- March 29th game vs. Penguins.
- Last Bruins practice of the season.
- Last Bruins game of the season vs. Senators.
I'll work on captioning them at some point within the week.
]]>My left pinky has that pins and needles feeling with an unhealthy side of numb and half of my ring finger has the same sensations. It will take a couple of weeks to fully recover.
As you can imagine I get annoyed typing with one and a half numb fingers. This is unfortunate as I need to type to keep this site updated. I never realized how much I use my left ring finger to type.
I am going to allow my fingers a couple more days to rest before I get all updated on the Bruins signings. (I was in the doctor’s waiting room when the signings of Mikko Lehtonen and Vladimir Sobotka were received on my cell phone.)
I’ll check back in soon.
]]>I am not happy with the Ottawa Senators. Jason Spezza is not playing well. Dany Heatley is being like Spezza and not playing well either. Sami Pahlsson's goal was scored off of a turnover by Heatley who was trying to get the puck to Spezza.
I have been happy with the exciting play and physical hitting and things like that. But I'm just a bundle of nerves when the puck is anywhere in Ray Emery's zone.
There's less then five minutes to go in this game now. Hey, Spezza finally woke up and shot the puck. There was one play in the first period I believe, where Spezza had a wide open lane to the net and he elected to pass the puck back. That annoyed me way too much.
And the Ducks are going to Ottawa with a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 is on Saturday night. I most likely won't be live-blogging that game, but it will be a game-night decision.
I've been missing a little bit because of something personal, but hopefully I'll be back here and posting regularly by Friday. If not, you'll know why. I did do a couple of changes to the site this week that went unnoticed. Once I have everything situated where I want it to be, I'll post about it. Right now, it's not a real priority.
One more thing while I'm here, the Bruins are holding a draft party on Friday, June 22 at Jillian's. That might be worth checking out for Bruins fans.
]]>It seems the phone lines that connect Mr. Peter Chiarelli with the rest of the NHL have been a little active over recent days.
Chiarelli reported that at least three clubs called in recent days to inquire about his highest-priced players. "I tell them all pretty much the same thing: They're our core guys and I am not inclined to do anything," he said. The Bruins can't move Zdeno Chara or Marc Savard, who have no-trade/no-move clauses, without their permission. Marco Sturm and P.J. Axelsson also have considerable restrictions on when/whether they can be dealt. That leaves the likes of Glen Murray (due $4.15 million in 2007-08) and Patrice Bergeron (due $5 million) as the players with the least-fettered high-end contracts. Why three clubs calling in a span of 7-10 days? "Not really sure, other than maybe business is picking up again a little bit with the draft approaching," said Chiarelli.
To recap: That's Chara and Savard that can't be moved due to no-trade clauses. Sturm and Axelsson can be traded but are restricted to when and whether they can be traded. Murray and Bergeron have no restrictions or clauses in their contracts and can be moved.
Interesting who has no-trade clauses and restrictions, and who doesn't.
This next topic is one I skip over when reading on the HF Boards. I never quite understood Bruins fans' love affair with Sergei Zinovjev, as I was never completely impressed by him, and it's the subject of whether he'll come to the Bruins that always gets brought up again and again and again. Quite frankly, Zinovjev is the player that will just never go away for as long as the Bruins maintain his rights.
Internet reports circulated last week that Russian forward Sergei Zinovjev, his rights still held by the Bruins, signed a long-term extension with Ak Bars Kazan. According to Chiarelli, it remains his understanding through Zinovjev's Ottawa-based agent, Rollie Hedges, that the talented winger has an out in his deal that would allow him to return to the NHL. Meanwhile, said Chiarelli, the Bruins have continued talks with Hedges, and also received feelers from other NHL clubs interested in acquiring Zinovjev's rights.
Oh how I hope another team acquires Zinovjev rights. Maybe then the Zinovjev merry-go-round will come to a stop.
The last thing to touch on is the retirement of defenseman Brian Leetch. Leetch officially retired on Thursday.
I forgot Leetch even played on the Bruins last year until I started playing EA Sports NHL 2007 for the first time last night. Waiting for the Stanley Cup Finals has put me into hockey withdrawal that has forced me to the path of video game hockey.
The first move I did with my Dynasty mode Bruins? Trade Paul Mara back to Phoenix for Nick Boynton. The second move? Trade Brad Boyes to Ottawa for Mike Fisher. I tried to re-acquire Joe Thornton from San Jose for Alexei Zhamnov, but it was sadly rejected.
Hope everybody has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!
]]>As you should know the Anaheim Ducks won last night, solidifying their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Ottawa Senators. I am rooting for Ottawa and more than ever before after this story surfaced onto my laptop yesterday morning. Both teams should have a great series though. And if you’re following the former Bruins, Sean O’Donnell and Sami Pahlsson remain in the playoffs. That’s all I have off the top of my head.
Avoiding my computer (and cell phone) for three hours made me miss some hockey news. I received a message on my BlackBerry (turn of irony coming up) from my friend in Nashville who “can kiss [her] Preds goodbye.” I’ve been talking to her consistently about baseball lately, and the last news I heard about the Predators was when the San Jose Sharks knocked them out of the playoffs. The Predators have been reportedly sold to the owner of BlackBerry, Jim Balsillie. (There’s your turn of irony. I actually feel bad now for owning a BlackBerry.) The Predators should remain in Nashville for next season, and then after that, it is unknown if they’ll be relocated.
I did read some Bruins news that said training camp will be opening September 14th! Training camp will be split again between Wilmington and the Garden, with more workouts at the Garden possible. I start counting down the days in July. But with the prospects camp in July, I may hold off until August.
]]>After the Sox game, we got to the bar just in time to see the Ottawa Senators score in overtime to go to the Stanley Cup Finals! If the Red Sox didn't win, that would've certainly made my day. Meanwhile in the West, the Anaheim Ducks took a 3-2 series lead over the Detroit Red Wings yesterday when they won in overtime. I missed most of the game because the television was practically glued on NESN for the Red Sox game. I didn't mind it one bit either.
My plan for today was to get caught up on the Bruins photos I owe the gallery, but I got a little sidetracked and instead started working on the new website layout. I stared at the computer screen for many hours before taking a break for dinner. It's going to be a complete overhaul of the website, but you won't see it for quite some time, unfortunately. I need to do whole new stylesheets and templates, and lots of migrating and incorporating. It sounds like fun stuff, eh?
I'm really not sure how much updating I'll be doing, but hopefully I'll get around to posting some content this week.
Basically, I wanted to check in and say, "hey!" So, hey! (I know I'm boring you, so off I go back to the templates.)
]]>The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired a fifth round pick in the 2007 Entry Draft from the Boston Bruins in exchange for the rights to defenseman Adam McQuaid, club Interim General Manager Jim Clark announced today.
McQuaid, 20, collected nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points with 110 penalty minutes and was +7 in 65 games with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League this season. He added 1-5-6 with 24 penalty minutes in 21 playoff games for the Wolves this postseason.
No announcement yet on the Bruins website, which has a spiffy new layout as well as a new link.
Just under an hour later, it has been learned that the Bruins signed McQuaid to a multi-year contract.
]]>Tuesday was their break-up day, which Fluto Shinzawa covered. Defenseman Matt Lashoff had nerve damage in his neck and didn't play in the playoffs. Defenseman Mark Stuart aggravated his sprained right ankle by returning to play too soon. Goaltender Tuukka Rask got some practice time and will be seeking a job in the NHL during training camp.
As for prospects camp in July, Stuart is planning to attend. Rask has not determined if he will be attending. More players should be known soon.
]]>So let's go back in time to Thursday night....
What's this? Another semi-live blog about more hockey? Twice in one day? I must be really bored. That, and it's in the 80's and there's not much else to do that won't make me cranky. I am drinking an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts so you have been warned as I'm sure this will get more hyper as it goes along.
It's the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Ottawa Senators tonight. The game is not in HD which annoys me, but I'll still watch anyway until Grey's Anatomy is on.
Mike Fisher scored on a shorthanded breakaway to give the Senators the 1-0 lead. My house is divided because I am loudly rooting for the Senators, while my mother thinks the Sabres will be going to the Cup Finals.
Daniel Alfredsson adds another goal while the teams were 4-on-4 to make it 2-0. The Sabres cut the lead in half when Maxim Afinogenov scored to make it 2-1.
I notice on NHL.com, when I was checking the spelling of Afinogenov, that there's a new real time (beta) score thing linked on the scoreboard. During the commercials, it said "Delay: TV Timeout." That's pretty cool. And watching the game clock now, the real time scoreboard is a few seconds ahead of Versus. It gives the blocked shots and stuff. Very cool addition for the NHL.
Why is it that Fisher is hairy and Alfredsson shaved his head? Seems like opposite sides of the playoff spectrum. It's the second period now.
The hitting has picked up in the game. The Sabres tied the game off a goal from Toni Lydman.
And that's where Thursday's post ended abruptly.
Ottawa ended up winning the game and taking a 1-0 series lead.
]]>USA tied the game 4-4 with just over 6 minutes (I think) left in the 3rd period. USA hasn't led in this game at all. I think Brandon Bochenski had an assist on the tying goal by Andrew Hutchinson.
The overtime format is a ten minute overtime and then a shootout. My nerves can't take it. Overtime will be played 4-on-4, just like the NHL.
So far in overtime, Finland has had more puck possession than USA. Andrew Alberts had a shot in overtime from the point that was a blast. (Imagine if he scored.) I'm not too worried about this going to a shootout now, because hello Phil Kessel. But I'd like USA to win in overtime too.
And it's going to a shootout. The announcers are talking about Kessel and his "closer" role in shootouts for the Bruins this season. He's wicked popular.
They're doing a coin toss to determine who decides which team goes first. It appears USA won the coin toss. The zamboni scrapes the middle of the ice, just like the NHL.
Finland will be shooting first. John Grahame is in net for USA and Kari Lehtonen is in net for Finland.
I am not going to attempt to type the Finland players names because I'll be sure to butcher them, so I'll just go with whether or not Grahame makes the save.
First Finland shooter... Grahame makes the save, or the Finland player missed. Kessel up first for USA. Kessel was stopped. Dangit! One thing different, is the other goalie keeps going off the ice when their team shoots. Grahame makes the save on the second Finland shooter. Stempniak is up next for USA, and missed too. Grahame makes the save on the third Finland shooter. If USA scores, they win. If not, it goes to sudden death. Zach Parise was up, and stopped by Lehtonen.
Sudden death shootout time. Perhaps the Bruins Boys should do the rally helmet tradition. Coach Mike Sullivan should have used Kessel third. He thrives shooting last, not first.
USA is shooting first in the sudden death. Parise was up again (they can repeat shooters) and missed again. Grahame made the save on Ruutu. Kessel is up again! Kessel was stopped again by Lehtonen. Geez. Lehtinen scored to win it for Finland.
Finland will play Russia in the next round. USA is out.
]]>In the Western Conference Finals, the top two seeds will face off against each other in what should be one of the best series of the playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings will host the Anaheim Ducks on Friday at 7:30.
On the Eastern side of things, the top seeded Buffalo Sabres will host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. It's a Northeast Division match-up. Who would have thought?
My picks are Anaheim in 6 and Ottawa in 7. Leave your picks in the comments if you would like. There are no prizes, only the satisfaction of being right and bragging rights.
Perhaps the coolest internet news of the day is the NHL joining MySpace. That combines two of my favorite things in the world.
The coolest news in Boston today was the city was awarded a lacrosse team that will be in the National Lacrosse League. The Boston "To Be Named" will be playing at the TDBanknorth Garden starting in January 2008. As a hostess on hiatus right now, I love the idea of having something new come to the city. After a season where neither the Bruins or Celtics had winning records, this gives Bostonians a slim chance of having a winning team in the winter again. (Just kidding, even if it turns out to be true.)
You know it's that time of year again for Bruins fans when I end up slaving over a desktop computer for hours to knock out this year's summer tracker and the contract status roster (links can also be found in the sidebar). I owe a lot of credit to Irish Blues salary sheets, which were used to find out the minor leaguers' salaries. One change from last year is there will be no Bruins free agent list because there aren't that many free agents (both restricted and unrestricted combined) like there were last year. This year's free agents are in the summer tracker. I have a few more tweaks to make, but they're going to get the job done right now.
I'll touch on another topic tomorrow. Remember to make your Conference Finals picks.
]]>The Bruins signed goaltender prospect Tuukka Rask to a three year entry level contract on Saturday. The contract is the maximum under the CBA at $850,000. There are also performance bonuses in the contract.
Rask arrived in Boston yesterday and will have a stay in Providence where he'll get some practice time with the team and watch the playoffs. It's unknown if he'll get any starts for the Providence Bruins during the playoffs, where the team is currently tied 1-1 in their series against the Manchester Monarchs.
If Rask fails to make the Boston roster out of training camp, he will get the bulk of the starts in Providence next season. It's good to have Rask signed now.
In the World Championships, team USA lost 6-3 against Canada today. Canada finished 6-0 in the tournament thus far. I didn't get to watch the game on television because my bar didn't get TSN, but I had it online. Defenseman Andrew Alberts checked in with Bish before the game today. (Nice hat Albe.) Team USA will play Finland on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
]]>John Bishop over at BB.com is giving Bruins fans a unique look at this concept. Bish has defenseman Andrew Alberts checking in from Russia with his own thoughts and updates, and publishes them into the blog at the Bruins website.
I'm a little late to the party because I haven't been actively checking blogs lately.
There are currently three parts: Part One, Part Two and Part Three.
Pretty interesting stuff.
I missed the USA game today, despite my alarm going off and my little reminder on my Blackberry. I did turn the game on sometime after 10 and saw they were winning 4-1. I may watch the game on-demand when I have a chance.
I have preliminary plans set to watch Monday's USA game against Canada on television... at a bar. TSN is airing Canada games, and as long as my most favorite bar can get the TSN signal (they always do), I may be able to watch the game at noon on an actual television! I'm grateful for the access the internet allows, but the constant buffering and freezing is the worst thing that can happen in a hockey game.
]]>Okay, maybe it isn't that drastic, but Bruins fans might know where I'm coming from.
I watched the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators earlier. I am rooting very much for the Senators. Mike Fisher is one of my favorite non-Bruins. Fisher ended up with the game-winner in the 3-2 game. Ottawa is actually the only other Northeast Division team I openly root for. I would never root for the Montreal Canadiens. I never root for the Buffalo Sabres. And as for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I can tolerate rooting for them every once in a while.
I am currently watching the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks. I stopped watching early on, before 10:30, because watching two games in a row gets me a little hockey-ed out. I thought the Wings were done for the game.
But the Sharks blew another lead and here it is in the first overtime tied 2-2. Bill Guerin took a puck to the face and was bleeding pretty profusely. That was the one time I was glad I didn't have the game in HD. (Channel changing is a tad delayed between HD channels and non-HD channels, so I went with the non-HD Versus when I turned the game back on.)
The Red Wings just scored on the power play to win the game in overtime. The puck hit the post inside the net. It almost looked like the same goal Phil Kessel scored in the World Championships a couple of games ago, except it was from the goal line and not near the blue line.
Team USA (Kessel, Brandon Bochenski, Andrew Alberts) plays at 8:15 EST against Slovakia (Zdeno Chara, Milan Jurcina) and if I am awake in time, I may live-blog the game while I watch it. That would be fun. I'm very interested to see Chara playing in the World Championships.
And so concludes my hockey talk of the night.
]]>I checked in on the Providence Bruins tonight. They won 5-2 in Hartford tonight to tie the series 3-3. Game 7 is tomorrow in Hartford. Good luck to Providence tomorrow.
As for the World Championships, I slept through yesterday's USA game, so I watched it before going to sleep last night. (There's nothing like bringing the laptop to bed to watch hockey. I fell asleep sometime during the 2nd period.) USA won 6-2. Phil Kessel scored the first goal of the game. They play Belarus tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. EST. I'm sure I'll catch that game live.
The commentator during the game was talking about how team USA would be looking to Kessel for leadership. He's playing on the second line and wearing #8. Bruins fans have lots of things to look forward to regarding Kessel. He had 11 shots in yesterday's game. Imagine what he could do for the Bruins next season. This will be a very good experience for him.
It's good to see Mike Sullivan coaching again. He's coaching team USA in the World Championships. The commentator was saying during the USA game that Sullivan told his team that international hockey is all about possession, while NHL hockey is about pursuit. The first thing that came to my mind was the dump and chase. Out of all the teams that made it to the playoffs, I didn't see one team using the dump and chase system, that I could tell anyway.
It's been 21 days since the Bruins last game, and yet they're still coming up in conversation. I was having a conversation with somebody earlier today. We were talking about some players that became former Bruins before the 2006-2007 season started. I started to talk about how different the season might have been had the Bruins kept Sullivan around, and had promoted Jeff Gorton to the GM position last summer. It's fun to play the "what if?" game, and imagine what might have been different. Would anything have been different? What would the team have looked like on opening night? Would that team be in the playoffs? So many questions that would most likely have such different answers.
The San Jose Sharks blew a 2-0 lead in their game against the Detroit Red Wings this afternoon. The Red Wings won 3-2. I heard somebody say the Sharks were the first team to blew a 2-0 lead in the playoffs. They really are Bruins-West.
And the Senators/Devils game is almost at the end of the first overtime. There's a little over three minutes left. I would really like a multiple-overtime game tonight.
One last thing I want to mention in this "covering the bases" post. I got a new cell phone that allows for much easier internet browsing and typing, so next season I will be posting "on-the-fly" from training camp, practices and games. I'm very excited about that opportunity.
Now the Senators/Devils are going to a second overtime! Yay! More hockey! (By the way, my pick is Mike Fisher scoring to win it.)
I'll try and check in tomorrow with another post. I think my unofficial break from the blog is over.
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