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

Giroux Hit on Crosby

(I originally posted this on my tumblr, responding to this picture) I have been thinking about this and have nowhere else to say it so I’m saying it here/thinking out loud.

I find it ironic that Sid, the poster boy for head injury in the NHL and why the NHL needs to be less violent, is on the receiving end of this hit. Because if it had been anyone other than Giroux, it wouldn’t be making front pages. It was kind of predatory in my opinion. It was clean, and a good hockey hit sure, but he definitely sought him out to hit him like that. I understand that’s what the NHL is about, as long as the hit is clean, but the fact that the NHL flip flops from wanting to protect Sid to advertising how awesome it is that the new “superstar” is physical. He’s a solid player but his actual talent in goal scoring is what impresses me, not trying to seek out players to hit. I chalk it up to a bit of the Flyers mentality. I just think it’s weird that Giroux had an amazing series points-wise, and the thing that catches headlines is the hit on Crosby. I know Giroux has had concussion problems too, but it’s funny how the NHL pretends that those issues don’t exist when it can be used to get publicity like this.

And I’ve seen this hit headlined on NHL site and elsewhere, not just here. That’s what really confuses me. But that’s the thing with the NHL and violence…it is forever contradictory. We want to keep clean hits in the game, but eradicate concussions…you can’t have one without the other. And you definitely won’t change anything by displaying to fans and young players and other players that hitting a superstar is more important than winning a series for your team in goal scoring.

/end rant. i have weird opinions ever since I wrote that paper about fighting in hockey. And then thought about it a lot again today when I read about that football player that killed himself likely as a result of long-term effects of CTE.

I don't really have any solutions or suggestions. I myself am torn between the clean hitting aspect of the game, when it becomes predatory, and how it ultimately hurts players more than we realize.

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

Bruins in the Last 5

All my previous speculations about how, when, and why the Bruins would turn things around seem to be unfolding with each passing game. After the 3-2 win over Anaheim on March 25th, I began comparing the statistics of the past 5 Bruins games, in which they have gone 4-1-0.

• @ Anaheim, 3-2 Win
• @ LA, 4-2 Win
• @ SJS, 2-1 Loss
• vs Toronto, 8-0 Win
• vs Philly, 3-2 SO Win

View the graph below.

Review of Literature found in my Basement Volume 2: Slap Shots

Kevin Nelson. Slap Shots: Hockey's Greatest Insults. 
(1995, New York, NY: Fireside).

This is just a collection of interesting quotes on a variety of topics from a variety of sources. I picked my favorites below. I included about 1% of a book full of great quotes that highlight both sides of various debates and arguments and perspectives in hockey. Lots of the quotes I chose, especially in the latter chapters, agree with my own opinions, but keep in mind that the book has handfuls of quotes that accurately represent both sides, without the author taking a real stance on an issue. He just presents the information, and the information in most cases being the quotes. A lot of times it just does a great job of highlighting the lack of truth in any given situation, whether it be the Summit Series or who is the best hockey player of all-time or if the game is played the right way, and so on. I'd love to read an updated version. God knows there's been millions of quotes in the past 10+ years that are gold.

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.

"Hockey Stars Speak: Mark Recchi" (1996)

From the book "Hockey Stars Speak" by Stan Fischler (Warwick Publishing, Toronto, Los Angeles, 1996). Pages 145-154:

To describe Mark Recchi as likable would be a consummate understatement, but it is the first thought that comes to mind.

With a genuine, winning smile, the right win from Kamploops, British Columbia, has charmed both fans and media while playing first for Pittsburgh, then Philadelphia, and most recently Montreal.

I have interviewed Mark many times and invariably came away feeling better than I had before our discussion started. He's that kind of guy - gracious, warm, amusing, and thoughtful. It might very well be a function of his low-key beginnings.

Invariably regarded as "too small" back when he played Junior hockey in New Westminster and Kamloops, Recchi had his doubts about whether or not he would someday be given a chance by an NHL club. The Penguins finally plucked him 67th overall in the 1988 Entry Draft, and 3 years later, he was a 40-goal scorer in the bigs.

Win or lose, Recchi is completely lacking in pretension, unaffected by the trappings of a star. He appears to be just as well-liked by his teammates, which hardly comes as a surprise to those of us who have known him since his rookie NHL season, 1988-89. If, as the tune goes, a good man nowadays is hard to find, well, we've found one in Mark Recchi.

I was born in Kamloops which has since developed quite a reputation as a Junior hockey town. In terms of learning the game, my brother and I got a head start because our dad had been a goalie and had played organized hockey himself. He had a great love of the game from his own experiences and passed that on to us.

My first hockey experiences were on homemade outdoor neighborhood rinks. I'd just shoot the puck around, play some games and just generally have a blast. Fortunately, my father never pushed me into goaltending, although I was always fond of the big equipment goalies had. But that's as far as it got; liking the goalie equipment but not liking the position. I wanted to play up front where it was fun.

NBC Sports, the NHL, and Philadelphia Flyers favoritism

Sports Business Journal 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business was released today, and the number one most influential man, Steve Burke, is apparently a genius in his work as President and CEO of NBC Universal Holdings. He attained his current status after Comcast bought NBC Universal in January of 2011 from General Electric. His duties include TV and cable programming, as well as other aspects of the company, which most importantly includes NBC Sports. Upon the completion of the merger, Burke went to work to finally bring a sports network on par with ESPN to his Comcast empire. NBC Sports, which hasn't launched yet, is the culmination of years of Comcast trying to find a way to attract the key demographic of sports fans that ESPN, owned by Disney, dominated. VERSUS had been a haphazard attempt to attract sports viewers after Comcast signed a hefty contract with the NHL. With the addition of NBC Universal, Burke apparently went right to work in negotiating contracts and replacing executive personnel.

Like Comcast, Burke is from Philadelphia. He spent several years as COO at Comcast. The point I'm trying to make ultimately ties into the fact that Comcast, which owns VERSUS and NHL Network and now NBC Sports, controls the American broadcast and exposure of the NHL. Considering that Comcast is Philadelphia-based and have a majority share in Comcast Spectator - which owns the Philadelphia Flyers - there seems to be a suddenly clear path between the Flyers and their television exposure and special treatment in the Winter Classic setting, for example.

Another recent and infuriating display of Flyers bias was against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game that was nationally broadcast but ended up being two teams standing still for large portions of the game. Both teams were probably at fault, but VERSUS coverage overwhelmingly placed the blame on Tampa's shoulders and commended Philadelphia. I was flabbergasted to say the least, as I could not understand how anyone could say Philadelphia had any right to refuse to play a game that the Lightning have been playing for a while. Just because the Flyers got sick of it one night, it became a huge deal within the NHL community, and suddenly the Lightning were destroying the fabric of the game. In reality, the Lightning strategy can be combated and still create exciting hockey (see the Conference Finals series against the Bruins), but the Flyers refused to adapt and instead acted like spoiled brats. Yet, the commentators for NBC and VERSUS saw no fault in the Flyers. Steve Yzerman shared my thoughts:

The harshest critics came during the intermission of the game, which was broadcast nationally in the United States on Versus, from studio analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury who called Tampa Bay’s style of play “embarrassing’’.

Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman questions the motives of the criticism coming from the Versus analysts. “Versus is owned by Comcast, Comcast owns the Flyers, Keith Jones is a broadcaster with the Flyers and is hardly impartial,’’ Yzerman said. “I think that anybody that looks at that objectively should be saying, “Did Tampa do the right thing or Did Philadelphia do the right thing’’ and you can make an argument both ways.’’

The overhaul of Comcast sports and its expensive, carefully calculated emergence into what will be NBC Sports, centering around the NHL, which centers around the Philadelphia Flyers, who Comcast subsidiary Comcast Spectator holds a 67% majority share of (with founder Ed Snider holding 33% share).

It's no coincidence that the Flyers have again been selected to headline the Winter Classic - a huge spectacle for NBC that also now coincides with 4-part HBO documentary series following the teams throughout the season up until the Winter Classic in January. The Flyers already participated two years ago, but HBO only became involved last year, raising the stakes that were already in favor of the Flyers organization.

Comcast's subsidiaries and direct connections to ownership of both the Flyers franchise and all US television broadcasters for the NHL on a national scale are now essentially condensed into one self-serving entity: NBC Sports.

Philadelphia Flyers favoritism will only become stronger with the launch of NBC Sports for at least the next 10 years under the $2 billion contract NBC Sports Group and the NHL signed in April.

(links found at puck daddy) (also find here)