Finals Start Tomorrow!

(Link to video)
I am so excited for this.

Also, happy birthday to me. One year ago today, I became a Bruins season ticket holder. It has been an awesome year, and I look forward to next year. For now, I just get to sit back and watch the two teams who managed to battle to the finals go at it. Go Pens.

Next year...
GO BRUINS!

FINALS START SATURDAY

Well, the finals start Saturday at 8pm. Pens vs. Wings, rematch of last year. Crosby touched the cup. I like it.

We here at Hockey Blog Adventure would just like to offer this little ditty:

LETS GO PENS!

Because seriously, who wants another red wings cup? Let someone else get it for a change. Granted the pens have won twice more recently than the Real Black And Gold, but what can you do now?

On a side note, Fuck Scott Walker and I hope he cried when his little bitch team got swept. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Back to the finals talk: There are two pens fan blogs that I read on a near-daily basis (i.e. they are in my google reader). They are thepensblog and Puck Huffers. One is written by a bunch of dudes, the other by a bunch of chicks.* They're both hilarious and definitely worth a read. Puck Huffers claim to fame is creating the Staal Drinking Game. thepensblog, well...what haven't they done?

*"chicks" may not be the preferred nomenclature, please email me or something and I'll switch it to broads or gals or whichever you'd like.

Other stuff:

• R.I.P. Pete Zezel. He was 44. I didn't know him, as a player or otherwise, but 44? Damn. Seems to have been pretty universally loved and possibly the man who played too well so they need to put those L brackets onto the faceoff dots.
• blah blah Crosby touched the trophy and Zetterberg didn't.
• Lidstrom is hurt, this could be the difference. Oh yeah, Datsyuk too.
• Malkin and Crosby have been pretty dominant so far.
• Everyone on the Bruins got hurt, had surgery, but you know that.
• For your daily dose of Cornelius saying random crap about hockey and other stuff, follow me on twitter: @HBAdventure. Fun stuff.
  
• The Bruins will be playing...
  

sigh...

Development camp starts in July, Training camp in September, preseason late september, season early october, first home game should be late october due to Circus.

Keep your chin up, go pens, and of course...

GO BRUINS!

VROOOM: GO SPITFIRES!

(picture by Scorpion0422)

Howdy, y'all. Later today (around 4 or 4:30 pm EST, depending on where you look on the official website) the Memorial Cup Finals will be taking place on the NHL Network in the US and Sportsnet in Canada.

Watch it. Every memorial cup game I've watched this year has been stunning. The champion team from the three Canadian Major Junior leagues each travel to one host city and the four teams play round robin, followed by a play-in round, a semifinal, and a final. The top of the round robin automatically plays the final, but the bottom team could - if tied with the third team - play in all the way to the finals.

This year, the Windsor Spitfires are that team. They're taking on the Kelowna Rockets. And I suggest you at least flip over from Wings/Hawks a couple times if you've got NHL Network.

Some Bruins prospects have been playing in the tournament, including Yannick Riendieu, who the Bruins signed back in february or march or somesuch. He's been lighting it up, but was eliminated by Windsor recently.

Go spitfires, but really
GO BRUINS!

Salary Cap Hell: No updates

Just wanted to let everyone know that until we know what the cap is actually set at for the 09-10 season, we won't be diving into what space the Bruins have left and how to fill it.

Here's nhlnumbers.com's page on the Bruins to tide you over.

Surgery updates:
Kessel's was successful, he's out for 6 months.
Krejci will be out 6 months.
Thornton is getting similar surgery to Kessel.
Kobasew has busted ribs.
Recchi got busted ribs in game 4, scored in games 5 and 6, got a kidney stone out the night before game 7, and then played 22 minutes.

We really want Axelsson back.

797 GP, 103G, 184A, 276PIM, 1000HockeyIQ

vvvv Read this article on Tuukka Rask below, too vvvvvv

GO BRUINS!

Offseason Hijinx: So, who is this Tuukka Rask kid?

There’s this guy, plays for the Bruins. He likes to stand between the pipes, and he doesn’t like to let the puck past him. He’s lost four games in the playoffs so far. He had some moderate success in Europe before coming to the USA to play the pro leagues here. And his name is not Tim Thomas.For starters, he’s much younger. Born March 10, 1987, Tuukka Rask is only 22. He’s also a little taller, and a little skinnier than Timmy T, and is building a similar reputation wearing Black and Gold. He first came to Boston when Toronto (who picked him up 21^st overall in the 2005 entry draft) decided they’d rather have a tested veteran goalie in Andrew Raycroft than a green rookie from Finland whose only notable statistics were, oh, I don’t know, playing for the Ilves Tampere Junior A team and putting up a 1.86 GAA in the regular season, and then upping that to 0.87 GAA in the playoffs (with a .973 save percentage) on his way to 9 wins in 10 games with 6 shutouts. And that’s just when he was 18. Two years later, representing Finland at the World Junior Championships, he posted 2.11 GAA and .940 save percentage, and was given Top Goalie honors and named to the All-Tournament Team.But enough about his childhood. He’s a Bruin now, what has he done for us? First, he’s been pretty solid for the P-Bruins. In his first season (07-08), he allowed 1 or 0 goals in 18 games out of the 45 he played. That went a long way to his 2.33 GAA and .905 save percentage. Not terrible for a rookie. 27-13-0-2 was his record, with 1 shutout (March 19 2008, 27 saves). He also got to play a game for the grownup B’s, which he won 4-2 against They Of Little Faith, the Toronto Maple Leafs (November 20 2007, 30 saves). During December of that year, he put up 1.83 GAA and .924 save percentage. Won his playoff debut April 16 in overtime against Manchester (The Kings’ Monarchs) and got his first playoff shutout two days later against the same chaps. He won six straight playoff games that year, and was voted by his teammates to be the team’s rookie of the year (Martone Group Rookie of the Year award). They were eliminated in the second round by Portland.

His play held up during the preseason for this season, where he posted a .952 save percentage, beating out those guys we know and love, Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez, who were both below .900 for the camp. The big guys decided he could use more pro experience, and I trust their decision. Tim Thomas played out of his mind this year, which is a big part of the reason the Bruins got where they did (the scoring a lot part didn’t hurt either, but that makes a second tangent, and that’s just too far. Back to the man at hand). Tuukka played another huge year this year, 57 games of 2.50 GAA, .915 save percentage hockey. His record of 33-20-0-4 with 4 shutouts showed a contribution of 61.4% of the possible points over his 57 games, which was better than the team’s overall 58.8%, but now I’m just getting nerdy. He also played a little bit in the NHL, 60 minutes to be precise. You may remember the game against the Rangers at home on January 31. Tuukka made 35 saves on 35 shots which, according to most people, constitutes a shutout. He then wound up back down with the P-Bruins to finish their strong season (2^nd overall in the East). In the playoffs, Tuukka is now continuing his steady play. In his 13 games so far, he’s got a 1.76 GAA and a .943 save percentage, which I find to be pretty good. He’s 9-4 in those games, and the P-Bruins are currently tied with the Hershey Bears (Battle of the Mascots), one game to one, as the Bruins come home to Providence for three games.

So where to from here? Well, first there’s the rest of the playoffs. We can’t look too far ahead of ourselves, because it’s the Eastern Conference Finals in the Calder Cup playoffs, and the Bruins-Bears winner will be playing the Moose-Aeros (a much less-interesting mascot mashup) winners for the ultimate minor league prize. But what about next year? Well, with Manny an expensive UFA, we will likely not be seeing him, which would definitely give room on the bus for Tuukka to sit down, but at the same time, signing Tim Thomas for a lifetime supply of Bentleys didn’t help Tuukka’s $3.2 million cap hit self. While I, being an unnecessarily large homer, want the Fin to see a good chunk more time in the spotlight wearing Black and Gold, I worry that the numbers won’t add up (or, rather, will add up too much). For now, let’s watch the Calder Cup, root root root for the home team, and watch as our best goalie prospect protects Providence’s pipes while going for the prize. I, for one, hope we get to see a whole lot more of this kid.GO BRUINS!

Blog Notice: All kinds of new stuff!

Howdy, y'all!

As you may have noticed, the blog looks a little different now than when it did when the Bruins were playing. I'll be tweaking the design a little bit, so if you see anything off/wrong/ugly/you just like whining, please let me know and I'll fix it.

Also, I'd like to welcome frequent commenter Travbot to the stable of writers (all 2 of us) here. He won't be doing stuff every day, but will occasionally chime in with what I'm sure will be fantastic. If anyone else would like to contribute, feel free to let me know and within reason I'll be happy to have someone else write on here.

I'm also changing the name of the site from "Cornelius Hardenbergh and the Hockey Blogging Adventure" to simply "The Hockey Blog Adventure."

I'm looking forward to more fun things going on here during the offseason, from the blissfully exultant "Focus on the Positive" and eventually looking at what the Bruins cap situation is, as well as (of course) reviewing any draft, trade, and free agent activity.

So the Bruins may be done, but we are certainly not. I hope y'all are watching the Memorial Cup and the rest of the Playoffs, and as always...

GO BRUINS!

Focus on the Positive: WE BEAT THE HAMTREAL BULLDIENS!!!

Over the offseason I'm going to try my hand at writing real things rather than just my usual bullet points and pictures attempts. The series I'm starting out with is "Focus on the Positive," where I talk about all of the good things that happened this season. There will of course have to be some negativity coming on, but for now the salary cap doesn't exist. DOESN'T EXIST!!!

So here's the first positive:

WE BEAT THE HABS IN THE PLAYOFFS!

Granted (blah blah blah, if the guys over at FHF want to fill this in they are welcome to do so, shoot me an email)

But the Bruins beat their hated rival. In four games. Sweep city. I tell you what - even if it was a team of grandpas or little kids like in that south park episode, I'd still like it.

We got to pick on Carey, we got to watch so many goals scored on a mediocre defense, we got to see Patrice fucking Bergeron win a fight. Truly, it was the best of times.

Here are the NHLVideo-provided youtube highlights of the 4 games:

Game 1:

Game 2:

Game 3:

Game 4:

Truly, a dominant performance against the team we'd all most like to come in last every year and somehow trade their number one pick away for prospects that then all decide to play in Russia.

So there's that, at least. Stay positive, folks.

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 7 BRUINS 2 CANES 3 WELP

Yup. Pretty much.

Congratulations to Byron Bitz for his first career playoff goal. It was a good one. Thanks also to Lucic for getting one.

I'll admit, I got a bad feeling as soon as this game got to overtime.

And I was right.

I'm a little disappointed that the bruins didn't do a stick-raising "celebrate the fans" type of thing, but I guess they followed tim thomas's lead in sprinting to the dressing room. What sealed it was hearing Byron Bitz getting called as third star and the security guard closed the door to the ice from the bench.

It was a very good year, the best since 1999 in terms of playoff depth, but obviously still a disappointment.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm hopping on the Penguins bandwagon. Both because fuck the Hurricanes and because I really like what the guys over at thepensblog do day in and day out.

...sigh...
There's always next year, right?

More focusing on the positives later, and maybe a little site redesign.

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 7: Bruins vs. Carolina BY ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR ON THIS GOOD EARTH I BID YOU STAND

Do or die.
Can't say much more than that.

Let's win the first period, eh?

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 6 Recap: BRUINS 4 CANES 2 SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON WHOOOOOA-OOO-OOO

Bringing it back to Boston on Thursday, the Bruins managed to...mmm....dominate the hurricanes early and then hold on for the win.

TICKETS FOR GAME SEVEN GO ON SALE AT 11 AM TODAY.

Huge first period. Huge game. Let's look back at some fond memories...

First Period.
This game had barely gotten started when the Hurricanes are in the Bruins zone. The bruins take it away along the board and Aaron ward passes it to Bergeron. Bergeron sets his sights on the net on the other end and takes off. He skates past about 200 hurricanes and ends up on a 2-on-2 rush with Recchi. He lets Babchuk slide between them and into his own goalie before dishing it precisely to Recchi, who taps it into the gaping open net with enough time before the Canes players dislodge it.

Pending review...
GOAL!

1-0. Hey, didn't Recchi score the first one last game, too? He's pretty good.
Recchi at that point had 50 playoff goals in 150 playoff games with 5 different teams, including (of course) the two on the ice in this game.

There's barely any time after that and the Bruins are moving it in the offensive zone. Ryder gets it down low, passes to Krejci who one-touch redirects the pass perfectly over to Montador. Montador slaps the shit out of it and Cam Ward has no answer for this one.

