It Never Ends: 50 More Reasons to Love Tuukka

• The original post: 40 reasons.
• The follow-up: 35 reasons.

It's been a while. I think it's time to add to the list. Here are 50 more reasons to love Tuukka Rask.

The Army Ranger Jacket

During the 2011 Stanley Cup run, the Boston Bruins gave their "player of the game" a vintage Bruins jacket that Andrew Ference bought on e-bay. Read more about it at the end of this post. Last year, their short playoff run involved a padlock necklace that ended up, in hindsight, to be a sad reminder of the impending lockout. This season, Andrew Ference decided to return to the Jacket route, introducing an Army Ranger jacket to the team given to him by a personal friend that is himself an Army Ranger.

After each win, the previous recipient of the Jacket passes it on to the next person they deem to be the player of the game. This is how it has gone so far:

(Credit)

40 Reasons to Love Tuukka Rask (in case you don't already love him!)

Tuukka Rask! He is pretty great, isn't he? Are you still on the fence about whether or not to embrace him? Here are some reasons that should help make up your mind. Hopefully you will soon be doing what you see in the GIF below without any shame!

We're all Rask fangirls and fanboys at heart.

Off-the-Ice Alter-Egos

I normally wouldn't actually try to write something like this the way I did here, but it was helpful for me to express my surprisingly rational feelings about Tim Thomas' greatness on the ice and poor discretion off of it. I think the following reflects the final stage in the grieving process - acceptance.

Ever since the White House "incident" last season and his Facebook posting about it, I have gone back and forth between thinking Tim Thomas is an obnoxious idiot for saying that shit on Facebook and thinking everyone who judges him for it is an obnoxious idiot. The bottom line is that I love Tim Thomas for what he has done for the Bruins and that will never change. But why must he continue to progress into a more and more unlikable person off the ice? While I will always love and appreciate Thomas, I am not so sure that him possibly never returning to the Bruins is a bad thing.

Bruins Free Agents

According to CapGeek, the Bruins have 7 Unrestricted Free Agents on July 1st, and 2 Restricted Free Agents. Since Joe Corvo already stated he won't be signing with Boston, that's one to cross off the list. Brian Rolston is a question mark because he may or may not retire, and if he doesn't retire, it doesn't guarantee he will stay with Boston.

• UFA
• Brian Rolston
• Chris Kelly
• Gregory Campbell
• Daniel Paille
• Joe Corvo
• Greg Zanon
• Mike Mottau
• RA
• Benoit Pouliot
• Tuukka Rask

How I Cope with Bruins Losses & Proudly Bandwagoning to the Cup, Part 1

The earliest memory I have of watching playoff hockey while rooting for a specific team that wasn't the Bruins was in 1996, although I have faint recollections of the years before that. Normally, when the Bruins get eliminated from the playoffs, or fail to qualify at all, I pick a team to root for. Sometimes I pick a few teams, and sometimes I pick one team then change my mind halfway through. Either way, it has consistently been a way for me to cope with the loss of Bruins hockey while simaltaneously learning about and loving new players and teams (or hating them).

Before the Bruins won the Cup last year (WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), they were pretty consistently early-round exiters or didn't even finish in the top 8. In fact, I was just 3 years old the last time (excluding last year, of course) when the Bruins went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1990 and lost to Edmonton. I was 5 when the last time they had made it to the Conference Finals in 1992. From my earliest memories of Stanley Cup contention that I actively watched was about 1995, and I was 7, although I'd been watching hockey my whole life. Anyway, here are the Bruins numbers in the playoffs since 1995 (excluding the lockout year of 2004-2005):

• They did not quality for the playoffs 5 times ('97, '00', '01, '06, '07)
• They lost in Round 1 a total of 8 times, including this year:
• '95: lost to New Jersey (Eventual Cup Champs that year) in 5 games
• '96: lost to Florida (who would go on to the SCF) in 5 games
• '98: lost to Washington (who would go on to the SCF) in 6 games
• '02: lost to 8th-place Montreal in 7 games
• '03: Lost to New Jersey (eventual Cup Champs again) in 5 games
• '04: Lost to Montreal in 7 games
• '08: Lost to Montreal AGAIN in 7 games
• '12: We all know. (Stupid Caps in 7 games)
• They lost in round 2 a total of 3 times ('99: Buffalo, 6 games; '09: Carolina, 7 games, OT; '10: Philly, 7 games...the worst ever)
• It's worth noting that Buffalo and Philly both went on to the Cup finals (and lost thankfully) those years

10 Points: Bruins, Caps, and Stanley Cup Playoff Projections

(This earlier post vaguely goes along with the post below)

From the lovely stats site behindthenet.ca, I tried to familiarize myself with the matchups, even though I know we will be seeing Bruins line shake-ups today. If you scroll down a bit past that, I look at the PDO and some other advanced stats. For example, this trend indicates that the Bruins should start scoring goals ANY TIME NOW...

