Well lookie here...

Once upon a time, the Boston Bruins were looking hot and were looking at a long playoff season run. Then Scott Walker of the Carolina Hurricanes slashed Boston's hopes of continuing on in the playoffs with an OT goal that made even the toughest Bruins fan want to cry.

Then this certain blogger decided it was just too painful to update at that time, then forgot to keep updating as summer approached along with finals and 40 hour work weeks to pay for the education we all love and enjoy.

And now, with twelve days left until the first exhibition game of the season, fans are left wondering if forward Phil Kessel (a free agent this year) will continue to wear black and gold or if he'll change colors to San Jose or the Rangers, two teams rumored to be looking at the young gun.

However it also frustrates fans that Kessel is completely at a standstill with Boston and with rumors floating around that he's asking for a $5 million/year contract, many wonder if he's really just in it for the money this time.

Boston, in a surprising move, traded Aaron Ward to Carolina this summer in exchange for a 2010 fourth round draft pick and Patrick Eaves. Boston then bought out Eaves contract to supposedly make room in the salary cap this year for (supposedly) Kessel's renewed contract.

Tuukka Rask is looking to move up into the NHL this year as well, posting a stellar record with the Providence Bruins last season. Since Fernandez's contract wasn't renewed, it's assumed that Rask will be a backup goalie for Thomas, who also resigned this year.

In other moves around the NHL, NHLPA president Paul Kelly was relieved of duties after only two years of service. The shoes won't be hard to fill, however it will need to be a fast decision in order to get a President by the time exhibition games start on September 15.

Montreal seemed to be cleaning house this summer as free agents Komisarek, Koivu, Tanguay, Plekanec, Stewart, and Kostopolous leaving as free agents. Tanguay, who was a big loss for Montreal, just signed with Tampa Bay for an undisclosed amount. Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks signed a 12 year extension with a $64 million contract.

It's Not Over....Yet

A repeat of what happened in the 1969 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals could very well happen tonight if the Boston Bruins decide to come out of the locker room the same team they were during Game 4.

39 years ago, the Boston Bruins lost Round 2 to rivals the Montreal Canadiens after Boston swept the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston fell in the series 4-2. It was also the year that Boston went home from the NHL Awards with four awards. Esposito took home the Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Memorial Trophy whereas teammate Bobby Orr took home the NHL plus/minus Award and James Norris Memorial Trophy, which current Captain Zdeno Chara is up for this year. But those statistics don't matter during this playoff series. Boston easily swept Carolina during the regular season and seemed to have the stamina to sweep the Hurricanes after Game 1 showed Boston's dominance.

Carolina's pushing force got them into the second round, after ousting the New Jersey Devils with ninety seconds left in the third period of game 7. Carolina, time and time again, have shown the Bruins they're not scared or worried about them. They've showed the Bruins that it's their time to shine and that's it's their year to take the Cup. They've pushed Boston to the breaking point, to the point where tonight's game is a do-or-die type of game. If we lose, we lose the entire run. If we win, we're in for another game, unfortunately playing Carolina where they have been most dominant: at home.

Carolina has shown they won't be deterred by higher ranking teams, especially when they're away. They beat Brodeur's Devils in New Jersey and they've proved to the NHL they have the staying power and the fighting power to make their run to the Stanley Cup outlast the top teams.

The fact remains that Carolina is literally beating up Boston this series. The lack of motivation on Boston's part has lead them to take some idiotic penalties and allowed some critical goals by Carolina. Carolina's top three men right now, offensively, are Jussi Jokinen, Eric Staal and former Bruin Sergei Samsonov. And while Staal is being covered, it seems that Jokinen and Samsonov are left on their own to score the critical goals within this series (need I remind you of Jokinen's OT game winner during Game 3?).

And they're not making some spectacular Alex-Ovechkin type goals either. They're making simple passes and simple breakaways since Boston's defensive and offensive systems have practically crumbled this series. Maybe it's because Boston does not have an overly fierce rivalry with Carolina, which is what helped propel Boston in Round 1. But they should, really. A little history for you all: the Carolina Hurricanes used to be the New England Whalers in 1971 and even played at Boston Garden before relocating to Hartford, then Carolina in 1997. Even though they were part of the WHA, they still have history within the Garden.

