It's World Juniors Time!

The best young hockey players (under 20) in the world have converged in Alberta for the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship. Canada is the favorite to win, not only as the host country, not only as the 15 time winner, but as the most talented team. However, they haven't won since 2009.

There are two groups of 5 teams in the round-robin stage. The top 3 teams from each group advance to the elimination stage, with the group winners receiving byes to the semifinals. Here are the groups:

Group A:
Sweden
Russia
Slovakia
Switzerland
Latvia

Group B:
USA
Canada
Finland
Denmark
Czech Republic

The US has already thrashed Denmark 11-3, while Canada dominated Finland 8-1. Also, Sweden beat Latvia 9-4, and Russia took care of Switzerland 3-0. So no surprises so far.

The US will be playing Canada on New Year's Eve at 8pm. They'll play Finland on the 28th, and the Czech Republic on the 30th.

Other things to look for include some young Bruins and a few local college kids. Russia's Alexander Khokhlachev was drafted 40th overall by the Bruins in this year's draft. 9th overall pick Dougie Hamilton is playing for Canada and scored a goal last night.

The US team has a few New England college kids. BU's Adam Clendening, BC's Bill Arnold scored last night, Vermont's Connor Brickley, and Weymouth's own Charlie Coyle, who used to play for BU until recently, who scored a hat-trick last night.

The WJHC is a fun tournament to watch. The hockey's fast, it's intense, the Canadian crowd will be into it, and the shaky goaltending and inexperienced defense leads to some wide open play and lots of scoring.

The finals will be played on January 5th.

Bowl Previews: This Week's Bowls*

We've got quite a few bowl games this week. Two today, two tomorrow, two Thursday, Then even more as New Year's approaches. My record for picking these games hasn't been bad. 3-5. Better than I was doing with picks earlier in the year.

Today - 4:30 PM - ESPN
Little Caesars Bowl - Detroit, MI
Western Michigan Broncos vs. Purdue Boilermakers (-3)
WMU has a good offense, but a poor defense. They can throw the ball. Purdue is in the middle of the pack defensively and offensively. The polite word is "balanced," the appropriate word is "mediocre." Kalamazoo is only 2 and a half hours from Detroit. I think WMU has the edge in this game.

WMU +3

Tonight - 8:00 PM - ESPN
Belk Bowl - Charlotte, NC
Louisville Cardinals vs. NC State Wolfpack (PK)
UL lost to Florida Int'l, and Marshall. NC State lost to BC. Neither of these teams impresses me. NC State will have the crowd behind them. Louisville will struggle to put up points. I'll take a 4-4 ACC team over a 5-2 Big East team.

NC State (pick 'em)

Wednesday - 4:30 PM - ESPN
Military Bowl, presented by Northrup Grumman - Washington, DC
Toledo Rockets (-3) vs. Air Force Falcons
Toledo lost 4 games. To Boise State, Ohio State, Syracuse, and Northern Illinois. That's not awful for a MAC team. That loss to NIU was 63-60, which sums up Toledo's greatest strength (their offense) and biggest weakness (defense). Air Force doesn't have a defense that's anything special. They can run the ball (320.3 yards per game), so either they'll keep the ball away from Toledo's explosive offense, or they'll fall behind and need to chew up clock to catch up. Air Force isn't equipped to take full advantage of Toledo's porous defense.

Toledo -3.

Wednesday - 8:00 PM - ESPN
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl - San Diego, CA
California Golden Bears vs. #24 Texas Longhorns (-3)
Cals 7-5 record was inflated by wins against some bad teams. Texas is in a similar boat, only not as bad. The Longhorns have more talent in this battle of mediocrity. They also crushed UCLA, whereas Cal lost to the Bruins.

Texas -3

Thursday - 5:30 PM - ESPN
Champ Sports Bowl - Orlando, FL
Florida State Seminoles (-3) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Two powerhouse programs that were expected to do well in 2011 but fell very short. I simply do not believe in Notre Dame. Sure, they won 8 games, they beat Michigan State, but their schedule is packed with bad teams. BC, Maryland, Purdue. FSU, on paper, is a much better team. And they'll be the better team on the field as well.

FSU -3

Thursday - 9:00 PM - ESPN
Washington Huskies vs. Baylor Bears (-9.5)
Washington lost to pretty much every good team in the Pac-12. They allow 33.3 points per game, which does not bode well for a matchup against RG3 and the Bears of Baylor. This game should see plenty of points. But Baylor will have more of them. Much more of them.

