Nathan Horton done for the playoffs.

Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton is done for the remainder of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals after this vicious hit by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome. According to the Canucks coach the hit was a little late. Yeah, oh, ok…

Eric Duhatschek; Globe and Mail --- To the surprise of no one who watched him wheeled off the ice on a stretcher early in Monday's 8-1 Boston Bruins' victory over the Vancouver Canucks, forward Nathan Horton will not play again in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Bruins announced Tuesday morning. General manager Peter Chiarelli confirmed that Horton suffered a severe concussion in the third game of the Stanley Cup series after a hit by Canuck defenseman Aaron Rome.


After the play, Rome was assessed a five minute major for interferenceand a game misconduct. The NHL will hold a disciplinary hearing with Rome on Tuesday morning to discuss the play.

"It was a blindside hit that we've talked about taking out of the game," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He made the pass. It was late. He came from the blindside. Whether it's through the motion of the hit, it appeared he left his feet a little bit.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault is dillusional...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
I don't think the Vancouver Canucks are going to get off Scott free this time. Aaron Rome hit Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton in the head with with his elbow and knocked Horton out cold. The hit was also late.

Jeff Howe; NESN ---- Without actually saying it, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault tried to portray a message to the NHL that Aaron Rome's vicious hit on Nathan Horton was not worthy of a suspension.

Rome blindsided Horton early in the first period. Horton was taken off the ice in a stretcher and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with a head injury. Vigneault knew the hit was late, but he tried to lobby for Rome, who will have a hearing with the NHL at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

"We'll let the league deal with that, but that hit was a head-on hit, [Horton] looking at his pass, [and the hit] was a little bit late," Vigneault said. "I don't think that's the hit that the league is trying to take out of the game. This is a physical game. You've got big guys, a fraction of a second to decide what is happening out there. It's very unfortunate. You never want to see that, but this is a physical game."

Rome lined up Horton as he entered the Vancouver zone without the puck. Rome planted his skates, launched himself at Horton and elevated his shoulder into Horton's head. Horton also hit his head on the ice when he fell, and he lay nearly motionless for several minutes.

Rome received a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

Related articles

• Video: Horton leaves game on stretcher after late Vancouver hit (thestar.com)
• Vancouver Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault can finally tell Sedin twins apart (thehockeynews.com)
• Boston Bruins Give 'Game Jacket' To Hospitalized Nathan Horton (sbnation.com)
• Cox: Dirty hit on Bruins' Horton turns final on its head (thestar.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.

Lucic gives Burrows the finger(s)

Fist off Alex Burrows is a hack and the Bruins should hit him every chance they get, Alex Burrows is very, very lucky that the on ice official was able to rescue him before Milan Lucic whiped the ice with him. Game four should be a great game to watch after watching the Bruins dismantle the Canucks 8-1.

Aaron Rome's hit on Nathan Horton

In watching this hit on replay, you can see that the hit in question was at least three strides too late, Aaron Rome left his feet to hit Horton in the head, it was a very dirty hit. There is no way you can defend this hit, Aaron Rome needs to be suspended by the NHL. I am all for big hits but this was unacceptable. In my opinion it's a violation of the NHL Rule 48.

Related articles

• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 3: Aaron Rome Hits Nathan Horton, Gets Ejected (sbnation.com)
• Video: Bruins' Nathan Horton out after hit by Canucks' Aaron Rome (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Video: Aaron Rome's dirty hit on Nathan Horton overshadows a scoreless first period in Game 3 (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• VIDEO: Aaron Rome Hits Nathan Horton Really Hard, Illegally In Canucks-Bruins Game 3 (sbnation.com)
• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 3 Score: First Period Scoreless, Aaron Rome Hit On Nathan Horton The Story (sbnation.com)

Claude Julien unimpressed with Canucks Maxim Lapierre's antics

I don't think that Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien is the only person that is unimpressed with Canucks hack Maxim Lapierre and his on ice antics. Can you imagine if this buffoon had done this classless act to Gordy Howe or during the days where there wasn't an instigator penalty? You have to give Patrice Bergeron credit for not just hauling off and popping Lapierre.

Douglas Flynn; NESN -- They chose not to whine and complain when Vancouver forward Alexandre Burrows was not suspended for biting Patrice Bergeron in Game 1. They didn't use it as an excuse when Burrows was not only in the lineup for Game 2, but scored the game-winner in overtime.