However, to look on the brighter side, it's not like Boston hasn't faced this kind of defeat before. Just last year, when facing the Montreal Canadiens, Boston was down in the series 3-1 and managed to come back during games 5 & 6, eventually losing out to Montreal in Game 7. But that was when no one thought much of Boston, most thought Boston would be #15 in the conference, not #8. This year, Boston was ranked higher and while they weren't ranked as #1 in the conference, they still managed to garner the respect they had in previous years.

However, there was a synch to the team of last year's playoffs that is evidentally missing for this years' playoff team. They aren't moving harmoniously and they can't even seem to connect with each other, as half the time slots are left open for Carolina to take advantage of. I got tired of counting how many turnovers there was in Game 4 and I don't want to be looking at any of them in Game 5.

I also got tired of the lack of shots on goal. I mean, c'mon, we're the team that had some great offensive lines and we're not even able to score more than two goals in the past three games. Julien's consistent line changes also aren't helping. A good team is a team that doesn't have to team with consistent changeups, something that Lewis was actually known for doing (and therefore something that got us at the bottom of the pile at the end of the season).

Boston needs to pull themselves together in more than one way. Offensively they need to drive the puck to the net more, get mores shots and keep Ward off-balance as to who's taking the shots and we're they're coming from. If Cam Ward is presssured consistently, he breaks down. It's been a nag for him the entire season and the Bruins need to become that nag.

Defensively Boston needs to just stay stable. Keep the puck out of the zone at all costs and don't give up passes. And hell, complete the passes made in our zone. There have been so many passes given up to the Hurricanes in our own zone and Carolina is playing like they have the man advantage all the time. Defensively Boston also needs to give some solid hits back to Carolina, there's been too many hits on us that have collapsed the team's defensive system.

I was switching between Boston & Pittsburgh games on Friday night and I couldn't believe the differences between the two games. Pittsburgh, who is trailing in the series against Ovechkin's Capitals, is playing like their lives are at stake, they're attacking the net and they're crumpling Washington's defense. They're doling out some harsh, but legal, hits and are playing so they don't take any stupid penalties. Whenever Washington is on the offensive, Pittsburgh's entire team became a defensive blockade, using every skill they had to keep Washington out of their zone and off the scoreboard. Pittsburgh is doing what Boston needs to do, Pittsburgh lines have been the same pretty much the entire round and have simply improved with more time together. Pittsburgh is playing like Boston did in Round 1 and Boston playing like they did three years ago.

I can only hope Boston comes out tonight ready to play some real hockey.

Carolina steals series lead with OT win

Once a reigning, dominant team within the NHL, the Boston Bruins are facing a downward spiral against a team they swept in the regular season. Carolina took the series lead today after Jussi Jokinen scored less than five minutes into the first overtime, stunning the Boston Bruins and their fans as they moved on to game 4 with a series lead.

The game was looking a lot better for Boston as they came out of the locker room with a lot more zest and firepower than they had before. The team that couldn't get past Carolina goaltender Cam Ward in game 2 finally got onto the board 8:43 into the period after a slap shot from Milan Lucic got the best of Ward.

Boston went into the second period with a 1-0 lead that was soon even upped by Eric Staal, who has been shadowed by B's captain Zdeno Chara throughout the series. Less than two minutes later, former Bruin Sergei Samsonov also scored, bringing Carolina up 2-1. There were a lot of (in my opinion) stupid penalties taken by both Carolina and Boston. For instance, a boarding call on Wallin when he boarded Boston's Stephen Yelle, who also went down with an injury. Yelle got most of the board to his face and was down for a couple minutes before he got up. Then Marc Savard, who could have easily skated clear of Ward, instead hit him and brought him down, causing a goaltender interference call on him. Both penalties went into the third period.

The third period was, at first, good for Carolina. Then Boston seemed to wake up and managed to keep the puck out of their zone pretty well. With less than ten minutes on the board, Boston's Mark Recchi shot the puck past Cam Ward, scoring his first point of the playoffs. This also meant every Bruin now had a playoff point.

