SABRES+REFS 4, BRUINS 3

I rarely blame officiating for losses. And certainly the Bruins might have found a way to win this one despite the referees. But it's difficult to beat a good team like Buffalo, when you're shorthanded for an entire period.

The Sabres had 7 power plays, including a pair of lengthy 5-on-3s. And the calls still make me facepalm. Zdeno got 2 minutes for being stronger than Steve Montador. The refs laughably called it boarding, even though it was a good 15 feet from the boards. How does that work? Seidenberg got 2 minutes for playing like a defenseman in the crease. Meanwhile, the Sabres figured out what was up, and proceeded to go down whenever a Bruin stick was near their feet.

The Bruins certainly could have played better. Their breakout was inconsistent. When they made smart moves through the neutral zone, they scored goals, or at least got a shot on net. They only got 7 shots on net in the 3rd period. With all the bad calls, it's easy to forget that the offense was truly inconsistent.

Part of that inconsistency was due to Ryan Miller. Both he and Thomas put on a clinic. The fights ad refereeing overshadowed it, but both were superb. Ryan Miller just doesn't allow goals on the first shot. It has to be off rebounds.

I'm usually angry when the Bruins blow 2-0 leads. But what can you do against goalies like Ryan Miller, and referees like that. Hopefully, this isn't the start of a trend in officiating. Bruins @ Islanders tonight.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The OTHER March Madness kicks off tonight and continues all weekend. Hockey East could send anywhere from 2 to perhaps 4 or 5 teams to the NCAA tournament. Regular season champs BC and runners up UNH are all but assured a spot in the 16 team NCAA field, while upstart Merrimack will likely join them. BU has an outside chance, and Maine are the long shots. Those bubble teams can make a difference in this tournament, and of course winning the tournament earns an automatic bid.

Here are the first round pairings. They'll play a best of 3 series at the superior seed's home rink. The winners will be re-seeded for the semifinals next weekend at The Garden in Boston.

#1 BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES vs. #8 UMASS MINUTEMEN

BC wins trophies. Since 2007, they've won 2 National Championships, 3 Hockey East Tournament Championships, and 3 Beanpots. But this was the first time since 2005 that they've won the Hockey East regular season title. BC beat UMass three times this year, and are on a completely different level. They score 3.9 goals per game, and kill 87.6% of their penalties. BC should sweep this in 2.

#2 UNH WILDCATS vs. #8 VERMONT CATAMOUNTS
UNH lost the regular season title to BC in the final weekend, and have a reputation for choking in March. Fortunately for them, Vermont is not a very good team. The Catamounts won 8 games all season. UNH beat them twice and tied them once. UNH sohuld handle them in 2 games.

#3 BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS vs. #6 NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES
BU needs to go deep in this tournament to make the NCAA field. To do that, they have to get past old rival Northeastern. These teams split a home-and-home last weekend, and all three of their games were determined by 1 goal margins. NU started the season poorly (1-7-3), but gradually turned things around. Northeastern struggled down the stretch, though they held their own against BC and UNH. Northeastern wins in 3 very close games.

#4 MERRIMACK WARRIORS vs. #5 MAINE BLACK BEARS
At the moment, Merrimack would be in the NCAA tournament. But they can cement a spot by winning this series. They beat BC twice early in the season, they beat UNH twice in February. They also lost two blowout games to Maine. They're excellent at home (12-2-1), and mediocre on the road (10-6-3). Thankfully for them, this series will be in Andover. Merrimack will sweep this in 2.

That would set-up a semi-final of #1 BC vs. #6 Northeastern, and #2 UNH vs. #4 Merrimack. I'd take BC and Merrimack to win and meet in the finals, with BC taking the title.

CHARA GOES UNPUNISHED

I was a bit surprised to hear that the NHL wouldn't discipline Zdeno Chara for his hit on Max Pacioretty. No fine. No suspension. I thought Chara would at least get 2 games. After all, Pacioretty's got a severe concussion, a cracked vertebrae, and the NHL has been harshly punishing hits to the head all season.

As I thought more about it, I realized that a 1 or 2 game suspension was impossible. If you think Chara's intention was to drive Pacioretty's skull into that stanchion, then he deserves a 15+ game suspension, at least. To do that intentionally is beyond dirty. It's criminal.

