battling unpaid bills and factory work, Byfuglien (pronounced BUFF-lin) all but grew up in Memorial Arena. If the ice wasnt available or he couldnt talk his way into the play, hed sit in the stands for hours, watching alone.

The boy was not interested in school, and academic ineligibility meant he never played for the storied Roseau High Rams. Theyve won six state championships since 1946, including a 1990 title run against bigger schools that is Minnesotas hockey version of Hoosiers.

Left with all his pucks in one bucket, Byfuglien at age 17 took the only shot he had, leaving home for Canada and major junior hockey.

In Roseau, a town of about 2,800, there was skepticism about the kids future. If he couldnt be bothered to make passing grades back home, how likely was he to apply himself up North?

But Byfugliens move panned out. The Chicago Blackhawks made the 6- foot-3 defenseman an eighth-round pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft, and two years later handed him a $300,000 bonus and a three-year contract and shipped him to Scope. In 25 Admirals games, he has five goals and 10 points and is rated a plus-2 .

With a few years of toil and a second contract, Byfuglien could be financially set for life. His childhood poverty means he pinches a penny harder than most Admirals, and his simple tastes run toward outdoor recreation and time with friends. [Read the rest of the story]

NHL could cash in on return to its roots

This is a good article and it does cause one to ask the question why the hell is the NHL in markets like Phoenix, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Miami? I mean seriously. Hockey is a niche sport that is failing miserably in these southern markets. Hello! Hockey is played on ice, I don’t think unless there is an ice age people are going to be playing shinny on the frozen pond in any of these southern locations. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that hockey is more popular in northern markets and is a northern game.

If the National Hockey League relocated three of its weakest Southern U.S. franchises to Canada, their individual franchise values would increase by more than 50 per cent and the league's average team valuation would jump by $11 million US.

The combined revenues of the three relocated franchises would rise by $100 million per year, jacked up largely by average attendance of 6,000 more fans per game -or a total of 738,000 more per season -and regional television audiences at least 20 times larger than what they are now in the U.S. Sun Belt.

Those are the blue sky conclusions of a study comparing major financial and sport business indicators for NHL clubs in Canada and the United States. Released today by The Vancouver Sun and TheSportMarket.biz,it paints a picture of lucrative franchises north of the border and money-bleeding teams in the Southern U.S., mainly in the troubled Sun Belt markets of Phoenix, Atlanta and Miami. [read the rest of the story]

Carcillo mad at Cammalleri for sticking his tounge out at him.

When I read this article my first impression was that “uber hack” Daniel Carcillo must be running for douche bag of the month in the NHL. The man is a clown and not to be taken seriously. One thing that I think is funny is that Carcillo dives up and down the ice and makes a mockery of the officials and he is going to lecture Michael Cammalleri about respect? It's also funny how Carcillo goes after the more skilled players but doesn't want anything to do with the heavy weights like Colton Orr. Respect is earned Carcillo. I can’t believe the press would even cover these comments from Carcillo.

MONTREAL -- Losing to the Montreal Canadiens was bad enough for Philadelphia Flyers agitator Daniel Carcillo. Seeing Michael Cammalleri stick out his tongue at him following a skirmish was over the top.

If that is the way the Canadiens want to play, Carcillo is up for the challenge. One day after their 5-1 loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final, the Flyers got back to work.

Being disrespected by Cammalleri is another thing Carcillo and his teammates intend to use as a rallying point when they hit the ice again Saturday for Game 4. Philadelphia will be trying to take a 3-1 series lead back home for Game 5 on Monday.

Carcillo was still bothered Friday by Cammalleri's actions that occurred when a linesman broke up a shoving match between the two late in the second period while the Canadiens led 3-0.

"It's embarrassing," Carcillo said. "We could maybe keep that in the pit of our stomach (Saturday) for a little extra motivation."

Carcillo then called Cammalleri "a homer," noting that the Canadiens never tried anything like that during the Flyers' two home wins at the start of the series. With a smile, he added that the last time anyone stuck their tongue out at him was "probably a girl -- a pretty one, too."

Cammalleri saw nothing wrong with what he did. He said he and Carcillo went to the same school in King City, Ontario, and have numerous mutual friends.

"It's hockey. You jaw a little bit out there," said Cammalleri, who scored the opening goal Thursday -- Montreal's first of the series. "You know what, when you're winning the game, it's fun, so you try to enjoy it."
[TSN.COM]

Here is the Philly line on the incident in question. The big mean Broad Bully's sound like a bunch of middle school choir girls. I am beginning to long for the old school NHL hockey where if you had a beef with another player on the ice you settled it like men and didn’t whine in the media.

"There's a fine line between cocky and confident," Daniel Carcillo said. Canadian reporters were asking him about a moment captured on the arena's scoreboard screen.

Montreal forward Michael Cammalleri was seen sticking his tongue out at Carcillo. That and some trash talk from Maxim Lapierre had the Flyers smoldering a bit. [Philly.com]

Hum! This is an interesting turn of events. They should just go ahead and move the team back to Winnipeg. The NHL has been a failure in Phoenix and yet Gary Bettman keeps up with the charade in the desert.

Winnipeg’s hopes to get back in the NHL jumped again, as the league issued an ultimatum to the city of Glendale – find a buyer for the Phoenix Coyotes by Dec. 31 or we will sell them to someone we have waiting to buy and move the team.

The threat is included in the agreement between the NHL and the suburban Phoenix city in which the city agreed to pay up to $25-million (all currency U.S.) of the Coyotes’ operating losses for the 2010-11 season. That agreement was completed on Friday and a copy was obtained by The Globe and Mail.

There was no mention of the prospective buyer in the agreement but the only buyers the NHL has admitted speaking to in connection with the Coyotes, aside from Jerry Reinsdorf and the Ice Edge group who both want to keep the Coyotes in Arizona, are Canadian billionaire David Thomson and Mark Chipman, the CEO of True North Sports and Entertainment, who own and operate the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
[Read the article]

Scott Hartnell vs Roman Hamrlik

There have been so few fights during the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Hab's and Flyers are heating up. Wouldn't you know it Scott "Mop Head" Hartnell was back at it fighting with his shield on. I will give the Euro Roman Hamrlik for fighting Scott Hartnell who has been known to fight and dropped the gloves 8 gimes this season.

Early Departures racking up in the WCHA

So far this off season there 9 12 WCHA hockey players that will not be coming back to their college teams next season. There are a few others players that could move on and sign professional or return to Junior Hockey. I think one of the bigger shockers this week was the UMD Bulldog goalie Brady Hjelle leaving the Dogs.

I suppose you could say that there is a slight chance that Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan might sign professional contracts with the New York Rangers. There is no reason for either player to hurry and sign.

There has been two schools of thought on whether Ryan McDonagh will sign with the Rangers or not. Ranger's head coach John Tortorella’s favorite beat writer Larry Brooks seems to think that the Rangers are trying to sign Ryan McDonagh. Jess Rubenstein from the The Prospect Park has a little different prospective on the matter.

The Sioux are going to lose David Toews to the WHL and could possibly lose Corey Fienhage who was recently placed on the protected list by the WHL's Kamloops Blazers. EDIT: s/t to Lets Go Mavs as she reminded me that Tyler Pitlick might be leaving the Mavericks and one of their freshmen goalies Kevin Murdock is going back to Juniors.

The early depatures list

Denver -- 3
Joe Colborne, So, F, Boston Bruins
Patrick Wiercioch, So, D, Ottawa Senators
Marc Cheverie, Jr, G, Florida Panthers

Alaska-Anchorage -- 2
Lee Baldwin, Fr, D, New York Rangers
Bryce Christianson, Jr, G, Stockton (ECHL)

Wisconsin -- 2
Cody Goloubef, Jr, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
*Brendan Smith, Jr, D, Detroit Red Wings (signing with the Redwings)

Minnesota -- 1
Jordan Schroeder, So, F, Vancouver Canucks

Minnesota-Duluth -- 2
Rob Bordson, Jr, F, Anaheim Ducks
Brady Hjelle, So, G, going back to juniors

University of North Dakota -- 1
David Toews, So, F, going to the WHL

Minnesota State Mankato -- 1
Kevin Murdock, Fr, G, going to Lincoln Stars USHL

Tim Thomas: 'Too Early' To Entertain Idea of Waiving No-Trade Clause

It was a obvious that Bruins goalie Tim Thomas didn't have as good of season as he did during his Venzina Trophy winning season the year before, however, I think the Bruins management might want to think long and hard before they run Tim Thomas out of town via a trade. Well unless you can get great value in return in the form of offense. In my opinion, Tim Thomas is a good goalie and I predict that he will rebound next season.

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]

Reality: These playoffs have a mind of their own

I thought I would include this for Fighting Sioux hockey fans, Jonathan Toews has been on a tear this season and it really has been impressive. Give me less Crosby and more Toews any day. 

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]

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]