And they're not going to stoop to the Canucks' level in responding to Maxim Lapierre's Game 2 taunt of Bergeron. Lapierre stuck out his finger at Bergeron after a whistle, challenging him to bite it, then was seen laughing about the incident on the bench.

"I can't really talk about their team," Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Monday's morning skate in preparation of Game 3 at the Garden. "I'm going to talk about mine because I don't handle those players. I don't deal with those players on a one-on-one basis. It really isn't up to me to, I guess, comment on it. If it's acceptable for them, then so be it. It certainly wouldn't be acceptable on our end of it. I think you know me well enough to know that.

"[There's] not much I can say on that," Julien added. "The NHL rules on something and they decide to make a mockery of it. That's totally up to them. If that's their way of handling things, then so be it. Again, we can't waste our time on that kind of stuff. We really have to focus on what we have to do. The last time I looked, we're down two games to none, and all our energy has to go towards that."

The rest of the Bruins downplayed the incident as well.

Related articles

• Claude Julien's had it with biting and taunting; Lapierre has no comment on being called "punkish" (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Julien steamed about Canucks' biting, taunting (theglobeandmail.com)
• Bruins Vs. Canucks, Game 3: Claude Julien Didn't Find Max Lapierre's Finger Joke Funny (sbnation.com)
• Bruins coach steamed about Canucks' biting, taunting (theglobeandmail.com)
• Julien: Canucks made 'mockery' of Burrows bite (sports.espn.go.com)

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.

Mind's a Messin': Redwing77's Psychology Musings

Watching the Playoffs this year, listening to friends talk about the aftermath of games, and reading content got me thinking: We talk about the intangibles of hockey but what about the psychology?

The Finals this year reminds me a LOT of the Blackhawks vs. Canucks tilt from last year's playoffs.

Let me take you back... Then Hawk Dustin Byfuglien (IMO one of the most underrated players in the NHL) quite literally and almost single-handedly obliterated the Canucks game plan on multiple nights by simply getting them so enraged that their game plan was to basically head hunt Byfuglien (without actually hitting him in the head). This took the Canucks so off kilter that the Hawks won the game.

Right now, right or wrong/good or bad, the Canucks are doing the same thing to the Bruins. True, statistically the series still has been pretty even. True, the gripes about the Canucks methods of doing so have been merited. However, the job of the Bruins isn't to point out the cheap play of certain players. It isn't their job to go after the players either. It's their job to look at their opponents tendencies and make a game plan that expects those tendencies that still affords the Bruins the opportunity to win.

Coming into the Finals, the Bruins should have already known the following things:

1. The Canucks are a fast, great skating team
2. The Canucks are solid fundamentally
3. The Luongo of old has only temporarily shown up, but never for long enough to kill his team's chances.
4. The Canucks have been diving and getting away with it all Playoffs long
5. The Canucks aren't afraid of taking pages out of the Penguins and Blackhawks books. Penguins book- cheap hits, borderline on ice tactics. Hawks book - Aggravation, instigation, and getting under the skin of their opposition
6. They are a momentum team. The only way to beat them is to get them to lose their momentum.
7. They are a balanced team with pressure on them but only at the top. The media is swooning over the Sedins but that takes the spotlight off of players like Bieksa and so on.

Look, I'm no fan of Burrows or Bieksa, but you have to acknowledge that they've had a pretty good playoff run. I'd argue they've been more effective than the Sedins.

The flaw that the Bruin's face is that they are relying too heavily on Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara to bail them out when the likes of Burrows and Bieksa get under their skin. And that's not working. The Bruins aren't out of it yet, but if they lose one game in Boston, they will be.

Game 3 and 4 are must wins for the B's if they expect to win. With 3 wins under the Canucks' belt, winning 1 of the next 4 should be almost a sure thing.

I'm looking at Dennis Seidenberg, Patrice Bergeron, and either Michael Ryder or Rich Peverley to step up. Tyler Seguin is a rookie and, though immensely talented, relying upon him would be a recipe for disaster.

I still have the Bruins in 7 but Game 3 will tell a lot about the possibility of there even being a Game 7.

