REALITY 25, BC 7

After rolling over Northeastern and Kent State, the BC Eagles had to face a real team. And it was ugly. Clemson's kicker Richard Jackson was the best player on the field, which tells you all you need to know about this game. On the bright side, the BC defense didn't allow a touchdown. On the not-so-bright side, the afore mentioned Jackson kicked 6 field goals. And on the very dark side, the BC offense was inept at best, impotent at worst.

Justin Tuggle was 4 for 20 for 23 yards, a touchdown, and 3 interceptions. And yes, he looked as bad as those numbers suggest.

BC rushed for 0.9 yards an attempt. They had 51 yards of offense. The offense didn't get a 1st down until 1:56 remained in the 3rd.

There were some bright spots on the defensive side of the ball. Then again, Clemson has a one dimensional offense, so it's not brain surgery. BC probably should have lost this game 42-7, but the defense kept things relatively close.

The Eagles return home to face Wake Forest next Saturday. BC can beat Wake Forest, but unfortunately they won't.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain

BRUINS SEND KESSEL TO TORONTO, THEN THE BANK

It's finally happened. The Bruins and Maple Leafs agreed to the terms late Friday night. The Leafs got Phil Kessel, the Bruins received a pair of 1st round draft picks, as well as a 2nd rounder. Almost immediately after the deal was announced, the Leafs declared that Kessel's services had been secured for 5 additional seasons and for a price of $27 million.

I'll give credit to Phil and his agent, who I doubted in a previous post. They got precisely what they wanted. And I can't blame them. They wanted a big contract RIGHT NOW and they got it. So what if they kept their former team and former fans in limbo for months, and so what if they cost their new team some premium picks. Phil and his agent treated this situation just like he treats a breakaway on the ice. All they wanted to do was score, and they certainly did that.

As a Bruins fan, this is hardly something to celebrate. You don't run your leading scorer out of town, then have a parade when he's gone. And Toronto wouldn't be my first choice of teams for Kessel to wind up with. Nashville would have been better.

You don't celebrate, but we as fans shouldn't mourn, either. Any Bruins fan out there that thinks Kessel was worth $27M is probably also wearing an Adam Vinatieri jersey with a Nomar Garciaparra t-shirt underneath it. As good as Kessel was, and as great as he someday might be, that amount of cap commitment is simply unfeasible for the Bruins. Perhaps a one year, $5 million deal would have worked, but that's not what Kessel wanted.



I think it was the length of the deal that kept Kessel and the Bruins apart. After this season, Marc Savard's an unrestricted free agent. Milan Lucic is a restricted one. Do you think a team or two might send offer sheets to Lucic? And then there's the uncertainty in the NHL salary cap. So long as the Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, and Atlanta Thrashers of the world continue to bring in subpar revenues, the Bruins, Rangers, and Red Wings of the world will have to shed talent.

And here's what this came down to: Phil Kessel got what he wanted. So did the Maple Leafs. But Toronto's benefit is simply a byproduct of Kessel's desires. The perturbed and almost always emotionally unstable Bruins fan will bemoan Jeremy "Scrooge" Jacobs. But this wasn't JUST about the money. It was about the cap.



"Where will those 36 goals come from?" Has been the refrain of WEEI's Pete Shepherd this week. Well, here's my answer:

9 of those goals came against the Islanders and Lightning, the two worst teams in the NHL. The Bruins will win those games again by multiple goal margins, so Kessel's 9 scores won't be missed.



15 more of those goals came against other non-playoff teams. Once again, the Bruins will find goals in these games without the great Phil Kessel.

Then there's those 8 goals against playoff teams. 8 goals. In 34 games.

I'll tell you exactly where these 8 goals will come from. Patrice Bergeron. Byron Bitz. Milan Lucic. Marco Sturm. Mark Rechhi, and so on. Even with the loss of Phil Kessel, the Bruins have almost unparalleled depth at forward. And they're going to win a lot of games without Kessel.

Sources:
ESPN.com
HockeyBuzz.com

BRUINS UNVEIL WINTER CLASSIC JERSEYS

I don't hate it. I don't love it. I do like the thought process that went into it, even though I would have preferred a slightly different jersey.



The Bruins wanted to incorporate something from the jerseys worn by all 5 of the Stanley Cup winning teams in their history. And that's fine. The only thing that bugs me is the crest. It's not bad, I just would've wanted something a bit more familiar, and a bit more square. The rounded "B" just won't look right. Some variant of the classic eight-spoked B, or just a big capital letter B with squared sides would look so much better.

And maybe the B's could have opened up the whole Winter Classic Jersey question to the fans. Have an online poll, maybe in a tournament format, with different jersey styles squaring off.



The crest from the 1963 and '67 jerseys would look cool. Or the huge B from the '54 and '92. Oh well.

Sources:
NHL.com
WEEI's Big Bad Blog

SOX RUN OUT OF MAGIC

Even with 2 outs in the 9th, you felt as though the Sox would win this game. They didn't, of course. They could only muster offense in the 4th inning, as Ellsbury and Bay hit homeruns and put the Sox ahead 3-1. But that was it from the Red Sox bats. The Angels chipped away, tying the game in the 7th, and taking the lead in the top of the 9th.

The good news was that Victor Martinez returned to the lineup, extending his hit-streak to 16 games with a 4th inning single. Youkilis also seemed close to ready to return, as he came out on deck to pinch hit for Varitek in the 9th.

Beckett looked very good, just shy of great. For the most part he was lights out, just with an occasional blemish. His last 3 starts have been very good, so for now at least, he's the Ace of the staff.

Both the Yankees and Rangers were idle, so the Sox fall 7 behind New York (6 in the loss column), and stay 6 in front of Texas in the Wild Card.

The Angels won the season series 5-4, but 6 of the 9 games were played in Anaheim.

The Sox embark on a 10 game road trip, with stops in Baltimore, Kansas City, and the Bronx. They could very well return to Fenway Park with the Wild Card wrapped up.

Clay Buchholz vs. Jeremy Guthrie tonight.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP/Charles Krupa

KESSEL TRADE "IMMINENT"

Last night the Bruins were up in Toronto for a preseason game against the Maple Leafs. The GMs of both teams reportedly met for "about an hour" before the game. The major topic of discussion: Phil Kessel. The Leafs might be offering a package that includes a pair of 1st round draft picks. The Nashville Predators have also publicly expressed interest in Kessel.

I'd rather the Bruins send Kessel to Nashville and the Western Conference. You never want to trade a player within your own Conference, let alone your own Division. Just imagine if Joe Thornton were playing for the Senators instead of the Sharks.

The B's will be criticized if they make this move, but what choice do they have? Sacrifice their depth at forward to hang on to one player, who's fairly one-dimensional and has yet to PROVE he's a big-time scorer? I don't think so.

Source:
ESPN

WHY TALK TO THE MEDIA AT ALL?

Jets safety Kerry Rhodes had this to say about his team's upcoming game against the Patriots:

"Not just go out there and try to win, try to embarrass them. Try to make them feel bad when they leave here. We don’t want to just beat them. We want to send a message to them, ‘We’re not backing down from you and we expect to win this game, and it’s not going to be luck, it’s not going to be a mistake."

(Source: NY Daily News)

As far as pregame trash talk and bulletin board material, it's not that bad. And I don't see why this is all over Boston.com. He's not guaranteeing an embarrassment, he's just saying what he wants to do.

But at the same time, why talk to the media at all? Why give them even a hint of a story? Or at least give them something about yourself, not an opposing team. I'm just glad the Patriots coaches and players typically keep their mouths shut.

BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2

The B's went up to Toronto, and played in front of a near full house at the Air Canada Centre. Marco Sturm, Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, and Marc Savard did not play, but the Bruins still prevailed over their division rivals.

There's twice as much fighting in preseason games as there is in regular season matches. Guys are trying to impress coaches with toughness, and ingratiate themselves with their new teammates. Steve Begin, for instance, went at it in the 1st. Byron Bitz also got a fighting major after responding to some instigating. Guillaume Lefebvre and Adam McQuaid also fought for the Bruins.

Begin, Brad Marchand, and Andy Wozniewski scored for the B's. Patrice Bergeron had the best game of all with 2 assists, and numerous plays made all over the ice. But it was basically an AHL game with a few NHL guys mixed in. The Bruins are trying to figure out who will be the last 2 or 3 guys on their roster, and also who will be the 1st and 2nd guy they call up from Providence just in case.

Journeyman Quebecois goalie Dany Sabourin looked adequate in net. He made all the saves he should have made, and played smartly. I was particularly impressed with his puck handling, and calmness under pressure. He doesn't have the talent and potential of Rask, but he appears to be a good #3 to have just in case disaster strikes.

The Bruins host the Rangers at the Garden on Saturday. The game is at 4 and will be on NHL Network.

Sources:
ESPN.com
BostonBruins.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese

WILD SOX WIN WILD ONE AT FENWAY, EXTEND WILD CARD LEAD

The Red Sox used 22 different players to beat the Angels 9-8 last night, in a 4 hour thriller. The last three batters of the game were all short-stops: Jed Lowrie, Nick Green, and Alex Gonzalez. That should tell you how strange this game was.

Paul Byrd had a Paul Byrd start. He's not going to win games for you, but he won't lose them either. That's the role of as #5 starter, and so long as Buchholz and Matsuzaka are doing well, Byrd can have as many 5.1 IP, 3 ER games as he wants.

But the bullpen was awful. Ramon Ramirez blew a 2 run lead in the 7th. Then Daniel Bard blew a tied game in the top of the 9th. Thankfully, there is depth to the pen. Okajima, Delcarmen, and Saito registered 1 quality inning apiece, and the Sox desperately needed those to stay in the game.

Ramirez's runs came after a passed ball 3rd strike by Varitek. Now, if Victor Martinez had made this same mistake, the Cult of Varitek would be all over him, just like they were when he caught a bad Buchholz outing a few weeks ago (how's Buchholz-Martinez worked out since then?). Varitek fucked up and it nearly cost the Sox a big win. Oh yeah, he was also 0 for 2, dropping his average to .213. But at least he's hotter in September (.143 average) than he was in August (.135).

By and large, the Sox performance wasn't impressive. However, their character was. They stuck with this game, despite the Angels' incessant rallying. And in the end, they got the W.

By the way, the Rangers lost, and so did the Rays. Tampa Bay is now 5th in the Wild Card, 14 games behind the Sox. Nice collapse.

The Sox go for the sweep Thursday night as Ervin Santana takes on Josh Beckett. With series like this one, and the weather as chilly as it is, doesn't it feel like October?

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola