Root

Okay, so I ended up making an announcement to my girlfriend a while back and I said that if the Boston Bruins make the playoffs I was going to grow a playoff beard along with them because that is what hockey players do.

Needless to say, I ended up shaving this morning as the Bruins were eliminated in a rather tame boring game seven against the Montreal Candiens.  The Bruins clearly don’t have the stud scorer that they need and people like Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic are a couple of seasons away.  The one thing the Bruins do have going for them is that their farm team, the Providence Bruins, is silly good and there is a good chance they are going to win the Calder Cup this year.  Growing from within can be painful and a long process but worth it in the end.  Next season should be interesting especially if Manny Fernandez is healthy.  A goalie problem is never a bad thing.

A few observations from the series:

The Montreal fans are just plain odd.  They say “Ole, ole, ole, ole, ole” - which is from overseas in England during many a football game.  When they score goals, they play songs from U2, when they are about to win, they sing an American song to rattle the opponent.

Do they have anything that is theirs?  Thieves.

The NHL will always be broken until it goes back to the 80’s and 90’s unfortunately.  The game is stale and the owners and committees have ruined completely that it isn’t even fun to watch any more.  I only think it is going to get worse before it gets better.   It’s easy to be a fan of the sport, but hard to be a fan of the league.

Ugh.

Root

Share This

Last night was an interesting hockey game.  The Bruins pounded Montreal to the tune of a 5-1 game and forced a game six in this storied rivalry.  I am going to make a prediction - in a minute.  First some background.

I have had mixed results with my predictions in recent years.

In the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs I mentioned to people that Jean-Sebastien Giguere was going to have a good playoffs and he would carry the Ducks.  Little did I know he was going to dominate the Red Wings, and the rest of the playoff field and get the Ducks to the finals.  I ended up falling just short on that prediction.

The following season, my dad’s work was talking about the playoffs and one night over dinner he said, “who do you think is going to win the cup this year?”  My response to him was that no one wanted to play the Calgary Flames.  As each round passed, my prediction got stronger.  My sister went to Las Vegas shortly before the finals and she asked me who I thought was going to win.  My response at the time was, Calgary, but if I were a betting man, I would bet my money on Tampa Bay because it’s the better bet.  So once again, I came close to being right, down to a game seven.

October 16th, 2004, I had my dad’s retirement party and we ended up taking a bus to Foxwoods with several of his co-workers.  On the ride down there while we talking about the Red Sox-Yankees series, I said to them that if we don’t get swept, the series will go seven games and we will win it.  Well, wouldn’t you know the jokes and BS started and all the guys on the bus told my dad it’s obvious that I am his son because I am dope.

Well, we know how that turned out.

I think my best one yet though was my call on April 29th, 2007.  The very day the New England Patriots traded for Randy Moss I said the Patriots would go undefeated.  We were talking about it at my second job and one person agreed with me where another disagreed.  The person that disagreed, offered a bet to the person who agreed with me.  The person that agreed with me, declined and I jumped at the opportunity for that bet.  We are in a football pool, and we agreed that whoever won would pay for the other.

Yet again, we know that turned out.

So after watching the Boston Bruins dismantle the Candiens last night, my prediction is this - I think this series is over.  I think that Carey Price as stellar as he has been all season and series is broken.  I think this game is going to stick in his head because he is so young.  There is a good chance the Bruins have a clear and legitimate shot at taking this series.  I think Jack Edwards on NESN is a complete and utter moron with how he calls hockey games, but he did make a point that rings in my mind.  He said that Claude Julien led another team down 3-1 against a rookie goalie and number #1 seeded team and won.

This time, we have the right coach behind the bench.

Root

Share This