USA vs. Canada Preview: Epic Fucking Hockey

One of the many things I love about Olympic hockey is that on the top teams, all these guys know each other. They've played against each other for years in the NHL, sometimes in the same division, sometimes with each other on the same teams. There's familiarity, and that breeds contempt. Then add the national rivalry and the high stakes with a chance for Olympic gold on the line, and the result is epic hockey. Not good hockey, not great hockey, epic fucking hockey.

For the US to win this game, they need goaltending. Jonathan Quick has been great during these Olympics, and they need that to continue. Quick can't let in any soft goals. And he's going to have to make at least one, but probably two or more brilliant, improvisational saves for the US to win. Goaltending is Team USA's biggest edge in this game. They need to press that advantage.

I also think Patrick Kane needs to score. In 4 games he has 4 assists and is +3, which would be good for a stretch of NHL games. However, when the US is playing Slovenia and Slovakia, and scoring 19 goals in 4 games, you'd expect more from production from a guy like Kane. We've seen how he can carry a team like he did the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup. He needs to carry some of the load for Team USA.

The US also can't take any stupid penalties. Canada will play physical, they'll try to get under Team USA's skin, they might even embellish a few hits trying to get a call. Guys like Brooks Orpik need to remember that there are rules, they will be enforced, and Canada's power play is not something you want to give bonus opportunities to.

There will be a lot of pressure on USA's defensemen. The US has a lot of young defensemen and they have to face guys like Sydney Crosby, who know how to take advantage of inexperienced defensemen. Mistakes will happen, but there's a limit. And Quick can/must cover for errors made by Team USA's blue-liners.

This game is going to be a 60 minute (or more) arm wrestling match for control. Control of the puck, control of which zone the puck is in, control of the boards, and control of the area near the nets. Team USA has easily dominated those dirty areas against their European competition but Canada will not let them do that. Team USA can win battles down there, but it won't be nearly as lopsided in USA's favor as it has been against the Europeans. Shea Weber is 6' 4" and 233 pounds and will not be dislodged with ease.

Speed will be essential on the big ice surface. But both of these teams are very good at tightening up the game so all the meaningful battles and plays are made in confined space. There will be the occasional end to end, fast-paced stretches of play, but I think most of the game-changing plays will be made in close-quartered battles. Speed helps you enter those battles with momentum and an advantage. And speed helps you take advantage of pucks won in those areas.

I can talk and talk about this game forever. I'm literally fantasizing about it right now. You've got so many great players involved. All-Stars, Stanley Cup winners, 24 guys from the 2010 gold medal game.

You have 3 MVPs (Crosby, Corey Perry, Martin St. Louis), 2 Norris Trophy winners (P.K. Subban, Duncan Keith), 3 of the last 4 Conn Smythe winners (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Toews), and there are 4 Jack Adams coach of the year award winners behind the two benches.

This is going to be great. And the winner gets a chance to play for gold, the loser goes to the bronze medal game.

The game will be on NBC Sports, and WEEI in Boston will be broadcasting it over the radio.

Theo Epstein and Peter Gammons Host 14th Annual Hot Stove Cool Music Benefit Concert this Saturday at Paradise Rock Club

Theo Epstein will return to Boston on Saturday night, along with Hall of Fame journalist Peter Gammons, to host the 14th Annual Hot Stove Cool Music Benefit Concert. The concert will be held at the Paradise Rock Club at 7:00pm. Doors will open at 6:00pm. The event benefits Epstein's Foundation to Be Named Later.

Foundation To Be Named Later (FTBNL) was launched in Spring of 2005 by Paul Epstein, a social worker in the Brookline public school system, and his twin brother, former Boston Red Sox Executive VP and GM and current Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein. Named after the MLB trade term "player to be named later," the mission of FTBNL is to raise funds and awareness for non-profit agencies, working on the front lines, serving disadvantaged youth and families. FTBNL invests in programs that teach leadership, education, and healthy development of families.

FTBNL has given over $6 million in grants and in-kind donations to over 200 non-profit organizations and has sent approximately 4,000 children, who would not otherwise get the chance to go to a game, to Red Sox, Cubs, and Celtics home games. The Peter Gammons/FTBNL College Scholarship (named in honor of Hall of Famer and FTBNL Champion, Peter Gammons) is the signature program of FTBNL and has sent more than 36 young people with high financial needs and high educational potential to the college of their choice. Each Gammons Scholar gets an adult mentor and a laptop computer to ensure college success.

This year's Hot Stove Cool Music Benefit Concert will feature rock super group The Baseball Project, featuring members of the iconic rock band R.E.M.; rock and soul band Trigger Hippy, featuring Joan Osborne and members of The Black Crowes; indie rocker Howie Day, Boston-born Kay Hanley, and rising stars Kingsley Flood.

Gammons and his Hot Stove All-Stars will feature Paul Barrere from Little Feat, Buffalo Tom’s Bill Janovitz, Belly’s Tanya Donelly, Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper, the Upper Crust’s Chris Cote, Seth Justman from the J. Geils Band, Will Dailey, Jed Parish & Lucky Jackson from The Gravel Pit, with actor-comedian Mike O’Malley serving as emcee.

The concert will be followed by the Sports Roundtable on January 21, which will feature a candid forum about "Building and Maintaining a Winning Culture" with Gammons and a number of sports executives, players and journalists participating, including Red Sox pitcher, Craig Breslow.

VIP tickets to the concert and roundtable as well as general admission tickets for $40 are on sale now, and can be purchased at FTBNL.org

Boston Should Bid to Host the World Juniors in 2018

Yesterday Finland beat host and tournament favorite Sweden 3-2 in overtime to win the 2014 World Juniors. It was Finland's first medal in the competition since 2006, when a young Tuukka Rask carried the Finns to a bronze medal

If you don't know what the World Juniors are, it's an Olympic/World Cup style hockey tournament with national teams competing against each other. It's held annually in late December and early January, and all the players are under 20. It's sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

The US is going to host the tournament in 2018, and I think the City of Boston should make a serious bid to be the host city.

Boston hosted the World Juniors in 1996 (Jarome Iginla led the competition in scoring and won gold with Canada), and it didn't go well. It was poorly attended. Probably because it was spread out across Massachusetts, not concentrated in Boston. Games were played in Marlborough, Amherst, Springfield, and Worcester. And the finals were played at Boston College, not at the brand new Fleet Center.

Three important things have changed since 1996:

1. The tournament has streamlined its format and now typically only two venues are used (example: Toronto and Montreal will use their NHL rinks when they jointly host the 2015 World Juniors). Boston could use the TD Garden and BU's Agganis Arena. Those are both within the heart of the City, both easily accessible.

2. In the 2000s Boston has once again become a hockey city. Not just with the success of the Bruins, but with the rise in popularity of high school and college hockey. Just look at what we do with Fenway Park this time of year. We turn it into a hockey rink. BC and BU have combined to win 5 NCAA titles in the 2000s. Hockey East, centered in Boston, has become one of the most powerful conferences in college hockey (9 Hockey East players were on Team USA's roster in Sweden).

3. The World Juniors has become a bigger and more well-known event. The US has hosted twice since the 1996 tournament (in Buffalo in 2011 and Grand Forks, ND in 2005) and both were well attended. The tournament being broadcast on TSN in Canada and the NHL Network in the US has contributed to its growth in popularity and prestige. I wouldn't be surprised if by 2018 (or sooner) NBC Sports buys the US broadcast rights.

The tournament would be a good event for Boston to host. No new facilities need to be built, no highways need to be expanded, no dams need to be blown up, no forests need to be torn down. What's required is a hockey rink with lots of seats (TD Garden) and one with a medium number of seats (BU's Agganis Arena is state of the art, holds 6,000, and is right on the Green Line). You also need rinks for teams to practice at (Walter Brown Arena at BU, Matthews Arena at Northeastern, Conte Forum at BC, Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Lawler Arena at Merrimack College). Boston already has the facilities and infrastructure in place to pull off this event.

And Boston is already host to several notable hockey tournaments: the Super 8 high school championship, the Beanpot, and the Hockey East Tournament. The Garden will also host the Frozen Four in 2015.

New England college hockey players have always been a strong part of Team USA in this competition. Team USA had 7 New England college players (and an 8th committed to play at BU) on their roster for the 2014 World Juniors. There were 5 New England natives on the roster.

The event would draw tourists. Thousands of Canadians fly across the world for this tournament. They'll come to Boston, see the City, go out to eat, have a good time. So will friends, family, and fans from Sweden, Russia, Finland, and the rest of the US.

And I'm sure Frozen Fenway would see a boost in attendance. The Canadians that attend the World Juniors are clinically diagnosed hockey addicts. They'll go to Fenway to see some college hockey while they're in town.

The only inconvenience would be to the Bruins and Celtics. They would have to play extended road trips while the tournament occupies the Garden. The 2014 World Juniors started on December 26th and ended on January 5th.

At the same time the Garden, owned by Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, would be able to open its gates to thousands of concessions buying fans, even with its two teams playing elsewhere. And Agganis Arena is always seeking additional events. They just hosted 22 Disney on Ice performances. The secondary rink in Malmö hosted 14 games for the 2014 World Juniors.

In 2011 Buffalo averaged 10,635 fans per game. For 31 games. How many between period Molsons is that? How many hot dogs and sodas? How many lunches and dinners will be consumed at the bars and restaurants off Causeway Street and on Comm Ave? How many additional tours of the Sam Adams Brewery will there be? (On a trip to Toronto, I learned that Sam Adams is one of the few American beers that Canadians respect)

Other US cities that want to host include Pittsburgh and Tampa. I think Boston is a better city than those two places, and a better hockey town. It's certainly a better hockey town than Tampa.

This is a great annual tournament, and I think Boston would be a great place for it to be held.

The Joys of Being a Boston Fan in the 21st Century

The Bruins advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals is the latest example of what's been a trend in Boston sports: deep playoff runs. As a sports fan growing up in the '90s, when it was a major achievement if teams merely qualified for the playoffs, this is simply a terrific time to be a Boston sports fan. These are the good old days.

Since 2001, this will be the 11th time that a Boston team has been in a championship series/game. Each Boston team has been in at least 2 championship series/games. There have been 49 total championship series/games this century (would've been 50 if not for the NHL Lockout in 04-05), and Boston teams have won 7 of them (14%), and been a part of 11 (22%). Almost 1 in 4 championships involve a Boston team.

What's really enjoyable are the deep playoff runs. Because let's face it, none of us have any impact on the on-field/court/ice success of these teams. We share in the glory as if we did, but we don't. And we also conveniently don't share in the epic failures, like the collapse of the 2011 Red Sox, or in 2010 when the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead against Philly. So as much as we gloat about our teams winning, it's more about the fun of watching our teams win.

What's truly fun is enjoying the extra baseball/football/basketball/hockey. What's fun is going to a packed bar on a Tuesday night to share an experience with strangers and friends. And anything that can postpone the time when baseball is the only sport available is a good thing.

The local teams have been in the final four of their league's playoffs 16 times this century (Patriots 7, Celtics 4, Red Sox 3, Bruins 2). We've seen a total of 76 playoff rounds involving Boston teams (Patriots 24, Celtics 23, Bruins 17, Red Sox 12), and we've seen our team triumph in 48 of those series/games (Patriots 17, Celtics 14, Bruins 9, Red Sox 8).

We've been able to enjoy hockey and basketball in May and June. We've been privileged to watch baseball in October. And football season for us extends into January and February. Our weather seasons up here are sometimes erratic and sometimes very short. But our sports seasons in New England, in this century, have been significantly longer than average.

Bruins Lose, Boston Wins

The most important parts of last night's game were the moments before and after the game itself: The National Anthem and the players' salute to the crowd.

As far as the game goes, the Bruins played a strong, emotional game. They weren't lackadaisical as they've been in recent memory. Tip your cap to the Sabres, who are fighting for a playoff spot. And give an extra tip of the cap to Ryan Miller who played an excellent game. Let's not forget that the Sabres have a few Boston connections on their roster, and this game must have been emotional for them as well. Brian Flynn, who took the opening face-off, is from Lynnfield, MA. And Nathan Gerbe played at Boston College. The B's clinched a playoff spot. And that's good news. With 6 games left on their schedule they are tied at the top of the Northeast Division, with a game in hand. The Penguins are in town Friday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

There Are So Many More Heroes Than Villains

We don't know who did this to us. We don't know why they did it. What we do know is that whoever they are, they can't win. In fact, they've already lost. The game's over. You lose. Sorry, but too many people did good things on the day you decided to try to scare us all. You're outnumbered, outworked, and most of all outclassed.

We can never undo what you did. There are 3 dead, more with injuries that will dramatically change their lives, and countless shaken and confused. However, there are survivors thanks to the quick and selfless actions of strangers. There's a City, a Country, a World united against terror. There is one or maybe a handful of villains in this story. There are too many heroes to mention. These are some...

There was Lucas Carr, an Army Ranger who normally pushes Matt Brown's wheelchair in road races to raise money for charity. For those who don't know, Matt Brown was a sophomore hockey player at Norwood High School (in my hometown), who suffered a spinal cord injury in a hockey game in 2010. Matt and Lucas now push each other, literally and figuratively, in races. Matt was unable to participate in the Marathon yesterday due to illness, but Lucas ran. He finished just before the blasts on Boylston. And, like the Rangers' motto of "Rangers lead the way" declares, he turned back to help the wounded.

He's in the right side of this picture, in a yellow cutoff shirt with tattooed arms.

Lucas wasn't alone. There was Carlos Arredondo, a noted peace activist who was at the finish line to cheer on someone who was running the Marathon for Arredondo's son, who died in Iraq in 2004. After the explosions, Arredondo did what he could to clear rubble and assist first responders.

Former New England Patriot Joe Andruzzi was photographed carrying a woman, and there's a brief appearance of him approaching this woman and her family which I hastily captured from my TV.

And one thing about this woman that strikes me is that her children are helping her, and she probably didn't want to seek help from EMTs because they were so busy with others. She tried to make it on her own, and Andruzzi gave them an assist. So much strength from Joe, from the woman, and from the girls helping her.

Watching these clips I see so many different types of people, different uniforms helping. My friend Tim volunteers for the BAA and was at the finish line, helping remove the barricades so medics could get to the wounded. He's physically okay, but understandably coping with some horrible memories of what he saw. You see a member of the media decide to stop taking pictures, sling his camera over his back, and help some cops pull the barricades away. You see a pair of men in camouflage helping with the barricades. I'm told one of them is Adam Ayer from Quincy, MA, who is currently in the National Guard and had just ran the race. Hospitals were inundated with runners wanting to give blood, even after running 26.2 miles. People who were at their body's limit of exertion managed to dig deep and find enormous reserves of energy, all to help strangers.

Think of how many first responders went toward the carnage, not knowing if there would be a third explosion. How many initials did we see doing difficult, necessary work yesterday. BPD, BFD, Boston EMS, MSP, BAA volunteers, MDs, RNs, US Army, Army ROTC groups, FBI, DEA, IRS-CID, DHS, OED, USN. And all the hard work of the ER and OR staffs at MGH, BMC, Tufts, and so on.

So much good done yesterday. But so much bad. The person or people who brought the bad to the table have already lost this game. It's like a game of chess against someone with only one piece. They did some damage, but we have so many rooks, bishops, knights, queens, and kings. We can't lose.

There will be a Boston Marathon in 2014, and it will go down as one of the best in the long history of the event. Violence and terror will not control our lives. And so long as that is true, and so long as the hearts of the good outwork the twisted minds of the bad, then we've already defeated terror.

CONCESSION

This game was conceded to Oakland before it even started. Julian Tavarez, although pitching well lately, up against the best pitcher in baseball right now: Dan Haren. Lowell, Varitek, Lugo, and Crisp were out of the starting lineup. The team had just taken a red-eye flight from Boston to Oakland. Okajima, and Papelbon would also not be available.

Nevertheless, we nearly one the game. Haren pitched very well, but we scored 2 off him. Tavarez only allowed 3 in 5/2 innings. The run Pineiro allowed in the 8th was huge.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game occurred in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Tavarez walked Bubba Crosby. On a 3-2 pitch, Crosby was running, Cora went over to cover 2nd, leaving a hole in the left side, Kotsay hit a grounder right to where Cora had been, and it rolled into left for a single. Had the runner not been sent, or Cora not been the one to cover the bag, it would have been an easy double play. So instead of nobody on and 2 out for Mark Ellis, it was 2 on and none out. Ellis eventually hit a triple that gave Oakland a 2-1 lead. That entire inning, and the game itself, changed on that one play.

But we were living on the edge all night. Tavarez allowed 11 baserunners in 5.2 innings, and only 3 scored. Oakland only got 1 run out of a bases loaded situation in the 8th. They got nothing from a 0 out, bases jammed situation in the 9th. They had two on in the 10th and failed to score. Finally, Chavez ended it with a homer. Oakland left 13 men on base. Eight of those were left in scoring position.

Just a quick question. When Pineiro struggled through the 8th, and we tied it in the 9th, why the hell did he come on to pitch the bottom of the inning? And how come NOBODY was warming in the pen to begin the inning? It nearly cost us the game, because Joel couldn't get anyone out.

The past few games have exposed a weakness in the Red Sox that has been able to be hidden for most of the season: middle relief. We've got Papelbon and Okajima for the late innings, and Donnelly's been okay. But do you really trust JC Romero, Joel Pineiro, or Kyle Snyder with a close game? I don't. But we haven't seen most of these guys in such important roles, because the starting pitching has gone deep. Guys like Okajima and Papelbon have been given days off in between pitching. But our bullpen seriously lacks depth, right now. I'm not worried, though.

Jon Lester pitched a 7 inning, 1 earned run, complete game for AAA Pawtucket last night. In four starts since his forearm cramping, he has a 0.97 ERA, and a 1.26 ERA in 6 starts with the PawSox. Lester will make at least one more start for Pawtucket before joining the big club, and replacing Tavarez in the rotation. Tavarez, I think, will be a major asset in the bullpen. He has done very well against opposing hitters in their first at-bats against him. He could be a long man, a middle-reliever, and a right-handed set-up pitcher.

Also, Mike Timlin started the second game of Pawtucket's doubleheader, pitching 2 scoreless innings and throwing 21 pitches.

The Man of the Game for last night's extra inning loss is Mark Ellis. He went 4 for 5 and hit for the cycle. He very well could have gone 5 for 5 had the official scorer given him a hit, instead of giving Youkilis an error. Ellis also had 3 RBI.

Honorable Mentions:
Dan Haren: 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 9 K
David Ortiz: 3/4, HR, 2 2B, RBI, 2 Runs, BB
Wily Mo Pena: 2/5, HR, 2 RBI

Bitch-Goat:
Tavarez: 0.1 - 5.2 IP, 3 ER
Pineiro: 0.3 - IP+, Run, 3 BB
Snyder: 0.3 - 1.1 IP, ER, HR
Cora: 0.1 - 0 for 3
Mirabelli: 0.1 - 0 for 4
Hinske: 0.1 - 0 for 3

Matsuzaka against old friend Lenny DiNardo tonight.

The Yankees lost to the white Sox 6-4, and Baltimore fell to Seattle 7-4. The Red Sox lead in the East is down to 10 games.