NHL playoffs

[privateinvestor]

Not to worry the Bruins will win tomorrow night in Boston but not sure about game seven in Vancouver but will have a better idea after tomorrow's night's game.

[chiver78]

Jun 12, 2011 18:15:17 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Not to worry the Bruins will win tomorrow night in Boston but not sure about game seven in Vancouver but will have a better idea after tomorrow's night's game.

I never thought I'd say this, but I absolutely agree with you. I have zero doubt that we will defend someone else winning the Cup in our house, but I am more than a little nervous about Game 7.

[cael]

I am tentatively !! ...

[chiver78]

<squee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>

[cael]

I echo your squee!!!! I am so pumped!!!!

[chiver78]

haha, you (might actually have an ) idea......I watched tonight's game at the dive bar where I play vball.....makes no difference to me where I see the game, as long as it's a win...! I had zero doubt to the overall result tonight (as I've said in other threads) but would not commit to a final score - in case a case of the "Vancouvers" rained down on us while we were home. it's really been night and day between here and there. I put my faith in Thomas for Game 7 - our shortcomings on Canadian ice has been offensive....and I fully believe that the message has been passed. I have absolute faith that we will get this done! it's the last game on both sides.....it may not be in OUR house, but we've got this. :-)

[privateinvestor]

Jun 12, 2011 18:15:17 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Not to worry the Bruins will win tomorrow night in Boston but not sure about game seven in Vancouver but will have a better idea after tomorrow's night's game.

Ok after last night you can expect the Bruins to do it again tomorrow night in Vancouver with Louongo being pulled again after allowing four goals by the Bruins.

[Cookies Galore]

I was fine with the Bruins or Canucks winning the Stanley Cup, but after hearing the fans' classless reaction to Mason Raymond's injury, I hope the Canucks pull out a win at home.

[cael]

Meghan I think you're awesome and stuff so you aren't counted in here... but Philadelphia fans (all around, not just hockey) are the worst fans in the country imho! I don't think we hold a candle to them. I didn't see that hit so I don't know what happened, did we cheer? No one knew he would later get taken out on a stretcher, he skated off the ice (with help I know, but on his own two feet) didn't he?

[Cookies Galore]

Jun 14, 2011 7:44:42 GMT -5 cael said:

Meghan I think you're awesome and stuff so you aren't counted in here... but Philadelphia fans (all around, not just hockey) are the worst fans in the country imho! I don't think we hold a candle to them. I didn't see that hit so I don't know what happened, did we cheer? No one knew he would later get taken out on a stretcher, he skated off the ice (with help I know, but on his own two feet) didn't he?

Oh crud, I had a whole respons and PB craps out.
Yeah, Philly fans are brutal (I wouldn't say worst), so I can say with authority that Bruins fans were pretty classless. At least when Philly fans are assholes I call them out on it. Philly, Boston, and NY fans are in a class all their own (because we're the only true sports towns in this country ;D)
How could you not hear the chants? They were yelling "flopper" and "liar" pretty loud and you could hear it perfectly on tv. Technically, he didn't skate off the ice. His teammates held him up and guided him off the ice.

[cael]

Oh I will not disagree that we are assholes too! I actually just wasn't in the room for that so I didn't see or hear what happened, just saw him going off the ice on the replays. People probably thought he was pulling a fast one since they knocked Horton out and all that crap.

DF says the only fans worse than Philly fans (again no offense to you! LOL) are Montreal fans, and THEY are seriously a-holes too. He says Philly boos Santa Claus, pukes on people intentionally and are awful. We do have friends from Philly who are not like that obviously, lol. DF's from Jersey though so he has a special hatred of Philly I guess

[Cookies Galore]

Oh, well there you go! The Jersey fans are the ones who give us a bad rep! They're trash!
And I am so sick of the "booing Santa" thing. It happened 40 years ago. Do you know why they booed? The Eagles were in the midst of a terrible season, but they had won the previous week so they lost the first draft pick (who ended up being OJ Simpson). There was a snow storm the night before and the 60,000 fans who showed up (we're such bad fans we pack the house even if our team only wins two games a season) had to clear their own seats. The Eagles FO had hired a Santa who was too drunk to walk, so they grabbed some skinny kid from the stands. If you read up on it, he thought it was hilarious they were throwing snowballs.
And no one defends Pukemon (as we call him). As soon as he vomited on that kid, all the fans surrounding held him down until security and the police arrived. He got a black eye for doing what he did. Exactly one person pukes on someone and that means we all do it?
It's really annoying when the media rehashes the Santa story, because that just proves they can't find evidence of bad fandom since they have to go back 40 years, and their theory is bunk. Athletes want to play here.
Yeah, I'm defensive, because we have a great, loyal fanbase.

[chiver78]

seriously, go back and look at the "hit" on Mason Raymond - there wasn't one. and to anybody that was watching it live, who knew what happened to him? really, it looked like he was full of shit. no American news outlet is reporting this, but Rogers Sportsnet in Canada is saying that Raymond has a fractured vertebra and may not be able to travel back to Vancouver with his team.

fwiw, the league isn't even going to look at the play, which says clear as day that it was clean.

[cael]

HAHA Santa was drunk?! I will admit I didn't even know the story, I didn't know it was 40 years ago! I just parrot what DF says That is hilarious!! Jersey is trash, and DF will readily admit that one, haha.

[Cookies Galore]

There wasn't a "hit" on him and I don't think the league has to look into anything, but you still think it's okay to chant "flopper" when someone is laying on the ice with a legitimate injury?

[chiver78]

when there wasn't a hit preceding him laying on the ice? it's not that big a stretch given the flops so far the rest of the series.

[chiver78]

sports.espn.go.com/boston/nhl/columns/story?columnist=macmullan_jackie&id=6659167
I love Jackie MacMullan ;D

Dear Mr. Luongo,

I'm so sorry I missed you Monday evening. My intent was to meet up with you at TD Garden, where I was under the assumption you and your Vancouver Canucks teammates planned to show up to play Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.

My mistake.

By the time I settled into my seat in the first period, you were already gone, having waved your white Canucks flag in surrender. You had given up three goals on eight shots, and your coach couldn't stand to watch anymore.

For the second time in three games in our fair city, you were yanked from the Stanley Cup finals, reduced to a high-priced spectator with a baseball cap and yet another gaping hole in your postseason dossier. After your team's 5-2 loss, you were the talk of the locker room, for all the wrong reasons.

First, a confession. I was late for this heavily anticipated matchup because I spent the day scouring sporting goods shops looking for the proper apparatus to "pump your tires." It was brought to my attention this was something you felt Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas should have done for you, but he's been kind of busy shutting down your Hart trophy candidates. So I took it upon myself to show some old-fashioned New England hospitality and do the honors.

You do remember your comments, right? After Thomas gave up a late goal to Maxim Lapierre in a 1-0 Game 5 loss, you declared it was a shot you would have stopped.

"It's not hard if you're playing in the paint," you said. "It's an easy save for me, but if you're wandering out and aggressive like he does, that's going to happen. He might make some saves I won't, but in a case like that, we want to take advantage of a bounce like that and make sure we're in a good position to bury those."

Naturally those comments did not sit well with the Bruins. They were particularly curious since you had just come off two of the more dreadful back-to-back performances in recent postseason memory.

You followed up the next day by whining about Thomas, "I've been pumping his tires since the series started. I haven't heard one nice thing he had to say about me."

Hmm. That's curious as well. Since when is it a prerequisite for the competition to lavish his opponent with hearts and flowers and lollipops and best wishes? Thomas might not have been pumping your tires, but he wasn't slashing them, either. Lord knows he would have had enough ammunition had he cared to go that route.

He didn't because he's a thoughtful, poised, composed hockey player. He's got better things to do than dissect each goal you've let up. Besides, with so many to choose from, who'd have the time?

No matter. If pumping your tires is what you want, I was prepared to oblige.

There were two problems with this seemingly mundane assignment. The first: The minute anyone in the metro Boston area heard your name, he or she launched a string of expletives normally reserved for Ulf Samuelsson. You have a bit of an image problem here, Mr. Luongo, because of your decision to verbally challenge the aforementioned Mr. Thomas.

The insinuation from you, your teammate Kevin Bieksa and your coach, Alain Vigneault, that Thomas is "leaky" is, at this hour, well, laughable.

Did you ever take mathematics in school? In case you need a refresher course on how numbers work, let's review the data in front of us. In this Stanley Cup series, you have given up 17 goals. Mr. Thomas, the subject of your skepticism, has given up eight goals.

The scores of the three games Boston dropped in Vancouver were 1-0 on a defensive breakdown, 3-2 in overtime and the aforementioned 1-0 decision in Game 5. All three games were tightly contested, and all three were decided late.

In each case, Thomas kept the Bruins alive with the aggressive, albeit unorthodox style that seems to aggravate you so much. Thomas, you see, has a habit of giving his team a chance to win every time out, so much so that should his team hoist the Stanley Cup on your ice Wednesday evening, he will be the Conn Smythe winner as postseason MVP. In fact, Mr. Luongo, there's a growing sentiment that he might win the award even if your team prevails.

Here's the second problem with the concept of "pumping your tires": They are shredded beyond repair. Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference took turns drilling 8-inch spikes into them Monday night. You wilted under Boston's attack, and your team followed suit. Again.

Now, you might well win the Stanley Cup when you return to the friendly confines of your own rink. If so, what will we have learned about you?

That you know how to shine at home, where it's comfortable and easy and safe. That you imploded on the road the moment the pressure was on and you were forced to deal with some unpleasant adversity.

You've given up 15 goals in three games here, Mr. Luongo. And you have the audacity to suggest that Tim Thomas is the weak link?

I'm not known for jumping on athletes, but here's what really pumps my tires: your superior, condescending attitude toward one of the best stories in hockey.

Tim Thomas is 37, a 217th overall draft pick who toiled for years in the minors and in Europe, who had to fight and scratch and claw for a chance at a starting job, which he did not earn until he was 31. His livelihood was in question as early as this past season, when he underwent hip surgery that threatened to derail his future.

Tuukka Rask was thought to be the goalie-in-waiting, and he might well be a fine one someday. But he doesn't have Tim Thomas' grit or heart or guts or resolve.

Neither do you, Mr. Luongo. You might have that blue-blood hockey pedigree that comes along with being a No. 4 overall pick and an Olympic gold-medal goalie, but that doesn't give you the right to turn up your nose at Tim Thomas.

You certainly have had some fine, fine moments in your career, but you will be hard pressed to find anyone who will include these Stanley Cup finals among them.

I don't know who will win Game 7 on Wednesday night, but either way, I do know which goalie stood tall and proud and pumped up his team with his inspired play.

Sorry, Mr. Luongo. You fell flat there, too.

Sincerely, Jackie MacMullan

[Cookies Galore]

Still classless, even though there was no hit, he still injured himself and the fans jeered. I think my only issue (besides my oddly bitchy mood this morning) is that if Philly fans cat-called an injured player on national TV, it would have been on every news network in the country.
The injury has to be kind of embarrassing (for him), if you really think about it. I can see me breaking a vertebrae that way, but that's beause I can't skate well. But 20 seconds into a game?

I read that this morning on ESPN, I thought it was well-written. It's always a genius move to trash talk the other goalie when you give up 8 goals in a game.

[privateinvestor]

DF says the only fans worse than Philly fans (again no offense to you! LOL) are Montreal fans, and THEY are seriously a-holes too


That is true and they swear at visiting teams especially the Big Bad Bruins in French so those players who don't speak French have no idea what they are being called. But the Montreal Local Police have a heavy presence and will escort any and all troublemakers out in a heart beat.

[chiver78]

Jun 14, 2011 10:12:03 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

DF says the only fans worse than Philly fans (again no offense to you! LOL) are Montreal fans, and THEY are seriously a-holes too

I absolutely concur on Habs fans. they descend like locusts when the teams meet in Boston, I don't know how they all get tickets in the same sections but they do.

I got stuck in a red section a few years back for the playoffs, and I had to listen to a couple fat old guys mouthing off about how stupid Americans are when it comes to hockey, that we wouldn't know a puck if it hit us in the hoohah, and all that. up one side and down the other, all in French. there were kids around us too, wearing both sets of colors. great role models these guys are, right?

I waited until just before the 3rd period started, just to see if they would give it a rest. they didn't. I turned around when our section was full again, and calmly said *in French* that what was really stupid was to assume that people can't understand you when you insult them....among other things. those guys turned white as sheets and slunk down low into their seats. I didn't hear a peep out of them the rest of the game.

[privateinvestor]

I read that this morning on ESPN, I thought it was well-written. It's always a genius move to trash talk the other goalie when you give up 8 goals in a game.


Hey Hockey is a rough sport and the fans are downing beer and have been known to jeer and insult a player being taken off the ice on a stretcher so you have to deal with it, and consider the sources..especially in Philly, Chicago, Montreal and my hometown Boston MA....the seats are not filled with all Choir Boys or Girl Scouts but rowdy die hard fans who think their teams need to punish the opposition with extreme hard hits


BTW I played hockey in Montreal and we skated to center ice, listened to the Canadian and US Anthems, shook hands, trash talked, got into a free for all fist fight and occasionally if you were lucky; a hockey game would break out..

[cael]

Chive, on that letter, I hadn't read it, lol! Yeah, Luongo can suck it. He looked like he was crying after they took him out. I almost felt bad...

My boss, a diehard B's fan, always tells the story of how he & some buddies went up to Montreal for a Bruins game once when they were younger. They were legitimately concerned after the game, which the Bruins won, that they were going to get jumped or something, the fans were so nasty.

[cael]

PI you're a Bostonian?! yay!

[privateinvestor]

Yea majored in Hockey and minored in Beer at BC...


Got to meet the Bruins when they practiced at BC McHugh Forum when the Ice Capades took over the Garden... Their practice skates were open to all the students so we got to watch them and then meet a few of them in our cafeteria after their skate.

The backup goalie for the Canucks is a BC Grad and he might just see some action tonight again.

I am going to call for a Bruins win tonight with Timmy Thomas again be the #1 Player for game #7.....score Bruins 3 Canucks 2....

[chiver78]

what a beautiful day in Boston today, perfect for watching our boys with the Stanley Cup! ;D

[privateinvestor]

The Bruins vs Canadians rivalry is very intense which is weird because many of the Canadians are Americans which was not the case when there were only six teams in the NHL..

Canadians were a dynasty and won the Stanley Cup almost every year until the Bruins drafted Bobby Orr an 18 year old kid from Parry Sound Canada who was the fastest skater in the NHL and brought fans to the seats in the Garden with his display of skating and passing skils... I have never seen anyone like Bobby Orr including Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretsky and Mario Lemeux..

[cael]

Jun 15, 2011 7:51:50 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

what a beautiful day in Boston today, perfect for watching our boys with the Stanley Cup! ;D

I am so excited, you guys!!

[privateinvestor]

Will the Bruins give Tim Thomas some offensive support?



As much trouble as the Bruins have had winning games in Vancouver this series, it hasn't been because of Tim Thomas. But he obviously can't win Game 7 all by himself. If the Bruins give their netminder some goals to work with they'll have a much better shot at hoisting the Cup on Wednesday night


Julie Jacobson - Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

[cael]

..... excited!! This looks decent so far!

[Malarky]

OK, even I'm actually watching the game. And not becasue the Sox aren't playing...like the last game.