Why the Blackhawks Worry Me

I'm glad the Bruins are in the Stanley Cup Finals so we can focus on something other than Tim Tebow.

I've heard the Blackhawks being compared to the Penguins, who were dispatched with ease by the Bruins. And I can see some surface similarities. Chicago scored almost as many goals as the Penguins in the regular season. They have big names like Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Toews. They've recently won a Cup. Et cetera.

These Blackhawks are NOT the Penguins. The Penguins had goaltender issues, the Blackhawks don't. Corey Crawford might not be a household name, but he had a 1.94 GAA and .926 save percentage in the regular season. He also had a 19-5 record. In the playoffs he has a 1.74 GAA and a .935 save percentage. Rask is at 1.75/.943 for comparison.

The Blackhawks do not depend on their power play to score. They scored the second most goals in the NHL but had the 19th best power play percentage. They score 5-on-5. And that's dangerous because they don't rely on penalty calls to generate offense. Their PP was 1 for 14 against the Kings (7.1%), and is 7 for 51 in the playoffs (13.7%).

They're capable of playing defense. Their talented forwards don't sell out on offense. And they have defensemen and a goalie that can prevent goals. They allowed 102 goals in the regular season, fewest in the NHL. Their penalty kill was 3rd best in the League (the Bruins were 4th best). And Chicago just finished a defensive minded series against the LA Kings. They also beat the Red Wings in a low-scoring Game 7, 2-1 in overtime.

They have more character than Pittsburgh. They came back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat Detroit. They grinded out wins against the defending champions. And during their 21-0-3 start to the season they found ways to win every night. They didn't simply roll over less talented opponents. They stole games in that streak.

And as well as the Bruins played against Pittsburgh, they've been a Jekyll and Hyde team all year. Even against the Penguins, they played outstanding in Games 1 and 2, poorly during regulation of Game 3, and flat in Game 4. Which Bruins team will show up in this series?

So I'm not as confident, not as comfortable, not as sure as most people seem to be about this series.

This series is going to be decided by small, slim margins. Both teams struggle on the power play. Whoever can get some production from their PP unit could be the difference in a game, maybe even the series.

Both goaltenders are playing well. Rask is probably the hottest goalie in the NHL. If he comes down to earth a bit, the skaters in front of him need to play better. Same goes for Crawford. If Crawford cools, then the pressure will be on the Blackhawks to step up and support him. I feel like one of these goalies is going to have a shaky game. Not a horrible game, just allowing a soft goal or two. Which goalie will it be? Neither was a starter when these teams won Cups. Crawford is 28, Rask is 26. One goalie having an off-night could be the difference in the series.

Which cold scorer will get hot? Tyler Seguin has 1 goal and 3 assists in the playoffs. Jonathan Toews has 1 goal and 8 assists. Which one of these guys will score a few goals in this series? Both of these guys are capable of winning games with their offense. One of them could steal a game with a pair of goals.

I hesitate to announce my prediction for the series. I don't want to pick against the Bruins. I don't want to pick against a hot goalie. So I won't. Bruins in 7.

The Joys of Being a Boston Fan in the 21st Century

The Bruins advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals is the latest example of what's been a trend in Boston sports: deep playoff runs. As a sports fan growing up in the '90s, when it was a major achievement if teams merely qualified for the playoffs, this is simply a terrific time to be a Boston sports fan. These are the good old days.

Since 2001, this will be the 11th time that a Boston team has been in a championship series/game. Each Boston team has been in at least 2 championship series/games. There have been 49 total championship series/games this century (would've been 50 if not for the NHL Lockout in 04-05), and Boston teams have won 7 of them (14%), and been a part of 11 (22%). Almost 1 in 4 championships involve a Boston team.

What's really enjoyable are the deep playoff runs. Because let's face it, none of us have any impact on the on-field/court/ice success of these teams. We share in the glory as if we did, but we don't. And we also conveniently don't share in the epic failures, like the collapse of the 2011 Red Sox, or in 2010 when the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead against Philly. So as much as we gloat about our teams winning, it's more about the fun of watching our teams win.

What's truly fun is enjoying the extra baseball/football/basketball/hockey. What's fun is going to a packed bar on a Tuesday night to share an experience with strangers and friends. And anything that can postpone the time when baseball is the only sport available is a good thing.

The local teams have been in the final four of their league's playoffs 16 times this century (Patriots 7, Celtics 4, Red Sox 3, Bruins 2). We've seen a total of 76 playoff rounds involving Boston teams (Patriots 24, Celtics 23, Bruins 17, Red Sox 12), and we've seen our team triumph in 48 of those series/games (Patriots 17, Celtics 14, Bruins 9, Red Sox 8).

We've been able to enjoy hockey and basketball in May and June. We've been privileged to watch baseball in October. And football season for us extends into January and February. Our weather seasons up here are sometimes erratic and sometimes very short. But our sports seasons in New England, in this century, have been significantly longer than average.

Situations to Use Tim Tebow

Yesterday Tim Tebow arrived, and the difference in his arrival to New England compared to his arrival to New York demonstrates how different his role here will be. Last year Tebow had his own press conference when he was introduced as a member of the Jets. Yesterday he briefly spoke with the media, gave a stock "happy to be here" statement that I'm sure was prepared beforehand and given Belichick's blessing (pardon the religious pun). And let's also remember that Rex Ryan didn't seem to want Tebow on his team. I'm sure Belichick does, or he wouldn't be here.

I know it's a little weird to talk about a football player playing football, and not talk about media circuses and the Gospels, but let's try. Here are some situations in which Tim Tebow could be a good player to have on the field:

Punts:
The Jets used him as a protector on their punt team. It makes sense. Not only is he a big guy, but he's a threat for fakes. Both running and passing. Even if you don't fake, the opposing team must respect the possibility, and that might mean their return isn't as focused on blocking.

FG Holder:
Again, for the potential to fake.

Short Yardage/Goal Line:
You line Brady up under center. Brady's as good as it gets at the QB sneak. You also line Tebow up as a tailback. Or even a fullback with Ridley or Vereen as the tailback. So as Brady moves under center, if the sneak doesn't look like a good option, he can hand it off to Tebow. Or fake a handoff to Tebow and go play-action and throw it to Gronk or Hernandez. Or hand off to Ridley/Vereen and have Tebow block. Or have Tebow run in the opposite direction of the ball and fake out the defense. Tebow will draw attention when he's on the field.

Fullback:
The traditional fullback is an endangered species. Belichick has frequently used players from other positions to fill the role, from linebackers to tight-ends. There are very few times when this need arises, short-yardage is one of those times. So is running out the clock late in games (which the Patriots don't do in the traditional way).

There are times that require powerbacks and fullbacks. Vereen (205 pounds) is not a powerback. Ridley isn't much of one either (220 pounds). Tebow weighs 236. He's strong. He can be the fill-in fullback.

Tight-End:
This one seems far-fetched. The Patriots have Gronkowski and Ballard. Hernandez is kind of a slot guy, but still a tight-end. Tebow could be used as a 3rd tight-end, again in short yardage situations. I have no idea how well he can catch. You don't want a guy bobbling the ball when defenders are all around him, eager to snatch up a loose ball for an interception. I have to see Tebow's hands before wanting him to play any tight-end.

Trick Plays:
Josh McDaniels got a little too clever with his trick plays last year. He loved using Edelman in crazy reverses and option runs. I hope McDaniels doesn't get overly creative with Tebow trickery. There are moments for trick plays. Two-point conversions, for instance, are a great time to line up Tebow and Brady next to each other in shotgun formation and get weird.

So with Tebow, you fill up some of the lower slots on your depth-chart. #3 QB, #3/#4 RB, #3/#4 TE, and he holds, and he plays on the punt team, and he's in jumbo packages.

Does he put you over the top? No. And we don't even know how many, if any, of these tasks he'll be able to carry out. But there are potential roles he can play. He can be like Steve Buscemi or Paul Giamatti, parts of the supporting cast that are only in a few scenes and help add texture and depth to the movie. So just imagine Steve Buscemi, only with the paparazzi following of Kristen Stewart combined with Lindsay Lohan.

But didn't Ichiro have a huge media following when he played in Seattle? And did the Boston Sports Media worry as much over the media attention that Daisuke Matsuzaka was going to bring with him? I think we're witnessing the media overreacting to the impact that the media's overreacting will have on a team. This is the media's version of Inception.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

Patriots Sign Tim Tebow

Emotionally, I hate this. I am not a Tim Tebow fan. I don't hate him, I just don't have any reason to like him. I hate the mania that surrounds him. There's nothing I've seen from him that I like. I hate his fans, and that's not his fault, but I hate seeing his fans happy. And now their happiness coincides with my happiness as a Patriots fan.

From a strictly football perspective, it makes sense. It's not a major plus. It's a low-risk type of acquisition. As a #3 QB you have a guy with NFL experience, with athleticism, with playoff experience. His mechanics suck, his decision making is questionable, but as a #3 last resort, project QB, why not? What is there to lose?

And he is an athlete and can play in different spots, maybe as a goal-line runningback, maybe as a #4 tight-end, whatever.

All his on-field negatives as a passer are irrelevant because I don't think he'll see the field as a quarterback unless something awful has happened or the Patriots are up by 28 points with a minute left. And in other spots he'll see the field if he deserves it. Hopefully not in many trick situations, Josh McDaniels likes those too much in my opinion.

The Patriots drafted a rugby player once. They signed a track athlete. They're willing to give athletes a chance to earn a spot on the roster and on the field. They now have a #3 QB who might be able to find minor roles in other aspects of the game. Why not?

As far as the off-field negatives (in this day and age we consider someone with no criminal record to have off-field negatives), the whole "circus" that accompanies Tebow, I'm not too worried. There won't be any QB controversy between he and Brady. The media interns at Gillette Stadium will have to print more credentials for training camp. And the Patriots coaches and players will have more questions to answer without really answering. What team is better at defeating the media's attempts to excavate interesting stories and extract juicy quotes than the Patriots?

Bill Belichick vs. The Media. Who's the favorite in that battle?

This is a huge story for a #3 quarterback who might play special-teams and goal-line situations. This is a potential minor improvement to the Patriots roster with a player who has garnered far too much attention, praise, and hatred for who and what he has done. The Tim Tebow story is a feedback loop. The media is making a circus of it because it is a media circus. This is a story about a story.

If you're like me and emotionally upset about this, I'm going to quote The Book of Rob:

"This isn't the end of the world."
-Rob 3:16

Insert Pun With the Word "Sweep" in It

For the second time in three years the Bruins are going to the Stanley Cup Finals. And I still cannot believe how they got there, by sweeping the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tuukka Rask and the Bruins only allowed the Penguins to score 2 goals. This was a team that scored 3.4 goals per game in the regular season, and had been scoring 4.3 goals per game in the playoffs. Then they scored 2 goals in 4 games.

The Penguins' power play had a 28.3% success rate in the playoffs before this series. The Bruins successfully killed all 15 penalties in this series.

Sidney Crosby scored 3 goals in Pittsburgh's series with the Islanders, then 4 more against Ottawa. He had 15 postseason points before this series. He finished the series with 15 postseason points. He was -2 with 13 shots on goal.

Evgeni Malkin had 16 postseason points before facing the Bruins. He still has 16. He was -5 in the series, with 21 shots on goal, all saved by Rask. He only managed to get 1 shot off in Game 4.

Rask and Zdeno Chara shut down the Penguins. They absolutely and completely silenced Pittsburgh's big guns, their medium guns, and their little guns. Iginla had 0 points and was -4. Letang had 0 points and was -5. Morrow disappeared with his 0 points and only 1 shot on goal. James Neal took 20 shots but had no points and was -7.

Iginla decided not to end his season in Boston, but that's exactly what happened.

Chara's stats don't tell the full story. He had 0 points, but was +5. He played 119 minutes. That's 2 hours of hockey against Crosby, Malkin, and the best offense in the NHL. And he was +5.

Now the most impressive statline, that of Tuukka Rask...

275 minutes and 19 seconds in net, 2 goals allowed, 136 shots faced, 134 saves, 2 shutouts. That's a .985 save percentage. That's 1 goal allowed every 67 shots. His GAA was 0.44. That's absurd. Less than half a goal every 60 minutes. In the playoffs Rask has a .943 save percentage, and a GAA of 1.75. And since Game 4 against the Rangers when he allowed a few soft goals past him, he's only allowed 3 goals in 5 games.

He's officially a contender for the Conn Smythe. Depending on what happens in the next round.

It looks like the Bruins will face Chicago in the first Original Six Stanley Cup Final since 1979.

I can't wait.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Keep Calm and Win the Fucking Game

So much to say about this game. To make a long, long story short: the Bruins played their worst 3 periods of the series then played 2 of their best. Tuukka Rask bailed them out 53 times. Vokoun and Rask dueled in the overtime. Jaromir Jagr kept making good plays and eventually the plays Jagr started were finished by Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.

Now let's get into details. For most of this game I was getting angrier and angrier at the Bruins. They scored early thanks to a Pittsburgh mistake in coverage, then played the type of hockey that has allowed opponents to come from behind against them all season long. For one stretch in the 2nd they were outshot 10-2. In the 3rd they were outshot 14-4. Pittsburgh had 8 scoring chances in the 3rd, the Bruins had 0.

The B's weren't dumping the puck on offense. They were trying to carry it in, then screwing around in the middle of the ice in the offensive end, instead of keeping the puck along the boards and trying to win battles. On the power play this inept strategy was exposed even more acutely. There were also a handful of neutral-zone turnovers that the Bruins simply didn't make in Games 1 and 2. Also some dumb, inexcusable penalties. All this gave Pittsburgh great chances to score. Rask was the reason Pittsburgh didn't score.

This was Rask's stand-on-your-head, become-a-Conn-Smythe-contender, where-legends-are-made performance. He was unflappable. The only goal he allowed, no human goalie could save. 53 saves on 54 shots. In this series he's stopped 108 of 110 shots (.981 SV%), and only allowed 2 goals in about 11 periods of play (0.56 GAA in this series), all against the highest scoring offense in the NHL. Such a high level of goaltending against such high level of scorers sounds eerily similar to what Tim Thomas did against the Vancouver Canucks in 2011.

Bergeron won the game in a fraction of seconds. Rask's play for 95 minutes allowed Bergeron to win it.

Some honorable mentions to some Bruins' defensemen. Zdeno Chara played 42:05, all of it great. In the 2nd regulation period he broke up a golden scoring opportunity that Evgeni Malkin would have had. It was a play only he and his vast reach could have made.

Andrew Ference logged almost 35 minutes of ice-time. He played his solid, physical brand of hockey. He left a few marks on a few Penguins.

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins with 5 blocked shots, 2 of which came in double-overtime when Pittsburgh mounted a major scoring threat.

Dennis Seidenberg didn't have a bad game, but did make some weak/unwise passes trying to move the puck out of the defensive zone. This led to longer Pittsburgh possessions, more shots, more chances, more anxiety from me. However, he sharpened up in overtime.

All of the Bruins seemed to elevate their games in the overtime. Milan Lucic skated hard, Jagr looked half his age, Horton created a few chances for himself, even the faceoffs seemed to even out.

One player we didn't see in overtime was Gregory Campbell, who blocked a shot with his femur, then gutted out the remainder of the shift, doing what he could as a stationary obstacle. That determination energized the Bruins for the next 4 or 5 shifts. That's what you can't see on paper when you look at a roster. That's what you can't count on when all you do is assemble talented all-stars like Pittsburgh. This group of players in Boston have been together for a long time. They play for each other and for the team. And newcomers like Jagr and Krug see that, want to be a part of it, and if they buy into it they're accepted.

I don't know if Pittsburgh has that. Are Crosby and Malkin leaders? How does their leadership stack up against Chara or Bergeron? Or Ference? Or Campbell? Or Thornton? Does Pittsburgh have the same camaraderie in their rank and file? Chemistry counts.

Game 4 is Friday night. A sweep would be fantastic for so many reasons. Crosby, Iginla, and of course Cooke would all end their season in Boston. It would be glorious. Let's hope.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Stanley Cup Roundup*

I really hope the Bruins were watching last night's Hawks/Kings game. I'm sure they were. Because even though the Bruins have a 2-0 series lead, even though they outscored Pittsburgh 9-1 in those two games, even though the Penguins look lost and confused, the score of Game 3 is 0-0. Chicago dominated Game 2 of their series, just as the Bruins did, then went to LA and lost. Just because Pittsburgh looks uncomfortable doesn't mean the Bruins can afford to get comfortable.

The Kings somewhat remind me of the Bruins. They've built their team around goaltending and defense. They also get offense from that defense. Last night Slava Voynov had a goal and an assist. He's scored 5 from the blue-line for LA in these playoffs and has 11 points. That's the most goals for a defenseman (tied with Boychuk), and most points (tied with Chara).

LA is scary good and they're the ones 2-1 down in this series because Chicago is also scary good. The Blackhawks have so many weapons. Bryan Bickell scored his 7th goal of the playoffs last night. Patrick Sharp has 8 goals, tied with Krejci for the most in the postseason. Marian Hossa has 6. And they still have Jonathan Toews, who only has 1 goal so far but is capable of so much more. And unlike Pittsburgh, Chicago's scorers aren't just tallying goals against the Islanders or Senators in a 6-2 blowout. Many of these goals have come in tight games and in crucial moments.

On paper, whoever wins the Western Conference will be the favorite to win the Cup. On paper.

Bruins Make Penguins Their Bitches-burgh

9-1. The Bruins have outscored the Penguins 9-1 in two games. Not even the most insanely optimistic, glue-huffing, delusional Bruins fan could have envisioned this. Game 1 was tighter than the 3-0 score suggested. Game 2, however, was an utter beatdown. The Penguins had no chance.

The Penguins are horrible at goal prevention. Their goalies suck. Their defensemen are not imposing at all. And their best forwards simply do not play defense. Crosby and Malkin are both -3.

Meanwhile, Rask has had his two best playoff games in this series. All 6 Bruins defensemen are doing an excellent job controlling the crease. Threatening pucks have drifted in and out of the blue paint with no Penguin able to get a stick on them because the Bruins are tying them up. And the Bruins forwards are all helping on defense.

I don't think the Bruins are playing a ridiculously physical series. It's just that the Penguins have no answer for the potential of physical play. Deryk Engelland against Milan Lucic? Really? And what "power" forward can match Chara?

And what does Crosby, their fearful leader, do? He flops like an NBA player. Actually, it's more like a Brazilian soccer player. Then after his dives he takes forever to get up off the ice. Then he skates to the nearest zebra and whines for 30 seconds.

This sense of entitlement, and this notion of expecting the game to play out a certain way is one of the reasons Pittsburgh is down 0-2. Maybe they got cocky after disposing of the Islanders and Senators, who were probably the 16th and 15th best teams in the playoffs, respectively. Now they're being challenged with talented forwards, intelligent defensemen, and a tough goalie. Things aren't going to plan and the Penguins don't know how to handle it.

Every group on the Bruins, from goalies, to defensemen, to forwards, is far and away the best group the Penguins have faced in this postseason. Rask is the best goalie they've faced. Chara-Seidenberg-Boychuk-McQuaid-Krug-Ference is the best group of defensemen. And from Krejci to Paille, these 12 forwards are the best the Penguins have faced.

On the flip-side, what Pittsburgh defensive pairing is going to go against the best line in hockey these days: the Krejci line? Who are Pittsburgh's shutdown d-men? Leading up to this series we were worried about matching up against the Crosby and Malkin lines. Who does Pittsburgh have to contend against the Krejci and Bergeron lines?

The Penguins have built a team to score goals, not prevent them. They're kind of like the 2007 Patriots or the 1995 Cleveland Indians. They can win with offense, but can't win any other way.

And they don't know how to win against an equal opponent. They do know how to whine.

This series is still young. The Bruins, hopefully, smell the blood in the water, and will strike at these wounded Penguins like a pack of hungry killer whales.

Game 3 Wednesday night in Boston.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar