Welcome back to another segment of Grindin’ Gears. You will be sad to know there are NO Charlie Sheen references in here because I’m already sick of him. You know what pissing me off this week? Well, ah, actually nothing.
Seriously. SERIOUSLY.
I’ll wait for the shock to subside. Look at the past week or so for the Bruins. A win in Calgary, a win in Vancouver and last night was the capper to a 6-0 road trip and Tuukka Rask shutout. On the whole, the Bruins played some excellent hockey on the road — so what can I get mad at?
Flawless!
I could always sit here and blast the power play, but what’s the point? I’ve done it already and if you’ve followed this team since Claude has been the head coach you already know that it is his Achilles’s Heel.
I could talk about how bad the defense has been, but that’d be a lie because they’ve played particularly well over the past six games (The Edmonton game can be hit or miss depending your views), but unlike when they played Toronto, they weren’t allowing guys like Iginla or the Ginger twins to split defenses and score goals.
The fact of the matter is that the Bruins have played good hockey when they need to play good hockey. Because of this 6-0 road trip the Bruins have tied Tampa Bay for second in the Eastern Conference (side note: this makes the match up on Thursday very important) and have a six point lead over Montreal for control in the Northeast Division (with a game on hand).
After the jump, we look at the upcoming schedule and a nice DKM rant…
Here is my issue. That road trip was particularly easy when you look at (most) of the teams involved. The Bruins faced Ottawa twice (51 points, 29th in the NHL), Edmonton (50 points, 30th in the NHL) and New York Islanders (55 points, 28th in the NHL). Four out of the six games came against bottom of the barrel. I’m not trying to discredit what the black and gold did, I’m trying to focus our expectations. Boston should have walked away from this road trip with AT LEAST four wins. They didn’t though — they walked away with six wins. Swept them all. Break out the brooms (or chimmney sweeps).
Oh, so back to that issue thing I was spewing on about. If you look at the schedule going forward the Bruins don’t have the luxury of playing bottom of the barrel teams (at least in the next 3-4 games). The Bruins will play Tampa Bay (second in the East), Pittsburgh (4th in the East), Montreal (6th in the East [and do I really need to expand on the rivalry?]), and then Buffalo.
Stop laughing — Buffalo is fighting for a playoff spot and they traded for Brad Boyes who may help their scoring woes. If you forgot, may I remind you that they have Drew Stafford, a guy who seemingly scores a shitload of goals against the Bruins. In five games against Boston this season, Stafford has seven goals (and two hattricks).
So with the day off today, let’s relish in the fact that the Bruins accomplished something they haven’t done since 1971-1972 but lets not forget that it doesn’t mean shit if they’re bounced in the second round (again).
– Random Thoughts –
– Everyone has been talking about the new Dropkick Murphys music video. I forget what it’s called because I outgrew this band years ago. I’ve been a fan since “Do or Die” came out in 1999. I’ve been to numerous concerts at the Avalon, including multiple St. Patrick’s Day concerts, but now I’m sick of them. The tipping point for me was when they played at the Lowell Spinners field in 2008 and the crowd didn’t know 75% of the songs. When they played “Boys on the Docks” the place was dead silent and some guy asked me if this was a new song they were putting out. After that they played “Shipping up to Boston” and the place went nuts. Pissed me off for the last night.
I don’t care who is in your fucking video. Shit, you could put Days of Y’Orr in your video (which would be a nice way to make up for the commercial bullshit being spewed out lately) and I still wouldn’t be impressed. Oh my god, you got Bobby Orr, Milan Lucic, Shawn Thornton, Kevin Youkilis and a bunch of other Boston players in your music video? ZOMG I LOVE YOU NOW! Also, don’t pimp out your own fucking bar in your song.
(breathes)
– The Bruins are 6-0 since they made their trades? Coincidence? Probably. Not a coincidence? Chris Kelly finally got a work visa. Work visas lead to wins.
– I’m still really pissed off about the Murphys thing. I riled myself up.
– I’m giving this three Charlie Sheens out of four.
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