If you think Chara's intent was to hit Pacioretty, but not necessarily into the stanchion, then he deserves no further discipline whatsoever. How could the NHL suspend a player for an interference hit that unfortunately was at the worst possible time and location? There's no degrees or gray area on this hit. It's either very dirty, or just interference.

PJ Stock (who was born in Montreal, played for the Bruins, and now works for CBC as well as a Montreal radio station) made a few excellent points on WEEI. One of them was that if Chara wanted to injure someone, he could do it at any time. You can listen to the whole interview here:

Watch this at WEEI

Chara obviously wanted to hit Pacioretty. He wanted to hurt him, not injure him. Just like every hockey player wants to hurt their opponent when they hit him. The hit was late, in that the puck was already gone, but Chara starts pushing Pacioretty while they're away from that corner. It's the width of 3 Bruins players away when Chara initiates the contact. If Chara's intent was to drive Pacioretty into that corner, he has perfect timing.

But why wasn't Chara suspended in the midst of the NHL's crusade against hits to the head? Because this one was different. Blindside hits to the head in open ice and against the boards were plaguing the NHL, like an epidemic. They were too common. Whereas this was a freak, one in a million type thing.

The reaction from Montreal is pathetic. To be fair, had Subban or Gill done that to Marchand, there'd be plenty of pissed off morons wearing black and gold down here in Boston. But Quebecois are very passionate about their team, and they're very whiny and very French.

The Montreal Police had to publicly appeal to people to stop calling them to file complaints against Chara.

And some Habs fans are claiming the NHL has an anti-Canadian, pro-American agenda. Even though Chara is Slovakian and Pacioretty is from Connecticut. If it'd been a Maple Leaf who'd hit Pacioretty, the Habs fans would bitch about pro-anglophone, anti-francophone bias.

While Montrealers prepare to boo the Star Spangled Banner the next time a US team plays up there, I think we should evaluate this incident, and try to make rinks safer, if possible. One potential solution is to have the benches on opposite sides of the ice. Many college rinks are like that. That'd eliminate the need for a barrier at the center-line. And while there'd still be four dangerous stanchions (as many as there are now), they'd all be near the blue-lines, where checking is rare, and typically at much lower speeds.

Or maybe they could angle the glass at the end of the benches to a more forgiving 45 degrees, instead of 90. They need to at least look into this specific part of the rink and investigate ways to making it safer.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

SPEED KILLS

The Bruins better hope they don't face the Canadiens in the playoffs. Because it's just not a good matchup for the B's. They're 1-4 against Montreal, and have allowed 20 goals in those 5 games (4 per game, for the mathematically challenged). And the main reason is speed.

The Canadiens remind me of Boston College's team. They use their speed on defense and to win physical battles. Their fast forwards help out the defensemen with back pressure. And they get to loose pucks in an instant.

The Bruins aren't fast. They're not slow skaters, but they're slow doing everything else. They're slow to shoot, to pass, to make any sort of decisions whatsoever.

Montreal didn't utterly dominate like the score might suggest. Domination is rare when two quality teams engage in a playoff style game like this one. However, they won battles on the boards and in front of the net. They got to loose pucks. They made plays. The Bruins didn't. Hence the lopsided score.

Montreal's first goal came when Lars Eller got to a loose puck before Matt Bartkowski could.

Their second goal came when Michael Ryder got beat to a loose puck by Travis Moen.

Their third goal was a bit of a weird one, tumbling through Rask's padding, then poked by Chara off Rask's back and into the net.

The fourth goal came after winning a battle on the boards.

That's how you surrender 4 goals. Now how do you only score one?

Well Marchand had his worst game of the season. He misfired on a penalty shot, missed a gift goal in the 1st, and I don't think he completed a single pass. But 19 goal scoring rookies are easily forgiven. I just hope that since he's cooled off a bit (0 goals, 1 assist in last 6 games), he's not pushing too hard to recapture how hot he was. Especially as his teammates struggle to replace that production.

I've already mentioned how poorly the Bruins did on the boards and in front of the net. That was true offensively as well. The static power play continued to inspire yawns.

Now, regarding Chara's hit. Even though I think Max Pacioretty is an utter tool, you hate seeing this:

Did Chara mean to check him into that corner of glass? I doubt it. Did he hit him late? Definitely. Did he hit him in a dangerous part of the ice? Most definitely. Does he deserve a suspension? I don't know. Will he get suspended? Yes.

What gives me mixed feelings is that Chara usually doesn't get interference penalties. Roughing and cross-checking, sure. The token hooking, tripping, high-sticking, of course. He usually doesn't hit late. And almost never this late.

I think Chara was frustrated and badly wanted to hit Pacioretty hard over the boards. They have a history.

But Pacioretty passed the puck along. Despite that, Chara finished his check. Unfortunately for Pacioretty, it was in a dangerous spot.

How dirty was it? That depends on your definition of "dirty." I don't think there was intent to injure. I don't think Chara specifically meant to hit Pacioretty into that corner. I do think Chara's emotions were boiling over. He was reckless. Though I think that recklessness spawned the lateness of the hit, not the location.

We'll see what kind of punishment is handed down by the geniuses who suspended Sean Avery 6 games for words and Matt Cooke 0 games for a hit to the head.

Bruins host the Sabres Thursday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

BOSTON COULD SEND 3 TEAMS TO TOURNAMENT

It's the one month of the year that I actually follow basketball and can't get enough of it. And the city of Boston might send three representatives to the big tournament. BU, Harvard, and BC all have very good chances of earning bids.

BU will host Stony Brook Saturday afternoon at Agganis Arena to determine the America East Championship. The Terriers beat Stony Brook twice this season, boast a 12-4 conference record, have won 10 straight, and haven't lost at home since December. BU haven't made the NCAA tournament since 2002.

Harvard (yes they play in Boston, their court is in Brighton) is in one of the more interesting situations in college basketball. The Ivy League doesn't hold a tournament, and sends its regular season champ to the NCAAs. The Crimson beat 1st place Princeton 79-67 over the weekend. Princeton plays Penn tonight. If Princeton loses, then Harvard wins the Ivy League outright. If Princeton wins, then they and Harvard will meet in a playoff game at a neutral site (Yale). That game would be played on Saturday. Harvard hasn't been in the NCAA tournament since 1946. That tournament featured a field of 8 teams, including NYU and Oklahoma A&M.

By the way, Harvard beat both BU and BC this season.

BC have been popping in and out of the at-large bubble all season. They finished 5th in a lackluster ACC, don't have an overly impressive resume, and if a few upsets occur in the mid-major tournaments, BC might have to do work in the ACC Tournament.

The good news is that BC faces Wake Forest in the opening round of the ACC tourney. They trounced Wake a few days ago, 84-68. But they need to win this game. With losses against Harvard, Yale and URI already marring their schedule, they can't afford to add 8-23 Wake Forest to that list.

After Wake, the Eagles would face Clemson, who they lost to in February. Although it's easier to beat Clemson than it is to beat UNC or Duke. With both teams on the bubble, BC vs. Clemson might essentially be a play-in game into the NCAA tournament. BC last appeared in the NCAAs in 2009.

So come Selection Sunday, there may be three Boston representatives in the 68 team field. Or none.

PS: Can we retire the phrase "punch their ticket?" It's just so antiquated, overused, and stupid.

BRUINS' STREAK ENDS

Saturday night's game against Pittsburgh was very much like a postseason game. That's how Pittsburgh's been playing. They're winning without Crosby, without Malkin, because their roster is full of battlers. And despite what Mario Lemieux might think, they even have one or two dirty players. But they're all tough. And they make everything tough for their opponents.

The Bruins didn't play too poorly on Saturday. Boychuk's giveaway was foolish. The defensemen have to get involved for the offense to work, but committing to a loose puck around the blue-line is wise. Big risk, little reward. That's only one glaring error, though.

The Bruins didn't play great on Saturday, either. The Penguins contest everything and that exposed some weaknesses in the Bruins' game. They struggled breaking the puck out of their zone. They gave it away in bad locations. The power play didn't move bodies around enough.

Then there was the effort levels. The Bruins weren't lazy, but which team would you say put in the most effort? The Penguins. And Pittsburgh played an overtime game Friday night. So why are they able to play 62 minutes with more energy than the Bruins?

I'll take the point, but for me, this is the pre-postseason. In the playoffs, the Bruins will be seeing motivated teams like Pittsburgh EVERY GAME. Do teams like the Penguins have guys like Michael Ryder loitering on their roster? Nope. They have leaders. More importantly, they don't have followers. The Penguins have won 37 postseason games the last three years. The Bruins have won 17. On Saturday, I think we saw why there's such a disparity. The relentless effort.

Bruins @ Canadiens Tuesday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

HOME COOKING

I don't think Tampa Bay is that good. They deserve their spot in the standings, but when the playoffs start, I think they'll finish them sooner than most. They fall down too much. Despite that, and despite the Lightning having played the night before, and being without Lecavalier, I was very impressed with this Bruins win.

Apart from Michael Ryder, the B's didn't do much wrong. They were a bit flat to start the 2nd, then a puck bounced off Kampfer's shin and into the net. But that woke the Bruins up. They dominated the rest of the 2nd, and had the puck for most of the 3rd.

The turning point was a nearly two minute 5-on-3 penalty kill. Thomas made some great saves, and the PK unit was smartly aggressive. Tampa Bay relies on the power play for 40% of their offense. If you shut that down, you're sitting pretty.

Lucic's game-winner came as a result of a scrum, which saw Lightning players literally tripping over each other. Horton and Krejci were in the hogpile, but Lucic was smart enough to wait for a loose puck to slip out. Like a buzzard, he circled around the carcasses, the puck came loose, and he flicked it in. Goal #28. And career point #200 for Krejci.

I loved how physical most of the Bruins played. Lucic, Horton, Boychuk, Chara, McQuaid, Thornton, Campbell, Marchand, Seidenberg, pretty much everyone. Except Ryder. Ryder gave up on easy hits, provided mere token pressure on the forecheck, and was playing a completely different game from his teammates.

After Ryder's going-through-the-motions forecheck, it was Chris Kelly who helped trigger Kampfer's goal in the 2nd. Kelly makes about half of what Ryder gets paid.

Good win over a tired, but still talented team. Saturday night, the Penguins (4th in the East) come to town.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

DOES BC BELONG IN THE TOURNAMENT?

Yes. No. Maybe. Most people have them on the bubble, with their blowout win over Virginia Tech temporarily putting them in. But this post isn't about BC, or whether or not they should be in the tournament. To be honest, I don't follow college basketball closely enough to have an informed opinion on that.

This post is about the NCAA Tournament in general, and why it shouldn't expand. BC will help me demonstrate that point. Because they're not very good.

The Eagles occupy the middle of a very top-heavy and shallow ACC. Only 2 ACC teams are ranked. BC's 8-7 conference record is loaded with wins against Virginia and NC State. They did beat Virginia Tech twice, although they also lost to 9th place Miami. Twice.

Before that, they lost to Harvard and Yale. Thankfully, they didn't have to face Princeton, the top Ivy team. Princeton, by the way, only has one loss against Ivy League opponents, compared to BC's two.

BC might not even be the 2nd best team in New England (UConn being the best). They lost to URI, and they barely beat UMass and Providence. Apart from an early season, neutral site win over Texas A&M, they haven't beaten anyone impressive in or out of their conference.

They've got some good players, but no depth. And those good players all go through lengthy cold streaks. They're not awful. They're not great. If they make the tournament, it's not a joke. It's also not an injustice if they don't make it.

Finally, here's my point. If the tournament were expanded to 96 teams, BC would be a lock. They along with a few dozen other painfully mediocre teams. The field would be overly saturated by 10th place teams with .500 conference records.

There are plenty of good arguments to keep the NCAA field close to 64 teams. To me, though, this is the most alarming and convincing. This year, BC has been the quintessential bubble team. What would the bubble teams be like with 96 slots to fill? Wisconsin-Milwaukee? Long Beach State? Maybe NC State with their 15-14 overall and 5-10 conference records. The Wolfpack are 104th in RPI, and 54th strength of schedule. Why not them in the 96 team field?

Photo Credit:
AP Photo