Thursday, October 28, 2010

Game 7 Preview: I wonder if Dennis Seidenberg and Marco Sturm are offended by "The Kraut Line"?

So yeah the Leafs are coming to town but more importantly it's Milt Schmidt Night. Milt Schmidt started playing for the Bruins in 1936 at the age of 18. Yeah, that was a hell of a long time ago. Pre-WWII. If anyone reading this is that old, congrats. Anyhow, he played 18 regular-season games that year, coming up halfway through the year to play alongside childhood friends Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart. The latest he could have started would have been January 7th, 1937, though if he sat a game or two for injury then maybe it was earlier. Regardless, Howard Hughes was setting speed records for flying across America when Milt stepped in as a rookie. Not too long after that, Milt and friends (including such greats as Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper, and Favorite-of-the-Blog and Pride of Eveleth, MN Frank "Mr. Zero" Brimsek.Got together and won a couple of cups before WWII started and the Bruins dynasty was broken up to fight the Nazis. Kind of a bummer, yes, but a worthy cause. All in all, I hope it's a great little ceremony to celebrate the career of the only person to ever be Captain, Coach, and GM of the Boston Bruins.


Here's some more reading:
In 2000, The Hockey News assembled 50 hockey experts to definitively rank the top players of all time. Milt Schmidt came in at number 27, ahead of the likes of Paul Coffey, Henri Richard, Bryan Trottier, Patrick Roy and Boom Boom Geoffrion.
Schmidt was 28 years old by the time he returned [from the war]. Many other NHL players had difficulty starting their careers again, but Schmidt actually seemed a better player after missing more than three seasons.
"He was the one who gave us the name, the 'Kraut Line.' He said, 'All you fellas come from Kitchener/Waterloo. There's a lot of people of German descent from there. We gotta get a name for ya - the Kraut Line!' We didn't mind. It was a name that kinda stuck to us."
Milt Schmidt, 88, is still a Bruin at heart and watches the B's on television and visits the Garden whenever he can. He has an overwhelming affection for Boston and Bruins fans in particular, and would talk to you for hours about his many fine days playing, coaching and managing the Boston Bruins. Milt remains the only person in Bruins history to play, captain, coach and serve as general manager of the club.

Anyhow there's also a game to be played. We're welcoming the Toronto Maple Leafs, currently sitting second in the division behind Montreal. What? Yup.
(blah blah blah Kessel trade blah blah blah)
Timmy Time
Thomas v. Gustafsson in nets per Left Wing Lock. Thomas has been playing out of his mind this year so far, here's hoping that continues.

Here's a picture saved a little while ago called "LeafFansAreCrazy.jpg"
Yup, they're nuts.

Good folks for the most part, though, what with the hating the Habs. I heartily endorse Pension Plan Puppets for your Toronto Maple Leafs blog needs.

Stats!
Bruins have statistical advantage in a lot of categories except "record." Unfortunately that's the one that decides everything.
GO BRUINS!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Game 5 Preview: HOME, HOME ON THE RINK

Okay, folks. You know how it do. The Bruins are on a hot streak, having won the last 3 games against Phoenix, New Jersey, and Washington after dropping the international home opener to Phoenix in Prague. You can see pictures of the Prague games in the next post, but I'm not here to dwell on the past.


I'm here to point out how goddamn badass Thomas's white-as-snow pads look. No, really, check this out:
(click for huge, also looks like some doan-face action)
Thomas has been posting ridiculous goalie numbers right now, including against some elite competition. Like Ilya Kovalchuk:
Gotta love Jack.

So basically Thomas owns right now and all the haters are climbing over themselves to get back on the Thomas bandwagon. Which is dumb, since rooting for a specific goalie instead of the team is just silly. Tuukka starts tonight, and if he lets up more than a goal I fully expect some assholes to boo him for no good reason. For more on that, go check out Day's of Y'Orr's excellent post about it.

No really. Go read it. I'll wait.

Did you read it yet? No? Here's the link again: CLICK HERE.

Okay, now we can continue.

The Caps are obviously looking to prove they're not a bad team and can beat the Bruins like they did all last year. The Bruins are out to prove they're not completely lost and alone and hopeless on the powerplay. The Caps haven't let up a PPG yet. DRAMA! INTRIGUE!

Oh, and I know I didn't write about the Bergeron and Chara extensions, but basically my thought is that I'm happy to have those 2 guys back, and the Chara one might be a little long...maybe. He works out like a maniac, so it might work fine. Then again maybe not. Who knows? And now you know why I'm not an NHL GM.

Now, here are some stats:
Horrible Jerk who should really pick it up, jeez:
Tyler Seguin is a -1 and has only 2 points in his first 4 NHL games.

Keep your head up and your stick down, kids.
GO BRUINS!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Trip Report: Prague Pictures!


So I didn't spring for a data plan in Prague so instead of twitpic-ing every photo I'm putting a little picasa gallery or two here of all of the pictures. Should be good if you want to see some and haven't seen a ton already:


Bruins In Prague Day 1Bruins in Prague Day 2


Suffice to say, it was a lot of fun watching with the Czech crowd. On the first day they pointed out a couple of famous (and not-so-famous) Czechs in the crowd that had played in the NHL, including Jiri Slegr. Additionally, the penalty graphics were pretty sweet, with a cartoon ref doing the motions and a sweet fire graphic exploding behind him. I took probably 5-6 pictures of that between days. You know, phoenix kept taking penalties.

Anyhow, game stories. There was a slovakian gentleman sitting in front of me in the first game who clued me in to the fact that "Chara" in slovakian is pronounced "Hara" like the beginning of "Chanukkah." Pretty interesting tidbit, I thought.

Other things of interest: Ilya Bryzgalov is a great goalie, but Horton owns. OWNS. Check this out, from after the second game:



And then of course the second game (on at 10am Eastern) was even better. First fan-favorite Milan Lucic potted a blast on Illllllyaaaaaaaa, assisted by the Goomba. Then of course the Goomba put in his own. And then, well, this:
Yeah, that ruled.

Congrats to Tyler on his first NHL goal. It was a doozie.


Thomas got an assist on that, as well as this little honor:

More stories as time allows.
GO BRUINS!