HOW SEVERE WAS PACIORETTY'S "SEVERE" CONCUSSION?

I know that every concussion is different. But in the aftermath of the Chara-Pacioretty incident, we heard that the Montreal winger had a "severe" concussion. That one word made us in Boston think about Patrice Bergeron's concussion, and of course Marc Savard's. Then the Canadiens estimated that Pacioretty would be out for the rest of the year, once again using that word "severe."

Maybe there's a language problem here. Perhaps "severe" loses something in translation from English to French. Because now it seems as though Pacioretty could be back for the playoffs. It's either a medical miracle, or the concussion wasn't as bad as we were led to believe.

On 98.5 yesterday, Mark Recchi accused the Canadiens of embellishing the injury report in an effort to get Chara suspended. There's no way to prove that, but the Habs definitely did want Chara disciplined, and they were very quick to give their diagnosis of Pacioretty's head injury. Too quick. It takes more time to properly diagnose the severity of a concussion.

There's a history of this kind of exaggeration in Montreal. I remember in '02 when Kyle McLaren obliterated Richard Zednick.

After that hit, the injury reports were extravagant as media outlets fueled fan rage. Some said he'd broken his neck, some said he'd fractured his skull. While he did wind up with a concussion and a broken nose, his injuries were not nearly as severe as Montreal's media had proclaimed, and which the team did nothing to deny.

There's that "severe" word again. I don't know if the Habs were scheming to get Chara suspended. But they weren't striving for accuracy when they immediately deemed Pacioretty's concussion to be "severe." And the truth is, they did want Chara "severely" punished.

I don't like the Canadiens. I don't like their diving players. I don't like their whining fans. I don't like their media. I don't like their organization. I don't like Pacioretty, either. I'm glad he'll soon be back on the ice so he can be slammed into the boards again.

NCAA HOCKEY TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

When will college football forsake their coveted bowls and realize that college playoffs are some of the most exciting, riveting drama in sports? Anyway, 16 teams will vie for the 2011 NCAA Hockey Championship. Divided into four regions, all these games will take place this weekend, with the Frozen Four played two weeks later in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here's the tournament field:

EAST REGION - BRIDGEPORT, CT
#1 Yale Bulldogs vs. #4 Air Force Falcons
Yale only lost 6 times all season. But one of those came against Air Force back in November. But it was also in Colorado. This will be in Yale's backyard, and the Bulldogs only lost once at home all season. Yale are the #1 overall seeds in the tournament, and even though I think they won't win it all, they'll be able to cruise past Air Force 5-1.

#2 Union Dutchmen vs. #3 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs
It's been an historic year for Union hockey, and now they make their first ever tournament appearance. They'll face UMD, one of 5 teams representing the mighty WCHA. Union were solid all year, and won the ECAC regular season title. They even beat Yale. They might have some jitters, though. Both these teams were knocked out by inferior opponents in their conference tournaments. But looking at UMD, they took care of business in the WCHA when facing teams that weren't ridiculously good. I think they beat Union 4-3.

That would set up a Yale vs. UMD meeting. I'd pick Yale in that one, because UMD frequently lost to the super talented WCHA teams they faced.

NORTHEAST REGION - MANCHESTER, NH
#1 Miami (OH) RedHawks vs. #4 New Hampshire Wildcats
One thing I don't like about this tournament is that "hosts" like Yale and UNH were going to wind up in Bridgeport and Manchester, respectively, no matter what. It's an effort to ensure a packed house. But it unfairly punishes a good team like Miami. It also sends a team like BC to Missouri.

However, Miami is good enough to overcome the disadvantage. The RedHawks have won more NCAA tournament games (5) in the past two seasons than either BU or BC, the winners of those tourneys. They're experienced, hungry, and very good. UNH and Miami actually split a 2 game series in October. However, it's now March, and UNH sucks in March. They're 4-5-2 in their last 11. Miami will make that 4-6-2. RedHawks win 4-1.