GOAL!

2-0. Montador? OLE! He's also definitely stepped up his game defensively. Now there's nobody on the bruins who I would consider "bad." It's a wonderful problem to have.

Carolina ends up equalizing the shots on goal, but doesn't manage to put one past Thomas in the first period.

As my dad likes to say, "Win the first."

Second Period.
Pretty early on, Matt Cullen rushes up and scores when Thomas misses a pokecheck.
2-1. You can see Thomas get mad at that.

Then about 5 minutes later, the Bruins are working it along the boards. It's the wonderful Kessel-Savard-Lucic line out there and the end up with possession. Savard works it free and passes it off the board past some cane onto Lucic's stick at the point. Now, the key to a player like Lucic is that everybody on the other team probably remembers him from that time they got hit really hard. Three different guys try to take him down as he skates from the point to the far side of the net. "Wait - what's that in the bushes? I thought I heard a sound....nah, must be nothing. Why's Lucic passing to empty spa-"

GOAL!

3-1. Marc Savard is usually the guy dishing, but in this case he seemed pretty happy to score that goal. Seriously, listen for the screech in the video as he tries to find a bruins fan in the stands before celebrating with the team. Shouldn't have a whole lot of a tough time on Thursday.

This is what Cam Ward looked like after the goal: Serious stinkeye.

9 minutes later or so, we're getting it all together. The Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew line is out there and they're pretty good on the whole. Recchi shoots but it's tipped over the goal. Bergeron picks it up and skates over to the side of the net. Kobasew has seen this and skated over to the other side of the net. Bergeron-Kobasew-Net.

GOAL!

4-1. KOBASEWNED! This is looking pretty good so far, and the NESN broadcasters are nice enough to let us know the Bruins are 6-0 (7-0 now) this postseason when scoring 4+ goals. That's all of the games.

Third Period.
This is where the jitters come back. You were watching when Carolina scored two to try to convince brodeur to retire early. You saw those 2 goals. You know this one isn't over until it's over. Buckle up.

First of all, Savard gets leg-checked and plays one test shift and then heads to the locker room. This is not good news at all. So far the Canes have taken down Chara and Savard and sucker-punched Ward. Tip for Carolina: Don't fuck with Phil Kessel. He beat cancer, he can beat swine flu.

Samsonov.
4-2. Stuart drops him right after the goal. He didn't know it had gone in, just playing the body.

Bruins hold on for the rest of the game. With 2 minutes left, Cam Ward leaves the net and the Canes spend a lot of time trying to get something going in the offensive zone. The Bruins keep getting it out.

Game.

Despite Jack Edwards saying "Miracle" twice, the Bruins

WIN!

3-3

One Game.

This ain't a series anymore. If you want to read how the bruins have already won game 7, go read Canes Country. If you're a hockey fan, you know that this is far from over. Nobody's already won anything yet. So get yourself a ticket and I'll see you at the game.

Julien already said Savard would be ready for Game 7.

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 6 Preview: Bruins @ Carolina WINNING GAMES IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE

Game's on NESN tonight, 7pm.
Bruins win? They bring it back to Boston for game 7.
Bruins lose? They're done for the season.
They played really well on Sunday. They'll have to repeat that performance tonight.
Walker, Jokinen could be marked men. Maybe next year.

The back of the net should be where we exact revenge.

"At this time of year, winning games is more important than anything else. But things are not forgotten."
- Shawn Thornton

Do or die.

Burn the sod farm.
GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 5: BRUINS 4 CANES 0 THANKS MOM

WOOOOOOOOOOO

That's more like it! The bruins decided to wake up and play some hockey all of a sudden. Their backs are still against the wall but they're looking feisty and ready to battle.

Aaron Ward's orbital bone might be broken. That walker joke should get broken too.

Jussi Jokinen is now officially a dirty word in Boston.

Now lets see how those goals got scored.

First Period.
Check out this hit by Lucic on Seidenberg. Seriously: Lucic Hit on Seidenberg. The whole garden watched him move in like a predator of some type...da-dum...da-dum...da-dum-da-dum-da-dum...BOOM! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!

