Tag: NHL

On the Road Again? No Better Place to Be for Game 7

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NOTE FROM BIG Z: I wrote this piece almost five years ago. Tonight is the first Game 7 in any sport since I wrote this piece. I think it holds up quite well. One nugget to add – road teams across the NHL, NBA and MLB have won six straight Game 7’s going back to the 2014 World Series. The road team has won the last three Stanley Cup Final Game 7’s. The last home team to hoist the Cup after a Game 7 was the 2006 Hurricanes.

As I’m sure you heard last night, this 2019 World Series was the first best-of-seven postseason series in the history of major North American sports where the road team won all seven games. Pretty remarkable. What’s also remarkable is how well road teams have fared in winner-take-all Game 7’s over the past decade. Not all that long ago you could bet your house on the home team in Game 7. Not any more.

When the Pittsburgh Penguins won Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final they were the first team in any of the North American major men’s sports leagues to win a Game 7 of a championship round on the road since, fittingly, the Pittsburgh Pirates won Game 7 of the World Series on the road in 1979. For nearly 30 years, no road team won a championship round Game 7 on the road.

For the Penguins, they were the first NHL team to win a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 on the road since 1971. During the 38 years in between, road teams were 0-6 in Stanley Cup Final Game 7’s. Since 2009, road teams are 3-0 in Stanley Cup Final Game 7’s.

The San Francisco Giants got Major League Baseball road teams off the Game 7 schneid in 2014, when they defeated the Kansas City Royals in Game 7 of the World Series in Kansas City. In between the 1979 Pirates and 2014 Giants, road teams were 0-9 in World Series Game 7’s. Since 2014, road teams are 4-0 in Game 7 of the World Series.

More recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers got NBA teams of the Game 7 schneid when they defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The last NBA team to win Game 7 of the Finals on the road had been the Washington Bullets in 1978. In the 38 years between, road teams went 0-6 in Game 7’s. The 2016 NBA Finals was the last NBA Finals to go seven games.

Across all three leagues (because the NFL, obviously, does not play series), no road team won a Game 7 in the 1980s (0-for-7) or the 1990s (0-for-4). Road teams were nearly blanked in the 2000s (1-for-8), too, until the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup in Detroit. That means road teams lost a mind boggling 18-straight winner-take-all Game 7’s. They’re 7-3 this decade, and have won the most recent Game 7’s in all three leagues. That includes the last NBA Finals Game 7, the last three Stanley Cup Final Game 7’s and the last four World Series Game 7’s.

After losing 18-straight Game 7’s from 1982-2006, road teams in all three leagues are 8-3 in championship round Game 7’s since.  So what changed? Some ideas:

  • Air travel is much easier today than it was in 1984 when the Lakers had to fly to Boston for a Game 7 in the (presumably 94°) Boston Garden (the NBA still followed a 2-2-1-1-1 format at that time). The Cleveland Cavaliers probably had a bit of an easier time flying to the Bay Area in 2016 when they defeated the Warriors on the road in Game 7.
  • With more players changing teams more frequently, there may be less of a home-field advantage. Justin Verlander didn’t pitch in Game 7 on the road in in 2017, but hear me out. He got traded from Detroit to Houston on August 31st that year. If he had pitched in Game 7 of the World Series in LA, would it have been much different for him than if he had pitched in a Game 7 in Houston? He was traded there less than two months earlier. I know that athletes don’t live like us, but his pad in Houston in October 2017 was probably more like Ryan Bingham’s condo than he would care to admit. He probably wasn’t rolling out of bed in a mansion in Houston at that time before he rolled up to the ballpark. Derek Jeter, on the other hand, had quite the home field advantage. In 80 career playoff games at home he hit .332 in with 12 home runs and 29 RBI in 322 at bats. In 78 road playoff games, he hit .284 with just 8 home runs and 27 RBI in 328 at bats. Playing for one team for 20 years gets you a really nice routine, I suppose.
  • It seems as if home teams have been awfully tight at home in Game 7’s recently. The Bruins at home against the Blues just four months ago seems like a pretty good example of that. I don’t know how/why the psychology of playing at home would change over the last decade, but maybe fans tweeting on their phones all game and taking selfies has changed the energy levels in these venues? That would certainly seem to hurt the home teams more than the road teams.
  • A combination of point #1 and #3. With air travel being easier (and cheaper) than ever, maybe more fans are following their teams on the road for Game 7? I bet the Boston Garden was 98% Celtics fans in 1984’s Game 7. What percentage of Minute Maid Park last night was Nationals fans? I’m not sure, but I bet it was substantially more than 2%. That could certainly change the vibe of a building, too.

Whatever the reason, one thing is certain. Boy am I glad I don’t bet on baseball.

 

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ICYMI the Bruins Are Playing Outdoors at Lake Tahoe This Weekend

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NBC Sports – We’re just a few days away from the Boston Bruins’ most aesthetically-pleasing game of the season. The Bruins will travel to Lake Tahoe on Sunday to take on the Philadelphia Flyers as part of the NHL Outdoors series. Bruins-Flyers will follow Colorado Avalanche vs. Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, which means outdoor hockey is right around the corner.

The rink is being constructed a stone’s throw from Lake Tahoe on the 18th green of the Edgewood Tahoe Resort golf course, and it’s a sight to behold.

The NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe is going to be a spectacular made-for-TV event. I’ve been to a Winter Classic and no matter where they play the sight lines as a fan in attendance are anywhere from awful to mediocre. The TV experience is usually pretty cool with some highlights being the Penguins playing under the snow in the first WC

The Bruins playing at Fenway was an awesome TV experience as well. I’ve been to Frozen Fenway where I saw some college hockey games there so I know the sight lines are terrible, but I remember the whole neighborhood was bumping for the Winter Classic as I walked around hung over as all hell on New Years Day.

But after a while the outdoor games at football and baseball stadiums became kind of overdone. I completely blame the NHL for this because they took something they created out of thin air that became hockey royalty in the Winter Classic and bastardized it by then playing like 5 outdoor games every season. The Stadium Series? FOH.

So the pandemic presented an opportunity for the NHL as teams playing in front of empty football stadiums didn’t seem like a prime aesthetic. The solution?

Lake Tahoe.

A legitimately awesome idea from a league that isn’t exactly known for marketing their sport all that well. With little to no fans allowed in the stands, why not just double down on the TV experience and put a rink in front of the picture perfect pond hockey back drop?

AND the Bruins will finally be breaking out their brand new reverse retro yellow jerseys, which are going to look absolutely money outdoors.

This must be a logistical nightmare because it’s not like they’re just pulling a couple nets out onto the lake and playing some puck. The NHL is constructing a full fledged hockey rink in the middle of nowhere and as Billy Jaffe pointed out on Toucher and Rich this AM, most Winter Classics are hosted at massive professional sports arenas that are in major cities with ya know, electrical power grids.

So major props to the NHL for thinking outside of the box because I can’t wait to watch this on Sunday and that’s something hockey needs people to be saying more of these days.

Zdeno Chara is Leaving the Bruins, But He’ll Always Be a Boston Legend

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NBCSports Boston – In a stunner on Wednesday afternoon, Zdeno Chara signed a one-year, $795,000 deal with the Washington Capitals. “We are extremely pleased to have Zdeno join the Capitals organization,” said Capitals GM Brian MacLellan. “We feel his experience and leadership will strengthen our blueline and our team.”

Originally reported by Ken Campbell, Chara confirmed the move with a tribute video to Boston fans on his Instagram page.

“My family and I have been so fortunate to call the great city of Boston our home for over 14 years,” his caption reads. “Recently, the Boston Bruins have informed me that they plan to move forward with their many younger and talented players and I respect their decision. Unfortunately, my time as the proud captain of the Bruins has come to an end.”

Zdeno Chara is carved into the Mount Rushmore of Boston Athletes in the 21st Century right alongside Tom Brady, David Ortiz, and Paul Pierce. Chara will be forever beloved by Bruins fans because he chose to come here when he was at the top of his game and the B’s were coming off a last place finish. I still vividly remember sitting in my buddy’s living room that July day in 2006 when Chara (and Marc Savard) signed a massive 5-year contract to come to Boston, which was something the Bruins never did when I was younger. So it was monumental for a guy like Chara to even sign with the team, let alone become a franchise legend, a 14-year-captain, and of course bring the Bruins their first Stanley Cup in 30+ seasons. Not to mention anchoring the defense to two more Stanley Cup Finals appearances.

Chara was an elite defenseman, played the powerplay and the penalty kill, was a captain for over a decade, had the most terrifying slap shot in the league, and he was a physical force. Hell the Canadiens legitimately tried to have him arrested up in Canada for nearly decapitating Max Pacioretty back in 2011. He was also the most intimidating enforcer in the NHL well into his forties with 30 fights in his Bruins career alone.

Chara will be remembered for a lot of things, primarily this iconic photo with the Cup.

He’ll be remembered for his dominance on the ice as one of the best defensemen in the NHL (3x First Team All-Star, 4x Second Team) and then while in Boston becoming the best in the league when he won the Norris Trophy in 2009. Chara will always be the center of some hardcore Boston sports bar trivia too as the owner of the hardest shot in the entire league at 108.8 mph.

Aside from all of the personal accolades and team success though, it was the absolute grit and determination of Big Z that made him a fan favorite. He was always the hardest working guy wearing the spoked B and was routinely setting the bar during the Bruins annual conditioning tests even as he was the oldest player on the team.

The one sight I’ll never forget and one that will be played in his Hall of Fame reel is the ovation Zdeno Chara, with his jaw wired shut, received before Game 5 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, less than two days after breaking his jaw. Chara took a puck to the face in Game 4 and needed surgery to insert metal plates into his jaw and he didn’t even miss a game.

It seemed like the writing was on the wall for Chara this offseason unfortunately, as the Bruins appeared ready to move on after his playing time had started to dwindle. With a bunch of young defensemen the Bruins want to develop or at least evaluate at the NHL level, the team was likely less concerned about the money they’d have to pay Chara and more concerned with kickstarting a youth movement. The Bruins may have also wanted to avoid the optics of having their captain playing 3rd or 4th line minutes assuming Don Sweeney and Cam Neeley didn’t want to stick Chara out there as a Top-4 defenseman at this point in his career.

This is the worst part of getting older as a sports fan; watching your idols get older with you. They get older, sometimes they break down physically, sometimes they move on to other teams, and eventually they all retire. I’m over 30 so Chara has been a pillar of the Bruins for nearly half of my life, which is insane to type. He may not have won as many championships as Tom Brady or Big Papi, but he was just as monumental in changing the culture of an entire franchise and putting yet another Boston team on the map after years of mediocrity.

For that Big Z will always be remembered as a Bruins legend.

2020 In Review – Part II: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game

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“The Bubble”

Never before has an actual, sort of physical thing become a metaphor for itself and the panic surrounding it.

As sports league were trying their damnedest to return from the hiatus Covid caused, the idea and then implementation of “the bubble” came to fruition. Using the NBA as an example, all players, coaches, staff, and anyone else allowed in were to stay in a designed area (I believe just the hotel and arena) and were only permitted to have contact with their team and whoever they saw on the court that night. That’s it. For as long as the rest of the season lasted, they could not see or interact with another soul.

Now, you see, there’s a problem with that. Because NBA players are used to traveling from one city and arriving at another already having lined up what is probably a laundry list of booty calls. From strip club daliances to hotel room rendezvous, the men in the NBA put in some serious work over the course of a season. I mean, there is a reason Wilt Chamberlain was believed to reach his 20,000th conquest before all was said and done. And that was before the DM. Lord have mercy.

So now you take that group of successful young men, who have so much money and fame, and who to their credit have a lot of stress they need to burn off, and you try and lock them in….”the bubble”. How was that ever going to work?

Nothing short of a litany of players were caught sneaking women into the bubble. A couple more were caught sneaking out of the bubble and going to strip clubs. Here we were, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, the NBA barely able to find a way to finish the season, and these guys were going to be damned if they weren’t going to get their Ds wet anyway. It’s inspiring really.

But no other defiance of bubble protocol, in any sport, holds a candle to that of Seattle Seahawks rookie cornerback Kehmah Siverand this past training camp. Or should I say, very much former Seattle Seahawks cornerback. Siverand, an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, risked the longshot opportunity that the Seahawks gave him for the almighty P, and lost his chance for it. But it wasn’t just that glaring lack of decision making ability that makes Siverand’s discretion the most notable. It’s the means by which he went about it. You see, rather than simply trying to skirt bubble security, the young lady accompanying Kehmah Siverand tried the old Trojan Horse-cum-guy on another guy’s shoulders approach. She dressed up in full Seahawks warm ups and basically tried to pass herself off as just a teammate of Siverand’s entering the hotel with him. Don’t mind me Mr. Security Officer sir, just about to go to sleep before a long day of training camping tomorrow. The only issue was that this lass was all of 5’2 and I’m guessing not muscular in build, as opposed to a normal NFL player who, no matter their height, are built like brick shit houses. Needless to say security wasn’t fooled and as alluded to earlier, Siverand was cut.

Although the bubbles are just about a thing of the past (the NHL has gone with a sort of macro concept of the bubble where each team is only playing their division) there are still protocols about where players can go and they are still being broken. Especially by James Harden. James Harden just hates rules and following them. So the lesson learned no matter how deadly of a plague we are facing, trying to keep pro athletes from the fairer sex is pointless. And quite frankly they are too large for any of us to protest. Let them live.

-Joey B.

Fire Flames Jersey Alert: Bruins Going Gold for Their New Alternates

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Stop beating around the bush and bring back the Pooh Bear jerseys you cowards! Okay, now that I got that out of my system I actually really, really like this “reverse retro” jersey as they’re referring to it.

It’s a color flip of their jerseys from the early 90s that Cam Neely and Ray Bourque wore back in their playing days.

Which were basically a throwback to their jerseys from the late 70s that Mike Milbury and the boys sported.

This is far from the first time the Bruins have opted to go with gold as their primary color. Look no further than the 2010 Winter Classic sweaters.

The Bruins also wore gold in the early 60s

But it will be hard to ever really top the Pooh Bear jerseys of the late 90s. An absolute icon that the Jacobs family is afraid to bring back for some reason.

Now it remains to be seen what the team will go with for pants and socks, but they could go all out with gold on gold on gold. The Bruins coming out of the locker room rocking next season:

I already own the 2010 Winter Classic jersey so I am undecided if I’ll add another gold jersey to my collection (until I drunkenly charge it to The 300s company card), but these new alternates are so choice. Well done.

College GameDay Will Be Live from Augusta National During the Masters

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ESPN – On Saturday, Nov. 14, the show will combine two of sport’s greatest traditions — college football and the Masters. ESPN announced on Tuesday that College GameDay will originate from Augusta National Golf Club, which is hosting the postponed Masters Tournament next month, Nov. 12-15.

“Any time College GameDay travels to a new destination, it’s special, and the opportunity to be on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters is extraordinary,” said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and Sports Content. “As this iconic event coincides with the college football season for the first time, we look forward to getting fans ready for a football Saturday while also showcasing the Masters and the greatest golfers in the world.”

Longtime ESPN hosts Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and others will broadcast from the par-3 course from 9 a.m. to noon ET.

So I guess ESPN just officially declared that November 14th will be the drunkest day of the year huh?

What a weird year 2020 continues to be. After having no sports for months during quarantine, it’s like we’re all drunk on the possibilities now and just stuffing everything together. Every single NBA team in one Disney World hotel? Did it. NBA Finals-Playoff Baseball-Playoff Hockey-NFL games all on a single day? Easy. Now we get a November Masters tournament with College GameDay busting through the door like your drunk uncle!

I’ve already begun my preparations for this event because well, ya know COVID. We’ve already had Boston Calling cancelled, live comedy shows postponed, a summer of games drunk in the Fenway bleachers axed, and sports bars won’t be opening any time soon.

Now I’m not a moron, I’m not campaigning for any of those things to reopen because I understand it’s just not safe during these UNPRECEDENTED TIMES. So I’m not about to have a bunch of people cramped into my apartment, we’re just gonna have to pretend we’re all in high school drinking in the woods again. Weather be damned. Mid-November in New England could mean temperatures in the 50s or the 30s so I’m really hoping for the former. Got the fire pit and the patio string lights already set up, currently browsing projectors on Amazon, maybe set up the putting green on the deck and just get blitzed outside watching the Masters and college football. Just make sure you dump your jacket outside before you go home so your parents don’t smell the smoke from the fire on you. Thats a dead giveaway.

COVID times call for desperate measures and winter is coming, so dress accordingly.

This is a Connor Clifton Appreciation Blog

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Full disclaimer since I do possess a degree in Big J Journalism, I am a bit biased on this because we are both Quinnipiac grads, but it’s time for people to put some respect on Connor Clifton’s name.

With his all around game as an energy guy that’s not afraid to lay the wood and mix it up, not to mention his rocket of a slapshot, Clifton needs to be in the lineup every single night. Since he was inserted into the lineup by Cassidy in Game 3 (plus Halak taking over for Tuukka) the Bruins have looked like a more energetic team that’s playing with an edge.

Just look at last night’s 3rd period 4 goal explosion that all happened in just 6 minutes and 51 seconds; Clifton was making huge plays in every facet of the game.

And that was immediately followed by Clifton getting into position for a rocket to tie the game at 2 and really swing the momentum in the B’s favor.

Marchand followed that up just a minute later with a slick goal of his own, followed by a goal from Jake DeBrusk (2nd of the night) less than 3 minutes after that.

I’m not saying a third pairing defenseman has been the difference in this series, but I am saying Connor Clifton finished with a goal, an assist, was second on the team in hits with 3 (+ 5 in Game 3), and led the team in +/- at +2 last night. Not too shabby for Cliffy Hockey. There’s a reason the Bruins gave the QU grad a 3-year extension last summer with one year still left on his deal.

With their No. 1 goalie done for the season, Pastrnak’s return date a complete unknown, and an old veteran laden team the B’s desperately need some energy and production from the young guys and Clifton has done just that.

We’ve Got Bruins AND Celtics Playoff Games Tonight!

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I won’t lie, living in semi-quarantine for the past 5-6 months has been a mixed bag of misery for all of us so night’s live this take on even more significance than ever before. Two playoff games in one night was alway a luxury, but when you have nothing to watch for months except Netflix and reruns of Bar Rescue then you really appreciate this kind of sports overload. So kudos to Adam Silver for leading the way with the idea of putting an entire league into a bubble.

Boston Bruins (-1.5) vs Carolina Hurricanes
Bruins Lead the Series 2-1
Puck Drop: 8 pm, NESN
Breakdown: After Tuukka left the B’s in a precarious position by opting out of the season…the morning of a playoff game…Jaroslav Halak stepped in and played pretty damn well (minus the ugly goal he gave away trying to play the puck behind the net). So while it was en vogue to bash Tuukka for a number of reasons, many Bruins fans have ironically gotten exactly what they were hoping for: a new goalie. Halak was obviously never supposed to play in the playoffs because he’s the backup, but he’s not your typical backup. Since Tuukka never played well with a heavier workload, he and Halak have basically been splitting time evenly the past 2 seasons. Granted Tuukka was 2nd in the NHL this year in GAA, Halak wasn’t far behind at 7th in the league so we’re still in pretty good hands all things considered.

Boston Celtics (-5.5) vs Philadelphia 76ers
Tip Off: 6:30 pm, ESPN
Breakdown: The Celtics have had a lot of success against the Sixers in recent years, winning the last four playoff series the two have played against one another. Not to mention the C’s have beaten the Sixers in 18 of the last 24 regular season matchups. Now the Sixers are without Ben Simmons who suffered a season ending knee injury. Philly was already a dysfunctional mess before that so while I am always fearful of what a motivated Joel Embiid can do on any given night, I think the C’s win the series in 6 games.