Stanley... Bah!

Blackhawks-Flyers - for the gnaaargh-yecccch-pukey cup!
Who the hell wanted THAT! Of all the dreamed final match-ups, NONE had the broad street bullies being a part of the dance - and few had the pukefaces from the Windy City there either!  What it comes down to is, basically, Chicago punks versus Philly thugs!  And anyone who disagrees with that assessment is either a fan of either team involved - or a nitwit!  (Granted it could be BOTH - but that is another story!)  I mean - anyone seen the way Pronger plays - is that a gentleman on ice or a barbarian on skates...!  And from the other club - Toews - wasn't he the nice kid who beat up his cabbie some hot summer day last year, venting his frustration that his club flunked out in the playoffs (he's just a wet-behind-the-ears punk with a bunch of others young punks and they think that they are ''entitled'' to more, that they were destined for more, right away - they have ASPIRATIONS...!  And if anything impedes that - take it out on poor unsuspecting cabbie who actually WORKS for a living...!  PUNKS - and thugs! Case closed!

Now that is NOT what the NHL wants representing them in the grand finale - no sir! But that is, most probably, what the NHL DESERVES to have representing the overall organization in their marquee event, the final showcase of theatrics on ice that they are...

Of all the dream clashes that could have been (Boston-San Jose - at last... Or Boston-Detroit, a match-up of Original Six teams that actually have retained some class, unlike the Hawks or the Habs!  The Hub of Hockey versus Hockeytown - what a great finale THAT would have been! And we would have also been better served by Pittsburgh attempting a repeat versus whomever, New Jersey going all the way only to lose (probably four straight) and even by Washington versus San Jose - if regular season standings counted for anything at all - and they do not, any longer, they absolutely do not! But who cares at this point, eh?)

So, instead of any of those great match-ups, we have THIS: Philadelphia and Chicago - a mismatch in terms of power but a totally normal pairing in terms of misbegotten line-ups and rowdy towns!

My prediction: Chicago in four straight.

But, again, who cares!
Aside from ''Chicagoans'' that is...!

Logically, Boston should have eliminated Philly in games 6 or 7, so they shouldn't even be there in the Finals, opposite the damn Hawks! (The B's proved that they could handle the pressure and DISAPPOINTMENT of having to play a game seven when, logically, they shouldn't have needed to, over and over again - in 2009, they had to play seven versus Carolina when they could have easily ousted the Hurricanes in 5 or 6 games.  Instead, they were robbed in the seventh game, in overtime.  This year, they dominate their game seven only to hit three posts and see an insurmountable potential six-goal lead being chipped away little-by-little; because, let's face it, a three-goal lead in today's parity-laden NHL is NOTHING - nothing at all.  Any team can come back from a two or three goal deficit: if given the time.  And the Flyers sure were given that - primarily by the three posts Cruel Lady Fate denied turning into goals for Boston! While the Bruins' sin was, perhaps, to score three goals too early in the game, ironically - as always, it tends to be cruel to the Bruins any which way you look at it: with irony or through fate's eye! But wait 'til next year - with Tyler Seguin (most likely) or Taylor Hall joining their team, and a few tweaks here and there, the Boston Bruins will become UNBEATABLE. But that is, again, another story - for another time; next year, to be precise!) And so, after having dispatched the Flyers in 6 as they should have, the Bruins should have shown the Pens and Caps who's really boss.   For, once again, LOGICALLY - the idiots in Washington and\or the blasé underachievers in Pittsburgh should have steam-rolled all over the Canadiens - and not have taken them too lightly as they so obviously did! Upsets all around, really - any wonder why I no longer watch nor care about any of it, really?

In the west, San Jose finally achieved SOMETHING - but still stayed true to their rep, ultimately - and spectacularly so too; man, being SWEPT by the Hawks... yikes!  It's something akin to the history of the mafia indeed: the Mob, with their best hitmen on tap (what else to call Heatley, Marleau and Thornton - Joe, not the Man, Shawn! JOE.) being pulverized by a bunch of street thugs from some small street gang around the corner..!!!  Pathetic.  And they (the Sharks) had just beaten their most bitter rival, Detroit - FINALLY, after so many tries...! Truly pathetic!  The NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers took action after they saw their dominant team (in the regular season) being dominated and shown the exit door by the resurgent Boston Celtics in this year's playoffs - they fired the coach!  Maybe San Jose needs to change the entire coaching staff - and the GM too!  Otherwise the danger is very real that their ''great player'' Thornton (Joe) will forever remain stuck with the unsightly labels of ''choker'' and ''loser'' - and this is doubly frustrating when one sees a ruffian like Pronger (who helped Anaheim royally frustrate San Jose just a short time ago...!) being affixed with the rep of a ''winner'' - when all he does is be a thug on ice!  An opportunist thug, granted - but a thug and nothing much more than that nonetheless!

I wished to see Phoenix go far this year, for some obscure reason (blame it or pin it on Wile E) - and they, of course, never did, so it would have been refreshingly new had they obliged.  Heck - Nashville (did they even qualify for the playoffs - lol) and Columbus - anyone of those EXCEPT the damn same towns year in and year out, please!!!  Seeing Vancouver compete, though, was almost as -yawn- exciting as seeing Calgary and Edmonton get into a deep run into the playoffs - which reminds me to say again, as I subconsciously do every year; thank God Winnipeg doesn't have a team anymore!  But that is another story! (How long can it remain that way, too: nobody knows!)

At least the aberration that was the lone remaining Canadian team in the hunt did not reach such absurdism as seeing them reach the finals... sheesh!  The Habs were not taken seriously enough by anyone who played them -and with such good reason- and that allowed them to reach the third round... the THIRD ROUND... sheesh!  ONE team should have put an end to that nonsense - and that was arch-rival Boston.  People in Montreal were clamoring that this was the best playoff run since 1993 - the year that they last STOLE THE CUP.  They were reminded then, ever so slightly, what happened in 1994, when they defended their theft in a series against... BOSTON.  This reminder was simply due to the dubious achievement of having managed only a single shot on goal during an entire period - something they did two times before, in a series against Buffalo (they lost the game 3-0 - just as they lost two games to Philly by the exact same score! Great to see irony being cruel to the Habs as well - sometimes.) and in a game against the Bruins in the 1994 series...  But, guess what, the "defending champs" Habs actually stole that game too, even though they managed only one shot on goal in one of the three periods, at the end of it they had stolen the game by the score of 5-2...!!!  What depraved DUMB LUCK is that.  Or puck luck.  Or yuck puck luck!  Still - justice was served that year - the Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the 1994 playoffs, making it clear that the 1993 cup was stolen and rightfully belonged to the best team in 1993... which was the Boston Bruins! 

This year, it came so close that the Bruins would have had the same opportunity to inject some more common sense and a dose of REALITY back into the craniums of the Canadiens fans...!  They would have welcomed the opportunity to do so - only Pronger's Phills wanted it for themselves and had, seemingly, that bitchy lady luck on their side...!  Again, wait 'til next year...

Let us remain on THIS YEAR a while longer: for the aberration on ice (of seeing the Habs skate past both Capitals AND Penguins) was having such crazed fans making nonsensical statements as "it's the year of the underdog; the west has the top two teams remaining, but the east has the bottom three still competing" (at the time, the Bruins-Flyers series endured and the damn Habs had shocked and stunned the Pitt into elimination just the night before.)
Sheesh!  The fact that the bottom teams beat the top teams in the east does NOT guarantee that one of them -the one that eventually does reach the finals- will topple one of the top two from the west...!  I swear, sometimes, partisan fever must be affecting the thought process... I am sure of it!  It affects journalistic ethics and so-called "ethical" pros as well - we will see that shortly... Once again, that is, because I remember mentioning it before, on another post...

In the end, of course, the Habs were defeated in five games by the team that Boston had beaten in every way and facet of the game - and should have eliminated too!  But lady fate (another bitch, as we saw before) had to make it so that they got Carter and Giroux back while we (yes, we! I'm with the Hub of Hockey - or had you forgotten that? I can multitask - think and simultaneously support the worthier, hard luck and hardest-working team: Boston!) we lost Sturm and then Krejci as well...! 

But still - when confronting these same lucky Flyers, the Habs lost in FIVE. 

Where have I heard that before... "en cinq petites parties"... eh? AH YES - in a Montreal rag of a mag, the one that was trying to be all prognostical about the then forthcoming 2009-2010 season - while being all off the mark about the recent past!  For, incredibly, they went to print with a false piece of data concerning the epic 2009 playoff confrontation between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes (a team with, at the time, still several cup winners on its roster.) This was a series that went SEVEN GAMES, plus an overtime period in the seventh (and there were some more extra periods there, during the course of the series - the Bruins, basically, making the same mistake that the Capitals and Penguins made with the Canadiens THIS YEAR: they were not taking their opponent seriously and were, truly, thinking ahead to the NEXT ROUND already... This series came as a surprisingly CLOSE and HARD'FOUGHT battle that went on and on and would be decided by pure damn LUCK - again.)  However, the rag of a mag from Montreal, in its recollection of the recent series, stated that it had lasted only 5 rather than 7 games - for, obviously, the editorial team behind that rag was still reeling badly from THE SWEEP!  As it was indeed, to begin the 2009 playoffs, the Boston Bruins had totally outclassed the Montreal Canadiens and had swept them in four straight - or should I say "en quatre petites parties" now...!  And so, now, it is sooooooo ironic that the Canadiens, after seemingly accomplishing so much in "triumphing" over two giants, the juggernauts that were the over-rated Capitals and full-of-themselves Penguins, would lose en cinq petites parties - TO THE TEAM THAT BOSTON HAD IN THE ROPES, to boot!  That pretty much renders null and void all the so-called triumphs, does it not?  I am sure that the fanatiques will say otherwise...

 They are probably still wearing their jerseys, even now; and will continue to do so throughout the summer...!

Go Habs Go - go home, yo!
Go to the mini-golf near you!
Bastards!

Good riddance!

Who cares who wins that Stanley thing now...!
It won't be you, obtuse Habs -
it never could have been you!

Biased Media = Lousy Broadcast

It was painful to listen to, most times; but one had simply to turn off the sound and enjoy some fine classical music instead while watching the action on ice as the mighty Boston Bruins defeated in dominating fashion the hated Montreal Canadiens. Alas, for me, my location had me forced to tune in to the RDS broadcast (or worse yet: the CBC's!) and not the NESN broadcast - and so it was more of the same biased crap that I had to listen to, game after game, before I wised up and tuned out...!

An example: game one, right after Phil Kessel accepted the short pass from Milan Lucic to seal the B's victory by scoring the insurance goal into an empty net - what happened then, hmm? A frustrated Canadien (the Komi, I do believe) dared ruin the celebration of the sealing-of-the-deal goal by roughing Kessel -Kessel! The finesse guy! You don't rough up a finesse player, pal; it's an unwritten rule and a time-honored one at that- and he brought Kessel all the way into the boards too, as all that young Phil wanted to do was the same as when he scored all of his goals in the last two years; celebrate it with his teammates. But no - the Habs think they have a right to avoid their just desserts and thought they do unto their rivals what they would never accept them doing it unto their own guys, be it Kovy or Saku-Le-Fou! *lol*
(Sorry - couldn't resist!)

And so, the goal celebration -and game one win celebration, be it temporarily- were ruined by the unsportsmanlike behaviour of those execrable Habs... And what does their local play-by-play guy call, at that point? "And now Milan Lucic attacks Komisarek FROM BEHIND..."
WHAT THE...?!? How many games has this guy called, let alone seen, over the years...? Is it customary then, you so-called expert you, to see an NHLer celebrate his team's scoring the insurance goal by jumping an opponent from behind - for no reason at all?!? The fact was, all Lucic did was step in and defend his smaller teammate, a teammate who doesn't do any of that rough stuff usually, and he grabbed Komisarek and threw him off his teammate with conviction, as to say "you want to "dance" - do it with someone like ME!"

As it is, of course, Komisarek fears Lucic and loathes him with a passion for it: Lucic kicked his butt earlier in the season, showing him up big time then... The Komi was so badly beaten, he missed a considerable amount of playing time after the scuffle. Ever since, he's dreamed of some kind of chance for revenge - and he knew his teammates, tough guys Laraque and Stewart, would never get the job done either... So he tried to avenge himself, at first, by picking on Lucic's smaller goal-scoring linemate. When that didn't work, he tried his darn-best to mount the courage to go for a rematch - and with his team all but eliminated, he thought it was time to do just that in game four. A single punch to the jaw and Lucic had won the rematch as well. Finally, out of exasperation, The Komi made his last pathetic appearance of the season (and most probably as a hated Hab as well) when he high-sticked himself out of the game, the series and surely out of town as well, in the last few minutes of game four - he couldn't match Milan Lucic's brawn, so he used his stick instead! He got an automatic five minutes and ejection from the game, as Lucic was cut on the left cheek then - 'tis the only way The Komi could ever put a single scratch on Milan Lucic, I tell ya! PATHETIC.

But even more pathetic of all, was again the play-by-play description of it all! Aye, I confess, I'd stopped the music (much in my own disfavour - but at least, I'm doing it to myself, so it's okay then!) and "peeked" at the commentating that was being done by the so-called "impartial experts"... No underlining whatsoever of The Komi's pathetic attitude - instead they spoke of the refereeing...! Right...
I went right back to Beethoven, right there and then!

The Boston Bruins deserved to win LAST YEAR's series against these pathetic Habs - and they deserved to win both playoff encounters during the all-around sad Joe Thornton era (sad with unfulfilled expectations, quite inexplicably at that...! The San Jose crowd knows all about that now - eh? Bwah-ha-ha. Keep him, your Joe; we don't want him anymore!)

What's more, the Boston Bruins deserved to win more oftne than 22 times on Montreal's rink, all-time, during the playoffs... The winning streak they have going against the Habs currently (all but one game in the regular season and the four straight in the playoffs that amount to a sweeter-than-sweet sweep and nine straight wins overall) deserves to continue next season and the NEXT FEW SEASONS in fact! Verily, it should reach the 20-to-25 games plateau, I say; just to TRULY get the B's even! One has no idea the amounts of INJUSTICE ON ICE that the Boston Bruins have had to swallow down over the years against various opponents (Buffalo in 1993, New Jersey the following year and Florida the year after that, I do believe... If memory serves me right!) but none, NONE moreso than this hated rival: the Canadiens! A team with the most moronic fanbase of all: they actually boo their own when they lose to a far superior team like the 2009 Boston Bruins! And one year earlier, after stealing victory from these same Bruins, they were moronic enough to go on a rioting spree throughout their city, one that rose to the astronomical amount of in excess of 2 MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGES...! The Canadiens employees are saddened to see their team lose and make such an early (and so well-deserved) exit this April - but I am 100% sure that every other Montrealer with a business, city employees and insurance brokers alike too, are TRULY ELATED that they lost and had NARROW A MOMENT OF JOY for their stupid fans this year - giving the latter no cause to RIOT in the process, as absurd as it sounds!

But absurdism is found in every nook and cranny of the Montreal Bell Centre, I tell ya: starting with the spelling there (it remains english, no matter what; but they still feel they are complying with the silly LOI 101 and other restrictions by spelling both Canadians and Center with an "e" at a most strategic place: "centre" is French, but only if you pronounce it that way... But anyway...!)
More absurdism: the fans, in their incoherent chanting and booing; they cheer the rough stuff their Habs do on the ice, and boo the ensuing penalty it cost them! But then they will also boo when the B's are not penalized for doing much less than the Habs did - that's logical, eh. Thank God none of these people is actually refereeing the game; impartiality would rule the proceedings - not! It would fly out the window, rather!
Even the mascot is incoherent: Youppi was seen cheering when the Habs were called offside?!? Is he HIGH, underneath that orange fur?!? At least Blades The Bruin knows what's going on...!

And so do I...!
And in the light of this second sweep of the Canadiens by the Bruins in recent years -remember 1992! I sure do; and Shane Hnidy appears to me now as the second coming of... Jim Wiemer! But I am digresisng again-and so I can honestly say that we need to see more of this in order to be reminded that YES - there is still some JUSTICE in this sorry world of ours... sometimes!

The Bruins' coach was a true class act: he spoke of no malice, no revenge plan, no ill feelings towards the organization that kicked both him and one of his star players, Michael Ryder, out of town - by the way; thanks, CH, now both are serving the BOSTON cause very well! In fact, Julien hesitated to even use the word JUSTICE in both case, especially in Ryder's case... Of course I just did use the word, without any hesitation at all, but it is in the BOSTON BRUINS' case against the rivals they've had, especially the Habs - after all, Ryder and Julien are only two individuals implicated in the larger picture which is, itself, but a tiny reflection of the much larger picture that is the neverending (but soon to end anyway - by the Grace of God!) battle between GOOD and EVIL...! But I am digressing, aren't I? *lol*

The Bruins can target the Stanley Cup next: and no team, no organization deserves it more than they do. They've had seven magnificent twenty goal-scorers this year (eight, I say: after all, Zdeno Chara got 19 and scored his 20th on the very first playoff game he played - and it was the game-winner too!) but it is true that, under Don Cherry, the Bruins established the record "never-to-be-broken" as he always says: ELEVEN twenty-plus goal-scorers on the roster, in the late 1970s! And that team, though dominating too, was robbed of a championship. Still, the fanbase in Boston is so classy it stood and applauded the enemy camp, the CH, when it paraded with the Stanley Cup in the venerable Boston Garden (maybe not the same year though - gee, I hope not!)

This year, Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew, Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler, Zdeno Chara, Mark Recchi, Steve Montador, Tim Thomas, Michael Ryder, David Krejci, Chuck Kobasew, Shawn Thornton, Stephane Yelle, PJ Axelsson and the rest of this formidable line-up can aspire to accomplish what that other great Bruins team, somehow, wasn't fortunate enough to accomplish themselves.

Me, of course, I wanted to see it done back in 1993 - when Dave Poulin (not Krejci) was in town. The hired guns were Dave Christian and Brian Propp - not Recchi or Ryder. The pillars on defense were Ray Bourque and Don Sweeney, not Aaron Ward and Dennis Wideman. And the main man was Cam Neely - not... well, this 2009 edition of the B's is well-balanced and they rely on a total team effort to get it done (that is why it is so impossible to counter them too!)

At least, if the 2009 edition of the Boston Bruins does win it all, Cam Neely is still a part of the club - in some function... So are Bourque and Sweeney. They'll get to hoist the Cup - as Bruins - yet...!

Onwards - with the opposition likely being pesky Rangers, Penguins and... hmm... Ducks or Canucks, the rest of the way...!


+++

Defeat In Victory - and vice-versa

With the obvious exceptions of games 1 and 7 (and, to be truthful, as it pertains to game 7 it is, most specifically, the exception of the last 5 minutes of the SECOND period and the last 2 minutes of the THIRD and final frame) THE BOSTON BRUINS SHOULD HAVE WON FIVE GAMES IN A ROW...

FIVE.

Which is far more than enough to put away any opponent in the playoffs system in place - for you only need to win (or steal) four victories in order to do so!
Just like the Montreal Canadiens did... STEAL...

They had an accomplice in game 2 - the referee. They had old friends in game 4 and throughout the series verily - the posts, the famous "Fantômes du Forum" and that big-time bitch most of you call "Lady Luck" (she is NOT a "Lady" - most of them aren't, in Montréal...! But that is another story...)
You might just as well throw in an entity to be known as "Lord Injustice" then - as the CHIEF "assistant" in Canadiens wins...

All the more reason for me to remain lukewarm about sports, indeed; all the more incentive for me to avoid and resist being "sucked in" again, tempted into believing that the team that deserves victory and all the gold the NHL has to offer (but, truth be told, the NHL offers no gold at all - they only have SILVER to hand out! On loan, on top of that! The only GOLD in the NHL, today as at any other time, remains the black'n'gold of the Boston Bruins - their admirable work ethic, perseverence and strength of character, that sticks to everyone who's ever either been a part of the organization or followed it fervently, as I did, especially circa 1988-1999... What I call the Cam Neely Golden Era (even though he retired in 1995-96, his influence lingered on and hopes of a comeback lingered on too, until about 1999.)

I could bother with a recap of this latest heartbreaking series - that went the WRONG way - but why bother with that.

In apparent defeat, the Bruins made history, impressed, proved that they were contenders for that silly Cup as much as their rivals, nearly eliminated them and SHOULD HAVE ELIMINATED THEM in spite of playing without various components of their team (Patrice Bergeron never did get medical clearance in order to make his comeback; Chuck Kobasew, the team's second goal-scorer, wasn't available either; another "secret weapon" of sorts, Alexei Zhamnov, has yet to BE USED by the Bruins; and defenseman Aaron Ward spent some time on the DL too, keeping goalie Manny Fernandez company... WITHOUT ALL OF THESE GUYS, THE BRUINS STILL CAME WITHIN A GOAL, BASICALLY, OF ELIMINATING THE ALLEGEDLY-SUPERIOR "HABS" - HA! Ponder that all summer long, as the Canadiens trip all over themselves in the next round, thoroughly spent physically, mentally and emotionally from the BRUINS series; they won't be in any condition to face anybody else!)

In alleged "victory" though, Montreal has shown nothing at all (except that they can still, and again, steal key games... That cannot always be done, though...)
And the city of Montreal LOST big time, as the post-game 7 disgraceful events on the streets of the dirty town proved: FIVE POLICE CARS BURNT TO A CRISP (one for each lucky Canadiens goal, eh? And inane onlookers who double as pathetic liars dared allege that these vandals were NOT "in any way, shape or form" Canadiens hockey fans... RIGHT. They had no clue there was a game that night, no clue what the score was (they just came up with the number 5 out of the blue) and they just spontaneously chose THAT EVENING to go crazy... RIGHT.)
On top of the police cars, various commerces were vandalized - proving that these vandals were NOT petty criminals who merely took advantage of the event that evening to even a score with the cops...

Actual Canadiens fans ARE NOT so "innocent" - as many were seen very inanely waving a little Canadiens flag (these things are so overpriced too - blame it on Carey; get it?) AS THEY PASSED BY THE POLICE CARS THAT WERE ABLAZE...!

Too bad those vehicles did not explode in their faces, eh?

All of those creepy fans were very chippy - despite all the damage being done to private, commercial and constabulary proprety all around them!

PLUS - even after stealing a series (another one) from a CLASSIER FRANCHISE, the Canadiens fans thought it not to be enough and were seen DARING to shove the few courageous FANS (and equally admirable, as the Boston Bruins themselves) that had attended the game (with overpriced ticket fares, whether said tickets come straight from the booth or from a dirty "scalper's" hands...!)

I should have been there, on the street, wearing my Bruins cap and Bruins jersey - DOUBLE-DARING anyone to gloat in my face! I would have wound up arrested, most probably, but I would have been handcuffed with a smile on my face - and blood on my hands!
;)

As it is, of course, I am too lukewarm to even WATCH THE GAME ON TELEVISION...
Why would I run after trouble with the EXTREMELY FLAWED LAW - over all this business?
For the law sure would prove, yet again, to be extremely flawed, when it would throw the book at me for having knocked the teeth down the throat of hateful Canadiens fans who don't know how to lose, how to win, how to talk or walk for that matter - fans who know NOTHING, basically, and are the worst rabble there is on the face of this damned earth!

And Canadians (note the "a" - "-ans" not "-ens" this time) have the reputation of being a polite, gentle race/nation, with Canada, overall, getting the rep of being a country without crime or anything too heavy on its streets...?

WHAT A FALLACY!

The crime rate is not even indicative of what really goes on in the "greater metropolitan area" of this damn island now called "Montréal"...
I often likened Laval (its twin island/city) and Montréal to a new, transposed into the North American continent and these modern times, SODOM and GOMORRAH!
And it is only thanks to GOD that the wretched area ONLY HAS the Montreal Canadiens, pretty much, to go on (because their inept CFL Alouettes and inconsequential soccer club -the Montreal Impact- are never going to amount to much at all) OTHERWISE, the damn town would be the theater of MANY MORE sickening scenes of senseless rioting and total utter craziness just like it once again witnessed on the evening of April 21st, 2008:


Une émeute-suprise

Les policiers de Montréal, surpris par une émeute ayant eu lieu si tôt dans la saison des séries éliminatoires de la coupe Stanley, reverront leur stratégie en prévision des prochain matchs du Canadien.
THEY CAN'T EVEN SPELL "SURPRISE" IN THAT SLEAZY TOWN ANYMORE - *VRAIMENT* PATHÉTIQUE!
And it is even more pathetic that the rioting WAS a "suprise" at all; that they cannot foresee these things is truly far more pathetic than the fact that they cannot spell...! I have known for YEARS now that these bozos have narrow a clue how to write or even how to speak their precious language there - and yet they insist upon preserving it and "nurturing" it (they must have meant "neutering" it then - ha.)

The only reason, also, that they don't have more of these things all over town is because, most years, logic is respected and the Montreal Canadiens SUCK - as they should!

Am I glad I was so blessed with great discernment so that I NEVER, EVER, ROOTED FOR SUCH A TEAM THAT HAS SUCH A LARGE FANBASE BASED AMONG THE RABBLE AND SCUM OF THE EARTH! Am I glad I am lukewarm as I am nowadays about a sport that rewards the unworthy - and is refereed in that specific manner as well! Am I glad that the Boston Bruins will now rest, while their battered and bruised arch-rivals will be getting MORE punishment - and ultimately LOSE, as they so deserve, LOSE to a LESSER OPPONENT TOO, JUST AS THE BOSTON BRUINS DID, JUST NOW...!

Yes, I am glad.

Montreal garnered defeat, overall, for its cheap "victory" -
while Boston achieved victory in defeat;
mounting a first historical comeback from a 3-1 series deficit (an undeserved deficit as it was, for, I repeat, the Bruins should have won games 2 through 6, inclusively; any 4 of those - they won 3 and were robbed the other two times)
showing an exemplary model for all to follow and emulate -
never giving up, in the face of apparent insurmountable tasks...

Yes - God Bless You, Boston Bruins!

May those who are bright enough to see it mold their own character upon your courageous, gritty, brave example!

The Illogical Wild World Of Sports!

Let me get this straight now:
the Boston Bruins have garnered 5 more points versus the rest of the NHL than the Montreal Canadiens have - but, because, in head-to-head match-ups, the Bruins didn't get any breaks at all (managing only to garner one point in the standings, the dreaded "loser point", in a game they didn't really lose but actually should have won - because "losing" under shootout rules is not really "losing" - it is just forcing out a result when there wasn't any Canadiens garbage goal scored in "real playing" time to steal it for them... But I am digressing, I think...) it is, hence, the Canadiens who are battling the Penguins for top spot in the Eastern Conference...
And the Bruins are battling for mere positioning with the rest of the contenders, in constant danger of being left out from the dance party...

On top of that, in that one game in which Lady Luck ALLOWED the Boston Bruins to collect ONE POINT, at least, against the "Habs" - that sneaky s.o.b. otherwise beloved as Steve Bégin nailed Bruins playmaker Marc Savard FROM BEHIND. There was clearly penalty-worthy material there; but there wasn't any on the play! And Savard hasn't played since. Still, without their top center Savard, without top scorer Patrice Bergeron and without winger Chuck Kobasew too, the Bruins have gone on a winning streak since then. While the Canadiens have become sloppy - and seen their own top guy, Saku, get sacked in the footsie and he is out for "four weeks" just like that. Four WEEKS? Why not say "out A MONTH" - don't you know that four weeks make up a month? Plus, while losing to already eliminated Toronto (beaten twice in a row by Boston - who effectively eliminated the Leafs in the process) the "Habs" managed to get another guy injured too; a mere foot soldier like Francis Bouillon, but still! That is a good start - but some more injuries would be nice to truly see if the Candiens ae "that good" at all. If they are, they should be able to go on a winning streak like the Boston Bruins just did, not play so sloppily the moment they're the FIRST team "qualified for the playoffs"...

Qualified for a hasty elimination too! It was so laughable to see the Montreal rabble scramble for the mere 4000 tickets put on sale for the first round of the playoffs - and most going crazy that they got a pair or up to four tickets! And some would make inane predictions like "we're going all the way this year" - right. That same night, they couldn't beat a team that's already OUT of it: the Maple Leafs!

I don't know how it came to this - but a team like Montreal being able to pass for a "championship caliber team" has got to be right up there with any of Houdini's tricks!

Make it any of that Mindfreak's tricks, rather - Houdini had too much class for Montreal! Criss Angel (he's no angel - but you know it already) is more like your average Guy Carbonneau, Mike Komisarek or Tom Kostopoulos: a poser who does it all with smoke and mirrors! One who can't even SPELL for his own freaking sake - but that is beside the point right now...!)

And speaking of freaking Guy - he who always looks spooked at a post-game mediatic event, even when his team stole another one... I mean, what the hell Guy - you've seen cameras before! You've had to give out PLENTY of excuses before: more than you've had to flaunt anything! You look even more spooked than your namesake, Lafleur, when he went to court because his son is a ruffian who roughs up his girlfriends' fathers!!! And you even look CLUELESS as what to say when your dear Saguenéens de Chicoutimi are involved in barbarics on ice, with your old buddy Pat Roy providing the beatings on your own goalie, via his own ruffian of a son! But of course, how could Guy Carbonneau cry foul there, when his own players don't miss an opportunity to deliver cowardly illegal low blows, one after the other, and get away with it because even two NHL referees are not enough to make ONE good call!

I sincerely hope that the next player laid out and carried away on a stretcher is that little runt Bégin. That bastard had only this to say after cross-checking Marc Savard FROM BEHIND: "I was only playing my game"
(His actual inane words were more abysmal, because he spoke French and phrased it like this: "J'jouais ma game" - sheesh, that is not even his language! That is "Frenglish" and that should cost him another 2 minutes in the box right there! No wonder Saku can't say a word of French - heck, even G.M. Bob Gainey can hardly articulate anything other than gibberish, and he's the G.M. who's been around that town for over 30 years now!!! Bégin, though, has NO EXCUSE - wasn't he BORN THERE?!? He can't play "his game" CLEANLY, can't compete FAIRLY... and he can't even SPEAK HIS OWN MOTHER TONGUE! Truly, utterly PATHETIC!)

It is completely illogical for ANY fan to clamor that their "Glorieux" are any good, or better than any other team - especially the Boston Bruins! These Bruins who handle the Senators much better than the Habs EVER did, even back when they were a truly laughable collection of ''expressly-picked-for-an-expansion-team'' players akin to the ''Mickey Mouses of hockey'' that the New Jersey Devils once were, at least in Wayne Gretzky's mind...! (The Great One - now the coach of the Looney Tunes of hockey, the Phoenix Coyotes! Still looney they are, even though they're lacking the colorful presence of their Yosemite Sam of service, Jeremy Roenick! But I am digressing once again here...)

It is illogical to call the Montreal franchise "Glorieux" to begin with - they inherited tradition of decades past, they didn't accomplish a thing. And chokers like Alexei Kovalev tend to vanish when they are TRULY NEEDED...

Plus: none of the "Habs" have class - a Marc Savard, an Aaron Ward, a Patrice Bergeron, a Phil Kessel, a Marco Sturm, a P.J. Axelsson, a Petteri Nokelainen; now THOSE guys are gentlemen players!

I know - that's illogical too, to be a gentleman, to bring finesse to a game that is sheer brutality on ice. That's why Shawn Thornton was brought in too...
And guys like Jay Miller, Chris Nilan and Bruce Shoebottom were teammates with Ray Bourque, Craig Janney and Cam Neely!

Even classy organizations know that they have to compete - fight fire with fire sometimes!

Even though those who kill by the sword shall perish by the sword.

Even though eye for an eye is not the solution...

But you cannot give pearls to swine either, you know...

All Right - THAT DOES IT!!!

Enough of this already indeed!

I have had just about all that I can take of Boston Bruins trades that don't make any kind of sense!

THREE talented forwards with promise whose potential was showing flashes -when allowed to do so- of greatness about to fully blossom - and they were all traded away... in a short lapse of time too.

First it was Brad Boyes; then Petr Kalus; and now Brandon Bochenski (one guy that I list as a fave on my Facebook! I'm not logging on to Facebook just to take out his name now - NO WAY!)

And what did the B's get in return? A defenseman, a goalie that, it turns out, was NOT NEEDED... Oh, and another defenseman! Plus - a draft pick! A sixth-rounder... but still! Sort of makes up for the one they LOST when they gave it away, along with Kalus, for that goalie that is not needed!
Great day at the trading block, Pete!
:!

I am one of the few of those fine hub of hockey dwellers who actually liked the OTHER apparently lopsided trades... I actually like the fact that choker extraordinaire Joe Thornton is GONE... And that it was a 3 for 1 deal - one that, in effect, bolstered the Bruins' line-up with the presence of Chuck Kobasew Marco Sturm and (another) defenseman Andrew Ference (Ference and Kobasew came to Boston in exchange of Stuart and Primeau, two loose change guys obtained along with Sturm for Thornton! So, THERE, at least, the B's turned lead into gold!)

More alchemy was achieved, IMHO, with the Ben Walters for Petteri Nokelainen trade! Noke is a gem in the rough while Ben is merely the son of a former Canadien! Ben could not be a true Bruin - not with those blood ties...

Still... Speaking of the enemy...

The Bruins' mismanagement of their personnel often results in opportunities for said enemy to get their man - said man once having been "one of us" (there I go again making the same damn mistake it irks me so much to see in others! Fooling myself, deluding myself enough to think that I actually belong to the team! HA! It won't happen again, folks, I promise!)

And so comes forth
a TRAITOR BRUIN!
Most probably the basis
for the idea displayed below:
(courtesy of Habs Crap R Us)

WHAT AN ABOMINATION!
What an eyesore!
A BRUIN - dressed up in THAT?!?
BLASPHEMY!
But that is as far as I'll go
with the complaints and laments here...

Because, in light of all that the B's do, I am definitely lukewarm about them! I am neither hot about their chances, not entirely detached nor outright cold and unaffected but I am definitely FED UP with giving up on talent and then see the BRUINS G.M. come out and say "we're still in need of some offensive reinforcements" DUH - YOU KEEP TRADING THEM ALL AWAY, YOU... @#!$

And some, either traded away or simply let go by the organization, have wound up or resurfaced WITH THE ENEMY! Be it the Canadiens or Sabres or whomever - Andy Moog, Sergei Samsonov, Bryan Smolinski - all became HABS (UGH) and the likes of Bob Sweeney became Buffalo Sabres with the expressed desire to BEAT THE BRUINS for they felt dumped and unappreciated by their former team!

Kalus, Boyes & Bochenski - man alive, they could have formed a TERRIFIC LINE RIGHT THERE! There's your extra offensive punch, Peter Chiarelli (that's "Pete" right there; the B's G.M.) but you must really be a double agent working for Ottawa still, making sure that the B's do NOT improve in reality...!

OK - I merely jest there...

DEFENSE does win championships...

But all the defensemen in the world and goalies too won't score Cup clinchers (even though Bobby Orr did - he's the exception that reaffirmed the rule!)

And I am not sure that the defensemen Chiarelli has been collecting (Wideman, Hnidy, Ference even... Oh - and Chara too!) are synonymous with "stingiest defense in the league" and "Stanley Cup contenders/defenders" for that matter...

I guess I am legitimized in my lukewarm attitude towards "my team" here - because "my team" sure acts like they are lukewarm about their players, their fans and that thing called "commitment to win" - EH?

:!

Winners of 8 of their last 10...

The Boston Bruins are the Hottest Team in the NHL!

With an All-Star goalie, and a group of young, hungry, players, 2007 is the year of the Boston Bruins!

The Bruins are going all the way to the Stanley Cup!

Celebrate their road to the Cup with this 100 card collection of ONLY Boston Bruins HOCKEY CARDS!!!!

That's right, this auction is for 100 mint condition Boston Bruins cards from 2006-07 NHL Fleer Ultra, 2006-07 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey, 2005-06 Upper Deck Rookie Update Hockey, 2005-06 Upper Deck MVP Hockey, 2005-06 Upper Deck ICE Hockey, and more.

This is the perfect set for Bruins fans, or as the ideal gift for the most rabid Bruins follower that you know. I guarantee that you (or the recipient of your gift) will love these cards!

You will receive the stack of cards pictured below, shipped safely and securely to the address of your choice.

Go Boston!!!!

Payment: We accept electronic payment through PayPal. We will also accept payment by check or money order through the mail when you are not able to pay with PayPal.

Shipping: Please add $9.95 US for shipping and handling anywhere in North America. Please add $19.95 US for shipping and handling anywhere outside of North America. Shipping price is fixed - please do not ask for a shipping price discount. We do not do pick-ups. We do not offer shipping price discounts on multiple items purchased - the listed shipping prices apply to each item purchased.

Guarantee: If the merchandise is defective, or not as described, we will replace the item with an alternate. We can offer a replacement only if the item has a physical defect - we will not replace the item if you decide that you do not want it any longer. We cannot issue refunds for any reason.

Condition: The cards are in Nr-Mt condition or better, and have been stored safely in soft card sleeves since they were pulled fresh from the pack.


Contrary to popular belief among those that have known me and where my allegiances lie in the past, oh, 20 years - the preceding was NOT penned by me! At all!
They are, indeed, something taken ad verbatim from some auction on E-BAY...
As a matter of fact, though I am pleased to hear about the current winning streak during which the Boston Bruins have indeed looked unbeatable - I remain pretty much level-headed, realistic and even a tad indifferent about the current line-up's chances to "go all the way up - up - up to the Stanley Cup"!
That used to be my slogan - circa 1988 - when a certain Cam Neely played for the Bruins... It isn't the case anymore.
I view the "cup" as something closer to a damn ashtray than anything remotely close to the Holy Grail (you damnable hockey analyst-blasphemers!)
And I do not think that, in this day and age, ANYONE (save Nostradamus himself) can predict who will rise to take the title - not in this day of near-total parity in the damn league!
It's anybody's cup - or, as I said, it's anybody's ashtray!
And what do I care, anymore?!?
I agree with the assessment that the present-day team has an All-Star goalie (underrated though he is, by the so-called experts) and a quick, hungry team (newest additions Bochenski, Chistov, Kessel, Ward and Ference make the Bruins finally forget about the "losses" of Smolinski, Samsonov, Ruzicka, Iafrate and Wesley...!!!)
Add to that the other youngsters; Boyes, Bergeron, Sturm (whom experts wanted to see get traded - fat chance, "experts"!) and Toivonen too!
And add to that the quality veterans that anchor everyone else:
Marc Savard is better than Joe Thornton (sort of like the same improvement than the time when Adam Oates replaced Craig Janney - more backbone, more bite!)
Zdeno Chara is the true heir apparent to Ray Bourque (Kyle McLaren and Nick Boynton never were...)
Even Mark Mowers is an improvement over the pathetic Martin Lapointe!!!
And even Shean Donovan is an improvement over the vanishing act specialists: either Brian Rolston or Michael Nylander - at least, when Donovan doesn't do a thing, it is not disappointing since not much is expected from HIM! (Besides, Donovans are known for their tendency to pull off vanishing acts; ask Ione Skye! But that is another story...!)
P.J. Axelsson is the closest thing to a new Dave Poulin or Dave Reid
And Glen Murray remains the closest thing to a second coming of Cam Neely

Still - even if these underdogs were to defy the odds and win it all (in the eyes of the so-called expert, they are underdogs, yes - and besides, with parity pervading the NHL, all bets are off: there are way too many possible contenders and even more possible scenarios now to say with certainty that ANY team is a team "of destiny"...) - I would still not celebrate it.
I wanted it to happen years ago - now all of the deserving cast is gone.
I wanted to see Neely hoist the cup - instead, I saw that spineless geek, Mario Lemieux, hoist it twice. Talk about a qualifiable HEIST!
But I digress...

At best, hence, I am lukewarm about the current edition of the Boston Bruins - and I shall not jump on the bandwagon here.
Nor will I buy any hockey (hokey?) cards!!!


Hmm - still... If 300 lunatics can stand up to an army of a million - surely 100 Bruins can beat back 1000 Devils, Penguins, Oilers, Leafs, Canadiens, Senators, Sabres, Panthers, Canucks, Thrashers, Rangers, Islanders, Flames and Hurricanes!!!
Logically...?