Finally the Bruins have gotten on the board with a fight last night in Chicago. Nice work by Gregory Campbell to try to spark the boys. Not much of a scrap, but good on Soupy to get it started. The fight I wanted to talk about happened Thursday between Pittsburgh’s Arron Asham, and Washington’s Jay Beagle. It was a bit of a one sided affair, and the fight got the hockey world talking. Personally, I thought it was a good scrap, and had to be done, but others don’t see it that way.

The fight started after Beagle cross checked Kris Letang, then hit him up high hard enough to knock his helmet off. Asham was on the ice, and in his role as enforcer, he went to Letang’s aid. My buddy Brendan and I had a somewhat heated debate about this Friday. It’s Brendan’s position that Letang A. didn’t do enough to Beagle to require Asham’s aid, and B. It’s not like he’s Gretzky. People can hit Kris Letang. My position is Arron Asham is an enforcer. It’s his job to protect teammates on the ice against any perceived injustice. Asham starts picking and choosing who he sticks up for, and we have a system that breaks down, and chaos reigns supreme. As far as Beagle being a non-enforcer? Well, it’s not like Asham beat up Alexander Semin. Beagle is a big guy that’s been in a scrap or two. He will definitely think twice about any liberties he might want to take with Penguins players or any team’s players for that matter after the beating he took, moving forward. Beagle rang the bell, Asham answered it. These two teams will have a lot of time to think about things as they don’t play each other for over a month. You can bet your bottom dollar DJ King will be in the Caps line up when they meet again. Asham has to answer to someone for this beating.

One more thing about this fight and you can get back to whatever it is you were doing before you stumbled across this madness. The Pittsburgh Penguins announce team of Paul Steigerwald, and Bob Errey, and the whole organization for that matter, has got to be the most hypocritical in all of sports. Let’s say for a minute that Trevor Gillies beat up Paul Martin in the same way Asham beat up Beagle the other night. Steigy and Errey would have been coming down from the press box with pitch forks with Mario Lemieux right behind them. When it’s their guy, who showboated like a punk after turning out Beagle’s lights by the way, they are talking about team toughness and so forth. Can’t have it both ways Pittsburgh. Either way, I’m looking forward to this rematch.

We are now 9 games into the NHL season, and there has been a
total of 1 fight. One. Uno. That’s not a lot. It was a decent scrap in
yesterday afternoon’s contest between LA’s Kyle Clifford, and the Rangers
Brandon Prust. I am not here to offer any analysis on why there has only been
one fight, I’m just saying, there hasn’t been many.

http://youtu.be/NpGTNXVIHGM

The Flyers and Bruins sure could have used one the other
night. I was certain Andy Ference and Zac Rinaldo were going to have it out at
one point, to no avail. I am not sure if Rinaldo told Ference global warming is
a sham, or what, but after Rinaldo finished his check on the North End’s
Favorite Son he said something to him that really pissed him off. Maybe he was
asking if Ference got noticed in the women’s department of Marshall’s buying
that gawd awful yellow shirt he was wearing for his day with the Cup. My word,
I had no idea Andy Ference was a cross dresser. Tree hugging hippie yes, but
this cross dressing shit is going a bit far. At any rate, I would have liked to
have seen that tilt. Rinaldo can throw hands (and I suspect he’s probably taken
the soon to be waived Jody Shelley’s spot) and Ference, when prompted, is good
for a spirited bout.

While we’re on the topic of the Bruins and Flyers, I have to
say, the banner ceremony was pretty cool the other night. I have mixed emotions
on all the players skating with the cup one last time. On the one hand it was
cool to see them with it on home ice. On the other, they didn’t earn the right
to skate it around in front of the home fans. It was a nice touch having Recchi
there, and I thought Neely killed with his speech. The home crowd took the
opportunity, not all, but some, to boo owner Jeremy Jacobs. Nice work Boston,
way to be classy. Like him or not, the Bruins won the Cup. Stop booing.

The banner itself is kick ass, and I am looking forward to
turning my head slightly up and to the left to see it every night this year.
Now with the banner up, and the page turned, it’s time to get down to business.
Every team in the league is gunning for Boston right now, and they have to be
ready every night, for every team’s best game. Other than the fact that it’s
very hard to repeat in the NHL, I don’t see another reason why the Bruins can’t
raise another banner next October. Tampa is in town tonight for a game 7 rematch.
Let’s see if the Bruins bring the game they need to bring, or if we’re talking
about firing everyone, and the team having no heart tomorrow morning.

For the past 8 days, I’ve felt a little like Billy Guerin in the “History Will be Made” commercials they showed during the playoffs. I’m totally speechless. The Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup. Holy shit! They won the Stanley Cup. I was alive to see it. I saw it with my own eyes. When it happened, I had no words, and now, 8 days later, I still can barely believe it.

First off, I want to thank everyone for the really nice texts, and e-mails and phone calls I got about the piece I wrote before game 7. I know if my dad were alive, he would have really enjoyed watching this run, and it was nice of all the people that reached out to me, especially all the hockey guys growing up that knew Mr. Cornett, to take the time to comment. Secondly, I wanted to thank everyone that called, emailed and texted after they won game 7. I felt like I was Mark Recchi or something, only, I could work the new fangled cell phones! What an unreal feeling. The Bruins are Cup Champs, and I was stoic.

I stood up for the last minute of the game, watching as the clock wound down. Some of the people around me were hooting and hollering others had started to cry a little tear of joy. I, on the other hand, was stoic. I was 100% sure I was going to cry when they won, but I just stood there staring. I just could not believe my eyes. I glanced at the clock, and it was at 0:00. The Bruins were freaking out, people around me were freaking out, and I was standing still staring like a person seeing a wheel for the first time.

When the Red Sox won the World Series, I was all alone on the couch. When they got the final out, I screamed so loud, I woke mother, and MOL. Thing is, I don’t even like baseball! It’s slow, ad boring, and they rarely have good fights. I guess I was just helplessly caught up in the excitement of it all. Here I am watching the team I have put my heart and soul into for over 30 years reach the highest accolade in hockey – and I can barely crack a smile? It was so weird.

As I was driving home listening to the post game, it started to sink in ever so slightly. The Bruins were Stanley Cup Champions! Out of nowhere, someone had a pocketful rag weed, or dust or some shit, because I was overcome with tears, I had to pull over to cry! The Bruins are STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS! I was on 495 in the breakdown lane, tears streaming down my face, laughing hysterically. It was a feeling I couldn’t really describe… happy, overjoyed really… a little sad… amazed… speechless. Billy Guerin, I get you man.

So, here we are, 8 days later, and the bruins are still 2011 Stanley Cup Champions. Gone is the stupid beard and haircut. Remaining is the giggling at my desk every few minutes as it sinks in a little more. What a tremendous run. To say this is my favorite Bruins team of all time is a slight understatement. Everyone working towards a common goal with no egos. Just a blue collar team, punching the clock every day. It still hasn’t sunk in all the way, but it definitely will October 6^th when they raise that banner! Have a great summer everyone. You’ll recognize me as the fat guy in the championship gear giggling to himself all over Boston!

As seen at the Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup victory parade currently taking place in… Boston, of all places:

My brother-in-law took this a few minutes ago in Government Center. I have no idea who these gents are, and hopefully they won’t mind being featured front and center, but if I could I’d ask them where they got this work of t-shirt genius.

Have fun at the parade, kids. You know what we don’t do today when amassed in large groups downtown, right? We don’t break shit. One last hearty congratulations to the B’s from GoonBlog.com. We’re still in shock. We’re pink all over ‘cause we’ve run out of places to pinch ourselves. And we’re so, so proud.

Were you at the parade today? Please email us your photos!

I was born in 1973. I’m the same age as Tim Thomas. There hasn’t been a Bruins victory in the Stanley Cup Final since I was a pre-spermatozoa. An itch in my father’s pants, if you will. I’ll cut to the chase, as you’re either reading this tonight tired or tomorrow morning hungover – I can’t believe I get to fucking type this:

The Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup.

Do you want me to recap the game? You watched it.

Do I need to mention the all-time save leader in a Stanley Cup final? You already want to get Timmy alone in a room with a bottle of peanut oil and a ball gag. You don’t need my help in unearthing those dormant tendencies.

The shutout? ‘Nuff said. Marchand’s empty net goal? Finally an away-game brutalization. Recchi’s swansong? Heartwarming. Again, I’ll cut to the chase:

The Bruins won. Soundly.

Why are you still here? You should be drinking something, somewhere. Be it Harpoon IPA or Gatorade. It’s finally glorious to be a Bruins fan this evening. Reward your resolution. Revel in your time.

32 seconds left in the 2nd period of Game 7, and this is what I came up with. What a game. Jesus, Mary and Joseph do I wish I were in Boston right now. Preferably on Canal Street.

Here I sit in the dark, staring at this blinking cursor in disbelief. My new daughter, Caroline, is out cold – dreaming of ripping a wicked wrister top drawer to win an Olympic Gold Medal. MOL is dreaming of the day when I no longer look like a crazy Amish hockey fan exiled from the village for my refusal to utilize modern shaving technologies. Or wear pants. I’m thinking, naturally of the Boston Bruins, and the looming spectre of game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.

To say I’m excited is an obvious understatement. I was not yet alive in 1972, the last time they won the Cup, but I remember my father speaking in hushed tones and with reverence when uttering the names of Cashman, Orr, Esposito and Cheevers. Gone from the chilly playing surface are those mighty men, but time and destiny have replaced them suitably with the likes of Lucic, McQuaid, Marchand, Bergeron and Recchi. This is a team that can, and will, repeat history tomorrow night – with or without their jaw-dropping home ice advantage. This is a team capable of bringing Lord Stanley’s sacred vessel back to 100 Causeway Street.

The local team has the weight of the world, or at least a blood-thirsty and slightly overweight fan base, on their shoulders. In my beyond-fevered mind, and those of many other faithful Boston fans, the team is now charged with some lofty expectations – Winning the big game for my father (who I would have thoroughly enjoyed watching this amazing playoff run with) and every other dearly departed Bruins fan. Bringing a love and respect for hockey back to an original six city that’s become awash with a disproportionate number of Sox and Pats fans. Walking on water. Curing cancer. It’s tense. It’s big.

As I type the 2010-2011 Bruins are preparing themselves in Vancouver, waiting for the chance to have their names etched on that holiest of holy hockey grails. For some, like the ageless Mark Recchi, it’s probably the last kick of the can. Players from Tyler Seguin’s generation can hopefully look forward to many more long June runs wearing the black and gold. The anticipation of what is about to take place has driven me to a level of nervousness I don’t think I’ve ever reached. I feel like I’m anticipating actually suiting up and PLAYING in game 7. I can’t imagine what the boys in BC are feeling right now.

So, my words for the Bruins now are this – Do it for Jim Cornett. Do it for all the other long suffering Bruins fans. We’re behind you. We always have been, and always will be. Finish them off for everyone fighting for our country today with a Bruins pin on their body armor. Do it for Nathan Horton, who as an aside looks fantastic for a guy dealing with the type of injury he has. Do it for all the parents and coaches that helped get you to the NHL. But mostly – do it for yourselves. You have reached the ultimate goal for a hockey player. Now, realize the dream and win it all. Believe.

The Boston Bruins just set a brand new Stanley Cup playoff record during the first period for the fastest 4 goals: 4:14 to be exact. Well done Marchand, Lucic, Ryder and Ference! Now please, boys – allow this penchant for easily manhandling Vancouver to survive the next 6 hour plane trip.

The previous record was 55 years old! In 1956 Montreal accomplished the feat vs. Detroit in Game 4. It was the 6th final series in a row for the Canadiens and the 3rd for the Red Wings. The Habs went on to win the series 4-1.

Also, when Brad Marchand scored the first goal of the night (his 9th of the playoffs) he broke the standing Bruins’ record for most playoff goals by a rookie. An eventful evening to say the least!

Heck of a blowout in Beantown so far – we’ll see what the 2nd and 3rd periods hold. From where we’re sitting, however, it looks like the Bruins will get their Game 7. We hate being right all the time.

When the Boston Bruins have laced-up at home during these 2011 NHL playoffs they’ve been nearly unstoppable. Over this last week, during the final showdown with the Vancouver Canucks, their home ice advantage has risen even further – to the extent you may be tempted to replace the word “advantage” with “hate crime”. For Boston’s loyal fans, not to be confused with the fairweather legions popping up to support Vancouver in their time of plenty, the 8-1 and 4-0 victories at the Gaaahden almost made up for the three frustrating and ever-so-close losses at the hands of the Canadian team. Tonight the battle returns to Beantown and Game 6 is going to be a Budweiser-soaked beatdown of Biblical proportions.

While we’re on the subject of team nationality, it’s already been remarked upon by several pro-Bruins blogs how unfortunate it is that the Vancouver media (and most likely the Canadian media in general) have been strongly spinning this contest as an American vs. Canadian thing. That’s what a little gathering more commonly known as the Winter Olympics are for, Jimmy Olsen. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s look at some readily available nationality stats:

Vancouver Canucks

• 17 Canadians
• 6 Americans
• 5 Swedes
• 1 Russian
• 1 Dane
• 1 German
• 1 Finn
• etc.

Quite a melting pot they have out there on the left coast, eh? A smorgasbord with skates, if you will. Now let’s have a look at the…

Boston Bruins

• 17 Canadians
• 2 Americans
• 3 Czechs
• 1 German
• 1 Slovak
• 1 Finn
• 1 Kazakh
• etc.

Every single Bruins forward, except Krejci, is Canadian. Quite a melting pot… of people from Ontario. And the team has 4 less Yanks than the Canucks. Why, those Bruins are as American as apple pie – served to you with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese by Abraham Lincoln himself. An exact equal number of Canadians on each team with considerably more Americans on the team from Vancouver. North vs. South – I’m thinking: not. Although, as we learned from Phil Hartman in 1987, a full-on Canadian invasion isn’t so far-fetched.

“But it isn’t about where the players are from (*sniffs and snivels*). It’s about the city that the team calls home and their sense of…”

I’m gonna stop you right there, sensitive Vancouver fan, and repeat myself: 96% of the Bruins’ forwards are Canadians who were raised in Canada (oddly enough), have Canadian families, live in Canada, pay taxes in Canada and are surely bursting with enough national pride to make a Tragically Hip concert look unenthusiastic. Try again. If you’re cheering for the Canucks simply because you’re Canadian, that’s great – but keep it in your pants. You have three times as many Americans on your team. Point made.

Every game of the series so far has been won by the home team. Home ice advantage is a fairly tangible factor, but the B’s have taken it to gorgeous extremes. The smart money is on Boston to sodomize win tonight, which will likely lead to another nailbiter back in Vancouver which could literally go either way. I wouldn’t say home ice advantage has been on Vancouver’s side to any extent. Their 3 wins have been last-minute, lucky-bounce affairs and downright silly is the person who thinks Boston remains an underdog. Let destiny commence and, for the record, I would kill to see an actual episode of “Late Night With Gordon Lightfoot”.

GoonBlog Believes!

The Bruins are in a win one on the road and win it all situation that I find appealing. If they had won the other night, and come home and lost tomorrow, then they have to win again in a hostile environment. A little taller order no? Not that game 7 isn’t going to be the hostile of the hostile, but the Bruins have been a great road team all year, and I like their chances in game 7 on the road again. But, I am getting ahead of myself aren’t I? There is the little matter of tomorrow night.

The Bruins return to Causeway Street facing elimination at the hands of a team they have handled quiet nicely on friendly ice. Vancouver will be looking to end it all, and will need their best effort to do so. Friday night’s contest was a fairly even affair which the Canucks won by staying persistent on offense, and shutting down the Boston Power Play. Boston needs to do a better job of scoring on the PP, and generating more 5 on 5 chances while they are at it. I am not sure if I made up the nickname or not, but I’ve taken to calling Claude Julien “The Mule” for his stubbornness, and his want to stick to a plan, almost to a fault. Why Campbell was on the first PP unit the other night is beyond me. Also, the Kid needed more than the 5 minutes or so of ice he got. If they are to have a chance, he may need to think outside the box a bit more.

As for my feelings on the matter? Well, I think you know where I stand. This is a team of destiny. They have faced adversity all year long by getting themselves behind in games, and they’ve been behind in 2 series these playoffs. They stopped the Canadiens dead in their tracks, and the Tampa series felt a lot like it was swinging the Bolts way until Boston stopped them cold too. I know they are frustrating at times, but in the end, I think they will get the job done. Believe.