Don't Vote

That's right.

Don't vote for the all-star game.  Don't vote for Ward, don't vote for Thomas, don't vote for anyone.  Avoid the site like the plague.

The NHL has officially said that the fraudulent votes are correct, puck daddy reports.  They removed about 20,000 from Kovalev, but they're still ahead by hundreds of thousands.

So the league gets to sit happily atop a mountain of press about how they've "fixed" everything, and they like it.  Well, I'm sick of it.  First they leave Thomas off the ballot, to get people like me and Chris over at HubHockey.com into a frenzy to drive people to their site.  This is called good advertising, and the league finally did some.  Then again, it's the league's only good advertising move in the past.....well, I don't know how long, and it was a dirty manipulative trick to get core fans riled up.  I guess they learned that that was a good tactic after they locked out the players and canceled the season on the fans.

NHL, this is stupid.  Eventually, the tactic of "you can't have it...ok now you can" will stop working.  Plenty of folks stopped caring about hockey - sometimes aggressively - after the lockout, and I don't blame them.   They're slowly returning, but how long will it be before Bettman makes another boneheaded move and all of a sudden, the NHL is the laughingstock of the sports world again (if it's even mentioned).

Yes, Tim Thomas deserves to be an all-star.  We all know that.  He knows that.  The NHL marketing team knows that, and that's why he wasn't on the ballot.  I wouldn't be surprised if Peter Chiarelli specifically asked to keep him off so he'd play better.  It turned out to be a great coaching move.  He's been playing out of his mind all year long.

If you must continue to support this malarky, then go ahead and vote for Thomas.  He deserves it.  But don't think you're sending the NHL a message other than "I fell for it."

Game 15 Preview: Bruins @ Chicago

Nov 12, 2008 8:30 PM ET

On TV: NESN

On the Radio: WBZ 1050

@ Chicago Blackhawks (7-3-3)

Notes:

• We're holding a "Crash the Net for Thomas"  tonight before the game from 7pm to 8pm.  Join in here.
• The Blackhawks are on a hot streak right now.  They tie the Red wings for best L10 in the league with 7-1-2.
• They've won their last 4 against Dallas, Columbus, (in the shootout) Colorado, and Calgary.
• There are a lot of comparisons made between the two teams coming out of a slump with a bunch of young players to contend for the playoffs.
• Joe Sakic is the featured article on Wikipedia today.
• This is the first of 4 games against other Original 6 teams: @Chicago, vHabs, @Rags, @Leafs.  We play the Wings the saturday after thanksgiving, meaning we play all 5 other Original 6 teams in the month of November.
• Our hockey-reference contest is running until December 1st, when voting will occur.  Your message could be on the page of Marc Savard, Phil Kessel, Bruins 09, Stephane Yelle at hockey-reference.com.
• The bruins are third on TSN and ESPN rankings, especially when they finally did get around to updating them.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder runs down the Corsi Numbers of leaders, losers, and middle-folks to date.
• Boston.com is worried about tonight and tomorrow - and so am I.
• The Bruins have not won an OT game against Chicago since 1934.

Other Previews:

• The Bear Cave: Discusses the Blackhawks.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: Points out the big question - can the Bs shut down the hawks' offense?  (Bonus: watch Kane cry!)
• HubHockey: Reminds us that Huet used to be a Hab.
• WickedBruinsFan: Says Bulin Wall vs. Thomas in net.
• bruins.nhl.com: Preview | GameDay | Notes (pdf)
• Boston.com: thumbnails.
• As usual, anything not here when I post should show up to your left.

Tim Thomas Campaign HQ:

Voting starts today!  Get to it!  

Bruins.nhl.com tells you to vote for the three on the ballot, but quickly mentions the write-in option.  They don't have an actual article, though.

Live Results:

PRICE, Carey

17056

THOMAS, Tim

8459

as of 12:21pm today.  If only Thomas was on the ballot, a text of BRUINS to the texting number would add him, too.

Gary Bettman tackled Thomas and other players being left off the ballot on the NHL hour last week.  He said that cutting down the number of players on the ballot "adds realism."  If anybody wonders why he's nearly universally hated, you're not paying attention.

The whole thing is laughably geared towards having an all-habs starting lineup.  Whatever, we can beat them.  Heck, even Eklund is joining the campaign that HubHockey and I started last week.  Oh, but of course he says he's "starting" it now.  We all know Eklund is a joke.  Whatever gets more votes, in my opinion, is good.

Phil Kessel is currently beating Alex Ovechkin.  He's also on his 139th game for the team iron man streak.  The last game he missed was for CANCER.

Stats:

If this didn't happen:

Bobby Orr would have become part-owner of the Bruins.  I hate his agent.

GO BRUINS!

Morning Thoughts

IT HAS BEGUN!

Fill in your own third winger. Results are at http://fanballoting.nhl.com/leaders. Right now, Thomas is in SECOND. I'm proud of you guys.

Vote Early, Vote Often.

Next order of business:
They like me, they really like me!
Sick.

If you didn't see the Red Wings-Penguins game last night, you fail. Or VS. does. Either way, find yourself some highlights or the full game. Or read the recap over at thePensBlog. Just a great game.

GameDay post will be up at 4pm as usual.
I'm worried about this week. Hawks, Habs, Rags are all off to a great start. But none are unbeatable.
Here's Kynch's Korner with a look ahead at the Bruins Original Six Week.
We've gotta take it one step at a time. So tonight we're in Boston (well, the team is). They got there in style:
(bruins.nhl.com - really)

STOP THE PRESSES

(but not the server, we need that.)

I just found the NESN.com blogs. Jack "SAVE BY THOMAS" Edwards has one.

Here he is talking about Brave Steve.

So does someone named Eric Ortiz. He may be the most whole-heartedly pro-bruins person ever. First he says that Obama winning the election means the Bruins could win the cup.

Then he gives us a Belichick-Julien comparison.
Eric Ortiz defines Homer.

And lastly, condolences to the whole Thornton family. Losing a family member isn't easy. But I'm sure they don't want it all over, so I'll leave it at that. I know Shawn is a pro, so he won't play if he can't and he will play well when he's back.

Lazy Links: November 10, 2008

After GO HOME BUF-FA-LO! weekend, I need a day off.

We're first in the division for the second.  The Sabres and Habs aren't going to start losing just for our benefit, though, and the Habs are a few games behind.  We gotta keep working hard.  It's a long season, and this is just the beginning.

Some links about the Bruins:

Chucky's Back!

• Barry Melrose Rocks: Honors the bra-thrower.
  
• Boston.com: Lucic hit the Sabres 8 times.
• ThePensBlog: Throws out some Jack-Edwards-is-crazy love.

What's going on in the rest of the league:

• Fanhouse: Ollie the Goalie is playing in Washington for the first time.  He's played in 27% of the Caps' games.  Ever.
• Puck Daddy: Shatner for the singing of the National Anthem
• Deadspin:  When Deadspin is calling you out for not covering the NHL, you no longer deserve the title "Worldwide leader in sports."
• Mirtle: Leads his story on Goalies in trouble with Turco.  Classic.
• Chris "Elbows" Pronger has a blog: and posts answers to Q+A 4

Tim Thomas Campaign Headquarters Update:

Ok, I finally finished this.

Voting starts Wednesday.

GO BRUINS!

Game 14 Preview: Buffalo @ Bruins SOLDIER NIGHT

Nov 8, 2008 7:00 PM ET
On TV: NESN
On the Radio: WBZ 1030
vs. Buffalo Sabres (8-2-3)

Notes:

• Tonight is Soldier giveaway night. Aaron Ward gave away 300. Don't get into any fights, folks. These guys have a hard enough time putting their lives on the line.
  
• Kobasew is a gametime decision.
• Bergeron was given the day off in practice because he just works so hard anyways.
  
• Buffalo is currently tops in the division. Boston can tie them with a regulation win.
• It's a good thing we didn't play last night: Montreal lost to Columbus, Buffalo lost to Atlanta, Ottawa lost to Carolina.
• We've played them once before. Lost on Oct 21st in the Shootout. Ryan Miller stole that game.
• Boston.com: After scoring the first goal in the game against Toronto, Big Money Wides is settling in.
  

Other Previews:

• The Bear Cave: Provides us with some AHL updates.
• WickedBruinsFan: Wheeler-Krejci-Sturm is a hot line.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: The Sabres have a .833 win percentage when leading after the first period.
• BruinsBlog: Congrats to Fluto on having a baby! Not much around these parts.
  
• Goose Roost: A Sabres blog talks about Miller's resolution, and shows the painful shootout from last time.
  
• boston.com: Thumbnails.
  
• bruins.nhl.com: Preview | GameDay
  

Tim Thomas Campaign Headquarters Update:
(by: Chris from HubHockey, via Facebook)
I'm working on a pretty sweet image for the campaign. More on this later. Send your campaign materials to:
hockeyblogadventure@gmail.com
and I'll put them up here. Do it.

5 questions with a Sabres Blogger:

Nobody got back to me by post-time. I'll throw it in the recap if they do later.

Stats:

Two best play-by-play announcers, Jack Edwards and Rick Jeanneret, will be calling tonight's game:

You win on either channel.

GO BRUINS!

Game 13 Preview: Toronto@Bruins BRU FEST NIGHT

Nov 6, 2008 7:00 PM ET
On TV: NESN
On the Radio: WBZ 1030
vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (5-4-4)
Notes:

• Kobasew has been skating with the team. Hnidy hasn't, due to "lower body" injury.
• Sobotka's been sent down to Providence for the weekend.
• Kobasew out, Hnidy out, Stuart "available," Hunwick in.
• Blake Wheeler switched numbers to 26.
• Glen Murray's back, and claims he couldn't be bought out because he's hurt.
  
• Mark Stuart had enough time to blog because he's battling the flu and wasn't at practice yesterday.
  
• We've already played the Leafs once. They outworked us in that game to come back from 2-0 to go 4-2.
• Toskala in net.
• All-Star Write-In Tim Thomas in net.
• Our penalty kill is still worst in the league. Toronto and Colorado are only 1% better.
  
• Petteri Nokelainen is one of the league's leaders in Penalty Plus/Minus. The ForeChecker is solid.
  
• Puck the Media just discovered Jack "SAVE BY THOMAS" Edwards.
• Solid costume over at herewegobruins.com.
• bruins.nhl.com has a story on how the bruins have hopefully learned their lesson.
• Tonight is Bru Fest. Still no word from the team on how Season Ticket Holders can get in without buying a new ticket. I guess they just want to inflate ticket sales. I can't be bothered to spend (2x$45=)$90 for a beer and the priveledge of scalping a crappy ticket.

5 Questions with a Leafs Blogger:

I'm trying out a new thing, asking bloggers of other teams to answer 5 questions.

Our first: Loser Domi, of The Wonderful World of Loser Domi.  I've included the whole email verbatim here:

I don't know if you read my blog, but I'm more of a humour blog than actual in-depth analysis. How did you hear of it? (just curious) I apologize if this makes this request a bit odd. However, I shall answer to the best of my abilities. 

1) Toronto's MVP so far?

I've been really impressed with Schenn, Kubina, Moore, Kulemin 

2) Boston and Toronto have the two worst PKs in the league.  What's your excuse?

they need MORE BACON

3) Ron Wilson so far?

Ron Wilson is at the very least entertaining to me. He probably causes nightmare in others, however.

4) Sundin?
Sundin is currently living on a farm that's too far away to visit, where he has lots of sunshine and room to run around in and plenty of Swedish meatballs to eat. 

5) Who will win?

as much as it pains me to say it, Bruins, becasue they almost always win against the Leafs, and that makes me sad

So there you have it, folks.  More Bacon is the key to a good penalty kill.  Thanks again to Loser Domi for answering my email.  And agreeing that we all hate the Habs.

Other Previews:

• Ghosts of the Garden: Thanks Toronto for the spark they gave us last time around.
• The Bear Cave: Vesa Toskala is the favorite for goal tonight.  He already beat us once.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: Solid preview, funny fan video.
• Boston.com: Thumbs
• bruins.nhl.com: Preview | GameDay 
• As always, other previews after 4pm can be seen to your left, under the tim thomas voting badge.

Tim Thomas Campaign Headquarters Update:

• Boston.com: Picked up the story, same quotes from Thornton, Thomas, Julien.  Usually this means it's in the morning paper.
  
• Puck Daddy: Leads with Hub Hockey's post about the Vote Tim Thomas Campaign.
• Facebook:  Join the Vote Tim Thomas group, started by Hub Hockey's Chris.  Solid move, Chris.

Voting begins November 12. Send campaign materials to
hockeyblogadventure@gmail.com

Stats:

Obligatory Youtube:

It's a classic.
GO BRUINS!

More on the Tim Thomas Write in Campaign

The story is being picked up internet-wide. Tim Thomas has been robbed, just like he's done to so many shooters. Ba-ZING!

• BruinsBlog: Shawn Thornton says "He should campaign."
• bruins.nhl.com: Ward says "This is just another challenge to be overrun by 'The Tank'"
• HubHockey: has already been mentioned, but they made the kickass graphic you're seeing to your left.
• WEEI's Joe Haggarty: Claude Julien says "There are bigger things for Timmy to worry about"
• Hockey Journal: Thomas says "I think I’ve been underestimated"
• Puck Daddy: led with Thomas on the relevant post, despite snubbing Thomas after his back-to-back shutouts on his daily three stars post. I only bring it up because Puck Daddy is so consistently solid otherwise.

Voting begins November 12. Send campaign materials to
hockeyblogadventure@gmail.com

Out with the old, in with the new...voting

The U.S. election brouhaha is over, and now we get to the real important stuff:  The All-Star game voting.  As mentioned yesterday, Tim Thomas got snubbed after winning last year.  hubhockey wants to boycott, I want to take it over.  So when the polls open on November 12, remember:  Habs suck.  Write in Tim Thomas.  You can see the campaign button I made over on the left, there.  I am now declaring open season on campaign posters, stickers, etc.  send all submissions to: 

hockeyblogadventure@gmail.com

And I'll post whatever I get on the site here.  Together, we can elect Thomas to the starting position, but it will be tough.  Let's do it.  Habs suck.

UPDATE!  Hub Hockey has a great campaign poster.

Oh, and in other hockey news.  Check out Fluto and friends on BruinsBlog for better coverage:

• Sobotka's heading down to providence for the weekend.  Not sure why, exactly, but them's the breaks.  
  
• Kobasew could be back in the lineup on Thursday.
• People have been practicing.  Hunwick in, Kobasew in, Hnidy out.  Nisky's safe for now.
• Stanley cup of chowder is at it again with hugging harry reynolds.

GO BRUINS!

WRITE IN TIM THOMAS!

Mirtle posts the NHL's All-Star Ballot, and there's one glaring omission: Tim Thomas. Starting November 12th, write him in as your Candidate for starting Goalie. The habs have managed to get a full starting lineup on the ballot because it's their centennial and everybody needs to love the habs.

There are still 29 other teams in the league, folks. 5 of them have been around quite a long time. Brodeur is hurt and out, this whole thing is stupid. Way to go, NHL. When did you make this list, July?

Anyhow, it's time for a write-in campaign for our favorite Goaltender, Mr. Tim Thomas!

VOTE THOMAS 08-09!
The following picture is available and encouraged for use in writing in Tim Thomas as goalie starter for the All-Star game. Heck, he only is leading the league in Save percentage, and close behind in GAA and shutouts. Remember, November 12 is the day that that voting starts.
GO BRUINS!