the lukewarm blog

Mar 9, 2008

UCLA's Josh Shipp, right, celebrates with teammate Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of Cameroon, after making a last-second shot to defeat California.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Amazing shot saves UCLA

Josh Shipp's incredible rainbow jumper gives the Bruins a wild win over Cal. » H-O-R-S-E-like 'desperation' shot

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Bruins win, win, win, win, win, win, lose horribly, lose decently, lose badly, WIN in a rally! Those are the BOSTON BRUINS that we're talking about here though - aye! It is amusing to see the UCLA Bruins varsity club stage a rally (an amazing one, at that) just as the Boston variety does on the year that they scored their 18,000th franchise goal - a feat only one other franchise has done so far... Had to showcase it - though I remain lukewarm about all these teams and all...!

The fact is, at the trade deadline, the Boston team made no moves at all. And GM Peter Chiarelli came up to his players and pronounced such an inspiring speech... that it was suspicious! He said to the likes of David Krejci (who appeared to be shades of DAVE PASIN for the longest time but then scored in consecutive games for the first three goals of his NHL career - first goals that COUNT that is, cause he had scored on shootouts and pre-season games before! Hokey rules belong in hockey, I guess! But that is another story.) and the GM said also to the likes of enforcer Shawn Thornton (who won the Stanley Cup last year, with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim!) that he "believed in this team."

I wanted to believe in these luminous words - and so did the Bruins players who then went on a tear, defeating the Senators 4-0 and Penguins 5-1 among others, building their confidence while looking like a good team and sometimes maybe even like a dominating team! But then a debacle in Washington happened and all the flaws became apparent again... :(
And my back-up theory for what the GM was really doing sprang back up to mind (almost in sync with the hour springing forward again, as Daylight Saving Time goes into effect as the NHL season, for its part, winds down - and once a shoo-in to make the playoffs, the B's have to engage in a dogfight to the end just to make it to the dance!) - and the theory is this: Chiarelli really wanted to trade away a couple more young blooming talents (as he traded away Boyes, Bochenski and Kalus - he was willing to deport the likes of Kessel, Krejci and maybe Kobasew too... Hmm, the KKK?!? Maybe it would have been a good idea too - who knows!?) in order to get Marian Hossa. That didn't work out - so he had to make the troops believe that THAT was his plan all along - not mess with the chemistry this team has between Chara, Murray, Lucic, Metropolit, Schaefer and, for the most part, Savard, Sturm and, when he's there, Bergeron. He had to convince them that he BELIEVED IN THIS TEAM - motivate these troops that will go the rest of the way without any additional "help" (or liabilities really, as many late seasons pick-ups turn out to be oftentimes!)

That sort of psychology can work - for a time!
Hopefully it will not have worn out already - as there is a month to go still BEFORE the playoffs start - and then such confidence is REALLY required IN THE PLAYOFFS THEMSELVES... Especially for the sometimes fragile psyches of the GOALIE creatures (hey, B's goalie Tim Thomas himself used the word "fragile" - so...)

Thomas has to toughen then- if not, Alex Auld is the capable hired gun. And there are two aces in the hole (to be used when the team's not already in a hole but when there's the slightest danger of falling into one!) and those are Tuuka Rask and Emmanuel Fernandez (Heaven Willing he comes back to play THIS YEAR...!)

Because moves must be made before desperation sets in!

Desperation H-O-R-S-E-like shots work in basketball - it worked for the UCLA Bruins. But no such tricks work in Boston Bruins hockey! Alas!

All the more reason for me to remain at best lukewarm about this team... eh?

I'm not in Chiarelli The Chia Pet's motivator-cause-my-job's-at-stake shoes, anyway...