The Bruins Are Doomed, My Short Lived Bruins Fanhood Is Over

(One thing I have learned over the years, you don't let ESPN front page players go)

Michael Ryder signed with the Dallas Stars for a reported $7 million over two years on the first day of NHL free agency. The 31-year-old forward had 41 points in the regular season and was fourth on the team in playoff scoring, including three goals and three assists in the Stanley Cup finals against the Canucks. ESPN

I know I'm not really a hockey fan, but I became a Michael Ryder fan about 3 years ago and the Bruins just made the biggest mistake of their franchise by letting this stud go. Michael Ryder single handedly won them the Stanley Cup. He was great in the playoffs and the Bruins wouldn't have even made it there if it wasn't for him. He made Tyler Seguins career, he made that 3rd line as dangerous as the 1st (Him and Seguin were like Jordan and Pippen out there), and he made a game winning save even Tim Thomas couldn't get. Actually, he probably should have won the Vezina trophy based on that alone. He was the 2nd most important Bruin in this whole postseason behind Tim Thomas. Michael Ryder was the heart and soul of this team and they were fucking dumb to let him go on the 1st day of free agency. I hope when the Dallas Stars come back he makes them pay for this crucial mistake and disrespect they showed him.

Go Stars!

Bruins 6, Stars 3

The first 35 seconds of this game saw three fights and a goal. And the first 4 minutes saw four fights and two goals. And by the end of the night, 91 penalty minutes had been dispensed, and 9 goals scored. So yeah, this was a pretty action-packed game.

The 6-3 scoreline doesn't convey how thoroughly the Bruins dominated this game. The referees helped slow the B's down in the 2nd period. They disallowed a goal by McQuaid that would have made it 5-0. Then there was the matching 10 minute penalties to Chara and Ott, which kept the Bruins' leading ice-timer in the box.

Tuukka Rask had a bipolar outing. He was brilliant in some key stages. He made a Thomasesque post-to-post stop to keep the score at 2-0 in the 1st. In the 2nd, he made 10 stops in a 5 minute penalty-kill. In the 3rd, he allowed a pair of soft goals that gave Dallas some hope.

Even though he's 6' 2", Rask isn't that big of a guy. He doesn't occupy much space. He's 171, and a bit stringy. Whereas Thomas is 5' 11" and 208. So while Rask excels at the close-quarter stuff, he's vulnerable in long-range situations, when he simply can't make himself big enough to properly cut down the shooter's angle. Plus, he's nowhere near as balanced as Thomas, which is why it takes him so long to move from side to side.

Bergeron scored his 18th and 19th. He scored 19 all of last season. He hasn't reached 20 since the concussion but he's right on the doorstep.

Lucic scored the first goal, his 21st. Krejci set him up with a move so brilliantly subtle that the defender didn't even know he was being manipulated.

Seguin, Marchand, and Thornton rounded out the scoring. You were happy to see Thornton score in the 2nd, after he won his fight in the 1st period. You were happy to see Seguin score because Dallas was coming back, and Seguin has been mired in a slump. And Marchand now has 14, which is simply amazing.

The Bruins host San Jose Saturday afternoon.

-The Commodore

Stars @ Bruins Preview (UPDATED)

The Bruins are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games, and a large part of that is due to the play of Tim Thomas (big surprise there) as he has gone an incredible 7-1-0 with a 1.76 goals against average during that span. That brings Thomas to 25-5-6 with an NHL-best 1.82 GAA, can you say MVP?

If that wasn't bad enough new for the Dallas Stars Thomas is 2-0-1 with a 0.65 GAA in 3 games against them in his career. Don't get me wrong Dallas is a good team, they have a better record right now for the Bruins, but if you watch hockey you know that the most important thing is having a hot goalie, and there is no one even close to as hot as Tim Thomas has been all year. Dallas has some trouble scoring lately as they have been held to 1 goal in 2 out of the last 4 games.

As always it'll be the Bruins offense that will make or break them. Horton had a goal last game, so hopefully this means he can break out of his slump. Bergeron, Horton, Lucic, and Krejci are the Bruins more important offensive players. All of them have the talent to lead this offense, but they haven't been able to all be rolling at the same time.

That group should get very chance tonight as Stars' Kari Lehtonen, has posted a 4.16 GAA in his last two games. I think the Bruins win this game easily, and improve their winning streak to 3.

Bruins win 4-1
Players of the Game: Thomas, Horton
Game starts at 7pm on NESN.


***UPDATE***

Of course after praising Tim Thomas for an entire post Rask will be in net tonight. Whomp, Whomp.

A Hockey Team for Christmas

After years of over expansion and team movement, the NHL has recently done a complete 180, and now abjectly refuses to move any of its teams. This is despite the fact that attendance is consistently low in certain markets, whether or not the on-ice product is any good.

Then there are markets which see steady attendance, despite poor results. Typically, this kind of loyalty is found in Canada.

The Maple Leafs, for instance, have the 3rd worst record in hockey. Yet also draw the 4th most fans to their games. Even on the road, they attract 18,319 per game, 3rd most in the NHL.

Then there's the Coyotes, who are 10th in the West, only 2 points out of a playoff spot, yet are dead last in attendance, drawing 10,282 fans per game.

The Thrashers are 5th in the East, and have scored the 2nd most goals in the NHL. Yet nobody in Atlanta cares. They're 28th in attendance.



The Dallas Stars have the 2nd best record in the NHL and are 12-3-2 at home, despite only drawing the 26th most fans per home game.

These markets don't care about the game. Why should they? In Canada, the Northeast, and the Midwest, hockey is part of the culture. There are countless youth teams, high school teams, college teams, amateur teams, and so on. Do you think they play high school hockey in central Texas? How about Arizona? To them, it's probably like rugby or cricket is to us: an unfamiliar, obscure, sideshow attraction played by a bizarre subculture of people from another land.

So why not bring the game back where it belongs? A few weeks ago, 1,100 Quebecois traveled via bus to Long Island to watch the Islanders play the Thrashers, and make a statement that Quebec City wants the NHL back. Why not move a team up there?



Why not give Winnipeg their Jets back? Why not send a team to Hamilton?

If the Thrashers or Predators won a playoff series, would those cities stop to celebrate? Would the people even notice? No. So play the top level of hockey where people actually give a damn about the game.

-The Commodore

Bruins @ Stars Preview

Last season the Bruins won 70% (29-6-6) of their homes game, so far this season it has been a different story. The Bruins are now looking to finally wake up, but now it is going to have to happen on the road.

The Bruins were 24-13-4, but are going against a tough opponent as the Stars are undefeated so far this season (2-0-3). To make things worse Marty Turco is coming off his first shutout of the season and is 4-2-0 with a 1.49 GAA in six career starts against Boston.

Boston needs to step up the intensity tonight. Players like Lucic, Chara, ect need to be more physical (like they were against Carolina). Also the defense needs to play a lot better, which could be tough with Wideman out for this road trip. I am going to be interested to see how the defense moves the puck with Wideman out since he (in my eyes) is the best transition defenseman on the team.

Game starts at 8:30 on NESN.

Modano To Play Another Year

"Mike Modano is coming back for his 20th NHL season. A month after the Dallas Stars ended their season without a playoff berth, and Modano said he would take some time to ponder if he would retire, the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history said Monday he would play in 2009-10. "I've made my decision and I'm coming back to play," Modano said in a story posted on the team's website. "I think everyone eventually knew I was going to come back, but I still wanted to take some time and think about things. Watching everyone else playing in the playoffs helped push me to make the decision. This is the best time of year (Sportsline)."

Yes Mike it really is the best time of the year. It is getting warm, girls are wearing skirts again, playoff basketball is in full swing, baseball is back, and of course the NHL playoffs have been unreal. You have to love Modano, he is the highest scoring US born player of all time, and he will be now playing for 20 years. Only four active players have played more games than Modano: Chris Chelios (1,644), Brendan Shanahan (1,524), Mark Recchi (1,490), and Rod Brind'Amour (1,404). On top of all that he holds every record for the Stars, and has been a hell of a player for them for a long time. He is not what he once was, but he is still very solid (15 goals and 31 assists in 80 games last season).

"Most Hated Man" In NHL Suspended

Sean Avery is being suspended indefinitely from the NHL for comments he made about former girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert. "I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds".

What????? Indefinitely?? For that? That just doesn't make sense. Elisha Cuthbert is a smoke show, but unless she is blowing Gary Bettman, I don't get this. Listen, is it wrong to just come out of a locker room and announce something like that? Yea, of course (although hilarious), but he shouldn't be suspended for it. He should have been fined by him team, and any other action against him should have come from behind closed doors. Wow, I thought players had to watch their step in the NFL, guess they aren't the only ones.

-BMack

Stanley Cup Conference Finals: Game 1 Recaps

The Red Wings dominated Dallas 4-1 in the opening bout of the Western Conference Finals. Dallas was coming off a 4 overtime game in their previous series, but 3 days off in between that marathon and game 1 should have been sufficient rest.

Johan Franzen, who very few people around the country knew, continued his goal scoring hot streak, and now has 12 in the playoffs. The record for most goals scored in a single post-season is 19.



The Penguins and Flyers started the Battle of Pennsylvania Friday night. The Flyers tried to play Pittsburgh's style of hockey, and it didn't turn out to well as the Penguins won 4-2. The Flyers need to go back to their own style of play, and to try to slow the game down with hard hits and close checking. Look for a cheap-shot on Evgeni Malkin and/or Sidney Crosby in game 2.

-The Commodore

Stanley Cup Playoffs: 2nd Round Recap

Eastern Conference:
#6 Philadelphia Flyers defeat #1 Montreal Canadiens in 5 games
Carey Price was exposed in this series, even to the point of being replaced in game 4. Watching Montreal lose is always fun, but it makes the Bruins’ first-round loss hurt even more, because it is now all too clear how human Price is.

#2 Pittsburgh Penguins defeat #5 New York Rangers in 5 games
I honestly thought this series would be much closer. Although Pittsburgh never really blew out the Rangers, the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury (who is 5 days younger than me) stifled New York. Sidney Crosby may not have scored a goal in the series, but he did pick up 6 assists.



Western Conference:
#1 Detroit Red Wings defeat #6 Colorado Avalanche in 4 games
The word “sweep” is insufficient to describe Detroit’s domination in this series. Detroit scored 21 goals, Colorado managed to get 9. Although two of the games were close, Detroit was never in any danger of losing this series. They made Jose Theodore look like an amateur, which gives them a special place in my heart.

#5 Dallas Stars defeat #2 San Jose Sharks in 6 games
Dallas is playing out of their minds. Marty Turco has been a wall in net, and guys like Mike Ribeiro, Brendan Morrow, Mike Modano, and Brad Richards are not only scoring, but scoring when it counts the most (like 9:03 into the 4th overtime).



-The Commodore