For Providence Has It...
that it shall be bright!
Or, at the very least, as we used to say, way back then,
''Win or lose... Bruins Will Bruise!''
Photo Credits: Providence Bruins - AHL
November 15, 2013
October 30, 2013
The Dream City Of Champions - once again!
The last time we blogged ever-so dreamily...
the Boston Red Sox were about to take Game 4
and square up that World series all up at 2 games apiece!
Next, they took a 3-2 lead in the series
winning a second one in a row - in St.Louis!
And then, heading back home
in the position to finally win another championship
at the venerable Fenway Park
-the first one since 1918-
they did so in brilliant... even luminous fashion
with a roaring 6-1 win in Game 6!
A third World Series title for the once-cursed team
with the other two having been sweeps
(over Colorado in 2007 and St.Louis -again- in 2004)
and all three with a certain BIG PAPI
on the team: this year's Series MVP...!
And so here was the scene after all that transpired:
It was a mere six months ago. An eternity, or so it seems.
Lives were changed forever by a tragedy;
another one triggered by some men's folly.
The finish line of the Boston Marathon
had been turned into a scene of desolation and despair.
Where there should have been triumph,
there was only death and unnecessary torment.
It took this many months, actually,
for things to be made right again.
But, finally, this Saturday, November 2nd,
the tragedy gave way to the triumph
that should have permeated those streets back in April.
It had to wait until November to finally be restored
with this victory parade -that could have been
the second this year, had the Bruins won just two more games
back in June.... The Bruins' run was uplifting, but incomplete.
And THIS is what the city of Boston sorely needed
in order to fully heal from its tragic April of 2013...
And here they have it, then: in the form of
the World Series champions Boston Red Sox!
The healing process required crossing the exact same finish line
which had been the scene of that atrocity
and make it a scene of triumph and joy again
for crowds expected to reach one million people
for crowds expected to reach one million people
as the parade covered the entire celebration route.
At the end of all this, at that finish line, a touching gesture
designed to assuage every Bostonian's pain
over the last six months:
designed to assuage every Bostonian's pain
over the last six months:
Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes
depositing the World Series trophy on that very spot,
The trophy was draped with a team jersey
upon which all could read
"Boston Strong 617"
the very heartfelt slogan conceived in the nick of time
in order to help an entire population overcome
in order to help an entire population overcome
the horrid feeling in their hearts and souls
following the ignoble terror attacks.
following the ignoble terror attacks.
Thank you Jonny!
That was cool!
Thank you Big Papi!
Thank you Boston Red Sox
and the two Johns;
All hail Boston's latest Champions -
the 2013 Boston Red Sox!
Congratulations!
+++
October 28, 2013
Agony & Ecstasy - Yet Neither Dreamy?
With the glaring exception of GAME ONE of these 2013 ''WORLD SERIES'' (the game that saw Jon Lester get accused of greasing the ball as to alter its velocity significantly enough in order to gain an unfair advantage, as he was dominant on the mound for the Boston Red Sox as they crushed with such ease the St-Louis Cardinals 8 to 1 and left no doubt which one was the superior team, that night...) - said series has been a roller-coaster ride of ho-hum feelings and sensations...
Fans (meaning RED SOX NATION; all other fans of ''America's Pastime'' are obsolete) are compelled to question the questionable (calls such that ''fielder's indifference'' aka OBSTRUCTION call in Game 3 - that made no sense) question the unquestionable (our manager, Farrell, inexplicably keeping handing the ball over to Breslow - who hasn't pitched well since the BIG DANCE began here! He was effective against Tampa Bay and Detroit though; so maybe he's one of those guys that goes ''strictly the American (League) way'' then?) and dodge all the rest - that is when they're not just feeling queasy, jittery and all-together ooky.
However, the series is so evenly-matched, with both teams having garnered the exact same record this year (97-65) during the regular season (which does include ''intraleague'' play) that it is pointless to get too nervous early on: it is almost assured that this will go down to the last pitch. Game 7. Ninth inning. Full count. Bases loaded. RED SOX WIN! (That's my scenario and I'm sticking to it!)
Still, having blogged all this and all that - let's have a closer look at all the infuriating things from the past few innings... shall we?
Didn't have the luxury to be at the *main work station* prior to this hour, so it was prepared through, ah... other means! Have a look:
Fans (meaning RED SOX NATION; all other fans of ''America's Pastime'' are obsolete) are compelled to question the questionable (calls such that ''fielder's indifference'' aka OBSTRUCTION call in Game 3 - that made no sense) question the unquestionable (our manager, Farrell, inexplicably keeping handing the ball over to Breslow - who hasn't pitched well since the BIG DANCE began here! He was effective against Tampa Bay and Detroit though; so maybe he's one of those guys that goes ''strictly the American (League) way'' then?) and dodge all the rest - that is when they're not just feeling queasy, jittery and all-together ooky.
However, the series is so evenly-matched, with both teams having garnered the exact same record this year (97-65) during the regular season (which does include ''intraleague'' play) that it is pointless to get too nervous early on: it is almost assured that this will go down to the last pitch. Game 7. Ninth inning. Full count. Bases loaded. RED SOX WIN! (That's my scenario and I'm sticking to it!)
Still, having blogged all this and all that - let's have a closer look at all the infuriating things from the past few innings... shall we?
Didn't have the luxury to be at the *main work station* prior to this hour, so it was prepared through, ah... other means! Have a look:
Can't believe they'd complain more about the way FOX intersperses
the game's (often uneventful) innings with interviews,
and not rage against the refs and their controversial call...?!?
Anyway...
Onwards to GAME FOUR -
where the Sox used THREE STARTING PITCHERS!
Buchholz, Doubront and Lackey!
And, in the end, it was Tazawa and Uehara that got it done!
Sure, it was a total team effort
at the most crucial time,
but, truly, Junichi Tazawa is the main relief pitcher
and absolute set-up man
for closer... terminator...
Koji Uehara!
would be nowhere near the elite team
that they are, now, without
these two!
It was a trying week-end, to say the least: but, now, we've got them crimson birds right where we want them! No doubt about that! GO, SOX, GO! FEAR THE BEARD(S)!!!
And Game 5 is on as we blog...!
:-!
October 26, 2013
Dream Beards
Everything old is new again - and everything that works (or, that is, at least, a time-honored tradition that works to some extent; most of the time) can be transposed onto a new setting, new environment and new sport! Such is the case of the proverbial playoff beard...!
What worked for the Boston Bruins (particularly well in 2011) has also been seen, in the past, put to use in the wondrous realm of Major League Baseball, too - but, now, it truly has come full circle whilst becoming the main trait of this decidedly hirsute 2013 edition of the Boston Red Sox!
What worked for the Boston Bruins (particularly well in 2011) has also been seen, in the past, put to use in the wondrous realm of Major League Baseball, too - but, now, it truly has come full circle whilst becoming the main trait of this decidedly hirsute 2013 edition of the Boston Red Sox!
And may the shavers and Gillettes of this world stay away for another while, too!
Because this Bostonian Barbarian with Big Bats look works!
Big Time!
See the Sox triumph!
Sport the Sox facial hair style!
And, if you're an opponent,
FEAR THE BEARD!
There can be no doubt that it is working: already, the Boston Beards have triumphed, first of hated rivals from T-Bay (the Rays, they say? They're still the Devil Rays to me! And why not demonize thugs who hang out in Tampa, hmm?) Destroying these self-proclaimed ''new East perennial contenders'' in a short series to start October was just perfect: from the lopsided first win all the way to the last out that clinched a 3-1 series win: truly, 'twas the joy of Sox...! (Pun intended - we're tipping our hats, here!)
And then the Sox disposed of the dreaded Detroit Tigers who, aside from having the distinction of hailing from a city in ruins, worthy of an apocalyptic Z-movie (not a B-movie, no; that would be too good for the ol' Motor City) in grand style, 4 games to 2 - with big swings from great bats: GRAND SALAMMIES as some have been heard saying (especially during those eight decades that saw other teams, with fanbases considerably less-cultured and far less eloquent, were getting it done; all during the woeful years of ''the Curse''...! But that is another story - and, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, old history, all in the past now!)
And then the Sox disposed of the dreaded Detroit Tigers who, aside from having the distinction of hailing from a city in ruins, worthy of an apocalyptic Z-movie (not a B-movie, no; that would be too good for the ol' Motor City) in grand style, 4 games to 2 - with big swings from great bats: GRAND SALAMMIES as some have been heard saying (especially during those eight decades that saw other teams, with fanbases considerably less-cultured and far less eloquent, were getting it done; all during the woeful years of ''the Curse''...! But that is another story - and, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, old history, all in the past now!)
Fittingly, the Boston Red Sox triumphed in such grand style of the Detroit Tigers just as the Detroit Red Wings have come onto Boston Bruins territory (the new Atlantic Division, duh) and Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons are challenging each other for the bottom of the standings; and best strategic position for the next NBA lottery...! (The New England Patriots and Detroit Lions have no issues with each other: for several years, now, they're at the opposite end of the NFL pecking order! No need to precise which ends those are and for whom they are - EH?)
The Bruins lost a pre-season game to the Wings in embarrassing fashion: but then came back and blanked them the very next time they faced each other in training mode. They split up a pair of games in the regular season so far and sit atop their division, with the oddest runner-up of all in-between them, Toronto! The old Adams Division/Northeast foes are bottom-dwellers or bound to be: Montreal, Buffalo and... er... where have Hartford and Quebec gone to, again? They've gone south alright!
Boston's clearly Detroit's superior in hockey, too (in this titanic battle between The Hub Of Hockey and this self-proclaimed Hockeytown - Ha!) as it unquestionably is in baseball, as well. And it is doubly satisfying to behold, in the latter case, as Boston defeated a team that repeatedly bested the hated New York Yankees in recent years; for, when the Yanks tried again and again to buy another two or three championships, the Evil Empire was thwarted by none other than the Tigers - who then promptly veered back to kitty-cat form once they reached the World Series. Still... The Tigers roared all over the hapless Yanks! And, just now, we saw what the Red Sox accomplished once up against those very same Tigers, who boasted such a fine pitching rotation and such an impressive collection of bats, overall... Well, it was the Boston Red Sox' bats (and beards!) that roared the loudest! And it was over in six games, one-hundred sixty-two outs - and two Grand Slams!
Now, them St-Louis Cardinals stand in the way: they better whimper and fold as they did in 2004, because once again, as in 2004 AND 2007 too, the team of destiny is clearly the BOSTON RED SOX!
They can get it done in a myriad of ways, too...
;-)
T-shirt designs available at
- just click on them and see the choice!
October 01, 2013
Looking Ahead To 2014... (DREAMING!)
What has gotten into NESN to cling on so to former Boston Bruins that are no longer in the fold - EH?
Well, yeah, sure, Andrew Ference has been named the captain of the Edmonton Oilers - largely due to his great work ethic, undeniable leadership (the leading-by-example variety: the best kind) and proven track record, mostly after his recent campaigns spent as a member of the Boston Bruins.
(We have all forgiven him, in both cities, that he played before for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames! Nobody's perfect - right, Andrew?)
Sure, it is somewhat significant (in an amusing way) that he becomes the 14th captain in the history of Edmonton's NHL franchise, and he is, also, entering his 14th season in the NHL - plus, this captaincy is really good for 2014 (the Oilers see their new captain inspire the youthful core of players that they have there all the way onto a playoff berth and several cinderella-team story-like upsets over better, proven teams... Not gonna happen, but it is nice to dream, eh?) and so, this triple occurrence of the number 14 is... intriguing, maybe. But not much more than that!
And sure - as the Associated Press rehashed, Ference is 34 years-old, won the Cup in 2011 with Boston and, now, despite career stats that are somewhat less-than stellar (37 goals, 156 assists and 645 penalty minutes in 760 career games: not quite an all-star performance...) he finally gets treated like a star player indeed, the moment he joins his old hometown team's ranks, thus we can all feel good about this and be happy for him... (All the moreso due to his attachment to Beantown. For, to be honest, his real hometown remains Boston: he would have stayed put there, if NHL politics had not made it impossible for him to stay, salary caps this, arbitration that... But the fact remains that he was very well treated in Boston, being awarded a handsome yearly sum for his services as well as having the honor bestowed upon him to serve as an alternate captain for his last two years there: hence, the captaincy in Ed is simply a continuation of this treatment, rather than a promotion... really!)
Alas, Andrew has gone astray, just like Tim Thomas, Tomas Kaberle, Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, Nathan Horton and, if one goes further back on the former-B-regrets list, Chuck Kobasew, Vladimir Sobotka, Brandon Bochenski, Petteri Nokelainen, Matt Lashoff, Mark Stuart, Aaron Ward, Cameron Mann, Glen Murray, Ted Donato, Peter Ferraro, Tim Taylor, Dmitri Khristich, Jon Rohloff, Bob Beers, Mariusz Czerkawski, Dave Reid, Steve Leach, Fred Knipscheer, Sandy Moger, Milan Jurcina, Bobby Allen (ok, he was no Orr, but...) Petr Kalus, Brad Boyes - heck, even Colton Orr, dammit!
So, NESN, why not re-adjust your aim here and put the spotlight on who fully deserves it right at this current time - not to, say, repeat the errors of the past, hmm?
Why not focus more on guys such as Reilly Smith and Jordan Caron indeed, one (the latter) relatively new to the team and the other (the former) freshly-arrived in the line-up this still aborning season - and both newbies are forming, with veteran Chris Kelly, the Bruins' most reliable offensive line so far!
Why not gear that ol' spotlight upon Carl Soderberg, poised and ready as he should be, in the coming months, to take over and pick up where Tyler Seguin (and, before him, Phil Kessel) had left off - when they were productive, that is!
Why not focus upon new B's guns Loui Eriksson and Jarome Iginla now -one of which did come from Alberta, Canada, coincidentally enough- rather than still tearfully look towards a guy who helped, helped a lot, but who, in the end, simply returned back where he came from -Alberta, Canada!- and, truth be told, he was never a game-changer here so how could he be one there, now, either...? (The Edmonton Oilers average three goals a game - but allow five. LOL)
So, yeah, NESN - Ference did contribute in bringing back the Stanley Cup to the city of Boston and we will always remember the moment when the Bruins visited the Red Sox dugout and Ference handed the Cup to Big Papi... However, now it is time to let go, NESN - the guy is no longer one of ours: he's in league with the enemy! Forget about him already! LET GO! As Andy himself did, when it came time to part with his playoff beard, this past summer... (It's not like he's going to get to grow a new one any time soon, y'know - maybe EVER! But that's another story... Eh, Andy?)
Well, yeah, sure, Andrew Ference has been named the captain of the Edmonton Oilers - largely due to his great work ethic, undeniable leadership (the leading-by-example variety: the best kind) and proven track record, mostly after his recent campaigns spent as a member of the Boston Bruins.
(We have all forgiven him, in both cities, that he played before for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames! Nobody's perfect - right, Andrew?)
Sure, it is somewhat significant (in an amusing way) that he becomes the 14th captain in the history of Edmonton's NHL franchise, and he is, also, entering his 14th season in the NHL - plus, this captaincy is really good for 2014 (the Oilers see their new captain inspire the youthful core of players that they have there all the way onto a playoff berth and several cinderella-team story-like upsets over better, proven teams... Not gonna happen, but it is nice to dream, eh?) and so, this triple occurrence of the number 14 is... intriguing, maybe. But not much more than that!
And sure - as the Associated Press rehashed, Ference is 34 years-old, won the Cup in 2011 with Boston and, now, despite career stats that are somewhat less-than stellar (37 goals, 156 assists and 645 penalty minutes in 760 career games: not quite an all-star performance...) he finally gets treated like a star player indeed, the moment he joins his old hometown team's ranks, thus we can all feel good about this and be happy for him... (All the moreso due to his attachment to Beantown. For, to be honest, his real hometown remains Boston: he would have stayed put there, if NHL politics had not made it impossible for him to stay, salary caps this, arbitration that... But the fact remains that he was very well treated in Boston, being awarded a handsome yearly sum for his services as well as having the honor bestowed upon him to serve as an alternate captain for his last two years there: hence, the captaincy in Ed is simply a continuation of this treatment, rather than a promotion... really!)
Alas, Andrew has gone astray, just like Tim Thomas, Tomas Kaberle, Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, Nathan Horton and, if one goes further back on the former-B-regrets list, Chuck Kobasew, Vladimir Sobotka, Brandon Bochenski, Petteri Nokelainen, Matt Lashoff, Mark Stuart, Aaron Ward, Cameron Mann, Glen Murray, Ted Donato, Peter Ferraro, Tim Taylor, Dmitri Khristich, Jon Rohloff, Bob Beers, Mariusz Czerkawski, Dave Reid, Steve Leach, Fred Knipscheer, Sandy Moger, Milan Jurcina, Bobby Allen (ok, he was no Orr, but...) Petr Kalus, Brad Boyes - heck, even Colton Orr, dammit!
So, NESN, why not re-adjust your aim here and put the spotlight on who fully deserves it right at this current time - not to, say, repeat the errors of the past, hmm?
Why not focus more on guys such as Reilly Smith and Jordan Caron indeed, one (the latter) relatively new to the team and the other (the former) freshly-arrived in the line-up this still aborning season - and both newbies are forming, with veteran Chris Kelly, the Bruins' most reliable offensive line so far!
Why not gear that ol' spotlight upon Carl Soderberg, poised and ready as he should be, in the coming months, to take over and pick up where Tyler Seguin (and, before him, Phil Kessel) had left off - when they were productive, that is!
Why not focus upon new B's guns Loui Eriksson and Jarome Iginla now -one of which did come from Alberta, Canada, coincidentally enough- rather than still tearfully look towards a guy who helped, helped a lot, but who, in the end, simply returned back where he came from -Alberta, Canada!- and, truth be told, he was never a game-changer here so how could he be one there, now, either...? (The Edmonton Oilers average three goals a game - but allow five. LOL)
So, yeah, NESN - Ference did contribute in bringing back the Stanley Cup to the city of Boston and we will always remember the moment when the Bruins visited the Red Sox dugout and Ference handed the Cup to Big Papi... However, now it is time to let go, NESN - the guy is no longer one of ours: he's in league with the enemy! Forget about him already! LET GO! As Andy himself did, when it came time to part with his playoff beard, this past summer... (It's not like he's going to get to grow a new one any time soon, y'know - maybe EVER! But that's another story... Eh, Andy?)
Say Goodbye, Andy!
You're not the only one
who can shave, either -
however, right now,
NO ONE's shaving in Boston!
Capisce?!?
Photo: NHL Properties
+++
UPDATE: now, we look ahead to 2014 as the time when,
possibly, we see Loui Eriksson BACK 100%
after the concussion he sustained in a game
versus the lowly (and lowlife) Buffalooooow Sabres.
We can be optimists and look to 2014 for the return
of another concussion victim - Marc Savard.
What a phenomenal powerhouse attack
the Boston Bruins would have in 2014
if both of these guys returned
and the core stays intact as well...!
Fear The Bear - Fear The Beards -
there's a concept, here!
In related BEAR growls,
we can all look forward to 2014
for either the terminal suspension
of one John Scott, neanderthal-on-ice;
or his annihilation, on ice...
It's one or the other, NHL -
*you* decide...
...
August 16, 2013
Dream On - Of Making-Up For A Huge Gaffe...
Glen Wesley is still dreaming he had not missed the golden opportunity to end that first duel, a game that went to sudden death overtime, in the very opening of the Stanley Cup Finals of 1990 against the wretched Edmonton Oilers - for it would have set the tone to that series, likely propel the league-leading Bruins to the championship and sent the right message to the Oilers: that their era was over (and it indeed was soon enough: the moment they made a certain blockbuster trade whose 25th anniversary just rang across NHLdom - but not here: not on BD...)
It would have also revealed to all so-called experts that these Boston Bruins of 1990, who'd finished first overall in the standings and had added veteran stalwarts such as Dave Poulin, Brian Propp and Dave Christian to their potent line-up led by Bourque and Neely, were no longer the upstart Bruins that surprised themselves by reaching the Finals in 1988, when their previous match-up with the ageing Oilers had taken place... They were legitimate contenders that actually peaked in 1993, the year of their worst playoff performance in years, due to terrible, woeful bad luck really: three losses in overtime in four games. Glen Wesley was a part of that team, too...
Larry Bird is still dreaming of that shot he rushed to take in the final seconds of a crucial game in the NBA Finals against hated rival Lakers - as he thought them to be about to rush him, too. They weren't - all they wanted was to test out the famous Boston Garden Mystique of those years: the parquet had all the credit as the Boston Celtics found a way to mystify opponent after opponent, most often the Los Angeles Lakers themselves. But this time, the Celtics would not pull off a miracle: he missed the shot and the Celtics lost that game, a precious game on their own parquet. They would lose a series to the Lakers for the first time ever next. Larry Bird was quoted afterwards that they (the Celts) felt that they ''should have won all three games there'' (in those good old days, the series' format was 2 at the top seed's place, 3 at the other city and then, if necessary, and it sure was, the last 2 games of the series at the first place again. With the series being led by the Lakers 3-2 going back to L.A. after that improbable steal in game 5 -after the Celtics winning games 3 and 4 handily, of course- the series seemed to be decided already - and, alas, it was. Earvin ''so-called Magic'' (Black Magic?) Johnson got his NBA title before he got tested HIV positive and it was *he* who was chosen to pose with Wayne Gretzky on the cover of Sports Illustrated - instead of Larry Bird.
Bill Buckner - of course - is still dreaming of having caught that ball that went by him in the most awkward of ways - between his legs - during the most crucial game of the 1986 World Series opposing the Boston Red Sox to the New York Mets. Gary Carter, a Montreal Expos transfuge that somehow realized all of his own dreams in New York (like Babe Ruth did, perhaps - and at a terrible price, too. However, unlike Ruth, Carter's destiny would have likely been the same had he remained in MTL or gone anywhere else for that matter) wrote a book about this ''feat'' - which truly is winning a World Series through sheer luck, basically. The Red Sox had it all under control: they had taken the first two games, Roger Clemens was even available to pitch in a relief role; utility players such as Spike Owen and Mike Greenwell were at their peak; and Wade Boggs was the best hitter in the majors, bar none other - yet he was left a weeping mess in the players' dugout after this botched-up play and subsequent inability on the part of the Sox' managerial braintrust to match simple cowboy histrionics displayed by the Mets' one-hit wonder coach... And so, Bill was the scapegoat for it all.
As were Glen and Larry in most people's eyes - well, especially Glen...
Now, this oncoming season, two players on the Bruins' roster will have a chance to make up for mistakes - similar and different all at once - and they should have a greater chance than the previous three examples (and countless others) ever got to redeem themselves indeed...
Tuukka Rask proved his status as an elite NHL goaltender throughout the 2012-2013 NHL season and the playoff run that followed - he was every bit as good as Tim Thomas had been when he held the job of number one goalie, both before and during 2011, and just a little unluckier than Tim was for the final two games of the playoff run. Indeed, if one compares the two playoff runs, that is the only difference - luck in the final stretch. Thomas could shut-out the Canucks in their own home to win it - Rask was poised to try and do exactly the same but was served two garbage goals instead to turn his victory into bitter defeat. Comparing that apparent meltdown to an actual meltdown (such as the one lived by rival and first-round opponent Reimer, the Toronto goalie, when he gave up three goals to drop the first-round series he could have stolen, against all odds...) is like comparing apples and oranges: for the quality of the goals is simply not the same at all. Reimer saw quality shots beat him, as Boston courageously fought back to take what was rightfully theirs. Rask, for his part, saw two second-rate has-beens bang in lucky shots out of the blue to steal what seemed to be in the bank for Boston - instead, it became a Chicago cup-clincher through the backdoor; but so was their first cup in decades, too, back in 2010, so... (Yeah, yeah - that's another story!)
Can Rask come back as strong as ever from this disappointing finish? Yes, he can! He already has - mentally. And with strong back-ups (Svedberg, Johnson and that rookie named Subban) coupled with all the improvements to the overall line-up, the Boston Bruins stand to be able to win virtually all of their games in 2013-2014...! Rask is a confident and competitive goalie by nature and his recent triumphs over Lundqvist and whoever-that-guy-is-between-the-Pitts-pipes (hey - whoever he is, he is a former Stanley Cup champ - right?!?) have made him one more thing too: hungry for more! Tuukka Rask loves it in Boston and wants to bring it another championship - and what Tuukka wants, Tuukka is capable of taking all by himself; but he's getting some help along the way for that end anyway...
The spotlight will be on Tuukka Rask even moreso than before - as, now, he is not merely the guy who aspired to replace a great goalie on a championship team: he is the new master, true and true!
Most of all though it is one Jarome Iginla who will be focused upon throughout the 2013-2014 season - which may be his last. Everyone will hope he ends it with a championship alongside heir apparent (and confirmed: the heir has even surpassed the sire already) Milan Lucic, all-around best player in the game Patrice Bergeron, heavily under-rated all-star David Krejci, new gun Loui Eriksson and the rest of the first-rate line-up of Boston Bruins assembled for the exercise.
Iginla made up for his mistake in part already - as he had used his right of refusal to avoid going to Boston via trade before the 2013 playoffs, preferring to join the Pittsburgh Penguins instead. He only saw the error of his ways when the Boston Bruins decimated, overwhelmed and completely dominated the Penguins in four straight games, nullifying in the process all the vaunted offence that Pittsburgh was supposed to have, especially with the added firepower of hired guns such as Iginla indeed... After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Jarome Iginla was quick to make up for his blunder of having chosen the losing side in that match-up, quickly accepting G.M. Peter Chiarelli's offer and signing up with the Boston Bruins who were in the midst of tweaking their line-up in what everyone agrees to be but a simple retooling of a true contender, fostered to bear expectations by some of the best minds in all of hockey. This same championship-caliber line-up that came so very close to repeat as champions two years after upsetting the heavily-favoured (but totally undeservingly so) Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Finals may have lost some components this off-season (namely Ference, Seguin, Horton, Khudobin and Jagr) but they more than aptly replaced them on the roster already.
Can Jarome deliver consistently all throughout the season in Boston - and then contribute in timely fashion during the playoff run for the cup, unlike what happened during his short time in the Pitt?
Can he be, for but one single season, a second coming of Cam Neely? Can Jarome prove to do better than namesake Jaromir? Can he be more like a Recchi than a Jagr, basically?
(One thing Jaromir Jagr sure wasn't, was a second Cam Neely - or even Mark Recchi...!)
With support from Bergeron, Krejci, Lucic, Marchand, Kelly, Soderberg, Eriksson and the Merlot line (!) - yes, Iginla sure can deliver all the goods and more! He stands to gel quick with this team and thrive in coach Claude Julien's system, much moreso than he could in that God-awful Pitt...!
And so Jarome can finally dream of seeing his name engraved upon that cup at long last - it was destiny that it would be with the team that he should have played for all along, all those years wasted up in the tundra of Alberta called Calgary, as they were...!
Jarome is a Bruin and, like so many before him - so many who didn't seem to fit there: Dave Christian, Brian Propp, Dave Poulin, Reed Larson, Al Iafrate, Adam Oates! - he looks better than ever with that Black & Gold of the Boston Bruins upon his shoulders!
A Cup for Boston - courtesy of Rask and Iginla - with a large, large supporting cast, of course!
This is exactly the way the 2014 season should end.
It would have also revealed to all so-called experts that these Boston Bruins of 1990, who'd finished first overall in the standings and had added veteran stalwarts such as Dave Poulin, Brian Propp and Dave Christian to their potent line-up led by Bourque and Neely, were no longer the upstart Bruins that surprised themselves by reaching the Finals in 1988, when their previous match-up with the ageing Oilers had taken place... They were legitimate contenders that actually peaked in 1993, the year of their worst playoff performance in years, due to terrible, woeful bad luck really: three losses in overtime in four games. Glen Wesley was a part of that team, too...
Larry Bird is still dreaming of that shot he rushed to take in the final seconds of a crucial game in the NBA Finals against hated rival Lakers - as he thought them to be about to rush him, too. They weren't - all they wanted was to test out the famous Boston Garden Mystique of those years: the parquet had all the credit as the Boston Celtics found a way to mystify opponent after opponent, most often the Los Angeles Lakers themselves. But this time, the Celtics would not pull off a miracle: he missed the shot and the Celtics lost that game, a precious game on their own parquet. They would lose a series to the Lakers for the first time ever next. Larry Bird was quoted afterwards that they (the Celts) felt that they ''should have won all three games there'' (in those good old days, the series' format was 2 at the top seed's place, 3 at the other city and then, if necessary, and it sure was, the last 2 games of the series at the first place again. With the series being led by the Lakers 3-2 going back to L.A. after that improbable steal in game 5 -after the Celtics winning games 3 and 4 handily, of course- the series seemed to be decided already - and, alas, it was. Earvin ''so-called Magic'' (Black Magic?) Johnson got his NBA title before he got tested HIV positive and it was *he* who was chosen to pose with Wayne Gretzky on the cover of Sports Illustrated - instead of Larry Bird.
Bill Buckner - of course - is still dreaming of having caught that ball that went by him in the most awkward of ways - between his legs - during the most crucial game of the 1986 World Series opposing the Boston Red Sox to the New York Mets. Gary Carter, a Montreal Expos transfuge that somehow realized all of his own dreams in New York (like Babe Ruth did, perhaps - and at a terrible price, too. However, unlike Ruth, Carter's destiny would have likely been the same had he remained in MTL or gone anywhere else for that matter) wrote a book about this ''feat'' - which truly is winning a World Series through sheer luck, basically. The Red Sox had it all under control: they had taken the first two games, Roger Clemens was even available to pitch in a relief role; utility players such as Spike Owen and Mike Greenwell were at their peak; and Wade Boggs was the best hitter in the majors, bar none other - yet he was left a weeping mess in the players' dugout after this botched-up play and subsequent inability on the part of the Sox' managerial braintrust to match simple cowboy histrionics displayed by the Mets' one-hit wonder coach... And so, Bill was the scapegoat for it all.
As were Glen and Larry in most people's eyes - well, especially Glen...
Now, this oncoming season, two players on the Bruins' roster will have a chance to make up for mistakes - similar and different all at once - and they should have a greater chance than the previous three examples (and countless others) ever got to redeem themselves indeed...
Tuukka Rask proved his status as an elite NHL goaltender throughout the 2012-2013 NHL season and the playoff run that followed - he was every bit as good as Tim Thomas had been when he held the job of number one goalie, both before and during 2011, and just a little unluckier than Tim was for the final two games of the playoff run. Indeed, if one compares the two playoff runs, that is the only difference - luck in the final stretch. Thomas could shut-out the Canucks in their own home to win it - Rask was poised to try and do exactly the same but was served two garbage goals instead to turn his victory into bitter defeat. Comparing that apparent meltdown to an actual meltdown (such as the one lived by rival and first-round opponent Reimer, the Toronto goalie, when he gave up three goals to drop the first-round series he could have stolen, against all odds...) is like comparing apples and oranges: for the quality of the goals is simply not the same at all. Reimer saw quality shots beat him, as Boston courageously fought back to take what was rightfully theirs. Rask, for his part, saw two second-rate has-beens bang in lucky shots out of the blue to steal what seemed to be in the bank for Boston - instead, it became a Chicago cup-clincher through the backdoor; but so was their first cup in decades, too, back in 2010, so... (Yeah, yeah - that's another story!)
Can Rask come back as strong as ever from this disappointing finish? Yes, he can! He already has - mentally. And with strong back-ups (Svedberg, Johnson and that rookie named Subban) coupled with all the improvements to the overall line-up, the Boston Bruins stand to be able to win virtually all of their games in 2013-2014...! Rask is a confident and competitive goalie by nature and his recent triumphs over Lundqvist and whoever-that-guy-is-between-the-Pitts-pipes (hey - whoever he is, he is a former Stanley Cup champ - right?!?) have made him one more thing too: hungry for more! Tuukka Rask loves it in Boston and wants to bring it another championship - and what Tuukka wants, Tuukka is capable of taking all by himself; but he's getting some help along the way for that end anyway...
The spotlight will be on Tuukka Rask even moreso than before - as, now, he is not merely the guy who aspired to replace a great goalie on a championship team: he is the new master, true and true!
Most of all though it is one Jarome Iginla who will be focused upon throughout the 2013-2014 season - which may be his last. Everyone will hope he ends it with a championship alongside heir apparent (and confirmed: the heir has even surpassed the sire already) Milan Lucic, all-around best player in the game Patrice Bergeron, heavily under-rated all-star David Krejci, new gun Loui Eriksson and the rest of the first-rate line-up of Boston Bruins assembled for the exercise.
Iginla made up for his mistake in part already - as he had used his right of refusal to avoid going to Boston via trade before the 2013 playoffs, preferring to join the Pittsburgh Penguins instead. He only saw the error of his ways when the Boston Bruins decimated, overwhelmed and completely dominated the Penguins in four straight games, nullifying in the process all the vaunted offence that Pittsburgh was supposed to have, especially with the added firepower of hired guns such as Iginla indeed... After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Jarome Iginla was quick to make up for his blunder of having chosen the losing side in that match-up, quickly accepting G.M. Peter Chiarelli's offer and signing up with the Boston Bruins who were in the midst of tweaking their line-up in what everyone agrees to be but a simple retooling of a true contender, fostered to bear expectations by some of the best minds in all of hockey. This same championship-caliber line-up that came so very close to repeat as champions two years after upsetting the heavily-favoured (but totally undeservingly so) Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Finals may have lost some components this off-season (namely Ference, Seguin, Horton, Khudobin and Jagr) but they more than aptly replaced them on the roster already.
Can Jarome deliver consistently all throughout the season in Boston - and then contribute in timely fashion during the playoff run for the cup, unlike what happened during his short time in the Pitt?
Can he be, for but one single season, a second coming of Cam Neely? Can Jarome prove to do better than namesake Jaromir? Can he be more like a Recchi than a Jagr, basically?
(One thing Jaromir Jagr sure wasn't, was a second Cam Neely - or even Mark Recchi...!)
With support from Bergeron, Krejci, Lucic, Marchand, Kelly, Soderberg, Eriksson and the Merlot line (!) - yes, Iginla sure can deliver all the goods and more! He stands to gel quick with this team and thrive in coach Claude Julien's system, much moreso than he could in that God-awful Pitt...!
And so Jarome can finally dream of seeing his name engraved upon that cup at long last - it was destiny that it would be with the team that he should have played for all along, all those years wasted up in the tundra of Alberta called Calgary, as they were...!
Jarome is a Bruin and, like so many before him - so many who didn't seem to fit there: Dave Christian, Brian Propp, Dave Poulin, Reed Larson, Al Iafrate, Adam Oates! - he looks better than ever with that Black & Gold of the Boston Bruins upon his shoulders!
A Cup for Boston - courtesy of Rask and Iginla - with a large, large supporting cast, of course!
This is exactly the way the 2014 season should end.
+++
August 15, 2013
Bad Dreams Must Have An End, Too
Whitey is found guilty - after all those years...
One can imagine what was going through the mind of the former gangster as the verdict was rendered by a jury of his peers (!) the other day? What could have possibly flashed before his eyes as he must have been reliving all those atrocities committed years ago, a lifetime ago... A lifetime passed making all the wrong moves he finally stood accused of; followed by years of trying to avoid having to be accountable for any of it. But it all finally caught with Whitey in 2011, when he was apprehended at last...
After many years spent eluding justice (or the reasonable fac-simile of it that our laws can provide) it all finally caught with Whitey as he was ferreted out and captured in Santa Monica, California - a loooong way from his ''Bah-sss-ton'' backyard, but then again not far away enough, now was it?
Originally, our man Whitey (one of the ten most wanted by the FBI - for being such a backstabbing informant, more than anything else, actually) stood accused and charged with 19 counts of murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, and multiple conspiracy counts. Whitey (can't get enough of that name) was so very good at what he did that he managed to moonlight as an FBI informant, too, indeed: his prowess partially inspired the plot of the neo-classic film ''The Departed'' and, more particularly, the character portrayed by Jack Nicholson in said film. In short, Bulger allegedly masterminded a criminal "protection" racket while working as an informant for the FBI, and was able to flee federal charges based on a tip from a bureau insider. (We fear that said insider may get to be played by one Marky Mark W. - as he was (SPOILERS ALERT - SPOILERS ALERT) the lone survivor, pretty much, of the entire cast of ''The aptly-christened Departed'' there; one of Scorcese's finest, I'm telling you...! But that is another story - for another blog in our network!)
For close to forty years afterwards, after serving mostly his own goals but also the FBI's, Whitey took off and was never to be found again - or so he hoped. It was quite the dark spot on an otherwise impeccable record for Boston's Finest overall (well, with the glaring exception of that Strangler guy, of course...) to have had a name on the top ten most wanted by the FBI list for so long and narrow any hope of ever finding him - ever! But someone ratted on Whitey and gave him away (surely in exchange of a handsome reward - far moreso than he ever was!) and so, finally, in 2011, he was caught, handcuffed, thrown into the judicial system and the rest is history now...
And now that the BAD DREAM has ended - the recurring nightmare can begin all in earnest, as no less than three movie adaptations of Whitey's life and wayward ways are said to be in the works! Directors Peter Facinelli, Barry Levinson and... Ben Affleck (of course) have been said to be working on these projects - with the first two basing themselves upon previously well-written and thoroughly-documented books on Whitey's life and times: Edward McKenzie Jr's ''Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob'' and Dick Lehr and Gerald O'Neal's even more imposing ''Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob,''
That latter project is rumored to have lured the ever-versatile Johnny Depp himself to take on the lead role of Whitey here - and one can only imagine what Benny-EdwardScissorhands-WillyWonka-Tonto-JackSparrow-EdWood-BarnabasCollinsOfThe21stCentury there will do with this part now...!
But that whole ''Black Mass'' mess... er... messy thing is for another blog altogether...!
Affleck, a true and true Boston boy as we know, thought he had first crack at this project: he hoped all others would back off, but they simply wouldn't, of course. As usual, Hollywood has to propose a minimum of two similar projects at any given time - this time, it's even three. Ben has his buddy and fellow Boston-born thespian Matt Damon tapped to portray our man Whitey here - and one has to admit the resemblance is even greater between those two...!
One can imagine what was going through the mind of the former gangster as the verdict was rendered by a jury of his peers (!) the other day? What could have possibly flashed before his eyes as he must have been reliving all those atrocities committed years ago, a lifetime ago... A lifetime passed making all the wrong moves he finally stood accused of; followed by years of trying to avoid having to be accountable for any of it. But it all finally caught with Whitey in 2011, when he was apprehended at last...
James ''Whitey'' Bulger
found guilty of various gangland crimes,
including 11 slayings...
After many years spent eluding justice (or the reasonable fac-simile of it that our laws can provide) it all finally caught with Whitey as he was ferreted out and captured in Santa Monica, California - a loooong way from his ''Bah-sss-ton'' backyard, but then again not far away enough, now was it?
Originally, our man Whitey (one of the ten most wanted by the FBI - for being such a backstabbing informant, more than anything else, actually) stood accused and charged with 19 counts of murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, and multiple conspiracy counts. Whitey (can't get enough of that name) was so very good at what he did that he managed to moonlight as an FBI informant, too, indeed: his prowess partially inspired the plot of the neo-classic film ''The Departed'' and, more particularly, the character portrayed by Jack Nicholson in said film. In short, Bulger allegedly masterminded a criminal "protection" racket while working as an informant for the FBI, and was able to flee federal charges based on a tip from a bureau insider. (We fear that said insider may get to be played by one Marky Mark W. - as he was (SPOILERS ALERT - SPOILERS ALERT) the lone survivor, pretty much, of the entire cast of ''The aptly-christened Departed'' there; one of Scorcese's finest, I'm telling you...! But that is another story - for another blog in our network!)
For close to forty years afterwards, after serving mostly his own goals but also the FBI's, Whitey took off and was never to be found again - or so he hoped. It was quite the dark spot on an otherwise impeccable record for Boston's Finest overall (well, with the glaring exception of that Strangler guy, of course...) to have had a name on the top ten most wanted by the FBI list for so long and narrow any hope of ever finding him - ever! But someone ratted on Whitey and gave him away (surely in exchange of a handsome reward - far moreso than he ever was!) and so, finally, in 2011, he was caught, handcuffed, thrown into the judicial system and the rest is history now...
Whitey looks great in orange, we must say...
Credits: BostInno
And now that the BAD DREAM has ended - the recurring nightmare can begin all in earnest, as no less than three movie adaptations of Whitey's life and wayward ways are said to be in the works! Directors Peter Facinelli, Barry Levinson and... Ben Affleck (of course) have been said to be working on these projects - with the first two basing themselves upon previously well-written and thoroughly-documented books on Whitey's life and times: Edward McKenzie Jr's ''Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob'' and Dick Lehr and Gerald O'Neal's even more imposing ''Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob,''
That latter project is rumored to have lured the ever-versatile Johnny Depp himself to take on the lead role of Whitey here - and one can only imagine what Benny-EdwardScissorhands-WillyWonka-Tonto-JackSparrow-EdWood-BarnabasCollinsOfThe21stCentury there will do with this part now...!
One has to admit that there is a resemblance there...!
Vague - but it is there!
Credits: zap2it
But that whole ''Black Mass'' mess... er... messy thing is for another blog altogether...!
Affleck, a true and true Boston boy as we know, thought he had first crack at this project: he hoped all others would back off, but they simply wouldn't, of course. As usual, Hollywood has to propose a minimum of two similar projects at any given time - this time, it's even three. Ben has his buddy and fellow Boston-born thespian Matt Damon tapped to portray our man Whitey here - and one has to admit the resemblance is even greater between those two...!
Affleck cannot play the part himself, that's for damn sure:
he's Bat-Devil. er, Dare-Man now?
Blind-As-A-Bat-Daredevil-Man!
There you go!
But that's another story - again.
Somehow, though, the project is not being all that well-received in Boston - it is, in truth, even worse than hearing that Affleck will be back into super-heroics soon. Reports have this one on Whitey getting mixed reactions in Beantown these days. And indeed - why wouldn't the TBBs (the Tinseltown Boston Boys) rather make a movie about the exploits of one... Eddie Shore instead? Or Yaz? Or Bill Russell? (Okay - neither Ben nor Matt can handle that last one; but either one could, realistically, impersonate Red Auerbach -especially Matt- maybe?)
But that's another story too - I know!
Let's part with Whitey now, as he heads into solitary (we hope - for his sake; but then again, he is not worthy; he is Whitey!) and review one last time, through a series of old pictures, the evolution (we love the evolution theory - you know it!) of a notorious criminal... from BOSTON!
(All pictures courtesy of the Associated Press - and a quick Google Images search, too!)
One tough cookie, our Whitey -
he was in Alcatraz, see?
He started on a life of crime very early on,
Whitey... Proof that, in Boston,
we have it good as we have it bad;
just like everywhere else!
Whitey's most popular pic:
he's a regular Clyde Barlow clone here.
Flash-forward a few years now:
what ravages a few years
(some of them spent in jail, sure...)
can do to a guy...!
The FBI really had no clue what Whitey looked like
after that last serene pose there (in the 70s,
I dare presume?)
Eventually, though, someone ratted on this rat
and Whitey turned up as we know -
looking like a depraved version
of Santa Claus...
Quite frankly, neither Matt nor Johnny look the part:
the real Whitey is indeed JACK!
No doubt!
But we neither care nor should we bother, really,
as we are most definitely not waiting with baited breath
for any movie on Whitey's life!
May he simply not show up in our bad dreams now...
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