Hooked on a feeling

Monday night was in the top 5 best nights of my life. It took 2 postponements, almost a month and 3 overtime periods, but BU finally won its 30th Beanpot. Finally. A Boston tournament, previously referred to as the BU invitational, finally saw a BU victory again for the first time in 6 years. The Class of 2013 was the first class at BU since the Class of 1965 to not see a Beanpot win in their four years. The Class of 2014, my class, was the second.

But the streak has broken. And will never exist again. We had to watch as Wade Megan and Garrett Noonan fought back tears in their post-game press conferences after failing to win a Beanpot in their four years at BU. Evan Rodriguez and Cason Hohmann will never have to know that feeling. No other future BU class will have to know that feeling.

I knew Northeastern was not going to be easy. After not seeing their first win until the 10th game of the season, Northeastern has been climbing in the ranks and the wins column over the past couple of months. As much as I wanted to see our first win in years be against BC, I was still elated when Northeastern beat them in the first round and destroyed their 6-game winning streak. We can save the BC defeat for next year.

We scored early. Which made me nervous. Northeastern scored immediately after. Which was expected. This isn’t a team that takes a solid lead and holds on to it. Almost all of our wins have been come from behind and blowing leads has become our forte. I would much rather be tied or down a goal going into the third. That was our time. But not Monday night.

The most nervous I was all night was during the second intermission with BU up 3-1 going into the third. We don’t do that. We need to have something to fight for in the third. We don’t do the whole hang on until the end thing. I had a terrible feeling that Northeastern was going to win.

And then what we knew was going to happen did. Northeastern scored two quick goals at about the 10 minute mark to tie the game up at 3.

And all of a sudden, the nerves were gone. I can’t explain it, but I knew. This wasn’t a team that was going to lose the Beanpot again. Overtime came. As we all knew it would. And everything seemed okay.

Despite the horror stories I could tell you about overtime at TD Garden, I was okay. The first round against Harvard I was a horrible wreck with head in hands trying to stop from shaking through two grueling overtime intermissions. But Monday night I was alright.

The rest is history. Northeastern took a penalty in the first minute (one that is of course disputed, but clearly a penalty) and Matt Grzelcyk put one past Clay Witt only seconds later. You couldn’t have written a better ending. Bruins draft pick scores at the Garden in front of his dad and current Bruins employee to win the Beanpot in probably his last one at BU. And it was perfection.

The next fifteen minutes is a blur of screaming and laughing and tearing up and smiling and saying, “we finally did it” over and over again.

 

And then we got to walk down those god-awful TD Garden concrete stairs with smiles on our faces. A feeling I had never known.

The rest of the night only got better as we met up with the team. Got to congratulate them in person and have some fun with the Pot in a way only 6 years of waiting can allow.

 

And then the Sportscenter highlights of the game came on and I got to witness Matt Grzelcyk chug from the Pot in front of a giant screen showing his OT winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And everything was right in the world.

 

 

One Year Stronger

Sports are a funny thing. They bring people together in inexplicable ways. As a New Yorker living in Boston I can attest to the immediate friendship formed, if even just for a few seconds, when I pass a fellow NY Giants or Syracuse Orange fan. Or the head nod and smile when someone notices I’m wearing the same Bruins shirt as them in the Charlotte airport. Sports turn complete strangers into your best friends.

Sports bring people together, especially in a city as passionate about their teams as Boston. But on April 15, 2013 the Tsarnaev brothers tried to use Boston’s most historic sporting event to tear the city apart.

But these young men failed to realize just how strong Boston was. They chose to attack a city that cannot be torn apart. Weakened? Yes. Wounded? Yes. Afraid, confused, angry and sad? Absolutely. But strong enough to overcome this together.

They chose the wrong event, the wrong day and the wrong city to mess with. It’s pretty hard to break the spirit of thousands of people who have just run 26.2 miles. It’s pretty hard to come into our city on our Patriot’s Day and get away with attacking our people. Our runners, fans, residents, law enforcement officials. Our hard workers from Medford. Our grad students from China. Our 8-year-old children. Our campus police officers. No. We will shut down the entire city until we hunt you down.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since that scary, confusing, devastating, sleepless week. A year of healing and growing and becoming stronger than ever. There’s still a long way to go for the many people affected by the attack and its aftermath, but every year from here on out we will remember that day and become just a little but stronger. We will watch the clock change to 2:49 P.M. on April 15th and we’ll remember that moment that changed the best sporting event in Boston forever.

Sports will continue to bring the people of this city together. Thousands of people will continue to take to the streets of Boston the third Monday of April to celebrate a resiliency that few can fathom. A resiliency that pushed you through 26.2 miles. A resiliency that leads you to run towards an explosion to save those who may be hurt. A resiliency that keeps you going after losing one or both of your legs. We will keep getting stronger. And the city of Boston will keep on running.

If the Playoffs started tonight, how would the Bruins fare?

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are less than three weeks away, but what if they were to start tonight? The first round would be Boston vs. Detroit, Montreal vs. Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh vs. Columbus, and NY Rangers vs. Philadelphia. So how would the Bruins fare if they started a 7-game series with the Red Wings tonight? Would they be hoisting the Stanley Cup in two months after missing it by just 17 seconds last season? Would they even make it past the first round? Will the first round go to overtime of Game 7? Probably. That just seems to be the Bruins way.

The Bruins have been known to struggle through Round 1 of the Playoffs, especially against the Maple Leafs. The Leafs forced a Game 7 in last year’s first round first round series after the Bruins went up 3-1 in the series. The Bruins went down 4-1 with ten minutes left in the third period, but ended up winning the game and the series in overtime in a game that has been dubbed the “Miracle on Causeway Street.”

Right now, the Bruins are set to face the Red Wings to whom they have lost two of three games so far this season. The Red Wings haven’t had the best season so far though and are just barely sneaking into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. If the Toronto Maple Leafs can break their six-game losing streak, Detroit will have a difficult time holding off the Leafs for that remaining Wild Card spot. The Bruins travel to Detroit for the last time this season on April 2^nd followed by a trip to Toronto the very next day. One of these games will likely be a preview of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins have won two of their three matchups with the Leafs this season, including a 5-2 win on December 8^th. This victory came with Chad Johnson in net, Shawn Thornton out on a 15-game suspension for an illegal hit on Brooks Orpik, and Loui Eriksson, Chris Kelly, Adam McQuaid, Johnny Boychuk and Dougie Hamilton all out with injuries. This was just the beginning of a long couple of injury-filled months for the Bruins, but the B’s managed to pull out necessary wins even with a lineup cycling through Providence call-ups and a very young defensive core. Staying out of the penalty box has been the key to beating Toronto during the regular season. The B’s had two power-play goals in each of their two victories and the Leafs had a pair of their own in the Bruins 4-3 loss. The Bruins need to find a way to beat Toronto in the Playoffs though.

It isn’t only the Maple Leafs who have given the Bruins some first round challenges though. The first round has been decided by an overtime goal in Game 7 three years in a row. The seventh-seeded Washington Capitals knocked the second-seeded Bruins out of the Playoffs in overtime of Game 7 in 2012. In 2011 before winning the Stanley Cup, the third-seeded Bruins were almost sent home early by the Montreal Canadiens before Nathan Horton scored the game- and series-winning goal in overtime of Game 7. The first round never comes easy for the Black and Gold.

This year, the second round may prove to be just as challenging for the Bruins. Boston fans will be ferociously rooting for the Lightning or whoever finds themselves face-to-face with the Canadiens in the first round. If the Playoffs started tonight, it would be Montreal vs. Tampa Bay. The Lightning are 2-1 against the Canadiens so far this season and have won five of their last seven games. That being said, the Canadiens have had the better season and thrive in do-or-die situations. The Lightning, on the other hand, haven’t made the Playoffs since the Bruins knocked them out in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals on their way to the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup. This was the same series that saw Tyler Seguin’s breakout performance where he tallied three goals and three assists in his first two postseason games in the NHL. Vezina Tropy winner Tim Thomas was in goal for the Bruins and carried them to a 1-0 win in Game 7. A lot has changed since then, but the Bruins won all four games against the Lightning this regular season.

Boston’s biggest threat in the second round would be a meeting with their fierce rivals from Montreal. The Bruins have notoriously struggled against the Canadiens, in the Playoffs and otherwise. The Habs took the regular season series with the Bruins 3-1. The Canadiens embarrassed the Bruins and Tuukka Rask with a 4-1 victory at TD Garden in January. The Bruins were coming off a four-game winning streak; the Canadiens had a four-game losing streak. Rask was pulled after the third goal in favor of Johnson who let up the fourth goal just two minutes into his appearance in the game. The Bruins bounced back in the third game of the series though with a 4-1 win. Rask proved himself early with two huge stops on two early breakaways by the Habs in the first period. He would go on to make 35 saves and help the Bruins to a six-game winning streak.

On Monday night, Montreal proved once again that they thrive in do-or-die situations. The Canadiens are fighting for every point to ensure a playoff berth and stifled the Bruins 12-game winning streak with a 2-1 shootout win. The Bruins played an incredible game though with 29 shots on goal against an impenetrable Peter Budaj. The story may have been different with another 20-minute overtime period.

This would be, by far, the most difficult series for the Bruins. However, if they could come away with four wins against the Canadiens, who have won six of the last seven meetings between the two, the Cup would be theirs for the taking.

The Eastern Conference Finals would likely be a faceoff against the Pittsburgh Penguins or New York Rangers. The Rangers, with Henrik Lundqvist in goal, have been dominant as of late. Lundqvist is on a five-game winning streak and was honored Monday night for breaking the Rangers all-time win record with 305 career wins. Right now, they would be facing the Flyers in the first round, who they decisively beat 3-1 last night with 31 saves by Lundqvist. Pittsburgh shouldn’t have a problem with Columbus, who they swept in the regular season.

If Pittsburgh and the Rangers do face off in the second round, it would be a very close series. They have each have one regulation win and one shootout win in their four-game regular season series. The Penguins have two players in the top ten point-scorers in the League with Sidney Crosby in first and Evgeni Malkin tied for sixth. Pittsburgh’s League-leading offense would have the best chance of getting the puck past King Lundqvist. However, Marc-Andre Fleury has lost his last five games.

The Bruins saw both teams in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and breezed by both. The Bruins skipped over the Rangers in just five games in the second round, scoring 14 goals against Lundqvist in just five games to give him a mediocre 2.80 Goals Against Average in the series. The B’s only loss came in a Game 4 overtime decision that almost gave the Bruins the sweep.

Pittsburgh put up even less of a fight. The first-seeded Penguins were swept by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals and were outscored 12-2. The Bruins have yet to face Fleury in the postseason though. He was replaced with Tomas Vokoun in the first round of the 2013 Playoffs after losing two games to the New York Islanders, giving up six goals in Game 4. Vokoun played the rest of the Playoffs, but has yet to play this season after a pelvic blood clot in September benched him. Head coach Dan Blysma has stated that even if Vokoun were to return before the end of the season, Fleury and Jeff Zatkoff will be between the pipes for the Penguins come the postseason. Zatkoff has gone 12-4-1 his first season in the NHL, but has no postseason experience.

The Bruins have won two of three in the regular season series against Pittsburgh and Fleury, including a last second thriller on November 25^th. Crosby tied the game 3-3 with just .3 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, but Torey Krug responded just 34 seconds into overtime to give the Bruins the win. Pittsburgh is another team that the Bruins need to be mindful of giving up penalties to. The Pens have scored three power-play goals in their three meetings this season.

If the Penguins, who have lost five of their last seven games, do fall to the Rangers, the Bruins will be facing a team and a star goalie that they have swept in the regular season. The first win for the B’s against the Rangers this season came on Rasks second game in two nights. He made 43 saves, giving up only one goal. Zdeno Chara brought a natural hat trick to the second win, including the game-winning goal. The third win, a 6-3 decision, forced Rask to make 19 saves in a first period where the Bruins were outshot 20-9. The Bruins definitely know how to beat either of these teams. And they probably wouldn’t need seven games to do it.

Should the Bruins make a repeat appearance to the Stanley Cup Finals, they would most likely be facing the St. Louis Blues, Anaheim Ducks or Chicago Blackhawks. While the San Jose Sharks lead the Pacific Division, they choke every postseason. This team has been Division Champions six times in ten years from 2002 to 2012, but has never won a Stanley Cup or Conference Championship. In the last two seasons, they were knocked out in the first two rounds. They made it to the conference finals in both 2010 and 2011, but lost to Chicago and Vancouver respectively.

The Bruins have never faced St. Louis or Anaheim in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They took two points from the Blues this regular season in two games with a shootout and overtime loss. The B’s split the regular season series with the Ducks, winning at TD Garden and losing in Anaheim. With the way the Bruins are playing as of late and with all of their players healthy, they are more than capable of beating either of these teams, especially with home ice advantage.

A repeat Stanley Cup Final matchup has only happened once in the past century. The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins faced off in both 2008 and 2009 with the Red Wings taking the first win and the Penguins hoisting the Cup a year later. There’s a good possibility that history could repeat itself this season. If the Bruins meet the Blackhawks in the Finals this year, Patrice Bergeron and the rest of the Black and Gold will be out for blood.

Chicago ripped the Cup out of the Bruins hands in 17 seconds that still haunt the city of Boston. The B’s went up 2-1 in the series, fought through three overtimes, played their star forward with a cracked rib, punctured lung and separated shoulder, and came within 1:16 of forcing a Game 7. However, Bryan Bickell scored with just 1:16 left in Game 6 with the goalie pulled. It looked like another grueling overtime, but the Blackhawks had a different plan. The Bruins defense never recovered from the tying goal and just 17 seconds later Dave Bolland ripped the puck past Rask to suck the life and all hope of hoisting the Cup out of the Bruins.

That’s all in the past though. The Bruins won in shootouts in Chicago earlier this season and face the Blackhawks at TD Garden tonight for the first time since those devastating 17 seconds. Now the Bruins are a different team. Rask has more experience under his belt, Patrice Bergeron is healthy, and Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg and Eriksson have added more scoring depth to the B’s offense.

If the Playoffs started tonight, the Bruins could be hoisting the Cup by the end of May. But there are three months, 16 wins and two very good Canadian teams that stand between the Bruins and the ultimate redemption.

Filling the 6’9″ gap: Three holes left by Chara’s absence

The 22nd Winter Olympics kick off in Sochi, Russia on Thursday which means hockey fans across North America are preparing for an extended break from NHL action as the 12-team Olympic hockey tournament begins on February 12. The Bruins will send five players to Russia including Patrice Bergeron (Canada), Loui Eriksson (Sweden), David Krejci (Czech Republic) and goalie Tuukka Rask (Finland).

Most notably, however, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara received the great honor of carrying the flag for Team Slovakia at the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday. While the entire Bruins organization is very proud and supportive, this means that the B’s will be down yet another defensemen for the last two games going into the Olympic break.

Chara has obviously played a huge role in the Bruins success this season, tallying 13 goals and 26 points and being a dominant force on the blue line. The last time Chara missed a game was on December 28 when the Bruins fell to the Ottawa Senators 4-3. His absence will leave several gaps in the Bruins game that they will need to fill to get to the Olympic break on a positive note.

1. The Captain of Game Minutes

Big Z is a huge presence during games both on and off the ice. He averages just under 25 minutes a game and leads the team as a vocal and supportive captain. Every member of the black and gold will be putting up greater numbers of on-ice time over the next two games against the St. Louis Blues and the Ottawa Senators. The Blues will prove to be the tougher challenge being  5 points above the Bruins and among the leaders in the Western Conference.

Bergeron, the alternate captain, should have no problem filling Chara’s giant skates and pushing his teammates to continually give 100 percent. The center put up 12 points last month, his most of the season, and played a pivotal role in the Bruins second line that dominated the month of January.

2. Power Play Presence

Aside from leading the team in time on the ice, Chara strives on the power play, making his presence known in front of the net and creating  opportunities. Over half of his goals have come on the power play, leaving a pretty big hole for Claude Julien and the Bruins to fill.

In light of this, Boston has once again called up David Warsofsky from Providence. He played four games for the Bruins back in December where he tallied a goal against the Senators and proved to be a real threat on the power play. The Bruins scored four power-play goals during Warsofsky’s four games.

The former Boston University Terrier will be playing on the first power play line in Chara’s absence with Krejci, Torey Krug, Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla. The second power play line will remain Bergeron, Eriksson, Dougie Hamilton, Reilly Smith and Carl Soderberg.

3. The Age Gap

With Chara gone, the loss of veteran defensemen continues for the Bruins. Dennis Seidenberg has been out of the lineup since December 27 following a torn MCL and ACL. Adam McQuaid is also missing from the roster after suffering a leg injury on January 19. McQuaid’s return for these next two games was questionable until this week when Julien announced that it would be best for the team and McQuaid if he were to continue resting and recovering through the Olympic break. He has still yet to return to the ice and Julien feels confident that his young defensemen can pick up the slack in his absence.

This leaves Joynny Boychuk as the only veteran defensemen still in the lineup. The 30-year-old is seven years older than the average age of his fellow teammates on the blue line. The Bruins will need to see solid performances out of young defensemen Hamilton (20 years old), Krug (22), Kevan Miller (26), Matt Bartkowski (25) and Warsofsky (23) in order to avoid another mini-collapse like they suffered in December after a string of defensive injuries. While Warsofsky put up good numbers, the B’s still lost five of eight games following Seidenberg’s injury which capped off a month of tough defensive injuries.

 

The Bruins have been playing solid hockey all season and will head into the Olympic break atop the Atlantic Division, but that does not negate the importance of the next two games. There’s a big difference heading into a three-week hiatus after losing two games rather than winning two games, especially with the Lightning, Canadiens and Maple Leafs all within ten points of first in the Atlantic. With good leadership, relentless power-play shifts and strong performances out of the younger defensemen, the Bruins can go into the Olympic break with four more points on the board.

21st birthday with the Bruins and Tyler Seguin

So Tuesday was my 21st birthday. How did this happen? Pretty soon I’m going to be graduating from college and getting a real job (hopefully) and being a real person. How is this possible?

Sorry, I’ll spare you my quarter life crisis.

I ended up having a very tame 21st birthday. I had class at 8am that I had to go to and I just really needed to take it easy after the past couple of weeks. But it was still perfect in every way and I got to spend it with some awesome people. (And you better believe the party will continue on to this weekend because having a 21st on a Monday night should be illegal.)

My mom came into the city Monday night for the week to hang out, come to some hockey games with me and help out my aunt who had surgery.

The last time seeing her “baby” as an under 21 year old. She bought me 21 scratch off tickets for my birthday and I won $18, which is honestly 18 more than I expected, but I was kind of hoping for $21 because that has to be some kind of good luck!

At midnight a couple of friends and I went to Sunset Cantina for tequila shots, margaritas and of course nachos!

What more could you need?

My actual birthday was a little rough because of sleep deprivation and 6 hours straight of class starting at 8am, but I made it through. Going home to birthday cards waiting in the mail and singing voicemails in your inbox makes everything better as well!

After a very short nap, it was Bruins time!

Can I rant for a minute? Is it too late to pull the whole it’s my birthday thing? I don’t care, I’m ranting.

So I like hockey. Really really like hockey. And I know hockey really well. NHL…college…I know hockey. And being a girl who is as obsessed with hockey as I am can be annoying at times because condescending males seem to think you won’t know what you’re talking about. I know my stuff.

But.

I am allowed to have one purely estrogen-fueled favorite player. And that would be Mr. Tyler Seguin.

It didn’t start out that way. When he first came to Boston and exploded in the Stanley Cup Finals everyone was completely behind him and caught up in the excitement, myself included. But then he started to not deliver quite so much in the last year and I couldn’t not still love him. He’s gorgeous. There, I said it.

My first ever Bruins shirt was a Thomas shirt during the 2011 Stanley Cup run. We all know how that ended.

My second Bruins shirt was Seguin. And unfortunately we all know how that ended too.

July 4th, 2013 was a sad day indeed. We made it past the initial trades and I thought we were all in the clear. I was yelling at my friends who were just counting down the days until Seguin was out the door. But they were right. I was sitting on the Esplanade with my friends ready to celebrate one of the greatest days in Boston when I checked my twitter and saw the heart-wrenching news. I was devastated. (And vowed right then and there that I would never buy another Bruins shirt ever again. Good thing my jersey is Bergeron and we’re good there.)

So anyway, that was a longer rant than it needed to be, but case in point: I love Tyler Seguin. He’s a beautiful human being and I miss seeing him in black and gold.

So when I found out that he was making his return to the Garden in a Stars uniform on my birthday, I knew it was fate!

Our tickets were way up in the balcony, but my best friend recently broke her ankle so two of us got to hang out in the accessibility seating area and we were so close! Allowing my Seguin fan-girling to happen so much easier!

 

And I have to say…seeing my two favorite players in the opening faceoff was the best birthday present in the world.

I don’t even remember who won it, I was just so happy!

All in all, it was a pretty great game to see. I’m so glad I got to see both a Krug and Lucic goal. And yes, I was still definitely rooting for the Bruins! But this sign sums things up pretty well:

I love my Bruins but I’m here for Seguin.

Also, Mike Napoli was in the box almost right behind our seats. No big deal.

Overall it was a great night. I got to have my first legal Sam Adams at the Garden! (Well, kind of since you’re supposed to be 25 if you have an out-of-state license, but my mother bought it for me.)

AND I actually liked it! And not even just a “yeah, it’s good….for beer.” It was actually pretty good! I can’t become a beer-drinker though, then I’ll 100% just be one of the guys.

My best friend, Vic, and I in our upgraded seating. Woo!

I lent out my jerseys to Vic and my mom because I was wearing my Seguin shirt…obviously.

I’ve talked a lot about the experience as a whole rather than the game because it really didn’t matter what the score was to me at that point, I had a blast! (Unlike the last time I was in the Garden.)

Fun Fact: Every single game I have seen in the TD Garden, it has gone into overtime and my team has lost. That is a horribly depressing statistic. But hopefully that’ll all change with the Beanpot this year! And with the BU basketball home opener this Sunday.

So anyway….the game. I don’t know what the problem is but the Bruins need to wake up.

They actually played really well for the first part of the game, but then we all know where it went from there. I have to say, it was so close to being the perfect ending. After enduring the SEGUINNNNNN chants for the entire third period it was pretty nice to hear the silence after he scored. And then Peverly too?? Too perfect. If only we could’ve made some shots too. (I’m looking at you Iginla!)

 

The wind up.

And that’s a wrap.

Inevitable MBTA rant

Can I bitch about the MBTA here for a minute? I feel like it’s been awhile since I last went on an angry T rant so I’m about due. Also, I apologize for this basically just being a Boston Bruins blog as of late. If  you hadn’t noticed, hockey basically just takes over my life. And I’m also working 3 jobs this summer so I really haven’t had that much of a chance to go out and do fun stuff around Boston lately which is unfortunate, but c’est la vie.

So anywho.

I have found it increasingly more difficult to deal with subway shenanigans now that I have been to Europe for several months and seen how wonderfully efficient subway systems can work. Subway systems in cities that are literally thousands of years older than Boston. How is that possible? I’m actually pretty sure the Native Americans built the Green Line and it was just rediscovered in the late 1800s. It’s just ridiculous. If you have a transportation system that you can’t even track well enough to through ETA signs up then something is wrong! Or maybe they’re just bull-crapping us and saying that the Green Line can’t support those signs when actually they just don’t want us to be able to physically see how long we’re waiting.

And even so, 90% of the waiting I do for the MBTA takes place after I’m already on the train! I came across 2 disabled trains the other week in one trip. How is that possible?! We were stuck before Kenmore for 10 minutes because of a disabled train there and then we stopped again in front of Boylston (like half an hour later) and the conductor finally came on the PA system to say, “Sorry guys, but we’re actually stuck behind another disabled train.” Really?

And even on the lines that have ETA signs, it doesn’t mean much. I was waiting for the Blue Line yesterday and it was due to arrive in 3 minutes. 2 minutes. 1 minute. “The next train to Wonderland is now arriving.” And then….nothing. Nothing for 7 minutes until robot lady finally came on and said, “The Blue Line is experiencing delays due to wire problems.” Cool.

I leave for work at the same exact time every single day and I either get there 15 minutes early or 15 minutes late. Every single day. It’s just been especially bad this summer and I don’t know what the deal is. It’s so frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the T. I would obviously be lost without it. And I know there are about a million problems that they just can’t solve because of financial issues, but come on guys! There has to be something we can do!

Well anyway, I’m off to work now and luckily it’s close enough that I can walk today. For those of you taking the T, good luck! May the odds be ever in your favor.

It would’ve been perfect…

It would’ve been the perfect ending to a crazy spring in Boston. And a crazy past year for the New England Area. It would’ve been happy.

People would have come from far and wide to get a glimpse of that shiny hunk of medal as it was paraded through the streets of Boston.

The recent absence left behind by the Marathon Bombing Memorial in Copley Square would have been replaced by a sea of Black and Gold.

A city and region that has been through so much tragedy lately would have some newer and happier memories to at least temporarily take their minds off of all of that.

All of New England would have woken up just a little bit happier every day until October.

Game 7 of Round 1 against the Maple Leafs would be looked at again and again and hailed as possibly the greatest comeback in sports history to go on and win the championship.

The series where they swept the #1 team in the conference would have been looked at as the moment that we knew we had something really special going on.

The Boston Bruins would’ve forced a Game 7 in Chicago.

They would’ve shown their true colors in a do-or-die game that they are notoriously the best at.

They would have won the Stanley Cup.

But those things didn’t happen.

The Lockout delayed the season by several months.

Players got injured.

Bad calls were made on both sides.

Really awful periods of hockey were played.

Complete breakdowns that needn’t last more than 17.7 seconds occurred.

Almost six overtimes were played.

An improbable 6-5 game even snuck it’s way in there.

The Stanley Cup made its way to Boston but fans everywhere hoped beyond hope that it would be making one last trip before making its year-long residence here. It didn’t.

The Miracle on the Causeway will be forgotten way too soon just as Bruins fans are appreciating what the Leafs fans went through.

No one will hear much talk about Sidney Crosby for the next several months.

Hockey fans everywhere will slowly start to catch up on their sleep.

And that 35 pounds of metal will be on its way back to Chicago to be paraded through their streets instead of ours.

 

Words can’t even describe how proud I am of this hockey team. They play with such heart and did everything they could to lift up this city during tragedy. They gave us another reason to stay up into all hours of the night watching TV. Wild police chases through Cambridge and Watertown turned into wild scrambles for the puck from one end of the ice to the other. They brought 17,565 people together to rise to their feet and belt out our National Anthem. They fought like hell to extend their season by 2 extra months to help a lot of the businesses around the Garden regain some of the revenue they lost during a ridiculous lockout. They wore that B proudly on their sweaters and never gave up.

The Boston Bruins did that. And for that I am so proud of this group of men. Only 99 days until the season starts up again. It’s going to be a rough summer and those 17.7 seconds will haunt us all for a long time. What the hell happened? But the boys will be back.

There’s always next year.

But man, it would’ve been perfect.

The TD Garden walk of shame

Last night was either the best or worst night of my life.

I still haven’t decided.

See…I was at the TD Garden last night. My best friend, a Blackhawks fan, and I decided that this was a once in a lifetime chance and said what the hell, threw our bank accounts to the wind and splurged on $350 last minute tickets yesterday morning.

I was a ball of excitement all day. This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. (And the only fun I’d have all summer since I can’t allow myself to spend anymore money.)

And then it was there and it was the craziest, most exciting, most back and forth, high-scoring, amazing saves game I have ever seen. For every time my heart was broken by the silence of a thousand Bruins fans spurred by a puck sneaking past Tuukka Rask, there was another time when a thousand diehard fans flew to their feet simultaneously, high-fiving everyone in sight, waving their flags and just screaming for whoever got one past Crawford. But then the dreaded overtime. I went into panic mode.

Allow me to explain….the last time I witnessed overtime in the TD Garden it was the 2012 Beanpot final game between Boston University and Boston College. BU lost with 6.4 seconds left in overtime. It was heartbreaking. Absolutely devastating. One of the only times I’ve ever cried at a sporting event.

Let me tell you a little something about TD Garden, for those of you who don’t know. When you go in you get to take these fancy little escalators all the way up to the top, even if you’re sitting in the very top balcony section. It’s great. But when you leave, everyone is ushered down these never ending cement stairwells. Down and down and down until you swear to God that there is no way you possibly went up that many flights on your way in. You can’t even imagine how tall that damn building is.

And you know what? I’m sure that descent is the freaking best thing in the world after a Bruins win. But after your team loses, whether it be with 6.4 seconds left in overtime in the Beanpot final or 10:09 left in overtime in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final, that stairwell is haunting.

It never ends. It’s dead silent. Everyone’s heads just hang as they continue on and on and on. (And then you get the few Eagles fans thrown in there and it really becomes unbearable, but luckily I didn’t have to face that last night.)

That stairwell will forever haunt my nightmares. As soon as we went into overtime last night I started panicking. Major PTSD from the last overtime I had witnessed in that building. But you know what else? I was freaking excited! And that’s the worst part.

I know I saw an awesome game. I know I certainly got my money’s worth with the number of goals scored and the amount of time played. And I know that that’s about as good as it gets for an exciting game of hockey, but it is absolutely impossible for me to see it that way. I honestly think I would rather have seen a 6-0 Blackhawks win than go through that. (Okay, maybe 6-1 so I could experience at least one building-shaking, deafening Bruins goal celebration.)

But that’s the thing. Going into overtime, I was obviously nervous as all hell, but I got excited. Really excited. These are the Bruins. That’s what they do. They fight back again and again during difficult times and always pull through. It’s the Bruins. They are overtime pros and almost never disappoint. And I was there. Most likely the only time I’ll ever get to see a Stanley Cup Final game. How could they not win? What would it be like in this building when that overtime winner slipped past Crawford and the boys in Black and Gold went crazy? How loud would it be as thousands of fans started screaming and jumping up and down and waving their towels and singing that song? THAT would be a once in a lifetime experience.

But as you know, that didn’t happen. Brent Seabrook sent one past Rask 9 minutes and 51 seconds into a nerve-wracking, heart attack-inducing overtime. And that was that. The Garden went silent. Fans leapt from their seats and were halfway out the door in an instant. The Bruins were off the ice before I could blink. And Game 4 was over. My once in a lifetime chance was over.

So I guess I’ll never get to experience the TD Garden go crazy after an overtime win in the Stanley Cup FInals, but I’m still pulling for the chance to experience those boys parade down the streets of Boston in the duck boats past that Boston Marathon finish line. There’s still plenty of hope left for that.

Here’re my pictures from the game:

Marathon victims waving the Boston Strong flag and the giant Bruins flag getting sent around the stadium.

Rene Rancourt singing the National Anthem.

Tuuuuukkkkkkka.

I guess I can keep being his friend for now. As long as the boys in Black and Gold are holding that Cup over their heads by the end of all this.

It really was a great experience. I know that. And it cheered me up a little bit to get home and scroll through Twitter and see all the ‘WHAT IS THIS GAME’ and ‘holy hockey!’ and ‘what is happening?’ Tweets. And I mean, I did get to see Tyler Seguin of all people lay someone out.

But it still seems like every awesome memory I had from last night, at least for right now, is still somewhere back at the top of that long, slow, never ending descent down the cement stairs in the back of the TD Garden.

It’s only game 1…

…and I already can’t take this.

My heart is shattered.

I’m exhausted.

I’m in denial.

I can’t wait 3 days!

We’ve been pretty spoiled as of late. Aside from that one shit show of a game against the Rangers, we haven’t really had any overtime losses. And we certainly haven’t had any DEVASTATING overtime losses like that. (At least we can console ourselves with the knowledge that the Maple Leafs did, in fact, suffer a little more than we are right now.)

But that sucked.

As 1am rolled around I just started thinking, I’m waking up in 4 hours for my busiest day of the week. What if they lose? Staying up for 3 overtimes is one thing. Having to face defeat and then just go to bed disappointed? The worst!

But there we were. 3 overtimes in. It was like watching a hockey game slowed down a few clicks like in some big Hollywood movie right before they score the winning goal. It became pretty obvious that it was going to just come down to a really stupid mistake or some shit luck.

Double. Deflection.

And seriously, all of those Bruins chances couldn’t go in? Really universe??

I hate being this person, but they deserved it after ALL OF THOSE CHANCES! TYLER. SEGUIN.

And don’t even say, ‘Yeah, Crawford was amazing.’

Yes, he was.

But shit luck, man. Shit luck.

Luckily, we are all Boston fans and are accustomed to dealing with this kind of crushing disappointment in some sport or another every year.

This is only Game 1.

Sure, the city of Boston will be moving just a little bit slower this morning. And that’s not even taking into account the giant traffic jam I just walked by all the way up Comm Ave. Take a power nap during your lunch break. Grab that extra cup of Dunkin and power through. It’s only Game 1.

These boys are used to coming from behind. Six more nail-biting games where at least 4 of those shit luck game-winning goals has to get behind Crawford. Not a problem!

But if that’s how Game 1 played out, who knows what we have in store for the next 6?

Hell yeah!!!!

I haven’t been this happy after a hockey game in a long time. Okay, maybe since Game 7 against the Maple Leafs. But still.

What a beautiful night to be a Boston sports fan!

The Red Sox crush the Yankees 11-1 and the Bruins pull off the improbable with a 3-0 shutout win against the freaking Penguins!

So many fan bases that I hate and they all went home crying last night. Yankees. Penguins. Hell, even the Heat!

I don’t even know where to begin on my favorite moments from last night. It started with Hughes intentionally walking Ortiz to load the bases counting on an easy double play from Napoli, but oops…he hit it into the stands!

And then the Bruins kicked in.

That was one of the best games of hockey I’ve ever seen.

I’m not going to lie, I was so nervous going into this game! The Penguins were possibly the best team in the league. They had the best offense, averaging over 4 goals a game in the Playoffs. They had this kid named Sidney Crosby who apparently is the second coming of Christ. Maybe you’re heard of him.

And then something beautiful happened.

It was a scary start to the first period, but then Krejci tacked one on the board. And then absolute chaos/beautifully played hockey ensued for the next 40 minutes with no goals in what should have been a 6-4 game at that point, not necessarily in favor of the Bruins.

Sidney Crosby’s inner 12-year-old came out as he took a cheap shot at Rask on his way to the bench at the end of the period! Seriously? Who does that? Between him, Cooke and Malkin I don’t even know which one I want to get laid out more by the end of the period. Take your pick, Thornton.

And then Krejci, Czech beauty, struck again. (The ACTUAL leading scorer of these Playoffs, in case sports media led you to believe that it was Crosby). Needless to say, Vokoun and the entire Penguins team were rattled. And that was that.

For the first time, I feel really good about this series!

The Bruins got into their heads in the best possible way right off the bat! We were scoring goals, killing off penalties, playing killer defense (welcome back, Sir Chara!), and um…Tuukka. Rask.

He deserved every ounce of that shutout. A gorgeous performance by Tuukka (and the goal posts) against a team  that’s used to scoring 4 goals a game.

Okay, our power play was a little more than lacking, but hey. If that’s the only complaint, I’ll take it. And speaking of thing’s that are lacking…can I go back to bitching about Sidney Crosby?

Yeah, that guy who spent the last minute and a half of the game sitting on his ass in the penalty box after whining his entire way there.

The guy who tried to pick a fight with Chara. Please. I would LOVE to see that! He could step on your head!

The most overrated man in the world of sports right now. Tuukka was certainly put to the test last night, but not by Crosby! He was almost nowhere to be seen. And I loved every minute of it. Watching Pierre interview Horton at the end of the game instead of Crosby was the icing on top of a perfect night! I just wish I could have gotten a close up of the tears running down his face.

Now can we talk about Pierre? And the NBC announcers in general? Think you could show a little more bias?

I think NESN’s Jack Edwards said it best after the Bruins pulled into a 3-0 lead.

But actually.

And don’t even get me started on this SportsCenter tweet:

Excuse me, what?

Were we watching the same game?

That was NOT steal! That was a shutout. A 3-goal game. A complete shutdown of “the best current player in the NHL.” That was no steal, sirs, the Bruins EARNED every inch of that!

My #BruinsIn4 hashtag doesn’t seem like just a funny joke anymore. We can do this. And hopefully as we move on to Game 2, the entire sports world will have had some time to reflect and pull themselves out of Sidney Crosby’s and the rest of the Penguins’ asses.