Baylor -9.5

Bruins Put Up a Snowman Before Christmas

The Bruins scored a touchdown and then a two point conversion Friday night, taking full advantage of a Florida team that was visibly exhausted. The Panthers had played the night before in Ottawa, had played 3 games in 4 days, and were missing 7 forwards. So anything less than a Bruins win was unacceptable.

What I liked most about this win, apart from the TD Garden crowd chanting "Merry Christmas," was how the Bruins continued to apply pressure. In years past, the B's would get a 2 or 3 goal lead, then try to cruise for the rest of the game. And it frequently bit them in the ass. See: 2010 playoff series vs. Philadelphia.

But this season, we're seeing the Bruins improve once they get a lead. They smell blood and the water and it excites them like piranhas. That's why we've seen them score so many goals within a single minute.

Obviously Brad Marchand was the star of the game, netting his first career hat-trick. Give Seguin some additional credit for that assist on Marchand's third.

What might be a bit overlooked is that Tuukka Rask stopped all 30 shots he faced. That's 2 straight shutouts for Tuukka, plus the clean 3rd period he played in net in Columbus. That's 7 periods and 155 minutes since he allowed his last goal, 4:50 into the 3rd in Winnipeg on December 6th. And he's this team's backup goalie.

The Bruins are 20-2-1 since the end of October. And it's because they're getting contributions from Marchand, from Rask, from Seguin, from everyone.

They don't play until Wednesday night in Phoenix. It's the start of a 3 game road trip that will stretch into 2012.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Patriots Play Half a Game, Still Win

It was ugly. And if the Pats were playing another team, it probably would have been a loss. Instead, the Patriots came back from a 17-0 deficit and with that win clinched a first round bye.

I've been saying it for weeks now. The Patriots' success and failure is determined by how well the offense does. The defense is what it is. In the Buffalo loss, Brady threw 4 picks. In the Pittsburgh loss, the offense struggled to get first downs. In the Giants loss, the Pats turned the ball over 4 times.

In Saturday's game, we saw the offense struggle in the first half, and the team was doomed. In the second half, the offense did well, and the team looked great. The Dolphins helped by turning the ball over. That's what alarms me. If the Patriots offense has a bad half, or faces a good pass rush, and they're playing a quality team, will they be able to come back? Can they depend on unforced turnovers in the 2nd half?

For this team to make a deep playoff run, the offense has to be amazing. And they have to be at least good on just about every drive.

They've got a bye, which is huge. It's advancing a round in the playoffs before the playoffs even start. But they need to play better if they want to advance. And it's not the defense that needs to improve (I'd argue that they can't improve), it's the offense.

Pats host the Bills on Sunday and can clinch the #1 seed and homefield with a win. I'm sure the Pats will also be looking to get a measure of revenge for their 34-31 loss to Buffalo in September.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Bowl Previews: This Weekend's Bowls*

We've got a bowl game on Christmas Eve, then another on Boxing Day (the 26th). It'll be tough to catch these games with a full NFL slate and holiday stuff mixed in. But here are my picks anyway:

Saturday - 8:00 PM - ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl - Honolulu, HA
Nevada Wolfpack vs. #21 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (-8)
It's hard not to pick Southern Miss. They won 11 games, they beat Houston, their two losses were close and on the road, 14th ranked offense, 29th defense. Meanwhile, Nevada struggled to beat the relatively quality teams on their schedule. I have to pick the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss -8

Monday - 5:00 PM - ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl - Shreveport, LA
Missouri Tigers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Both these programs had higher expectations than this. Mizzou finished 5th in the Big XII, UNC was tied for 8th in the ACC. Although the Big XII was a better conference, Missouri couldn't beat any of the decent or good teams. This should be a close game, and I think Carolina will pull it out, or at least prevent Missouri from covering the 5 point spread.

North Carolina +5.

More picks next week as the quantity and quality of bowl games increases. Merry Christmas!

Bowl Previews: This Week's Bowls*

My picks were 2-1 on Saturday, and although I'm tempted to quit while I'm ahead, I've got more picks. These are some weekday bowls starting tonight, and there are actually some very good teams involved. TCU plays tomorrow night, and Boise State plays Thursday night. That's the big dropoff from BCS Bowls for these conferences. Try to convince me that the BCS doesn't violate some sort of anti-trust laws. Anyway, here are the picks (all times are Eastern):

Tonight - 8:00 PM - ESPN
Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl - St. Petersburg, FL
Florida International Golden Panthers (-3.5) vs. Marshall Thundering Herd
They might need the biggest marquee in history to fit all those words onto one sign. FIU is one of the few teams headed north to their bowl game. The Golden Panthers were 8-4, and even beat Louisville. Meanwhile, Marshall barely was bowl eligible. The Herd also beat Louisville. Man, Louisville sucks. Marshall will be happy to make the trip and lose with little fight.

FIU -3.5

Wednesday - 8:00 PM - ESPN
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl - San Diego, CA
#18 TCU Horned Frogs (-9.5) vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Speaking of lengthy titles... TCU won 10 games, and only lost to Baylor (50-48) and SMU (in OT). 9th best offense in the country, respectable 30th in defense. Meanwhile, LaTech has mounted a 7 game win streak after starting 1-4. Maybe ESPN should be drooling all over their quarterback just like they did with Tebow. The Bulldogs will put up a fight, but TCU is legitimately good.

TCU -9.5

Thursday - 8:00 PM - ESPN
Maaco Bowl - Las Vegas, NV
Arizona State Sun Devils vs. #7 Boise State Broncos (-14)
Can you understand why BSU wanted to join the Big East so badly? They go 11-1, finish 2nd in their conference to TCU, and they win up playing before Christmas. ASU can score, and their passing offense is 11th best in the country. They have a good QB and a good RB. This game will be interesting until halftime when BSU pulls away.

Boise State -14

We'll have more bowl previews later this week.

B's Beat Habs With One Hand Tied Behind Their Back

The Bruins did not have Milan Lucic. They didn't even play their best. And they still beat the Canadiens.

Despite struggling to break out with the puck, despite some foolish turnovers, despite occasionally taking Montreal's speed for granted, the Bruins prevailed. Things are going well for the B's, and going poorly for the Habs.

And I don't feel the slightest shred of pity. This is a team with a fanbase more concerned about the languages its head coach can fluently speak than about whether or not he can get their team to play. This is a team more concerned with style than substance. This is a team of soccer players on skates and they simply cannot stand toe-to-toe with a focused Bruins team.

Patrice Bergeron deserves at least a nomination for the Selke (awarded to the best defensive forward). He forced the turnover that allowed Seguin and Marchand to score what wound up being the deciding goal. There's no forward I'd rather have on the ice in a tough defensive situation than Patrice Bergeron.

10th divisional win for the Bruins, who now have a 9 point cushion on 2nd place Toronto, with a game in hand.

The Bruins host the Panthers Friday night in a meeting of divisional leaders. The Panthers were the last team to beat the Bruins, so this could be a good test.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Howe Chara Got His Groove Back

Zdeno Chara returned to the Bruins lineup and his impact was felt early and often. He was challenged to a fight 2:13 into the game. He scored a goal about 6 minutes later. And he completed his fourth career Gordie Howe hat-trick 7 minutes into the 2nd. Horton was an assist shy of accomplishing the feat.

This was a big test for the Bruins, and they Aced it. The Flyers had won 7 straight, they were atop the Eastern Conference standings, and this was the team that beat the Bruins on Opening Night, partially dampening the B's banner raising celebration. The Bruins got some revenge, and made a huge statement with this win.

The B's scored with deflections and rebound goals. Seguin's was the prettiest of the bunch, and it should have been stopped by Bobrovsky. But as ugly as the goals were, they were the products of good play and puck possession. Also, the Bruins' defensemen were excellent at getting shots at net. Those either went in, were deflected, or were juicy rebounds.

I have to give Julien tons of credit for getting this team to play this well on Saturday. They were flat in Ottawa, and instead of coming to Boston, then going to Philly, the B's stayed in Ontario. Claude gave the team a day off. I'm sure some guys relaxed, some guys went out and blew off some steam. But they all came back reinvigorated.

The Bruins had a full hour of penalties. That's bound to happen in a game against a rival like Philadelphia with a lopsided score. Horton's fighting major means that 10 different Bruins have dropped the gloves this season. That's more than half the skaters on the team.

Lucic got a boarding major, and it was a dirty hit. Thankfully everyone was okay, but I think a suspension is in order. It was a classic case of a defenseless player being checked between the numbers and into the boards.

Tim Thomas recorded his 30th career shutout and 4th of the season. He made some brilliant saves throughout the game. We all know the Tim Thomas story, but it's worth repeating. Drafted in 1994, didn't make his first start until January of 2006, didn't get his first shutout until later that month, and he now has 30. If Dominek Hasek and Martin Brodeur somehow had a son, and he was a late-bloomer, his name would be Tim Thomas.

The Bruins are now on top of the Conference, a month after being stuck in the bottom. They host the Canadiens tonight. Montreal is reeling, having lost 8 of their last 11. They also just fired their coach. This is a good chance to improve the Bruins' already impressive 9-2 divisional record.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo