Playoff Time

 The time is finally upon us. The NHL playoffs start tomorrow. This year has already been an odd year for the NHL with the teams only playing in their own division. But the playoffs is going to be a horse of a different color. The first 2 rounds will be divisional meaning 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3, Then the two winners meet. That's where things get fun. After the second round teams will finally play someone they have not played against since last season. And with the way the divisions were made its very possible that 2 teams from the same conference could end up playing for the cup. Im gonna give my prediction on each of the first round games and i will also give you who i think will be the Stanley Cup Champion.

East Division

1.Pittsburgh vs. 4. New York Islanders

This year I really think the numbers of where teams finished the regular season matter. The islanders have been a solid team all season as have the penguins. The playoffs have become a yearly thing for Pittsburgh and the Islanders have been making some noise over the last few years. This series as with all of them will be tough but i think Pittsburgh takes it in 6.

2.Washington vs. 3. Boston

This series obviously has more to look forward to for readers of this blog. The main story line being our former 14 year captain Zdeno Chara being on the Capitols back end instead of ours. The bruins played very well against Washington in the 8 games they played. The smaller stories that will no doubt take a back seat at least for game 1 would be Tom Wilson and the bruins opting for Jeremy Swayman over Jaro Halak as back up. Tom Wilson writes his own obituary with league but putting all that aside Wilson has done his job. Hes in the minds of teams and he is definitely on the mind of the bruins after he put Carlo into the boards causing him to miss a lot of time. Playoff hockey is always harder and tougher. Much more physical. With the way the season was drawn up the first 2 rounds look to be some really intense hockey. Based on depth and skill on defense I think Boston wins in 5.

Central Division 

1.Carolina vs.4.Nashville 

This series is the only one that actually played out as east vs west. All the other first round match ups have stayed inter conference as is tradition. Carolina has built on the enormous success it had last season and channeled that into a first place finish and almost a presidents trophy. Nashville has shown continued success over the last few years but this may be their last shot at a winner. With the news that longtime goalie Pekka Renee planning to leave after the season the predators might be heading into the dreaded rebuild. I think the Hurricanes take this series in 6.

2.Florida vs. 3. Tampa Bay

The battle of the sunshine state. who would have ever thought we would see 2 Florida teams going head to head in the post season. Defending champs Tampa have a lot of work to do if they want to overtake the much quicker Panthers. The lightning have been with out Nikita Kucherov all season and he looks to make his debut in game 1. How will he gel with the flow of the team. these happen to be 2 of the more physical teams with their last game posting around 150 penalty minutes. The goaltending on both ends is vezna caliber so i would assume goals will be at a premium and the first team to blink will lose. I predict Florida wins this in 7.

North Division

1.Tornoto vs.4.Montreal

The north division was the oddest of the 4 that were made. It consisted of all 6 Canadian teams because travel outside of Canada was restricted because of the pandemic. Montreal started the season 11-5. then lost something like 6 in a row and the team parted ways with Claude Julien. They got worse after he left and almost were out of the playoffs. Had it not been for Vancouver missing 7 games I believe they would have been on the outside looking in. All of the major sports people have been saying that Toronto is the best team in the league this year having added Joe Thornton and with Auston Matthews scoring over 40 goals. But I just don't see it. Every year the leafs find a way to choke and this year having not played an American team and most likely having to get past Edmonton to do so, I just don't see the leafs having a real shot once the second round is over. They will however dispose of Montreal in 5 games.

2. Edmonton vs. 3. Winnipeg

It seems like every year since they have been back in the league the jets find a way to make things interesting. This year was no different. They played very solid hockey all season and they hung in there with Toronto all year long. Their downfall is going to be they lack the defense to stop Connor McDavid. As some of you know I have been a closet Oilers fan since 2006 when Fernando Pisani scored 2 goals in game 7 to put the Oilers up on the ducks. Everyone knows about Gretzky and how the oilers have only had one cup since he left. But Connor McDavid is the hands down best athlete at his sport. Its not even a close conversation. Which is why I said I don't think Winnipeg has the defense to stop him. Because in reality Edmonton only need him and someone to feed him the puck. Edmonton sweeps this series 4-0.

West Division

1.Colorado vs. 4. St. Louis

If you listen to or follow anything that talks about the NHL then you would have definitely heard that the Avalanche are the hottest team in the league this year. So much young talent mixed with veterans like McKinnon and Landeskog who have finally came into their own its hard to find a match up that doesn't favor them. The Blues are a very physical team and they play a very good game in the corners. But they are a team of veterans. Not a lot of youth. I think with the way Colorado has played this year they will handle the Avalanche with out much fuss and take the series in 5.

2.Vegas vs.3.Minnesota

The Vegas Golden Knights are the best story in hockey over the last 10 years. Upstart team makes the cup final the first year and really hasn't fallen off since. They are ultra competitive and always right in the mix. Add to that the William Jennings winning goaltending tandem of Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner Vegas is a team that is poised to do great things. Minnesota on the other hand is having one of their best season that i can remember. They have to be hands down the best 5-5 team this year as well as one of the most solid defensive teams. They are physical and aren't afraid to mix it up but they are also disciplined enough to make sure they stay out of the box. This is going to be a fun series to keep your eye on. I think Vegas takes it in 7 hard fought and close games.

Those are my predictions for the first round of the playoffs I will put out my second round once things play out. I did say I would give you my prediction for cup winner. But honestly i cant decide yet. I really wanna wait until teams are out of the second round and we can see them play teams they haven't played all year. 

Some quick football news. TEBOW IS BACK!!!!!!! After being out of the NFL for close to 5 years now and failing at playing pro baseball the Jacksonville Jaguars have signed him to a one year deal as a tight end. Obviously having drafted Trevor Lawrence there was no chance in hell Tebow would ever take a single snap under center. But the prospect of seeing him at tight end is intriguing. Hes got the body for it. Hes got the height. But can he catch? Can he block? This could all just be a PR stunt for Urban Myer to drum up some ticket sales in his first season at the hem of the jags but i think with the drive that Tebow has to want to stay relevant he will no doubt put in the work and who knows maybe he make sit and does well for a few games and can go out the way he wanted to.

Soft punishment

 Once again I find my self questioning the NHL. On the one hand they constantly say how much they want a safer game. How much they want to clean up the sport for the TV audience. On the other hand guys like Tom Wilson are allowed to bully and wreak havoc on the league with absolutely no repercussion. Last night he was up to the same old bull shit that he always is. During a scrum after the whistle he has Pavel Buchnevich  down on the ice and just proceeds to throw a punch thinking no one is looking. Well it caught the eye of Artemi Panarin. He jumped right onto Wilson to defend his teammate. Now Wilson the more rugged player easily gets out of that and instead of skating away and it ending he decides to further his candidacy for douche bag of the year but dragging Panarin down by his hair. Who pulls hair? With all that hes now in the box and hes flexing on the caps bench like he just won some great fight. After the game Everyone around the league was talking about how many games he would get. Would it be 2? 5? Rest of this season? Nope. The brain trust of the NHL decide that his on going antics and his reputation as one of the dirtiest players of this generation only merits a 5 thousand dollar fine. Are you kidding me? The best part is George Parros is the head of the NHLs development and player safety. George Parros! The man was one of the most feared enforcers in the league. He never got suspended. Not once in his career. You would think that a guy who knows the difference between being a tough player and being a complete dick would easily see Tom Wilson as a cancer in the league and act accordingly. I guess what is gonna have to happen is Wilson is going to have to go after one of the faces of the league before anything will happen to him. That is a bad precedent to set.

In other news, The Bruins have clinched their spot in the playoffs. Currently they sit 4th in their division but with a couple games left and if they get a little luck they could easily slip into second place. They have been playing very well as of late. The addition of Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly has been probably the best thing Don Sweeney has done as GM of the team. Hopefully they resign Hall next year. 

Teams around the league have some decisions to make with the upcoming expansion draft. When Vegas had theirs teams did not protect certain players whos contracts were expiring or the cap hit was too high. They got a steal with Marc-Andre Fleury and have since built around him to become a decent contender every year. Now can Seattle do the same? Its possible. Lots of top notch players should be on the unprotected list this time around. For the Bruins i think the most notable will be Tuukka Rask. With the emergence of Jeremey Swayman who has proved he is more then NHL ready, i think now is the time to move on from Rask. Only time will tell. 

The NFL draft also took place this past week and i only wanna talk about the Pats first round pick. QB Mac Jones. Now the reports on him are amazing. Couple national titles at BAMA. Great pocket presence. Good arm strength. He checks all the right boxes. But if you have watched any combination of College and Pro football over the last say 10 years you will already know that while Alabama is a very dominant and successful program. Their QBs don't tend to pan out in the NFL. Other positions sure. Dont'a Hightower is arguably one of the best linebackers we have had since Bruschi and Mayo. But in terms of the most important position on the field, Bama is not exactly turning out the Joe Burrows or the Trevor Lawrence's of the world.  

A tradition unlike any other

 Well, after everything that has gone on this year this week starts the best week in sports. Its Master's Week. The yearly time when golfers descend on to the most beautiful course in the world. Augusta National. Where terms like Amen Corner and Ike's Pond are known by only the truest of fans. Spectators can marvel at the Dogwood trees that line the course or they can take in the aroma of the beautiful azaleas that are planted throughout the course. Don't forget the cheap food. Yes, the Master's really is the crowing jewel of golf. Unfortunately  for most people they will never step foot inside the hallowed grounds of Augusta national. Those tickets are harder to come by then the Super bowl. There is a raffle every year and every year people show pictures of the rejection letters they get like some kind of reverse college acceptance trend. But thanks modern times and television we can all sit back and watch almost every hole played from Thursday thru Sunday. 

This years tournament is going to have a different look then in years past. Tiger woods will not be playing. The crowd will be small and ESPN isn't starting coverage til the afternoons. But that shouldn't deter anyone from watching it. The field is still full of amazing players. Dustin Johnson, Rory Mcllroy, Jordan Spieth. There's someone for everyone to root for. This year will im sure be filled with crazy shots, unlikely leaders and at the end of it all someone will be given the famous green jacket, oh and 11.5 Million dollars.

Now that I've got that out of my system lets address the elephant in the room. What is going on on Causeway St. I haven't posted in a little while because i wanted to sit back and take in a few games instead of blogging after almost everyone. I wanted to see if patterns or trends emerged. Well they did. But not good ones. The Bruins are still struggling to score 5-5. They had some very sloppy play over the last few weeks. Coupled with guys being hurt and guys having false positive tests for Covid. Tonight will be another test of depth and character for the Bruins. Both Rask and Halak are out. Rask out with some type of injury. Probably a case of the sniffles. And Halak tested positive for Covid. So that leave them with both of their AHL goalies. Tonight Dan Vldar will get the nod and most likely Jeremy Swayman will get the call later this week. They did get Brandon Carlo back from injury so there's that. But they are still missing Kevan Miller. Their defense is a little banged up so its gonna be interesting to see how they respond to the pressure of not having an NHL ready goalie in net. 

Speaking of elephant in the room. How about the Buffalo Sabers. Holy crap what a dumpster fire. I saw something on NHL network that said the sabers have something like 48% of their team salary tied up in 4 players and those 4 players have a combined 7 points. Yikes. Growing up i always remembered the Sabers being at least competitive. They were never really great but at least they weren't a laughing stock. With all that talent on the roster you would think they should be successful. But then again you look at the Oilers and you say oh ok that's why. 

The Patriots went a little nuts on the first day of free agency a couple weeks ago. Spending close to 220 Million dollars. I guess Belichick just really didn't want to spend money while Brady was here. funny thing is They really didn't get much. They got a decent Tight End. But that's about it. They didn't address the need for an outside receiver threat. They didn't sure up the QB spot. I mean newton is fine but hes not a long term plan. I know people always say trust in Bill. But after seeing Brady go to Tampa and they way they played and won the super bowl im starting to think maybe it wasn't bill who had all that success. Maybe it was Tom and his skill who made bill's plans look good. I know that's crazy but its just a thought. 

Lastly the Red Sox started this week and promptly got swept by the Orioles. That's gonna happen when you let your entire team walk. I know Jackie Bradley Jr wasn't the best hitter but you let arguably the best over all player in baseball walk 2 years ago and have not been able to replace him. Your pitching is terrible and your only real threat at the plate is Martinez. It might be a long long season for the Fenway faithful this year. 0-3 is not a great start.

Dirty players and Bad deals

 Tom Wilson. If your a hockey fan you should know the name. He is in my opinion one of if not the dirtiest players currently in the NHL. He has more questionable hits and incidents then anyone I can think of and that includes Matt Cooke. When you have guys like Tie Domi and Kevin Stevens saying your should be banned then you have a problem right? Well not according to the NHL. Apparently a repeat offender who put someone head first into the glass only warrants a 7 game suspension. Not to mention no penalty was assed on the play so while Branden Carlo is being taken to a hospital Tom Wilson stuck around to get his 22 minutes of ice time. Now I'm all for good tough physical hockey, Its why I love the sport. But what he does is not that. And the thing that really pisses me off about it. Hes actually a decent hockey player. Hes not just a goon who fights. At least then I could understand why hes such a prick. But no. Hes actually a decent player. I mean he plays on a line with Ovechkin. Granted hes probably out there to protect him or whatnot but as we have seen. Ovi don't need protection. I liked that Tinordi and Frederic fought him in the game. But come on. Tinordi is gonna be on the 9th floor as soon as some D get healthy. But none the less he was the first one to throw down so sticks taps to him. 

What is the Bruins issue on long island this year? I know the islanders are doing pretty good and they have a lot of young hungry talent, but really? They have not beaten them all season and frankly it hasn't really even looked like the Bruins are in the same class as them which is shocking. Travel into the city however and the Bruins are having a very easy time with the old blue shirts. In 5 games so far Boston is 4-1 and a couple of those wins were pretty decisive. Maybe they can channel some of that energy into their team when they play the islanders again. 

The patriots signed a quarterback this week. Paid him 14 million dollars. Oh...wait...It was Cam Newton. I'm not as down on newton as everyone else seems to be. I actually think he could keep us afloat until they find a real QB. The big knock on newton is that he cant throw. Well fine hes got no one to throw to anyways. If Edelman comes back healthy then that's one target and that's a slot target so no need to throw more then 10-15 yards. I do agree with the national media that Its only March and pats fans should relax, that another QB signing is coming. But its always fun to watch the city burn before spring practice kicks off. 

Lastly, I'm gonna call it now. Tampa Bay will repeat as Super bowl Champs. Tom Brady signed a new deal this week that will essentially void his remaining year on his current deal and keep him signed until 2022. The move frees up money for Tampa so that can keep most of their title team in tact. they may loose guys who want more then 1-2 year deals. But Brown, Evans, Godwin, Gronk? Yea I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they will be back. And if Antonio Brown can come into the season healthy and out of trouble and give Brady a full season with him as a target. OHHHHH BOY!!! Its gonna be a fun year in Tampa.

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.