Tag: Blues

Marc Savard Joins the Enemies

By on • ( Leave a comment )

 

Really, Savvy? Really. One of the more underrated members of Bruins Twitter has now jumped ship and is a member of the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. Savard would openly root for the Bruins during playoff games, and seemed to be invested in how the team did despite the ugly ending to his career.

Seriously, though good for him. It was a long, dark road to recovery for Marc Savard and I’m happy to see him back in the NHL.

Would love to be a fly on the wall though when he speaks to fellow Blues assistant coach “Brave” Steve Ott for the first time though.

The Bruins Laid an Egg in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals

By on • ( Leave a comment )

What an absolutely devastating loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. So, so disappointing because it is ridiculously difficult to win the Stanley Cup. Even reaching the Finals in hockey is the hardest of any sport because it is such a grind. The players know it too.

And like the sick fuck that I am, I took a seat at the bar and just watched the Blues players celebrate and parade the Stanley Cup around TD Garden until after midnight.

I should have known this was not going to go well after nearly getting trampled on Canal Street. I legitimately felt like Jon Snow in the Battle of the Bastards when he’s just suffocating under the pile of bodies.

Or maybe I should have known when the bar I finally ended up at for puck drop had a guy in a 2011 Bruins champs shirt drinking a glass of red with the game.

That goddamn enigma Jordan Binnington was on his game last night and completely changed the series with his save on a Marchand shot in the first, which absolutely goes in if Binnington is wearing a jersey thats one size smaller.

There were just so many missed opportunities in this game. The Bruins dominated the first period and had nothing to show for it but an 0-2 hole. They just could not bury their chances.

Tough break for Tuukka Rask who played out of his mind for the past two months, but gives up four goals in the biggest game of his career last night. Its hard to pin the first two on him since the first was a deflection and the second was when Marchand left him out to dry (we’ll get to that in a second). Tuukka did not have a great game, but he did make a save that would’ve been played on the championship DVD highlight reel if the B’s came back.

Tuukka had zero support from his best players yet again as Marchand and Pastrnak were complete no shows in the Stanley Cup Finals. Really disheartening to see as we kept saying for the past two weeks that if the first line could just wake up the Bruins would cruise. Well, that line never did wake up as Marchand finished with two goals, one of which was an empty netter and the other came on a 5-on-3, while Pastrnak had two, and Bergeron had one. Maybe it was injuries catching up to them, I don’t know, but for guys like Pasta, who had 38 g’s in the regular season, and Marchand, who had 100 points in the regular season, to only notch two goals apiece in seven games had the Bruins dead in the water.

It boggles my mind how Boston lost this series. Despite a no show in the Finals, Marchand still finished the season as the league leader in playoff points with 23, the Bruins had a historic power play at 32.4% (nearly double the league average), and led the league with a 2.12 Goals Against Average in the playoffs. And they still lost.

Not to completely bury Marchand, but he also was responsible for the second goal when he picked the absolute worst time to change lines I’ve ever seen. Even worse, this came just a few nights after the B’s lost a game on another poorly timed line change. Tony Amonte ripped Marchand for his lack of awareness on the play.

What a nightmare of a game that was. It would seem like the Red Sox are just about ready to pack it in for the season too.

How many days left until Patriots training camp?

Even the Ice Guy in Boston Doesn’t Take Any Shit from the St. Louis Blues

By on • ( 1 Comment )

The most Boston response of all time. Oh you’re the GM of the St. Louis Blues who are about to play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals? Go piss up a rope, I’m working here. This is exactly why I’d either get murdered or become King if I ever moved to a new city. There’s just a certain blunt, straight to the point, sarcastic charm around here that we all lovingly refer to as being a Masshole. Never change, Boston.

Bruins Force Game 7 for Winner Take All Stanley Cup Finale

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The two sweetest words in sports; Game. Seven. It all comes down to Wednesday night as this series flipped on its head for like the fourth time last night. I know its obvious that when a team wins they normally look different than when they lose, but the Bruins have looked like a completely different team in Games 1, 3, and 6. Last night the B’s were aggressive, but they weren’t chasing hits, they cleared the puck effectively, and they were able to consistently enter the Blues zone with the puck, which is something they’ve struggled with mightily in their losses.

Great moments are born from great opportunity

Apparently Patrice Bergeron delivered a Herb Brooks type speech before the game and I NEED to know what he said.

Bergeron has always been the quiet, classy, lead by example type of guy, but every Bruins fan knows that you don’t become the player Patrice Bergeron is without some fire. Bergeron has been on the Bruins since 2003, he played for a last place team in the disaster that was the 1-year long Dave Lewis era, he won a Stanley Cup in 2011 and he lost a Cup in 2013, so he has seen it all and he realizes this could be the last shot for this group.