The rest of the third was a constant battle for the puck, with both teams giving their all, but both fell flat as the clock winded down and overtime came over them. Not too far away, as well, Pittsbrugh and Washington were in overtime. Washington was winning until Evgeni Malkin shot the puck past Washington's Varlamov to push Pittsburgh up 2-1. But, lo and behold, Washington's Backstrom scored with less than a minute left to even it up. Just as Pittsburgh's Letang snapped a shot past Varlamov off the faceoff and won it for Pittsburgh, Boston's OT was starting up. Perfect timing, in my opinion.

Less than five minutes into overtime, however, Boston's hopes of taking the series lead was dashed as Jussi Jokinen, a driving force behind Carolina's wins, got the better of Tim Thomas and scored. As Carolina's stadium erupted into cheers, Boston players shook their heads in disbelief and Tim Thomas seemed more than frustrated as he skated off the ice. There would be no handshakes during this series, as there weren't during the Montreal/Boston series in round 1.

Boston's play, no matter how great it was in the first period, suffered greatly in the second. The second period plagues Boston and they need to bring more intensity to the game and cover the net more. Samsonov's goal shouldn't have been a goal should Boston's defense have been doing what they should have been doing. Also, Ryder taking an interference call gave Carolina a chance to go up one, thereby tying the score.

Boston's power play is also suffering. They haven't scored a powerplay goal the entire series and their penalty kill is also severely suffering. It seems as if Boston is reverting back to the beginning of March, where it was not just one thing wrong, it was everything. Tim Thomas can't be the goalie he is without the solid defense he's had all season. Though both the defense and the offense had some strong points, they both still fell flat tonight. Claude Julien needs to whip his team into better shape for the playoffs. This isn't a time for them to be slumping.

It seems, however, that a lot of the top teams are crumbling under pressure. Last night Detroit completely lost it to Anaheim and only in the final seconds of the game did they even try to win it. Washington is simply led by Alexander Ovechkin and if they keep relying on him, they're going to fall flat like they did tonight as well. Just as Boston has, Pittsburgh seems to be diverting itself into it's former team. Though Malkin broke his slump of not scoring throughout this series, Pittsburgh needs to bring more focus to their lines as well as more energy to the game itself. Vancouver seems to be the only team that's keeping itself in the game correctly. Though Luongo had an off night during his lost to Chicago, they've been otherwise stable. As Anaheim has as well, mostly led by stellar goaltender Hiller.

Boston needs to wake up and realize that though they may have swept Carolina in the regular season, the playoffs are a whole new season. They need to wake up and start playing some Old Time Hockey and get back into the game. This isn't the time to lose their stide and this isn't the time to rely on coming back in the series if they don't put the effort towards improving their lines.

Claude Julien, stop switching up the lines. One of the main reasons we're losing it the consistent switchups. For once, don't change them and see how it comes out. Go back to the original lines we had in Game 1 and see how it works out. Ever since they've been changed, we've been losing. So stop changing them.

Revert back to the old lines and keep them as in. Also bring back in Hnidy for Montador. He's a better defensemen for this team.


By the way, I've posted a practice picture of Chara before the home opener this year. He looks frustrated and, honestly, I feel him.

NHL Awards: Jack Adams Coaching Award

This year, three members of the Black&Gold will be heading to Las Vegas in June for the 2009 NHL Award Ceremony. Coach Claude Julien, Cpt. Zdeno Chara and goalie Tim Thomas are all up for their perspective awards and we're going to go over exactly who their competition is and how they stack up. First up is Julien:

Claude Julien (Jack Adams Award)
Julien is up against San Jose's Todd McLellan and St. Louis's Andy Murray. The Jack Adams Award goes to the coach who "has contributed the most to his team's success," though the candidates are not usually chosen for their team's statistics or standings within the League.

McLellan led his team to their first President's Trophy this year, clinching the #1 spot in the League, followed closely by Boston. McLellan, a rookie coach, helped his San Jose Sharks become of the best teams in the League, losing only a handful of games as they became a Stanley Cup favorite. However, San Jose lost in a huge upset to the Anaheim Ducks (a previous Cup winner) in the first round of the playoffs, something I'm sure no one, especially McLellan, saw coming. He helped shaped all aspects of the Sharks' game, including making their defense a practical stonewall against offensive minded teams like Detroit and Vancouver. San Jose basically shut down offensive attacks from every team and with top goalie Nabokov at their head, they had all the markings of a dominant NHL franchise. McLellan, who worked with the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant has helped his team take the NHL by storm. San Jose broke the record for best first 30 games out of the start of the season, beating the 1929-1930 Boston Bruins, with a 25-3-2 record, with a 20-0-2 record for their first twenty two game at home. If McLellan wins this award, he will be the second rookie in history to win it, after Bruce Broudeau from Washington in 2007-2008.

