From Warriors to Monarchs

Click read more to view many pictures interspersed with lengthy talk about my memories of my siblings hockey careers as I was growing up. But most importantly, the Lady Monarchs Jersey Quest (photographed) was fulfilled.

Rich Peverley Goals

I also miss Rich Peverley very much. A while ago I compiled pretty much all the videos of him I could find on youtube. It's short but beautiful.

LOTS of Bruins 11-12 Highlights

As the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals loom just 2 days away, us Bruins fans are struggling to cope with the reality that the Bruins are not part of it this year. Every aspect of the playoffs taking place leading up to the beginning of the Devils/Kings finals series on Wednesday reminds me that the Bruins were there last year, and it makes me so sad (sadder than I already am) that they aren't there anymore - and even more so, that what seems like yesterday when they were there, was actually a year ago. To try to cope with this sadness, I will post some of my favorite videos from the 2011-2012 Bruins regular season, which offered some amazing moments in and of itself.

These are in no particular order, and are only a dozen of the endless amount of videos I wanted to post, and perhaps plan on posting this summer.

I have to admit, looking through these season's highlights, I realized how unbelievably fortunate I was as a Bruins fan this year to experience a dozen home games that were all (except for 1 or 2) absolutely fantastic! I have so many wonderful Bruins memories over the years, starting with my first game in 1997. I miss them so much, and look forward to the wonderful memories they are going to give me the opportunity to be apart of in the years to come.

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.

So You're Rooting for the Bruins...Playoff Guide! (with The Bear & The Jacket)

This time last year, I created a 6-part guide on my Tumblr called So, your favorite team didn’t make the playoffs this year and you’ve selected the Boston Bruins as your adopted team: The Complete Guide. Since it was fun to make, and it clearly played a pivotal role in the Bruins winning the Cup, I am going to do it again this season to ensure I do all that I can individually to help the Bruins win the Cup again. Don't be fooled, I am still superstitious as hell, so I am knocking on wood as I write this. But it's really fun to look at what I wrote last year, knowing they would go on to win the Cup, and how different things are this year. I will be writing this years version and posting it sometime before the playoffs start! Maybe even before the season ends. We'll see.

Right now I am very inspired to get a start on it, actually. I do some reminiscing below, including The Bear ads and the magnificent of Mark Recchi and THE JACKET.

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

Hockey Cards

I have a large collection of hockey cards that I have posted about before. Here are some pictures of random selections. I don't plan on doing anything with them. I figured I'd share them with people who might want them. Anyway, the sample is below.

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

Bruins Sign Veteran Goaltender Marty Turco as Tuukka Rask is out 4-6 Weeks; Turco subsequently spelled name Tuurcco

What a whirlwind of a day for the Bruins! Fans waiting for several hours after they were promised a statement on the extent of Tuukka Rask's injury sustained against the Islanders on Saturday. Seemingly moments later, the Bruins announced the signing of former Dallas Star and Chicago Blackhawk and current wanderer Marty Turco. Chiarelli seemingly wasted no time in searching for a new back-up for Tim Thomas, a difficult situation to resolve when the trade deadline is long gone and the team's minor league goaltenders are not quite ready for or trusted with the responsibility of giving the team a chance to win while still allowing Tim Thomas to stop and catch his breath after expanses of 5 games in 7 days or something equally ridiculous that the Bruins currently face on the schedule (because the NHL schedule-makers are the most incompetent entity in the league - including referees.)

Only a few hours after the Bruins released this statement regarding Tuukka Rask's injury, Peter Chiarelli then announced the signing of veteran goaltender Marty Turco, to a one year contract. The contract has a few significant stipulations due to the nature of the situation: (1) Because Turco is a UFA returning to the NHL after playing in another pro league during the season, he must clear waivers first after the contract is signed (think of Nabokov last year when he tried to sign with Detroit and got snapped up by the Islanders); and (2) Because Turco was signed after the trade deadline, he may not participate in the playoffs this season should he clear waivers. Although an annoying policy, it is certainly justifiable to keep teams honest and, as I will explain below, this particular circumstance may be perfect for strictly regular season play from Turco.

Tuukka is said to be sidelined for 4-6 weeks, at which point the Bruins will be in the final games of the regular season, or already in the first or second round of the playoffs. Turco's ineligability to play in the postseason is irrelevant because Tuukka should be back by then. In the next month or so before we get there, however, the Bruins definitely needed more reinforcements in net. AHL goaltenders Khudobin (injured) and Hutchinson (sucks or something) were not adequate enough to provide any relief to Tim Thomas over the course of the final stretch leading into April where the Bruins have several back-to-back games, a West Coast road trip, and a span of no more than one day off between games for a few weeks. 

While Thomas is clearly the Bruins starting goaltender by now, he cannot be expected to play in every single game for the rest of the season. This poses two significant risks: (1) over exhaustion from playing that many games in such a short span of time will make him vulnerable to injury, and (2) will certainly drain some very important long-term rest to prepare for the brutality of the playoffs (especially if he is going to perform the way he did last year).

Crying into Peverley Jersey..

Here is a preview of the game tonight.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRADE THAT SENT WHEELER AND STUART TO ATLANTA IN EXCHANGE FOR PEVERLEY AND SOME OTHER GUY. Like all great anniversaries, and in my cast, birthdays (yesterday), consider jumping off a bridge with me.

Now let's all hold hands and cry about the Peverley news.

The injury: 3rd degree sprain of the MCL in the right knee.

What does that even mean?: MCL is Medial Collateral Ligament; 3rd degree is a COMPLETE tear of the ligament. This type of injury may never quite heal, although it is the most comment ligament sprain of the 4 major ligaments in the knee. Read more in detail about confusing physiological medical stuff here.

This hit from Hal Gill did not even get reviewed by Shanahan. Cause knee on knee hits aren't dangerous at all...they don't end the careers of like, Cam Neely or anyone important.

Cause, of course, this hit wasn't dirty at all. Oh wait, have you seen this?

Don't forget - AT LEAST 4-6 weeks is the projected time Peverley will miss. But like I said, and the many google results for the search of MCL sprains, 3rd degree is pretty serious and can damage other parts of the knee (such as ACL and the meniscus). The stability of the knee will forever be weakened.

As I panic, I question if Peverley will be able to skate as fast as he can. 

At least we can rest knowing Hal Gill will forever suck.

Also, for reference, here are some clips of similar - if not exactly the same - knee-on-knee cheap shots (including 2 Ovechkins, several Matt Cookes, and I didn't even search for either of those players - also includes Ulf Samulesson hit on Neely).

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...

I see the Bruins play Buffalo a lot. Which Reminds me of how the only time I have ever seen them win in the playoffs was against Buffalo

In regards to the tickets I got yesterday, I was thinking about how much Buffalo Sabres I will see this year. I saw them last month at the game with Lucic running over Miller. It was a great game for the Bruins cause they won and scored 6 goals, I had pretty great seats, and had a lot of fun. 

I also have seen Buffalo definitely in the past cause it was the playoffs...2009-2010 season, when they played Buffalo in the first round and Philly in the 2nd. The Sabres game was the 3rd game of the series and it was a close series, and a close game (Buffalo scored first but Bruins won 2-1)...the single most memorable moment from perhaps any games ever was when Mark Recchi made a fucking awesome play to set up Bergeron for the go-ahead (and what would be the game-winning) goal by charging behind the net to fight for the puck, knocking the fuck over the Sabres d-man, and passing straight to Bergy. 

Random side note: Although I've grown too tolerant of them in recent years, my hatred of the Sabres was at it's highest after knocking the Bruins out of the playoffs in 1999. I hated Hasek from then on. And I loved Dallas and Brett Hull so much when they beat the Sabres in the finals, winning the CUp in OT, on a very obvious illegal goal. heh.

2007 NHL All-Star Game Interviews

Watch these two videos from the 2007 NHL All-Star Game. They are hilarious. Especially since they are so old, look at how teeny they all are! So many great quotes and jokes. Chara eating babies, cul-de-Sakic, Luongo's job being taken over by one really fat guy, asking Ovechkin about US politics and he has no idea what is going on...so much greatness in these two clips.

Videos: Bruins Hat Tricks since 08-09

2008-2009 Season

• Milan Lucic’s first vs Atlanta (10/25/08)
• Blake Wheeler’s first vs Toronto (11/6/08)
• David Krejci’s first vs Toronto (12/18/08)

2009-2010 Season

• Marc Savard’s vs Toronto (12/5/09)

2010-2011 Season

• Milan Lucic’s vs Florida (11/18/10)
• Patrice Bergeron’s vs Ottawa (1/11/11)
• Zdeno Chara’s first vs Carolina (1/17/11)
• David Krejci’s in Game 6 vs Tampa Bay (5/25/11)

2011-2012 Season (current)

• Tyler Seguin’s first vs Toronto (11/5/11)
• Brad Marchand’s first vs Florida (12/23/11)

(thanks thenigotmeawalkman!)

15 Reasons the Bruins Would Make the Best Team to Follow on HBO 24/7

HBO's 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic is definitely great for hockey, and despite the fact that so far it has exclusively featured teams that I hate, it is still very interesting to watch. This year seems to be lacking in true entertainment value outside of Ilya Bryzgalov being hilarious or Tortorella being pretty awesome. Even watching Lundqvist rock out with John McEnroe wasn't that entertaining to me. Perhaps it's just the director this year, or there just isn't that much good material, but mostly I think it's just the forced and manufactured "rivalry" between the two teams plus the lack of real personality or character on either team. I am almost positive that this is pure bias in what I'm about to say, but I think that the Bruins would be hands down the best team in the NHL to watch on 24/7. I think many agree with me without me having to lay out the reasons, but just in case, here are the first 15 things I could think of:

Best Team in the League

The Bruins got scoring from every line, and every unit, as well as a first goal of the season for Seidenberg and a first career hat trick for Marchand. Marchand scored a short-handed goal in the 1st, then 2 more in the 3rd, as well as assisted on 2 other goals for 5 points on the night. Seidenberg had a goal and an assist; Bergeron had a a power play goal and 2 assists; Campbell had a goal and was 71% in the faceoff circle; Seguin and Chara each had 2 assists; Pouliot scored the best goal of the year; and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves in his 2nd consecutive shutout. The only negative of this game was that Peverley didn't play.

19 Assists for Bergeron & Peverley; NHL-Best 22 Wins; and in case you didn't know: the Bruins have depth

Peverley is a genius.

Bergeron is a genius too

The charts I posted the other night about the scoring distribution among the Bruins forwards was displayed perfectly in the game last night. The 1st line even scored - without Lucic. My favorite part is that both Peverley and Bergeron made important and great plays leading directly to goals, and that resulted in both Peverley and Bergeron reaching assists number 19. They are also both tied with 6 goals apiece (and therefore 25 points apiece; they are tied for 2nd on the team in assists and first in point).

An Unreasonably Long Playlist

It's a big file but it's got lots of great music, you will probably find at least one new thing to love!