Progression of Suspensions Thus Far this Season

Using the data compiled here that lists the suspensions handed out this season, I have created some graphs and written some extensive thoughts.

Bruins 5, Jets 3 (1/10/2011)

Tonight I went to the Bruins/Jets game at the Garden. I got these tickets for Christmas; they were located in balcony 312, which is the corner behind where the Bruins shoot twice, row 4. Here is the view from the seats:

The Bruins are Proof that the Problems in the New NHL Aren't Actually Universal Despite What Brian Burke Believes

Apparently hockey is going through a horrible change that is deeply distressing...


Essentially Burke is upset because he had to send Colton Orr to the AHL (thank heavens he cleared waivers!) and he had to send Orr to the AHL because, as an enforcer, there is no longer a spot on the roster available for a player who isn't necessarily the best skater (in other words, is nothing but a fighter) in the new and evolving NHL in which Brendan Shanahan suspensions are strict and frequent. He feels that because of Shanahan's excessive "policing", the physical aspect of the game is being forcefully removed and accountability on players who take cheap shots is placed solely on the shoulders of league disciplinarians (Shanahan) rather than players on the ice. In the past, for example, if a player like Downie takes a run at Phaneuf (who can protect himself, by the way), Orr comes out and makes Downie pay for it. Throwing a cheap shot directly leads to physically paying for it on the ice in that game, rather than perhaps a penalty and waiting to see if you do or don't get suspended by Shanahan. If Downie throws a questionable hit on Phaneuf, nobody on the Leafs can respond to it, because apparently the fact that Shanahan will look over the hit means nobody can respond to it on the ice.

2012 NHL All-Star Game: Roster Guesses

After announcing the First Team All-Stars today, the NHL vaguely stated it's Hockey Operations department would choose then remaining 36 All-Stars "sometime later this month"...

My Properly Spelled Peverley Jersey Has Arrived!

20 Trends That Shaped Modern Hockey: Bobby Orr's Defensive Revolution

(the term "modern" is used loosely as this book was published in 1987.)

Read this excerpt from an old NHL publication (Hockey: 20 Years; the NHL since 1967 by Dan Diamond and Lou Stubbs, an official publication of the NHL. 1987: Doubleday Canada Limited, Toronto, Ontario; Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York. pp. 30-31 below). We take for granted all the wonderful things Bobby Orr did for the game of hockey and, as a Bruins fan, I especially take it for granted.  Anyway, this is a pretty simple article but I think you will enjoy it. Although the publication date indicates that it is not modern in terms of chronology, Orr's excellence is timeless, and that is plainly but nicely talked about here.

Reflecting on 2011: History Will Be Made

I'm awful at recalling specific details from yesterday, let alone this past year...so I decided to do my own sort of review of 2011 by summing it up into the few months that was the Bruins playoff run and Stanley Cup championship. Instead of picking out individual highlights, I decided to let those beautiful "History Will Be Made" commercials from the playoffs sum it all up for me. I have posted in chronological order every single Bruins "History" commercial from the April-June 2011 months. Every single video gave me the chills, and I gotta be honest...I am totally tearing up and crying some tears of joy in reliving it. Thank you for these commercials, NHL, but most of all...thank you for what you accomplished in 2011, Boston Bruins. Here's to doing it again in 2012.

Get the duck boats ready...