The Sox traded for Jeremy Hermida yesterday, sending minor league pitchers Jose Alvarez and Hunter Jones to the Marlins for him. Hermida is 25 years old. In 129 games with Florida, he hit .259 with a .348 OBP, 13 HR, and 47 RBI. He's a 4th outfielder with upside that's never been realized.
The B's secured the services of Tuuka Rask for at least two more years, signing him to an extension that will keep him in black and gold until 2013. The deal is worth $2.5 million total ($1M next season, $1.5M the second season).
Rask is only 22 years old and will likely be Tim Thomas' backup for the duration of the contract. That being said, he'll be 25 when the contract expires, and could be poised to be Thomas' heir apparent.
It's hard to be happy after losing 3 straight. I guess I feel like Barack's White House spinsters when they talk about the country losing jobs, but losing them at a slower rate. You hate to lose on home ice, in the division, against a team as mediocre as the Canadiens. But at least you scored, and at least you stole a point.
This team isn't built to win in overtime or in shootouts. And even when Phil Kessel wore black and gold that was the case. Last year, the B's won shootouts because Thomas would make incredible saves, and the law of averages would catch up to the opposing netminder.
The Bruins put 42 shots onto Carey Price. To be honest, few of them were very good. The Bruins looked desperate for a goal tonight, trying to get a junk goal off a rebound or deflection, rather than simply trying to beat the goalie.
A perfect microcosm of the Bruins' offensive woes came in the 2nd period. On the power play, Tim Thomas made a great up-ice pass to Paille on the offensive blue-line. It was a perfectly placed pass from a goalie with clear European long-ice experience. But Paille couldn't handle it cleanly and hit a Bruin at the side of the crease. Instead he opted for a pass to the slot, which was defended well, and nothing amounted to it. Paille wouldn't be on the ice at all (nearly 16 minutes of ice time) if not for injuries, and as solidly as he's played in Boston, he messed up what should have been a goal.
The Bruins better build on whatever momentum they gather from this OT Loss, because the division leading Sabres come into town Saturday night.
As if the Bruins needed more forwards out of their lineup. They'll be without temporary top line centerman David Krejci for awhile, as he's been diagnosed with H1N1. He'll be isolated from the team until his symptoms have gone away for 24 hours. There's no timetable yet for his return.
Hopefully, nobody else on the team contracted the flu.
On the Silver Lining front, at least all these injuries are occurring in October/November, and not April/May. And at least its forwards that have all been affected, a position the Bruins boast some depth at. If the B's lost 2 of their top defensemen, they'd truly be sunk because there's little depth at the blue line.
Can we get David Krejci to sneeze all over the visiting locker room right before the Canadiens get there?
It would be a shame to get your first loss against the Minnesota Timberwovles, but that's almost what happened last night.
It's nice having a bench. The Celtics' bench compared to Minnesota's was the difference in this game. 25 points came from the C's reserves, while the T-wolves only got 14 from theirs. Rasheed Wallace led the bench with 7 points and 5 rebounds.
KG had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. We've yet to see him have a really big night scoring wise, but it'll come. Until then, the Celtics have plenty of other weapons, and a defense as fierce as ever. Rajon Rondo had 18 points, and all five starters were in double digits.
The Patriots host the Dolphins this Sunday, and you know what that means. The Wildcat offense will once again be overhyped.
I'd actually like to give credit to some people who haven't gotten any in the National Sports Media: the Dolphins offensive line. The whole Wildcat scheme gets too much credit, the guy carrying the ball gets too much credit, Bill Parcells gets too much credit. Nobody gives any credit to Miami's O-Line. And just watch for successful Wildcat plays, then look at the huge holes opened up by their line. Look for how they tie up defensive ends and OLBs, preventing them from making plays on the backside's of runs.
The key to defeating the Wildcat is to defeat Miami's line in the trenches. It's that simple.
Another key is to score points. If Brady and Co. continue to put up touchdowns, it puts a lot of pressure on the Dolphins to throw the ball with Chad Henne. That just makes my mouth water. But the lead has to be two scores at least. Miami used their Wildcat in a 4 minute drill against the Jets down by a TD, and it worked beautifully.
A consistent running offense would be a nice thing to have in order to drain the clock and put pressure on the Dolphins to pass. But oh well, you can't have everything.
I don't think you want just pure speed against a Wildcat. Many of the bigger plays come from the middle, eventually busting to the outside once the carrier gets to the 2nd level. This is where the afore-mentioned O-Line plays a big part.
I think you want size in the middle, in order to maintain the line of scrimmage. I don't know how Ron Brace has looked in practice, but a guy as big as him, tag-teaming with Vince Wilfork, and supported by Jerod Mayo; can really dominate the middle.
If you clog up the center, you force the plays to go outside. That's where you want them to go. The more they run horizontally, the less they run vertically. This is where your speedsters and sure tacklers enter the equation.
Brandon Meriweather and Curtis McGowan will be leaned on heavily to make open field tackles on the outside. But you can't cheat and start them out there, they have to play the middle first, in case anything gets through your Wall of Wilfork-Brace/Pryor-Mayo.
The Patriots DBs aren't outstanding in coverage, but they can tackle. They learned the hard way how to tackle, by making mistakes on coverage.
I think the Patriots are well situated to stop the Wildcat. That's not the Dolphins' only bullet in their gun, but it's one that really hurt last season when these teams first played.
Prediction for Sunday's game: Patriots 31, Dolphins 21
It's nice to see the Celtics having a good start. Better than good, perfect in fact. But it's difficult to get too excited about it. A 105-74 thrashing of the 76ers confirms what we already knew: that the Celtics would walk away with their 3rd straight Atlantic Division title. Only 5 games into the season and the C's have a 2.5 game edge over Philly.
It's really nice to see the bench put up 62 points, led by Wallace's 20 (only Pierce scored more with 21). But we saw the Celtics roar out of the gates last year, too. They were 27-2 before Christmas. And what did that get them? A 2 seed and an exit in the Conference Semis.
So as good as they're playing, and as comforting as it is to once again have a bench, it's not parade planning time yet. But it is nice to go to Philadelphia and stomp the 76ers.
The Bruins have gone 133 minutes since they last scored. They haven't scored a power play goal in 5 games.
On the same night that Phil Kessel plays his first game for Toronto, it's hard not to think that losing him is a big part behind the Bruins' offensive woes. I don't think so. Losing Savard hurts more, particularly on the power play. Savard sets everything up, and not just in the offensive zone. He's a big part of the transition game, as well.
I'm glad Coach Julien finally brought Matt Hunwick back to the power play unit. And I'm tired of seeing Dennis Wideman give up unforced turnovers. Normally I don't care, because he atones for them elsewhere, but I'm losing patience with this team.
Zdeno Chara still has to make his presence known on the power play. So does Marco Sturm.
This 2-0 loss to Detroit, in and of itself, isn't the end of the world. Zetterberg's goal was a weird one. Patrice Bergeron actually won the faceoff, but inadvertently set-up Zetterberg perfectly.
And you have to give credit to Chris Osgood, who was simply stunning in the 1st period.
