Postgame Recap: February 3 - Majors, Minors, Misconducts, Oh My!

November 11, 2008.

Boston Bruins 5, Dallas Stars 1.

A Saturday night. A packed house.

It was the game that galvanized that Bruins team and defined that season.

6 fighting majors, 7 misconducts and 144 total penalty minutes.  But it was more than just the fact that the Bruins fought.  They stuck up for one another and imposed their will on their opponent, establishing a sense of purpose and an esprit de corps.  Cheap shot artists such as Sean Avery and Steve Ott were forced to answer for their acts of cowardice.  Tim Thomas, en route to the Vezina, backstopped the Bruins making 35 saves and Marco Sturm netted 2 goals to lead the offense.

It was the most exciting game of the year.  To this day, it remains one of the most remembered and most discussed games in recent memory.

And so, this past Thursday night found the Bruins facing off against the Dallas franchise at home for the first time since that fateful night (they did meet in Dallas on October 16, 2009 with the Bruins shutting out the Stars 3-0).

Let's see how it played out.

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #51, home game #25
• Boston Bruins (29-15-7, 1st in Northeast Div.) vs. Dallas Stars (30-16-5, 1st in Pacific Div.)
• Only meeting of the season between these two teams

John Blue Plate Special

I got out of work a few minutes late, but traffic wasn't that bad getting into the city.  Because of the latest snow storm, on street parking in Cambridge was at a premium.  And frankly, with the roads so narrow, I really didn't want to chance my mirrors getting clipped, so I stashed my car in the T lot at Lechmere.

After waiting 10 minutes for an inbound train (which wasn't all that bad, considering the lengthy delays and cancellations that were plaguing the system for the past week or so), I got into North Station around 6:35.  I called Heather to gauge her ETA and popped into the Fours to see how bad the crowd was.  She was running late, so I was on my own.  At this point I was faced in a quandary: grab a bite at the bar and risk missing the start of the game, or head into the Garden and grab some food inside.  After a brief consultation with my partner in crime, we decided that it would probably be best to skip the Fours and concentrate our efforts on getting there early on Saturday for the pregame before the matinee tilt against San Jose.

Long story short, I grabbed a couple of hot dogs (at least they were Nathan's Famous) and a Dos Equis and headed up to 307.  The dogs were decent, but they can't hold a candle to the cuisine across the street.

The Couture Corner

Up until Reebok inflicted it's Edge System plague on the NHL, the Stars had one of the best sets of sweaters in the league. A take on the 1994-7 All Star jerseys, Dallas introduced the star template as a third sweater during the 1997-8 season, even successfully petitioning the NHL to allow them to wear it through the Stanley Cup playoffs that year.  They were unique and very fitting for a team named the Stars.  Easily one of my all time favorites. Near perfection.

So what did Reebok do to the Stars? Sterilized them, of course.

Dallas has a great logo, but the ad wizards decided it would be better to relegate it and utilize a generic city name emblazoned across the chest NBA-style, replete with with front numbers.  Look, this look works for a college team like Boston University, but it looks amateurish in the NHL.  The one sweater that does feature the official crest has those insipid TV numbers on the upper right front of the jersey to ruin the look.  The green that was prominently featured in the past has been reduced to an nothing more than an accent color.  And the alternate uniform is white, just like the normal road one. Good grief.

But there is hope. Rumors persist that Dallas will introduce a new look next year, possibly bringing back a green sweater.  Let us all hope that this is indeed the c

With that said, it was time to see what was in the offering in the crowd.  It was looking pretty bleak at first - a customized original Dallas sweater with some guys own last name ('Aguiar') on it didn't make the cut. Nor did a blank Minnesota North Stars one (I already covered that one).

Eventually I saw this girl:

Late 90's-Early 00's Mike Modano

When you think of the Dallas Stars, one player comes to mind - Mike Modano.  When the North Stars moved south from Minneapolis to Dallas in 1993, Modano, then in his fourth full season, came along for the ride.  He was the first overall pick in the 1988 NHL entry draft, led the Stars to the 1999 Stanley Cup championship and is the all time leader in goals, points, assists and games played not just for the Stars franchise, but for all American born players as well.

The call?

Good!

 The Row 12 Rundown

307 was back in order for this one. Everyone was present and accounted for, including John Barry, who had seat 11 for the night.

Doosh of the Day

Not to sound like a broken record, but I'm going to give Doosh of the Day status to the large, unkempt doofus in row 9 who seriously stood up and/or left his seat repeatedly throughout the game, particularly during the run of play.

I seriously have no idea why this guy was there.  It certainly wasn't to see the game.  Fortunately, none of his shenanigans prevented us from missing the good stuff at the beginning of the game.  Oh wait, that's because he wasn't in his seat yet.

The Clothes Line

I saw a lady down in section 8 wearing a John Carter away sweater, but I couldn't get a decent picture of it.  Damn, because that was a great (and rare) catch.

Fortunately, I did see this guy during the first intermission:

1970 Bobby Orr All Star


To be honest, this isn't a great sweater.  It's a knockoff that isn't a true reproduction of the original.  The shoulder striping is wrong.  These pop up on eBay every once in a while.  I certainly commend the effort and the intention is good, but the execution leaves something to be desired.

The Lobel Prize

As this game was approaching, there was a distinct possibility that we could have a matchup between two goalies that are forever linked in Bruins history: Tuuka Rask and Andrew Raycroft.

Raycroft was drafted by the Bruins in the 1998 NHL entry draft and made a few appearances with the big club starting in the 2001-2 season. But he stormed on the scene big time in 2003-4 as he backstopped the Bruins, finishing with a 29-18-9 record en route to capturing the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year.

After playing in Finland during the lockout season in 2004-5, his play slipped considerably the following year and he was dished off to the Maple Leafs in exchange for a hotshot Finnish goalie prospect named Tuuka Rask.  Raycroft had a decent first season with the Leafs, but his play slipped yet again (notice a trend here?) and he was eventually waived.  Since then, he's been a backup with the Avalanche, Canucks and now the Stars.

So how did he do?  You be the judge:



Yep. 2 goals in 1:20 and he got pulled for Kari Lehtonen.  That works for me.

The Home End
Simply put, this may have been the greatest start to a game I've ever witnessed in person.

4 seconds in and we already had 3 fights:

Gregory Campbell vs. Steve Ott
Shawn Thornton vs. Krys Barch
Andrew McQuaid vs. Brian Sutherby

120 seconds in and we had a 2-0 lead on scores by Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron.

60 minutes later we had a final score of 6-3 and 91 minutes in penalties including 8 fighting majors, 2 misconducts and a game misconduct.  The line of Bergeron, Marchand and Recchi combined for 3 goals and 6 assists.

But it was the fact that the Bruins came out strong from literally the first second and imposed their will on the Stars with their physicality and pressure.  They skated hard and finished their checks (although Daniel Paille probably shouldn't have in retrospect) and let it be known that when they play with focus and determination, they can hang with anyone in the NHL.

Postgame Recap: January 26 - Sunrise? Sunset.

The Florida Panthers are in town.  And that means one thing: Dennis Wideman is in town.

Let's see how it played out:

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #49, home game #24
• Boston Bruins (27-15-7, 1st in Northeast Div.) vs. Florida Panthers (22-21-5, last in Southeast Div.)
• Fourth and final meeting of the season with the Bruins looking to sweep the series 4-0.

John Blue Plate Special

Looking out the window of my office all day long, I watched as the snow turned into sleet into rain.  Any sort of precipitation typically makes for a hellacious commute on the Pike, so I was pleasantly surprised to get into town in under an hour.

Even better, the Four's had this on the menu as a special:

The buffalo chicken spring roll.

I am forever indebted to the genius who invented this.  The Fours had introduced buffalo chicken rangoons a few months ago as a special appetizer, but I never managed to be at the bar when they were serving them, only going by word of mouth via Heather.  Assured by the staff that they were homemade, I endeavored to try them as soon as I got chance.

So when I sidled up to the bar and Heather told me that the rangoons were available in spring roll form, I had her put in an order for me.  And they were worth the wait.  Tender chicken, hot sauce and creamy cheese all tucked into a spring roll wrapper and fried, served with shredded lettuce and additional hot sauce.

We shared 3 orders between the two of us.  They were that good.

Suffice to say, anytime these are available, I'm going to order them.

The Couture Corner

Florida is another of those teams with weak travelling fan support, so my bar was set fairly low. Their current uniforms utilize the worst template offered by Reebok as part of its Edge system, only slightly better rendered than those of the Edmonton Oilers and Nashville Predators.

But I was pleasantly surprised to see this on my way out after the game:

 Mid 90's John Vanbiesbrouck Away

"Beezer" as he was called, was Florida's first pick in the 1993 expansion draft.  After backstoping the Rangers for a number of years, including winning the Vezina in 1986, he yielded the number one spot to Mike Richter, still forming one of the best goaltending tandems in the league.  When teams could only protect one goalie in the expansion draft that stocked the Panthers as well as the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Rangers protected Richter and traded Vanbiesbrouck to Vancouver for a player to be named later.

Vanbiesbrouck ended up being the Panthers first true star player, backstopping them to the 1996 Stanley Cup finals, only to lose to the newly relocated Colorado Avalanche 4 games to 1.

The call?

Good!

 The Row 12 Rundown

Charla, Kathi and the kids were there, but Tim, Maureen and Patty were missing in action.  Probably suffering from jet-lag after their epic road trip to see the B's play in Colorado and LA.

Doosh of the Day

Look, during his time here I was not a huge fan of Dennis Wideman.  Was he prone to gaffes? Yes.  Did he cough up the puck at inoportune times? Yes.  Was he easy to scapegoat anytime anything went wrong on the ice? Yes.  Was I glad that he got traded for Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell? Yes.

Did I boo him every time he touched the puck the other night? No.

In fact, no one should have.

Look, Wideman had many faults.  The fact that we gave up on Brad Boyes prematurely hurt.  But he had promise as a puck moving defenseman.  And for all his faults, the Bruins were a better team with him than prior to his acquisition.  So it should go without saying that Wideman doesn't deserve the boos from Bruins fans.  It's classless.  It reflects poorly on us as fans.  He's gone.  Let it be.

So, for all those "fans" who insist on booing Wideman, I'm making you the Dooshes of the Day.

The Clothes Line

So my buddy Joe Grav texted me that he had nabbed a pair of tickets to the game.  That meant one thing: this sweater was going to be in the house:

Yep.  2006-7 Shean Donovan home

Look Joe, I don't care if you got it dirt cheap off the discount rack after we didn't re-sign him, he sucked.  Take the money you saved and have a jersey shop switch the nameplate to someone more deserving - Shawn Thornton, Kenny Baumgartner, Rick Tocchet, even Michal Grosek.  How about a fellow BC guy like yourself such as Brian Leetch? Ok, maybe not. Hell, even Mikko Eloranta is more deserving than Donovan.

Clean it up, buddy.

Then there was Joe Grav's friend, sporting this doozy:

2007-8 Glen Murray Home

The first year of this sweater style was also the last year of Glen Murray's hockey career. Muzz was pretty good player for the Bruins, first coming up with the club as a rookie in 1991-2 before being traded in 1995 to the Penguins with Brian Smolinski for Shawn McEachern and Kevin Stevens in one of Harry Sinden's worst trades. That trade would have been so much better if it had happened about 3 years earlier, you know, when Stevens was a scoring machine and McEachern was a decent two-way forward.  But Harry thought getting a couple of locals would keep bringing the fans into the Garden, even if they had little tread left on the tires.

But, to their credit, they re-acquired Muzz along with another former Bruin, Jozef Stumpel, from LA in 2001 in exchange for the aforementioned Eloranta and Jason Allison.  Paired with Joe Thornton and Mike Knuble, he enjoyed his best years scoring-wise including a 44 goal campaign in 2002-3.  Alas, while his teams were strong, they never made much noise in the playoffs.

Finally, in 2007-8 he sustatined an severe ankle injury that effectively ended his career.  He was bought out by the Bruins the following season, the hit having a major inpact on the Bruins' salary cap.

Back to the sweater in question ,though, I have to give a thumbs down.  While it does deserve some credit for being the only version of this sweater that I've ever seen, it would do much more justice to wear a Murray sweater from the 1995-2006 era or even better, his #44 from the 1991-2 season.

The Lobel Prize

We already know that Dennis Wideman plays for the Panthers.  But let me also remind you that they also have 2 other former Bruins on their roster: Marty Reasoner and Byron Bitz.

Reasoner played collegiately at BC and was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in the Sergei Samsonov trade in 2006.  That was the same trade where the Bruins got the Oilers' second round pick that was used to slect Milan Lucic in the 206 NHL entry draft.

Bitz was drafted by the Bruins in 2003 and eventually became a fourth line grinder.  He had size and grit and wasn't afraid to drop the gloves when need be.  Not bad for an Ivy Leaguer from Cornell.

So how did they fare in this game:

Wideman: 19:05 TOI, 5 shots, -1
Reasoner: 17:13 TOI, 1 shot, +1
Bitz: DNP (Injured Reserve)

Little to no harm done.

The Home End

This game could have very easily been a letdown game.  They had just got back from the west coast on a 2 game road trip, culminating with a 2-0 shutout at the hands on the Kings.  It was the last game before the all star break and they were playing a relatively weak opponent.  And Tomas Vokun is a pretty decent goalie who's capable of stealing a game for the Panthers.  But to their credit, the Bruins came out strong and built a 2-0 lead, eventually yielding a 3rd period goal but holding on for the win.

Heading into the break, the Bruins had a 4 point cushion over Montreal for the division lead and were in third place in the conference standings.  Tim Thomas' goaltending has been stellar thus far and the team defense has been solid.  If it keeps up, this could be a promsing spring, for once.

Postgame Recap: January 20 - Sabre Price is Right

Ah, the midweek matchup against Buffalo.  An equal mix of die-hards and social-lites, with a healthy dose of away support supplied by the local collegiate ranks.

Let's see how it played out:

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #46, home game #23
• Boston Bruins (26-13-7, 1st in Northeast Div.) vs. Buffalo Sabres (20-20-5, 3rd in Northeast Div.)
• Fifth meeting of the season between these teams with the teams splitting the series thus far with each team winning at home and on the road.

John Blue Plate Special

Got out of work late and was futher delayed by accidents on both the Pike and the Tip O'Neill tunnel.

Stiil, I made it to the Four's just in time to grab a quick bite.  I wasn't starving and I knew I didn't want a greasy app like the potato skins or the boneless wings.  So I went with something I had never tried before: the chicken quesadilla.

And wouldn't you know it, it was fantastic. Chicken, cheese, jalapenos, onions and bacon in a warm flour tortilla.  It completely hit the spot.

The Couture Corner

This was a huge letdown.  Buffalo has some great sweaters to choose from.  The bar is set a early 90's Pat LaFontaine or Dominek Hasek and goes up from there.  Bonus points for any member of the French Connection.  Even a Tom Draper or even a Darren Puppa would be a great sighting.

You what I got instead? A late 90's Stu Barnes. And I didn't even take a picture of it.  Frankly, those sweaters sucked.  Take a classic color scheme (royal blue and gold) and a simple, underrated but fitting logo and then throw it out the window in favor of completely different colors and overly stylized logo that severs any and all connection to the team's history. Weak.

And even when the Sabres management tried to fix it, the screwed up even worse.  They got the colors right, somewhat, returning to the blue/gold/white palette but adding some very unnescessary silver along the way.  But they screwed the pooch with the logo revamp. Yep, this was the introduction of the much maligned (and deservedly so) Buffaslug. They took the previous logo and made it worse than anything you could imagine. And it deserved the all the criticism it got.  The Buffalo fans hated it.

Fortunately, the Buffalo management finally came to their senses and introduced a modifed version of the original logo for the 2010/11 season along with new uniforms that harken back to the orginials.

I did, however, get a picture of this:

1998 Vladimir Ruzicka Czech Republic Olympic sweater
 I'm not sure of the context here. But it was so random, I'll allow it.

The Row 12 Rundown

Can't say that there was anyone of note that was missing for this one.

Doosh of the Day

I'm going to give this one to the Buffalo fans in row 9 in front of us who kept jumping up during play.  Look, even though the building is called the Garden and it's in Boston, it is not The Boston Garden.  This building has air conditioning, 18,565 seats and numerous other numerous amenities.  What is does not have is seats obstructed by structural columns.  In fact, nothing obstructs balcony seats.  So there is no reason to stand up to see the game.

Let me correct that, there are obstructions - stupid ditzes who stand up during play block our view.

So, we salute you - human obstructions, ytou are the Dooshes of the Day.

The Clothes Line

The Sabres are celebrating their 40th anniversary, having been founded in 1970.  Well, the Bruins won the cup in 1970, so I went with my 1970 Bobby Orr sweater.

The Lobel Prize

It just so happens that the game vs. the Sabres on December 7 was one of the games I neglected to blog.  The Bruins won that game 3-2 in overtime on Mark Recchi's video replay winner at 2:11 in the extra frame.

Had I blogged that game, you would have known that the Sabres feature one former Bruin: defenseman Steve Monatdor.

Montador was acquired at the trade deadline for Petteri Nokelainen.  A d-man by trade, he also spent time skating as a wing on the fouth line.  He played in the 2009 playoffs, stepping in for the injured Matt Hunwick, as the Bruins made it to game 7 in the Conference semifinals, losing to Carolina on that gut wrenching OT goal. He signed with the Sabres as a free agent in 2010.

In the first game on 12/7, Montador skated 18:07 and had 9 minutes in penalties (minors for roughing and high sticking, major for fighting).  In this game he skated 17:01 and had one shot on goal.

No harm done.

The Home End

The Bruins came into this game riding a hot streak, with wins in 5 of their last 6, including back to back wins against Carolina.  The offnse, which was red-hot, faltered, as the Bruins lost 4-2, firing 40 shots at Ryan Miller.

Postgame Recap: January 15 - Like Father, Like Son

When the 2010-11 schedule first came out, one of the first things I did was check to see when the first Saurday matinee games were.  The reason being, I wanted to know when I could take my son to his first game of the year.

This was not going to be his first Bruins game however.  That special experience happened last season on Halloween when the Bruins shutout the Oilers 2-0. He followed up that game with a tilt against the Flames on March 27 where the Bruins shutout Calgary 5-0.  So basically, my son has never seen the Bruins give up a goal.  At least against Canadian teams.  At least against Canadian teams from Alberta.

Not only do I get to spend some QT with my son, but he genuinely is interested in the play on the ice.  I took him down to section 20 by the glass for warmups and he loved watching the players skate around.

So, with the Penguins in town for the traditional January 1:00 pm start, I felt that this was an opportune time to bring Dana to see his first game of the year.  Not only that, but there was some nice symmetry to this.  My first ever Bruins game was also against Pittsburgh.  That was on March 9, 1985 as the Bruins lost to the Pens 6-5 in overtime at the old Garden.

Let's see how it played out:

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #42, home game #21
• Boston Bruins (24-12-7, 1st in Northeast Div.) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (27-14-4, 2nd in Atlantic Div.)
• Third meeting of the season between these teams with the Bruins winning the first two, both on the road (7-4 on 11-10 and 4-2 on 1/10)

John Blue Plate Special

Having Dana with me meant that it was probably not the best idea to do the traditional 2 hour pregame at the Fours.  However, my wife had a baby shower downtown at the same time as the game, so it made perfect sense for all of us to drive in together and park at the Government Center Garage.  That was $25 well spent.  We got into town around 11:45 and headed over to the Fours so I could let the staff see Dana (as they hear/ask about him all the time).  We stopped by to see Mike downstairs and headed up to meet Heather and Robin.  It wasn't too crowded, and Dana wanted to be with Jen, so I ordered a quick drink for us.  I had a Captain and diet, Jen had a water and Dana had a big glass of milk.  Of course, I managed to come the one day that they had the buffalo chicken rangoons on the menu and I wasn't going to have a meal there.

Inside, Dana was treated to a hot dog and one of Heather's famous black & gold cookies. I had a bite of his hot dog.  Didn't matter, Dana was happy.

The Couture Corner

Here's the problem with Pittsburgh - they are one of the "hot" teams right now.  The NHL is riding the Sidney Crosby wave as long as it can.  Throw in young stars like Evgeny Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury and how can you not blame them for trying to capitalize on their Q-factor.  But as with anything that's "in", fans tend to flock to it.  And that means a lot of front runners.  And that in turn means loads and loads of Crosby and Malkin sweaters - home, away, 2008 Winter Classic and 2011 Winter Classic.  But not much else.

Well, there was the guy in the late 90s Martin Straka road jersey (no pic, unfortunately) and the guy in the 1992 Mario Lemieux road jersey (same).

And this guy:

1992-2002 Mario Lemieux home

I always liked the style of these.  The shoulders were unique (until the Panthers came along) and the streamlined chest logo was a nice upgrade from the Skating Penguin one.
And the guy wearing this sweater was actually very nice.

So I'll allow it:

The Row 12 Rundown

As mentioned earlier, this was Dana's season debut.  We also had Robin for the last of game of jer 3 game homestand.  But there were a bunch of absences including Tim & Maureen and the Hoyts.  Some people have to work on Saturday afternoons and it is ski season, afterall.

But we did get a special cameo by our friend Tina, who brought a foam Bruins puck for Dana. Thanks Tiner!

Doosh of the Day

This one's easy.  It's not just proper eitiquette, but common sense:  If a row has, say, 24 seats and you're sitting in seat 16, you don't go back to your seat by walking by the people in seats 1-15.  It's not cool.  Even worse is if, say, one of the people is holding a toddler and can't really get out of the way all that easily.

So, to the lady who did this midway through the second period, during play, no less - congrats.  You're the Doosh of the Day.

The Clothes Line

Saturday mantinees usually mean the Bruins break out their alternate sweaters. So I decided to wear mine as well. And Dana wore his Milan Lucic home jersey.  Sadly, this may have been the last time he gets to wear that as it's rapidly becoming tight on him.

The Lobel Prize

The Penguins don't have any former Bruins on their roster.  So no harm, no foul here.

The Home End

After a bunch of exciting games and offensive explosions (4-2, 6-0 and 7-5), the Bruins were due for a letdown game.  Even though Sidney Crosby was out with a concussion, the Penguins managed to get 3 pucks by Tuuka Rask.  Despite landing 46 shots on Fleury, the Bruins could only score twice (in a 13 second span).  And with that, Dana's pefect record is no more.  But for a 2 year old, he did great.  Not only did he make it through the entire game, but he was even up for hitting the Four's afterward, even if it was just to wait for mom.

Postgame Recap: January 13 - A Stake in Philly

Boston. Philadelphia.

The Big Bad Bruins versus the Broad Street Bullies.

Chowdah vs. Cheesesteaks.

And a host of other played out memes...

But I digress.  It was Bruins vs. Flyers on home ice.  This has been a rivalry reborn, so there was some extra juice in the TD Garden on this night.  Let's see how it played out:

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #41, home game #20
• Boston Bruins (23-12-7, 1st in Northeast Div.) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (27-10-5, 1st in Atlantic Div.)
• Third meeting of the season between these teams having split the first two, each team winning on the road (3-0 in Philly on 12/1and 2-1 (OT) in Boston on 12/11)

John Blue Plate Special

Got out of work late to begin with and was making decent time on the Pike until I came upon an accident just before Newton Corner.  Then traffic on Cambridge Street was a complete mess, with cars standing still through 2 light cycles at times.  I did manage to grab a meter right in front of the station, though.

Based on the game result from the previous night, Heather and I went with the same order again: potato skins followed by a Larry Bird in a wrap with bacon (BBQ sauce on the side) and a side of onion rings.

However, our meal arrived in a roll with sauce on it.  Given the time and the fact that we were starving, along with the fact that we didn't mind the error, we went with it.  And the rings were really well done, best of the season thus far.

The Couture Corner

I hate Philly.  I also don't like the Flyers' current uniform sets.  I think they are a bit contrived.  The basic design isn't bad, per se, but the fact that they chose to use the contrasting block nameplates (which were originally a short lived solution to adding names) along with the 1972-77 template and a shade of orange that is slightly off from the original doesn't work for me.  Or maybe it's the fact that this what similar to what the Flyers wore when they beat the Bruins for the 1974 Stanley Cup.

But the Flyers do have some semblance of a history and some notable players.  So it was fait accompli that there might be a few interesting sweaters in the crowd.

Let's take a look:

Mid 80s Ron Hextall

Hextall was a pretty good goalie back in the day.  He won the Conn Smythe trophy with the Flyers despite losing to the Oilers in the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals.  He also was the first goalie to score a goal in both the regular season and the playoffs.

The call?

Good.

Mid 70s Dave Schultz

The NHL has seen it's share of goons, but few rival the resume of Dave Schultz. His 472 penalty minutes in the 1974-5 season are still a record to this day.  This guy was a pugilist, earning the nickname "The Hammer".

It's good.  (I'm not going to argue)

Mid 70s Bobby Clarke

No one is more synonymous with the Flyers franchise than Robert Earle Clarke.

No opponent may be more loathed than Robert Earle Clarke.

That said, I'll allow this one.  It was done right (even if it has that stupid contrasting nameplate).

The Row 12 Rundown

Pretty much the same crew as the Ottawa game for this one.  No major additions or subtractions of note.

Doosh of the Day

With the Flyers in town, the conventional wisdom would say that a flyers fan of some sort would be a prime candidate for Doosh of the Day.

However, I'm defying the CW here and giving the award to the cabbie in Cambridge who a) would not pull up to the car in front of him, causing me to be stuck in the middle of the intersection of Cambridge Street and 2nd Avenue and b) pulled up so close to my car when I parked that I could not open the door until the light changed minutes later.

The Clothes Line

With the Flyers in town, fans tend to break out their Winter Classic sweaters, myself included.

But there really weren't any unique sweaters that stood out.  I did see the Ruzsicka guy and the Andy Brickley guy.  But they are somewhat regulars and I'll be featuring them at some point later in the season.

The Lobel Prize

The Flyers had one Bruins alum on their roster, defenseman Sean O'Donnell.

OD was signed by the Bruins as a free agent for the 2001-2 season.  He spent three years with the B's before signing with the Coyotes in 2004.  He was a solid stay-at-home defenseman who provided some veteran leadership while he was here.

In this game he recorded a goal (his 1st of the season) and finished a -1 in 16:14 of ice time.

The Home End

This was a wild game.  Two teams that dislike each other. One is leading the Eastern Conference and is an offensive force.  The other is leading their division and have a solid defense and stellar goaltending.

The Bruins trailed 1-0 and tied it up late in the 1st on a 5 on 3 PPG. They then took a 2-1 lead seconds in to the middle stanza before coughing up the lead on 2 Philly goals.  They came out like gangbusters in the third, reclaiming the lead in under 2 minutes, only to cough it up again.  Trailing 5-4, they got goals by Brad Marchand to tie it up and Steve Kampfer to take the lead at 6-5, before Greg Campbell iced it with an ENG.

At the end of the night, the Bruins got 2 hard-fought points and stood but 4 points behind the flyers for the Conference lead.

Postgame Recap: January 11 - Naught-awa

A little late, but better late than never...

 

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #41, home game #20
• Boston Bruins (22-12-7) vs. Ottawa Senators (16-20-6)
• Third meeting of the season between these teams having split the first two, each team winning on the road (4-0 in Ottawa on 10/30 and 0-2 in Boston on 11/13)

John Blue Plate Special

I left work a bit late and made into town in decent time.  Because of the impending snowstorm, the City of Cambridge had declared a snow emergency starting at 10:00 pm that night.  As such, I didn't want to risk getting a ticket parking in my regular on-street spot, so I sucked it up and paid $5.50 to park in the T lot at Lechmere.

Headed into the Four's where Heather had already set up shop at the bar downstairs.  Thanks to the magic of call-ahead ordering, our order was ready just as I arrived.  Heather was starving and insisted on ordering an appetizer. so we went with the potato skins,  And when I say skin, I mean potato halves deep fried and covered in cheddar cheese and bacon bits.  Delicious.  After that, we split a Larry Bird in a wrap with bacon and onion rings.

The Couture Corner

Ottawa sucks.

Or at least, their fans do.

For the first time all year, there were absolutely no fans wearing interesting sweaters of the oppsoing team.  Nothing. Nada. Bupkus. Not even a decent Daniel Alfredsson or even an original early 90's sweater.
Weak sauce, man. Weak sauce.

Don't even have to think about calling the offices in Toronto for this one:

Not good.  Not even close.

The Row 12 Rundown

Most of the usual crew was here for this one.  And filling seat 11 was the hat-tastic Robin, the first of three straight games for her in the seat of honor.

Doosh of the Day

Anytime you have three home games scheduled for the same week, a good number of season ticket holders will look at going to two out of the three games.  Which means they'll get rid of their tickets for one of them.  Sometimes they'll re-sell them; other times they'll give them away as Christmas presents. In any case, it means that there is an atypical crowd, one that is filled with people making their only trip to the Garden for the season.  And sadly, this also means that there are a lot of hockey neophytes and social gatherers.  And it makes for a poor crowd.

When you have to choose a game to miss among the Senators, Flyers or Penguins, the choice is clear.  If you're a diehard fan, you're not going to miss a revenge match against the best team in the eastern conference (Philly) or a game on a Saturday (albeit a matinee) against a contending team featuring two superstars (Pittsburgh). So you're going to get rid of the Ottawa tickets.

And the end result is that you have fans doing the wave at the Garden.

Now, I know the game was a blowout (in a good way), but by no means does that make it ok to start the wave.

I can understand doing it at Fenway, even if the majority of fans there no longer know when to start it or know that it is supposed to start in Section 34 by the camera well and then wind clockwise around the park.

But it has no place at the Garden. Ever.

That's something on par with what Montreal fans would do.

Think about that Bruins fans.  Is that something you really want to emulate?

So the Doosh of the Day goes to anyone who decided it was a good idea to do the wave, to stand up at intermittent times during play with no regard what was going on down on the ice.

The Clothes Line

Like I said, thing game had an atypical crowd.  And the Bruins left much to be desired, including their apparel.

There was nothing of any interest.  Sure, there were plenty of Neelys, Orrs and Bourques.  But no Kvartalnovs, no Janneys, no Wesleys.

FWIW, I broke out my Ray Bourque one for this game.  It had been a while since I wore it.

The Lobel Prize

The Senators had one Bruins alum on their roster, defenseman Sergei Gonchar.

Gonchar was a late season addition in the 2003-4 season, joining the Bruins at the trade dealine in a trade with the Capitals.  At the time, the move was huge as the Bruins had finally bolstered their roster for a playoff push by spending money on an all-star caliber player after years of failing to do so.

He went 4-5-9 in 12 regular season games for the Bruins, finishing with 58 points on the season to lead all defenseman in scoring.  He then went 1-4-5 in the playoffs as the Bruins lost a heartbreaking seven game series to the hated Montreal Canadiens.

Then the lockout happened.

It was widely assumed that coming out of the lockout, the Bruins were prepared to take advantage of the new economics of the NHL salary system to bolster their roster which was set up to be a contender for the foreseeable future.

And it blew up in their faces.

Contracts that were in place were rolled back 24%.  That alone would have helped the Bruis maintain their roster.  But they knew they'd have to fight other teams for Gonchar and he ended up signing a 5 year, $25 million contract with the Penguins.  And as we all know, he won a cup with the Pens in 2009.

In the offseason, he signed with the Sens when his contract expired.

In this game, he registered a -2, landing 4 shots on net while logging 23:43 of ice time.

So we got that going for us. Which was nice.

The Home End

Coming off an epic comback victory on the road in Pittsburgh, I had every reason to believe that this was going to be a classic letdown game.  An emotional win and tired legs against an underestimated, weaker opponent in the Sens.

Boy was I wrong.

I forgot Ottawa sucks.

Their goaltending is suspect and they were missing notorius Bruins killer Alex Kovalev as well as Jason Spezza for their lineup.

The Bruins rolled 6-0, with Patrice Bergeron picking up his first career hat-trick.

Game Recap: January 6 - Minnesota Flats

Ok, first an apology.

The month of December was not kind to me nor was it conducive to writing blog posts.  There were a bunch of games that I was not able to attend and for the majority of the ones that I did go to, I failed to write entries for them.

Granted, the lackadaisical play of the team definitely tempered on my enthusiasm to relive those games, but it was my mission when I started this endeavor to blog every game I was in attendance for.

So, I promise to offer a catch-up post for those games at some point and I resolve to get back on track in the new year.

So without further adieu, here's the first entry of 2011.

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #38, home game #19
• Boston Bruins (21-11-6) vs. Minnesota Wild (19-15-5)
• Only meeting of the season between these teams

John Blue Plate Special

Heather had banged out of this game earlier in the day due to illness. Pete was supposed to go, but chances of him getting to the Four's before the game were exceedingly slim.  So, knowing that I was going to be dining/drinking solo, I decided to take it easy getting into the city.

Looks like I picked the wrong night to quit speeding.

I can't remember anther time on a Thursday night where traffic moved so quickly and efficiently on the Pike and into the city.  Made it from my office to Marlborough to Lechmere in about 45 minutes.

Got to the Four's and waited for a seat at the bar.  Chatted up with Tim and Maureen during my brief wait.  Went with a Flutie in a wrap with fries.  It wasn't a buffalo chicken sandwich served on waffles, but it was delicious nonetheless.

The Couture Corner

Minnesota is unique in the league when it comes to sweater design.  They are the one team with different styles for each of their sweaters (home, away and alternate).  Personally, I'm a fan of their red home set and their green alternates, despite being new, have an old timey feel that works for a team from a hockey hotbed like Minnesota.

Unfortunately, this being a road game for the Wild, they were dressed in their white sweaters which feature a highly stylized number font and a very tall and narrow name font that is extremely indecipherable, especially from up in the balcony.  Well, that and the fact that is it by far the weakest look of the three.

Seeing that this was a western conference opponent with an extremely low national profile, I didn't expect to see many visitors' sweaters.  I saw a Cal Clutterbuck away on the way into the Garden.  And then there was this guy:

Let's take a look:

Niklas Backstrom Alternate

Ah, the Finnish goalie with the Swedish name.

Anyway, I really like this design - clean block style font rendered in an off-white/cream against a dark green body with a pretty cool chest logo on the front.

But, when we are talking Minnesota hockey I would be quite remiss to not consider the Wild's precursors, the North Stars.  And sure enough, they had a representative:

Late 80's Neal Broten

No player epitomizes Minnesota hockey more than Neal Broten.  Born in Roseau, MN and played for Herb Brooks at the University of Minnesota.  He played for Brooks again as a member of the 1980 US men's ice hockey team.  In fact, he is the only player to win an NCAA title, an Olympics gold medal and the Stanley Cup.

As for the North Stars uniforms, they were beautiful.  Originally a mix of kelly green, gold and white, they added black in the mid 80's which produced a bold and vibrant color combination that really stood out in the NHL. And they had a great logo that was simple, yet stylish.

The call on these? Easy.

Good!

The Row 12 Rundown

No Heather.  No Pete. No Patty.

But we did get the Hoyts as well as Kathi, Charla and the kids.  And D.J. was in contention for "fan of the game".  Alas, he didn't win.  If it's any consolation, the Unos' Express pizza sucks anyway.

Doosh of the Day

And we have our first female winner (or loser) of the season!

I'm no fashionita, Tim Gunn or even Paul Lukas, but I do have a praticality and a sensible eye.

If your low-cut jeans are a size smaller than what you should wear so that your butt hangs out of them when you sit down, perhaps you should consider something a bit more modest (or friends that tell you that you look bad in them).  This was like looking at two hams.  And maybe you shouldn't wear a thong that rides up your lower back, too.  I mean, it's called underwear for a reason, right?  The jeans are supposed to go over them.

And it wasn't just me that was in need of a decent eye-scrubbing.  This girl was sitting right in front of Kathi, Charla and the kids.  I mean, people three rows behind us were making less than flattering comments about her.

Eventually, she got tossed by security.  She was wasted, but I'd like to think that it was the fashion police that nabbed her.

The Clothes Line

Late 80's/early 90's Don Sweeney

To this day, Donny Sweeney remains one of my all time favorite Bruins.  He wasn't tall. He wasn't overly quick.  But he was smart (he went to Hahvid, dood guy) and made the most of his ability.  In doing so, he played over 1000 games for the Bruins over 15 seasons before concluding his career with a year in Dallas.

One of my biggest regrets was that he didn't finish in a B's sweater.  It was in that final season that Bruins retired Cam Neely's number, but Donny was in Dallas.  Consequently, he had recorded a video presentation to Cam that was played at the ceremony.  But I really wished he could have been there in person.

Don eventually took a position in the Bruins' front office, first working with Peter Chiarelli as Director of Player Development and now working as Assistant General Manager.

The Lobel Prize

Minnesota has but one fromer B on their roster, former BC Eagle Chuck Kobasew.

I liked Kobasew.  He could score, played hard and seemed like a likeable guy.  The Bruins got him from Calgary with Andrew Ference when they shipped Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau to the Flames. They ended up trading him to the Wild for a couple of players and a 2011 second round draft pick.  Personally, I wish they kept him.

In any case, he had 2 shots on net in 16:58 of ice time, finishing a -1 for the night.  No damage done here.

The Home End

This one was doomed from the start.  The Wild came into this game 8-1-1 all time vs. the Bruins, with a perfect 5-0 record at the Garden.  Throw in the fact that Jose Theodore was in net for Minnesota and he was 6-0-1 in his last 8 starts aginst the B's and I knew it was fait accompli.

Road Trip Recap: Part V It's Hockey Night Tonight!

Road Trip Recaps: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

As we were getting ready for the night's festivities, Heather recommended that we catch the end of the Habs-Sharks game at the hotel bar.  So we headed downstairs decked out in full Bruins gear, eliciting random looks as one might expect in enemy territory.  Grabbed a couple of seats at the bar, only to find the AC Milan - Brescia match on instead.  Hey Ronaldino is still fun to watch.

We downed our beverages, but not before striking up another hockey conversation with some people at the bar.  Did I mention I like this city?

On our way out we noticed a little something hanging on the wall.  I thought this was good sign.

And then it was time to go.  So without further delay, let's get to the good stuff.  And I'm going to use my normal game rundown, adapted for the road:

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #25, road game #13
• Boston Bruins (14-8-2) at. Toronto Maple Leafs (8-12-4)
• Second game aginst the Leafs (Bruins won 2-0 at home on October 28)

John Blue Plate Special

We hopped a cab down to the Air Canada Centre, striking up a nice conversation with our cabbie.  We asked him if he had any recommendations for a good bar in the area and he mentioned that there was this brand new place just across the street from the arena.  So we checked it out.  For about one minute.

Real Sports is a gleaming new building with huge flat screens and a very tony appearance, like GameOn!, but more chic.  Velvet ropes and bouncers outside, dark wood and glass inside.  Long lines and expensive beers.  We quickly realized that this wasn't our kind of place, so told Heather to follow me to place just up the street that might do the trick.

So we headed to the Loose Moose on Front Street.

Much, much better.

I had been there before, as it was the pregame hangout place for a bunch of us before we saw the Red Sox get absolutely slaughtered by the Blue Jays on August 23, 2008.

This time, it was Leafs fans, not Sox ones, who took over the bar.  And they were good people.  We managed to grab a couple seats at the bar from a couple of guys who were in town on business and sat next to a couple of kids who were at their first Leafs game by way of British Columbia.  I grabbed a beer.  Heather, on the other hand, thinking we were still at the Four's, had a mixed drink.  Unlike the drinks at the Four's, these were kiddie cup size.  I had a hunch that this was going to be the case hence my choice to go with the brews.

Of course, we were getting hungry too, so we grabbed a menu.  What to order?  There were the standard burgers and sandwiches.  And then there was this:

A buffalo chicken sandwich served on waffles.

Heather seemed a bit hesitant.  She wasn't sold on waffles as a bread substitute. But I insisted and she ended up going along with it.

We were not disappointed. This was SO good.

I know that chicken and waffles is fast becoming a popular dish as restaurants have found another foodie treat to beat into the ground.  Usually, though, that involves fried chicken served on top of Belgian waffles and served with maple syrup.  This was a much simpler concept, replacing a roll with waffles, and serving it on top of a pound of fries.

After devouring that fabulous meal, I wasn't really hungry once inside the arena.  But I was thirsty, so I grabbed a beer.  During the first intermission, we took a walk around the concourse again.  That's when we found the Tim Horton's stand.

Large coffee - $1.50.

You read that right.

I love this place.  You're talking $3.50 for a comparable Dunks at the Garden and that's after waiting 5 minutes in line because some pink hat wants whipped cream on her coolatta and another 5 waiting for the guy to get your drink while you hope they got your order right.

The Couture Corner

I'm just going to lay it out here - Toronto is the world capital for sweater porn.

Sweaters of just about every style worn by the Leafs in their existence were on display here.  Better yet, they were for sale here too.

Immediately across from the Real Sports bar is the Real Sports Apparel Store.  Now, it should be noted that the store is owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the same company that owns the Leafs and the Air Canada Center as well as the Raptors, Toronto FC and the Marlies of the AHL.  This place has the absolute best selection I have ever seen at  team run store.

I mean, look at this: Gretzky throwbacks, late 80s Lemieuxs, and loads of different Leafs sweaters, including the late 80s/early 90s Wendell Clark and mid 90s Doug Gilmour ones seen here.

This is just plain sick.  Want a mid-70s Borje Salming or Daryl Sittler? They have it.  Want a late 60s Johhny Bower? Sure.  Late 90s Mats Sundin? No problem.

We almost had this at one time at the FleetCenter, but the guy who used to order all the old Bruins sweaters was fired and his replacements just haven't had the same demand and/or desire to order more of them.  Then again, with the way the current Bruins sweaters are selling out, the store isn't hurting for sales, either.

Even the customers bring it here:

A late 60s Lanny MacDonald.  Although the other one may be an Andrew Raycroft 3rd.  But, damn, if those aren't sweet.

Have I mentioned that we hadn't even stepped foot in the arena yet?

After looking around and finding some sweet (if not outrageously expensive) Hockey Night in Canada branded travel mugs (we'll be getting those online, thanks), we made our way into the rink.

Wide open concourses.  Loads of food choices.  Even free beer samples!

We walked around downstairs for a bit then headed upstairs to take a lap around the place as the teams were warming up.

Toronto fans bring their "A" game when it comes to wearing their colors:

Tie Domi 3rd, circa 2005

Pound for pound, Domi was one of the toughest goons I've ever seen.  Sure, I hated him when he was playing against the Bruins, but I always kinda liked him as a player.  He would have been an interesting Bruin, Jay Miller meets PJ Stock.

Mid 80s Wendell Clark

If there was one thing I took away from this weekend, it's that Leafs fans absolutely love Wendell Clark.

The first overall pick in the 1995 entry draft, Clark had 3 separate stints with the Leafs, serving as captain from 1991 to 1994.  He was a decent scorer, but was also known to be very physical ala Cam Neely.  He was traded to the Nordiques in 1994.  As part of the deal, Toronto received a young Swedish centre named Mats Sundin.  I think they made out ok in that one.

The Leafs honored his #17 in 2008.

1994 Wendell Clark Nordiques home and 1995 Islanders Away

This completely blew my mind.

As I said, Toronto fans love Wendell Clark, but this took it to a new level.  Clark played one season each for these two teams before returning to the Leafs midway through the 1995 season.  Those Quebec sweaters were beautiful in their simplicity featuring the fleur de lis.  As for the the Islanders one, aka the Gorton 'fishsticks' ones, they were so ugly that they have a certain charm to them.

Going, Going, Gondola

This was my first time visiting the Air Canada Centre.  I had heard from numerous people, both friends and on TV that this was one of the best places to see a game in the NHL.  So I would be remiss if I didn not share a little bit of the building with you.

There weren't a lot of memorabilia type displays (most places in the concourses were taken up by food stands and merchandise vendors), but this one stood out to me.  Photos of every player who wore the captain's C for the Leafs.  I wish the Bruins would do something like this, but then again, they'd have to have pictures of Jason Allison and Joe Thornton.  So maybe not.

The sightlines were great.  No columns and the balcony seats were set at a fairly steep angle putting you closer to the ice than a comparable seat at the Garden.

Hockey is presented in a fairly pure form here.  No t-shirt cannons. No crappy music.  Trivia questions based on the history of the Leafs.  I loved every bit of it.

I really like how the Leafs honor their Stanley Cup winners.  Simple banners with a picture of the cup featuring the team logo at the time and the year on the bottom. 

The other interesting thing they do is that they  really don't retire numbers in the traditional sense.  Only the numbers 5 (Bill Barilko) and 6 (Ae Bailey) have been taken out of circulation.  Great players have their numbers 'honored' instead, much like what NFL teams do with their rings of honor.  Hence you have the number 1 worn by hall of famer Johnny Bower and Bruins reject Andrew Raycroft.

One other really interesting feature is the Foster Hewitt media gondola.

Hewitt was a longtime radio broadcaster in Canada who gained fame calling the national hockey night in Canada broadcasts for 40 years.  The old Maple Leaf Gardens featured a gondola hanging at the top of the building where broadcasters were stationed.  When the Air Canada Center was built, the pressbox was named in his honor.

The Row 12 Rundown

Well, seeing that we were on a road trip with just the two of us, 307 wasn't represented all that well.  We had seats in section 323, row 11 and they were fantastic.

Doosh of the Day

Even north of the border, there are societal losers to be found.

Honorable mention goes to the bunch of college age kids in front of us who went from mild mannered clowns when the Leafs were trailing to full-fledged asshats once they tied it up.  Also need to give a shout out to the 12 year old girls in the train station after the game who tried to talk trash to us, despite the fact they've never seen the Leafs even make it to the finals in their lifetime.

But the winner goes to the self proclaimed Penguins fan outside the train station on Front Street who said the happiest day of his life was when Ulf Samuelsson took out Cam Neely's knees.  Very few taunts tend to get me worked up like someone who glorifies a player getting injured, regardless of what team they play for  (yes, even the Habs).

To her credit, Heather suggested we hop in cab and get out of there before things escalated.  So we headed back towards the hotel.

The Clothes Line

I was a little concerned that with a scarcity of tickets available, there would be few Bruins fans there for the game.  Boy was I wrong.  There were plenty.  Including this guy:

1972 Wayne Cashman home

I've seen a lot of early 70s Bruins replicas.  But those tend to feature the same players: Orr, Bucyk, Esposito, Cheevers.  But this was the first time I've ever seen a Cashman, the career Bruin who served as captain form 1978 to 1983.

As for what we wore, I went with the 1970 Orr and Heather went with the late 80s Neely.  We figured we'd get along with more fans if we wore players that are Hall of Famers that are universally (well, almost) respected among hockey fans.

The Lobel Prize

We all know that the Leafs have Phil Kessel.  What we also know is that Kessel has never scored against the Bruins sinced he was traded.  And he still hasn't, sort of.  The box score shows that he had no goals or assists and landed 6 shots on net (all of which were saved by Tim Thomas), but it was his goal scored in final round of the shootout that gave the Leafs a 3-2 victory and landed him the first star of the game award.

That hurt, real bad.

It also didn't help that Kris Versteeg, a pretty decent player who was once a Bruins minor leaguer (traded to Chicago for the forgetable Brandon Bochenski), tied the game at 2-2 at 19:18 of the third period.

Ugh.

The Home End

Though the Bruins got a point, this felt like a bad loss.  Giving up 2 points to a division rival was bad. Having Phil Kessel be the one to seal the deal was worse. Furthermore, a good portion of the good will and camaraderie we felt druing the day was a bit diminished by the way a few classless fans acted towards us after the game.

I really hoped to go out after the game and celebrate with a pint or two, but we headed back to the hotel bar and relaxed instead.  Besides, we had to be up early to catch the bus back to the airport. So we went back to the room and watched the late game on the CBC and headed off to bed shortly thereafter.

Though the game didn't go exactly as we had hoped for and that we almost never made it up there in the first place, it was a pretty good birthday weekend.

Next year, I'm thinking the Windy City for a B's-Blackhawks game.