Revenge of the Lazy Links

First of all, if you like to hear what I have to say about various Bruins topics, please head on over to Somethings Bruin to check out part 1 and part 2 of the round-table discussion I participated in last night. It was fun to talk about the team with some fellow bloggers and I'm sure somebody reading will disagree with something I said, so go ahead and let me know.

• No really: check out part 1 and part 2 of the round-table discussion
• In other news, Mark Stuart is out 4-6 weeks with a broken sternum, due to playing with too much heart.
• As a result, here's a tweet from someone at practice:

• Dennis Wideman won't leave on the road trip with the team, but could join them later.
• Derek Morris is hurt too, but he'll travel with the team.
• Yeah, did you look at that tweet up there? That top line has a pair of deadly cannons from the blue-line, and of course Wozniewski was leading the AHL in points earlier this year. Also, this:

Are you shitting me, Andy Wozniewski?

• McQuaid is making his NHL debut. He'll play with Hunwick.
• Somebody hold me, this defense is scary.

In non-Bruins news:

• Rick Rypien sure can fight. Like here against Stortini.
• Two Line Pass can still write. Hilarious Bemidji youtube inside.
• Mass Hysteria Sports write in a style I enjoy about the recent baseball news. (p.s. they are nerds)
  

Yeah, I got nothing else.
GO BRUINS!

WHITECISE with John Whitesides

Some of you may have thought that with the offseason here there would be no content. Well, that's just not true. Tomorrow is FREE AGENCY FRENZY, today the US Olympic team invites are announced, and...

The Boston Bruins' strength and conditioning coach is here to PUMP (clap) YOU UP!

This week's episode is Abs and Lower Back, or the "Core" as its called. Get to it, cheering is tough work and you want to be in shape come October. Warning, video is like 20 minutes long.

...three months...

GO BRUINS!

Lazy Links: It's almost game 6 edition

I feel much better after that last post, and sorry to all who had to witness it. Sports fandom isn't always the prettiest thing, but it's a ton of fun and what's why we're here. Anyhow, here's some lazy links to wet your mouth before game 6:

• Puck Prospectus: Is David Krejci the next Adam Oates, Mark Taylor, or Jason Allison?
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: Reminds us its Milan Lucic's 21st birthday.
  
• Here Comes the Bruins: It's a couple days old, but the Star Wars/Stanley Cup comparison still rings true. (and is super-nerdy.)
• Matt Kalman points out that the Bruins have a grand total of 4 (5 if Alberts signs with the Flyers) draft picks this year. Might be time to cancel that trip.

Game six is tuesday night, party at your house! Go Pens. Check out thepensblog and Puck Huffers for that stuff.

Can't sign off without a little

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!

Playoffs: (1) Bruins vs. (8) Habs: Lazy Links, Playoff Preview Edition

Pretty much everything that can be written about this series is being written. So I have two options: Regurgitate what everyone else is saying, or analyze the analysts. I've always liked to think I'm ripping off thepensblog anyways. Anyhow, carrying on, here is your playoff preview edition of Lazy Links:

• Four Habs Fans: Goalies and D | Forwards ("You want to beat these guys? You skate, you skate like fucking Kristi Yamaguchi and you move the puck forward and quickly.the.fuck.out.of.your.zone.") | CLtS Preview
• TwoLinePass: Bigtime Playoff Preview. Funny guy, read his stuff. "The No. 8 Montreal Canadiens: WHY WE’RE GOIN’ ALL THE WAY: Carey Price seems to be playing better lately, and they might just be able to cajole Alex Kovalev into caring. WHY THIS TEAM SUCKS: But probably not."
  
• Melt Your Face Off: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOO U BEN HIDIN IN DA WEEDZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs ADV: Bs"
• The Old NHL: Asked me to contribute. Go read what I wrote there!
  
• Puck Daddy: Doesn't like my blog. Boo. (but writes well)
  
• Kynch's Korner: C'mon, Habs are not the Ninja Turtles. They would need to be way awesomer.
  
• Double A Hockey: "Let a bull loose in the arena"
• Barry Melrose Rocks: "Guys on Ice" chatroom-style preview
• The 2 Man Advantage: Islanders are out, but that doesn't mean they have to not write about meeting the flyers at some bar.
• On the Forecheck: The one good thing about the Preds not making the playoffs (shoulda been you, ducks) is that we get the Forechecker writing about other hockey stuff full time.
• Goon's World: Wise words from Komisarek. I might like him if he wasn't a Hab.
• Puck Prospectus:

I still think most of my playoff preview posts are less impressive than my season series in pictures.

Puck drops at 7pm tonight. Do I do a gameday preview? Signs point to yes, depends on how much work I've got.

GO BRUINS!

Monday Lazy Links: BASE...BALL?

It's the last week of the regular season. By Sunday night, we'll know who's in and who's out. Less than 168 hours. Playoffs are coming. If you're not psyched up for that, you don't like hockey. I question if you're even alive. Bruins clinched 1st in the east, and can still get the President's Trophy. Exciting stuff. Now it's watching the east race to see who we're playing in the first round. Who we will be heckling a week and a half from now. Which goalie's name we'll be chanting from the balcony. Which instigators' villainy we'll be yelling and gnashing our teeth at. Which scorers we'll secretly watch in amazement while hoping Chara knocks them onto a golf course. Who we'll want Thornton to destroy while telling our moms that we're not big hockey fight fans. Where the red lights followed by boos will be the sweetest sound.

I hope it's Sunrise, Florida, home of the Panthers.

Holy shit I'm so excited.

Bruins haven't won a playoff series yet this millennium.

The second season is coming.
Get ready.

Before all that, there's still a week of games coming up. Let's see what's going on on the internet.

• SENSHobo is hanging up the skates for 2 weeks and letting the rest of the season play out.
• Mirtle delivered some bad news about Thomas's contract: it will count against the cap.
• The Blue Jackets could back into their first playoff spot ever if they continue their streak and lose 5 in a row in overtime.
• Leafs fans figure out ways to measure success so they come out on top.
• Everyone who took the day off work to go to opening day got kinda screwed by the rain.  I don't like it, but since I didn't take the day off I don't feel all that bad about it.
• Eric McErlain tells us how to root for the Panthers.
• Crunk and Hockey, together again.
• Puck the Media interviewed Jack Edwards.  Good stuff.  Part 2 is tomorrow at 10am in the same place.

That's all, folks. Tonight there are a couple games. Go Ottawa, Buffalo, LA tonight! Most importantly,

GO BRUINS!

Lazy Links: hitting, etc, blah blah blah ARE THEY BACK YET?

Because Cal Clutterbuck just set an NHL record for most hits in a season (317 and counting), I decided I'd take a look at the hitting totals of the Bruins. The top ten is pretty predictable: Lucic, Chara, Ward, Thornton, Recchi, Yelle..... Those are the top six. And your number 7 most-hittingest Bruin?

MICHAEL RYDER!

Which is kinda crazy, since he has an unreal shot and doesn't look like much of a hitter. Unfortunately, nhl.tv doesn't have videos of his hits neatly lined up like they do his goals. Still better than any other league's video site, though. Back to what I was saying, whenever he doesn't score goals, you can always say "he's doing the right things everywhere else." I guess someone needs to check on the Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder line. Solid play from him. Thanks, Claude.

The rest of the top ten are Kobasew, Montador, Stuart. Those make a lot of sense. I find it interesting that our two deadline acquisitions both land in the top ten. Byron Bitz would be tearing up the charts in a hits/games category - he's got 60 in 28 games.

The problem with this stat is "What is the definition of hit?" Home statkeepers may keep it differently than away stat keepers. It's a stat that's only been around for a few years, and as far as I know it doesn't have a real definition. I also don't know if they count penalized hits as hits, per se. Even with all that, it was interesting especially when Lucic was at the top of the list for the league (injuries have brought him down).

Oh, and Chara's hits should count double. He tosses people aside like ragdolls. Ragdolls? That reminds me...

With that mini-rant out of the way, here are your lazy links:

• There's still time to join the WCHB NCAA Tourney pick 'em before the first game today (3pm eastern, I believe). If your -other- tourney pick 'em bracket is shot (like mine) you should give it a go!
• Thornton has been rocking the vlog near-daily during this week.
• The Bear Cave lets us know about the P-bruins. They are doing well, even with the loss of Coach Gordon.
• Wil Wheaton is a kings fan. That team's got a lot of young promise. Unlike Wesley Crusher.
• nhlplayoffrace.com added a president's trophy tracker.

Everyone at work has gone down to florida.

GO BRUINS!

Lazy Links: THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY

It's TIME FOR YOUR THURSDAY OFF WEEK LAZY LINKS!!!  CHILDREN'S TICKETS, ONLY TWO DOLLARS.  YOU'LL PAY FOR THE WHOLE SEAT, BUT YOU'LL ONLY USE THE EDGE! EDGE! EDGE!

• Manny may retire after this year.  Manny Haters everywhere rejoice.  Jerks.

SEE!  THE AMAZING TRUCKASAURUS EAT YOUR CAR!  THAT'S RIGHT!  ONE LUCKY FAMILY WILL GET THEIR CAR EATEN BY TRUCKASAURUS AND DRIVE AWAY A BRAND NEW CHEVY! CHEVY! CHEVY!*

*contingent on Bailout Money

• Apparently, Tim Thomas Hunts Bears needs a new nickname, because "Tank" or TTHB isn't cool enough.

SEE ALL YOUR FAVORITES!  BIGFOOT!  GRAVE DIGGER!  BATMAN!  MAXIMUM DESTRUCTION!

• The Bruins clinched on Sunday, but that doesn't mean I'm not watching the Eastern playoff race.  (great chart!)
• Also, Sports Club Stats.com does a good job.
• And I love Zorak's Magic Numbers.
• The NHL site has Colorado still in contention.  I guess...

That's all folks.  BUT WAIT!  COMING OUT OF THE (hall?  runway?  what the hell does a monster truck come out of?  I'm calling it a) GATE:  IT'S AFTERBURNER!

• Actually, Cycle Like the Sedins has an interesting piece about the Habs being similar to the Celtics.  Except the Habs suck and the Celtics are the greatest franchise in all of basketball history.
• Also, Nemmy did his thing.  kevyn allen has never had so many words written about him.

OOOOOH! THAT'S GONNA HURT, FOLKS!

GO BRUINS!

Lazy Links on a Wednesday: Bruins DVD out, Montreal not

Here's some stuff.  Happy Hump day, folks.

• Last night Montreal showed up to a game.  I haven't forgiven them yet.
  
• The Bruins History DVD came out.  I'm not going to watch it until I'm in the depths of the offseason and I'm craving hockey.
  
• Matt Kalman has stooped to name-calling drafted but unsigned Carl Soderberg
• Western College Hockey Blog is running an NCAA hockey tourney pick 'em.  I've joined.  You should too.
• Holy crap did you see the Leafs/Caps game last night?  Gerber gets tossed with 50ish seconds to go.  CuJo (the friendly rabid dog of a goalie) comes in and - though only 2 losses away from tying the all-time record - plays some shut-down goaltending.  He stoned ovechkin both in OT and the shootout and won the game for Toronto.  You could only barely hear the crickets chirping over the crowd.  More writeup at Pension Plan Puppets.
• I really like the mspaint-on-pictures that the Two-Line Pass does with it's morning writeup.  Pretty solid writing, too.  Good enough to do Puck Daddy's weekend wrap-up, even.
• Puck Prospectus interviews Colin Wilson, who some in Nashville are really hoping is going to be good next year.
• Japer's Rink has some interesting stuff about goalies in the playoffs.

Well, that's about it, folks.  Enjoy.

St. Patrick's Day Lazy Links

The Bruins don't play much over the next 2 weeks, so I'm going to be suggesting a game to watch that day and provide my usual lazy links. Without further ado...

Bruins Off-Day Suggested Game:
Chicago @ New Jersey Tonight, 7:00 PM
NHLN-CA,NHLN-US,CSN-CH (HD),MSG PLUS (HD)
Can Fatty break St. Patrick Roy's record on St. Patrick's Day?
or will Chicago's snipers have their way with him?
Chicago is 8-4-3 against the East.
New Jersey is 10-5-0 against the West.

And now, your Tuesday Lazy Links:

• The JOKESPN Ombusman: "It is too late for ESPN to dial it back or dumb it down, too late to satisfy the savvy core audience it created with the thin gruel of sound bites, shouting heads and the celebrations of the obvious. If it wants to sustain its success, ESPN has no choice but to keep getting smarter. Its audience demands it."
• The Hockey History Blogger: "The only thing Ovechkin lacks is Richard's infamous temper and eight Stanley Cup championships." (about this article on NHL.com)
• Cycle Like the Sedins: "At this point, I love NHL Network to the point that if it beat me up, I'd be back the next day with sunglasses to mask my black eye and a fresh "I fell down the stairs" excuse. Yup, it's my umbrella."
• Zorak's Magic Numbers: Detroit and San Jose have clinched playoff spots mathematically, but the Bruins magic number is only 4. If Carolina (tomorrow vs. NJD) and Buffalo (tonight vs. OTT) both lose, and the Bruins win vs. the Kings on thursday, then the bruins will have officially Clinched and I'll be taking my before-playoff-beard picture.
• Matt Kalman: Talks to Thomas and Manny about MB30 "If you look how Marty Brodeur plays, he has his own, totally unique style — which doesn’t get talked about that much.” said Thomas"
• Jeremy Roenick: "I grew up playing at that golf course. It was always one of my favorite places. I never could have thought that one day I’d be in position to buy it."

GO BRUINS!

Monday Snow Storm Lazy Links, etc

The trade deadline is coming on Wednesday.  I'll try to throw something up here on anything bruins-related that happens.  Glen Metropolit to the Habs already happened.

• Stanley Cup of Chowder tells us about P.J. Stock.  I still think Eddie Shore is the consumate Bruins Badass.
  
• The radio broadcaster for Notre Dame hockey apparently passed away in his sleep at the age of 44.
• Conn College Men's Ice Hockey lost their NESCAC playoff game to Trinity 3-1.  Due to family attending currently, I am now jumping on the Williams Men's bandwagon in the NESCAC tourney, despite them not showing games on TV.
• Conn College Women's Hockey tore it up.
• R.I.P. atdhe.net's free gamecenter video feeds.   I signed up for the NHL GameCenter package, and for a hockey junkie like myself, it's pretty neat.  I was watching the Caps/Panthers game and got to listen to Randy Moller call a game.  May he never run out of catchphrases.
• Cycle Like the Sedins (and others) look at the eHarmony hockey ad.
• On the Forechecker is about to learn a hard lesson in complaining about three stars selections:  Once made, they do not change.
• Rogers Sportsnet (different than Comcast Sportsnet) is apparently streaming their deadline day coverage.  Time to set up the computer with the TV again.
• I'm looking to change up the layout a little bit around here, so please excuse the mess.  If anyone knows exactly what to put to get nhl.tv videos as popout videos (the main cause of the slllllloooooooooooowness of this site is the flash) please drop me a line or put something in the comments.

Get over the Washington game, folks.

Shit happens.

GO BRUINS!

Day off lazy links

Some links to get you through the day:

• Nemmy of the 2 Man Advantage:  Outs me as a Season Ticket Holder.  Yes, it's true.  I just renewed for next year the other day, too.  I recommend it for anyone who's got the money, and they have a 10-month payment plan for this year to split it up.  If you're not reading his "Nocturnal Emissions" every Thursday, you're not following hockey correctly.
• Matt Kalman on Stephane Yelle : "'He’s dry. He’s really dry. He’s always throwing his little bombs from the corner,' Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference explained to TheBruinsBlog.net about his longtime teammate this week. 'We call him a giant, wooden spoon. He just likes to stir the pot and then kind of get out of there once the water’s moving around.'"
  
• Kevin Paul Dupont on Patrice Bergeron: "Bergeron lined up Tuomo Ruutu in open ice and smacked the Hurricanes forward to the ice with a crushing, clean check. It was Bergeron's only hit of the night, but it was a beauty"
• Matt Porter on the Habs: "It's...doubtful any of this will be included in the hardcover edition of 'Le Centennial Celebration."
• Phil Janack: Is updating everyone on the situation about the River Rats bus that turned over on I-90 at 3:45 AM.
• Puck Daddy:  Always has something good.  If you're reading this and not that, I'm flattered.

And that's about it.  I'm working on something bigger for tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Lazy Links, I PLAYED HOCKEY!, etc

This is where it happened.

As I mentioned on Saturday, I played hockey for the FIRST TIME EVER on Saturday. That photo up there at the top is where I played, on a pond up in Freeport Maine. I was by far the youngest and least-skilled guy there, but with some practice and learning then I'll probably be able to pick it up. What I can tell you is that the VERY unskilled play I did was FUN AS HELL. Seriously, I had a blast. The old folks graciously let me get an easy goal just for kicks, but I did end up working for another one. I fell on my knee, but currently it's my back more than anything that's hurting. I barely even got a bruise. Here's some of the guys I played with:
"Who's that coming down the walk? That guy wants to play? Fine, whatever."

That dog was running around the ice during the game for part of it, too. It was pretty silly.

And here are my dad, uncle, and me, posing like an old-timey line from back in the day, doncha know:

Don't pick us for your fantasy team.

Thanks again to the fine folks in Maine for letting me play with them. I had a great time, and I might just be heading back next weekend. Assuming my back isn't still sore.

And now, your Monday Morning lazy links and random thoughts:

• Justin Bourne for the Hockey News: "I was never married to hockey. If hockey were a girl, I'm fairly certain I could go to court and get a restraining order. Hey, I just liked it. Maybe I led it on a bit with the late night games and the odd early morning rendezvous, but it knew what we were. This all just happened so fast."
• Pens fired their head coach.
  
• Boston, San Jose, and New Jersey basically had a little round-robin tournament this past week or so. Boston lost both games and New Jersey won both games. The commute was shorter from your house to the Garden than the rock, Shanahan.
• The two-headed beast that is the Boston.com Bruins beat writers is interesting. Fluto Shinzawa writes more positive stories, pointing out hopeful and optimistic things like Patrice Bergeron is still recovering, and he's getting better. Kevin Paul Dupont calls for the Bruins trading for Lecavelier.
  
• The Hurricanes shut out the Sabres. I hope they get overconfident.
• If anyone has the full version of this, please let me know. I'd love to see the whole thing:

And on a totally unrelated-to-hockey note, a friend of mine and I created a website over the weekend called MetalHornsinFamousPlaces.com. It's kinda silly, but that's what happens when your friend calls you and you're still a little sore and winded from playing hockey.

GO BRUINS!

Thirsty Thursday Lazy Links

Some team news today but now much.   It's been too long since tuesday.  However, that game did have the highest overnight of any regular season game on Versus, ever, at 550,000 viewers.  Add in the 18,000 in the stands and that's a whole lotta eyes on the Bruins coughing up another game in the third period.  But kudos to San Jose for proving that west coast teams CAN, in fact, draw viewers.

Your thursday afternoon lazy links:

• Puck Daddy on how Montreal is doing in their Habtennial.  He's right: "It's time to admit that the Habs' place in the postseason isn't a divine certainty any longer; and to admit that missing the playoffs in the nostalgic orgy of a 100th anniversary celebration would be quite amusing"
• The other day, Big Daddy Wheels chatted up some fans.
• You've already seen Alexander Ovechkin's 200 goals in 200 seconds, but it deserves reposting.  But maybe some muting, the audio track is a song and no calls.
• Congrats from way back to my Alma Mater, Conn College, for the men playing well at home and especially to the rising women's hockey star Erin Davey, both of whom have been written up on the website.  Go Camels!
• Chris over at Hub Hockey talks about rumors about trading.
• Shaquille O'Neal admits to, well....you should read for yourself.
• Oh, and the Bruins have a deep team.
• I've been pre-empted by the pros.  Shucks.  Do we all just feed off of the same bubbling mass of blogs, all feeding off each other, a cannibalistic mess not unlike the classic snake eating itself?  Does any of this really have any meaning?  What is life?  Where am I?  This is not my beautiful house.  This is not my beautiful car.  And the days go by...
  

Big Games, Lazy Links, etc

Some big games yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

• Tonight, 8pm: BU (#1 Nationally) vs. Northeastern (#2 Nationally) in the Beanpot Finals.  I am officially rooting for Northeastern, because BU has too many titles and therefore reminds me too much of the Habs or Yankees.  Go Huskies!
• Yesterday, Martin St. Pierre to Johnny Boychuk led to a controversial goal, but it stood up for a 3-2 win over the Worcester Sharks.
• Tomorrow, 7pm: Uh, I think there are some good teams playing, but I haven't heard enough about it.  Big preview tomorrow.

Other things around the league:

• MLB + NHL + Internet = Year-round streaming live games.
• The Herald going over the top.  NO WAY!
• Practice Report, from Bish over at the Bruins website.
• Hahaha, Mike Milbury as coach again?  "Just another day at the f%$%ing office, right?"

GO BRUINS!

Way to go, Shawn Thornton!

No Habs No!

Jack Edwards is a Poet, Lazy Links, the search for content, Weekend Liveblogs

It's that time of year again.  There's a 5-day break between NHL games and people just don't know what to do with themselves.  Bloggers looking for content are coming up with all kinds of stuff.

Jack Edwards does some slam poetry about the grind of the NHL schedule.

Of course, there's the usual Picks contests, and stuff about the festivities, and retrospectives.  But I prefer to focus on those bloggers that go above and beyond (or aren't lucky enough to have a press pass) and write some random stuff.  Let's take a look:

• Puck Daddy has a writeup of "Puckheads," a documentary filmed during the 2006 playoffs about, well, you get it.  Please let this movie get distribution, I would love to see it.
• The Forechecker highlights a story about kids playing in the NCAA before the NHL.
• Dave over at Barry Melrose Rocks whistfully remembers college.
• The Pensblog joined Twitter.
• The Washington Post investigates Leonhardt Jerseys.
• The Penguins signed a new winger to play with Crosby.
• Fluto had a Mailbag, and I submitted the same damn question as everyone else, but got in.  Pretty interesting stuff.
• Whining.
• Jeremy Roenick acted on TV.
• Steve Dangle asks what teams the leafs will trade to during his recap of the Leafs game.

And this blogger?  Well, I'm pretty much just kicking back and figuring out how much ice skating I can squeeze in.  I'll probably tune in for the LiveBlog festivities over at Puck The Media tomorrow.  If Steve doesn't boot me out for whining about how Krejci should be in it somewhere.  If he does, I can always fall back on my friends at Melt Your Face Off who will also be holding a liveblog.

Spelling is hard:

Enjoy the break, folks!  (Unless you're one of the players playing, in which case please email me - I'd love to interview you.)

Everybody hurts sometimes

As if enough of the team wasn't hurt yet this year, looks like Manny isn't feeling well.  The Bruins have called up P-Bruins backup goalie Kevin Regan to backup Thomas.  Tukka Rask is back in providence after being the backup yesterday.

Kevin Paul Dupont of boston.com likens the Bruins injury reports to the KGB.

Luckily, the this week's P-Bruins game is @Lowell, then one at home and then one @Hartford.  So they can juggle lines across two teams if they want to all week long.

When Patrice Bergeron says he'll be back this year, I'm a fan of that.  But I do think he'll be out at least until February, if not beyond.  Losing Sturm is a huge blow, though.

Is a trade in the works?  Is the flu going around?  The bruins are starting to get hit pretty bad by the injury bug.  With the Habs tomorrow, this isn't exactly ideal.

The Red wings are looking to top the Bruins for longest winning streak this year pretty soon - they've got 6 in a row right now.

At halfway through the season, there are a lot of injuries but a lot of plusses, as well.  The Bruins schedule isn't going to get any easier (far fewer games against southeast teams, etc) and with the injuries plaguing the team, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bruins come back down to earth a bit, so to speak.

I'd like to say again that I liked seeing Byron Bitz play with the big club.  Thornton-St. Pierre-Bitz is an acceptable 4th line.

I'm glad the Bruins aren't in the same situation as the Wild right now.  Same with the St. Louis Blues, who could set a record for most GP lost to injury this season.  Oh, and it looks like Rick Nash is on Injured reserve for Columbus.  Luckily, they've got this Steve Mason goalie who is so on fire he's melting the ice around the net.

Interesting stuff from the hockey nerds at Objective NHL about how the bruins will have to come back to earth.  It's coming, folks, get ready.

I was a bit miffed at how quickly the Garden empties out when the Bruins lose a game (or two in a row!).  The Bruins have a ton of bandwagon fans right now, and I'm starting to understand why people don't like bandwagon fans.  Even so, I like talking about hockey and it's always good to see people excited about it.

Oh, and on top of all of that, some guy on the internet is saying that Tim Thomas's contract negotiations are starting to go sour.  If true, I blame his agent.

Press conference today, etc

There was a press conference today and if I'm your only source for bruins news I should tell you what happened:

• Patrice Bergeron's concussion will keep him out until he's done.  He said the doctors said that the way he hit the guy he hit would've given anyone the same concussion - history or not.  Still, it's not a good thing.
• Marco Sturm will need to have his meniscus repaired and might need his ACL repaired as well.  If his ACL needs repairing, we'll be without THE GERMAN for the rest of the year.
• Martin St. Pierre and Vladimir Sobotka got sent down to Providence.  Martin Karsums has been called up.
• Lucic isn't playing tomorrow.
• Ference's recovery has slowed, so now he's back to the original schedule, putting his return at sometime in the next two weeks.
• Lucic and Wheeler will be playing each other in the YoungStars game, being held in Montreal.  They're doing rookies vs. sophomores.

In other news:

• The KHL All-Star game is tomorrow morning at 8AM.  Team Jaromir Jagr takes on Team Alexei Yashin in Red Square.  It'll be on NBC's "Universal Sports and if I get that channel you better believe I'll be setting my alarm.
• The guy who stole the zetterberg stick from the kid at the winter classic will probably get off scott free with the money.  But the kid got a stick, and the guard ended up selling the stick in a bathroom.

Slow News Wednesday - Things I like about hockey

Not a lot going on today.  Over at Bruins blog, they've got a story about fighting, including this among many good quotes (It's tempting to quote the whole darn thing, but you should just read his thoughts about Steve Ott and other things over there) from Shawn Thornton:

Shawn Thornton said his hands already hurt from the damage he's taken over a career of fighting. He cites ice and Advil as his go-to remedies. "I'm sure there'll be something," Thornton said of long-term repercussions. "But hopefully my family will be set and I'll be set. It's like anything. My old man's worked in a steel factory for 31 years. I'm sure he's going to have long-term damage from that. You do what you've got to do to set yourself up in the best position."

Hockey is such a blue-collar sport sometimes.  Some blog or other said during the sean avery scandal-rama that "at it's heart, hockey is still a sport played by canadian farmboys."  I know it's wicked sappy, but I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Speaking of sappiness and fighting, how about that Lucic/Valabik fight?  I'm sure I've talked about it at length, but they were saying on NESN for the away game that Valabik idolizes Chara (they're both HUGE slovakian defensemen) and that he and chara talked about being big slovakian defensemen.  Chara was very encouraging and all that.  Skip to the next day, and Valabik is trying to take out Kessel's kidney with his stick.  The penalty gets called, but Chara comes in ANYWAYS and takes 17 minutes of penalties, just to say "no, you don't mess with kessel, not on my watch."  And that's why Chara's the captain.

I always liked the slovakian national team because of Gaborik, now I just want to see a Chara/Valabik defensive pairing.  When Boris is the short guy, that's ridiculous.  Get on that, Slovakia.  

Also, I was looking at goals the bruins scored recently, and this one is great:

Savard has the empty net and uses his pin-point accuracy to give it to Kessel.

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me going during 4-day game breaks.  I hope the Bruins have had some good time to rest their weary bones, and that they don't come out totally flat.  Some observations/links:

• No Habs No: The Habs lost to the Hurricanes last night.  Joe Corvo earns the letter.
  
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: Some Corsi numbers for you.
• Michael DiLorenzo: A picture of the NHL War Room.
• Bruins Blog: Sturm could play tomorrow.
• NHL.tv:  Webcam from Wrigley Field showing the construction.  It updates a little bit at a time, uploading old video.  It's not actually live.

GO BRUINS!