Postgame Recap: December 2 - Eight is (More Than) Enough

Before we get to a very special edition of the Bear Maximum (ooh, the intrigue!), I still need to offer a look back on the thorough shellacking the boys doled out on the Lightning last week.
So without further delay....

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #24, home game #11
• Boston Bruins (13-8-0-2) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (14-8-2-1)
• Second game aginst the Bolts (Bruins lost 3-1 in Tampa on November 22)

John Blue Plate Special

With my mind admittedly more focused on the game on Saturday than this one and the fact that I was slammed at work, I left the office about 25 minutes later than I had hoped to.

Needless to say, traffic on the Pike was a mess, especially around Newton Corner.

And then there was a delay on the MBTA green line due to a signal problem at Government Center.

Needless to say, I was late.  Fortunately, Heather had already procured a spot upstairs, with help from the father-son duo of Roger and Chris.  I called ahead and told her to order whatever as I had no idea what time I was going to get there.  So she ordered up a Johnny Kelly wrap with bacon with a side of onion rings.

I wasn't exactly starving, so splitting a meal was the way to go.  It was a good call and it hit the spot dead-on.

The Couture Corner

Tampa Bay is not exactly a franchise with a iconic, time tested look.  When they redesigned their look to fit the RBK Edge system in the 2007-8 season, one vould argue they took a turn for the worse.

That said, they do have one of the worst sweaters in their collection to ever (dis)grace the NHL, in my opinion - the 1996-98 third sweater.

I was really hoping to see one of these in person.  Or a early 90's Rob DiMaio one.

I saw neither.  In fact, I think I saw but one Lightning jersey at the game.  Just not a lot of TB fans up here, as it should be.

So I had to go to plan B - find other jerseys of interest.  Here, I had decidely more luck.

Let's take a look:



Syracuse Bulldogs Ogie Ogilthorpe

Who are the Syracuse Bulldogs you ask?  Obvioulsy, you're not a fan of the greatest hockey comedy ever made: Slap Shot.

The Bulldogs are a fictitious team modeled after the Syracuse Blazers of the defunct North American Hockey League.  The Blazers featured a player by the name of Bill "Goldie" Goldthorpe who had a certain penchant for using his fists to coerce opponents into submission.  He was the inspiration for the Ogilthorpe character, played in the movie by Ned Dowd, a Boston native who just so happened to be the brother of the movie's writer, Nancy Dowd.

The call (for fear of retaliation)?



Good!

1983-4 Cam Neely #21 Vancouver Canucks Away Rookie Sweater

These pictures do not do this sweater justice.  The Vancouver 'flying V' look is one of the most ridiculed looks in NHL history, but I sorta like it.  The colors were very bold and vibrant.  And it was different.

Plus the fact that this guy is clearly a Neely fan.  And he likes to be different.

I shouldn't even have to consult with the review booth on this one, but here goes anyway:



Good!

The Row 12 Rundown

No Kaspers, but we did have a special guest in young Miss Kylee along with Cassie.

Doosh of the Day

Fortunately, the crowd wasn't too bad for this one.  But that doesn't mean it was doosh-free.

I have 2 awards for this one: 1 for the past and 1 for the present.

The past refers to the doosh who stuck his (or her) gum on the bottom of seat 9, aka Heather's seat.  Based on my research, I think it may have been placed there during the Celtics-Blazers game on 12/1 as it was relatively sticky (or so I was told) and that was the last event at the Garden prior to this game.  I don't think it was from the Michael Buble concert on 11/27.

No one wants a gummy bum, after all.

As far as the present day winner, I'm giving it to the kid who sat in Keith's seat (seat 7) next to me who was dipping for most of the game and spitting incessantly into his cup all the while.  He kicked over the cup at some point in the 3rd period, spilling the contents all over the ground in front of his seat.

Just gross, dude.

The Clothes Line

Late 80's/early 90's Glen Wesley

Wesley was a actually a very decent defenseman who was drafted by the Bruins with the draft pick they acquired with Cam Neely in the Barry Pederson trade with Vancouver in 1986.  He was an All Star in 1989.

But his tunure in the Hub will be remembered for 2 things: The open net miss and the trade.
In the first overtime of game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals against the Oilers, Wesley was looking at an open net in the slot and fired a backhand shot high and wide.  A gola would have won it for the Bruins and given them some momentum in the series.

The Oilers would go on to win the game in the third overtime period.  They'd win the series as well.

Petr F*cking Klima.

The Bruins would trade Wesley to the Hartford Whalers in 1994 for 3 future first round draft picks.  One of which was used to draft Sergei Samsonov. When Samsonov was traded to Edmonton in 2006, the Bruins received the Oiler's second round pick in that years' entry draft.  That pick was used by the Bruins to slect some guy named Milan Lucic.

So Wesley was good for something, et least.

The Lobel Prize

Tampa Bay has but one fromer B on their roster, former farmhand Nate Thompson.

Thompson played only 4 games for the Bruins, all during the 2006-7 season.  In those games he did absolutely nothing. No points, no penalties.  Bupkus.

In this game, he had 2 shots and finished a -1 for the night.  No harm done here.

The Home End

This was a beatdown.  Bolts goalie Mike Smith had a game to forget, misplaying a shot by Denis Seidenberg he thought was going to carom that went in the net from beyond the blue line.  While it was nice to see the Bruins put eight goals past the Tampa Bay golaies (Smith was mercifly pulled in the 3rd period in favor of Dan Ellis who wasn't much better), I was secretly hoping the'd save some offensive output for the next game in Toronto 2 nights later.

Up Next: The Bear Maximum goes roadtrippin' to the home of hockey!

See My Vest(ments) - Part III: Looch of the Drawer

Coming down the home stretch, here is part III of my primer to my hockey sweater collection.

(Parts I and II can be found here and here)

Before we get to the goods, I probably should explain my system for buying a particular player's sweater.  It's not complicated.  Basically, I tend to buy those sweaters for players who have cemented their places in the annals of their teams' history. Local legends and hall-of-famer types are givens.  A player must have established themselves with the team and gone onto a decent, if not lengthy, career here. Championship players are in play as well.

One merely has to scan my closet to see what I mean: Larry Bird, John Havlicek, John Hannah, Doug Flutie, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Carlton Fisk, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Cam Neely.  Even Patrice Bergeron.

Then there's Milan Lucic.

Huh?  He doesn't really fit my criteria.

Allow me to explain:

I've followed the Bruins closely for almost my entire life.  I've seen hundreds of players come and go, both seasoned veterans and hot-shot rookies alike.  Very rarely has there been a player who has flown under the radar only to show up at training camp and make a splash, so much so that they make the roster.

Looch was a 2nd round pick that only the die-hards knew about.  He was 19 years old.  He wasn't expected to make the Bruins' roster as it was widely assumed that he would be returned to his hometown Vancouver Giants in the WHL.

However, he made quite the impression in training camp and the preseason.  So much so that he earned a place on the 23 man roster. And then, in his first ever regular season game, he dropped the gloves with Dallas' Brad Winchester and held his own.

I was hooked then and there.

You could see it in his TV interviews and his style of play. He was hardnosed and played with grit and gumption. He finished his checks.  He hit anything that moved.  He wasn't afraid to mix it up with goons.  And he could pop in the occasional puck.

Part Cam Neely, part Terry O'Reilly.  In short, he exemplified the prototypical Bruin blue-collar work ethic. 

Then I got to meet him at a special season ticket holder event and got to chat with him for a few minutes.  It was apparent that he got "it" - a winning attitude, a willingness to get dirty when necessary and a desire to continuously improve his game all while maintaining a sense of humbleness and respect.

These are the types of players I love to watch.

And that's why I have his sweaters.


2008 Milan Lucic Alternate Replica

Manufactured by: CCM
Size: Medium
Year Purchased: 2008
Purchased At: Boston Bruins Proshop at the TD Bank Garden

The Deets:

When Patrice Bergeron was out injured with a concussion during the 2007, there was a video going around showing him skating around the Garden in a prototype 3rd sweater that was possibly going to be added for the 2008 season.  It was all black with the usual chest and shoulder logos switched up.  It had a sleeve stripe and collar much like the 1977-95 sweaters.  The large bear logo on the chest was reminiscent of the 1926-31 sweaters.
There was a single thin yellow stripe on the hem. It was sweet.

Fast forward to November 28, 2008.  Day after Thanksgiving.  This was the day the new sweaters were to debut.  The Bruins made a big deal out of it, giving all the fans in attendance special commemorative black t-shirts.  The sweaters themselves were nearly identical to the prototypes, save for the fact that there was no stripe on the hem.  I personally wished they had a hem stripe to match the ones on the sleeves, but even without it, they looked great.

So when the Bruins had their annual shopping night for season ticket holders later in December, it was a forgone conclusion that I was going to buy one for me with my 25% discount.  And it only made sense that it was going to be a Milan Lucic one.

Worn for: Non-original six games, Matinees


2010 Milan Lucic Winter Classic Replica

Manufactured by: CCM
Size: Medium
Year Purchased: 2010
Purchased At: Boston Bruins Proshop at the TD Bank Garden

The Deets:

There were rumors in 2008 that the Bruins were pushing the NHL to host a Winter Classic, possibly at Fenway Park.  Originally, it was hoped that the Bruins would face the Rangers on New Year's Day 2008 at Yankee Stadium before it was to be torn down.  That plan fell though and the Wings met the Hawks at Wrigley instead.

So in June 2009, there was a press conference was held at Fenway with representatives of both the Bruins and Flyers as well as everyone's least favorite commissioner, Gary Bettman, to officially announce that the 2010 Winter Classic was going to be held at Fenway.

As with the previous 2 installments of the WC, the teams were to be dressed in throwback uniforms.  Already, we had seen Buffalo break out the original blue and gold Sabres sweaters, the Penguins don the old baby blue skating penguin ones, the Wings hearken back to their Detroit Cougar days and the Blackhawks slightly tweak one of their best ever looks.

With a history rivaled only by their Canadian Original Six brethren, surely the Bruins would wear something that would be special.  The question was what exactly was that look?

And so it was at the 'State of the Bruins' town meeting with season ticket holders in September 2010 that we finally found out.  At the end of the meeting, Cam Neely, now working in the Bruins front office, mentioned that he had something special to show us.

Amidst a spectacular light show featuring fake snow, David Krejci emerged from behind the stage in full uniform wearing what was to be worn for the Winter Classic.  It was amazing.

Cam went on to explain that he had a huge say in the design and that he culled many different elements from past designs to create this one: The 1949 spoked B logo, the gold body from the 1950s and 60s, the stripe patterns from the 70s and 80s and the brown accents reminiscent of the original sweaters.

I knew I had to have one. So much so that I pre-ordered one right there on the spot.

Sadly, Looch missed the Winter Classic, but he did don the sweater later in the season as the Bruins would wear these again a couple of more times throughout the season.

Worn for: Original Six and Second Six matchups