Well said, Dan... well written, interesting, entertaining and right on target. I picked them from the very git go based on nothing but my pickled gut feeling, but after further review, they are the realest deal right now in the NHL, period. Its just my opinion, but there is plenty of evidence. They are well coach, talented and equipped to not only succeed in the reg season, but to kick ass and take names in the playoffs. Even when a comrade goes down they are deep enough to plug in somebody to get the job done and keep the train rolling. They are a legit 4 line team also... a bunch of squads throughout the NHL have a good top line, maybe 2 lines deep, but the B's can throw a lot of shit against the wall and get a lot to stick. Ive always been a fan of a team that has the mix of talent and physicality and Bahstin fits that bill. Hell, their even fun to watch as much as hate. Good luck to your Sabres and Matty's Bruins... they are a couple good teams to cheer for and are on the right track of progression towards something good. Signed; a disgruntled Red Wings fan... but ima chin up, its still a time honored tradition to back the mighty Winged Wheel.
Yeah, I've watched a lot of hockey to this point, and it's hard not to see Washington and Boston as the far away favorites in the East. I know that the standings also indicate that, so it's not a bold statement, but watching those teams compared to their competition... They're both so well constructed, as you said, Dan. The Sabres will fight a middling Atlantic crowd for the 2nd / 3rd seed. I expect both Buffalo and Florida to have more success as the season goes on and they gain more cohesion with systems / roster. Time will tell if the coaching change in Toronto happened too late, or just in time. Tampa could definitely take a spot, but they'll have to reclaim last year's dominance in a hurry - slow starts kill teams, as Florida will soundly attest. I hate Boston through and through. Hell, Matty's probably the only decent Bruins fan I've encountered. That said, as much as it kills me.. yeah, it looks like they're team to beat in the Atlantic, and likely the East. Playoffs will be interesting, since it looks like a tougher Metro may have to beat each other up come post-season.
Dan....................50 year celebration tomorrow @ Rogers Arena in Vancouver.......1 pm Puck Drop. OMG the Canucks are wearing the very ugly Yellow Flying "V" Unis.......PUKE City. I thought about going to the game but it's a Matinee.........Good Luck my friend for the Sabres.
I love all of the old school Canucks unis VV. the Flying Vs are gross but I love them. The 80-90s Canucks uniforms are one of my alltime favorite uniforms. Those and the Nordiques.
I love all of the old school Canucks unis VV. the Flying Vs are gross but I love them. The 80-90s Canucks uniforms are one of my alltime favorite uniforms. Those and the Nordiques. Matty..............I hated all the changes the Vancouver Canucks did with Logo's...........5 F-ing times........Jezz......have you ever notice the "Flying Skate " Logo .......the Skate was pointed DOWN........just like the Canucks were in those days.......lol My ALL time Favourite Logo was the Quebec Nordiques..........Simple........just like the FIRST Canuck Logo......a Hockey shaped liked a "C" in an Arena.
Bs prospect Jeremy Swayman recently won the Mike Richter award for best collegiate goalie. With Swayman signing and Dan Vladar having a nice bounce back season, the Bruins have a bit of quality depth in the system in net. * to be noted, I’m sure I said the same thing 4-5 years ago about Zane Gothberg and Malcolm Subban.
The Bruins got this this time in my opinion and that's a great situation. Really great prospect and they cant go wrong again... their due , lol. (law of averages) I wish I could look at the Red Wings and say; yep, we got talent in net, but I cant say that. Maybe they go goalie in the 1st round of the Draft, lol. Oh well, this is about the B's not the Wings here. Good luck! PS - I like that Maine sweater... I wanteth one, dammitt.
Hope your Easter was a good one for you and the family, Matty. I don't have any children personally but my 2 brothers have provided Uncle Willie with 10 kids, some grown up of course, but the hardest part of Easter was not being able to see them this year and that fucking sucked. I sorely miss my family, they are all that matters to me, but when this crap of a virus stuff is over, im going to throw a party and get the family together... I cant wait to be honest. Really tuff to not see family, go to church or have my meetings and visits for my health and addiction courses... and then there's the no sports thing, oy. Drop the puck already!!!!1111!!!!!
You’re right about the law of averages Will, short/non existent list of good goalies the Bruins both drafted and developed. Bunker Timmy was an old man FA signing, Tuukka drafted by the Leafs. Thinking the Wings will most likely get Lafreniere or Byfield. That draft lottery is gonna be huge for you. Askarov should be the first goalie picked and it seems like there’s no real consensus where he goes. If he slides to the late teens/twenties I’d think the Wings could trade back up. Stevie Y has a ton of picks, I actually think you’d be better off staying put and bringing in as many quality prospects as possible at this stage. Im a big fan of the UMaine sweaters as well. Great color scheme and a fantastic place to catch a game. The locals in Orono are all in on this team and have been for generations. Kenny Holland must also like it in Orono- Jimmy Howard and Gus Nyquist.
Easter was great, thanks Will. A big party after this is over sounds great. Stay strong Will, more than just those nieces and nephews count on you, you’re a huge part of this site and I know that I count on reading your sports news and opinions.
you guys have put up with my Anders Bjork love for a few years now. Maybe he’s finally ready to put his game all together. Either way the above statement from Cassidy gets it going.
Pastrnak is back... David Pastrnak practiced with the Boston Bruins for the first time in training camp, skating with a small group of teammates at Warrior Ice Arena in Boston on Wednesday. The forward, who returned to Czech Republic after the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, missed the first two practices of training camp. General manager Don Sweeney said Sunday that Pastrnak's return was held up due to quarantine rules for players arriving from Europe. "[Pastrnak is] always in good shape, so I'm sure he was doing what he needed to do to get ready over there," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said before Pastrnak took the ice. "We didn't monitor them on a daily basis. He looks great. Let's get him on the ice, see how he is. I suspect he'll get right back up to speed." Pastrnak did not speak to the media Wednesday but is scheduled to Thursday. (NHL.com)
Well, Pasta made an appearance anyway... Head coach Bruce Cassidy deemed him “unfit to participate” . No idea why, tho.
I read that Pastrnak and Kase were playing street hockey with kids in Charlestown and posted it on instaface or something. Great move any time there isn’t a pandemic.
Pastrnak's agent said his client is quarantined after coming into contact with someone who was COVID-19 positive. jeez
Pastrnak, Kase to travel with Bruins heading into Cup Qualifiers David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase are expected to travel with the Boston Bruins to Toronto on Sunday in advance of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Pastrnak, who tied for the NHL goal-scoring lead this season, has practiced once with a small group during Bruins training camp, on July 15. The top-line forward missed the first two days of camp as part of coronavirus quarantine rules after returning from the Czech Republic, according to general manager Don Sweeney. Since July 15, Pastrnak has been "unfit to participate." Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, asked if Pastrnak and Kase would be on the charter flight, said, "That's [what has] been indicated to me, and of course that could change. But that's the plan right now. "We'll hope that everyone's cleared to go at 5:30 on Sunday, unless we hear differently." As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information. Kase also missed the first two practices under quarantine rules after coming back from the Czech Republic. The forward skated July 15 after the main session and has not returned to practice. Forwards Nick Ritchie and Paul Carey were absent from practice Friday. The Bruins have one practice remaining before leaving for the Toronto, the hub city for the 12 Eastern Conference teams. Boston (44-14-12, .714 points percentage) will participate in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, .657), Washington Capitals (41-20-8, .652) and Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, .645) to determine seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins play the Flyers in their first round-robin game Aug. 2. Boston has an exhibition game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 30 (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, FS-O, NESN, NHL.TV). Boston had as many as nine players absent from practice during training camp because they were "unfit to participate." Bruins president Cam Neely said that had to do with regulations in Massachusetts regarding the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the NHL to pause its season March 12. "Some other teams are dealing with this obviously, but what the state regulations are compared to maybe some other states are a little different across the country," Neely said. "We're following all the state guidelines. ... We're following all the protocols, not just League protocols, but the state protocols." Pastrnak scored 48 goals to tie Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead. Kase was acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 21. Pictures circulated of Pastrnak and Kase out in the North End neighborhood of Boston and at a local rink after they returned to Massachusetts. Neely, asked if he wished that different choices had been made, said, "Of course. We had the date for when camp was started and knew that some players may need to quarantine when they get here, you kind of hope that they would get here a little earlier. But you didn't really have much say in that. That was really left up to the players. Obviously with what's played out and transpired, you certainly would have hoped there were some different decisions made." Kase has played six games with Boston, with one assist, and could have benefited from getting more acclimated to his teammates during training camp. "That's been a little bit unfortunate and disappointing because we feel like he can be a big part of that secondary scoring," Neely said. "It takes time to get adjusted when we got him at the [NHL Trade Deadline] and then we hit the pause not long after. He's still got to get adjusted to our team, our system, his teammates. So it's been a little disappointing that we haven't been able to get him on the ice." NHL.com
Torey, Matt, and Bruce. Much hot air has been exhausted yapping about where Torey Krug ends up after FA. No doubt that he, and many others, HOPE he resigns with the hockey team from Boston. The cap situation, his age and value, and his deserving term have been the fuel for a lot of hot air, so I won’t repeat that. I’m just wondering if smarter minds than my sun-drenched knowledge box might be able to shed light on an under-discussed asset on the same team. I doubt that anyone will ever confuse Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk. Never - but then again, who would have projected Krug’s trajectory a decade ago? What I’m wondering: is Matt an ace up the sleeve in Sweeney’s negotiations with Torey. No one wants to lose a Krug, but everything is on a balance beam with opportunity cost evals. If Krug walks, would Grzelcyk be an adequate replacement? Also, congratulations to Bruce Cassidy for winning the Jack Adams. The hockey team from Boston has certainly won more than their fair share of this hardware.
I think youre right Dan and Grzelcyk is leverage against Krug in negotiations and could be used in a similar role, if Krug walks. Not as good as Krug but pretty damn close and improving. Unfortunately Gryz made poor decision's earlier in life in his collegiate choice but since then the kid has done nothing but improve. He is real skilled and quick, like Krug. Also like Krug he's small and can be pushed around in the D zone and has a real difficult time gaining position once he loses it. Some decent options in Providence it seems. Zboril has finally shown promise and will have to clear waivers if he's sent down. Same goes for Sensyhyn next season. What a terrible half hour it was for the good guys when they took Zboril, Debrusk, and Senyshyn. Barzal, Boeser, Connor, Chabot, Aho.....even Ilya Samsanov. Urho Vaakanainen is a fun name, maybe he'll be good. First rounder in '17 that came up early and looked pretty good before someone gooned him up. Forget the circumstance or player involved but I wanna say Vaakanainen got a nice crosscheck to the melon. but moving on to this off season the Bruins are actually in a good spot cap-wise and could use that money up front. Debrusk is an interesting case, he's an RFA that lost some money with a down year this season. Id assume he's looking at a bridge deal around $4.5 per. “That will depend on if we make any roster moves prior to that,” Sweeney said Wednesday of spending on the free market. “There are a lot of teams that are up against the cap in a flat-cap environment. We actually have the space to do the things necessary to do internally. Whether or not we do those or execute those, that still remains to be seen.” -Fluto Shinzawa 9/9/20 Some Many teams are up against the flat cap this season, would be nice if the Bruins could make a move. The Tuukka talk is nonsense to me. He's about to win the Vezina and so many are calling for his head for leaving the bubble. You dont appreciate what you've got (great goaltending) until its gone. The litany of garbage goalies between Andy Moog and Byron Dafoe was comical here and even after that there were dry times. Whatever, fuck Sully, he dont know shiiiit.
And in the newest edition of bad decisions made by the Bruins- Ben Affleck and others recounting the making of the movie- The Town [Titus] Welliver (who played Officer Dino Ciampa) : The character Dino was a cop who grew up in Charlestown. When we started, I said, “I need a driver who’s Charlestown born and bred.” Interestingly enough, my driver was a guy named John Fidler who was a major suspect in many bank robberies, and …[h]e goes, “Yeah, you know, I’ll tell you, Ty. Here’s how it works in fucking Charlestown: You’re born in Charlestown, you play fucking hockey and you rob.” And I went, “OK, that sums it up.” Affleck: Hockey’s such a big thing in Charlestown. Susan Matheson (costume designer): Ben at one point wears a zip-up track jacket that looks like a Bruins jacket. But it isn’t. We did not have legal clearance to use the logo. Affleck: The Bruins have been extremely shortsighted and wrong with their policy, where if there’s swearing or violence, you can’t use their logo. Matheson: I will never forget sitting there with some felt and scissors at 3 or 4 in the morning. I was cutting out pieces of felt while Gina [Rhodes] was stitching them—making, by hand, the fake Bruins logo. It had to feel like Bruins. But it couldn’t be Bruins. Affleck: I’m like, “Why the fuck do you think people go to hockey games?” Swearing and fighting. It’s like 50 percent of why people buy tickets."