Bruins get on the powerplay late in the period (and early, etc...carolina is really taking penalties like crazy here). Faceoff, puck gets back to Chara. he wrists one in from the point, Recchi bats it down, it goes 5-hole on Cam Ward.

GOAL!

1-0. Hey, that Recchi guy is pretty good. I bet Carolina wishes they had a guy like that...suckers.

Then there's this line we have. It's pretty good, we like to call it the top line. Marc Savard, Phil Kessel...you may have heard of these guys. One is a brilliant passer, the other a sniper. They make a dynamic duo not unlike Spock and Kirk (p.s. see the new star trek). Anyhow, Savard has it on one side of the offensive zone. Kessel is on the other side. Their eyes meet across the ice and it's like a match made in heaven. The angels sing, and it distracts carolina (the traffic in front helps too) long enough for Kessel's shot to bounce right in.

GOAL!

2-0. Hey, that Kessel guy is pretty good too. I'm glad he's around.

Second Period.
Staal goes to hit Chara. I love it when they do that. Here's what happens right after Staal bounces off like one of the kids in that south park episode:

You'll have to pardon the embed, but this is important. Link here.

3-0. It's truly one of the best turns of events this whole series. Staal gets mangled, and we score. Beautiful.

Third Period.
So at this point Jussi's already slashed the crap out of Chara's ankle and he's come back. Bergeron and Ryder go into the zone and bergeron-ryder-cam ward's pad. HUGE rebound, bigger-than-chara-big, and while the camera is adjusting for it Lucic comes in and slaps it home.

GOAL!

4-0. Other teams hate Lucic. They hate to see him score, they hate to see him hit, they hate to see him get our crowd pumped up. For that alone he is useful. I dig his scoring, too.

Walker punches Ward in the face and gets one of the only one-sided fighting majors I've ever seen. Ward's orbital bone may be broken.

Game.

WIN!
Let me tell you a little bit about my hometown...

Bruins still trail the series,
2-3

We'll see 'em again on Tuesday. This ain't over yet.
GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 5 Preview: Bruins vs. Carolina THIS COULD BE OUR FINEST HOUR

The Bruins have been down 3-1 before.
They can win this game.
They will win this game.
Carolina blindsided them like a camouflaged truck driving out of a dark forest.
The time has come to play some real playoff hockey.

Do or die.

Let's win a hockey game, guys.
Luke DeCock says that Boston doesn't "deserve" another championship.

Deserve's got nothing to do with it.

Burn the sod farm.
GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 4 Recap: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Well, shit.

Eric Staal
Eric Staal
Eric Staal's mom.
Marc Savard.
1-4. game.

Loss.

down 1-3.

If you thought Carolina sucked, you were very very very wrong. How do they pull this shit out during the playoffs?

Whatever. Game sunday.

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 4 Preview: Bruins @ Carolina THIS ONE'S A BIG ONE, FOLKS

May 8, 2009 7:30 PM ET TV: NESN Radio: WBZ 1030 AM @ Carolina Hurricanes Hurricanes lead series 1-2

Notes:

• There's a fan-organized event at the Joshua Tree in Davis Square, Somerville. Cameron Frye and I put it together, and there will be prizes and such. Come on down! (take the red line to Davis)
• Ference didn't skate this morning, likely out. Let the age of Hnidy begin.
  
• Wheeler had x-rays, but was skating with Ryder and Krejci.
• Big time game.

Stats:
1-2
I've got a bad feeling about this.
GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 3 Recap: BRUINS 2 CANES 3 DON'T PANIC

Well, shit. That's not at all how I expected that to go, though by the end of the second I had a bad feeling about it.

First Period.
The Bruins came out hot and by about 5 minutes in were really working the offensive zone. Stephane Yelle had a shot bounce off the bar and out. Just ridiculous. About a minute after that, with the Bruins still buzzing, Lucic sends it back up the half boards and savard gets it to wideman, who sends it on net from the point. Cam Ward gets a rebound. Lucic gets a rebound. Cam Ward doesn't get that one.

GOAL!

1-0. Since Carolina is the other team in the NHL that uses a Ric Flair WOOO, you're hoping they play it. They don't. Still, scoring first has been a good omen so far.

Thomas makes some ridiculous saves for the rest of the first, and Ward continues to play like a man possessed. They're both excellent goalies. The canes get a bunch of chances, the bruins get some too. The hurricanes end up nearly doubling the shots on goal of Boston.

Second Period.
During the end of the second period, the Hurricanes get a powerplay goal and about a minute later get another one. Eric Staal goal, too. They don't lose when he scores so far.
1-2. Crap.

Third Period.
The bruins are looking pretty tired at this point. Not overly tired, just tired. The hurricanes are buzzing. Luckily, the Bruins are still good and Old Man Recchi still knows how to crash the net. Montador sends it in, it gets blocked. Kobasew picks it up and sends it in to the net. Special delivery for Mark Recchi's leg. It bounces off and behind Cam Ward. The players on the ice look as surprised as I was.

GOAL!

2-2. We can't be relying on fluke goals, but with 10 minutes to go in this game, boy howdy will we take them.

Overtime.
Angry that Finland was eliminated by the USA team earlier that day in the IIHF tournament, Jussi Jokinen puts one behind Thomas.
2-3.

game

Loss.

This is still a 7-game series. The Bruins, despite looking tired, played the hurricanes pretty closely in what anyone from Raleigh will tell you is the loudest building in the league. (They could be right, it's pretty loud.)

Carolina now leads the series, 2-1. If the Bruins manage to split this trip and win on friday, then it's a brand new three-game series and the Bruins are going home-away-home.

the 2 man advantage breaks it down pretty well:

"It's like falling in love with the girl of your dreams then finding out that she once spent a weekend with Lenny Kravitz. I don't even recognize this Bruins team right now. They kinda look like my favorite team that controlled the tempo and played disciplined hockey but they just smell like incense, sweat and sing ridiculous lyrics like "We've got to stand up if we're gonna be free YEAH"

The Herald is reporting that Ference is unlikely for game 4, but this is from the folks that ran the "Pats taped pre-superbowl practice" and then ran the "sorry" one as the next season began. Just a shit paper. Sorry, Sarah. If the Globe goes down it will be a tragedy.

If he IS out, Johnny Boychuk scored the game-winner for Providence. He's a defenceman. hmmm.....

Either way, y'all should come down to the Joshua Tree in Davis Square (on the red line) to watch the game Friday. We'll have prizes!

Where? Joshua Tree (Somerville, MA)
When? Friday, May 8, 2009
What time? 6:30 - 11pm

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 3 Preview: Bruins @ Carolina BATTLE OF RIC FLAIRS

May 6, 2009 7:30 PM ET
TV: NESN
Radio: WBZ 1030 AM
@ Carolina Hurricanes
Series tied, 1-1

Notes:

• Busy day today. Not a lot of time for blogging.
• Series tied 1-1. Bruins need to take this game or Friday's.
• Let's take this one.

Stats:
1-1
Check out this terrible TERRIBLE video (h/t SCoC)

Big game tonight.
First game in their building.
Gotta come out a lot tougher than in Game 2.
The Bruins can do it.
They just have to work for it.
GO BRUINS!

Lazy Links: Did you see that last night?

No game to recap, preview's not until tomorrow....must be time for some lazy links!

• Hell of a game from Crosby and Ovechkin and Steckel last night.
• Seriously, check out these highlights.
• A Habs fan made a new site celebrating one of my favorite moments in the playoffs so far: http://www.booingthegoalie.com/
• Some interesting tidbits about the series so far.
  
• The USA team has advanced to the quarterfinals at the IIHF World championships.
• Speaking of which, the official power rankings are hilarious.
• The USA plays Finland at 4:15 PM Eastern tomorrow, and is not viewable anywhere in the USA.
• I took pictures at the Bruins home games. Trip Report: Game 2 will go there soon enough.
  
• The NO HABS NO campaign has come to an end for this year: Recchi | Playoffs
  
• I had this song stuck in my head all day yesterday:

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 2 Recap: BRUINS 0 CANES 3 WELL THAT'S NOT HOW I SAW THAT ONE GOING

Aw crap. It's never good to lose in your own building. It's never good to lose in the playoffs. But let's not get too low. The series is tied up now. 1-1. And we're going into their building next.

The game? Here it is:
Joe Corvo
0-1 crap
Matt Cullen
0-2 shit
Eric Staal
0-3 (empty netter) son of a bitch.

game

I looked it up. This is called a "loss." Apparently it's allowed.

Joking aside, they outplayed us and now Eric Staal has scored so that works some sort of voodoo magic.
Whatever.
Series tied 1-1.
Insert Animal House speech here.

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 2 Preview: Bruins vs. Hurricanes

Sunday, May 3, 2009 7:30 PM ET
TV: Versus
Radio: WBZ 1030 AM
vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Bruins lead series 1-0

Notes:

• Here's an example of John Forslund calling play-by-play.
• Fear not, Andy Brickley is doing the Color Commentary.
• Weather Forecast available here.
• Kessel sat out of practice yesterday, but should be playing tonight.
• If Julien keeps the old-school lines, I'll be pretty pumped. If he doesn't, I'll be pretty pumped.
• The Hurricanes' success is hurting the Finnish National team. Lost to Belarus.
  

Stats:
1-0
GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 1 Recap: BRUINS 4 CANES 1 EVERYONE ELSE LED WITH WHAT RUST SO I GUESS I WILL TOO

Yeah, so....awesome. If you're like me, you cut out of work early, and I personally was sweating on my way home, I was so nervous with excitement. So after a quick shower and a pre-game beer or two, we're off to the game.

And what a game it was. Honestly, I'm pretty sluggish this morning so lets just run through this quickly.

Pretty much a minute into the game, Cam Ward pushes it off to the corner, Lucic comes around behind the net with it, gets it to Aaron Ward at the point, who slaps it in. David Krejci gets a tap on it and Cam Ward doesn't. UPDATE: Krejci didn't touch it. Ward scored on Ward.

GOAL!

1-0. The crowd is trying to figure out how to taunt Cam Ward. Waa-aard seems to be what it settles on.

Everything for the rest of the period is for the most part going ok, but then with less time remaining than had elapsed before the Ward goal,
Jussi Jokinen
1-1. Aw crap. Tuomo Ruutu also runs tim thomas right after the puck goes in, and gets 2 minutes for it. You don't want to make Tim Thomas angry.

Second Period.
Joni Pitkanen knocks down Savard. Kessel gets the puck. Ward here refers to the goalie: Kessel-Ward-Kessel-Ward-Savard-Net.

GOAL!

2-1. Sweet, nice goal Savard. This is what hockey analysts mean when they say "drive to the net" "get loose pucks" etc.

And did you see Lucic back on the top line? Pure awesomeness. The classic Ryder-Krejci Wheeler line is back together again, too, and...well.......

Ryder intercepts the puck as the Carolina offense is breaking out. He and Krejci (I think? maybe wheeler) skate down the middle, and there's a carolina defensemen in the middle. Ryder has an unreal snipe, so....

GOAL!

3-1. MEET ME OUTSIDE MEET ME OUTSIDE ALL MY RUFF RYDERZ MEET ME OUTSIDE

Rydermania running quite wild in this one.

I'm sure a bunch of other stuff happened but whatever.

Third Period.
It's pretty simple. Bruins pick it up in the neutral zone. Kessel gets it at the line, moves in. Some hurricane starts hanging off his back. He boxes him out, then puts it over to Savard. Savard slaps it in.

GOAL!

4-1. Solid. Very solid.

Bruins play good D for the last 7 minutes and nothing changes on the scoreboard except the clock ticking down.

game.

I took some pictures and put them in the trip report on the miniblog.

WIN!

1-0

GO BRUINS!

Round 2 Game 1 Preview: Bruins vs. Carolina FEELS LIKE A STORM COMING IN

Friday, May 1, 2009 7:30 ET
TV: NESN
Radio: WBZ 1030 AM
vs. Carolina Hurricanes (0-0)
Notes:

• Reset everything. It's a whole new series and Did You See How They Got Here?
• Carolina is a strong team. Wicked Strong. Check the last post to see how strong they are.
• Seriously, they knocked the devils out with 2 goals in the last 1:30 of play in a game seven against Brodeur. Hell of a game. Of course, if you don't have Center Ice and you do have Versus, you couldn't watch it. Don't miss a second, right, Versus?
  
• Whatever, the Bruins are a strong team too.

Stats:

0-0
Reset everything.

Other Previews over at the CLtS MiniBlog, which I am contributing on again this round.

GO BRUINS!