Marchand Suspended for Five Games

After lengthy deliberation, the NHL suspended Marchand for 5 games. They deemed his clipping check of Sami Salo to be "predatory." No doubt Marchand's history and reputation played a part in the NHL's decision, rightfully so. Brendan Shanahan explains.

I wish the NFL would do stuff like this, clearly explaining and showing with video why they've decided to discipline a player.

Anyway, the simple fact is, Marchand ducked too low. If that was intentional or incidental, only Marchand knows. He should also know better. He can duck this check by dropping his shoulder into Salo's hip. He has a reputation and a history, particularly with this team. While we adore him for moments like this one:

That style of behavior tends to draw the attention of the League offices.

And before anyone accuses the NHL of an anti-Boston bias, or of trying too hard to eliminate physicality in the game, let's remember that Chara didn't get disciplined at all for his hit on Max Pacioretty. And more recently, Lucic's game misconduct from Saturday was rescinded.

I do think that calling this hit "predatory" is a bit much. It'll satisfy the whining from Vancouver's players, press, and coaches. In effect, this suspension is a warning to Marchand. One he must heed. I love his style of play, I love how he gets under the skin of opponents, but he has to learn where the boundaries are. He crossed a boundary on Saturday. And now he has some time to think about it.

Of course, to any high and mighty Canucks fans, I wouldn't get too morally superior.

The Least Entertaining Postseason in Sports

I could go on and on about how sketchy and stupid college football's bowl system is. I could point out what's been pointed out a billion times and say "we need a playoff." And I think I might start writing a book on the tyranny of the bowls and how they unjustly control college football's postseason. In this little article though, I'm just going to point out a simple fact:

College football's postseason is the least entertaining of all postseasons in major sports.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are amazing. I'm not much of a basketball fan but the NBA playoffs usually draw me in for a weeks. March Madness might be my favorite sporting event of the year. MLB playoff games are tense and pressure filled. And the NFL playoffs are thrilling.

There's something about earning the right to extend a season. There's something special about hockey in June, baseball in October, and football in February. And there's something even more special about teams fighting tooth and nail for that right to play one more game.

Compare that to bowl games. Which can sometimes be entertaining to watch. But then the victors' season is over. Just as over as the team they beat. There's nothing more to win than a trophy and a t-shirt. There's no survival, no advancement to next week's round.

Imagine if last night's Broncos/Steelers game were a bowl game. It would have still been fun to watch. But without anything more than a trophy awarded to the winner, it's not nearly as exciting as a playoff win. We'd forget all about it in a few weeks as the #1 Packers played the #2 Patriots for the national title. While the Saints played in the Rose Bowl and the Broncos played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

We've seen some entertaining bowl games. And tonight's might also be fun to watch. But how much more fun would it be to see the winner of tonight's game play Oklahoma State? How about Stanford playing Boise State? How much more enjoyable would the previous bowls been if the winner won the right to survive for another week?

College football might have the most exciting regular season of all sports. But it's postseason is the least entertaining.

Tebow's Coming to Foxborough

The Broncos beat a depleted Steelers team last night in dramatic fashion. The first ever overtime of "each team gets a possession, unless..." ended with the unless part coming true. And now the 4th seeded 8-8 Broncos are coming to Foxborough to play Saturday night.

This is the best possible matchup for the Patriots. And while we shouldn't underestimate Denver, and the Pats obviously have to execute in order to win this game, the Broncos are who they are. They lost 8 games. They backed into the playoffs. They were thoroughly beaten when the Pats went to Denver.

I do have to say that the Broncos' offensive scheme has improved. They're getting better at putting Tebow in no-decision situations. Like throwing deep. He doesn't have to worry about finding the open man or going through progressions. The decision has already been made for him by the structure of the play.

Another interesting storyline of this game is that Josh McDaniels, the man who drafted Tebow as head coach of the Broncos, will be working for the Patriots as a newly hired offensive assistant.

It's almost worth the endless, insufferable Tebow ball-washing that will be all over ESPN this week.

Proud to be a Bruins Fan

Even if the Canucks had won Cup last year, I'd much rather be a Bruins fan than a Canucks fan. I feel kind of bad for the fans of Vancouver, having to root for the likes of Roberto Luongo, Maxim Lapierre, Dale Weise, Alex Burrows, et cetera. A goalie who doesn't want to play in goal. A coward. A guy who skates away from a fight. A fiend. It must kind of suck to have to support the likes of these characters.

There were two games on Saturday afternoon. There was the game when Vancouver was on the Power Play, which the Canucks won 4-0. And there was the game when they weren't. Which the Bruins won 3-0. There were 107 penalty minutes issued and 18 Power Plays for both teams. 13:34 of this game was played with the Canucks having at least one man advantage.

To be fair to the refs, this was a hard game to officiate. These teams do not like each other. And the refs called the game tight for both teams. And the refs did a good job not allowing Dale Weise to get away with goading Shawn Thornton into dropping the gloves then not fighting.

Unfortunately, the refs were a bit inconsistent. Some hits and stickwork was called for 2 minutes. Some wasn't. Some calls confused me. Seguin's tripping call, Krejci's goaltender interference, the 3rd period holding penalty on Alexander Edler. And why was it that Alex Burrows waves the blade of his stick at Thornton's eyes, the lines brawl, and somehow the Bruins emerge down 2 men?

The officials' inconsistency favored both teams at timse. And credit must be given to Vancouver for their special teams' play. Their Power Play won them the game. And the Bruins' lack of a Power Play cost the B's the game. The Bruins had 7 chances with a man advantage. And failed each time.

I actually think the PP slowed down the Bruins' momentum at times. They were attacking in the middle of the 2nd, for instance, then drew a penalty, then played a static, undramatic, uninspired two minutes of 5 on 4, then drifted through the rest of the 2nd.

This game was weird. It was emotional. It was rarely 5 on 5. Vancouver won, fair and square. But if this were Game 1 of a 7 game series, I'd like the Bruins chances to win.

There may be future ramifications for the Bruins. The NHL rescinded Lucic's game misconduct, which was a correct call. Lucic didn't climb over the boards, he was still on the ice in the middle of a line change, as were several Canucks.

Marchand has a hearing with the NHL today. And I don't think he'll just be fined. His clipping penalty was a good call. He's claiming that he was trying to protect himself but it didn't seem that way. The hit was dirty. And unnecessary/stupid. The refs had been calling EVERY infraction up to that point so it was stupid for Marchand to risk giving Vancouver another power play.

Marchand has already been fined this year. He was suspended last season. He has a reputation that's growing more and more infamous. I think he should be suspended, and will be. For 2 games, I'd say.

Vancouver won a game. Good for them. And good luck in the playoffs when half the penalties called on Saturday won't be called. And good luck in the playoffs with a star goalie who doesn't demand to play in big games like this one.

The Bruins stand up for their teammates. They have goalies who crave big games. They have fighters, not talkers. They didn't get a win on Saturday, but they can and should be happy that they are much better than the Canucks, and not just at hockey.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Why It's Still Easy to Hate the Canucks

There's just nothing to respect about the Vancouver Canucks. The latest news is that their starlet goalie Roberto Luongo will not start in Boston tomorrow. Which is odd because he last played on Wednesday and would apparently have ample rest. Instead, backup goalie and BC alum and Marblehead, MA native Cory Schneider will start. Schneider is 8-5-1 with a very respectable 2.16 GAA.

But shouldn't Luongo want to start? He struggled in the 3 games in Boston during the Stanley Cup Finals, so shouldn't that be his motivation for wanting to play? Nope. He doesn't want a chance to acquire a morsel of peace of mind. He doesn't want a chance to exorcise some demons and, for his own sake, to get past the past.

And that's why he's such a loser. He's always been soft when it matters most. He doesn't do well in challenging situations. He often finds ways to avoid them. He plays the wrong position for that kind of mentality.

Then there's the remarks from Daniel Sedin. When asked about what would happen if Brad Marchand once again used his face as a speedbag, Sedin said:

"I think the referees, I hope, are going to call a penalty and we'll be on the power play,"

Really? That's the best you can do? Hope the refs call a penalty? Not stand up for yourself and try to stop it. Not hope your teammates, your linemates, your own brother doesn't come over and stand up for you?

There's just nothing to respect about the Canucks. There's other teams I hate in the NHL. Montreal, Philly, Pittsburgh, New York. But I have some respect for things they do. Montreal can skate. Pittsburgh's gritty. Et cetera. But the Canucks flop, whine, and turtle.

Sources:
Vancouver Sun
WEEI 850AM

Sweden Wins World Juniors

I don't speak Swedish, but I think these guys are happy that Sweden won. Mika Zibanejad scored the game-winner a little more than 10 minutes into OT, and Sweden won its first Juniors title in 31 years. It was Sweden's 58th shot on net. The previous 57 had been stopped by Russian goalie Andrei Markarov. Sweden outshot Russia 58-17.

It was a thrilling end to an exciting tournament. And anytime Canada doesn't win makes me happy.

Bowl Previews: This Weekend's Bowls*

Now we get some more crappy bowls before the big one on Monday.

Saturday - 1:00 PM - ESPN
BBVA Compass Bowl - Birmingham, AL
SMU Mustangs vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (-4)
I think the Big East sucks. Despite seeing WVU destroy Clemson. I'm being biased and picking SMU to win.

SMU +4

Sunday - 9:00 PM - ESPN
Godaddy.com Bowl - Mobile, AL
Arkansas State Red Wolves (-1.5) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies
Arkansas State won the Sun Belt and won their last 9 games. NIU won the MAC and 8 straight. I know nothing about these teams, but I love the name Red Wolves, so...

Arkansas State -1.5

Bill O'Brien Bound for Happy Valley

It looks as though Patriots' offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien will step out of Bill Belichick's shadow and into Joe Paterno's. He's expected to be named the next head coach at Penn State. He was in State College, PA for an interview this week.

O'Brien went to Brown, just like Paterno. He's spent a number of years as an assistant in the college ranks at Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Duke.

There's no questioning his offensive credentials. He came to the Patriots in 2007 and the Patriots have been scoring in bunches since then.

The Patriots are going to have to replace him, of course. I don't think it will be too difficult. O'Brien was good at his job, but how hard is it to coach Tom Brady, Wes Welker, and Rob Gronkowski? And to be honest, I don't think the Patriots' offense was as good as it could have been this year. I'm not sure if that's O'Brien's fault or not.

But I don't think it will be too hard to replace him and continue to score points.