Category: NHL

Las Vegas Golden Knights Introduce Themselves to the World With A+ #VegasStrong Tribute

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Its always difficult getting back to every day life after a heartbreaking tragedy. I remember in 2013 after the Boston Marathon bombing the whole city was put on lockdown for nearly a week. Literally — there were curfews in the city as police hunted down the terrorist cowards. Now, just a few short days after the senseless shooting on the Las Vegas strip, the Golden Knights were set to play their first home game ever. Not exactly an ideal scenario for a franchise to have its coming out party. But sports are a funny thing. When the last thing you want to do is laugh, have fun, and cheer on a meaningless game; sometimes its the best thing to start the healing process. In Boston the Bruins were the first team to play again and it was fucking electric.

In the face of terrorism, and call it whatever you want but that Vegas shooting was terrorism, Americans are downright defiant. As a wise designated hitter once put it, This is our fucking city.

So the Golden Knights had their first home game ever and after an absolutely awesome pre-game ceremony…they. blew. doors. I do not envy the Coyotes having to go into that environment. The Knights scored just 2:31 into the first period. Then they scored again less than four minutes later. Then they scored AGAIN less than two minutes after that. Then AGAIN a few minutes after that. 4-0 before the first period was even over. I said it a lot last night, but sports are incredible.

Not to mention…

So Long Malcolm Subban, We Hardly Knew Ye

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ESPN – Goaltender Malcolm Subban was claimed off waivers by the Vegas Golden Knights, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Tuesday. The Bruins waited until Monday to waive the 23-year-old, with most teams already set in goal, hoping to sneak him to their Providence affiliate, but the former first-round pick was claimed by Golden Knights general manager George McPhee.

We hardly knew ye, indeed. Well, except for the 2 games you started and got absolutely annihilated by real NHL players, giving up 6 goals on 22 shots (a scorching .727 save %).

While you never want to give up on a young player you invested a lot in (24th overall pick), its been five years and it probably just wasn’t gonna happen for him in Boston. Still it sucks to have the Bruins squander another asset, getting nothing for Subban. Sweeney basically said Subban’s trade value was so nonexistent that he couldn’t get anything for the goalie. The Bruins tried to sneak him through waivers, but the Golden Knights claimed him so his trade value couldn’t have been that barren.

While Subban certainly ate a bag of dicks in his limited opportunities between the pipes for the Bruins, he is still only 23 and goalies tend to age like fine wine. You routinely see older guys figure it out or get hot or find the right situation and go on a tear for a season or more. Tim Thomas anyone?

He was 32 when he landed the Bruins starting job full-time and he was the oldest player in league history to  win the Conn Smythe at 37 years old.

So Subban could still figure it out, but its also a reminder that goalies routinely come out of nowhere. So maybe just don’t blow top draft capital on them.

 

Johnny Manziel May Be Close to Signing With a Football Team

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Yahoo – Johnny Manziel has officially told the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to squat or get out of the litter box. David William Naylor of TSN reports that Manziel has activated the 10-day window that compels the CFL team that holds Manziel’s negotiating rights to make him a contract offer. The move forces the hand of a franchise that has been slow-playing its flirtation with Manziel in the aftermath of the failed effort to hire Art Briles. Naylor says the Tiger-Cats must sign, trade, or release Manziel within the next 10 days.

LETS GO. Get Johnny Football back in my life. I don’t care if I have to (legally) stream CFL games from some undisclosed bunker, I need Money Manziel back in my life. #FreeJohnny

It seems like Manziel may be back on the (wider) football field sooner than later. I still don’t fully grasp the goofy CFL contract rules because I know random teams still “hold” the rights of guys like Vince Young, Tim Tebow and other NFL flameouts. So thanks to this David Naylor guy for clearing that up for me. Looks like Johnny might have to play on the cheap though if the TiCats try and low ball him

As PFT understands it, however, the Tigers-Cats are required simply to make Manziel a “fair offer,” not sign him. If so, it makes the move a calculated risk for Manziel; the Tiger-Cats may choose to simply serve up a lowball offer, forcing Manziel to either take it or to continue to not play.

Do it Johnny, just play ball, get out there and dominate the CFL and win a few Grey Cups. It worked for Doug Flutie and it can work for you.

Its pretty much Manziel’s only shot of playing football again, ya know, unless the USFL makes a comeback.

Plus I would 10/10 buy a Johnny Manziel Hamilton Tiger-Cats jersey because I am a child. So its a win-win situation really.

Phil Kessel Gets the Last Laugh by Crushing Hot Dogs Out of the Stanley Cup

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Now THAT is how you clap back at the haters. If this were Beyonce or Rihanna responding to people on Instagram for fat shaming this picture would be on Good Morning America. But nay, since its Phil Kessel its just for us bloggers to champion.

For anyone unfamiliar with the reference, this is in response to the Toronto Sun hockey writers shitting on Kessel on his way out the door after the Maple Leafs traded him.

“The hot dog vendor who parks daily at Front and John Sts. just lost his most reliable customer. Almost every afternoon at 2:30 p.m., often wearing a toque, Phil Kessel would wander from his neighbourhood condominium to consume his daily snack.”

That was the lede of the story! Keep doing you man, pound those dogs like your on Coney Island on the fucking 4th of July. If only the Bruins could get players like Kessel.

Jeremy Jacobs Fought the IRS, and Jeremy Jacobs Won

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Fox Business – In Jacobs v. Commissioner, the owners of the National Hockey League’s Bruins argued the team should be able to deduct 100% of the cost of certain meals they provided to players and staff. Under current law, only 50% of the cost of many business meals is tax-deductible…

The Bruins’s owners deducted 100% of the cost of meals provided to players and staff at road games, which came to $255,754 in 2009 and $284,446 in 2010. The IRS argued the law allowed only for a 50% deduction of these expenses, and it wanted an extra $85,000 in taxes.

The Tax Court judge disagreed with the IRS and sided with the Bruins.

Jeremy Jacobs is worth $4.3 billion, but has spent almost a decade battling the IRS over $85,000. Don’t ever change, JJ. Please don’t ever change.

To put the numbers into better perspective, this is like having $43,000 on your debit card and arguing with the cashier at 7-Eleven over 85 cents. I’d say Jacobs is living up to his reputation as one of the cheapest owners in sports, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t respect the balls on this guy.

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You’re 77 years old, you’ve set your family up financially for generations, and you still want to pick a fight with the IRS. You do you, man.

Smart PR move by Jacobs, too. I didn’t expect this from the team that fires coaches in the middle of the night on the west coast and during Patriots Super Bowl parades. I would’ve expected the Bruins to sue the Little Sisters of the Poor because they painted a house black and yellow or something. But the IRS? The only better PR move would have been to sue an airline for delaying your take off. (Or Ticketmaster for their absurd fees, but I’m being  realistic.)

Now if you could get those guys who helped you beat the IRS in a room with Cam Neely and Don Sweeney, maybe they could help the Bruins beat the Senators next year and get a little bit closer to winning the Cup again.

 

If Peter Chiarelli Wins GM of the Year Tonight I Might Just Kill Myself

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NHL – David Poile of the Nashville Predators, Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators and Peter Chiarelli of the Edmonton Oilers were named finalists for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award on Tuesday. Voting was conducted among general managers, a panel of League executives, and print and broadcast media following the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The winner will be announced at the 2017 NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 21 (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN).

You all remember Peter Chiarelli. The guy who did a nice job building up a 2011 Stanley Cup champion in 2011. He was responsible for signing Chara, trading Kessel and lucking into Tyler Seguin with said draft picks. Bruins were on the up, won the President’s Trophy, but then lost in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals. And then he systematically destroyed the team.

Seriously this team went from a couple of wins short of winning the Stanley Cup in 2013 to missing the playoffs entirely in 18 months. Not to mention gutting the team along the way and trading away our best young player in Tyler Seguin for a bag of pucks.

That guy finally got shitcanned last year and then waltzed into one of the best situations in the league in Edmonton, who had the No. 1 overall pick. Using that they drafted Connor McDavid who had 48 points in 45 games in his Rookie season. McDavid (along with Auston Matthews) is potentially the best young forward since Gretzky. Seriously, the guy scored 30 goals, 70 assists, and had 100 points in his first full season in the NHL. I give Chiarelli ZERO credit for that.

Now this guy is up for GM of the Year? The guy who completely fucked up the Bruins with terrible trades and signings. The guy who gave away a perennial 30+ goal scorer in Seguin. The guy who traded Johnny Boychuk to the Islanders in a salary dump and left the Bruins D-core gutted. The guy who dismantled a young, Stanley Cup caliber team and turned them into a non-playoff team in less than two years. Fuck outta here.

Bruins Make the Right Move and Name Bruce Cassidy Head Coach

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In yet another season that could have easily gone down the tubes real quick, the Bruins finally ripped off the band-aid and axed Claude Julien in February. Enter The Boss, Bruce Cassidy. Say what you will about Claude, good coach, awful coach, whatever. One thing was clear, he had lost the ability to jolt the team. Or he just refused to make the necessary changes in style. But if the Bruins stand pat and don’t fire Julien, the Bruins 100% miss the playoffs for the third year in a row. That shit is unacceptable in a city like Boston, especially with the core they have now with Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, Tuuka, Chara and Krug. Too many good players to not at least find your way into a Wild Card berth.

Under Cassidy the Bruins went 18-8-1 and they looked like an entirely different team. Cassidy had the team playing a much more up tempo game, had the defense jumping into plays and helping create offense rather than cycling it around and slowly lugging the puck up the ice as they had under Claude. Obviously guys like Krug thrived under the renewed style that offered them a lot more freedom, which is when you started to see 4 and 5 goal outbursts.

Cassidy was the Providence Bruins head coach for 5 years and acted as Don Sweeney’s go-to guy when Don was Director of Player Development. So Cassidy has worked closely with the young players in the Bruins system and has an intimate knowledge of whats coming through the pipeline and how to best take advantage of these players skill sets. I’m excited to see what he can do with a full offseason of working with Charlie McAvoy because that kid looks like a bonafide stud who will fit Cassidy’s style perfectly.

So the Bruins made the right move in removing the interim tag from Bruce Cassidy’s head coach name tag.

The Bruins are Done

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The Boston Bruins will not win the Stanley Cup this year. The Boston Bruins will not even advance to the second round of the playoffs. Sure, they could win tonight. You could even make the argument that they should be leading this series. But they will not get out of the first round of the playoffs this year.

I have come to accept this fact. Through the five stages of grief, you can join me in accepting this fact. Then we can move on to Chris Sale Red Sox season.

Denial
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Anger
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Bargaining
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Depression
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Acceptance
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PS – The Celtics are screwed too.

Sports Arenas Just Don’t Last as Long as They Used To

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Big news out of Detroit this past weekend where the Red Wings closed Joe Louis Arena on Sunday and the Pistons closed The Palace of Auburn Hills on Monday. The Red Wings began playing at Joe Louis Arena in 1979 and the Pistons began playing at the Palace in 1988. After missing the playoffs, both teams will move into the new Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit this fall.

Joe Louis Arena lasted 38 years while The Palace lasted just 29 years. The Atlanta Braves will open SunTrust Park on Friday night after just 20 seasons at Turner Field, and the Texas Rangers are looking to get out of the Ballpark in Arlington, which opened in 1994, as soon as 2020.

The fact that sports arenas don’t last as long as they used to is especially obvious to Boston sports fans. Fenway Park has been going strong for more than a hundred years and the Boston Garden lasted 67 years.

Even Foxboro Stadium, a true dump built on a shoestring $7 million budget, lasted 31 years. Compare that to serviceable, if not lavish, football stadiums like the Silverdome, the Metrodome and the Georgia Dome. None of these stadiums lasted more than 32 years and have either been demolished or await the wrecking ball. At least Foxboro Stadium was cheap.

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This is quite the turnaround for the city of Detroit. Tiger Stadium opened the same day Fenway Park opened, and the Tigers played there for the remainder of the 20th century. Their new home, Comerica Park, opened in 2000. With the Lions moving to Ford Field in 2002, and now the Red Wings and Pistons moving to Little Caesars Arena this fall, all four Detroit professional sports teams will play in buildings opened this century. All within walking distance of each other! What recession?

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While The Palace only last 29 years, it did outlast a lot of other venues built in that era. The Miami Heat lasted only 11 seasons in Miami Arena, which opened in 1988, and the Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats only got a combined 13 seasons out of the Charlotte Coliseum, which opened in 1986.

Maybe Boston is lucky they didn’t get a new Garden sooner. Arenas from the late ’80s and early ’90s have not aged well. The new Garden, which opened in 1995, still looks pretty good more than 20 years later. The United Center in Chicago and Verizon Center in D.C., which also opened in the mid ’90s, have aged similarly well.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Timberwolves play in the Target Center in Minneapolis while the Wild plays in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Target Center, which opened in 1990, looks like the Worcester Civic Center compared to the Xcel Energy Center. The Xcel Energy Center opened in 2000, and still looks like it opened yesterday. The Target Center, just 10 years older, is in the midst of a $130 million upgrade.

It’s been said that Camden Yards changed baseball when it opened in 1992. Twenty-five years later, it is still one of the top venues in the sport. Maybe its impact was not limited just to baseball stadiums, though.

With the influx of concerts and hockey games at baseball stadiums, and shopping centers and NCAA Tournament games at football stadiums, teams (and in some instances, cities and states) are trying to get people to their venues as many days a year as possible. They are no longer game-day only operations. Hopefully that will allow (and encourage) the stadiums of this era to last a little bit longer than their predecessors.