Boston Bruins

[Todd Pettinger]

...have been my pick for the Stanley Cup this year. Unfortunately it looks like the loathsome Canucks will meet either Boston or Tampa... The Bruins took yet another step towards the Cup going up 3-2 in the series... I don't think they'll come back to Boston for a game 7 whereas I think San Jose can get their crap together and push the 'nucks to seven.

Anyone else watching (or care???). I've heard hockey is obviously not as big a deal in the US as it is in Canada (duh) but I'm curious just how much excitement or apathy there is out there?

[dom carter]

Hi,

Canucks fan here - got friends who live in Vancouver; so got initiated!

Never won the Stanley cup so here's hoping we can go one better than 82/94 (although those loses were both to NY teams; so we have a hope!), although still gotta get past the Sharks and they're do have a lots of talent - although "winding 'em up" seems to work in our favour as they can't stay out of the bin!

[Brian C.]

We're still bummed about the Hawks, but they made it more interesting than we expected. I thought Boston dominated the Hawks in their only meeting this year. Scoring against Tim Thomas is like trying to score against the living room couch, but the Bruins didn't allow any quality shots in that game. Otherwise, it's hard for me to say much else about the Bruins because I haven't watched them very much.

That said, I'll root for anybody but Vancouver. Raffi Torres has no business being on the ice, and that's all that needs to be said about that.

[Moses Botbol]

Bruins fan over here. They need to score on the power play. Tim Thomas has been amazing and taking too many shots on net. I am hopeful, but not making any plans just yet. Tampa Bay is still a threat and could easily come back.

[Roy Hersh]

I don't think they'll come back to Boston for a game 7 whereas I think San Jose can get their crap together and push the 'nucks to seven.

Well Todd, don't quit your day job!


I grew up an ISLANDERS fan and their mid-70's though their '81/'82 season where they beat Vancouver in the Cup Finals was my heydey with hockey. I hated the NY Rangers as a kid, because you can't root for both (think Mets vs. Yankees, Giants vs. Jets etc.). When I came back from Portugal in mid-May 1994, the Rangers were finally making their way to their first SCF series vs. Vancouver. I was so amazed that I watched every minute of the series and taped the last couple of amazing games. Great teams both.

Fast forward to moving to the Seattle area in 1996. I was bummed there was no hockey here and for a few years really got into the local BB team until they were virtually "removed" and relocated in Oklahoma. I won't watch pro basketball ever again, but got back into hockey and because Vancouver is the closest we've got to a local team, I've been following them the past 3 seasons. Their playoff run this year has often been filled with "ugly" and they tried really hard to give away the store to the Blackhawks, but they were definitely the better team and did prevail. In the past two series, I missed one except for reading, while in Portugal but saw every game vs. da Sharks.

I am rooting for Boston to beat TB, because I feel they are a better team and would make the Stanley Cup Finals a truly great series. I hope this is the outcome. I'll be back to talk more atcha when the Eastern team clinches their spot vs. Vancouver.

[Bryan H.]

Die hard Wings fan here. Painful to see us go out against SJ after fighting back in the series, but such is life. Now we've got to deal with Rafalski retiring, which may come with Lidstrom retiring as well (hope not).

Gotta pull for the Bolts, who just forced gm 7, since The Captain is in charge there...

[Todd Pettinger]

Die hard Wings fan here. Painful to see us go out against SJ after fighting back in the series, but such is life. Now we've got to deal with Rafalski retiring, which may come with Lidstrom retiring as well (hope not).

Gotta pull for the Bolts, who just forced gm 7, since The Captain is in charge there...

My condolences on the Wings... I was hoping for them as well. After Pretty boy Heatley dissed my town, well, I simply can't bring myself to cheer for any team he plays on. I made an exception for the Vancouver series because I loathe them even more than Heatley.

Roy, yup, my words were more hopeful than prognostication... The psychology just didn't seem to work out for me, although that second Van goal with just 13 seconds was so hard to watch. Sports radio today has been talking of nothing exept the blown icing call and how the NHL should introduce the coach's challenge... Just another excuse for hockey to try to emulate the big show (NFL) I suppose, but after seeing the "icing" call, well, maybe I could find myself with a ticket for that train. It would be interesting to see how they would deal with something like that... The coach throws a red puck at the referee or soemthing?!?!

And yes, I'll forgive you for cheering for the 'Nucks... They are essentially your local team.

Chicago, what can I say? I only started. Watching the Van-Chi seriesnon game 4, only because I couldn't believe the complete OWNERSHIP Van had over Chicago in the first three games. They impressed the heck out of me in games 4-7 coming all the way back from 3-0 down to force no only game 7 but were 1 OT period short of being only the fourth team in history to come back fromm a 3-0 series deficit, amazing story and a well played series, even if the team I wanted to didn't win.

As far as the comment about Torres, I despised him when he played for Edmonton... That hasn't changed since he left town. I think he's gotten worse. Regular season will come aroound next year, I wouldn't want to be him in the first game against Chicago. Methinks Seabrook may have a long memory!

[Roy Hersh]

Seabrook is a goon.

Yes, VAN is my local team by default, so its not like I am going to watch the Islanders anymore. After all, Luongo was originally an Islander way back when. Looking forward to game 7 tonight, should be great. Tampa Bay is probably, in reality, the better team. I just have more Bruins fans that I can give a ration of stuff to during the series, even Moses, but some guys I've known for decades who are real diehards. But either way, looking forward to the next week two weeks during the final run towards the Cup.

An interesting dynamic I've followed in all sports: Usually people talk about how great it is for a team to get a bunch of rest (Van) while the other team is still playing (TB/Bos) to complete their series. However, what I see more often than not, in the very first game, they come out not showing they're well rested, but rusty and lethargic. More often than not the well rested team loses game 1. Let's see how that plays out too.

[Brian C.]

Roy, I must respectfully disagree with your assessment of Seabrook. Goons generally aren't good enough to make Canada's Olympic squad, even as the 7th D. John Scott, now that's a goon.

[Moses Botbol]

This is a going to be a big night in Boston. The weather is great, holiday weekend and if the B's bring it home, there will be mayhem in the streets. We've been waiting a long time for a chance at Cup. I did not think, nor did the local sports FM guys think the B's were a championship team, but that's what makes pro sports so exciting.

I have a '70 Ferreira in queue for tonight!

[Todd Pettinger]

This is a going to be a big night in Boston. The weather is great, holiday weekend and if the B's bring it home, there will be mayhem in the streets. We've been waiting a long time for a chance at Cup. I did not think, nor did the local sports FM guys think the B's were a championship team, but that's what makes pro sports so exciting.

I have a '70 Ferreira in queue for tonight!

Hope you enjoy that Ferreira Moses!!!

Despite the low score, it was actually a pretty exciting game. The goaltending, which has been inconsistent on both sides up until game 7 was lights out. I actually felt a pang of sympathy for Rollie, this was probably his last legit shot at a cup. (since his last shot got cut short, some would say unfairly, with his injury in Edmonton's miracle run in 06.)

Still, great game. Fast paced, lots of end to end, eve with both teams playing, at times, overly conservative, there were still a lot of chances generated. Normally I'd say a 1-0 games was likely to be boring, not the case tonight.

[dom carter]

Dam it! gotta face the Bruins in the Final - statistically against the Bruins, the Canucks are 25-66-15-2. The 25 wins are the fewest the Canucks have had against any team they've played 100 or more times during their 40 NHL seasons.

[Moses Botbol]

No penalties... That was one short game of hockey. So much pressre on both offenses, just waiting for a defensive mistake. Not sure our goal was that, but we scored! Car horns were going off when the game ended.

Didn't open up the Ferreira... Had Dow 2005 LBV instead.

[Todd Pettinger]

No penalties... That was one short game of hockey. So much pressre on both offenses, just waiting for a defensive mistake. Not sure our goal was that, but we scored! Car horns were going off when the game ended.

Didn't open up the Ferreira... Had Dow 2005 LBV instead.

Yeah, first time in history of the playlets uthat there were NO penalties... I'm not sure if you told me that stat before the game i would have believed it, but there it was, I happened. Both sides had a couple of minor infractions that could have been called, but the refs did well and let the players decide the outcome of the game rather than starting to call cheap ones half way thru the game. The players did well too to not cross the line and force a penalty call. A penalty could have been devastating for either side, but particularly for Boston as Tampa's PP was SO good all thru the playoffs.

[Todd Pettinger]

Dam it! gotta face the Bruins in the Final - statistically against the Bruins, the Canucks are 25-66-15-2. The 25 wins are the fewest the Canucks have had against any team they've played 100 or more times during their 40 NHL seasons.

While that stat cheers me Dom, I still think it won't matter this year. I know the Canuck would have rather faced Tampa as Boston has the potential to be a lot more physical and could cause the 'Nucks fits with Guys like Chara and Marchand, etc, but unfortunately I still think they will be dominate against the Bruins. I really don't want the Canucks to win (regional rivalry with my beloved Oilers) but I fear that may be a foregone conclusion...

[Moses Botbol]

Big night tonight!

[Moses Botbol]

Even though the B's lost, they showed up and played hockey at the same level. Heck of a game. This is not going to be a roll over series as some commentators thought.

[Brian C.]

Two great games so far, both with letdown endings in the sense that it didn't match the quality of play that preceded them. I hadn't even settled in yet when that game winner happened. I think Burrows should not have been allowed to suit up for this game after the biting incident (who does that, really?), but to his credit, the first goal he scored tonight was a beaut that completely stunned Thomas. On his second goal, Chara never should have allowed him to get to the other side to tap it in.

[Todd Pettinger]

Was away camping for the weekend and although the air tv feed we pulled in was too grainy to really tell what was going on, someone across the way had a satellite dish other rig that allowed the a ice crystal clear image. We could tell what the outcome was from the Canuck fans who were whooping it up when the OT winner was scored.

Tonight's game was a must win for Boston and they played right up to the level that I expected to see them at: on home ice, down by two, an unfortunate OT stunner behind them, still pissed about the bite and then the mocking that some of the Vancouver guys were doing to Bergeron... This one was coming (and amazingly, an easy bet I made fifty bucks on tonight... Busy at work was pretty confident that Vancouver would take game 3 but as far as I was concerned, this one had Boston written all over it before the firs puck drop. I still wouldn't have predicted 8-1, but I will take that fifty for a contribution to some new Port.

[Brian C.]

We were just stunned by the hit on Horton. Vancouver has the talent to win, I just don't know why they feel the need to dish out as many cheap shots as they do. Whenever they take it too far, it ultimately comes back to bite them (no pun intended). I think they would have swept Chicago if not for the Torres hit on Seabrook, and I think they would have at least had a much better result tonight if Rome didn't lay out Horton so unnecessarily tonight. If the NHL does nothing after reviewing that hit, they might as well revoke the rules they made regarding hits like that.

Tim Thomas, not enough can be said about him. Great competitor, and a class act all the way.