In a week from now the Super Bowl between our beloved Patriots and the NY Giants will kickoff in Glendale, Arizona. This morning tons of faithful fans weathered the cold and snow squalls at Gillette for a Patriots end-off to Arizona. It was chilling moment. And we wish them the best.
The week was dominated with Tom Brady news. Paparazzi followed him around all week as he wore a protective boot due to a minor high ankle sprain. It was madness. And although he has yet to practice(rightfully so), he was at the rally this morning sans-boot!The Patriots are 12 point favorites as we stand. But expect a close game, a la a 7-11 point victory for the undefeated Pats. They seem to have left the blowout style wins in the regular season. It will be a heated match-up much like the one in the final regular season game. The Giants have been bad-mouthing the Pats- a bad move knowing bulletin-board material only aids a team that thrives of it! We wish NFL MVP Tom Brady and the New England Patriots the best of luck on their quest to a 19-0 season and more. Go Patriots!
In other news, The Celtic sand Bruins continue to struggle at times after stellar beginning to the season. The Celtics are struggling. I repeat- The Celtics are struggling.
After thrashing the Knicks at MSG on MLK Day, the team headed home for the Raptors. The Celtics played well and held a solid lead in the 4th quarter. But once again, the Celtics blew a late game lead and fell to the hot-shooting Raptors 114-112. It was another last second upset by a Celtics opponent. Things seemed worse two nights later vs. league worst Minnesota. The Celts trailed late against a club full of former Celtics players seeking revenge but found a way to pull it out by a point. The final game of the week was a roadie versus the Magic, a team that beat Boston by a single point earlier this season. Without the injured Garnett and slumping Ray Allen, Paul Pierce did his best to carry the team, much like last season. The Celts led at the half in a Sunday matinee on national television but got trounced late in the 3rd quarter after building on their halftime lead. The Celts made a run and the game sat at 93 up with a few seconds left. The Magic's Hedo Turkuglo took a long range three as the buzzer went off................the shot went in with zero time left. another blown lead-another loss.
Some good came out of a difficult week though. Perkins and Rondo are really playing better and coming into their own. The bench looks solid too. The team is a solid 34-8 despite the poor play of late. They hope to rebound this week.
Lastly, the Bruins are at the All-Star break. They entered a game at Montreal riding high off a home and home sweep of the Rangers. But once again they lost to Habs with no hope in sight. They got trounced 8-2 and are now a horrendous 0-6 against the main rival. They have some time to figure out how to beat them though; they don't meet again until March.
But much like before, the team regrouped and beat the Islanders 4-1 behind Tim Thomas 2 nights later. What's so amazing is that the team is so decimated by injuries to key players: Axellson, Fernandez, Murray, Alberts, and Bergeron to name a few. The young club is learning and gaining confidence which they'll need if guys don't immediately return after the reprieve.
The All-Star game is ongoing right now. Chara, Lucic, Savard and Thomas participated this weekend. The team has a home match against Nashville next.
Here are the conference standings at the break.
Eastern Conference
- senators 66
- flyers 59
- hurricanes 52
- habs 60
- devils 59
- penguins 58
- bruins 55
- islanders 54
- rangers 54
- capitals 51
- thrashers 50
- panthers 49
- sabres 48
- leafs 48
- lightning 45
- wings 78
- sharks 61
- wild 59
- stars 61
- ducks 60
- flames 58
- canucks 57
- avalanche 56
- jackets 56
- predators 55
- coyotes 54
- blues 51
- oilers 51
- blackhawks 50
- kings 42
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