MARCH MADNESS IN BOSTON PART 2

It's crazy up here in the northeast man. I'm talking about the sports scene specifically. First, the UMass Minutemen bowed out unfortunately. They were left out of the NCAA's but made it to the Final Four in the NIT. They defeated last year's top dogs, the Florida Gators, and took on the last year's runner up Ohio State. Though UMass was up by double digits and even had a 5 point lead at halftime, the team succumbed to the Buckeyes to lose in the final. So close.
The Celtics, well, what's not to like. They continually thrash and smash any opponent in their way. They beat all 3 opponents by double digits this week and are a whopping 61-15! One of those wins, against Charlotte, was a 23 point blowout...........and none of the Big Three(Pierce, Allen and Garnett) even suited up! They also clinched home court advantage throughout and are currently 37 games better than last year, a differential that is now an NBA record!
To be honest, I have yet to watch the Red Sox. It's early April and there is too much going on. They have lost 3 straight and are 3-4. And BC is in the Frozen Four this week. Go Eagles!
Okay, let's talk hockey. What a great sport it is despite all the wussy changes the game made after the lockout. The team entered the week with 3 games left. Starting off, they traveled to New Jersey in search of a win. The team played fabulous but lost a 2-1 lead in the 3rd and the game ended 2-2, but the Devils got the extra point in the shootout. With Washington, as well as Philadelphia and Buffalo going strong, the team need at least 2 0r 3 points out of the last 2 games. The team continued to ride Thomas in net and they went into Ottawa and got a great win 2-1. The win gave the Bruins their 1st playoff series since 2004! Great feeling it was, especially with injuries plaguing the team all year.
With playoffs clinched, all that was left to do was get a higher seed. They evened up with Ottawa and needed only 1 point to (a)-jump ahead of Ottawa (b)- stay ahead of Philadelphia (c) with a win, and NYR loss, get the 5th seed. But all they really had to do was get at least one point and you're assured at worse the #6 seed. Things looked fine with a weak Buffalo team coming into town for the finale, but the team looked tired and sore. Whether it was a tank job to get Montreal in the 1st round, tired from playing both Wed. and Fri. or the team celebrating a bit too much a few hours earlier, they were far from themselves and looked horrific in a loss.
So what happened? Well, Ottawa got the higher seed by virtue of a tie-breaker, the NYR got a point and Philadelphia upended Pittsburgh and voila..........the Bruins fall all the way to 8th.
In any case, they shocked the world and made the playoffs. A great season considering the circumstances. They lost about 400 man-games to injury, far and away the most in the league.
No Alberts, Bergeron, Savard, Allen, Fernandex, Kobasew and the list goes on.
For now, the new season begins. Check back next week for the results. Below are the standings.

East

1. Montreal 47-25-10 104
2. Pittsburgh 47-27-8 102
3. Washington 43-31-8 94
4. New Jersey 46-29-7 99
5. NY Rangers 42-27-13 97
6. Philadelphia 42-29-11 95
7. Ottawa 43-31-8 94
8. Boston 41-29-12 94
9. Carolina 43-33-6 92
10. Buffalo 39-31-12 90
11. Florida 38-35-9 85
12. Toronto 36-35-11 83
13. NY Islanders 35-38-9 79
14. Atlanta 34-40-8 76
15. Tampa Bay 31-42-9 71

West

1. Detroit 54-21-7 115
2. San Jose 49-23-10 108
3. Minnesota 44-28-10 98
4. Anaheim 47-27-8 102
5. Dallas 45-30-7 97
6. Colorado 44-31-7 95
7. Calgary 42-30-10 94
8. Nashville 41-32-9 91
9. Edmonton 41-35-6 88
10. Chicago 40-34-8 88
11. Vancouver 39-33-10 88
12. Phoenix 38-37-7 83
13. Columbus 34-36-12 80
14. St Louis 33-36-13 79
15. Los Angeles 32-43-7 71