Tuukka is on the verge of rewriting his legacy

For the past week people have been saying Tuukka needs to steal a game if the Bruins are going to win this series and he was A+ in net last night with 28 saves. Hell the one goal he allowed he technically made the save. So while its hard to say a goalie stole a game in a 5-1 win, Tuukka carried the B’s on his back early last night. If the Bruins win Wednesday night, Tuukka’s legacy is going to shift from a pretty good goalie who couldn’t win the big one to an absolute gamer who shined in the 2019 playoffs to lead the B’s to a Cup when their top 2 forward lines were non-existent.

Marchand and Pasta FINALLY get it going

Heading into Game 6 Marchand (100 pts in the regular season) had 1 goal in the series, which was an empty netter so it doesn’t really count, and Pastrnak (38 goals in the regular season) had ZERO. So for both of those guys to score last night was huuuge because the Bruins have got this far with next to no production from their two best offensive players. Its crazy they’re even alive at this point, which speaks to the excellent depth this team has. So you gotta feel good heading into Game 7 with Marchand, Pasta, and Tuukka all having their best game of the series last night.

The Blues have to be one of the dirtiest teams in the league

Throwing cross check cheapshots in Acciari’s face in the final seconds of the game just trying to incite a riot. I’m all for tough physical play, but these guys are dirtbags. Robert Bortuzzo got tossed with a 10 minute major for that, but that doesn’t carry over obviously so whats he care? And that goddamn wink…

I have to admit I did not know a ton about the Blues heading into this series, but I have very quickly developed a strong hatred of everyone on this team and their coach. I want blood, but I’ll settle for the Stanley Cup.

Bruce Cassidy does it again by pulling rookie Karson Kuhlman off the discount rack

I am a humble man and I will admit when I was wrong. I thought it was crazy to leave David Backes up on level 9 last night for an untested rookie who hasn’t played in a month. Sure Backes is older and slower, but the guy is playing against his former team (who seem to hate him now) in what is likely his last shot at a Cup. I’m pretty sure that guy would die for the Bruins in Game 6. But that doesn’t necessarily means he’d be effective, so Bruce went with Kuhlman and he rewarded the coach with an absolute SNIPE of a goal. Well played.

Jon Hamm spit in the hockey gods faces last night

I love me some Jon Hamm so don’t take this the wrong way, Don. Its one thing to wear wacky scarves, its an entirely different thing to shave your playoff beard before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. That is an absolute crazy person move. Remember when Tom Brady got a freaking haircut before the 2007 Super Bowl and we all groaned? Yea, you don’t worry about your hair or your beard during a playoff run. Insanity.

The officiating remains infuriatingly inconsistent.

Look I get why some of these calls are made. In a vacuum and because of his reputation, this Marchand sweep is almost always going to be a penalty, but why is this any different from the Acciari non-call in Game 5?

This is how these series get out of hand. I guarantee Marchand’s thinking well if they’re not going to call it I might as well do it. Same thing with every Blues player head hunting and boarding every Bruins player any chance they get. Granted they did actually call that dirty and dangerous boarding call early in the first period, but theres so much not getting called its hard as a player to know what the hell is going to be a penalty.

Good job good effort

Even though the Bruins mopped the floor with the Blues, the St. Louis fans were still chanting like they’d won the damn game. If you guys want to be Seattle and hang your hat on being “the loudest fans” then you do that. I’m going to worry about adding another championship to my resume.

The Bruins Got Hosed Last Night and Are Now On the Brink of Elimination

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I hate to blame the refs for a loss, but here we are.

Even if you’re not a big time hockey fan you can watch that play and immediately realize something illegal probably just happened. To make matters worse, Acciari was hurt on the play and was slow to get up as play continued and the Blues were able to score the pivotal, game deciding goal.

Even the Bruins official Twitter account couldn’t believe the non-call.

I’ve had Blues fans chirping me on Twitter all night long saying plenty of calls were missed the other way, Bruins fans need to stop complaining, all the way up to the insanity of saying Acciari embellished getting slewfooted and smacking his head on the ice. These people are outside of their minds like any serious sports fan is so I don’t fault them, but I for sure will dust them on Twitter all the same.

St. Louis:

Me:

Well now the disinformation campaign begins as the NHL released a statement last night saying: “We don’t make comments on judgment calls within games.” Then the league actually  tweeted out a video of the neato goal, yet clipped the start of the sequence (the trip) which is kind of an important part of the play.

To make matters worse, the officiating seems to have a clear line of demarcation from when it started shifting in the Blues’ favor; Craig Berube’s bitching to the media. Well even Bruce Cassidy has had enough as he went scorched earth policy on the refs and the league  last night.

Berube was predictably a lot more calm and deferential considering the refs have embarrassingly played into his comments.

Alright well now that I got that off my chest I can move on, but it had to be said; the Bruins got screwed. Now we move onto a do or die Game 6 that I did not see coming after the way the B’s handled St. Louis in Games 1 and 3. The Blues have played hard (bordering on dirty at times), they’ve dominated 5-on-5, and have seemed like the team willing to fight and die for that inch, which is what you need to win the Stanley Cup.

Granted the Bruins have guys like Zdeno Chara playing with broken fucking jaws so they’re not exactly slacking either, but we need more. We need more from the top 2 lines. Brad Marchand scored 100 points this season and he’s been a ghost in this series. Marchand has just 3 points and 1 goal, which came on an empty netter in Game 1. What makes that even more infuriating is how good he had been before the Finals; he is the leading scored in these playoffs with 21 points. Some people have speculated he injured his hand during that goddamn scrimmage the B’s had during their 11 day layoff. God help me if thats true. The guy we absolutely hands down need more from though is David Pastrnak, who has been a complete no show in the Finals. He has 2 points in this series and 0 goals. That is unacceptable for a guy who had 38 goals in the regular season.

So luckily for the Bruins they’ve been losing these games without the “best line in hockey” doing a damn thing. If those guys can wake up and pop a couple goals then the B’s are right back in this thing, but with Game 6 on Sunday night we’re running out of time for that to happen.

Bruins Miss Opportunity to Go Up 3-1 and Land a Decisive Blow on Jon Hamm and the Blues

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The Bruins missed a huge opportunity to put the Blues on the mat last night so I guess the gentleman’s sweep is off the table. The difference between a 3-1 series and a 2-2 series is night and day so I don’t love going back to Boston tied. Although I’ll take the Bruins playing best of 3 with home ice advantage.

I was definitely a bit rattled last night though when I saw the St. Louis hype video they played right before the game. Every sport does this when they pull a local celebrity out to do a voiceover for their team, but St. Louis has a goddamn hammer in their back pocket.

An encouraging sight last night was Tuukka in his post game presser with the media because he looked unfazed. As he should, its hard to pin any of those goals on Tuukka really. He was a confident, defiant, snarky asshole and thats exactly what I want to see from my goalie.

“They were desperate…they were the more desperate team.”

Listening to the NBCSports Boston postgame last night they said it was reported that Chara was “advised not to play” but didn’t specify whether that meant if he was cleared or not. Either way it was odd to see the captain sitting on the bench, never getting a single shift in the third period. Granted that puck to the face looked gruesome, I’m not sure why he wouldn’t be given a second of ice time? Concerning to say the least.

I’m really starting to despise this Blues team though. Coming in they were known for hard hitting, but a lot of what we’ve seen over the last 4 games has crossed the line. The Matt Grzelcyk hit, the cross check to David Backes’ face, and not to mention all the flopping. Tarasenko could have won an Oscar for selling that elbowing penalty in the third period, and Binnington looked like the Life Alert lady last night.

Holy shit do the Blues seem to hate David Backes. Did he burn a Missouri flag on his way out of town or something? It seems odd for this Blues team to be taking shots at their former captain every single chance they get and not just clean hard checks either. Can you imagine the Bruins taking liberties on Chara if he were to finish out his career somewhere else?

Charlie Coyle remains King of the South (Shore) with another goal last night, giving him NINE goals in this playoff run. Insane.

Heading back to Boston its great to see Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron starting to get hot over the last 2 games. They started off non-existent in the first 2 games of the series, but you’re starting to see more of the playmaking in the last 2 games that made them the most dangerous line in hockey.

The Blues responded in Game 4 as they looked like a team playing with their hair on fire. The Bruins tried to respond and keep pace, but they couldn’t do it for 60 minutes, they lost their captain and anchor defenseman for the third period, and St. Louis caught some lucky rebounds.

All in all a frustrating game to watch, but I still have faith the Bruins pull this one out. Originally I had them in 6, but I could easily see this series going 7 now. See ya at the Garden boys.

PS – Grab your Bear Force One shirts for the stretch run!

Bruins Go for a 3-1 Lead and Inch Closer to Declaring Prima Nocta On Gloria

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Chirping Blues fans about their new victory song “Gloria” has become a new favorite hobby of mine. Something that has been built up as the end all be all song of celebration for the city of St. Louis. And I would love nothing more than for Boston to stomp out this city yet again and declare prima nocta to claim “Gloria” for ourselves. Get it done boys.