It Wasn't Even Checking.....It Was Following!

Nail and No Talent Ferry

I can't contain my disgust for what I witnessed yesterday so I feel the need to vent!

Yesterday I was at the JLC watching the Knights take on my favourite OHL team the Sarnia Sting.

For me I love to watch the Sting play for a couple of reasons. 1. They are a very skilled team who play an up tempo game and its fun to watch and 2. Nail Freaking Yakupov!!

So I dish out 80 bucks yesterday for 4 tickets to go watch this highly anticipated match-up between two of the best Major Jr A teams in the country and what do I get for my money??

A free-agent walk on from London who sexually assaulted the best player outside of the NHL in the world.

This player in question Tyler Ferry is an absolute joke.  He and the team he plays for disgraced themselves yesterday with their garbage tactic of taking Yakupov out of the game.

Yes I know tight checking of super star players is a part of the game as it should be. But to back my point as to what this was I will paraphrase a tweet from a former NHL-GM and current Hockey Analyst Craig Button "That wasnt checking..that was following".

For anyone reading this who did not witness this let me try to describe exactly what happened.

The second Nail would step on the ice #21 from the Knights stood up and immediately jumped on the ice...again this is fine..they want him to be the guy to check Nail I have no problem with that. But what happened from that point forward made me sick to my stomach.  Ferry did not even look at the puck or for the puck the entire game!  If the puck was in the Sting zone and Nail took a skate to the other end of the ice...Ferry would leave the offensive zone to skate side by side with Nail.  ANYWHERE he went no matter where the puck was....side by side skates practically tripping over each other. What you see in the photo is not an isolated incident...that is how close he was to him the ENTIRE game no matter where the puck was! Now to add to this he thought he would agitate Yakki and slash him chirp him throughout the entire game. To Nail's credit he did not outwardly show that he gave a shit about this 4th line loser and just ignored him the entire game.  If it were me he woulda had a skate blade lodged in his balls by the second period.

For anyone trying to draw any kind of comparison to the NHL game from this just imagine if any NHL "checking forward" was told for an entire game...don't look at the puck...don't touch the puck...all you have to do is skate shoulder to shoulder for an entire game with Ovechkin.  How long do you think the NHL would stand for its best players basically being eliminated from the play to create a 4 on 4 with someone like Ovechkin essentially being blanketed for an entire game??

What pisses me off the most about this whole debacle?? Is the fact that Knight's fans (they are the OHL version of Leaf fans)...were praising Ferry like it took alot of skill to do what he was doing.  Give me a fucking break!  If you were told that you didn't even have to pay attention to the play and all you have to do is skate around the ice with someone on the other team....how is that hard?? How is that even a skill?? 

Needless to say even the fact I was sitting one row away from Bill Geurin (working for the Pens) and in the same section as Craig Button my entire day was ruined.

The Sting did manage to get a point in the shootout loss and take 5 out of 6 overall this weekend and not to mention the fact that Nail leads the OHL in scoring and just today was ranked # 1 in three mock drafts on NHL.com today!!!

Also out of interest sake for my Bruin fans reading this I will be watching Koko in person this Friday night when his Windsor Spitfires take on the Sting. Can't wait to watch the Bruins 2nd round pick in action!  Will be sure to give the full scouting report here!

- Ashley

No Star Power??

   So last night I was visiting my buddy Brian at Lids just checking in to say hi and see if he had any sweet new Bruins lids out on the shelves when Brian introduced me to his co-worker.  Despite Brian's best warnings to him  not to engage me in Bruins debate the guy just couldn't resist giving me his thoughts on the best team to ever lace up skates...the Big Bad Boston Bruins!

Of course we got into it a lil bit but the one point this guy was trying to make that really stuck with me was he said "Well the Bruins don't have any superstars. They don't have an Ovechkin or Crosby type player".

When people say this "superstar" type player...really how many of these types of players are there in the entire league? 

How do you measure a superstar? 50 goals? Well last  year there was 1 player in the NHL who scored 50 goals.  100 points?  1 player had 100 points. 

And when you say a Crosby, Ovechkin type player who falls into that category? There are some young players who MAY end up in that category...Stamkos, Hall, Tavares, Kane but really outside of Ovechkin and Crosby who is considered to be a "SUPER" star?

Personally I would take a team that has depth and has what I would consider to be "Star" players throughout their lineup.

Thankfully my team has just that. 

Along with our depth and a solid 4-lines, strong D 6-7 deep and the best goaltending tandem in the NHL I do believe we have a collection of current stars and one future star.

Feel free to debate me classifying the following star players and one future star player.


Patrice Bergeron - Yes this is where most people may be divided but in my mind Bergy is a legit  Elite NHL Star.  Thankfully we won't have to worry about this for at least three more years (hopefully he gets locked up again before that) but everyone would soon find out what Bergy is thought about throughout the league if he ever got to UFA status.  Trust me if he was ever out on the open market there would be a full out bidding war for his services.  Easily our most trusted player he can be a catalyst in the offensive zone, shut down the other teams top forward and play the first unit on both pp and pk.  Oh and if there is any thought this is just a Bruin bias feel free to check out the 2010 Canadian Olympic Team Roster.  Enough said!

Zdeno Chara - Lets go through Big Z's credentials for a second shall we.  A member of 5 NHL All-Star teams named a year end first team all-star twice and a second team all-star three times.  The plus/minus award last season with a staggering +33 oh and ya this thing called a Norris Trophy awarded to the top defenceman each year.  If anyone debates whether or not Chara is a "Star" then I don't even have the time to waste on arguing this one with you.

Tim Thomas - Would having the best goalie in the entire league equate to being a star?  Well considering goaltending wins Stanley Cups I would say so.  Our beloved backstop definitely didn't enter the NHL with Star credentials.  The 217th overall pick way back in 1994 by the now defunct Quebec Nordiques Timmy played 5 seasons pro hockey ranging all the way from the East Coast league to the old IHL, the AHL and even to Europe before even getting a sniff of NHL hockey.  But when he got his chance have there really been any better NHL goalies over the past 6 or 7 years?? Timmy has a career GAA of 2.50 and a save percentage of .922, 2 Vezina's, 1 Conn Smythe and of course 1 Stanley Cup.  Next stop the Hockey Hall of Fame (well after another Cup or two first!).

David Krejci - Ok maybe another one some of you without a hockey brain will debate.  But to me there is no doubt about it.  David "Einstein" Krejci is a star.  Einstein due to his incredible Hockey IQ and his ability to find open players unlike only many others in the entire league.  How does 73 points and a +37 in just his second year in the NHL (2008-2009) not equal star?  At just 25 he is a star and if we can keep him healthy will continue to be for years to come!

Tyler Seguin - Here is my future Star currently in our lineup.  And when I say future well the future might be sooner rather then later.  Unlike his draft buddy Taylor Hall in Edmonton Segs has had to wait it out a bit more for his shot due to the incredible lineup he was a part of.  However this take your time approach to his development will pay off down the road and as we can all see with his start this season...its already paying off.  My projection for Segs will be a future 100-point guy who will play in all situations.  Lets keep in mind he is playing how he is right now as a 19 year old! So lets see...100 points...plays in all situations...o wait maybe we do have a "Super Star"...in training.  Thank you Burkie!


So back to my new found friend working at Lids with my buddy Brian.  What can you say to that logic?  Would you rather have one superstar eating up a large chunk of your cap space?  Or would you want the Bruins model with a collection of Stars all making a manageable cap hit?  Well lets just say last weekend I was lucky enough to see about 6 Bruin players going into the Gahden with a large shiny piece of jewelry wrapped around their fingers! 




- Ashley

Relax!

Does This Help You Relax Bruins Fans??

I think I might need to disable my twitter feed during Bruins games.

I mean really people...we are 5 games into the season and the negativity I have read surrounding the DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS is laughable.

Now I can only imagine how long its going to take until the "Fire Coach" idiots start crawling out of the woodwork.

What the fuck? I mean seriously thats all I can say is what the fuck?  Does a team that just won the Stanley Cup a little over four months ago not deserve a bit more then a 5-game grace period before we start with this bullshit?

And I mean really...we're 2-3...not 0-5.  Let's take our finger off the panic button people!

Yes..I do get frustrated with our power play and wonder with as much talent that we do have and someone like Big Z with his 100 plus mph bomb back there how we haven't been more effective on it I don't know.  That being said...we have proved and continue to prove there are two sides to special teams and if your PP isn't goin your PK better be efficient.  Well as per usual our PK has been great so if we're gonna rip all over the power play lets give the penalty killers some love.

Personally this team, players, coaches and management has bought ALOT more then a 5-game trial period from myself before I start to show any signs of panic at all!

A few other notes from what I've noticed so far to start the season:

- As I predicted it looks like Segs is ready to take a huge jump forward now that he has a full season and confidence under his belt.  Definitely been one of our best forwards so far.

- The BFF's will be fine!  Yes Horty and Looch are off to a bit of a slow start but they both came on a bit in the Chicago game and I would predict in this next week or so will be making plenty of noise.

- Have to love the luxury we have with having the best 1-2 punch in net.  Would love to see about a 60/40 split between the pipes this year as we know Tuukka is more then capable of giving Timmmy some very important nights off.

- PC does it again!  Once again he locks up a player early in the season at what will be well below market value once all the insanity starts up again July 1.  Pevs might be our most versatile player.  The guy could play on any four lines and not look out of place...special teams guy...good leader....GREAT SIGNING!

Forty Horty!!!

Finally!  It's time people!!!  NHL Centre Ice is ordered bingo bango bring on Jack and Brick its pretty much time to go!  Raise that motherfucking banner!!!

Before the puck drops for real lets take a look at a player who I think will be one of the keys for the B's in our quest to repeat.

For the entire 2011-2012 season I would like you all to refer to him as "Forty Horty".  Yes you heard it here first...Nathan Horton #18 for your Boston Bruins will have the best offensive season of his career and will score 40 or more goals this coming season.

Unlike my  buddy Dan over at Bruins Hockey Now ...I for one loved this trade the day it was made.  Yes primarily because I had enough of "big money wides" but also because I loved the potential upside Horton brought to the table.

As good as Horton has been his entire career (6 straight 20-goal seasons) I do still think he has more to give and somewhat underachieved in Florida and at times last season as well.

And when I say underachiever again he has put up numbers that would deem him a VERY good NHL player however I really think he is on the verge of being a star.

I am positive the Horton who scored 12 goals over the Bruins final 25 games and 8 more in the playoffs is the one who will start the season tonight.

When you have all the physical tools that Horty does and you combine that with playing along side your bff and possibly the toughest player along the boards and in the corners in Looch and your centreman is the Einstein of the NHL because of his insanely high hockey IQ and the ability to find his wingers anywhere at anytime how will Horty NOT thrive and have the best offensive season of his career?

Combine that with the positive karma he deserves for bringing that beautiful, championship winning Gahden Water to Vancouver for Game 7 I think all the stars have alligned for Horty!

I'm so excited for tonight I don't know what to do with myself.  Bring it on bitches!  The repeat starts tonight...led by our 2011-2012 top goal scorer Forty Horty! You heard it here first!!

Who agrees with me?? Am I a Bruins prophet or a lil off base with my Forty Horty prediction?  Give me your feedback!! Comment, tweet whatever you feel like!

PS - To all my loyal HoneyPot readers I would like for you all to go check out Be The Game .  Great cause
be sure to check it out!

Go Bruins!!!!!!

- Ashley