One and done

Watching this years Frozen Four hockey tournament and not seeing teams like BC, BU, Michigan, Michigan State, got me to thinking about the impact 1 and done players really have throughout all college sports. Leaving out football because i believe there are rules in which they cant leave until they are at least a sophomore i wanted to discuss why I'm pissed off at 1 and dones. Lets start with the fans prospective. College hockey especially in this area of the country is a chance for young kids to get accustomed to liking good hockey without families spending a fortune to go see the Bruins. Now before i continue I'm gonna say that i don't have anything against the players I'm gonna reference i actually am fans of most. Lets start with Jack Eichel. Amazing player. Top talent. Went 1 and done at BU. Clayton Keller. Great Player. Top Talent. 1 and done at BU. Jordan Greenway. Under rated player. Top talent. Olympian. 4 years at BU. Now i understand the NCAA doesn't pay their athletes and that's a conversation for a different day. But these schools need to do a better job at enticing these kids to develop their talents at the school. I'm not saying they should pass on the opportunity to make millions of dollars in the pros. But at least stay 2 years and enjoy it. Greenway as i said was under rated and when the NHL stopped sending pros to the Olympics he was most likely the first choice based on his size. He seized that opportunity and i think boosted his draft stock and is a big reason why the Wild were all over him. But he also played 4 years at BU under coach Quinn and learned to use his size to his advantage in the NHL. Now Eichel maybe an exception. kid is a freak talent. Hes in the conversation with the Mcdavids and Ovechkins of the league. I understand him leaving. I don't like it but i understand it. Now Clayton Keller. Hes starting to put together his game in Arizona. But had he stayed at BU a little longer to develop the rest of his game i think he would have 1. went higher in his draft and 2. probably not have taken this long to shine. Now lets mention Johnny Gaudreau. 3 years at BC. he was rumored to be entering the draft after his sophomore year but decided to play with his brother and that decision won him the Hobey Baker. Now i couldn't tell you another Hobey baker winner but my point is he stayed and was clearly better then the talent around him. He then signed with Calgary and the rest is history. Back to Eichel. He just recently signed a massive 8 year 80 million dollar contract and was also named captain of the Sabers. But it took him a few years to get that contract. Do i think it would have come sooner had he stayed in college? Probably not but again hes an anomaly. Now what about Basketball? This is the biggest offender of the one and done. In fact most guys make it known while they are at school that they are entering the draft the next season. With the sneaker deals these guys get saying no to what could be 30 million dollars is hard i get it. But if you know your that good and your already being talked about, why not go to a lesser known school and help that program succeed instead of going to the proven schools such as Duke, or North Carolina. Why not go to the Davidson's of the world or the Tech schools. I know i sound petty and dumb on this but really, if your that good and already getting the looks why do you need to go to the schools that have the history if you don't really care about it. This also shows that by not having the 1 and dones this year both power house schools of BU and BC are now out of the Frozen four this year. I blame that on the fact that so much goes into game planning and certain guys miss ice time because these future superstars get it that when they leave and a new plan is in place you have guys who haven't had much ice time and it takes a while to build chemistry and find a groove. Look next year for a return of the Terriers and Eagles to the tournament after a building year.

Can the bruins get back to winning?

After rattling off points in 18 straight games, the Bruins have now lost 3 in a row. Most disturbingly was a blow out loss to the Blue Jackets which the 7-4 final score was not indictive of the way the game went. They also lost to the Penguins and Jets. Now the jets are a western conference leader and the bruins wouldn't have to worry about them until the Stanley Cup final but both Pittsburgh and Columbus are both teams that they could face in the playoffs. Watching how bad they played in the Pittsburgh game i understood it was the second half of a back to back, with travel after getting points in 18 straight i half expected a loss. But seeing how many turnovers they had against Winnipeg and how poorly they played in their own zone in Columbus i've started to get a little worried. Throw into that some injuries to key players the bruins are currently mixing up a recipe for disaster. I wrote in my last blog that this years bruins team had "it". That feeling that this is special that something might happen here. While i still have that feeling i will need to see some improvement in the small areas in order for that feeling to stick around.

Bruins on fire, Celtics not so much

It goes with out saying that im a huge bruins fan. Followers of this blog and podcast know that. This bruins team has that feeling this year. When they won in 2011 you could feel the buzz around the team. The epic come back against Toronto. The sweep of the Flyers. You could just tell something special was happening when they got to Vancouver. Then in 2013 they looked great all year. Granted that was the partial lock out year. Still they looked good. But they didnt have that thing, that shine, that feeling. When they drew Chicago there was more nerves then anything. Now this season. Currently they are unbeaten in their last 18 games. They are currently on an 18 game point streak. They havent lost in regulation since January 14th. David Pasternak has been injured during some of this run. Tuukka has been playing out of this world. The buzz around the team is electric. That the point. This years team has that X factor. That something special. After they beat tampa i said to my self, ok this might happen. Now im not claiming a cup win or anything crazy. Playoff hockey is a different animal. But pay attention to this team. They might surprise you.

Now the other occupants of the building on causeway street, those guys need Jesus or something. Im not sure if the hype surrounding them this off season was too much or if they really just dont gel. My goodness whatever it is its toxic. Kyrie Irving is the biggest bullshit artist ever. He said last week that he didnt get into the NBA to have cameras in his face and become famous. Umm hello Dumbass you just made a movie and are probably one of the top 5 best players in the league. Suck it up buttercup the cameras arent going away. I said in my last blog that i was sick of the complaining and "oh poor us" dialog. Well its gotten worse then that. This team cant even get on the same page as far as what to bitch about. Then to top it off, they go out and beat the Warriors. The freaking warriors. The best team in Basketball. The front runners for another championship. I have no exlplanation for that. The team gave the reason as "well we are just having fun on the road and the long plane ride helped". Yea i dont buy that. Im almost waiting for them to have a come to light moment and just rattle off 18 in a row like they did last year after Haywood went down. Little optimistic? Maybe. With this team it looks like anything is Possible. See what i did there ;).

Finally we come to the boys of summer. The defending World Series champs. Spring training is well under way. I know last blog i talked about how no one cares that these kids are hitting bombs. Guess what. Still dont. The guys who are gonna make the team looked good and have looked good so far. But i wanna bring up what is gonna end up being a very unpopular opinion. Dustin Pedroia. Its time for the sox to move on. Yes hes good. Yes i guess hes the leader of the team. Although i dont agree with that. The sox had a very successful season without him. Why not take whatever value he has left which lets be honest cant be much with his age and those knees. But why not trade him for soemthing of value? Young reliver, Proven closer. Something besides a broken down second baseman with 2 bad knees. Everyone has been drooling over his return and i just roll my eyes and am waiting til he brakes down again. We shall see what the season brings us. Almost a month away now.

Brad