Murray: At the beginning of the season, it didn't look as if St. Louis was going to be a possible contender for the Stanley Cup. That is, until Murray helped his team to have one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history jumping from #15 in the Western Conference to #6, landing themselves a playoff spot, something they haven't had since the 2003-2004 season. They finished their last 41 games with a 25-9-7 record, which is a League best for the second half of the season. These stats are great by themselves, but considering St. Louis was without Paul Kariya, Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson (three of their best players), who were all out with long-term injuries, this story makes it to the record books. This is the first time Murray has been a fanist for the Jack Adams award as well, as well as being the sixth coach in Blues' history to reach 100 wins (which he got with a 3-1 victory over Columbus in April).

All coaches are great contenders, though Julien and McLellan are favored to win. Julien is favored because he's shaped Boston to be the team it is today (minus last night's game); McLellan is favored for what he's done with San Jose. He's helped shaped the Boston Bruins into a fierce contender, practically erasing the damage former coach Dave Lewis did to the team. He's helped lead the team to one of their best records since the time of Esposito and he's brought the grit back to Boston. He's helped sustain the team's offensive lines, as well as strengthen their defensive lines and power play.

The Jack Adams Award is given annually to a top coach and was started in 1974 in order to honor the late Jack Adams, former Detroit Red Wings coach who led his team to three Stanley Cups during his career.

Carolina cuts series lead to 1-1

The Carolina Hurricanes got their underdog win tonight as Cam Ward shut out Boston 3-0, the third goal scored as an open-netter by Staal.

Cam Ward had an absolutely flawless night, getting his fourth playoff shutout. Too bad he's a Hurricane, not a Bruin.

Boston didn't come out shooting and it wasn't until the the third period that they actually start pressuring Ward and Carolina's defense. Boston, needless to say, had one of the worst second periods I've seen in awhile. Carolina has had one of the best games against Boston in years and this game was all about Cam Ward.

Boston's first period wasn't that strong, they had some shots but lacked the intensity they had in Game 1. Joe Corvo got Carolina on the board with the eventual game winner in the first and Boston went into the second trailing which is something they haven't done in awhile.

After Game 1, the feeling from Boston was that they knew it'd be an easy win, which is something that ticked me off a little bit. Carolina didn't get this far to be pushed over by Boston. They went to seven games with the New Jersey Devils, a team lead by record breaker goalie Martin Brodeur. Carolina pushed Brodeur and scored two goals with ninety seconds left during game 7, which pushed them into the second round against Boston.

Boston took this game too lightly. They came out with the idea that they'd win easily, as they did against Montreal and against Carolina in game 1. Milan Lucic came out after the game and said he knew it'd be an easy win.

Too bad Boston doesn't think things through. Carolina came back to topple New Jersey. Carolina won the Stanley Cup in 2006, with Eric Staal at the head. Cam Ward has had an excellent playoff season, registering two shutouts so far (including tonight's).

The Bruins offense didn't even come out until the third period, but by then it was too late. Boston let up two goals in the previous periods and their defense was shotty at best. With Carolina taking turnovers just like Boston did in Game 1, Boston has to step up their game big time for Game 3 in Carolina.

And Joe Corvo certainly didn't hide his disdain tonight when, at the end of the second (with .2 seconds left), Larosse shot what he thought was a goal. The NHL situation room took a look at the goal, for about ten minutes by the way, and determined it wasn't. And it wasn't, it literally danced on the line before it was taken out by Boston. When the 'no goal' announcement was made, Joe Corvo looked like he was about to blow up.

Boston was responding to the hits Carolina was doling out, which was exactly what Carolina wanted. With that happening (and, by the way a lot of falling done by Boston), Carolina managed to get countless opportunities.

Boston also had opportunities they didn't capitalize on. One in particular was during the second period with the fourth line out when Axie had a shot on goal, which was deflected by Corvo, with the back door open and neither Thornton or Yelle capitalized on that. The lack of players being where they should be made me a little mad.

But the fourth line (Axie-Yelle-Thornton) seemed to be the only line producing shots. Boston's top line with Chara and Bergeron seemed to be slumping this game, except in the third period when they did have some excellent opportunities during the power plays.

But this game also reminded me a little bit of the Dallas-Boston game earlier in the year. Refs were pulling players apart during that game, not allowing the players to duke it out and ending in an all out on-ice brawl on the East end of the Bruins ice.

Tonight's game seemed like the beginning of that. Refs weren't allowing players to fight and I have a feeling during Game 3 that will come out and something big (and I'm guessing involving Kessel and Lucic) is going to go down and result in a misconduct, possibility of a disqualification.

But despite the fact that Boston came out fighting during the third period and despite the fact that Boston's fourth line was producing like it was no one's business, they still lost. And they really need to pull it together for Wednesday night when they face Carolina on their home turf.

Right now is not a time when Boston needs to be slipping. Boston ended up with 35 shots on goal, none of which got passed Ward (who was the #1 star of the night, go figure). At least Carolina's coach Paul Maurice dressed better tonight.

Until Wednesday night: Keep up the faith. If the Bruins can get it together, we might come out with a lot better offense in Raleigh.

Bruins Take Game One

The Boston Bruins were looking to take a one game lead as they faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of the semi-final showdown tonight at the Boston Garden. Carolina was looking to pull an underdog win against the top seeded Bruins, after going seven games against New Jersey and eventually winning out with ninety seconds left in the third on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for Carolina, their underdog win will have to wait.

Boston's faithful packed the "gahden" tonight, donning their black&gold and starting off the chant of "Let's Go Boston" as both teams took the ice. The fans were the seventh player in the game tonight, loving every hit Boston doled out as well as the many breakaways Boston had against Carolina goaltender Cam Ward (or Ward-O. What a nickname).

Boston took the lead 1:34 into the first with a nice goal from David Krejci...no wait Aaron Ward...no wait Krejci...Ward...Krejci.

Yeah. It was that confusing. Krejci looked like he got the goal until NESN took another look and it seemed to be a tip-in from Ward. So therefore the goal would've gone to Ward and, as Krejci stated, Krejci doesn't want to take a goal from Ward. It was labeled as tip-in from Krejci, which I find odd since it was definitely not a tip-in, instead a shot from Krejci. It was a tip-in from Ward and we're hoping to see a change in that by tomorrow as the NHL takes another look at the shot.

Anyway, the little annoying critter that is Carolina got a goal with 1:10 left in the first, when Jokinen's goal made it past Thomas (under his pads to be exact). By the way, did you know Thomas had the flu? Since, just because it's the flu doesn't mean it's the swine flu *over-reactingidiots.*

The next three Bruins goal come naturally: Savard, Ryder, Savard. Ryder's goal was gorgeous though (and yes, goals can be gorgeous). He was fresh off the bench and took a pass away from Carolina and beat Ward for his fifth goal of the playoffs (five goals=five games, I'm loving Ryder). Ryder also gained an assist, tallying it as his fourth.

First star: Savard
Second star: Thomas
Third star: Ryder (though I think it should've gone to Kessel...but hey I'm not making the decisions)

Now, on to the whole "let's get damn opinionated" part of this here blog.

I can understand that with nine days off from their last game, Boston had some rusty moves going on. But yet, what was with the whole "let's get body slammed but not give some big hits back" thing? Yes, Stuart had a great hit in the middle of the second and there were, maybe, two bigger hits throughout the game.

But still, c'mon. The Montreal-Boston series saw some huge hits, especially from young'uns Krejci and Lucic. Understandably, Chara has been backing off a little bit (I mean, do you really want your top defensemen in the box?), but still. What's up with the lack of hits on the side of the Bruins? I was talking to a friend during the end of the third and she said the same thing. Carolina was (trying) to pummel us and we weren't giving anything back. We need some hits and we need 'em now.

Now, towards Carolina: they're a bunch of crease pushers in my opinion. I don't think they have the guts to show up on the ice, so they do it in front of Thomas. They rush the crease, it's been their game and it's gotten them this far but it's time that Boston took someone out because of what they've been doing. Thomas doesn't need a bunch of Canes up in his crease simply because they don't know how to score goals from far away.

Last but not least: the double-teaming. I'm so sick of the double-teaming done by Carolina all season. I mean, seriously. Carolina is annoying simply because of the way they play, but by doubling teaming former team-mate Aaron Ward, it just gets to me. They pounce on Wides or Chara when they have the puck at the points, which is really idiotic in my opinion. It leaves Ryder or Wheeler open to take the puck to the net and have a two-on-one. Honestly, what the hell is Paul Maurice (their coach) thinking?

Better yet, from this standpoint, what the hell was Maurice wearing? Was he blind when he was dressing tonight? What coach dresses like that? Honestly, jeez.

Maybe it's the stress of finals, maybe it's because we've dealt with Carolina's antics all season long, but I'm sick of the way they're playing. Sick of it. SICK.

Speaking of being sick, this blogger ain't feeling so well. I think it's finals stress. Joyous (not).

So here's to hoping Paul Maurice will be wearing a co-ordinating and not-so-blinding outfit this Sunday.

Bruins Sweep

Montreal's post-season came to an abrupt halt as the Boston Bruins swept the series with a 4-1 win at the Bell Centre in front of a sold out Montreal crowd.

Instead of going back to Boston for a Game 5 showdown, Montreal will instead be hanging up their skates for the summer and be practicing their golf swing as the top team in the Eastern Conference will be looking for their next opponent to slash down.

The Bell Centre was quieter tonight, especially during the American National Anthem as Montreal asked their fans to show respect while it was being sung. Not only was the anthem not rushed, but no booing was heard while it was sang (until the end at which point I swear I heard some booing within the stands). The problem: Why should Montreal ask their fans to show respect toward's a country's national anthem? Why would they not have the regular decency to do it already?

Why, as Don Cherry says, it's because they're Habs.

But besides that point, I'm sure Montreal thought their playoff season could survive after Andrei Kostitsyn scored 39 seconds into the first period. I'm sure Bob Gainey thought his team might actually pull it off. I'm sure he also thought his team might go into the second period with a lead, that is until Michael Ryder, his former player, scored 17:27 into the first period.

To add salt to Montreal's wounds, David Krejci then scored with 35 seconds left in the first period, giving the Bruins a lead going into the second period.

That didn't seem to dampen Montreal's spirits too bad, however, as they came out firing during the second period. But their hopes were dashed as Phil Kessel, fresh off a penalty, came shooting down the ice and shot a sniper shot past Carey Price, bringing Boston up 2 goals as Montreal saw thier playoff season dwindle away.

To add fuel to the fire, Ryder scored his second goal the night less than a minute later bringing the score to 4-1, Boston. At this point, Montreal fans began turning on thier own, booing Price as he found it harder and harder to stop the puck from finding the back of the net.

It was at that point where Montreal started seeing their 100th season slip away slowly. They did what Gainey wish they wouldn't: taking some bad penalties. By taking penalties from too many men on the ice to delay of game, the look on Gainey's face is the same look Guy Carbonneau had as he realized his time with Montreal was over: one of absolute dread.

The third period was scoreless but wasn't without it's benefits. Komisarek, perhaps from absolute frustration about his team, received a game misconduct and cross-checking major (served by Latandresse) after he lost it after Milan Lucic finished a check. Instead of taking the high road and skating away, he instead cross-checked Lucic and attacked him the almost the very same way Lucic attacked Lapierre. Komisarek was taken out of the game and began his golfing season before the rest of his team-mates as a result of his actions.

By the time the buzzer sounded at the Bell Centre, there was a dead atmosphere both on the Montreal bench and in the stands. The Boston Bruins ended Montreal's season with a complete regular season and post-season sweep. It was also Boston's first series victory since beating Carolina in 1999 and it's been seventeen years since they've completed a sweep of the Montreal Canadiens during the playoffs.

In the words of NESN's Edwards: "Last one to leave the Bell Centre, turn out the lights. The party's over."

And now I leave you with Bear's victory dance: