I've been sick, things happened.

Yeah sorry about not updating since whenever. I've been pretty sick. The Bruins have been pretty laissez-faire. The Leafs, while I don't really give too much of a crap other than about Schenn, have been downright fucktacular. So what's there been to write about. Let's see, I think I can sum up every thing I've missed in a few bullet points.

• Milan Lucic came back from his high ankle sprain and it's taken him about 6 games to start rounding back into form, and took I think 5 for him to score. 
• Marc Savard came back from a tweaked MCL and it took him one game to set up Lucic, and to get the 17-91-81 line back together. Please note: I will never, ever, ever NOT find it hilarious that 17-91-81 is back together with SATAN on the 81 jersey. Irony is my favourite mistress. 
• Marco Sturm came back from something or the other and scored in his first game back.
• Patrice Bergeron came back from a broken thumb and scored in, I believe? His first game back. 
• David Krejci did an almost admirable job of centring the top line whilst the other top centres were out.
• Vladimir Sobotka was awesome.
• Marc Recchi should never be allowed to take faceoffs unless someone else is tossed out of the circle.
• Somehow the Bruins beat the Sharks while missing their top 3 centres, and 3 of their top defencemen. Zdeno Chara taking a slapshot from 15' away in the shootout was one of the greatest things ever.
• Everyone hates Dennis Wideman. I don't. I think he is still pretty great. He's just having the same shitty streak half the team seems to be having. What's up with some dumb bitch going to the PJ Drive and asking him to sign a "How to Skate" book and nagging him about how he sucks? I don't see her out there playing in the NHL. Nice fanship, twatwaffle. 
• I think the Leafs won a game in January.

Then there is the oft-churning rumour mill spouting that the Bruins are looking to pick up Ilya Kovalchuk and/or Dion Phaneuf, with the word in the pipeline that Atlanta wants a player, a prospect, and a pick for Kovy. First off, I find that hard to believe. Unless the player is like, Evgeni Malkin. If Kovy came to Boston, the only untouchable player  in the trade coffers would be Marc Savard, because the whole point of putting Kovy in Black and Gold would be to reunite that scoring tandem. Add in the fact that there's no player on the current roster that any GM in his right mind would give up, that would free up enough cap space, and that Chia-pet has already said there's a better chance of the Leafs winning the Cup this year than there is of him trading that pick he got for Kessel.... Kovy ain't coming to Boston.

And then I come online before dinner to find out the Leafs made a blockbuster trade for Gigurere and Phaneuf. And really, all I have to say about that is, maybe Jason Blake can get some colour on his pale ass out in California, and thank fucking GOD Phaneuf isn't going to Boston. Someone let me know when Burke fires Wilson and I might start paying attention to the Leafs again. Poor Luke Schenn. On the plus side, at least for Schenn, he's now got a new buddy (who's been assigned straightaway to the Marlies) in the system in Keith Aulie, former Wheat King and teammate of a one Brayden Schenn. Find the positives where you can, people.

The Bruins have actually started playing really well, and frankly would've won last night if Thomas' backward momentum on Dustin Brown's shootout goal hadn't slid him and the puck into the net. The Bruins SHOULD have won that game, all things considered. Yeah, sure, they only really delivered about 50 minutes of 65, but you can see last year's Bruins finally starting to come back together. God damned shame it's taken 4 months of the season. And with 2 points separating 6th from 12th in the Eastern Conference.... it should be a fun spring.

Lastly, I would like to say that I love Jack Edwards. No one has more fun than him. And Andy Brickley who has the joy of sitting next to him night in, night out, often wondering when he'll get that 7 second delay and a censor button. Here was last night's (and probably the year's) GEM from Edwards, to kick off the overtime period:

"Krejci and Wheeler are the forwards for Claude Julien in this overtime, with Matt Hunwick and Johnny Bucyk on defence." Insert very long silence where Brick must have just been staring at Jack open mouthed while Jack waited for him to say something, then he realised his mistake. "Oh! I mean Boychuk. Haha, I bet Johnny Bucyk wishes he was out there, eh? Well, they're both from Edmonton, there must be some relation somewhere down the line."

The caveat in this is that, yes, Bucyk and Boychuk are derivatives of the same Ukranian last name, bastardised upon entry into North America, and while I suppose at first glance, the two look similar, I can't really figure out how one could forget that Johnny Bucyk hasn't laced 'em up for the Black and Gold since 1978, and was actually a left winger, not a d-man. But hey, whatever, you win some, you lose some. Well played though, Jack.

Up next for the Bruins are the mighty Caps, who will be missing defenceman Mike Green for the game, who threw an irresponsible peoples' elbow at someone's head and got himself a 3 game suspension. Here's to hoping last year's Bruins show up for this one as well.

Congrats on your 3 wins in January, Boston!

But I'm not all doom, gloom, and sarcasm. A friend of mine found the greatest photo ever of Marc Savard, and I will share it with you, because that's how I do. While probably the most innocuous split-second in a long-forgotten game, this, people, is the reason to get into sports photography. Because every once in a thousand photos, you get something like this:

And that, my friends, is a beauty.

Bruins and Leafs win, Lucic out with high ankle sprain

I'll be honest. Wednesday night I was exhausted and didn't stay awake past Milan Lucic twisting his knee awkwardly after getting his skate stuck in a rut. I'd been watching the Leafs half assed, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention. When I went to watch it later on the Tivo, I discovered I'd recorded the only available feed - from SunSports. Fail. No commentary on the Leafs win since I'm not a sado-masochist and can't watch the morons on SunSports. So here's what I know, I won't expound on what I don't or paraphrase from other peoples' writing.

The Bruins won all 4 road games, bringing home a majestic 8 points, putting them in 1st place in the Northeast Division. The return of Milan Lucic, and having Savard with the team on the roadtrip, and on the ice for the last 2 games, indeed infused the team with the jump and energy they needed to get it done. David Krejci had a monster of a shootout goal, and I'm disappointed in Savvy for not potting one, considering he and Shane Doan are apparently the 2 best shootout shooters in the NHL (keep your remarks about Timmy helping Savvy cheat to yourselves).

The bothersome bit about the Bruins' game was mentioned in paragraph 1, line 2. Milan Lucic caught his skate in a rut, fell awkwardly, twisting his knee in a manner that knees are not meant to be twisted, then made the most awkward hop off the ice I've ever seen, and was helped down the runway to the room in order to be checked out. However, Chiarelli just addressed the media prior to the morning skate and informed them that Looch has a high-ankle sprain, and will be out for a month. I'm not the greatest at math and dates and shit, but I'm fairly sure this all but eliminates Milan's chances of making the Canadian Olympic team.

Looch, Looch, Looch. Baby take care of yourself. You're having a run of bad luck with the injuries. Your fans are rooting for you, and I hope I speak for everyone when I say get well soon. And watch out for ruts.

More B's pics / Leafs-talk

I'm going to start with the Leafs talk. B's fans, you can skip down.

So there's a REALLY well-written and well-though-out Dave Shoalts column in today's Globe and Mail, and I want all the Leafs fans who found their way here to go read it. I'll wait.

Read it? Awesome. The points he makes that I like are, what damned good would it do to bring Kadri and Bozak up right now? To start breaking them? Kessel is proof that one player CAN'T change a team (although, if you look to the Bruins and the return of Lucic and Savard to the dressing room, you'll find the opposing take on that). Can two? Three? Four? How many does it take? You know what CAN change a team? The coaching. Now I know Burkie won't fire his BFFRW two months before the Olympics, when he's named him as coach of Team USA. Nothing says confidence in a man like canning him but letting him lead your national team. I really kind of hope USA tanks it in the Olympics giving Burke his just cause. And I hate Team USA as an organisation. Sorry. But that still means a couple months of the Leafs mistaking truculent for turbulent. So I'm here to help. Leafs, pay attention. Luke Schenn, you too buddy. I think I can help you out.

Truculent
1 : feeling or displaying ferocity : cruel, savage
2 : deadly, destructive
3 : scathingly harsh : vitriolic
4 : aggressively self-assertive : belligerent

Truculent

Turbulent
 1 : characterized by agitation or tumult : tempestuous

Turbulent

Stop being agitated. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves. Be aggressive, pro-active, destructive and fierce. Bluntly, stop being girls and just go out and play like men.

That said, I would love to see Luke Schenn in the Black & Gold with Wideman. I think it would work. It might take some time, and sorry, Ference, but y'know. These things (could) happen.  

Moving on.

BRUINS PHOTOS!

I snaked all of these from the B's website, cause, surprise, Daylife let me down again.  Enjoy!

Milan Lucic, I love you. I would bake you chocolate cakes and set

your homepage to Zappos and talk to you in Serbian all day long,

but babe, that nose keeps getting bigger and bigger. You're a beast.

Never change.

Is Recchi giving the finger? I think he is!

Looch's goal. I love how the puck is conveniently cut out of frame.
A more detailed breakdown of the goal to be found on WEEI.

This never gets old. That look on Bitzy's face is HILARIOUS.

Krejc drawing a penalty and Mair looking wicked guilty.

WHO HAS MORE FUN THAN US?

Is the ref in on the win-lovin'? Could Chara be taller?

Could Bergie's Movember duster be any creepier?

In a semi-related note to the "Who has more fun than us" caption... There's an hilarious commercial for the NESN show The Instigators, starring Jack Edwards, Mike Milbury and Andy Brickley (which you totally should watch because it's also hilarious), where Edwards gets nailed with water balloons, including one right to the jewels, doubles over and pain, and keeps getting hit with the balloons. Who are still being thrown by Mike and Brick. I'm pretty sure I have it on DVD, I'll try to rip it and put it up on YouTube cause really, you need to see it.

Bruins @ Thrashers - picture time!

Before we get into the photos, I want to congratulate the Thrashers on finally being an AWESOME team. That was an intensely great game of hockey last night. It might not have seemed it because the crowd just wasn't there, but props to the fans who did show up. That might go down as one of my favourite hockey games of all time. I'm really pleased and pleasantly surprised to see the Thrash coming into their own finally, and see them playing the way I knew they could all along. That said, I'm still waiting for Kari to return until I really start paying attention to the games. Fucked up? Probably. Will Kari even stay on the team? Who knows. But you know how I roll and where my loyalties lie. But well played, Atlanta Thrashers. Very well played.

These are only the first round of photos I was able to dig up. There were more obviously, but I based these on either the Bruins doing something awesome, or the absolute HILARITY of the fans in the background. Considering it sounded and looked like there was only about 200 people in the building, and 100 of them were Bruins fans, these pictures are high-quality entertainment. I shall point out my LOLs. The good photos are from Reuters. The shitty ones are from AP. All rights reserved, blahblabhblah.

LOL: Looch stripped Bogo of the puck in his first day back on the job.

LOL: Is that a wookie in the crowd over Little's left shoulder
(our left, his right)? And/or Johny Candy's ghost???

LOL: There is very little in this world I love more than a fan
giving a hockey player the finger. And this guy goes all the
way with a double-salute. What is he, a disgruntled former
Ottawa fan? Is the nice older lady behind Z smiling at him?
Is that my Aunt Donna?!

LOL: The look of "this isn't happening, I didn't
see it, la la la they didn't score" on the guy over
Wheels' shoulder. Also, A Krejci goal celebration! WIN!

LOL: There are so many I don't know where to start. I love the lady
in the front row trying to use her Jedi powers (or Harry Potter
protection spells) to keep that puck outta the net. The other big LOL
here is that I was praying Bergie did not go into the shootout. I
picked Ryder, Krejci and Wheels. I was 2/3 right. And lookit that,
Bergie deked Pony right out of his net, AND his jock. That
goal was a thing of beauty. Shame Wheels pulled the same
move and whiffed on the open net.

LOL: The dismay of the three Atlana fans in the audience, and Tuukka with
his best QB pose EVAR (4th-and-2 what?). What's even funnier is that he
was stumbling at the time, and falling backwards, so mad props
to the photographer of this one.

Also funny, I was talking to one of my friends as it went to the shootout (ok, talking is a stretch. I was just saying "SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT" but whatever, it's communication), and look, the B's aren't really known for their prowess on the shootout (I keep typing that shoutout. Hilar!). And uh, hello? Kozlov, Afinegenov, (can't spell that to save my life), Kovalchuk? This was disaster waiting to happen. I told my girl that someone better make sure all the milk crates in Philips were tied down.

As Jack Edwards loves to say - Two U's, two K's and a big fat W.

I'll keep looking for more photo o'hilarity for you. Thrashers fans, you keep it funny. There may not be a lot of you, but I salute those of you that show up and make the game more entertaining.

Also of relevance to Thrashers fans, tickets for Casino Night are now available! The event will occur on 01/10/10. Someone please buy me a ticket so I can come mingle and meet all of you?

PTHI: Lucic en-route to ATL, Savard sitting, Bruins trade update

Title says it all, really. Milan Lucic will be in the ATL for tonight's game, hopefully playing. Game time decision yet again, so change your bets accordingly, ladies and gentlemen. Savard will not be playing tonight, again, adjust your bets. Holla to my Thrashers friends I quickly notified about Looch missing the game, please adjust your hopes accordingly. Juuuuuuuust in case.

I like to think my use of the Serbian in my prior post really helped him feel better (SHUT UP! I'M NOT DELUSIONAL, OK? I LIKE PRETEND.).

And since I'm posting and don't really want to post bomb you like I have been the past few days... More word on the street from Boston.

Summary: Chiarelli won't be making any trades until Lucic and Savard are back.
Translation: If you guys don't step it the fuck by the time those two return, you're ALL on the block. Give your heads a shake and get yo' shit TOGETHER  (in my head, Chiarelli's gangsta).
Solution: (Per me) Try putting Wideman with one of the stay-at-home defenceman tonight, and not with guys who're going to beat him up to the play. Think it through.

But ooooh, trade threats. Scary.

Here's to hoping Looch'll be on the ice shoving guys over the boards by their asses tonight.

UPDATE: Lucic did not make the trip to ATL

According to Marc Savard, who is well known for being a prankster, Milan Lucic did not make the trip to Atlanta for tonight's game because he has food poisoning. Not that I think Looch is necessarily that kind of guy, but could "food poisoning" be a synonym for "so hungover he can't tie his skates?"

Mamuran? Ili trovanje hranom? Vas presuditi! 
Ozdravi što pre Gino, nedostaješ mi!

Didn't know I knew Serbian, didja? But yeah, I never said I have a lot of class, people. My job here is to MAKE YOU LAUGH!

Anyway, take the news with a grain of salt and consider the source.

Supporting Schenn | Tonight is what Tivo is for

There's a super nice (SHOCKINGLY) article on Luke Schenn in this morning's Star. Someone in Toronto make a sign and take it to the ACC tonight for warmups, and hold it right behind Ron Wilson's head. It should say "YOU NEVER BENCHED WITTER!" Also potentially appropriate, "CAN'T FIRE WILSON CAUSE YOU HIRED HIM FOR TEAM USA? GO CANADA!" I'm just saying.

Get those little digs in where you can, Torontonians, because Wilson sucks as a coach. Can he just get the sack and Burkie ring up Tim Armstrong and have him come take this dude's place?  If CR belongs behind any bench, it's with a big fat ASSISTANT before the word coach. I can't figure out where the hell Army went after the Capitals switched affiliations from Portland to Hershey, but if anyone can lead the Leafs out of the valley and closer to the mountaintop, it's this guy. The first year he coached in Portland, the Pirates went from 12th in the conference with 80 points, to 1st in the conference with 114. I can't remember subsequent seasons, or find ANY information on him on the internets - TIM ARMSTRONG WHERE ARE YOU? Because I sense another Bruce Boudreau situation waiting to happen should Timmy get the call. Make it happen Burkie. The world will forgive you even though you hired Wilson to coach Team USA. But let's be honest, Team USA ain't winning gold anyway. It'll be Canada and Sweden in the final, mark my words.

Sorry, I digressed. We were talking about Luke. Don't bench him. That's the bottom line. He's a fragile little bunny right now, trying to find his confidence and his game again. You really think benching him will give him "the ability to watch the game from up high" and let him lick his wounds? WRONG. That's what IR is for. You just don't do that to a potential franchise defenceman. Case in point: Steve Eminger. Go look him up. He was supposed to be one of the Caps' franchise defencemen and then bounced all over the place after Wilson fucked him up too.

I can go on about this all day, can't I? Here's Luke looking pretty cause all the ladies in the place, I'm callin' out to ya'!

Anyway, tonight is the kind of night Tivo was made for. The Leafs are taking on the WORST team in the league (ha ha Carolina, HA HA!), and the Bruins are down in Atlanta taking on the 4-win-streak-having Thrashers. Plus Lucic and Savard are rumoured to be game-time decisions. With Savard being higher in the "rumour" category than the "reality" category, but no one be surprised if Savvy takes to the ice for warm ups, cause that is just the kind of guy he is. Wysh, over at Puck Daddy, wrote a pretty interesting article about the return of the Lord and his protector. Give him a read. Just skip the parts where he quotes Kathryn Tappen.

So here's what I'm thinking, if you're a betting kind of fan. Keep Schenn in uniform and let him build some confidence against a shit team. I put the line on this game at 4, and I suggest you take the over. Bruins in Atlanta, with a returned Lucic, and possibly Savard taking the warm-ups, this'll have a HUGE psychological impact on the B's so I'm setting the line at 6, and definitely take the under.

THANK YOU TIVO, FOR BEING INVENTED, SO I CAN WATCH ALL THE GAMES. AMEN!

Bits & Pieces - Bs and Leafs (Milan Lucic up for auction)

Item the first: Marc Savard and Milan Lucic are both to be game-time decisions for playing tomorrow night. Do not let my calm, normal text deceive you. I'm flipping my shit because this has the potential to be the best thing ever. Then again, Pony shut out the Kings 7-0 last week and the Thrashers are on a 4 game win streak. Oh the delicious irony.

Item the second: He made like TWO fucking mistakes on one shift in the third, a 42 second shift if memory serves, and Wilson benched this kid for the rest of the game:

I've read a few things about his fight, and his game, that I disagree with. First off, he was bleeding BEFORE he took on Neil, from Neil cross-checking him in the back as Luke tried to get up from being boarded (if that wasn't boarding, Neil has a career as a prima ballerina when he leaves the game, cause he must've been on the TIPPY TOE of his blade, and frankly, it's Chris Neil. It's not above him to leave his feet). Schenny was on his knees, facing the boards when Neil circled back and smacked him in the back with his stick, causing Luke's face to kiss the boards, helmet askew thus leaving his face unshielded. Watch the replay. You can see the mark the edge of the visor left along his forehead, leading to the laceration. If I'm wrong, mea culpa, but that's how it looked on the Leafs version of the Rogers' broadcast. But I'm not usually wrong.

Secondly, look at how much damage the kid was already playing with. A healing blood blister in his left thumb (and he's left handed), healing bruises on his left hand from punching guys (what was this? 5th fighting major of the season? Has he been hanging out with Lucic? Hmmmm?), looks like his nose has recently been broken (again), and he appears to putting his jaw BACK into place. And then there's that flap of skin above his eyebrow that's gaping and had to be stitched close, cause super glue ain't helping that one. So the kid's just gotten stitched back up and put back together like Frankenstein's monster, he goes out in the 2nd, and OK he was on for one goal against, but he was also on for a goal for. Ruutu then made him a target for the rest of his time on the ice, and when he REALLY started fucking with Luke, John Mitchell (OF ALL PEOPLE) had enough and went after Ruutu. Did I take the blue pill? What was going ON with this game?!

Thirdly, whatever idiot wrote in the Sun or Canada post or wherever the hell it was that Luke "tripped" over Toskala obviously wasn't paying attention the split second BEFORE, when he was hit in the chest with a slapshot that knocked him over. Details, people, try paying attention to them. Shortly thereafter, or perhaps on the same play, it's all blurring at this point, Luke coughed up the puck.

And did not return to the ice.


I'm going over all of this in my mind and trying to decide if Wilson benched him for his own safety, or to send him a message. If it was a message, here's a message, Crazy Ron - go fuck yourself. If it was for his own safety, I'm also of the same mind in my message. Hockey players are the toughest guys you will ever meet. This is a 20 year old kid who's trying to adjust to new partners, new teammates, a slightly different system, and living up to hype. Let him fucking play. Let him make mistakes. I mean seriously, at this point, how much worse can it get? What's he gonna do, let the other team score ANOTHER goal? Whether they're losing by 1 or by 10, they're still losing so let the kid play. Let him find his legs, let him find his game, and stop kicking him while he's down. And while we're at it, someone get the kid some Peas for his face and hands. Greatest thing evar.

Item the third: If you happen to be in Boston on the 27th and 28th of November, you will be able to bid on this spec-fucking-tacular painting of Milan Lucic, created by Russian artist Veronika Loginova. I WANT that. I don't have the money to participate in an auction for it, but that is BEAUTIFUL. Click it to enlarge so you can see the actual texture of the nets in the painting, and how awesome that she used Looch's awesome hit in Seidenberg from last year's playoffs. This is truly an amazing work of art. I expect it to go for no less than $1,500USD. And frankly, that's a steal. I'm not sure of the size of the painting, but depending on size, and if it comes framed or just on stretched canvas, it could realistically go for up to $10k. If I had more information I could use my knowledge of paintings to help you out on a more accurate price. But the proceeds are going to the Boston Sports Museum, who I hope is busy making an awesome fake of it to hang up in their gallery (note: making a fake of a masterpiece is easier than you'd imagine).  So anyway, hit the Garden on the 27/28th and make a bid! THAT COULD BE HANGING OVER YOUR FIREPLACE! Or bed, whatever blows your skirt up.

Kessel, Lehtonen, Lucic, Schenn

Coming up with post titles is hard.

Wait, quick story that semi-relates to that. So a long time ago, I used to do a website for this NHL player (who is no longer playing, btw - see? I'm a curse.). He was an extremely popular player at the time, for his mad fighting skills, and one of the promotions I did was print out about 50 pictures of him beating another guy's ASS in one of the top fights in the NHL (tip: vs. a Bruin), and I wanted him to sign them all for giveaways. He had no problem with that, but he's standing there signing them, and we're just shooting the shit while he does, and after about the 30th picture, he just randomly says, "I really hate having a 5 in my number." I just blinked and stared at him blankly. "Writing 5's is really hard. Especially when you have to do a lot of them." True story, I do not lie. Well I do sometimes, but I swear to fucking god, that is the absolute gospel of that story.

Moving on. Today's topics have been easily summarised in alphabetical order because I'm beyond witty titles right now. So let's go.

Phil Kessel
I will go ahead and retract what I said about how I didn't think Kess would be as good on the Leafs as he was on the Bruins. Not to say I think he'll be the Leafs' saviour, but he damned sure appears to be trying. What I noticed last night, specifically, was that instead of needing Marc Savard dishing to him, he's figuring out how to find, predict, and snatch random passes. Which I applaud. Phil Kessel I applaud you! Truculence.

Kari Lehtonen
PM: I hope you got a laugh out of it, and the glitter didn't cause an international incident.

Milan Lucic
Today Looch joined the B's for the pre-game skate. Not cleared yet to shoot a full slapper, but he was taking snappers and wristers, and half-assed slappers. He was sporting the Dmen's black jersey, which is a huge step up from the no-contact red jersey. Looch, you heal that finger and get back on the ice. And Savvy, you heal that foot. Despite the B's being .500 right now, and playing their asses off in a lot of games for little (1pt) or no results, I honestly believe that the double threat of Looch & Savvy is gonna help lift the B's up into a higher spot in the conference. I BELIEVE!

Luke Schenn
Oh Luke. Luke, Luke, Luke. How do we find you the confidence you so desperately need? Is the pressure too much? Is being referred to  as "Our Luke and Saviour" just too much? The media turning on you getting to you? You need to compartmentalise, sweetheart! Fuck the bloggers. Fuck the media. Fuck everything and everyone. You got to the Show and had a phenomenal rookie season. It's only 16, 17 games into the season. No one fails to live up to their hype, or falls short on expectation, or washes up after only 16 or 17 games. Tear up the next reporter that asks you about the sophomore jinx. Take up boxing in your spare time and really learn how to kick some ass. And not do... this.





Boxing also helps release stress. Unfortunately, confidence isn't something anyone can help you find, you just need to  have more faith and belief in yourself. And fans? Have some faith in #2. He at least is still living up to his Human Eraser nickname, even if it goes unnoticed in the face of his mistakes:

And just a little reminder of how awesome of a player Luke is, because a lot of people seem to have forgotten of late:

And as a small self promotion, though I'd be surprised if you got this far, I'm selling some jewelry on eBay. You should buy it. It's very nice. And proceeds of the sale will go to keeping me insured while unemployed. Thank you!

Halloween treats, and tricks.

TRICK: Pavelec honours Jacques Plant.
I might've given up on blogging about the Thrashers, but it is absolutely worth mentioning that last night, Ondrej Pavelec accidentally honoured the 50th anniversary of Jacques Plant storming off the ice and refusing to return without a mask. You know the part in Transformers 2 when Simmons is climbing the pyramid and is right beneath Devastator's swinging steel wrecking balls? Yeah, that's Pavelec. Had no choice but to take a shot, maskless, and made a shoulder save on it. Ondrej Pavelec, here's to you. Curious here, if he had stood up and moved from the crease, would the play be blown dead and/or the goal negated if one was subsequently scored? The Thrashers went on to, well, Thrash the Senators, 4-2. Well done,former team. Very well done!

TREAT: How's Looch doin?
Milan Lucic made a visit to the NESN desk to join Kathryn (irregardless is not a word, lady) Tappen and Barry Pederson this past Hallow's Eve. This might be the most charming and charismatic 21 year old I've ever ran across. Everyone calls/ed Crosby "poised" and "mature" but he's so wooden, as if saying his lines by rote. This guy has more than the standard 82 hockey cliches memorised. He's made up his own. Admirable, but the rapport with the press can be analogised as such; Lucic and Crosby equals Bill Clinton and Hilary. Looch glad-hands the cliches, I can't lie, but he adds in so much colour and humour into his answers. Check him out.

Also, two other semi-relevant points. #1 - Did anyone else see the "Big Mouth" segment where Jack and Brick joined the Philly broadcasters in the 2nd intermission of that painful loss? Jack and Brick were so natty and sharp-dressed-men in comparison to the Philly guys. And a lot more entertaining to listen to but I wouldn't know since NHL Network aired the Comcast feed. #2 - Looch is also so well dressed. He wears a suit well.

TREAT AND A TRICK: Pony shuts up the Habs cult.
The Habs were leading the Leafs by 2 (hardest lead to hold) with 4 minutes to go in the 3rd. The smarmy cult of Habs fans had begun singing the Goodbye song (na-na-na-na na-na-na-na hey-hey-hey, good byyyyyyye (one of the things I really do miss in hockey these days, I have to admit), when Alexei Ponikarovsky scored, and shut the fans up. The Leafs then promptly potted another, and the game went to OT. Then it went to the shootout. And the Leafs, being the Leafs, did not win. BUT! In their defence, how the hell are you supposed to focus on the shots you have when that butt ugly and dizzying striped jersey in front of you all night? I hate that jersey. That is THE WORST jersey in the NHL.

TREAT: Tuuuuuuks gets the S v Edmonton
A lot of people in the hockey world (although not Bruins or Team Finland fans) were really first introduced to Tuukka Rask when he lost his shit down Providence. Last night he tricked the Oilers and gave them a shutout for their efforts. The game was typical Oiler hockey, which is to say, fast, quick transition, constant line changes on the fly, few whistles, lots of hits, lots of back check, fore check and hip check! It was totally a game the Bruins were up for. As someone who's also a fan of the Oilers (OH GOD GATOR GET A JOB WITH THE OIL, SOB!), I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Bruins step right up and play in stride. A great 60 minute game with full effort.

TREAT: Wheeler and Sobotka are the shit
For what it's worth, Sobotka better stay up in Boston, and he, Wheels and Paille will be the Kessel-Savard-Lucic line of this season. The last 6 seconds of the 2nd period were breath-taking, heart-stopping, and fist-pumpingly awesome. In the most deliciously vicious cycle, Vladi made a point-blank shot on Khabibulin, Ryder sent the rebound to Wheeler, Wheels threaded it to Vladi, and again he shot on Twitchy. Three times in just seconds and the 4th one went in, popped the water bottle, and caused the fans to raise the roof in celebration. So loudly that few heard the period-over siren 0:02 seconds before the puck crossed the line. But Vladi and Wheels heard. And they made sure the next two counted. Wheel from Vladi, then Vladi from Wheels, and the Bruins sent the Oilers away with 0 points and a shutty.

Summing up the morning's Bruins news

Guillaume Lefebvre was sent back to the P-Bruins.

Johnny Boychuck's staying in town even though D-Wides should be able to play in Wednesday's game.

It was revealed Looch had a metal pin put into his finger during surgery - how will that affect his fighting?

(Mass) State Lottery has debuted a Boston Bruins scratch-off, with prizes including cash and season tickets.

Chowdaheadz is having a contest for a new slogan, you could win a $200 shopping spree! You can only enter one slogan a day, but have at it!

Kobasew might make his debut with the Wild tomorrow night.

I really want to see Sobotka on Krejci's wing, and I hope he sticks with the team. This kid is a GREAT player, and for such a small (comparatively speaking) player, he hits like a brick wall. I love his work ethic and his grit. For all the grief Euros get for being ... shall we say, elusive? This guy plays like he was born and raised in Boston. We'll see him debut tomorrow night. Fingers crossed he stays up.

Inside outside upside down

Or something like that, given all that happened in the past 24 hours. Let's see...

• Kobasew traded to Minny for 2 minor leaguers and a draft pick
• Lucic put on Long-Term IR (3-4 weeks)
  
• Sobotka and Marchand called up from Providence
• Looch had surgery to repair broken right index finger
• Savard, Thornton, Lefebvre missed practice today

Well I'm a little mind boggled. Why did Savvy and Thorty miss practice? Was Kobasew traded to clear cap space for Sobotka et al? Isn't that the purpose of putting Looch on LTIR? Was Chia clearing space to re-sign Savvy and Wheels? Will Sobotka play with Krejci, or will Bitzy keep on keepin' on there? Where will Marchand fit in? Wednesday's game v. Nashville should be interesting, to say the least. It IS v. Nashville, right?

You're doing it wrong.

Apparently last night, Milan Lucic broke a finger. Halfway through the 2nd. And kept playing. But is out of the line up. And on the bench. For probably 2-3 weeks. Maybe more, maybe less.

So Lucic-less Bruins to take on Soon-to-be-homeless Coyotes. But Guillaume Lefebvre, not to be confused with Bret Favre, will be stepping in for Looch. Not sure on what line, or who's going where or really, whether to wind my butt or scratch my watch, but hey the Leafs are only down by 1 after the 1st! So there's that.

Maybe tomorrow I'll talk about what's wrong with the Leafs. It could be a long post. Maybe a short one. Maybe I can do it now: Everything. Someone make that team watch Miracle.

Get well soon, Looch. Can you splint that thing and play anyway?

Seems the flying V still works

So... yeah I don't really have much to say about last night's game. Well, I was really excited to see Milan Lucic featured in the Pop Culture segment during the 1st intermission (awwww, Armageddon makes him tear up!), and also to see him featured so much because of his BIG FAT CONTRACT extension. And it was nice to find out Mark Stuart is the new player rep in the NHLPA for the B's - after Andrew Ference declined to repeat as team rep (fueling further speculation that he might be on his way out after this season?). But other than that, uh, well, I was discouraged to say the least. Jack Edwards put it best when he said the B's didn't lose ONCE at home last season by more than 3 goals, and 3rd game in, they lost by 5.

I saw a lot of problems with the play, and maybe it's due to the new guys adjusting to the system, but in a lot of cases, it was the team veterans who were out of place. No one was in front of the net to direct in a bounce, no one was there to catch a pass, no one was there to crash the net, passes went into the wild blue yonder, and for the love of the lord, why did Looch or Thorty not drop the gloves with SOMEONE at some point in the third? I mean, hello? What's another expression for a fight? "Momentum shifter." That was desperately needed by the middle of the 2nd, let alone through the 3rd. So what happened? Who knows. Four days off after a great win. A lot of hub-bub surrounding Looch's extension, the Sox playing the Angels in the playoffs (OK OK that game didn't start til 9:37, but isn't it kind of ironic that both the hockey and baseball teams were playing the Anaheim teams?). No idea.

Hopefully Julien is currently instituting his kind, loving, fatherly manner of gently nudging his players back onto track, and helping them find their zen, their groove, their asses with both hands. Let's be real, hopefully he gave them a double practice today and tomorrow's game-day skate's mandatory. Because that shit on ice last night was unacceptable from this team. Apparently 2/3 of the team forgot the system they've been playing for the past 3 years, and they damned well better remember by tomorrow night.  And despite them being pretty good friends, I kind of hope that John Tavares' "Welcome to the NHL" moment comes from Milan Lucic pounding him into the boards during that game.


I'm starting to think I really am a jinx. When I make it public that I like a team, they just start to suck. We'll see how it goes, but maybe I should just give up on hockey blogging and stop publicly admitting my love for a team - any team. We''ll see how it goes.

Anyway, here's some pictures from last night (photos courtesy AP, Getty, or whomever. All Rights Reserved.):

And cause I totally love burning images on peoples' brains... may I present to you Zdeno Chara, naked:

Because I'm an equal opportunity believer in sharing naked (or mostly naked) photos of great hockey players, I was going to oblige all three of my readers with a great mostly-naked photo of Looch, who, by the way, has a body that would put Z to shame. However last time I backed up my computer, I archived the photo and took it off the hard drive. Tear.

The ability to make a guy bleed pays $4.083m/yr

The stunningly fit, heavy-fisted, soft-handed, almost fleet-footed Milan Lucic, the new found cult hero of the working class fans of Boston Bruins everywhere, was finally rewarded today for his years of never-say-die attitude, and awarded a contract extension for 3 years at $12.25m.

Just a reminder to the naysayers, Jeremy Jacobs wouldn't pay $4m a year to someone who serves only as a pugilist. For proof, just ask PJ Stock.

Congrats, Looch. Keep it up, can't wait to see you wearing the Red and White come February.

And the funniest commercial you might not have seen:

Wait, what? This is how you break the news?

BOS: So I got this in a Google alert on Looch, and this is all there was, in an article about the Pens... Is this the grand announcement that Milan Lucic's been invited to the Team Canada camp? 

Hockey fans can now start looking forward to announcements concerning invitees to Team Canada's fall camp scheduled for Father Bauer Arena Aug. 24-28. It is there Bruins jack-of-all trades, Milan Lucic, is bound to impress.

If so, Go Looch Go! You kick some ass there! If that's just speculation, that's rather factually stated. Then again, it's from Canoe.ca, so.... who's to say?

Yes we did! Looch to miss Young Stars

Uh, so yeah, how about that thing downtown today, eh?? Was that intense or what?? I almost wish I had gone down just to hear that song Yo-Yo Ma and Izhak Perlman played echoing through the empty canyons of the abandoned city streets. Welcome to a new dawn, America. Let's try not to fuck this one up, k?

Moving on to hockey. Milan Lucic is bowing out of the Young Stars game due to a lingering injury. Frown.

Thrash play Habs tonight. Thrash play Flyers tomorrow night. Here's a tip for all you statisticians - Niittymaki is ill, and likely to not play. Start adding your 1s and 0s and tell me what you come up with!

Anyway, stuff to do, places to do it that aren't here.

Sweet lord the B's are dropping like flies

Phil Kessel is now on IR with mono. Seriously who goes on IR with mono? I've never had mono personally, so I have no idea what it's like, but is it really an IR and not a day-to-day? AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO PLAY WITH SAVARD?! EDIT Kessel's expected to be out up to a month, according to Chiarelli.

..... A MONTH!!!!! FROWNY.

In other news, Kevin Regan, Tuukka Raask and Saint called (back) up, Matt Lashoff, Tuukka Raask, and Kevin Regan have been sent down. YEAH YOU READ RIGHT. I'm not entirely sure which goalie is still here though, it's all very confusing. Can't C make his mind up?

Does anyone have news on Lucic? And his "upper torso" injury? Why is that always in quotations? Does the guy have a sinus infection or something?

Anyway, no seriously, B's play the Habs tomorrow night and they're down 2/3 of their top line. GET WELL SOON KESS! YOU TOO GINO!

Hell yeah, Luc, Wheels and Little!!

Listen I just want you to know I can totally sit here for about an hour and come up with funny anagrams out of "luc wheels little" but I won't. Because I know you're dying for the news that's already on 93 other legitimate outlets, BUT THAT'S OKAY! No one gives it to you with my perspicacity! MOVING ON!

They're doing rookies vs sophomores this year, and I gotta be honest, I don't have the attention span to read the whole article and figure out who's playing where, although I could probably look and tell you. However, Here's your 2009 YoungStars lineup, sorted alphabetically.

Nicklas Backstrom (Washington)
Patrik Berglund (St. Louis)
Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix)
Andrew Cogliano (Edmonton)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles)
Brandon Dubinsky (New York R)
Erik Ersberg (Los Angeles)
Michael Frolik (Florida)

Bryan Little (Atlanta)

Kris Letang (Pittsburgh)

Milan Lucic (Boston)

Steve Mason (Columbus)
James Neal (Dallas)
Mason Raymond (Vancouver)
Luke Schenn (Toronto)
Marc Staal (New York R)
Devin Setoguchi (San Jose)
Steven Stamkos (Tampa)
Kris Versteeg (Chicago)

Blake Wheeler (Boston)

Why the hell is Phil Kessel being snubbed for the ASW?

[Bruins] Yin and Yang, bizarro style?

So.... Lucic is injured, and for once Claude Julien's playing his cards close to the vest, and not even specifying if it's upper or lower body. But! Fret not! Jarkko Ruutu is suspended for 2 games for biting Andrew Peters, and really my question here is, who in their right mind would bite a nasty ass hockey player glove? Marc Savard, that's who! If you recall, when Savvy played for the Thrashers in '03, he bit Darcy Tucker on the glove and got to watch from the press box for 3 games. Somehow this story has a nice logical tie-up but I'm not entirely sure where or how to find it, so, draw your own conclusions.