Sunday, April 11, 2010

BRUINS MAKE PLAYOFFS IN A SHORTHANDED MANNER

The Red Sox get the first take, let's get it out of the way. They had a crappy first week, albeit they are 3-3 at this point. The team won a amazing and crazy opener, one in which Pedro threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Beckett and Sabathia got lit up, but the Sox rallied to tie the game at on a Pedroia homer and went on to win 9-7. The next game stunk. The Sox blew a nice lead and lost on a bases loaded walk. The Yanks bullpen outdueled the Sox one this time around. Lester and Burnett got shelled. The Yanks got the rubber game as a great duel between Lackey and Petitte, as Bard and Paps blew the game and we lost in extras. Horrible start to the season. Things got worse the next game as the Royals got 2 runs in the eighth to shock the Sox 4-3. Fortunately, the Sox won the next 2 games as the offense was great and scored 16 runs. The Sox take their .500 record into Minnesota starting tomorrow.
The Celtics are so frustrating as you can tell from reading this here blog. They are 50-30. Great record. But we all know they were 24-5 on Christmas and have been 26-25 since, unacceptable. The team is weird, they win and they lose and the opponent doesn't matter in either case. For example, we went into Milwaukee and beat a good Bucs club, but the night before we lost by double-digits to the horrible Wizards! Earlier in the week, the team lost by 3 in New York and then went into Toronto and won. So they are playing .500 and losing the games they shouldn't. The club has 2 games left, versus the Bulls and Bucs. The team is one game behind the Hawks but have the tiebreaker, so the Hawks need to lose one and Celts win both for the green to be the #3 seed.
Save the best for last. Our Bruins! What a season it has been. Injuries, injuries, injuries. Horrific stuff. When we reflect after the post-season that will be the topic of conversation, along with being the 2nd to worst offensive team. They will talk about 2009 Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas losing his job to a goalie(Rask), who finished the season #1 in GAA and save %. They will talk about not winning a single home game for the months of January and February. But that is for later on. The team is going to the post-season on a hot streak.
This past week was interesting. They played without Ference, Seidenberg and Stuart on defense. They played without Savvy, who is done for the year. Yet, they scratched and clawed for 7 of 8 possible points. The team battled in Washington and got a hard fought point on Monday. Thursday, the club defeated Buffalo to jump up in the standings. But it was Saturday, in the home finale versus those Canes' that sealed the deal. It was reminiscent of the epic 7 game semifinals series last season, which ended miserably for the black-and-gold. It was an intense game. The Bruins needed a win to clinch the playoffs, and the Canes' wanted nothing more than to not let it happen on their watch. Too bad. The fast-paced, physical game was one of the best this season. It featured a record 3 shorthanded goals by the Bruins in a span of 1:04, yes, that's an NHL record. It was amazing! But the Canes' battled back and the game was 3-2. One interesting moment occurred in the 3rd, when a Cane' was penalized but they had not touched the puck so we pull Rask to the bench for the extra attacker. Problem was an errant pass when all the way back to the open net but Bergy raced down and just got there to pull it off the goal line. Unreal. The Bruins held on and won 4-2 and clinched the #6 seed! The Bruins still had one left, again in Washington and again on national television. Thomas got the start and Chara, Bergy and Recchi got the day off. The exciting game went into a SO and the Bruins won 4-3, what a great week! The Bruins get the Sabres, whom we went 4-2 against this season. They are the team everyone wanted to play, and although I respect them, that is the truth. They are a good match-up for the Bruins!
In other news, congrats to the BC Eagles hockey club won downing Wisconsin 5-0 for the NCAA Hockey Championship! They have now won 2 of 3, with BU winning the other! Also, the Bruins are guaranteed a top 3 pick from Toronto with the Kessel trade. Lastly, Beckett re-upped for 4 years 68 million.

2009-10 NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
  1. WASHINGTON 121
  2. NEW JERSEY 103
  3. BUFFALO 100
  4. PITTSBURGH 101
  5. OTTAWA 94
  6. BOSTON 91
  7. PHILADELPHIA 88
  8. MONTREAL 88
  9. NEW YORK 87
  10. ATLANTA 83
  11. CAROLINA 80
  12. TAMPA BAY 80
  13. NEW YORK 79
  14. FLORIDA 77
  15. TORONTO 74

Washington versus Montreal

New Jersey versus Philadelphia

Buffalo versus Boston

Pittsburgh versus Ottawa

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