Proof you don't have to have a clue to write for a "real" source

http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/06/29/9975561.html

Bruce Garrioch writes that the Bruins could potentially sign Mike Komisarek.

LOLMEDIA

No more wascally wabbit...

Kirk Luedeke posted via his Twitter account earlier today that Wacey
Rabbit was not qualified by the Bruins, making him a free agent.

We all had a secret desire to see his name on the back of a B's
sweater at least once, just for the novelty of it.

Wacey came advertised as a high energy, disruptive player who had
speed to burn and a higher offensive upside. Unfortunately he never
lived up to that billing coming out of juniors, at one point he was
even sent to the ECHL and then back to juniors, before heading back to
Providence on a full-time basis.

The chatter is out there - Kessel on the way out?

The rumours have escalated to a level where the REAL media is starting
to talk about them, and we all know that when there's smoke, blah blah
blah

TSN.ca (and subsequently boston.com) has put out the rumour that the
B's are talking with the Leafs about trading Kessel to the Leafs for
Kaberle and the #7 pick. On the one hand, this makes no sense, because
Kessel is NOT a Burke kinda player, and Kaberle's salary of $4.25/per
is something the B's aren't willing to give Kessel. On the other hand,
Kaberle's salary for a player of his experience and play is pretty
darn good in today's NHL, and netting the #7 pick in a draft
top-loaded with talent is pretty tempting. Then of course, there's the
whole inter-division thing.

Spector's also had a blurb about the B's potentially going after
Heatley or Hossa; Heatley would be a trade with Ottawa and Hossa would
be a UFA signing. I don't see either of those as realistic
possibilities with the amount of salary the Bruins have right now.
There'd have to be a number of guys headed out to make either of those
work.

But the Kessel rumour.... if anything were to happen, I think that one
has legs. They might be short and stumpy and not able to keep up with
the pack, but still....

Wheelin' and Dealin'?

With the draft nearly upon us, all the chitter chatter about potential
deals is heating up. The biggest name on the market right now is Dany
Heatley, who supposedly has Boston on his wish list. He's a great
offensive threat, plays D with less heart than Kessel, and on a
personal level, I think it's pretty shoddy of him to be asking for
another "new start". With his name being tossed around, the talk about
Kessel has died off... somewhat.

Here's what we DO know - Kessel was tendered his RFA offer, which
means the Bruins retain his rights. Phil does not yet have arbitration
rights, so things could go in a lot of directions from here. His agent
has stated there's been no demand for a $5M/per contract like some
people had rumoured about, and Phil's priority is to remain in Boston.

That being said, there's ALWAYS a chance Phil gets sent off, if the
Bruins are absolutely positive they can't/won't meet his contract
demands. MY opinion is, if the B's refused to deal him at the last two
deadlines, and with the way his play has ramped up, you get him
signed. You trade a Sturm or a Ryder before you move Kessel, hands
down, in order to gain cap space.

Moving off of my opinion... it's entirely possible the Bruins are
looking at a lot of options right now, including moving him. Kirk
Leudeke wrote in an article over at the New England Hockey Journal
(http://www.hockeyjournal.com) that there's the *potential* for a
blockbuster deal that sees both Kessel AND Rask dealt in a blockbuster
package, which would do a number of things - give the B's some relief
under the cap, effectively end the Bruins issues with Rask and his
impatience to play full time in the NHL (let's face it, he's not going
to do a full platoon with Thomas), and would also potentially give the
Bruins a top pick in this year's draft.

The logical side of me likes a move like this, because it addresses
and solves a number of issues. The emotional side of me hates this
type of move with a passion, because it sends off the 2 best young
prospects the team has, aside from Krejci.

The bottom line is this - there WILL have to be some player movement
with the way the cap stands to either stay the same or come down. At
this point, it's a matter of who goes, and when. Like I mentioned, I'd
much rather it be someone OTHER than Kessel (and Bergy too, I think
this coming season he'll be 100% back to his old self), but the fact
stands that there's going to have to be some roster shuffling, no
matter what. And with the draft tomorrow night, and Chiarelli on
record that he wants more picks... we shall see.

B's pick up some hardware and accolades

Congrats to Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Manny Fernandez, and Claude
Julien for picking up some year end awards last night in Vegas!

I'm sure each of them would GLADLY trade in their awards to hold the
Stanley Cup instead, however it was definitely nice to see the B's get
recognized by the league.

Chara took home the Norris, the first B to do so since RB. Thomas took
home the Vezina as best goaltender, an award who's significance was
NOT lost on the guy who was barely in the NHL a few short years ago.
Julien won the Jack Adams award as top coach, and Thomas and Fernandez
shared the Jennings Trophy as the goaltending duo with the lowest
goals against in the NHL. Fitting to see it was awarded to them by
Andy MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG and Rejean Lemelin.

Does winning the awards take away the sting of missing out on at
chance at the Cup? Of course not. But any time a player is recognized
by the league, it's an honor and I'm sure the guys are thrilled.
Congrats to them all... now let's get ready for the draft!!!

Could Sturm or Kessel be shopped?

Yesterday's Ottawa Sun noted that the Bruins and Kessel *appear* to be
far apart on a new contract, with Kessel *reportedly* looking for
$5M/per. Nice payday if he gets it, but that dough won't come from the
Bruins. Not with just about $6M in cap space for next season. However,
more space could be freed up with the trade of a Bergeron or a Sturm,
for instance.

KPD posited yesterday that Sturm could be moved, given how well the
B's played this season without him; if he waives his No Movement
Clause for a team like, say the Kings, and the Bruins don't have to
take much salary in return, I could see this happening over dealing
Bergeron/Ryder/Savard in order to get Kessel signed. With the cap
remaining the same, and most likely going down, there's no way Kessel
gets a $5M/per deal without someone being moved. And even then... I
can't see Phil cashing in on that much from just about *anyone* with
the cap situation facing the league.

If anything, there's going to be some posturing on both sides, but I
think that a deal gets done. I can't see the B's trading him at this
point if they haven't been willing to deal him in the past. Maybe
Sturm gets moved, and Recchi gets re-signed on a one-year deal (he
said he really enjoyed his time here and would like to re-sign in
Boston if he continues his career). If there's a situation where
Kessel's agent just stands firm and won't negotiate down (ridiculous
but possible) maybe Kess gets shifted at the draft. The rest of the
month will be interesting.

Krejci re-signs for 3 years/$3.75M per hit

Peter Chiarelli did a damn fine job in wrapping up David Krejci to a 3
year deal that is as cap-friendly as you're going to see right now. A
lot of people (including myself) figured he'd be in the $4M-$5M range,
which 10 years ago was what a center like Stevie Y was making, but
that's the pro game for you.

ANYWAYS - at $3.75 average for 3 years, not only is Krejci in with a
decent number under the cap, if my math is correct, he's also 1 year
away from UFA when this contract expires. Which give the B's leverage
in the NEXT round too; Krejci can't walk as a UFA after this deal is
done.

This deal impacts any potential Kessel deals, in more way than one,
and here's my view on that: Kessel had a damn good year this year. So
did Krejci. We've seen Krejci ramp up steadily since he broke into the
NHL with the Bruins, as we have Kessel. However, if you're going to
look at all-around game, Krejci is by far and away the better player
of the two. Yes Kessel put up the goals this season. Finally. After
being benched last season, being "talked to" more than a few times.
Does this mean this trend will continue? Not at all. But it does point
out that Krejci took a good deal to become a millionaire, and the
Bruins can point to his contract when dealing with Kessel and say
"this guy GETS IT. He's on the ball, he scores, he plays defense, he
works the PP, and we don't ever have to say boo to him. Here's why
we're going to offer you the same deal and you're going to take it".

Will that happen? Most likely not :-) In my armchair GM mind though,
that's how I'd put it to Kessel and do what I could to get him in
under the same deal, which then give the B's enough room under next
year's cap (at the same price as this past year OR potentially up to
5% lower) to comfortably re-sign Bitz and Hunwick, let go of some
older guys like Hnidy, Yelle, and PJ (hate to say it, but....) and
have room to sign some younger UFAs to fill out the bottom two lines.

RIP Peter Zezel

Former NHL player, and a guy who would have been a perfect Bruin,
Peter Zezel has passed away at age 44.

Peter was suffering from a rare blood disorder, something I was not
aware of until today when I read he had been taken off of life support
yesterday.

Zezel was always known as a solid, hardworking player who had some
really good offensive pop in his game early on, before he settled into
a role as a strong defensive forward in the latter half of his career.

I'll always remember Peter for his retirement; he had a very sick
family member in Toronto that he wanted to be near as much as possible
(cancer IIRC) and he asked to be traded to a team on the East Coast at
the deadline. Pretty sure he was with Vancouver at the time, and they
were horrid. Instead, he was traded to the Ducks, on the complete
opposite side of the country from Toronto (what an asshat move by
whomever was the Canucks GM at the time). Peter called the Ducks,
apologized profusely to the Ducks management, explained his situation,
and immediately retired. That kind of family loyalty, dedication, and
love is so rare in today's "star primadonna athlete" society, and he
immediately earned even more respect from me.

IIRC, Peter was also Alex Lifeson's cousin, which already had him
pretty high up on my list as a kid.

It's times like these that we all step back and remember - the NHL is
still just a game.

Godspeed, Peter.

Wrap Up

So unless you've been living in a cave, or your internet and cable TV is delivered to you over 2 Dixie Cups and string, you know that the Bruins were eliminated in OT of Game 7 by the WhalerCanes.

The most distressing part about this for me, is that Barry Melrose was right.

Ugh.

Actually, it's all distressing for me. As soon as the puck went in the net, I dropped the drumsticks I was holding (stupid superstitions), pressed the off button on my remote, and walked into the living room where I sat on the couch and placed my head in my hands. I vented a bit online with other Bruins diehards (the bandwagon fans had already started talking about "their" Celtics) and then went to bed.

Since that night, I have not read any articles, listened to any podcasts, watched any sports reports.... nothing. Nada. Today was the first time I read anything, and that was to see that both Kessel and Krejci are undergoing surgery - Kessel for a torn labrum in his shoulder, and Krejci for his hip. I also read that Kobasew broke his ribs in Game 1 and was continuing to skate, and it was previously reported that Recchi was having some major kidney stone problems as well. I've had those kiddos, and I can't believe that guy could even lace up his skates, never mind actually PLAY the game and pop in a few.

And that brings us to here - another off season.

There's two ways to look at it - the Bruins either weren't that great to begin with since they got eliminated by the 6th seed (who should've put them away much earlier), or the Bruins were indeed a great team in 2008-2009 and they simply got eliminated by a strong team who wanted
it more.

Either way, the Bruins aren't playing in the Eastern Conference Finals.

To those who have commented, emailed, etc. about not having a wrap up prior to this, thank you very much for your kind words. I do appreciate your thoughts, and THANK YOU for reading this tripe when I put it up. Given how many fantastic Bruins blogs there are out there, I'm honored that you've been coming to this one.

As you probably noticed, the podcast went away a few months back. After some serious consideration, CJ and I decided to stop recording it, mostly due to how time consuming it had become. Writing up notes, setting up for the show, making sure we both were available to record,
then editing the show and getting it online... it all took away from family time, and it was something I was starting to resent. So rather than half-ass it, I decided to pull the plug.

I'll be brutally honest - I'm considering filing the last Bruins Report here as well. It's been almost 4 years since I started blabbing away online about the Bruins, and something that was intended to be seen by CJ and a couple of other Bruins fans we grew up with ballooned into a great fun thing. I've met a lot of people thanks to this blog, and have been given some opportunities I never thought I'd get thanks to you all. I knew I was doing *something* right when I started
getting regular emails from REAL publications and networks.

However, I've noticed that writing things up here has really started to take away the enjoyment of just simply sitting and watching the Bruins. I was finding myself more and more watching the games with a critical eye to think about what to write up, what to make sure I remembered, etc. With work and family life, getting the time to write up a solid post-game report has become scarce and much like the podcast, I'd rather not half-ass things.

The future of the blog is still up in the air; on the good side for the most part I do still enjoy doing this, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. On the down side, free time is a rarity for me and I'd
sort of like to get back to the stage where I could grab a beer and sit down with the remote to watch the game and just enjoy it for what it is, you know?

In any case, have fun, enjoy your summers, and we'll hopefully be typing at you soon.

Bleed Black and Gold!

Game 7 - IT'S ON!!!

The Bruins fought hard all night and took the 4-2 win in NC; home ice
is finally BACK in their favor as they head back to Boston knotted up
at 3-3.

Bergeron was a force in all 3 zones tonight - he collected 2 assists,
was hard on the backcheck, and made his presence known. Recchi had 1G
1A, with Montador and Kobasew picking up the other Bruins goals.

The B's hit and hit hard all night as expected; there was no "payback"
against Walker, save for the scoreboard.

Which, my friends, is the best payback.

So now it's back to Boston for Game 7- I spent tonight in my spare
room, watching the small TV on mute with drumsticks in my hands for
the entire game. Take a wild guess as to what I'll be doing
Thursday.... you guessed it.

Marc Savard was sent off to the dressing room after the knee-on-knee
hit in the third by Coach Julien; he confirmed after the game that
he's the one who told Savvy to head off after the hit by LaRose, and
he WILL be back for Game 7.

Just a little more NHLOL action before Game 6

While perusing the HF Boards this morning, a poster put up a direct
quote from Colin Campbell, the guy who's supposedly in charge of
league discipline, after suspending Daniel Carcillo in the playoffs
last month:

"We held a conference call Monday with the general managers and
coaches of playoff teams and told them explicitly we would not
tolerate attempts by clubs to 'send a message' late in a game when the
outcome had been determined," said Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior
executive vice president of hockey operations. Organizations — players
and coaches — will be held accountable for such actions."

I went out and got a direct link to an article with it as well -
http://foxyurl.com/2rh

Seems like Walker's sucker punch fits that criteria, no? Game's well
in hand, Walker's the third man in on Ward and another Canes player
engaging in a little post-whistle shoving... what good does a fight
that late in the game do besides "send a message"? Certainly isn't
going to help spark your fans (game was in Boston) nor was it going to
spark your team to a comeback with less than 3 minutes to go in the
game.

And here's another little nugget - 14 of 20 NHL players polled by TSN
all said Walker's actions were indeed a sucker punch and should have
resulted in a suspension. Here's that link too:

http://www.tsn.ca/window/oneclip_nhl_playoffs.html#clip171068

I guess between the league rescinding the automatic one-game
suspension that comes with the instigator call with less than 5 mins
to go in the contest, plus the league's changing of Lucic's penalty in
the Montreal series AFTER the game to garner his one game suspension,
AND adding in the fact that Komisarek wasn't suspended for the
deliberate high stick to Lucic that cut his cheek open... perhaps the
NHL is telling the Bruins they have carte blanche should the series be
ending tonight (or tomorrow) with the 'Canes coming out on top?

Obviously that's not the case... I hope. But for a league that's been
whining about their visibility and placement amongst the other "pro"
sports leagues in North America, they're really bringing on their
ridicule themselves. I don't have an honest answer anymore when
someone jokes about my love for hockey above all other sports. There's
plenty of solid comebacks to combat the comments about the game being
too hard to watch, the fighting, the mullets, etc. But when someone
says the NHL is a joke... I've got no response other than agreement.

As of this morning, no players have been recalled from Providence,
which means Aaron Ward will be in the lineup tonight for Game 6. I'll
be doing my now-ritual house cleanup and then grabbing drumsticks and
a practice pad to take in the action.

GO BRUINS!

LOLNHL!!!!!

Scott Walker has been fined $2,500 and had his automatic 1 game suspension lifted for Game 6.

And Colin Campbell continues to use his "Dartboard O'Justice" when determining who gets disciplined and what they get. Apparently ungloved sucker punches aren't "deliberate blows to the head".

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...... I'm so conflicted right now. Part of me says "don't be surprised, this is the NHLOL here". Another part of me says "WTF?" And yet another part of me says "it's just another log on the fire".

To wit:

-Jokinen's two hander to the back of Chara's ankle. He was faking it, you know. 'Cause that's what Chara does, fake lots of injuries, especially in the playoffs. Just like his shoulder last year.
Jokinen's smirk after he whacked him says it all
-Sucker punch from Walker with the game well in hand and Ward's gloved hands at his side, given that it was no situation where a full out fight would occur
-Maurice's smarmy comments after the game about Walker's knuckles being sore, and Maurice needing to sell his truck to pay his coach's fine for the instigator with less than 5 mins in the game

Apparently the 'Canes didn't bother to realize that the reason the Bruins were so pumped up for Round 1, and their eventual demolishing of the Scabs, was largely due to the fact that those two teams plain ol' HATE each other. All the yappiness from the Scabs, Komisarek's mere existence, long heralded rivalry, etc. There was pretty much NONE of that here in Round 2.

Until last night.

Bad move, WhalerCanes. Bad move, indeed.

B's remember how to play, win 4-0 and send series back to Carolina

For starters, my house is as clean as a whistle and I'm rebuilding my
forgotten drumming muscles. After the living room got taken care of I
sat in front of the TV with a pair of drumsticks and a practice pad to
burn off nervous energy. Looks like it paid off, as the Bruins
manhandled the 'Canes 4-0.

It always seems like whenever they flash some sort of stat on TV about
a player, said player responds in the game. Last night, within minutes
of TSN flashing Kessel's stats and the fact he hadn't scored yet this
series, he popped in his first of two goals. Recchi's textbook PP goal
on the tip-in is EXACTLY why the B's traded for him at the deadline.
That's Rex's game, and let's hope we see some more of that for at
least 2 more games!

Savard and Chara both had solid nights as well with 2 assists each,
and Lucic had 1G-1A to go along with his +3 on the night and his
intense hitting for the entire game.

Oh yeah.... THE HITS.

EVERYONE from the Bruins brought it - Chara and Lucic led the way, but
everyone top to bottom got their noses dirty. If the Bruins want to
make this a full 7 game comeback, that's the way to do it.

And don't forget..... Coach Julien brought back his old team from a
3-1 deficit. Can it happen again? That remains to be seen. The Bruins
have never come back from being down 3-1 in their history, but there's
a first time for everything.

Aaron Ward may have a broken orbital bone after Scott Walker's sucker
punch late in the 3rd. Bob MacKenzie really lost a lot of respect from
me this morning with his POS opinion piece over at TSN, where he
blames Ward for keeping his hands down. In a 4-0 game, that late,
where all you're doing is face washing, I'd side with Ward in that he
didn't expect Walker to immediately toss the gloves and tag him in the
face. That was bush league, and ridiculous. I understand the whole
"sending a message and staying physical" thing, but at that point in
the game, Walker comes over after Ward's doing a little post-whistle
pushing, and flat out cold cocks him? And then MacKenzie blames Ward
for it and thinks there's a good chance Walker doesn't get suspended?

LOLNHL.

In any event, it's back to Raleigh for Game 6. If this Bruins team
shows up again, it'll be back to Boston for Game 7.

It's all my fault.

Game 1 - I cleaned up the house with the TV on, in preparation for my
daughter's First Communion party the next day. The Bruins won soundly.

Games 2 & 3 - I sat on my butt and watched the whole games. The Bruins lost.

Game 4 - went to a fundraising dinner/dance for my nephew's school. CJ
graciously sent me text updates through the night so I knew what was
going on. The Bruins lost.

Needless to say, my house is going to be freaking SPOTLESS by the time
Game 5 is done.

Why the hell are they looking like the team that couldn't beat anyone
back in the first half of March? Carolina just simply WANTS IT MORE.
This Bruins team apparently has forgotten how they played for 3/4 of
the season, and the 'Canes were apparently taking notes.

So yes, the next game most certainly IS do-or-die.

Is Game 4 a "do or die"?

Obviously, this series still has a lot of way to go. However, a 'Canes
win tonight puts the Bruins in the unenviable (and nearly possible to
overcome unless you're the Red Sox) position of being down 3-1.

It's a given that the Bruins aren't fretting about this anywhere near
as much as us fanboys. They leave the handwringing and internet
whining to us; they just get to work. If there's anything we've seen
this season from Coach Julien, it's that he does his best to keep the
team on an even keel. Don't get too thrilled with the wins, don't get
too upset over the losses.

The 'Canes have been applying much more pressure than the B's have in
all 3 zones over the past two games, which has been forcing the Bruins
into uncharacteristic (lately) poor passes, weak plays up the middle,
etc.

To compound issues, it looks as if Ference and Wheeler may not be able
to go tonight. On the one hand, Bitz played VERY well in his one game
this post season, and Hnidy has played very well when needed (although
he seems to have a few first period jitters every time, which will
happen when you haven't played in a while). Some of Bitz's up and down
hits and general muckiness along with Hnidy's snarl on the backend may
work well to stop the 'Canes pressure on the backend.

On the other hand, both Ference and Wheeler are more talented and the
better all around players. At this point, not having them in the
lineup can be just as much a liability as having the other two IN the
lineup.

One other thing that's a definite is the powerplay NEEDS to produce.
The team as a whole can't get by with a mere 20 shots on Ward, who's
been solid. Capitalizing on turnovers, forcing mistakes, etc. as they
did in Game 1 is key.

Finally, on a OT note, RIP Dom DiMaggio.

B's flat out lose Game 3, 3-2 in OT

Let's admit it - aside from Game 1, the Bruins have not really been in this series. Sad to say, but true.

As with Game 2, right from the first shift the 'Canes wanted the win more. It's as simple as that. The Canes are out-Bruining the Bruins. They hit hard, hit everything, skate non-stop, and are relentless on the puck.

The B's were plain old lucky to tie the game at 2 late in the 3rd on Recchi's goal (and only 2nd point in the playoffs). But when you get outshot by a nearly 2-1 margin, guess what? The odds aren't in your favor.

The Bruins need to realize that the Hurricanes are NOT the Scabs. They WILL NOT roll over and die at any point. They've parlayed 2 lucky wins in the first round into being a potential Cinderella. If the Bruins can't skate just as hard as the 'Canes in Game 4, they'll make Barry Melrose look like a genius.

And that, my friends, is a sure sign of the Apocalypse.

B's drop Game 2, 3-0 to Cam Ward and Canes

Right from the get-go, it was obvious that the Canes knew they were still PLENTY in this series. They carried play right from the first shift, and wouldn't give the Bruins an inch of space for much of the game.

When the Bruins did get their chances, particularly in the third, Cam Ward stood tall and pushed them back. I had my arms half in the air figuring Ryder had a goal on the PP (much like I thought Bergeron was going to get the tip in earlier) but Ward made the saves you need your goaltender to make in the playoffs.

Staal was probably thrilled to get the EN goal, given how hard Chara (-3 on the night) has played him all series.

No one figured this would be another Bruins sweep, not even close. I was disappointed with the Bruins lack of movement on the powerplay (including giving up the shortie); their powerplay that was so hot has definitely cooled off.

On to Game 3!

Rust? What Rust?

CJ's message to me in the waning seconds of last night's game rang true - there was very little visible rust on the Bruins machine last night as they easily handled the WhalerCanes in Boston, winning 4-1.

The lineup had a great game top to bottom, with Savard netting 2G, Ryder with 1G 1A, and Lucic with 4 hits and +3. Shawn Thornton laid out as many Canes has he could, being credited with 7 hits.

Krejci's goal a little over a minute into the game I think went a long way towards settling the team down. Yes the B's are rested, and on the opposite side of the coin, the Canes are coming off of the long hard 7 game series with the Devils. Any worries of rust were put to rest last night.

Of course, it also should be pointed out that the Canes lost Game 1 to the Devils too (by the same score IIRC) and they came back to win it in 7. So this series is by no means over, nor is it going to be a cakewalk.

But after last night, I'm encouraged. Immensely.

Think Staal was seeing Chara in his dreams last night?

Round 2 starts tonight/interesting stat for you gear heads

Round 2 FINALLY kicks off tonight!

Interesting to note that a number of media types, including Mr Mullet Melrose himself, have picked the 'Canes to win. They're figuring that Cam Ward is in a zone right now (can't argue too much with that) and that the Scabs didn't challenge the Bruins (again, can't argue with that either).

In my completely biased and homerific view, I just can't see the 'Canes winning this one. The Bruins roll 4 lines, 3 of which can put the puck in the net regularly, and are guaranteed to roll Chara out against the Staal line. I don't think the 'Canes can match the depth the Bruins have when it comes to scoring... BUT I still think this series is going at least 6 games. My biggest fear is the Bruins coming out flat after the layoff, and the 'Canes taking that PLUS the emotion of their last minute win against the Devils and banking that for at least 2 wins.

On a completely unrelated note.... got an interesting stat in my Inbox about sticks in the playoffs. No, the stat was not about who's sticks shattered the most/easiest in the first round (although I'd be interested in that!). Easton sticks counted for the most points and game winning goals; I guess maybe that means that shatter the least too? I dunno :-) 83 goals and 152 assists came from Easton sticks, and I'd hazard a guess that none of 'em were wood. Also, it should be pointed out that these stats came from Easton themselves, I'd be curious to see if any other stick manufacturers keep those stats too.

Next week - the jock strap that produced the most PIMS!

Not really.

Well.... maybe.

It's B's vs Whalercanes

In a bit of a surprise, the Bruins will be facing off against the Carolina Whalercanes in Round 2.

CJ and I were all prepped to start talking about the B's/Rangers series.... d'oh!

The Canes will be flying high after their literally last minute comeback and win against the Devils. The Bruins, after having the last week off, will need to make sure that their legs are churning BIG TIME Friday night.

The B's are 4-0 against the Canes this season, BUT haven't played them since around mid-season, before the Canes went on a roll to push into the playoffs. I definitely think this is going to be a much harder series than the Habs gave the B's.