Bruins Play Role of Disciplinarian

The Vancouver Canucks decided to mock the NHL and the Bruins after Alexandre Burrows was not suspended for his blatant bite of Patrice Bergeron’s finger in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals.  In Game 2 Maxim Lapierre taunted Bergeron by sticking his fingers in his face pissing off the well-respected Bergeron and pissing off the rest of the NHL in the process. Burrows scored the game winner in Game 2 and tallied another in a game that he shouldn’t have been playing in.  Bruins fans were anxious for Game Three being down 0-2.  But it was a familiar position.

Then the Canucks continued way past the line they so blatantly crossed when Aaron
Rome blindsided Nathan Horton at the blue line with an unnecessary and gutless hit that sent Nathan Horton to Mass General Hospital in the first period of Game Three.  This ignited the fire for the Bruins.

They scored 4 goals in the second period and another 4 in the third period en route to a 8-1 win on Monday night.  Yes, Tim Thomas had 40 saves but this game was won through the toughness and grittiness of the Big Bad Bruins.  The Bruins had 40 hits (including one from Tim Thomas, 75 penalty minutes, and killed off 8 power plays with the Canucks not getting a single shot on goal in any of the 8 power plays.

Old Man Mark Recchi was awesome tonight as well.  He had 2 goals but more importantly got in the face of Lapierre and other bush league Canucks players letting them know that the Bruins won’t stand for the chippy play.  Seeing a 43-year-old man get in the mix of things and not back down will surely fire up the squad.

The Bruins effort tonight can be personified by Brad Marchand’s dazzling short handed goal.  Words will do that play no justice.  All you have to know is that Marchand’s play was the epitome of hustle and simply just wanting it more than the other guy.

While the loss of Nathan Horton is and will be a tough one to swallow, the Bruins’ resolve is now strengthened.  All season long we have heard about how tightly knit this team is.  Do you think they want to let down the man who ensured they be playing in this game (twice remember, Canadiens Game 7 and Lightning Game 7)?

Tonight the Bruins played the roll of disciplinarian for the NHL.  Because with Colin Campbell unable to attend to his duties, the person replacing him has been asleep at the wheel.  The Bruins punished the Canucks for 40 minutes of hockey tonight.  Even though they are down 2-1, all the momentum is now with the B’s.  One has to believe that they have satisfied the should be punishment for the Bergeron incident.  Imagine what they are going to do for Horton!

The Bruins are three wins away from being Stanley Cup Champions.  There is no doubt in my mind that when this series is over, they will be hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup high above their heads.

I can be followed on Twitter @ ScottieNTCF

The Tale of Two Series

With apologies to anyone who has followed the blog and my coverage of the Celtics and Bruins in the playoffs.  I just haven’t had time to sit down and write or I have been extremely angry.  You choose.

There are things in life that make me very happy.  Conversely, there are things in life that make me very angry.  At the time of this writing, the Celtics are down 0-2 to the Miami Heat and the Bruins are up 2-0 in their series against the Philadelphia Flyers.  The Boston Bruins have been resilient in their playoff run.  When they have been punched, they have absorbed the blow and punched back, often times knocking their opponent out for the win.  The Celtics bullied around the Knicks in the first round not being punched at all.  The Heat have bullied the Celtics through two games and the Celtics look lifeless.

Due to the fact that my anger and disappointment is off the charts, I am simply going to offer this up as a post.  I am in no real mindset to analyze anything that is going on.  If that’s what you are looking for check out CelticsBlog.com or ESPNBoston.com.

Tim Thomas makes me very happy because he is a stud.

Glen Davis makes me very angry because he sucks.

Both NBA and NHL officials are like Mondays.  No one likes a Monday.

Rajon Rondo missed the team bus leaving New York and is lost somewhere in the city.

Brad Marchand has joined the likes of Pedroia and Woodhead in my book.

Will Shaq return before the Bruins score a powerplay goal?

There is nothing better than winning games on the road.

There is nothing worse than watching a lifeless and heartless team play in the playoffs.

Other than those observations, I’ve got nothing.  Feel free to blast my pour coverage of the most important part of both team’s seasons.  Like the Celtics, I deserve the criticism.

I can be followed on Twitter @ ScottieNTCF.

How Sweep It Is!

Believe it or not I actually do have a social life to attend to once in a great while.  Because of the social life, I was unable to post about the games over the weekend.  In case you missed it (and I doubt you did) here is a mini recap of the weekend.  And what a great weekend it was for Boston sports.

Celtics Bust Out Brooms in NY

In Game Three of the first round series between the Celtics and Knicks, the only competition on the court was between Ray Allen and Paul Pierce in who could hit the most three pointers and have the most points.  Pierce had 38 points hitting 6 of his 8 threes and Ray-Ray had 32 points hitting 8 of his eleven threes.  Rajon Rondo was able to run around the court at will and posted a triple double with 15 points 11 rebounds and 20 assists.

Game Four saw the Celtics lead throughout the game before putting on the finishing touches on a 101-89 victory being the only team in the NBA to sweep the first round this year.  Garnett led the way in Game 4 with 26 points and 10 rebounds.  If you missed either of these two games, you didn’t miss much as the Celtics dominated right from the opening tap to the final buzzer.

In hindsight this series ended when Chauncey Billups went down with a knee injury at the end of Game 1.  Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudimire never looked to be on the same page.  Toney Douglas was no match for Rajon Rondo.  Landry Fields laid perhaps the biggest egg in the history of postseason sports.  This was a guy that was a first team all rookie and he stunk the place up in all 4 games.  The Celtics will wait for the Heat to polish off the 76ers before starting round two.  The extra time off will provide the aging roster with some rest and also buy time for Shaq to get healthy.

Horton Hears a Who: Bruins Lead Series 3-2

Nathan Horton scored 11 minutes into the second overtime of Game 5 to put the Bruins one win away from advancing to the second round.  At this time last week, the idea of the Bruins making it out of the opening round was a joke.  But over the last three games they have played with heart and that is all you need to win in playoff hockey.  Michael Ryder continued his great play with the save of his career bailing out an out of position Tim Thomas in the first period of the game.

Speaking of Thomas, the man stood on his head in Game 5 with 44 saves.  Chief among those saves was a vintage Thomas move of sliding across the crease saving a one timer on a 2 on 1 break in overtime.  How he saved that puck, I have no idea.  All I know is the my heart was in my throat.  Radio personality Michael Felger has been asking when Tim Thomas was going to steal a game in the playoffs.  He got his answer with Thomas’ legendary effort in Game 5.

Lastly, how stupid is Max Pacioretty?  The man loves his Twitter account like no other.  This time he took to tweeting a derogatory remark about Brad Marchand’s nose.  Marchand responded by being the third star of the game and playing with as much energy and hustle as anyone could ask for.  Pacioretty has already promoted enough bulletin board material for the Bruins, and he just doesn’t seem to get the message.  There will be nothing better than the Bruins winning the series Tuesday night in Montreal in front of 28,000 screaming Canadien fans.

Sox Shut Down Angels

Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey both shut out the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend combing on 16 innings without giving up a run. The Sox now have a five game winning streak going and are showing everyone they are in fact who everyone thought they were going into the season.  In the last nine games, the starting rotation has an ERA of 0.88.

Carl Crawford also hit his first home run as a member of the Red Sox and has shown signs of coming out of his season opening funk.  Once Crawford gets going, and he will, watch out.  The Red Sox will be unbeatable.  Mark my words. The Red Sox can keep their winning ways going as they will travel to Baltimore and open up a three game set on Tuesday.

All in all it was a great weekend in Boston sports.  Let’s hope the run extends into late June!

I can be followed on Twitter @ ScottieNTCF