HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The 26th Hockey East Championship will be decided in the next two weeks. UNH won the regular season title (their 8th), and BC came a very close 2nd, only 1 point behind. Both UNH and BC will likely be in the NCAA Tournament. But there are several bubble teams that need strong showings in order to make that 16 team field.

The bracket:



The opening round is played at the campus of the better seed. It's also a best of 3 series. The semifinals and finals will be held at the TD Garden next weekend, and those rounds are 1 and done.

Vermont Catamounts @ New Hampshire Wildcats
UNH won the regular season title, but ended the season with a tight loss at BC. In fact, they never beat BC, tying them twice in their remaining meetings. They also didn't dominate Vermont, going 1-0-2 against the Catamounts. UVM is 17th in the PairWise Ranings, which is an unassailable indicator of a team's chances of making the NCAA tournament. In other words, they need to beat UNH in this round. And I think they will put up a good fight, but lose in 3 games.

Massachusetts Minutemen @ Boston College Eagles
BC needed overtime to beat UMass a few weeks ago. The Minutemen's size posed some problems to BC's small but speedy forwards. But in a 2 to 3 game series, BC's depth will wear down a team like UMass. BC wins this series in 2 games.

Merrimack College Warriors @ Boston University Terriers
BU has surged in the 2nd half of the season. After starting off 2-9-3, the Terriers have gone 12-5-0, earned 3rd place in Hockey East, and now have an outside shot at an NCAA bid. Albeit a VERY outside shot. They need to make the HE Tourney finals, at least. Merrimack's been a nice surprise, but when BU is motivated, they're always a hard team to beat. BU sweeps in 2 games.

Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks @ Maine Black Bears
These teams were tied in points, Maine won the tie-breaker, and so gets home ice advantage. Maine's been a bipolar team, sometimes beating UNH twice in a weekend, sometimes losing to Vermont twice in a weekend. They took 2 of 3 from UMass-Lowell. Big things were expected from the River Hawks this year, so while normally 5th place is a good year for them, they've got to be a little disappointed. UMass-Lowell has struggled on the road, as has Maine. Since the games will be in Orono, I'm giving the edge to the Black Bears in 3.

Semifinals prediction:
Maine upsets New Hampshire
BC beats BU

Finals:
BC beats Maine

Sources:
Hockey East
USCHO

EVEN COOKE'S TEAMMATE THINKS HE SHOULD BE SUSPENDED

How can you not love Billy Guerin, a.k.a. the Pride of Wilbraham?

"If a guy gets hurt like that with a shot to the head, there's got to be something. Actions happen. Guys don't mean to hurt each other, but they do. You got to pay a price for that... We're all under the same umbrella, whether the guy's on my team and I'm sitting right next to him or he's playing in California. It doesn't matter. We're all playing in the same league. We all want the same safety. We all want to be looked after the same way. I understand he [Cooke] is on my team but, hey, he's in a tough spot."

So what does this say about the inaction by both the Bruins and the NHL? You've got Matt Cooke's teammate of 2 years, who he won a Stanley Cup with, telling the media that he thinks Cooke deserved some sort of discipline.

Unfortunately, Guerin's remarks are about ten times stronger than Claude Julien's in the aftermath of all this. Maybe Guerin should be in the suit behind the Bruins' bench.

Source:
AP via ESPN

BRUINS GROUND FLYERS

168 minutes, 57 seconds. That was the gap between multi-goal Bruin leads. It was March 6th on Long Island when the Bruins last held a 2+ goal advantage.

I'm going to bathe in this victory a bit. Not just because I hate the Flyers. Not just because I hate Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians. Not just because it was the B's first multi-goal margin of victory since February 7th. Not just because this was without Savard. Not just because the Bruins have a 5 point cushion over the 9th place Rangers (and a game in hand). Not just because Philadelphia is a playoff team.

But because it was the best Bruins game I've seen them play since... well, a long enough time. In a pre-game interview, Mark Stuart said the team was hoping for an "ugly win," simply wanting anything to get them 2 points. This win was far from ugly.

Normally, my Bruins' recaps are an airing of grievances, Frank Costanza on Festivus style. But this will be the opposite: a list of praise, because quite a few Bruins put in very good efforts last night.

Tuuka Rask got Daisuke Matsuzaka support from his offense, but he had an excellent game in his own right. He made a huge cross-crease save in the 1st when it was 0-0, and that certainly changed the dynamic of the game early on. He also made another athletic stop when it was 4-1, which essentially closed the door on the Flyers' chances of winning.

Patrice Bergeron had a goal and 2 assists in an excellent three-zone performance. The Bruins need his offense in order to consistently score goals.

David Krejci and his line looked like they did last year. Krejci-Wheeler-Ryder totaled 70 goals last season. They're only up to 41 this campaign, but they were outstanding last night. Wheeler's first goal was the end result of textbook hockey played in all three zones. Wheeler and Ryder harassed the Flyers as they tried to carry through the neutral zone. Then Wheeler forced a turnover, passed it up to Krejci, who carried it into the offensive end. Then Wheeler got it, and calmly made a slick move that beat Leighton and put the B's up 1-0.

Brad Marchand's stat line looks pretty dull. 11:02 on ice, 1 hit, 0 shots, 0 assists, 0 blocks, 0 PIM, etc. But that one hit was when he sent James van Riemsdyk over the dasher and into the Philly bench. Marchand had a solid night, didn't make mistakes, played within himself, and did what he could when he could.

The same can be said of Vladimir Sobotka, who was a bit busier. He made his presence felt, and I was actually surprised to see that he was only on the ice for 12 and a half minutes because he made so many solid plays with and without the puck.

A lot of people have whined that the "Bruins didn't do anything on deadline day." Tell that to Dennis Seidenberg. It's fun to watch him and Chara play on the ice at the same time. And it's a relief to have him on defense as opposed to Derek Morris. Seidenberg had his best game in black and gold. He had a clever assist, was a deserved +3, and blocked 4 shots. Maybe it's because he's from Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, but he's quickly found a place in my exclusive Bruin Binky Club.

I'll give marginal credit to Dennis Wideman too. He had a good game, and was actually consistent for 60 minutes.

Mark "Crazy Eyes" Stuart scares me sometimes. Lucic and Thornton might be the brawlers on this team, but Stuart has the most rage. A pair of fighting majors and a nice display of intensity.

The Bruins are 7-2-1 in their last 10. Hard to believe.

Now, this is just one game, one mile-marker on a very long and harsh road. There's a big game on Saturday in Montreal that has lots of playoff implications. It starts at 7.

Source:
ESPN

NO SUSPENSION FOR COOKE

The NHL showed once again that it lacks testicular fortitude, as it allowed Matt Cooke's hit on Marc Savard to go unpunished.

Quick question: how many Matt Cooke shirts do the Penguins sell? Because I'm perusing the Pittsburgh Penguins' Pro Shop. I see lots of Crosby and Malkin shirts and jerseys. A few Fleury items. Bill Guerin, Paul Coffey, Chris Kunitz, and an old-time Ron Francis shirt.

No Matt Cooke gear.

I even searched eBay for Matt Cooke paraphernalia. All I found were token autographs and $1 trading cards.

Yet he's allowed to injure the Bruins' best player, a guy the B's signed to a long-term deal, and nothing happens.

The NHL is all talk when it comes to preventing head injuries. And it's not only morally objectionable, it's bad business. Do you think parents want their kids playing a game where hits like this are condoned? Do you think parents want their kids even WATCHING this game?

And what about the message sent by this inaction to all the goons out there? They've been given a license to kill. Instead of being pro-active, even tokenly so, the NHL has essentially announced that dirty hits, so long as they're disguised within the letter of the law, are hunky dory.

What if someone did this to Alex Ovechkin, or (heaven forbid) The Golden Canadian: Sidney Crosby. Would the NHL be so tolerant? Maybe it's time to find out.

And I'm not letting the Bruins off the hook here. They did NOTHING to police this situation themselves. And I hope that on March 18th, when the Penguins come to Boston, that Thornton, Lucic, Chara, and anyone on the ice with Cooke, forgets about hockey for a shift and focuses on shortening Matt Cooke's career, if not his life.

Or you know what, instead of trying to punish Cooke with physical torment, maybe a more fitting deterrent would be to go after Crosby. Most goons are tough/arrogant enough that they don't fear physical retaliation anyway. But if goons are put in a position where their behavior risks the health of their team's best players, they might clean up their act.

NOMAR'S BACK WITH THE SOX

In a very weird maneuvre, the Red Sox signed Nomar Garciaparra to a minor league deal, then he retired. The ex-Sox star said “I’ve always had a recurring dream, it was to be able to retire in a Red Sox uniform.” It's funny how that dream's importance diminished when the Sox offered him a 4 year, $60 million deal before the 2004 season.

After inking the minor league deal, Nomar announced his retirement, and declared his intention to work as a baseball analyst for ESPN. This brings Mr. Garciaparra full circle, as he was as vehemently anti-media as a player.

Red Sox CEO stated “When the history of the Boston Red Sox is written again, there will be a very large and important chapter devoted to Nomar Garciaparra.” Yes, Nomar played a key part in Red Sox history. After all, it was his departure which triggered the Sox' World Series run in '04.

I can just see the PR/merchandise machine that is the Red Sox Front Office deciding to retire #5 in a few seasons.

Long Live Orlando! ¡Viva Cabrera!



Source:
Bloomberg

WHY MESS WITH A PERFECT THING? PLEASE DON'T EXPAND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Would you want a plastic surgeon's knife mutilating Angelina Jolie's lips, Scarlett Johansson's chest, or Natalie Portman's eyes? Would you want Tom Brady to change his throwing mechanics, maybe go back in time and tell Ted Williams to try hitting right-handed?

The NCAA Tournament is as close to perfection as any sports contest can be. It's 65 teams, playing all over the country, non-stop, for a few weekends in March. EVERYONE in the country obediently watches. It's thrilling, compelling. You cannot NOT watch it.

Yet, the NCAA wants to ruin its own perfect baby. Why is it that they want to expand the field of the already massive basketball tournament (65 of the 347 teams in Division-I or 18.7% of all teams make the tournament), yet keep the college football championship field to 2 teams (2 of 120, or 1.7%)?

Adding 3 more play-in games wouldn't be a bad idea. The 16th seed teams are really awful, and this could raise the average quality of the field. But let's keep the changes small and gradual. Baby steps.



Who complains about the NCAA tourney? Who is out there screaming "We need more teams!" "96 or bust!" Why is it that millions bitch about the BCS and nothing happens. Then nobody says a bad thing about the basketball tournament, and the NCAA wants to tinker and toy with it.

And isn't the money enough for the NCAA and all the conferences? CBS pays $545 million to broadcast these games. Every year. Is that not enough this day and age?



And who's going to watch these extra games? An expanded field of 96 would dump most of the small conference champions together, eliminating half of them before the REAL tournament started. It would essentially create a boring, pre-tournament, that nobody really watched. Nobody wants to see IUPUI play Weber State. They want to see IUPUI challenge Georgetown. David vs. Goliath was interesting because Goliath was there.

I love the NCAA tournament. 80% of the college basketball that I watch in a season is in March.

Don't fuck with it.

BRUINS LEAF A POINT IN TORONTO

Just to put this season in perspective, the Bruins now have 70 points. Last year, they attained this 70 point level on January 15.

What they don't have much of is character. Or fire. Or grit. Whatever you want to call that intangible thing that gives winning teams an additional edge in a fierce battle.

After Savard went down on Sunday, the Bruins didn't retaliate. They tried to win their game. And that was acceptable to me at the time. They're in a playoff race, the points are vital, focus on winning. But the Bruins weren't focused on winning last night in Toronto, they were focused on playing just good enough to not get embarrassed.

Toronto sucks. You saw their goaltending, their defense. And even without Savard and Chara in the lineup, the Bruins are significantly superior to the Leafs. On paper.

Michael "appendix" Ryder is a completely useless waste of space. He serves no purpose. His linemates should get credit for short-handed time on ice, because he really is a great big nothing out there. -3 last night.

And why is it that whenever an opposing player scores a junk goal off a rebound, they always share the crease with Dennis Wideman? He looks like Hal Gill more and more every day. He's just a big screen in front of Thomas out there.

In the next week, the Bruins are at Philly, at Montreal, at New Jersey. That's the 6th, 7th, and 4th place teams in the East. This upcoming stretch is key.

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE N.H.L.

As much as I like to dump on the NHL, there has been something decidedly positive growing in the American Midwest: The Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago is the 3rd largest market in the country. It's a cold weather city, with 2.8 million citizens, and 9.8 million in its metro area. But colder than the weather has been the city's affection for its hockey team.

The Blackhawks, historically, suck. They've existed for over 83 years, and have only 3 titles, and their latest came before the Vietnam War. From 1998 to 2008, they made the playoffs just once.

But last year they made a serious run in the postseason, going all the way to the Conference Finals against Detroit. And this year, they have a stranglehold on the Central Division (haven't won a Division Title since '93), and are vying with San Jose for the #1 seed in the West.

They're averaging 21,174 in home attendance. That's 2nd behind the Canadiens.

So maybe instead of incessantly trying to develop the game of hockey in Florida, Arizona, Africa, and Nashville; maybe the NHL should try to bolster the big market Northern cities. They did a good job last year, awarding the Winter Classic to Wrigley Field. But more could be done.



I think the best way to reward big market teams that develop successful talent is to allow them to keep it. Sorry, Buffalo, but big market teams make the big market bucks. So they should be helped in keeping the big market talent.

We shouldn't let teams in New York, Chicago, Philly, Toronto, and Boston go out and BUY new talent like the Yankees. But if they develop their own guys, or even sign cheap talent, why not give the club some sort of cap exemptions to keep them?

To use the Bruins as an example, developed talent like Krejci, Lucic, Boychuk, Rask, these guys count as much against the cap as free agents like Chara, Sturm, or Seidenberg. And how about Tim Thomas, who the Bruins acquired cheaply, but now counts as $5 million against the cap. Why not reward teams for finding cheap, quality talent, by giving them a rebate on their cap numbers?

Chicago is a good team. I'd hate to see this burgeoning hope for the NHL in the Windy City blown away by lack cap space, just so the Islanders can afford to make their payroll.