Sunday, January 15, 2012

Bad Habits

Was anyone else positively underwhelmed with the effort the Bruins showed last night? The game was blah and had me flipping back and forth between the Patriots game. Anyone that knows me knows that a Bruins game is a sacred experience (don't talk through the anthem, hockey-only talk throughout the game, etc.), so I am slightly ashamed with myself. And I'm not even that much of a football fan.
For the second straight game, the Bruins were present on the ice...and that's about it. They did not appear engaged in the process and I'm thinking that Claude is going to snap the belt pretty hard shortly. He somewhat called out the team after the victory against the Habs (shows you how well the Bruins have been playing this year by getting called out after a victory). He said that bad habits were creeping back. They were on full display last night.
Couple things:
-Just how much is the lack of Marchand playing into this? Yes, he's a VERY important part of the "2nd" line, but the Bruins have depth...well they did until now. Normally they'd be able to insert anyone in the line-up and just keep plugging away. About the most positive thing I can say about Pouliot for last night is that he didn't take any horrible penalties. That's kind of like saying "well at least I didn't kill anybody." You're not supposed to. Patty Cake has the ability to make an average player rise above their normal level, but it wasn't there last night.
-Campbell and Kelly have to get it going. I'm starting to think that they are both nursing some type of nagging injury, as their play has tailed off in the last few weeks.
-I'd like nothing more than to have him prove me gloriously wrong, but I'm starting to think that Caron is the modern-day Andy Hilbert. Highly touted, apparent skill, tears shit up at the AHL level...but just can't string it together in the NHL. Caron was in some bad spots last night and had a few turnovers. He's getting pushed around and doesn't appear to have adjusted to the speed of the big leagues. As previously stated, I'm not a fan of the late season trade, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Bruins brought in a bottom six forward at the deadline. They did the exact thing with Kelly and Peverley last year and that paid huge dividends.
-Corvo...I've had enough. Once again, he's an improvement over Kaberle, but that's like saying you only severed an artery instead of cutting your whole damn arm off. He hasn't panned out as the team has hoped. He skates smooth and has a hard shot, but so did Dennis Wideman. And the fact that he NEVER takes the body, even when it's there and could kill a play, has me thinking his time in Boston may be short.
-I'm going to organize a blood drive. We need to learn Adam McQuaid's blood type, because he is blocking so many shots with his legs, arms, chest and balls that I'm pretty sure he has heavy internal bleeding. He keeps going though. That's one tough kid...it's gotta be the mullet.
So there's no reason to panic, as it was next to impossible to maintain the level the Bruins were playing at for so long. The season is coming up on the midway point, and the majority of the boys will get some time off. One of my fears was that the team would peak way too early and have nothing left for the playoffs. They looked tired last night, as on several occasions the Canes had sustained and brutal pressure in the offensive zone. I thought for sure Julien was going to call a timeout and give them the ol' "boys, what the fuck are you doing?" speech, but a TV timeout saved them.
All that being said, our team remains in a good spot. It's not like they've been wallowing around, playing shit hockey for seven or eight games, but eventually the hockey gods that gave them crazy goal totals and all the right bounces will turn their attention elsewhere and the Bruins will have to find victories on their own.
Panthers on monday night. Maybe a day of R&R in Florida will do the boys well.
Go B's.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Listen Up

Okay, people. It's time to stop whining like a bunch of pussies. I'm going to state a few things that are bothering me:
1. The Bruins aren't a dirty team. We who watch them every night know this.
2. The league, for whatever reason, has decided that the hit Subban threw on Krejci the other night wasn't dirty. Though I disagree, it is what it is.
3. The Bruins have seen the Canucks once this year. They won't see them again unless they're playing for the Cup. Let's get past the bullshit that's still falling on us from that one game.
4. Too much talking is going on. The shit off the ice has become a distraction. Marchand was on Twitter for all of 12 hours and then supposedly deleted his account. I love the kid, but him being on Twitter would only lead to bad things.
The Bruins, as well as the fans, need to suck it up, realize that they are playing under a different set of rules (for some fucking reason) and drive on. Enough with the pissing and moaning. Play the goddamn game. Don't change a fucking thing. Hit hard. Fight hard. Score goals. Defend your teammates. Fuck what the league and writers from Vancouver are saying or doing. It is what it is.
If the whining continues, the team and the fans run the risk of turning into an entity that is constantly crying and boo-hooing and looks like a bunch of women that are on coordinated menstrual cycles.
Like I said, it is what it is and no amount of belly aching is going to change it. The Bruins need to press on and forget all the bullshit that seems to swirl around them. To do anything else could have huge negative implications for the rest of the season. The Bruins have been conducting themselves like professionals for quite some time. The last two weeks have driven a spike into their conduct. Although it was great to see Thornton take apart that reporter on-air, that's the exact shit I'm talking about. All of the talking is going on BECAUSE the Bruins are once again the team to beat this year. They can't stoop to the level of all the fuckers that want to distract them. Time to shut up and play some hockey, boys. And to all the fans: time to shut up and watch our boys as they continue on with their season.
Go B's.

Monday, January 9, 2012

5 Games? Yeah, okay.

Long time, no write. The boys were continuing their crazy ways, scoring goals by the assload and getting support from everyone.
The spousal unit and I were excited to go to the Garden and watch the rematch against the fucking Canucks, and we weren't disappointed. I honestly just wanted the Bruins to kick the living shit out of them after all of the bullshit Vancouver pulled last spring. A victory would be nice, but not required.
I guess I got my wish.
The game started off with a bang, with half of the Canucks thinking it wise to pile on Shawn Thornton, who has more sandpaper on his dick than the entire Vancouver bench combined. I'm thinking they could have chosen a better time to start shit, as the Bruins had several of their toughest guys out there. I guess Burrows doesn't think ahead.
Anway, Looch gets ejected for "coming off the bench", which turned out to be bullshit. I generally don't give the refs too much shit, because they are doing a hard job in the world's fastest game. But the fact that their call took Lucic out of what turned out to be a one-goal game about four minutes into the first was not correct. Hindsight's 20/20, right?
And then the "Marchand incident" occurred. I'm honestly tired of thinking about it and seeing it, mainly because YouTube is basically overflowing with clips of the same exact thing happening (one of which happens to be a Vancouver player doing the same thing to Marchand) and no suspensions came of it. Whatever. He'll serve his five game. The Bruins will be without one of their best players for this timeframe, but their depth is what makes them so good.
The bullshit flowing out of Vancouver is at an all-time high, with all of the players saying that Marchand is dirty, he's cheap, blah blah blah, but to me it smells exactly like guys on Pittsburgh calling out players for headshots when they're sitting next to Matt Cooke in the dressing room. It just seems that Vancouver always wants to play the victim and hide behind the refs. Like I said, whatever.
The season will go on and things will even out and I have no doubt that this kind of hit will happen again. I just hope that Shanahan treats it the same way he treated this one. Guess we'll have to see.
Time to drive on and realize that there are three games in the next six days, one of which is Montreal. Maybe chanting "CAREY, CAREY, CAREY" will make everyone feel better.
Go B's.