Rich Peverley checks Kevin Bieksa's cup

I have seen today where some suggested that Boston Bruins forward Rich Peverley should be suspended for this little love tap on Vancouver Canucks defenseman fraud Kevin Bieksa. As you probably know, if you read this blog, I am on the record as not being a big fan of Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa and his on ice antics, I could also care less if he played his hockey at Bowling Green State University, so one might say that Karma has finally caught up with Mr. Bieksa, couldn't have happened to a nicer more deserving person.

Since Richard Peverley is a semi skilled hockey player that doesn't fight very often he will have to be on the look out for Kevin Bieksa because he is known for going after skilled players that don't like to fight and has fought with the following heavy weights during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Viktor Stalberg, Troy Brouwer, Patrick Marleau).

Ottawa Sun --- “I’m sure everybody knows what happened and they’ll keep a better eye on him next time,” said Bieksa of Peverley, whose slash went undetected by referees Kelly Sutherland and Dan O’Halloran.

 “There’s such a thing as karma. Whether it’s next year or the year after, he’ll get something from somebody else. He got me on the back of the knee. Luckily, it’s okay.”

Now before someone says that I think that Kevin Bieksa deserved to be stuck in the groin with a stick, I didn’t say that  he deserved it, however, Bieksa brought that reaction on himself by the type of game that he plays on the ice. I do believe in Karma like I mentioned earlier. I also want to be clear I am not a fan of using your stick to settle differences on the ice and Peverley  deserved a penalty for his cup check, but this stick fowl nowhere comes close to a suspendable offense.

Edit: Here is what the Vancouver Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault had to say about the Peverley love tap on Kevin Bieksa. You can judge for yourself, but it looks like the war of words is heating up in this series.

 Joe Sullivan, Globe Sports Editor ---- Vigneault also talked about the physical nature of his team and the series plus a reference to what he called a cheap shot by Rich Peverley of the Bruins.

"I think if you look at the stat sheet at the end of the day, we're hitting as hard as they are. If you look at the stat sheets throughout the playoffs, we're the team that's got the most hits. That's part of our game. Kevin (Bieksa) didn't get hit, he got a cheap shot in the back of the knee (by Peverley), so that's totally different. He went down because of something that obviously you don't want to see in the game. But at the end of the day, we know that they're a big, physical team. We can play a speed game, but we can also play a physical-type game, which I think we've shown throughout the playoffs."

Related articles

• Rich Peverley Slashes Kevin Bieksa In Leg, Runs Away (sbnation.com)

KDP; it’s time to give up the fight

If anything KPD article gives us reason not to take fighting out of hockey, and yeah Mr. Dupon you’re nuts. All you have to do is witness some of the antics that happen when you take fighting out of hockey, the Stanley Cup playoffs are a perfect example of this, you have players bitting each other and running over the other teams goalies.

Let's break it down further, if you take fighting out of hockey you’ll have buffoons like Alex Burrows, Steve Ott, Dan Carcillo, Raffi Torres, Matt Cooke and Steve Downie (I am sorry if I missed anyone there are many others that I could have included in my post) getting away with all kinds of egregious and questionable acts, the Boston Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton is right. You’ll have these gutless pukes performing all kinds of random acts of thuggery without ever having to answer the bell; this would actually make the game of hockey more dangerous that it is already.

Kevin Paul Dupont; Boston Globe ---- Too much of today’s game is about hitting to hurt, literally to break the opponent, and that’s not just a danger to players but also to the game’s image, its marketability, and I think its sustainability. To abolish fighting won’t be a cure-all, but I believe it can be key in unraveling a complicated, dangerous, and ultimately losing environment.

So I made that very case the other day to Bruins career tough guy Shawn Thornton, whom I respect as a person, a player, and a fighter (my kind of hat trick). He looked at me in dismay, and then in all sincerity, and with a good amount of animation and invective, told me I was nuts. He made his points in support of the sweet science (all in line with my lifetime position) and really couldn’t be swayed with my “culture change’’ postulate.

“I think if you take fighting out,’’ said Thornton, “you’ll see the game go to places where you’ll want it back just to stop the nonsense — more stick work, more cheap shots, just all the junk. Maybe that’s my old-school thinking, but . ..

I mean seriously, If you took fighting out of the game of hockey, it would be open season on the skilled players in the NHL. This would give players like Kevin Bieksas and Dan Carcillos a green light to perform their bag of tricks. I would not be an understatement to say that players of this ilk would be licking their lips in anticipation because they can skate up and down the ice taking liberties on the skilled players in the NHL without ever having to answer the bell. In the past, there has been little if any consequences for their questionable actions, why would they now all of a sudden behave, you can’t count on the NHL front office to discipline them.

I can see players like Sidney Crosby becoming victims of more random acts of violence. Let's not be confused, just because Colin Campbell has stepped down as the head disciplinarian in the NHL don’t expect the newly anointed Brendan Shanahan to change the culture in the NHL. This is a bad idea and its’ ill conceived… I suggest taking the instigator rule out of NHL Hockey and it would clean the game up tomorrow.

If you think that I am over exaggerating this point just watch a game in the WCHA of the NCAA, there is no fighting in college hockey, the players wear full cages and almost weekly there are all kinds of random acts of violence, these egregious hits by the players are rarely punished and the players never have to worry because they know they won’t have to answer for their acts of thuggery. As we have seen in the past that players can take out a team’s skilled player and know that there will be no repercussion and they will only probably get suspended for one game anyways. What do you think? Lets start the debate.

Sunday Morning Links…

The Stanley Cup Finals are now moving to Boston after the Vancouver Canucks won the first games of the series in Vancouver. There are a lot of good story lines in this series between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks.

I would have never guessed from watching the first to games of the series... Bruins Have 'A Lot of Hatred' for Canucks, Hope to Thrive With Continued Physical Play in Cup Final. [NESN.COM]

The Boston Bruins were shut out in game one by the Vancouver Canucks, finally the Boston Bruins broke through the Cauncks defenses and scored two goals in game two; however, it still wasn’t enough. One minor bright spot for the Boston Bruins is that they also scored a goal on the powerless play power play after going 0-6 in game one. That was only the Boston Bruins 6th power play goal (6-76) of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Boston Bruins actually failed to score a power play goal during their first round series against the Montreal Canadians. Few teams have actually won a series during the Stanley Cup playoffs without scoring a power play goal. [NESN.COM]

It would appear that Mike Milbury is less than impressed with some of the antics of the classless hacks known as the Vancouver Canucks, especially Burrows and Lapierre. Can't say that I am fond of either player either. [Boston Globe]

"And look at the punks now out to play," former Bruin and current NBC NHL analyst Mike Milbury said during the Game 2 telecast regarding Lapierre's mocking of the Burrows bite on Bergeron. "Punks like Lapierre come out to play and make fun and denigrate the game the way it should be played ... This [Burrows] is a good player who shouldn't be in this game, and if you're a Boston fan, you should be pretty angry."

One can make the argument that Alex Burrows shouldn’t have been playing in game two, due to Burrows biting Patrice Bergeron in game one. Gauging from some of the comments that I have read on Twitter and the various fan blogs there are quite a few people upset with Burrows this morning. Personally, I wish the Bruins would have paid more attention to Alex Burrows during last night’s game because he had a hand in all three Vancouver Canucks goals last night (2g-1a-3pts).

The much despised Vancouver Canucks' forward hack/biter Alex Burrows was the overtime hero in 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins. [Vancouver Sun]

Burrows shook off the Game 1 controversy he found himself immersed in after he was alleged to have bitten the finger of Boston forward Patrice Bergeron. He said it didn't affect him, but bothered his parents.

"The negative press I have been getting the last few days doesn't affect me at all," he said. "I don't read you guys, I don't listen to you guys a lot. But if affects my parents and my dad listens to everything and it affects him and he told me to go score some goals. He said that's what is going to hurt them. I listened to his advice and it worked out."

Vancouver native Milan Lucic says he's sorry, but he's busy with Boston Bruins right now. [Vancouver Sun]

Matt Kalman of the Bruins Blog breaks down Zedano Chara rough night in Vancouver, it wasn't pretty folks. If the Bruins are going to win this series big “Z” needs to play better. [The Bruins Blog]

Here is an interesting story that caught my eye this Sunday Morning. Seems as if some think that the Flyers might be interested in Tim Thomas. Gormley: Thomas makes sense for the Flyers, if they can work the deal... [Delaware on line]

There is still a chance that the Boston Bruins can still win this series, regardless of what the naysays and over confident Canucks fans have said… While the Bruins are only down two games going into game three; history is not in the Bruins favor. That being said, I will not give up on this team. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe breaks down the numbers, and they are not pretty. [Boston Globe]

History is not the Bruins’ friend at this hour. Winning a Stanley Cup after trailing, two games to none, is not impossible, but of the 46 teams who’ve dug this hole, only four have recovered to win the championship. The Bruins, meanwhile, haven’t won a Cup since 1972 and are mired in a championship drought that conjures memories of the local nine. Dating to 1978, the Bruins have lost 12 of their last 13 games in this celebrated event. Boston is 5-22 in Cup Final games since Chief Johnny Bucyk last hoisted the chalice in ’72.

The Green Men will be in Boston, yippee skippy... [Slap Shot Blog]

Alex Burrows proves that father knows best... [National Post]

I am not sure where to put this article but it doesn't really fit here, but oh well, I will include it anyways... Don't count on Max Domi going to college he was dealt from Kingston to the London Knights of the OHL.[Coming down the Pipe]

The NHL returns to Winnipeg

The NHL team in Winnipeg Manitoba sold their 13,000 season tickets in a matter of minutes and also froze their waiting list at 8,000. [Fox Sports]

True North reaches 13,000 season ticket goal in Winnipeg, MB. [TSN.CA]

Back in Winnipeg, Bettman Strikes Different Chord... [Slap Shot Blog]

Winnipeg's NHL season tickets sold out in about two minutes... [CBC.CA]

True North Sports and Entertainment has told Thrashers GM Rick Dudley that he will not be the team's GM when the team relocates in Winnipeg, MB. [TSN.CA]

Maxim Lapierre sticks his finger in Bergeron’s face

I don't know how Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron doesn't wind up and just punch Vancouver Canucks hack forward Maxim Lapierre in the face after this classless gesture. Seriously, Lapierre is openly mocking the NHL and making them look like a bunch of horses rear ends by not suspending Alex Burrows.

Related articles

• PHOTO: Max Lapierre Dares Patrice Bergeron To Bite His Finger (sbnation.com)
• Bruins Vs. Canucks Score: Daniel Sedin's Third Period Goal Forces Overtime (sbnation.com)
• NHL won't fine or suspend Alex Burrows for his bite on Patrice Bergeron (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Canucks Vs. Bruins: Patrice Bergeron Comments On Alex Burrows Bite; Suspension Possible For Vancouver Forward (sbnation.com)

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)

Bolland: Canucks Are ‘Like A Little Girl’

Image via WikipediaLooks like the War of Words is continuing between the Blackhawks and the Canucks; I also have to say that I agree with Chicago Blackhawks Center Dave Bolland and what he had to say about the Vancouver Canucks, “Typical, pulling hair and biting people. Sort of like a little girl.”

CBS Chicago ---- “It does get pretty painful watching and seeing that team in it,” Bolland told Fred Mitchel, of the Chicago Tribune.

“It sucks seeing them there.”

The Canucks took the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals with a goal by Raffi Torres with 18.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Torres was the same player who delivered a hit to Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook’s head. It was a hit that kept Seabrook out of two games of the Blackhawks-Canucks first round series.

And the fact that Vancouver’s Alex Burrows appeared to bite the finger of Bruins center Patrice Bergeron in the first period didn’t take Bolland by surprise.

“Typical, pulling hair and biting people. Sort of like a little girl,” Bolland said. “But things happen during games. Stuff like that isn’t meant for hockey. So some of those things have to be taken care of.”

Drew Stafford to get paid...

Image by bridgetds via FlickrDrew Stafford gets fat contract, Stafford is going to make 4 million dollars a year. With that pay increase Stafford is going to have add pressure to perform from the Buffalo fan base.

Buffalo Sabres; NHL.COM --- Drew Stafford Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have agreed to terms with forward Drew Stafford, who was set to become a Restricted Free Agent on July 1 on a multi-year contract.

“It was important for us to get Drew locked up,” said Regier. “What we saw from Drew this season is exactly what we envisioned when we drafted him. Drew will continue to be an important part of our team in the coming years.”

Stafford (10/30/1985, 6’2”, 214 lbs.) is coming off a 2010-11 season that saw him finish second on the team with a career-high 31 goals in 62 games, including a league-best four hat tricks. The 25-year-old also posted career-highs in both points (52) and power play goals (11). In five seasons with Buffalo, Stafford has 196 points (94+102) in 317 career games.

Stafford was Buffalo’s first-round selection (13th overall) in the 2004 Entry Draft, and played three years at the University of North Dakota.

Related articles

• Buffalo Sabres, Drew Stafford agree on new deal (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Buffalo re-sign Drew Stafford to multi-year contract (cbc.ca)
• Buffalo re-sign RW Stafford, securing him before the start of free agency (thehockeynews.com)
• Sabres re-sign F Stafford to multiyear contract (sports.espn.go.com)

Commissioner promises harsher penalties for head hits - "Next Year."

Image via WikipediaKey word is next year... I guess we will have have more of the same during the Stanley Cup Finals.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was talking tough Wednesday, promising harsher penalties for violence "next season"and introducing the league's new chief disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.

Bettman used his state of the league address ahead of Game One of the Stanley Cup final between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins to announce that Shanahan would be taking over the most thankless job in ice hockey.

A tough as nails former-player, Shanahan replaces Colin Campbell, who had been in charge of dispensing NHL supplemental discipline for 13 years but had come under increasing criticism for what was viewed as wildly inconsistent punishment.

The league continues to struggle to find a balance between player safety and removing the physical component of the game, which is at the heart of the sport and its appeal.

Concussions and the hits that cause them have become the hot button issue in sport this year, particularly in the NHL, and Campbell's uneven suspensions created the perception the league was unconcerned, sparking an uproar among fans and sponsors.

Bettman said Campbell had approached him and suggested a change.

"Collie and I believe it is time to take a fresh look at the standards that we use and if we are going to move to harsher discipline that change needs to send a clear message and we think it would probably be best to do it on a clean slate," Bettman told reporters.

Related articles

• NHL Commissioner Bettman expects realignment in 2012 season (cbssports.com)
• NHL Commissioner Bettman expects 2012 realignment (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Commissioner promises harsher penalties for head hits (reuters.com)
• NHL Commissioner Bettman expects 2012 realignment (sfgate.com)
• Bettman expects NHL realignment for 2012-13 (sports.espn.go.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)

NESN; Alex Burrows Decision Is Latest Example of NHL Insulting Fans' Intelligence With Dishonest Explanations

I will say that I concur with Michael Hurley from NESN and his assessment, the NHL looks like a bunch of bumbling buffoons when they issues statements like this.We saw the video, and one can deduced that Vancouver Canucks hack forward Alex Burrows bit Patrice Bergeron, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine this. 

Michael Hurley; NESN ---This isn't a cry of injustice, a plea for a suspension or anything of the sort. Alex Burrows wasn't suspended by the NHL, and he probably didn't deserve to be. At this point of the year, in the Stanley Cup Final, biting a finger probably isn't enough to keep you off the ice for 60 minutes, and definitely not for 120 minutes.

That's what the folks at the NHL think, and you know what? That's fine. The problem is that they're not telling you that. They're telling you that there was "no conclusive evidence" to prove there was any biting. They're telling you that those videos you've seen, and the photos you've looked at -- they don't exist. They're basically telling you that you're an idiot.

They're insulting your intelligence.

There was conclusive evidence. We saw it. We saw Burrows chomp down on Bergeron's finger the same way I bite down on my morning apple (just kidding, I rarely eat fruit). If Mike Murphy, whose decision it was to hold off on supplemental discipline, really wanted more evidence, he'd go look at Bergeron's finger. It's got teeth marks in it.

Related articles

• NHL: No suspension for Alex Burrows (aol.sportingnews.com)
• NHL won't fine or suspend Alex Burrows for his bite on Patrice Bergeron (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Miam! Alex Burrows takes a bite of Patrice Bergeron during the Stanley Cup final. (weinterrupt.com)

Bruins have a free pass; No supplemental discipline for Burrows

Image via WikipediaFor the self congratulatory hockey pundits that had said there is a conspiracy for the Boston Bruins because Colin Campbell’s son Greg Campbell plays for the Boston Bruins; that conspiracy has been proven to be unfounded and has been shot full of holes to boot. Vancouver Canucks "hack" Alex Burrows will not be suspended for biting Patrice Bergeron.

VANCOUVER -- National Hockey League Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy today announced that there will be no supplemental discipline on Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows for an alleged incident in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"After reviewing the incident, including speaking with the on-ice officials, I can find no conclusive evidence that Alex Burrows intentionally bit the finger of Patrice Bergeron," Murphy's statement