Remember to just click each pic to enlarge.

Bruins/Caps Stats Through 4 Games

Just click to see all the stuff...and when you're done, look at it more in depth here.

Quick Bruins/Caps Notes

• In case you haven’t heard, Backstrom’s automatic disciplinary hearing that comes with a match penalty has been moved up from tomorrow to today at 3:30 PM aka RIGHT NOW.
• Last night, Chimera DID NOT apologize to Marchand. Alzner, however, apologized to Marchand at the Bruins team bus after the game for an incident in the 2nd period that involved an unintentionally dirty hit.
• Dale Hunter thinks the Bruins are targeting Backstrom’s head, presumably because the only thing Hunter knows about hockey involves cheap shots and injuring other peoples heads on purpose.
• Claude Julien’s only comment on Backstrom’s crosscheck was the same as always (“it’s not our job, it’s up to the league, and we support them”), but he did say that while the team expects that type of play in the playoffs, he feels “disappointed, personally” that this was the THIRD TIME in THREE GAMES that a Cap has cross-checked a Bruin in the face. and he’s right.
• Chris Kelly is on NHL Live today doing an interview.
• He also had a great quote yesterday in response to Alzner’s “crybaby” gesture at Lucic; he said that he is pretty sure Lucic has never cried in his life, even as a baby
• Paille got the team link chain last night
• A bird shit on Tyler Seguin and his phone at lunch today

Lots to Say on Bruins/Caps

This may be only semi-coherent, and it is quite long, but it's the fruition of the past day and a half mulling over the past 2 games, studying some stats, and just trying to make sense of it on the fly, much like the Bruins are trying to do with the Caps as this series moves forward.

Behind the jump, I talk about the good, the bad, and the maybe for the Bruins so far looking back but mostly trying to look forward. Ultimately, I think there's reason to not be as distraught as I have been.

Bruins Caps Game 1: Stats

I'm going to take a look at the statistics from last night's Game 1 between Boston and Washington in which the Bruins won 1-0 in Overtime. Chris Kelly scored on his 1st shot of the game. The only stat that matters, of course, is goals, but I have lots of time on my hands if you could't tell.

Bruins 1, Caps 0 (OT) Game 1 (4/12/12)

Last night was awesome! I went to the first Bruins playoff game in 2 years, saw them win a playoff game in person for only the 2nd time in my life, and saw them win a playoff game in OT for the first time! What an amazing experience! We had great seats (Loge 9, Row 11). Here are all my photos uploaded to flickr.

Dissecting the Regular Season and Looking Forward to the Playoffs

Here are some charts I put together looking at some basic regular season stats now that it has come to an end. I will be posting more (hopefully doing a better job) as well. Because it's fun for me even if no one reads it.

Recchi, Rolston, Repeat?

Ok I have a crazy thought below, but first I think we learned 3 important lessons today:

1. David Krejci's streakiness is streaky but clutch.
2. Don't break up Marchand - Bergeron - Seguin. Ever.
3. Chris Kelly is the key to winning all the things. 

But here's my main reason for posting. I have had an elaborate thought to express. It's quite long, so here are some words to sum it up and draw you in: Ray Bourque. Mark Recchi. Brian Rolston. Stanley Cup. More words like this!

Bruins Shouldn't Rest Till Home Ice is Clinched

Bruins @ Islanders, 1
The Buffalo Sabres loss last night allowed the Bruins to clinch a playoff spot, but they have yet to clinch the division. Home ice advantage is always a priority in the playoffs, and remaining in the 1st spot in the division will be important for the Bruins psyche going into the playoffs. Just because they have clinched, they should not slack off. Let's hope they continue to play hard to carry good momentum into the postseason. Today will be their 4th and final game with the Islanders this season. The Bruins have won 2 out of 3 so far. Those 2 wins both came during the Bruins hot streak in November, and Nathan Horton played a major role in both wins. Earlier this month, the Bruins fought back to tie the game at 2 only to give up the game-winning goal to John Tavares late in the 3rd period. This was during their cold streak, though, so I expect not to see the same kind of mistakes today. Nabokov absolutely stole the game last time around, but the Bruins were also experiencing a crisis of scoring over that period of time. In the same situations today, out of the previous funk, one would hope that the Bruins would not let Nabokov run away with the game like that.

In other news, McQuaid won't play, but Seidenberg will be back. Unfortunately, Joe Corvo will probably play again today despite being awful at everything.

Talented Hair, Lies about Clinching, RIP Rolston's Scoring Streak

Congrats to Horton & family on their new baby boy.

Earlier tonight, Emma inquired about the Bruins record in the games immediately after Cuts for a Cause. Since I like to pretend I'm useful, I looked it up. Aaron Ward administered the first Cuts for a Cause in 2008 and did so again in 2009, but since he was traded, Shawn Thornton took over and has run the event each of the past 3 years. The Bruins record in the next game after the event takes place each year? 2-1-2.

• 2008: 3-2 Overtime loss to New Jersey (this is the only game listed here that was away, not home)
• 2009: 2-1 Win over Ottawa
• 2010: 1-0 Loss to Florida
• 2011: 3-1 Win over Ottawa
• 2012: 3-2 Shootout loss to Washington

The Bear, The Gang, and the Good Ol' Bruins Are Back

It's fitting that Thornton's goal broke a 38-game goalless streak and Seidenberg's goal broke a 28-something-game goalless streak on a night that the Bruins proved they had finally broken a collective losing streak that sucked the life out of them from January through the early weeks of March.

I was extremely uncertain coming into tonight's game about what to expect from the Bruins. I hoped, obviously, that they would continue to improve and play great hockey that they are capable of. They seem to be on that road, with each passing game in the past week or two another step in the direction of playing in playoff mode. Tonight certainly seemed to have a playoff-like intensity to it, at least in the 3rd period. I had forgotten what it was like to see them play so well, and be successful. I don't want to jump the gun and say they're gonna keep it up and steamroll into the playoffs, but they are showing that they are on the right track.

Which is why I was hesitant to expect a win tonight. Tampa was so devastating the past two games they played against the Bruins, and the Bruins in general have been awful against the Southeast Division. But the 4-game season series ends at 2-2, with the home team winning every game. Playing well at home was something important they needed to re-establish before the end of the season; they had proven that they could play well on the road during the California road trip. But their shot totals had been down, and they still had some kinks in their game. Tonight, it's great to see they continue to iron out those kinks in their game.

This game was a huge relief, and Love That Dirty Water playing over the Garden sound system after the game ended almost gave me déjà vu from last years playoffs wins at home. You can't blame me since this was against the Lightning, like in the Conference Finals: things like Roloson in net playing great hockey and the recent resurgence of The Bear, who we hadn't seen since Tampa fans got unreasonably offended and outraged over the Bruins brilliant marketing scheme from last year's playoffs; after Tampa fans bombarded the Bruins marketing staff with personal threats, The Bear was no more.

He made his triumphant return yesterday in another genius marketing bit, The Bear and the Gang, and you can't help but think the Bruins debuted this on purpose at this perfect time. To put a cherry on top of how trolly and brilliant this is, check out the banner hanging on the wall in the background of the basement set of the show:

That is unmistakably the same poster. Genius. Anyway, let's look more at tonight's game!

Since it is so insanely fun to bask in wins like this, I'm going to talk about why this game was great, and why they are finally turning it around.

6 Favorite Pictures Series: 2011 Playoffs, Round 3

Here is the 3rd and last part of my "6 favorite pictures" from the 2011 Playoffs (Round 1, Round 2). I never got around to doing the Finals against the Canucks, sadly. The "6 favorites" I chose here are, like the others, pretty random.

Game 1 

6 Favorite Pictures Series: 2011 Playoffs, Round 2

My previous post of "6 favorite pictures" from the Montreal series of course is followed up by the Philadelphia series. Here are 6 pictures of choice mashed up in Photoshop from each of the 4 games:

Game 1

6 Favorite Pictures Series: 2011 Playoffs, Round 1

Along with making graphics about my favorite American players and favorite overall players, I made a bunch of "6 favorite pictures", because for some reason on tumblr at the time, it was all the rage. These are kind of haphazardly picked, but I think they're fun nonetheless.

Game 1