Why Everyone Hates the Boston Bruins

Photo Credit: AP

Ahem. Aside from the fact they're in Boston.

I think the issue here is that first & foremost, people are jealous. Their team didn't win the Cup. The Bruins did.

And of course there was the stanchion incident with Chara and Pacioretty (honestly, I wouldn't have blamed the league if he got a game or two suspension, though I don't think he deserved one--the rink and speed of the game were the ultimate cause of Pacioretty's injury). Montreal & it's media hyped it up so much, and then a huge conspiracy was on our hands. A few silly things happened, the Ference finger, the Horton squirting water at fans--those were things that if it was the regular season, they would have been fined or suspended. And since the Bruins didn't get suspensions for these minor things (sorry, but they were. I'd sooner see PK Subban or the Sedins punished & suspended for their pathetic diving, if you're going to hand out unsportsmanlike suspensions). If you want an example of things going against the Bruins, look no further than Alex Burrows' biting Patrice Bergeron. In the regular season, he'd be looking at a couple games suspension easily. But in the playoffs, everything is amped up. The league knows this, and the players get some leniency.

It also needs to be mentioned that somewhere along the line, some genius started saying that the Bruins were getting leniency due to Gregory Campbell, son of former disciplinarian Colin Campbell, being a member of the team.

Moving on, in the Stanley Cup Finals Horton was injured on a late, blindside hit, and Rome was suspended the rest of the series (you do the math on who lost more: the Bruins lost their first line winger and the Canucks lost their sixth d-man). So the Canucks fans began jumping on the bandwagon that the Bruins were receiving favoritism from the league. (Sorry guys, that was a dirty hit.) Also, they were upset that Mason Raymond was injured on a legal check from Johnny Boychuk, and wanted him to be suspended as well. Canucks GM even spoke out about the hit. Again, this added more fuel to the fire of fans hating the Bruins, and more conspiracy theories.

Lindy Ruff didn't help matters when he declared it was now, "open season on goaltenders," after the Milan Lucic hit on Miller. I think Milan took liberties there, but he was in close & didn't have time to get out the way without possibly hurting himself (kind of like that philosophical question--"If your brakes are out, and you have to drive off a cliff & die, or drive into 10 school children and you'll survive, but most likely kill/injure them all... what would you do?" Well, Lucic steamrolled the kids. So... it was just a very awkward play, and Miller was unfortunately unprepared. In my perspective--someone that played goalie in soccer--if I came out of my net, I knew I was taking risks. He's crazy for not bracing himself, and paid the price losing games to injury.


Photo Credit: Lisa Gansky

And now, some ass hat "reporter" in Pittsburgh started claiming it was Krejci's hit that Sidney Crosby was reinjured on. And low and behold, now Sid himself is agreeing with him! I mean give me a break. He's been playing with a full head of steam since he came back, pretty much bouncing off the boards--much more physical than before. Of course he's going to get checked. He did take a hit from Krejci, but if that's how he got reinjured, there's a big problem. That was far less than what Hunwick dealt Savard, and you don't see anyone blaming Hunwick. The Kunitz-Crosby collision seemed extremely jarring to me, and the look on Sid's face was like, "Oh shit, what just happened... am I okay?" Half these idiots didn't even see the game, and they're all crying that the league favors the Bruins.

My last note is that I am pretty frustrated with Brad Marchand, which I posted briefly about last night on Tumblr. He's the one Bruin who's definitely gotta clean up his game. He plays chippy and all that, but he makes some poor decisions. The slew foot thing was bad and in all honesty, I'd have given him a game since he's a repeat offender. That's a really dangerous play. I can defend anyone but him... and it's frustrating because I know he plays with heart, which I definitely love. He just needs to stop crossing the line, or he could end up hurting someone. I don't want to see him getting lumped in with players like Avery and Cooke. Frankly, he's too skilled and too valuable to the team to go that way. I hope the mentoring from Bergie pays off. Ultimately it's up to him. I love that the Bruins play physical, but I have no patience for dirtiness. That's not what the big, bad Bruins are about. And the more poor judgments Marchand makes, the more he's going to tarnish their image.

Can the Cooke Crumble Already?

Come on NHL, please get it right today! If you don't want hockey to be a joke, you're going to have to bite the bullet and give the biggest head shot offender a more painful suspension. Yep, Matt Cooke's been at it again: this time with an elbow to the head. I doubt they'll get it right, but obviously the piddly suspensions they've given him thus far haven't taught him anything. My vote: 20 games minimum.

If Mario Lemieux utters a word, he'll become a laughing stock. The only way he could redeem himself in my eyes is by sending Cooke down to the ECHL. Permanently.

Here's the latest Cooke hit:



His in-person hearing with the NHL is at 1pm EST.

Why Bettman Needs to Disappear

Gary Bettman needs to go away. He needs to retire, or be removed as the NHL Commissioner. The dude reportedly makes over US $7 million a year (and that was in 2009, so it could be more now). He's done a lot of questionable things. Yes, he fixed free agency a little bit. But he's to blame for the over-expansion to non-hockey markets, which to say the least, hasn't really gone as planned. Rather than "Americanize the game," I think he should have focused on bringing the game back to Canada. Instead we've got not one, but two teams in Florida, and one in Phoenix of all places. Along with Atlanta, Carolina, etc. Anyway, below are some examples that show how little Gary knows the NHL fan base.

NHL Guardians, need I say more? This move is almost as genius as The SciFi Channel re-branding to SyFy because they thought it would help them target "Non Geeks." Talk about abandoning your key users! Okay, some of the Guardians were kind of cool, but ultimately it was a bust. Was Gary trying to target comic book aficionados, hoping they'd all of sudden become fans of hockey? Very strange move on his part, and it shows he doesn't understand his users.

Clay Aiken at the 2011 All Star Game. The dude is a former American Idol contestant. I really shouldn't have to delve further than that. I get that he's from Raleigh, but that doesn't mean the typical NHL fan would listen to his music, or that typical "Claymates" would all of a sudden get into hockey. Get an up-and-coming Canadian band, like Neverending White Lights. I really don't know what the NHL was smoking when they picked Clay. Is he a hockey fan? I know he's performed at various NHL arenas, but unsure what the connection is. Three Doors Down I can live with, but they aren't exactly "hip" or "now." Again, I'd have gone for Three Days Grace. (It's actually a working theory of mine that someone got the band names mixed up and offered the gig to the wrong one.) Show a little respect for Canada; that's all I'm suggesting. Canada is literally a hot-bed of music, use it to your advantage!

Favoritism to Sid the Kid, Super Mario, and the Pens. This has definitely gone too far. The Penguins' Matt Cooke has played some really dirty hockey, and he needs to pay for it. Despite the fact the Head Shots rule didn't exist before Savard's injury, his play was dangerous and he should have received a suspension. The fact that he didn't get anything for it is criminal. Also, Lemieux has recently condemned the NHL and claimed he doesn't know if he wants to be a part of it all anymore because the NHL wasn't hard enough on the New York Islanders. Give me a freakin' break. For that statement alone, Mario should have received a fine. Instead, Gary is saying he's not commenting on it at all. Show us some character, Gary. Stand up for the NHL.

Pens Favoritism continued, World Cup Silliness. I am under the firm belief that teams that haven't had the Winter Classic yet should have gotten the opportunity to host it before the Penguins got their second turn. It's a huge cash cow for the NHL, and I had a blast with all the new memorabilia the Boston Bruins came out with when it was our turn. Personally, I'd like to see a NY Rangers/NJ Devils Winter Classic.

I will admit, HBO's 24/7 Penguins/Capitals was a fantastic way to promote the game. But we can still gain new fans for the NHL without Side and Ovi. Trust me. I really hope that Bettman was kidding when he said they were looking to eventually have Winter Classics in the south. Really Gary? The Winter Classic concept is great... but don't have a Winter Classic anywhere that's going to be artificial. And as my friend Jo has said, we don't want to see palm trees in the distance.

For God Sakes, NBC (and Versus) Knows Zilch About Hockey. Why are we dealing with these guys? They only want to talk about the Pens. And maybe a little about the Caps. But mostly about the Pens. Especially Joe Beninati. He will even bring up Crosby and Pittsburgh in games that don't involve the Pens. I know he's got a history with the NHL, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret: most of us are annoyed by him. Annoyed so much we mute the sound so we don't have to hear about Sidney or his beloved Caps. Do some research. Figure out who the best announcers are. I'm gonna put my vote in for the King's Bob Miller. But please, please no more Beninati. Versus and NBC don't give a crap about hockey--they don't even do pre or post-game shows. You know, the least they could have done was show the All-Star Game on NBC. But it was hidden away on Versus, where pretty much nobody watched it. It was a really bad deal, Gary. Remember that when their contract is up. Oh, and don't ever sign a long-term deal with them again. Remember: they HATE hockey. They want to bury it between golf and gymnastics broadcasts.

Give Your Fans More of What They Want. I noticed that TSN has actually created an iPhone app (for Canadian users only, alas), to follow the NHL trade deadline. This is a fantastic idea! I don't know why the NHL hasn't jumped on something like this, and expanded it to include the US fan base as well, and have Droid and Blackberry versions of the app as well. The NHL continually misses the boat on things like this.

Center Ice Sucks. I had a lot of problems when I first subscribed to Center Ice. It kept freezing up (thankfully this doesn't happen anywhere near as much as it used to), and 90% of my teams games are not in HD. This is my main problem/frustration. I'm paying $170 to see my team's games in crappy non-HD. I propose that they create a new subscription type of Center Ice, Center Ice HD. I'll pay more to get my games in HD. This is just a really obvious idea, Gary. If you pitch it you can steal it from me and pretend it was your idea.

That's it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of more complaints as soon as I hit the post button!

Super Mario, Super Hypocrite

Yes Mario, I am calling you out as a hypocrite.

Let me first clarify: I'm not siding with the New York Islanders; they were definitely in the wrong and their suspensions were warranted. I'm simply upset that Mario Lemieux is suddenly angry/disappointed with the league for not coming down on them harder. Why, you ask? He employs Matt freakin' Cooke. While many Pens fans say Cooke doesn't do things that are premeditated, he continues to hurt people with his reckless and questionable play. So in all honesty he may as well be doing things that are premeditated. The league has been extremely light when it comes to penalizing Cooke and Pittsburgh, so Mario is being called out by many as a hypocrite. Most recently, Matt Cooke received four games for another reckless play. Yes folks, that's right: four games for a repeat offender. The Boston Bruins' Daniel Paille received the same for his first offense. I'm not defending Paille--he definitely deserved a suspension--but just using his punishment as an example. Paille had no other prior suspensions, but Matt Cooke received the same number of games just days later.

The Pittsburgh Penguins need to fire Mario's speech writer, because that was the most ludicrous statement ever. Of course hockey fans all over the league are pissed, what do you expect? Matt Cooke is hurting people, and he very well may have ended a very talented playmaker's career. It's silly for Mario to come out of the woodwork (after being silent regarding Cooke's antics) condemning the NHL for not coming down hard enough on suspensions when the league's been shockingly easy on his team.

A bit of backstory: the Matt Cooke incident is very close to my heart. Savvy is on my team--the Boston Bruins--and he's a fan favorite. And every time I see the hit or the press conference photos of Marc after his injury, I find myself holding back tears. Yes folks, Mario's words stung. Here's a plan of action for you, Mario: Get that loser off your team, fire him, ask Colin Campbell to ban him for life, and then complain. Do your part, and your actions will garner respect from everyone. You can call me biased, but the truth doesn't lie. Matt Cooke is constantly trying to hurt other players out there.

Honestly, Mario's turned himself into the asshat. One of the best players in the history of the NHL, and he comes up with this? It's nothing short of disappointing. I always liked Mario as a player, so it's difficult to even verbalize how disappointed what he said has made me feel.

Pens fans ask why we always have to bring up Cooke. How can we not? How can we not bring up Cooke and Sidney and the clear favoritism the league puts behind its poster boy? That's just the environment that Bettman has fostered, which is unfortunate. In all honesty, both Bettman and Campbell need to be ousted. Maybe getting in some fresh blood is exactly what the NHL needs. I mean, Bettman shows he knows less about promotion than pretty much anyone (Guardians Gary? Really?).

Anyhow, that's it for now. I leave you with my favorite Don Cherry rant of all time.