Islanders News: President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced today that the team has hired Barry Trotz as Head Coach. pic.twitter.com/hf2uZIhy5z
Look, I’m not going to pretend this is what puts the Islanders over the edge as far as chasing a cup goes. We have a lot of holes, namely a star free agent center we have to re-sign, but this is such a drastic step in the right direction. The way this organization has been run over the course of my lifetime is indefensible. We’ve been plagued by bad ownership (one of which, the poster boy for the phrase “Snake It Til You Make It”, John Spano, who bought a team with absolutely no money!), bad coaches, injuries, pretty much whatever you can think of that screams circus on ice. This offseason has now brought in a 3-time Stanley Cup GM in Lou Lamoriello and current Stanley Cup Champion coach Barry Trotz. Get John Tavares to sign on the dotted line and bring in a half way decent goalie and I will be on the phone with Isles ticket reps TONIGHT.
The baby faced assassin will finally be let out of the luxury box as Bruce Cassidy confirmed Ryan Donato will play tonight. After a blistering start to his career in the regular season with 9 points and 5 goals in 12 games, Donato was tasked with riding the pine for the majority of the playoffs.
For a guy with just a dozen NHL games under his belt it wasn’t really a surprise. For such a clearly gifted scorer to be unavailable while the Bruins struggled offensively was tough to watch though. Now with the B’s facing a 2-1 deficit in what amounts to a must win game they’re shaking things up after a sloppy past 2 games. Not to mention ineffective (3 goals in the last 2 games).
What better way to shake things up than to have an absolute sniper floating around on the ice? We saw glimpses of it earlier this year; Donato has an absolute ROCKET of a shot. So while he may not be as polished defensively as they’d like, its time to try something new before this series really gets away from them. This isn’t Claude’s team anymore, we don’t need 12 fourth line forwards who grind and always stay home. This is a faster, more talented, flashier team with young studs like Pastrnak, McAvoy, DeBrusk and “older” guys like Krug and Marchand wheeling and dealing out there in the offensive zone. Lets build on that and we can all reminisce about the Big Bad Bruins later, OK?
Holy hell what a game. As many of my buddies that are not Bruins fans texted me last night; that was an incredible game, probably the best game of the entire first round of the playoffs. As a Bruins fan though? That shit was beyond stressful. From puck drop that game was a sprint and luckily, despite some massive miscues, the Bruins pulled out Game 7 in exciting fashion.
I’ve never been a TRADE TUUKKA guy. I think he’s fine. He can flash the mitt sometimes, but he’s not a top 3 goalie. He’s just not. Among goalies with at least 30 Games Played this year, Tuukka Rask ranked 15th in Save Percentage at .917, 17th in Shutouts with 3, and 15th in Quality Starts with 30. Its not like he was a workhorse either, he was 18th in Games Played with 54, which are the fewest games he’s played since the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season.
He’s also not a complete bum. He was 6th in GAA at 2.36, but holy shit does this guy have a scary tendency to disappear in big moments. Going into last night Tuukka was 1-2 with a .849 Save Percentage in Game 7s, which is cringe inducing. Still, thats a small sample size and anything can happen in a Game 7.
So what happens 2 minutes into the game? Tuukka gives up a goal. Ok, ok it was a powerplay goal so its hard to get on him too much, but this is a bad sign.
Bruins tie it 3 minutes later on a goal from Jake DeBrusk!
Less than 2 minutes later, Tuukka gives it right back.
Tuukka, buddy, you have got to be shitting me. Are you trying to get run out of town? I’m still waiting for Ol’ Milk Crates to make an appearance.
If you’re not familiar with that reference, back in 2009 when he was still playing for the Baby B’s in Providence, a young Rask gave up a goal to lose a game in a shootout and he went berserk. He goes after the ref, throws his stick, skates off the ice, walks down the tunnel, and then reemerges to chuck milk crates onto the ice like an absolute psycho. Thats the guy I wanna see. A crazy asshole.
Not to mention the short handed goal Rask gave up to Kasperi Kapanen in the 2nd period. It was a disaster of a play from the Bruins in the offensive zone ON THE POWER PLAY, and Marchand got bodied trying to get back in coverage. But still, Tuukka got deked out of his goddamn shorts.
It was an all around ugly play. If you want to be the man on a Stanley Cup winning team you need to pull some saves out of your ass every now and again, which Tuukka hasn’t done a ton of this series. He had a huge night in Game 4 for 31 saves, but he followed that up by getting yanked in Game 5. To make matters worse, Freddy Anderson was making Superman saves all night at the other end of the rink. Hell even Joey Hags was calling for the B’s to yank Tuukka.
Frederik Andersen makes a couple of standout saves at his end and then Tuukka Rask allows Kasperi Kapanen to get around him on a shorthanded breakaway for a go-ahead score. If I’m Bruce Cassidy, I’d pull Rask at this point. He doesn’t look like he’s up for this
Imagine that? Imagine your $8 Million/year goalie getting yanked in a Game 7? That would have been disastrous.
It wasn’t just Rask though as Boston was sloppy all night long. Whether it was fatigue or injuries piling up, they just could not clear the puck out of their own zone and they were turning it over in the offensive zone constantly.
Luckily the Bruins were shot out of a rocket in the third period scoring FOUR unanswered goals (including an empty netter) all but removing the necessity for great goaltending.
We also got this laugh out loud interview with Matt Grzelyck after the game. Keep in mind that NESN cut to this on-ice interview like 20 mins after the game ended so its not like it was live.
Its 2018. I can talk, text, tweet, and stream the Bruins on my iPhone, but DirecTv can’t figure out how to not completely crumble every time the doppler radar gets a little spotty.
Now we move onto the second round where the Bruins will take on an even tougher opponent in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Awesome. If the Bruins play the way they played in Games 3-7, they’re going to get their teeth kicked in. If they play more like they did in Games 1-2 then they’re in business. Tampa finished as the No. 1 seed in the East with 113 points, winning 54 games, and they have an absolutely stacked roster. BUT the Bruins need to remember they went 3-1 against that team this year. As good as Tampa has been, the Bruins have had their number in the regular season. Now they just have to translate that to the postseason. See ya Saturday for Game 1.
Boston.com – Brad Marchand is never afraid to get under an opponent’s skin….The 29-year-old utilized what can best be described as an unorthodox method of trying to take Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov out of his game. In the midst of some standard pushing and shoving, Marchand drew close to Komarov and even appeared to lick him.
Not since “Who shot J.R?” or “Is Tony Soprano dead?” has the world (Boston) been gripped by a question to this extent. Did Brad Marchand, aka Noseface Killah, the NHL’s greatest agitator, indeed lick an opponent in order to get in his head?
Now this is not only “unorthodox” but it is also extremely unsanitary. The last thing the B’s need is for Marchand to have to sit out with some sort of bacterial infection that stemmed from gland on gland contact. Lots of sweat in saliva in this equation folks and I’m sure there are alllll sorts of germs swimmin around in the sweat of a Toronto-livin, Russian hockey player.
To answer the question, there is only one alternative explanation which is that Marchand was shit-talking Komarov Green-Durant style and that the camera angle made him appear closer and much more licky. That’s really it. If I was Marchand’s Charlie Kelly and I had a background in opponent licking law, that would be my only out.
In reality however, let’s be honest, yes, 63 licked his opponent. And yes he did it to psych him the fuck the out. But he didn’t do it for himself. He didn’t do it for the team. He did it for us, the city of Boston, and for the chance to bring us home a 7th Stanley Cup. That is why our guy licked another grown man.
So last night Tommy Wingels was on the wrong end of a completely unnecessary cheap shot from Toronto’s Nazem Kadri. Wingels was chasing a puck and boxing out a Maple Leafs player before he lost his balance and ended up on his knees. Nazem Kadri apparently saw this as a ripe opportunity to tee off on Wingels’ cranium.
Thats not even the worst angle either. The video above makes it look like a cheapshot, which is bad enough. The full view though shows Kadri literally sprinting across the ice to really lay into this hit.
Unbelievable. Granted he received a 5 minute major and was ejected from the game, but come on man that hit goes beyond dangerous. Wingels looked like he was on another planet too once he actually picked himself up off the ice.
Well at least Kadri expressed a little remorse after the game right?
“I was committed to the hit and ended up falling,” Kadri said after the game.
Hey look, man, tell me you don’t like my firm, tell me you don’t like my idea, tell me you don’t like my fuckin neck tie, but don’t tell me you brained Tommy Wingels because you were “falling.”
Now he’s clearly going to get suspended, but this shouldn’t just be a one game slap on the wrist. If Marchand gets suspended 5 games for table topping a guy, Kadri needs to get at least that for targeting a defenseless player’s head while also charging across the ice and leaving his feet. Thats a trifecta of unnecessary.
NHL Player Safety‘s list of what’s taken into account when deciding on discipline (literally the first two) pretty accurately describe the hit on Wingels.
“… In deciding on Supplementary Discipline for On-Ice Conduct, the following factors will be taken into account: (a) The type of conduct involved: conduct in violation of League Playing Rules, and whether the conduct is intentional or reckless, and involves the use of excessive and unnecessary force. Players are responsible for the consequences of their actions. (b) Injury to the opposing Player(s) involved in the incident.”
Since I don’t really follow Toronto hockey all that closely outside of Auston Matthews goal totals, I’m not super familiar with Kadri’s suspension history. Turns out he’s a habitual line stepper.
On November 13, 2013, Kadri delivered an elbow to the head of Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Bäckström. As a result, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety handed Kadri a three-game suspension
He received four games for illegally checking Edmonton Oilers forward Matt Fraser in the head
On April 4, 2016, Kadri was again suspended by the NHL after he delivered a cross-check to the head of Detroit Red Wings centre Luke Glendening. Kadri received a four-game suspension for the incident, effectively ending his season, and as a repeat offender under the collective bargaining agreement he was also fined $200,000.
In one of the most absurd sports media moves since the Outdoor Life Network acquired the cable broadcast rights to the National (Indoor) Hockey League in 2005, two NHL playoff games will be broadcast on Golf Channel on April 18. A pair of Game 4’s – Lightning @ Devils and Ducks @ Sharks – will be broadcast on Golf Channel on the evening of Wednesday, April 18.
As ridiculous as it sounds, though, it’s probably not that bad of a move. Golf Channel is available in about 79 million households, compared to about 81 million households for NBCSN. Not a massive difference. Both networks trail well behind in household availability to the two other cable networks that will air some NHL playoff games, CNBC and US Network. CNBC is available in almost 94 million households and USA Network is available in 94.3 million households.
It sounds strange to say this but if you are an LA Kings fan living in Boston, you might be better off if the Kings game airs on USA Network instead of NBC’s main cable sports outlet, NBCSN. My grandmother has been getting USA Network since the first Bush administration in the early ’90s. It is doubtful that she gets NBCSN.
A lot of people like to poke fun at the NHL’s television situation, but that’s not the point of this blog. The move to put two games on Golf Channel is mildly amusing, but is likely more about attracting eyeballs to Golf Channel after the Masters rather than a comment on the NHL’s television ratings. It might appease more hockey fans if these games aired on the NHL Network instead of Golf Channel, but that would be far worse for the product. According to the most recent estimate I could find, the NHL Network was only available in about 37 million homes. Ask yourself how many MLB playoff games you’ve ever watched on MLB Network. I know my answer. ZERO.
As a Bruins fan, I like seeing the B’s and Leafs on NBC in primetime Saturday night. I just worry about that game going to double overtime. If that game has to be finished on NBCSN to make way for a new episode of Saturday Night Live, then the NHL might have a real beef with its television partner.
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.
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.
The 300s 