Bruins Rake Leafs Out of the Garden

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs for the fourth time Saturday night, clinching the season series. This is a matchup that favors the Bruins in so many ways. Toronto's offense is based primarily on their Power Play. The Bruins have one of the best PK units in the League. Toronto's forwards don't get involved in defense (See: Kessel), while the Bruins' defensemen get very active in the offense. The Bruins score when they win battles on the boards and control the crease in front of the opposing goalie. The Maple Leafs don't win battles against physical forwards, and they don't have many guys who can clear out the crease.

The Bruins' specialize in eliminating Toronto's strengths, and have the exact kind of players to take advantage of Toronto's weaknesses.

Chris Kelly's goal was the type of thing that Toronto struggles to prevent. Ference pinched, so Kelly covered the point. He was being covered by Phillipe Dupuis, a center. But Kelly went from acting like a defenseman, to acting like a forward, breaking toward the net. And Dupuis was simply mismatched to cover another forward. Kelly drove to the net, Peverley sent him a brilliant pass, and a goal resulted.

The Krejci line, especially Krejci himself, has been reborn. That lines plays the best when all three forwards share the load. Krejci doesn't need to be too clever, he just needs to be smart. Lucic doesn't need to throw everyone around, he just needs to be physical. And Horton is a little of both. Krejci has 2 goals and 5 assists in the last 5 games. When this line gets hot, the Bruins have one of the deepest offenses in hockey.

Joe Corvo's fight was a great example of how everyone on this team contributes. It was Corvo's first fight in the NHL, and he's the 8th Bruin that has dropped the gloves this season. It's not that this is a team of brawlers, but it is a team of guys who stand up for their teammates and stand up for themselves. Every minute of every game, there is a Bruin on the ice that's willing to fight if necessary.

During this stretch, everyone has contributed. And each individual contribution by one player has helped others to contribute. Rask has gone 4-0-1 since the start of November, which has also allowed Thomas to take 5 games off. Chris Kelly has 8 goals in 14 games, but he's been set up beautifully by Rich Peverley, who has 11 assists in this span.

When one Bruin excels, he helps another excel, and so on.

The schedule gets interesting as the Bruins are in Pittsburgh tonight, facing the top team in the East. Then they're in Winnipeg Tuesday night. Then they host the Southeast leading Panthers on Thursday. Fun week.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Not the Same Colts

Remember in Gladiator when Russel Crowe is still fighting in Africa and he's simply dominating his competition. That's kind of what happened in Foxborough yesterday. There was no way that the Patriots would lose. The Colts were built around Peyton Manning. Even their defense was geared toward playing in shootouts with lots of passing and little running.

The Patriots had a mediocre 1st quarter, and a bad 4th quarter, and they still won. This was a preseason game. And even the crowd at the Stadium was like a preseason game. Late arriving, lots of families and first-time visitors, early exiting.

It's hard to praise the Patriots after beating a winless team. I guess I can say that Rob Gronkowski is probably not human. He's a monstrosity.

Belichick and his assistants have plenty of mistakes to show their players this week. It's a testament to how bad the Colts are that just two good quarters from the Patriots was enough to beat them. Even so, the Pats' defense allowed Dan Orlovsky to have the game of his life. 30 for 37, 353 yards, 2 scores, 1 pick, a 113.2 rating. It's kind of scary to allow a guy like Orlovsky to put up Peyton Manning numbers, even if some of that was in garbage time.

Everyone keeps trying to figure out how good the Patriots really are. Are they good enough to win a playoff game? Are they good enough to get to Indy? Can they beat the likes of Green Bay or Baltimore? There's no way that a Week 13 game against the Manning-less Colts will tell you if they can or cannot go deep into the playoffs.

To be honest, it will come down to how well they play on gameday. If Brady is at his best, the Patriots are almost unbeatable. If he's just good, it gets interesting. If he has a bad or even below average game, the Patriots have no chance.

Patriots travel to the 4-8 Redskins next week.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Will BC Basketball Win More Games than BC Football?

BC lost a closely fought game to Penn State last night 62-54. And the ACC finished the BigTen/ACC Challenge 4-8. BC basketball is now 2-5 with losses against Holy Cross, UMass, St. Louis, and New Mexico. They needed overtime to beat UC-Davis, and their other win was a 3 point squeaker over UNH.

It's a rebuilding year for BC basketball, as second year coach Steve Donahue tries to resurrect a program that was left in a shambles by a lack of recruiting by Al Skinner.

BC football, meanwhile, went 4-8. They even lost to Duke. The one bright spot was junior linebacker Luke Kuechly. He was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and is projected to be the top LB in the Draft, should he decide to leave early. He recorded an astonishing 191 tackles this season.

Not to diminish Kuechly's accomplishment, but BC's offense was hardly ever on the field. Kuechly also played punt coverage, and BC punted a lot. In other words, he had more opportunities for tackles than most players.

BC's offense was without Montel Harris for most of the season. But even with him, they would have struggled to score. And if you're an offensive high school recruit, why would you want to play at BC?

This is a tough time to be a BC fan. Unless you like hockey. And this is the time that you'll see many BC fans find other things to do. At last night's basketball game, the student sections were almost empty. BC fans follow their team when it's trendy. Then forget them when it isn't. I guess that's the case with most sports teams, but the effect is even more dramatic at BC.

One Good Thing About Valentine

There's one good thing I read about Bobby Valentine yesterday. According to ESPN's Buster Olney, some Red Sox players have "grumbled" about the hiring of Bobby Valentine. They don't like it.

And that's good.

I don't want the clubhouse malcontents to be happy. So while I don't think Valentine is a long-term solution, and don't like how Ben Cherington is a puppet GM. But anyone who displeases the chicken eating, beer guzzling, complaint happy Red Sox can't be all that bad.

Bruins' November Reign

The Bruins ended November with a 6-3 victory in Toronto. It was the first time since 1969 that the Bruins went a full month without a regulation loss. And they did so because their entire roster contributed from top to bottom. Last night the Krejci line exploded. Lucic scored twice, Krejci added a goal and two assists.

This streak has seen everyone step forward and contribute in some way. Sometimes with big goals, sometimes with the little things, but it's all added up to a 12-0-1 month of November.

The Bruins entered November in dire straits. They were wallowing. They weren't skating. It seemed like only Seguin, Thomas, and Rask were showing up to play. And now they leave November atop the Northeast Division, only a point behind Pittsburgh for the best record in the NHL, and tied with Detroit for the most wins (15).

One word I'd use to describe this Bruins team is "resiliency." They don't quit, they don't stop, they're relentless. And in this streak, that resiliency has shown. The 6-0 cruise control wins against the Islanders are nice, but the 1-0 grinders against Montreal, and the comeback wins against Buffalo and Toronto, those victories show this team's character. This team occasionally falls down, but they don't stay down.

They're actually -1 in the first period this year. And are the best team in the NHL in the second and third periods (+32). This is a team of Rocky Balboas.



The Cup isn't won in November. But if the Bruins had continued their October horror show into November, they may have lost it. They turned things around, they're back on track, now let's sit back and enjoy the Champions once again playing like champs.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Bobby Valentine to Manage Reality Show on Yawkey Way

A few months after the knee-jerk dismissal of Terry Francona, the Red Sox' exhaustive search for a new manager has ended. Apparently the answer to the Sox' problems is the guy who managed the 2002 Mets. Bobby Valentine.

Fuck me.

Valentine brings a massive ego to the Red Sox clubhouse, which will certainly bring a change to the atmosphere. And I suppose any change in there has potential to be good change. But this is a guy that the Mets got rid of. What else can we salvage from the '02 Mets? Pedro Astacio? Edgardo Alfonzo? Jay Payton?

Valentine hasn't managed a Major League team in 9 years. He managed a few seasons in Japan, so maybe he can communicate with Daisuke about Tokyo's notoriously bad traffic jams.

Valentine enters a situation that does seem to require a headstrong personality. And he has that. He's an Alpha, at least in his own mind. But if the Sox' players tuned out a man with Francona's respectability and resume, will they take Valentine seriously? And won't guys like Josh Beckett know that Valentine's job security depends on Beckett's behavior? So has the power-dynamic in the clubhouse changed at all?

It doesn't look like it has.

Ultimately, I don't feel as though the manager has much of an impact on the W-L columns. If the Sox do well in 2012, it will be because they pitched well, hit well, and fielded well. Not because Valentine managed well.

I don't take Bobby Valentine seriously, though. He's a joke. The latest joke in what has become nothing but a reality TV show on Yawkey Way.

Bruins Back Where They Belong

It took a little more than two weeks for the Bruins' to get back into the mix atop the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference standings. It took a stretch of extraordinary play in order to atone for the lackadaisical start to the season. The Bruins have won 11 of 12, and accumulated 23 points in that stretch. That was after earning only 6 points in their first 10 games. It's almost December, but it sort of feels as though the season is starting over. We're back to Square 1.

The three games over the holiday weekend exemplified some of the Bruins' best qualities, and why they've been able to go on such a run.

Wednesday night Buffalo wanted revenge, both physically and on the scoreboard. The Bruins beat them in both departments. Milan Lucic isn't much of a fighter anymore, but he can still throw down.

The B's fell behind but Seguin scored, then added an assist, then Chara scored on the Power Play. Thomas was unreal in the shootout and the Bruins outlasted the Sabres.

The winning streak came to an end Friday afternoon against Detroit. But it was hardly due to lack of effort. The B's dominated most of the game, Detroit scored a few breakaways, and the Bruins couldn't get any bounces near the net.

Saturday night the Bruins needed two Winnipeg goals and a timeout before waking up. Once they did, they won the battles on the boards, ground out their offense, and played excellent shutdown defense on Winnipeg's talented forwards. Rich Peverley's astute puck-carrying set up a pair of Chris Kelly goals (he has 9 already, his previous career high was 15). Tim Thomas did the rest.

Excellent goaltending, a stingy penalty kill (85% in November), a productive power play unit (22.8% in November), lots of scoring by Seguin (8 goals in November), some timely offensive contributions from Chara (14 points in November), and getting production from guys like Kelly.

That's how the Bruins have gone from the cellar of the Conference to contending for the top spot. They have a big home-and-home series against the Maple Leafs starting Wednesday night in Toronto. They've beaten Toronto twice by a combined score of 13-2, so let's hope that trend continues.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Goodnight, Dream Team

Tom Brady is now 4-0 in his career against the Eagles, and the Patriots improved to 8-3 on the season. It was a nice win, but not particularly impressive. Victory is only as impressive as the opponent. And Philadelphia without Vick isn't a very good team. So let's make fun of the self-anointed "Dream Team" and move on.

The big plays allowed by the Pats' secondary were worrisome. They've typically been able to prevent opponents from torching them so badly. Usually they surrender territory 8 to 15 yards at a time. And if Vince Young had been more consistent, then this game might have been a bit more interesting thanks to those big plays.

The Patriots offense is very good. That's not news. A few key players got back to being involved yesterday. BJG Ellis got the ball 14 times, and although he only got 44 yards, he scored twice, and he helped set-up play-action for Brady. The Patriots ran the ball 36 times

The wide receivers got involved too. Welker caught 8 passes for 115 and a pair of TDs. And Branch caught 6 for 125. The last time the Patriots' top two receiving leaders were actually wide receivers was week 5 against the Jets.

Defensively, it wasn't pretty, but it was effective. Vince Young had a lot to do with that. So did Andy Reid. 4th and 1 on the 3, you have a 6' 5" 235 pound QB and you don't sneak it? Instead you force your inconsistent QB to throw a pass that has little margin for error? Thank you, Andy.

We're not going to learn anything new about the Patriots in these next few weeks. They're up against some weak teams with mediocre to bad quarterbacks. This is time to pile up wins and get into the best playoff position as possible.

Patriots host the winless Colts next Sunday at 1.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo