No White Hawks Dream Come True - Ever!

It wasn't the Boston Bruins that missed a golden opportunity in this year's Stanley Cup Finals, folks. No, not at all; it was, in fact, the Chicago franchise that totally blew their chance to redeem the entire ChiTown -notoriously renowned as it is for being infested with liars, cheaters and slimebuckets of all shapes, sizes and ages- by becoming the complete antithesis to what their counterparts who played baseball back in 1919 were - and will be forevermore, in the minds of so many...

They were the Chicago White Sox of their day - and they became the Black Sox.
In 2013, the Chicago Black Hawks could have become... the White Hawks.

As the Black Sox turned ''black'' by throwing the World Series, for money, the Black Hawks would have turned ''white'' (or, dare I say ''incandescent''... or ''radiant''... or even ''luminous''!?) by ''fixing'' the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals the right way: for the joy of the Boston Marathon Bombing victims. By allowing the Bruins to win, as they should have, by not scoring garbage goals in excessive numbers (two in the last minute of a game come to mind here) and by not stealing victory when it was clearly not merited, the Chicago Black Hawks would have erased that stigma that has been branding all things Chicagoan ever since the days of Giovanni ''Johnny'' Torrio, the inept mayor Wentworth, Al Capone & Murray Humphreys! The Black Hawks could have and should have bowed out of the 2013 Finals and handed over that ''cup'' to the better city, which so recently suffered unjust and outright savage senseless attacks that cost innocents dearly.  What better way to pay homage to ''Boston Strong''...? And, in doing so, the Black Hawks would have, verily, become winged angels of sorts: ''White Hawks'' by any other name...

But they didn't - now, did they?

Once they got to the Big Dance once again, they could do only one thing: think of themselves and rob their nobler opponent of the victory by any means necessary. Garbage goals that could have easily not even counted were the deciding factors: it was, perhaps, acceptable back in 2010 against Philadelphia, the city of false brotherly love (and other fallacies) - perhaps.

However, this year, stealing victory from a cleaner city is simply not right, Chicago.  Boston's fine population was literally torn into by those blasts back in April - they deserved this championship as rightful compensation!  You are ready to dive in boxing rings, Chicagoans; you dive all the time in the ice rink, too, in order to prevent superior shots from penetrating into your net...  You had to take a dive in games 6 and 7 (or, truly, games 5 and 6) and allow Boston to raise another title over their weary shoulders, a mere two months after the tragedy and terror (as the Boston Globe phrased it) lived through on the 15th of April of this year. Tragedy and terror that has left its mark forevermore indeed: some men and women, in the prime of their lives, having lost either an arm or a leg...  Their brief moment of joy, when they could forget this sad new reality that is theirs for the rest of their lives, was when they were watching their team rise to the fore, raising hope in their heart of a better tomorrow, if only for game time or so...  The Bruins (and all other Boston teams) needed to provide this all-important diversion for these unnecessary victims at that crucial team - and they came through brilliantly; prevailing against all odds in their first series, as they had dug themselves into quite the corner there... Outplaying rivals from the most evil town, bar none: New York (even Chicago doesn't come close; ChiTown's number 2 in this case - a shitty position to be in, usually, but, hey, for one thing, in this case, it makes sense. And secondly: it is where they deserve to be!) before sweeping over-rated foes that were both familiar and infuriating with their sheer arrogance: the Pitt. The Boston team came through it all with inspiring flamboyance - exactly what the population needed after the terrible events that had darkened the atmosphere all across Massachusetts.  From April all the way to late June, the Bruins -and their fans- were, through it all, exemplary (and the fact that the Hawks acknowledged that by taking out a page in the media after their theft had been officialized -a mere ''thank you letter'' riddled with mistakes, if one believes the transcript of it published by usatoday, that is- does not mean a thing, really! All it made me think of was the time the Chicago Daily Tribune went to print with ''Dewey defeats Truman'' in 1948...!  Another famous Chi-not-so-shy-Town BLUNDER - that's all it is!  Ah, Sweet Home Chicago... not! Still, I'll take this rare opportunity to send off my regards to friendly fellow alliterative astute Candid Candace, despite all that...!)

Truly, the only thing that could have assuaged the open wounds that those Bruins fans who lost either an arm or a leg have got festering on their minds right now, was VICTORY.
No matter how fleeting a feeling it is...

But no - you had to be selfish, Black Hawks, you had to take it for yourselves, by all wretched-dirty tricks-and-means there could be...

And, in so doing, you, the 2013 Black Hawks are even worse than the 1919 Black Sox ever were.

Luminous Luciano Has Spoken... er, blogged!

+++ 

Sempre Por O Melhor

Dream Spoiled

Incredible - the Boston Bruins used to rough up the Chicago Blackschmucks by scores of 8 to 2 when Cam Neely and Steve Larmer led those respective teams throughout 84-game schedules...

And now that they finally meet in the Big Finale - this is how it ends?!? 

Did you even see what kind of a garbage-rebound-goal it was that that Bolland guy tucked in past Tuukka in order to steal victory here...?  I don't know what was more embarrassing about it, really: the jumping Blackschmucks afterwards or the little Chicagoan Grrl who couldn't stop shrieking for a while and had to be bear-hugged by one of them typical Chicago beer-guzzlers in attendance, somehow...
(And, NO; we don't mean Jim Belushi!)

This might be even more revolting than last year's grand larceny on ice, when the crummy Capitals stole victory from the then-defending champions Bruins.

It is all about perceptions, one has to guess: one could focus here that the team was only two more wins away from winning it all again - and that those last two games could have easily been it.

If the bitchy Lady Luck had played the puck for our side, that is!

Speaking of perceptions (no - I don't even wanna know what's the Days of Y'Orr take on this sordid turn of events - and I don't want Bobby Orr's take on it either!) - what about those inane posters on the wretched NHL.com comments section right after their so-called ''reports/articles/call'em-what-you-will'' thingies that they whip up after each and every game...

One moron simply commented: ''now you know how Toronto felt'' and spiced that up with some heartfelt hatred towards the real champions - the Boston Bruins!

Ha!  Hardly - moron! This is nothing like what the Boston Bruins did to the lowly Maple Leafs n the first round!  And not just because it was between the two top teams in the NHL, at the top of their game and in the Grand Finale of the all, either!  You see, Boston did not capitalize on all of their chances to score in Game 6 against Chicago - otherwise the score could have been Boston 5, Chicago 1 in the last minute of play and that would have been it for the game: see you in Game 7!  In the Game 7 of that first round series, the most absurd thing had occurred: not only did it oppose an inferior team to a vastly superior one, but the inferior one had been able to capitalize on each and every one of its chances to score, making it Toronto 4, Boston 1 in the third period.   What the Bruins did was far more impressive than what the wretched Blackhawks could do here: scoring two lucky goals late to steal the game, giving the Bruins no time at all to retaliate.  Previously, the Bruins had not been as fortunate as Toronto had been in that game 7 either: they had had several golden opportunities to put the game away and put it totally out of reach of the Blackschmucks; it really could have been Boston 5, Chicago 1 - and, it it had been, you can bet your sorry a$$ that nothing even close to what happened when it was Toronto 4, Boston 1 would have ever ever occurred there...!  Boston scoring three unanswered goals to tie it late in the game and scoring the winner early in overtime against a team such as Toronto is normal; Chicago scoring only one to tie it (much less two to steal it) late in the game against a team such as Boston is totally abnormal.  Was that finally made clear to you, MORON out there, wherever you are? I hope you are among those who discover this blog by sheer... manipulated happenstance!
;-)

Another moron perceived the boos coming from the Boston faithful as being aimed at Chicago's Shaw, when he got hit by a puck in the face and was bleeding profusely on the ice, prompting the referee to blow his damnable whistle and call the play dead just when Boston's Thornton (there is no longer a need to add ''Shawn, not that poor pathetic Joe The Shark Schmoe'' - is there!) inherited the puck and most probably had a play with the rest of the Merlot line 2.0 there...

Speaking of which, what the Bruins sorely missed in the Finals was having a gritty warrior the likes of Gregory Campbell indeed...  But that is sour grapes now - right, Grapes?

Back to the BOOS AFFAIR: that moron went as far as commenting about this and adding ''stay classy, Boston'' - which could have been, if the commenter had any brain cells worth calling them that, ''stay smart, Beantowners without-much-of-a-clue - duh!'' for the only way anyone is going to boo a guy who is down and bleeding on the ice is if you are a clueless, witless, useless invertebrate that doesn't know jack squat about anything!  How could that moron even be let on the NHL.com forums in order to spread such drivel - and how is he allowed to comment on those boards, via Facebook, no less!  It boggles the mind: the NHL and FB, both, must be hiring vegetative webmasters and the most obtuse message board moderators that okay the most idiotic comments to pass through and stay online too while they dutifully erase and deny access to anyone whose way with words greatly surpasses theirs and goes waaaaaaaay over their tiny petty little pinheads!   It is either that or they deny you based upon your witty e-mail addy or username - but I'd say it is that!   

What happened then, you wonder?  Two or three Boston fans bothered to correct the moron and let him know that the Boston fans inside the TD Garden were indeed booing the ref for whistling the play to stop when Boston could have scored - which would not have been the first time that they'd allow a goal to go in despite someone being down, y'know!  They just could not do it for Boston  I suppose...

What's that - you doubt the Bruins could have scored on that play?
You silly fools!
You really think that Crawford is that good?  Crawford is no better than Reimer, Lundqvist and Vokoun who all went down before Boston! He could have and should have been decimated in the first period alone - the Bruins so dominated that period that, with any help at all from that bitch (Lady Luck, again) they could have come out of it with a three or five-goal lead instead of just one score!

Corey Crawford was cleanly and clearly beaten on two David Krejci plays that would normally have resulted in goals for the star forward in this crucial game 6.

It is oh-so-very uncharacteristic of Krejci to miss such golden opportunities for easy goals: one hit the crossbar and skipped ahead of the net but it is the second one that is the most disappointing one of all.  Brad Marchand fed him a perfect pass and David Krejci was behind both the lone defenseman there and Crawford too: meaning that Krejci had a wide open net into which he normally redirects the puck and makes it 2-0 for Boston. Somehow, though, it didn't go in, this time.  Rather, the puck went vertical, way over the net and into the stands even.  The Ghost of Glen Wesley was in the house...

Despite the astonishing and undeserved loss, the Boston Bruins laid claim to two out of three stars when the game was all done - and they had been officially robbed of victory on that night.  Truly small consolation indeed - but it is at least that and it is an undeniable bit of evidence that they should have won that game and forced a seventh and decisive Game 7 just like they did in 2011...

And with such evenly-matched teams playing with the same exact desire for victory, anything could have happened in Game 7 - and Boston could have done it again...

They'll do it again - in 2014.  :-)

The THREE STARS OF THE GAME for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals were...

1. Milan LUCIC  ( 1 goal, 2 shots, 1 hit, -1, Time On Ice: 19:20)

2. Duncan KEITH       (0 goals, 1 assist, 2 shots, 1 hit, -1, Time On Ice: 28:51)

3. Tyler SEGUIN  (0 goals, 1 assist, 1 shot, 1 hit, +1, 2 P.I.M. and Time On Ice: 17:55)       All photos trademark and copyright of the NHL

Dreams Have No Rhyme Nor Reason...

However...

It is true that Chicago rhymes with zero while Boston rhymes with... well, with both reason *and* champion! 

It is true that, while the Blackhawks perpetuate the stereotype only rendered more ridiculed by the NFL's Washington Redskins and MLB's Cleveland Indians - the Boston Bruins continue to integrate all races equally into their extended family: from Milt Schmidt to Stan Jonathan to Milan Lucic today!

It is also true that while Chicago once spawned a movie whose original title included the words ''sexual perversions'' (Jim Belushi knows that one well; it was retitled - but it starred him and Rob Lowe, so...) Boston inspired nothing but good things since time immemorial - from Good Morning Beantown to the unforgettable Cheers of course - not to mention that certain film about good will and hunting...?

The Boston Red Sox shook off their curse - the Cubs did not.

The Patriots flourished since meeting the Bears in that Super Bowl there, winning three Super Bowls: the Bears never won it again.

The Boston Celtics' dynasty has no equal - the Chicago Bulls were mere pale imitators (despite being, shall we say, more tanned than most Celtic players - with the notable exception of Bill Russell?)

The Boston Pops have world-renown; does Chicago even have an orchestra...?

For all these reasons - and a myriad more - everyone can easily concur that BOSTON is the ONE TRUE CHAMPION... All categories, bar none! 

Dream On: Boston VS Chicago

All right, CHI-TOWN... 

You want a war? 

YOU WANT A WAR?

We're gonna give you a WAR! 

BEANTOWN versus CHI-TOWN! 

Bruins, Celtics and Patriots 

versus 

Bulls, Blackhawks and Bears! 

And our musical acts will get involved, too...

Nope - Peter Cetera's no match for Tom Scholz! 

BOSTON STRONG! 

+++ 

Dream Match-Up

So then... 

Just like it was the first time in its rocky history 

that the last four champions lined-up 

as the final four in the tournament 

to crown a new champion this year...  

(The 2009 and 2012 champs bit the dust)

It is the very first time 

in NHL history 

that the Boston Bruins 

and Chicago Blackhawks 

-two of the dubious 'Original Six' teams- 

meet in the Grand Finale... 

How can that even be?!? 

It doesn't matter now, though -

what matters is that the most meritorious team 

does come out on top - 

just like it happened in 2011...! 

And so, let's measure 

the tale of the tape...

BOSTON BRUIN vs CHICAGO BLACKHAWK

The two are evenly-matched indeed!

Only one is more of a natural at this...

And, quite frankly, one captain is still 

wet-behind the-ears - while the other is a real pro! 

The inevitable outcome leaves no doubt - 

once again!

BRUINS IN SIX 

Hey - it worked before; it's going to work again! 

Not the 2011 comparison, no - 

we refer to the previous round prediction 

visualized by plush belligerents! 

The Bruin will pummel the puerile Blackhawk 

just as the Bruin crushed the Penguin! 

Thanks go, this time out though, 

to our friend... Ty Bearius! 

;-) 

Dreams of Resilience And Perseverance

Adam McQuaid is a warrior.  He is what the prototypical Boston Bruins defenseman should be all about: with grit, courage in the face of adversity, all-around professionalism, class and the determination required to do all that it takes in order to achieve victory.

He reminds me of Gord Kluzak - and the two share many other traits, too, that she shouldn't share...  You could add Bobby Orr and Cam Neely to this list -and maybe even Normand Léveillé, but that might be too extreme- as great players who got career-threatening injuries or conditions that shortened their stay in the NHL.

Adam is fortunately not there yet: he can and does continue to play, contributing in a big way to the Bruins' march to the Finals, successively besting Toronto, New York and Pittsburgh on their way to battle their virtual mirror image in Chicago...   Having said that, the adversary does not have anyone comparable to the survivors and warriors that are Patrice Bergeron, Nathan Horton and Adam McQuaid indeed; all they have are kids like Toews and Kane and one of those Hossa hussies.

That doesn't even begin to compare with an Adam McQuaid who just recently survived the greatest scare any athlete could have: to be diagnosed with a horrible condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome that causes dangerous, potentially lie-threatening blood clots to form in his body.  He underwent two emergency operations to remove these clots and then went immediately into an intense rehabilitation program to join his team on time for the January start of the shortened 2013 season.

Such dedication, perseverance and resilience indeed can only be applauded, admired and rewarded with the smallest honor the NHL bestows upon such remarkable players: the Bill Masterton Trophy, which has been won by Gord Kluzak and Cam Neely in the past for the exact same reasons, though neither of those two greats had faced life-threatening conditions: only career-ending ones...

The only other player worthy of the trophy is unquestionably Josh Harding, the netminder of the Minnesota Wild who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and came back to play and lead his team after a 33-game hiatus for treatment.

And yet, and yet...  The front runner for the trophy was Sidney Crosby with his concussion and broken jaw; or so it read like last May... Luckily, they regained their senses and awarded the trophy to the player dealing with the only thing worse than T.O.S. - M.S.

Adam McQuaid has a chance to win his second Stanley Cup in three years after being salvaged from a sinking ship called the Columbus Blue Jackets.

His warrior status was evident as he was seen writing his blog (and posting it at 2:44AM) after the Boston Bruins played a marathon triple overtime game one of the Finals against the Hawks.  The fact that he displayed complete and absolute belief in himself and his teammates after the game ended the wrong way totally drives the point across: Adam is of that mettle that can only be aptly surmised as... the best.  It makes no sense whatsoever to ever doubt that (or buy into the silly things put together by buffoons such as Jon Stewart back in 2011 to discredit the mettle of these champions: Jon Stewart would lose in the most pathetic way in a one-on-ne debate with Jack Edwards. And so would Colbert!)  and Adam should be expected to be hoisting the Cup once again - exactly as he did back in 2011.

Hopefully it will not have to be in seven games again - but if so, then so be it!

Go Bruins - Go! 

Another Dream Come True!

We had originally envisioned a hard-fought series that would have almost gone the distance - evidently giving the mercenary hearts that chose a Pitt over a Beantown way too much credit in the process!  Our prediction of BRUINS IN SIX was based upon the knowledge that all of those misbegotten statistics-lovers readily have at their disposal throughout the year; partly thanks to the wretched NHL.COM. And, sure, the core group of forwards that the Pitt had assembled had wreaked havoc all throughout the league, scoring almost at will against everyone else - but, ah-ha, there it is right there: the Boston Bruins are not ''everyone else'' - not at all!  Where no one could make the necessary adjustments in any single game matching-up with these so-called ''mighty Pens'' - when two other teams (made up of considerably weaker elements than both the Bruins and the Pitt itself) could not adjust either, despite being in the midst of a series with them - the Boston Bruins could.  Not only did they make all the right adjustments required to take game one, they made them for the course of the entire series and limited an adversary used to score at will and averaging nearly 5 goals a game to just two goals - for the entire series' length.  This sure is another dream performance, another dream scenario unfolding and another dream come true: and it is all so richly deserved, too. 

It's A Tough Job, But Someone's Gotta Do It - 

The Bear - And His Broom! 

Cleaning The League Of All The Posers 

Since 2010 - at least!  

(Photo Credits: Unknown - Come Forward!)

BRAVO BOSTON BRUINS!  2013 Eastern Conference Champions (just as in 2011 - however, this time around, they needed only 16 games to achieve it, compared to 18 two years ago.  Still, both times they swept a team from Pennsylvania: and it seemed to be easier this time, too!) 

What a great gift for Milan Lucic, who celebrates his birthday simultaneously...! 

And, as I said on Facebook: no worthier team in the entire Eastern Conference (past, present or future: you hear, that, teams that will be realigned to be a part of the East, next year?) could or should have landed this precious title!  Next up: the prestigious cup that should have been yours three years in a row, really - if not for that instance of high larceny on ice that occurred last year in the first round...  Capital punishment was served afterwards though; they went nowhere fast after that and, this year, they were victimized by the under-performing ''blue shirts', that fell to the Bruins in five games.  (Now this time it really was ''cing petites parties'' you history-revising -distorting, in truth- yellow wanna-be journalists up north - otherwise known as the envious rabble from Quawbeck!  It was so nice to see your prodigal son, ''Mario Le Magnifico'' totally bewildered as his team of rag-tag all-stars failed miserably when they came up against a real cohesive team that redefines fraternity, hard work and flawless execution!  Just like in the 80s and 90s, when Cam Neely eclipsed Mario Lemieux on the ice when their respective teams matched-up, Cam The Man has done it again to LaMeww from the other side of hockey operations this time!  Take that, all of the so-called Belle Province - FOR YOU ARE NOT THE HUB OF HOCKEY - BOSTON IS THE HUB OF HOCKEY!  But I digress...) 

What's more, Milan Lucic proved he is the present and the future - while Jarome Iginla is only the past, fading away fast...  Patrice Bergeron proved he is the best two-way center in the league - and that Sidney Crosby is a distant second.  David Krejci proved he is the best performer come clutch-time - and Evgeni Malkin is nothing more than a poser indeed.  Zdeno Chara schooled the entire Pitt defense (and most particularly absurd Norris Trophy nominee Kris Letang) what proper defense is all about.  Andrew Ference taught every other defenseman from the Pitt what truly bringing it is all about! And Jaromir Jagr showed Brenden Morrow what a veteran is supposed to bring to the table in order to help his new team win!   

I could go on with the comparisons... But why bother?  The Pitt is gone - good riddance! Onwards to the next opponent now... 

But not yet - not just yet...! 

Enjoy this remarkable and complete victory first - for BOSTON deserves it!

NHL Properties again -  but credit the Boston Bruins first!