#2 Merrimack Warriors vs. #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Merrimack get to play this game only an hour's drive from Andover. So count on lots of yellow and blue in the stands. The Warriors were nearly unbeatable at home. And their valiant effort in the Hockey East finals against BC was quite impressive. Notre Dame held their own in the difficult CCHA, but never won the big games. Merrimack has done well against good teams, so long as they're close to home. Merrimack wins 3-2.

That would pit Miami against Merrimack. I think Miami is simply too good to not emerge from this region. RedHawks advance.

WEST REGION - ST. LOUIS, MO
#1 Boston College Eagles vs. #4 Colorado College Tigers
East vs. West in St. Louis. How appropriate. Since Thanksgiving, BC has lost a total of 2 games. Colorado College lost that many games in the WCHA tournament. BC hasn't lost an NCAA game since the 2007 Finals. And even though that game was played in the same building as this, that winning streak will continue. BC 3, CC 1.

#2 Michigan Wolverines vs. #3 Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks
Michigan just announced that they'll be joining the new Big Ten hockey conference in the 2013-14 season. These teams split a series in Ann Arbor back in October. Both struggled against the elite teams in their conferences, but both occasionally beat them. I'm going to go with Michigan because they have a tradition of excelling in the NCAA tournament (9 titles). Wolverines win 4-2.

BC against Michigan would be a fun game to watch. And I think the Eagles would win 6-4.

MIDWEST REGION - GREEN BAY, WI
#1 North Dakota Fighting Sioux vs. #4 RPI Red Hawks
North Dakota might be the best team in the country, and after grinding out a double OT 3-2 win over Denver to win the WCHA title, it'd be hard to disagree. RPI limped down the stretch. They have some solid wins on their resume, but 20 wins with a soft ECAC schedule doesn't impress me much. North Dakota will destroy RPI 5-0.

#2 Denver Pioneers vs. #3 Western Michigan Broncos
WMU's 19 wins is the lowest total in the NCAA field. Denver beat NCAA tournament teams 6 times this year. They also lost their fair share of games against such teams, but being able to beat the likes of North Dakota in Grand Forks is pretty impressive. They've got a good goalie that keeps them in every game, and they should dispense of WMU with ease. Denver wins 3-0.

I think Denver will upset North Dakota 4-3 in OT, and move on to the Frozen Four.

FROZEN FOUR
Yale vs. Miami - Yale hasn't played teams like this in the ECAC. Miami extends their 7 game NCAA win streak against teams that aren't from Boston.

BC vs. Denver - Great offense vs. great goaltending. But BC's offense is too great to be fully stopped. Eagles win and advance to the finals.

Miami vs. BC - I think Miami will exorcise a lot of demons and win this one.

BRUINS ANSWER WAKE UP CALL

There were a lot of things to like about how the Bruins played this game. The Power Play looked good all night and finally broke through with a goal. The B's adjusted to New Jersey's forechecking. Marchand and Kaberle skated their brains out. Seguin and Peverley are clicking. Thomas had an excellent rebound game. Lucic returned to scoring form.

The three players who have carried this team (Thomas, Chara, and Lucic) all had bad games in Toronto. They all had great games last night. Thomas with 30 saves, including 15 tough ones in the 1st period. Chara with a goal and two assists. Lucic with a goal and an assist. These three guys are the foundation of this team. Without them, this team is doomed.

Now let's not go nuts. We've seen this team answer wake-up calls before. Too many times. The real questions are: why were they asleep at all? And why will they fall asleep again? I've said it before; over the course of a season, this team requires more wake-up calls than a hotel hosting a narcolepsy convention.

And this game wasn't all roses either. The Penalty Kill allowed yet another goal. And it was thanks to Gregory Campbell, who saw Kovalchuk drifting behind him, and did nothing to get in the shooting lane. Instead, he tried to cover a forward that Boychuk had contained. On the Penalty Kill, you have to make compromises, and you will allow shots. But one of those compromises doesn't have to be letting Ilya freaking Kovalchuk have half the ice to shoot from.

If I have to watch Michael Ryder screw up anymore, I'm going to have an aneurysm.

He and Krejci had golden scoring opportunities, ruined by poor judgment. Both failed to position themselves in a shooting stance as they drove toward the net. Each received passes that were just inches off the mark. But instead of shooting a backhander anyway, they tried to get the puck to their forehand. When in the slot in front of the net there are two things you don't have much of: time and space.

Maybe I'm nitpicking. While I'm satisfied with how well the Bruins played last night, their problem has been maintaining such energy and fortitude.

Big game on Thursday as Montreal comes to town. The Habs haven't been too sharp since the Chara incident. This is a chance for the B's to put some distance between them.

MATT COOKE STRIKES AGAIN

If the NHL wants to get serious about concussions, they need to get serious about repeat offenders like Matt Cooke, who has repeatedly displayed a complete disregard for the rules, and for the health of his opponents. This isn't "reputation," this is a repeat offender. And suspending repeat offenders for 4, 6, even 8 games is insufficient.

The NHL needs to implement an escalating punishment scale for these kinds of hits. Sort of like what MLB does with steroids, or the NFL does with their "substance abuse policy." First offense, 2-4 games. Second offense 5-10 games. Third offense 10-20 games. Fourth offense is 20 to 40. Fifth offense is an 80 game suspension. Sixth offense: permanent banishment.

Now this would only be for blatantly intentional head shots like this. It wouldn't get rid of concussions in the NHL, because it's a fast paced, hard hitting game. But it might make the Matt Cookes of the world think twice before charging and elbowing a defenseless player.

And it might make Mario Lemieux think twice when assembling his team.

BC WINS HOCKEY EAST... AGAIN

For the 10th time, the BC Eagles won the Hockey East tournament, grinding out a 5-3 win over Merrimack. Both BC and Merrimack were selected for the NCAA tournament, along with UNH. We'll have a preview of the NCAAs in the next few days.

What Jerry York and Boston College have done in the last decade has been nothing short of extraordinary. They've won 4 of the last 5 Hockey East tournaments. Since 2001, they've won 6 of these tournaments, 5 regular season titles, 5 Beanpots, made 9 NCAA appearances, 6 Frozen Fours, and won 3 national titles.

However, some of BC's weaknesses were thoroughly exposed by Northeastern and Merrimack this past weekend. Goalie John Muse has a stellar record, but he tends to over-commit just a tad. He's got a few small gaps that skilled shooters and lucky bounces can find. BC also struggle against physical teams like Northeastern that are able to keep the puck on the boards, and staple BC's skill players against the glass. BC's forwards aren't soft, but their strengths are in the middle of the ice. They hardly ever grind out physical goals.

Fortunately for BC, most of college hockey has tried to emulate them. It's about speed and skills. Very few teams can play 60 tough physical minutes. Even if they can, they then lack the requisite skill to score 3 or 4 goals to beat BC.

BC starts the NCAA tournament in St. Louis on Friday. They'll play Colorado College at 9.

BRUINS MELTING LIKE THE SNOW

Maybe if Tim Thomas hadn't had one of his worst games in months, and if James Reimer hadn't had the best game of his career, the Bruins could have eked out a win, or an OT loss. But for too long, Thomas has carried this team. And when he dropped them, nobody else picked them up.

Thomas, along with Lucic and Chara, have been the load bearing talent all season. All three had bad games. Thomas was caught out of position. Lucic had a few token shots that wouldn't trouble a high school goalie. And Chara failed twice to make a play on a puck, which led to a Toronto goal.

The rest of the team was doing what they've been doing all year long: being very good at being very mediocre.

Toronto was fighting Saturday night. They're just a few points out of the playoffs. Just like Nashville was fighting on Thursday. The Bruins have no fight in them. They might play a good shift here and there, but they can't string multiple quality shifts in a row. There's no fire. No motivation. No dedication.

Then the mistakes. McQuaid was beat to the outside, and that resulted in a goal. Chara had some miscues that ultimately resulted in a goal. Seidenberg completely screened Rask, then failed to block a shot, allowing a goal.

Actually, I think the defensemen have probably been making these errors all season. We just didn't notice. Because when Thomas was on his A-Game, those errors didn't become costly errors.

I just don't like many of the forwards on this team. We have a 1st line center who can't score goals. We have an "energy" line that hasn't produced energy since January. We have frequently slumping "scorers," and more role players than there are roles.

The Bruins' offense is like a very complex machine with a million moving parts. When everything's in order, the machine produces. But it just takes one tiny flaw in all those parts for the whole thing to break down. Ryder turns the puck over too much. Lucic is slumping, so the whole 1st line can't score. Marchand and Bergeron are cold, so now the whole team can't score.

Then there's the power play, which hasn't produced a 5 on 4 goal since February 18th, and they're 1 for their last 29.

If the Bruins aren't motivated by seeding, they should at least be motivated by pride. Down 5-1 going into the 3rd, they didn't show any life, or any determination to win the period until just a minute was left on the clock.

This team will not make much noise in the playoffs. I'm fairly certain of it. I'll still watch, I'll still hope. But it's sort of like how I feel about MegaMillions on Tuesday. I've bought a ticket, because you never know. But I haven't put a down payment on a Ferrari yet.

Bruins host the surging Devils on Tuesday. Then the Canadiens on Thursday. Should be an interesting week.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT*

The other March Madness continues in Boston as four teams remain in the Hockey East tourney. Two have NCAA at-large bids locked up, a third probably does, and the fourth needs to play their way in by winning twice this weekend. The semifinals start today at 5, and the finals are tomorrow at 7 (and I believe will be broadcast on NESN tape delayed).

#1 BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES vs. #6 NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES

A rematch of the Beanpot final. NU has played BC well this year. BC needed overtime in that 7-6 Beanpot game. Then they met a few days later and tied 7-7. Then Northeastern beat them 2-1. But it's hard to pick against BC in what I call "Trophy Games" (Beanpot, Hockey East tournament and NCAA tournament games). The Eagles have won 14 straight of those, dating back to March of 2009.

BC wins 6-4 in a close fought, high paced game.

#2 UNH WILDCATDS vs. #4 MERRIMACK WARRIORS
Merrimack beat UNH twice, and are the upstart surprise of Hockey East. They've struggled on the road, but it will be interesting to see how they perform on neutral ice. UNH had a brilliant regular season, but they're sort of like the snow on the ground. Overwhelming in January and February. Melting away in March.

I think Merrimack wins 3-2.

And BC wins the final.

MUSIC CITY TERRIBLE

The Bruins didn't play bad, but they didn't play good enough. It's amazing to watch opposing teams step up their intensity, and then see the Bruins fail to answer. It's a routine we've seen all too often under Julien. The Bruins haven't ended regulation with a lead since March 3rd.

Give plenty of credit to Pekka Rinne, who is perhaps the 2nd best goalie in the NHL right now. His name also sounds like a delicious pasta dish, served Alfredo. He made a some pretty big saves, most notably on Lucic and Ryder.

But when were the Bruins the clearly superior team? They never were. And their PP unit continues to struggle. When are the coaches going to evaluate their strategies and say "maybe this whole idea is wrong?" If they haven't yet, they probably never will.

I did like the line of Seguin-Peverley-Kelly. I think Seguin and Peverley compliment each other very well, and Kelly brings a physical presence. That's a decent 3rd line right there. Even though it's comprised of 3 centers.

I don't care too much about the divisional race with Montreal. I don't care about seeding either. The Bruins are better on the road anyway. The playoffs are about matchups. So if the Bruins are the 3 seed, or the 5 seed, or the 6 seed, it doesn't matter too much.

But I do like using this time of year to evaluate how the team performs in tough situations. Nashville played tough last night. The Predators are already in playoff mode, fighting for that final spot in the West. And this game reminded me of all the potential series winning games the Bruins lost last year and the year before. The Bruins gave it 9 out of 10, but the Predators gave it 12 out of 10. And that's what we'll see in the playoffs, if the Bruins are fortunate enough to be on the verge of eliminating an opponent. Which I kind of doubt.

Bruins at Leafs Saturday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo