Shot in the pills

 If Alex Ovechkin wasn't one of the faces of the NHL he would easily be looking at a 2-4 game suspension. He speared Trent Frederic in the jollies last night and I actually took hold of my own berries because it looked that bad. I understand Ovechkin isn't a fighter. And I get that Frederic was being a douche like he has been. But come on? Slamming your stick into his nuts. Not good. There was no call during the game as the ref who was right next it must have forgot he had a whistle. But the NHL did fine Ovechkin 5 grand. Which for a guy with his contract is the equivalent of me finding a penny in my couch cushion. Before all this took place near the end of the third period there was almost 55 minutes of hockey that was played. The Bruins did not look good. Their first registered shot on net didn't come until almost 13 minutes into the first. They did have some chances but nothing official. They played slow, finished slow, and for the love of Christ who is picking their shootout line up? I don't know the answer but I can assure you they should be fired from their job. Anyone other then 88 shooting first is wrong for the simple fact when he scores you now have the lead. The bruins overall these last few games have not looked good. 2 blow out losses in New York and 1 decent little victory on the back end of that NY trip. With the beat up D core I'm inclined to give them a little leeway but they need to figure it out fast. Speaking of the D. Whos bright idea was it to bring in Jarod Tinordi? Hes got 1 goal and 10 assists in his entire NHL career. Which is 87 games over the course of 7 years. Sorry but don't we have guys in providence that can do those numbers? They had to go out and sign him? That leads to my final point of this post. I wonder where people think the disconnect is between management and their scouting staff? Aside from signing this JV superstar I'm talking mainly about drafting. Since sweeny has been GM His only notable draft pics in my opinion are Carlo, DeBrusk, McAvoy, Maybe Studnicka (maybe not enough sample size yet). That's 4 picks out of 32 not counting the 2020 draft. I know every pick doesn't pan out. That would be great. But your telling me that in 6 years as GM he has only hit on 4 picks? Now there are guys who are getting their shots now so we will see but I'm going just based off what had been there. Don't forget the complete dumpster fire that was the 2015 draft. Sweeney and company had 3 picks in a row in the first round and only have DeBrusk to show. Some of the names who went after him were Barzal (NYI) Boeser (VAN) Beauvillier (NYI) Connor (WPG). So does the disconnect lie within the scouting staff to not find these players? Or in Sweeney for not taking their advice? Three picks in a row. I've heard the rumor that the plan was to trade some or all of those to move up and get Hanifin. But come on you didn't have a back up plan? That is just poor all around. Hopefully things get better going forward but they need to either start hitting on some picks or trading some of these assets for better players. 

Last point Everyone always give Chiarelli crap for how it ended for him here in Boston. And yes he made some dumb deals. But i wanna list the guys he at least targeted and went out and got in the draft. 

Kessel, Lucic, Marchand, Seguin (no brainer), Hamilton, Grzelcyk, Pasta, Henion (great role player) Bjork. 

He may not have been great at managing them but boy did he hit on quite a few of the key pieces of the bruins core. So don't tell me the talent isn't there because He found some diamonds in the rough. And so far Sweeny is finding horse apples in the mud.

Outdoor hockey

Last weekend the NHL tried to give fans some sense of normalcy when they played 2 games outside in Lake Tahoe. At first I thought why? The lake never freezes enough. But then I smartened up and waited for the plan. Build the rink on the 18th green of the Lake Tahoe country club. Ok I'm sold. Things did not start out great for the NHL when things kicked off. First the temps in Tahoe were slightly higher then they hoped for. Secondly over 2 days there was almost zero cloud coverage to stop the sun from beating down on the ice. So the first game got underway between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche. I want to break down the game but honestly it was a week ago so ill just stick to my overall point of this post. First can we take a minute as sports fans to smile at the Nordiques jerseys that graced an NHL game for the first time since 1994. Even with the purple avs colors they looked fresh. Ok moving on. Remember that lack of cloud coverage I mentioned, Yea well with a 3pm puck drop for game 1. The ice melted by the end of the first. You read that right, IT MELTED! The NHL tried all they could to fix it but in the end had to wait for the sun to go away. Total intermission time...6 hours! Game resumed at 9pm EST. One fun and kind of cool thing that occurred because of this time gap was Vegas captain Mark Stone was serving a penalty at the end of the first. Normally you get 2 minutes for tripping. This time he set an NHL record for longest penalized player at 6 hours 1 minute and 17 seconds. Now in game time it was still 2 minutes but that is just a funny antidote I thought you would like to hear. So game resumes after sun goes away and the reminder of the game is actually a decent hockey game after having to sit for that long in between shifts. Now moving on to the Bruins. Boston came into the rink dressed in 90s attire and i have to say they should have been awarded the 2 points right there. From fanny packs to might ducks jerseys and even Pastrnak wearing the Macho Man glasses. Game time was moved back a few times for this one due once again to the lack of clouds. 7pm Puck drop for this one. Boston scored early when pasta buried the games first goal 34 seconds into the game. They did not look back. Wining 7-3 and improving their outdoor record to 3-1-0. The best part of this game however was some of the picturesque views shown. Sunset with the mountains behind it, Dark skies with just the generator lights on the rink.  It really felt like pond hockey more so then the winter classics we have come to love. Going forward now the bruins have some injuries they need to address including Kevan Miller who got all our collective hopes up by playing out of his mind. So hopefully his injury isn't anything to bad. its getting close to playoff time and the bruins will need every bit of his early season play if they hope to make a good cup run this year. 

I don't post much on here about basketball because as you all know I'm not very well versed in the sport. But I do pay enough attention to see when things aren't right. Currently the Celtics sit at 15-17. 2 games under .500 and tied for the 8th playoff spot. As you know things aren't looking good for the Celtics. I think from what I can see their problems are simple yet not easily fixed. 1st they are trying to build this entire franchise around 2 players. Which is not the problem in its self but these players aren't Michal and Scottie. They need help. They need defense, they need a bench, they need depth. Something they currently don't have. People are calling for Brad Stevens to be fired and you know what that is not the problem either. This man has got the Celtics to 3 of the last 4 eastern conference finals. Hes not the issue. If  had the media credentials I bet not a single player would say its him. Players are never shy about wanting to get a coach out of town if they feel he just isn't working out but Stevens is loved by everyone in that room. They need to add some bench and depth to the roster. 

The Celtics other issue is more of a cosmetic issue that ultimately doesn't effect the team at all. At the end of last year NBC sports Boston had to make some budget cuts because of the effect Covid-19 was having on ad sales and so much more. Long time analyst Kyle Draper was let go and that spelled the demise of the Celtics in 2021. Yes this is a shameless push to get the people I've become friends their to retweet this blog and this is not a knock on the current crew of Abby, Forsberg, Scal and Perk. I'm just a firm believer that once a staple and fan favorite leaves town things don't go well for a little bit. So while I'm happy Drapes is doing good out in Cali, He needs to know the hole he left back here. 

Greatest of all time

 Jordan, Lemieux, Ruth, These are 3 names that to me signify the best to have ever played their respective sports. Guys who did there best to win at any level and any age. Guys who are immortal in the eyes of sports fans. Going into this football season we already knew how the football world felt about their choice. Manning, Rodgers, Brees, Montana, Aikman. Just a few of the names football fans go back and forth about. Last night they saw the definitive answer. BRADY. 43 years old. 7 super bowl titles. 5 super bowl MVP awards. Last night  he went against a kid who most believe is the next big thing. Tom Brady walked into Raymond James stadium last  night with one purpose. ok maybe 2 but one actual purpose. To stuff the idea that anyone is on his level right down the collective throats of all who say other wise. Until last night Patrick Mahomes had not lost by double digits since college. He had not lost a game in 8 weeks. Him and his team were picked to win the game. This was supposed to be the final dance in a long and lustrous career for TB12. One problem. No one seemed to ask Brady if he was ready to come off the mountain top. I've been a pats fan my whole life and one thing I've noticed is that if you count out Thomas Edward Brady, you will very swiftly regret it. Brady methodically and deliberately embarrassed the chiefs last night. In the first half the chiefs shot them selves in the foot by giving brady and second chance after a failed 3rd down attempt. Then as if that wasn't enough right before half time they essentially gave him 2 extra time outs to do what he does best. Brady threw 3 TD passes last night. All 3 in the first half and All 3 to former Patriots team mates. Which me personally i think that was a big middle finger to Bob Kraft and company. But that's for a different time. Last night solidified the conversation for who is the greatest to ever play. Success is measured in championships, that's why the Yankees will always be considered the greatest franchise in baseball. Why the Lakers and Celtics will always be the best in basketball. There 2 NFL franchises with 6 super bowl wins. Brady played for one of them. There is only 1 person ever to have played the game of football who has won 7 super bowl championships. That's Tom Brady. There is only 1 person who has won 5 super bowl MVP awards. That's Tom Brady. When Brady left New England everyone thought he was going to LA to the chargers or even to San Francisco where he grew up watching his home town niners. But he shocked everyone. he went to the franchise that had the worst overall winning % in all of pro sports. A team who for a stretch of time couldn't even win a game. He went there, got his favorite target to come out of retirement and recruited his new best friend whom New England was quick to walk away from after some bad off field antics. Rightfully so by the way. But he got these 2 guys and him self down to Tampa, Which honestly was already pretty solid on the offensive side of the football. Having guys like Evans, and Godwin and a very reliable back in Fournette. He went there by choice and i fully believe he did it on purpose. To show everyone that they were wrong. He hasn't fallen. he hasn't taken a step back. He can still play and play at a high level. Tom Brady played this whole season with the biggest chip on his shoulder. He proved to everyone why the only name you should be saying when talking about the greatest to ever play football should be Thomas Edward Brady. Science has shown us that the earth has been around for millions and millions of years. I think everyone should give a little nod to the sky to whatever higher power has decided that we should get to live in the time of Tom Brady and his remarkable reign over the NFL.

Great start

 The bruins wrapped up the first home stand of the season a perfect 4-0. The game them self weren't perfect but nevertheless here we are. A few bright spots I noticed were the play of Kevan Miller. I was very very skeptical about how he would preform, After the first 2 games i was a bit at ease. then this home stand hit. Oh my dear lord. That man is back with a vengeance. He is strong on the puck, First to come out of the corner with it. Laying the body all over the place. Id like to see him shoot it a bit more but ill take what I've seen so far. Another happy spot so far has been the play of the role players. Guys like DeBrusk, Coyle, Wagner and Nick freaking Ritchie. who would have ever thought after what we saw last season that anyone would be saying that Ritchie is an asset? Certainly not this sports blogger that's for damn sure. You have your always reliable first liners. Marchand and Bergeron have been top notch as usual. Marchand even adding to his league leading total for short hand goals. The Bruins PK currently sits at 96% efficiency which is good for tops in the league. With all that being said the brightest spot I've seen so far has been Trent Frederic. Not only are his chirping skills ruthless (just ask PK Subban) but he has been playing like a man that wants nothing to do with going back to the farm. Only 1 point so far but hes been right there in the thick of it all season. Now some questions are gonna come up this weekend. David Pastrnak is slated to return from his off season hip surgery and will no doubt occupy his normal spot on the first line. That begs the question of who goes where. The bruins have had a few different guys rotate through that spot in the line up and all have done fairly well. I think the logical choice is to put Studnika on second line with Krejci and DeBrusk. Move Ritchie to third with Coyle and Smith and let Bjork watch a few games. Its not that Bjork has been playing bad. in fact last night was probably his best game so far this season. But I seem to be leaning towards him being more trade bait then anything. Just from what I've seen and what I've read over the last few days from the real bruins beat writers, I don't think he will be around much longer. Moving on to the goalies. Tuukka Rask is in top form already minus the small set back against Pittsburgh. I don't think hes really hurt but he does have a history of hip issues and giving him the full days off leading into the road trip was smart. Halak is very capable of carrying the load for a bit early in the season. 

Now the fun part of this blog. The Bruins will play Washington this weekend for a pair of games one on Saturday and one on Monday. Now some of you readers might be thinking why is this interesting. The caps are without Ovechkin, Samsonov, and few other key players due to Covid protocol. Well boys and girls its interesting because this is the first time in 16 years the bruins will be playing against Zdeno Chara. Talk about awkward right. Now I know guys change teams all the time and its a business and blah blah. Spare me. The impact Big Z had on 90% of this bruins team will be felt all weekend. He molded guys like McAvoy, and Carlo. Hes best friends with Bergeron and Marchand. Him and Pasta are from the same country. This isn't a normal guy goes to play somewhere else kind of  game. Chara has been known although admittedly not much the last few years as one of the toughest more feared guys in the league. I know guys are supposed to check that at the door and go out and do their job, but if you think for one second that Chara is gonna go hard in the corner against Bergeron, or hes gonna very physically chop down on Marchand in front of the net well then you haven't been paying attention. I'm not saying Chara is gonna play soft or let up a goal just because. No that's not hockey. But in terms of how players normally approach a game I don't think the choppiness will be the same level as it normally would be. At least for the game on Saturday. Its very rare in todays sports that anyone plays for a team for 16 years and then leaves to play elsewhere. Normally its off into the sunset so these are new times. I really hope its a great game and that its physical but I just think that if the caps goalie makes a save and 37 or 63 is in front don't expect you to see Big Z tossing anyone out of there, it will be a gentle glide and pat on the ass as they skate away.

This week was also supposed to be Media week for the Super bowl. The lovely time of year where a convention center somewhere near the stadium is filled with a hundred different radio and tv stations all sharing interview guests and not actually talking much about the current game. Just ask my cousin Josh who is missing his 10 consecutive Radio row. But I did want to break from that tradition and talk about the game for just a second. Tom Brady is the G.O.A.T. if you think for a second that he is going to lose this super bowl then you are very very wrong. Yes the Chiefs have a better team on paper. Yes the Chiefs defense might look better. But Thomas Edward Brady has more magic in his left nut then Mahomes or Andy Reid have in their entire body. It was no mistake that Brady wanted to go to the NFC. That's where the only 2 QBs in which have been in the conversation of greatest ever have been. And he beat them both! Brees and Rodgers had to bow down to superiority. Think about this just for a moment. In the time Brady has been in the league he has had guys like Favre, Manning, Brees, Rodgers. Yes they have all one a super bowl during Brady's career. But brady has 6! SIX!!! He has been more consistent, more successful and did it with much less. The whole Brady Belichick conversation is about to put to rest on February 7th when brady is handed his 7th Lombardi trophy. Bill had the chance this year even if the pats didn't win the super bowl to at least make it an interesting conversation. He went out and got a former league MVP and number one overall draft pick at QB. Cam Newton. He still couldn't win. All the people who say Brady built a super team down in Tampa, Well Brown didn't play till week 8, Gronk didn't do very much all season. He had Evans and Godin who were already there and a mediocre defense. Tom is the best hands down. He will win Sunday. 

Stop me if you have heard this before

 The bruins have 3 points through their first 3 games. A shootout win vs the devils. An overtime loss to the devils and yesterday a loss in regulation to the islanders. However that is not the bad part. The bruins have now gone 3 full games with out a 5-5 goal. That is not good. But wait, I'm having dejavu because I swear that's been said before...ohhh wait it has! Every year. the bulk of the people who were upset over losing Krug and Chara seem to have forgot the fact that both of them were primarily special teams guys. Our special teams seems not to have skipped a beat as the bruins have 2 Powerplay goals and one short handed goal so far. But zero 5-5. Pastrnak is coming back in February but if you think that is gonna be an immediate fix, well then we have more to discuss. The bruins are about to enter a home stretch with 4 games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They are going to need more then special teams goals if they are going to be successful against those teams. On the other hand, Tuukka and Jaro have been very good so far. Tuukka getting the second start. Both look good and are controlling the pace of play very well. The brightest spot I've seen so far through 3 game is Kevan Miller. He looks fantastic. If he can keep this up he may prove wrong all the nay sayers who said he wouldn't be able to anchor the D this season. The bruins are going to need strong play on the back end if they are gonna be snake bitten 5-5. I heard an interesting factoid during the first broadcast. In game 1 of the season David Krejci for the first time in 4 years started a season with the same line mates that he had at the end of the previous season. Wanna guess what happened in game 2? YUP, Cassidy and company changed his line paring. Now yes Kase was hurt and they needed to find someone obviously. My fear is that when Kase comes back he will not be put with Krejci and therefore it will mess up his line once again.  They moved Jack Studnika back to the Krejci line and moved up Jake DeBrusk. I think this was a better choice then giving the unproven rookie first crack at top line while Pastrnak is out. DeBrusk brings a fire and toughness that is matched by Marchand and Bergeron fills in perfectly. When the season started I said I didn't like that Trent Frederic was on the roster and not a healthy scratch. I'm happy to say i was only a little wrong. He does have that fire and poise of a kid who knows this could be his one shot this season. That being said he is making bad plays and is out of position more often then not because hes trying to run around and be "that guy" I think if he just stays solid and plays his position he should be fine. Hes got a great shot and his puck awareness is right there with the best of them. He just needs to calm down a bit and play hockey. 

All in all id say I'm right around 40% happy with how the bruins have started out. They are doing the right things in terms of toughness, Defense and solid goal tending. Now they just need to score some 5-5 goals. 

Hockey is back!!

 The NHL finally returned last night. 3 games were played and all of them were amazing. Ok, I honestly didn't watch the blues avs but I did watch the highlights this morning. Quick side comment, I don't like the blue trim on the avs uniforms and helmets and gloves. I don't know just doesn't look right. Ok, back to business. Tonight there is 16 games scheduled to be played and if anyone reads this and knows me, well you know ill really only be watching one game and just checking in on the others. Lets get to that game. The Bruins are finally back. They start tonight against the Devils. This will be the first time in 14 years that the Bruins defense is a legit question mark on the season. I know for the last few years everyone was on Chara for being old or slow. Me included. But it was always a small comfort knowing that he will at least able to move people from in front of the net. Now the longest tenured defenseman the bruins have is Kevan Miller. He has not played in a game since the 2018-2019 season. When he did play he was a solid player who brought more then enough physicality to the back end. But leaving most of your defense up to a guy who hasn't played a game in that long is a very risky move. The rest of the defense is made up of some very good up and coming talent that also has Charlie McAvoy. Tuukka and Halak will have their work cut out for them early on i think with the relative inexperience in front of them. The offense for the bruins stayed pretty much in tact. They lost some role players from 3rd and 4th line, but they can be replaced. The Bruins will start the year however without David Pastrnak. From what I've been reading and hearing he will be out until maybe February. Marchand is still recovering from his off season surgery but I've read he is a go for tonight. The bruins are giving Jack Studnika another shot on the top line while pasta is out. He did decent last year but at times he showed his young age. He will be good and he is a good option to bridge the gap until pasta is back. The rest of the bruins lines seem to be set up for success. Krejci is anchoring the second line, and after what we saw last year I think they have finally fund their 3rd line center in Coyle. They will only play 56 games 1 of those games being outdoors at Lake Tahoe and all of those games will be in a new division for this crazy season. They play each team 8 times and have quite a few back to backs. Those divisions however are really interesting. One division is just the teams in Canada. So 8 times this season we will get to see the battle of Alberta. which in my opinion is the best rivalry going right now. Yea there's Vegas and the sharks but that's new and might not even be a thing if Evander Kane sits out the season. I wanna talk about that for a minute. Kane has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Now I don't know all the different forms of bankruptcy but i know the basic idea is that you owe more money then you have and you want creditors to leave you alone. Well from what i dug up on this whole thing is that Kane took out loans secured by his contracts and the team was required to pay the bank based on an agreement. Well they didn't and now Kane is on the hook for right around 26 million. In order to file bankruptcy, Kane needs to show that de does not have the income required to make these payments. Which means that he might have to sit out the season and not be paid in order for the filing to go through. So the sharks lose Thornton to free agency and now are losing probable their second best player left behind Brent Burns. If I'm San Jose I cut Kane, just for the embarrassment he has caused. 

Couple more things I want to mention since hockey is back. I saw more then a few people on social media complain about the ads on the ice and the ads on the helmets. First the ads on the inside of the blue lines are just on TV they don't exist on the actual ice. Second they help the NHL recoup some of the money lost by last season. The ads on the helmets do the same thing and lets be totally honest right now, If those ads weren't there could the average fan tell me what was there before? times up, it was the team name. So it doesn't matter that they have these tiny little ads on their helmets. it could be worse. Have you veer seen a European game? Those poor bastards are billboards on ice. 

My last point I saved for last because it is a slightly hot topic, but hear me out before you judge me.

On February 18th the bruins are going to retire number 22 in honor of Willie O'ree. i think that is a great thing and a very big honor for him. The man was the first black person to play in the NHL and no doubt shaped the careers of countless young kids. But here is my issue. in his entire bruins career he scored 4 goals. He was not that great of a player, mainly due to an eye injury he suffered. When a team retires a number it should be someone who had a major impact on the individual team. I think what should really be done is for the NHL to retire 22 league wide like baseball did for Jackie Robinson. The man broke the color barrier in hockey. He has his own day for the NHL. His number should be retired league wide. They did it for Gretzky. Why not someone who had more of a cultural impact rather then an impact on the ice. That is just my opinion. I'm not saying the bruins shouldn't be doing it I'm saying the NHL missed the chance to do it when they put him in the hall of fame.  

Goodbye to a legend

 Long time Bruins captain Zdeno Chara has left Boston. The 44 year old anchor of our blue line for the last 14 years has signed a 1 year deal with the Washington Capitols. Over the last few years I haven't been a big big fan of big Z but there is always moments of reflection when a star player and no doubt a future hall of famer leaves your organization. the bruins are now left with a very young mostly in experienced D core that currently as of this post only has 2 real guys who you could call veterans. Kevin Miller and John Moore. Neither of whom have played much over the last 2 seasons. I'm always torn on guys who i think their play has declined leaving because usually there is still a role they can play. Chara no doubt would have provided the leadership and knowledge that he has to young guys, while still be able to log 28-29 minutes a night. The other hand is the locker room presence. Chara is one of the more vocal leaders in the room and that spot will most likely be missed. I'm sure as this season starts up and we see him 8 times we will all have some critiques when Pastrnak goes around him or when he turns the puck over in his own zone. But for now lets just as Bruins fans pause, reflect and thank Zdeno Chara for 14 years of hard work, grit, toughness, and above all his part in the community. Its hard to fill such a big void, its even harder when that void is 6'9.

But that now brings me to my next point. Who is gonna have the C on the shirt. Who is gonna join names like Bourque, Middleton, Chara, Orr? the correct and only answer is Patrice Bergeron. I for one was pretty surprised when he wasn't given it back in 07 when Chara came here. But aside from that Bergeron is everything you want from a captain. Hes a home grown player who has spent his entire career here. Hes gone through the ups and downs of blowing the 3 game lead to philly to coming back down 3 goals in the third against Toronto. Hes played with some ridiculous injury's and still preformed at a high level. Boston fans have waited far too long for him to be given the honor of captain that now its time to have number 37 lead us into battle.