Terrible Timmy....Just Terrible

Selfish.  That is the one word for me to sum up the latest episode of the Tim Thomas soap opera that is going on right now.

Yes I know he helped us win the first Bruins Cup of my lifetime, yes I know about the Vezina trophies, the fun goofy antics both off the ice and usually on it.  Trust me I loved Timmy and it shocks me what has happened over the past 6 months...but I'm sorry in my eyes this does not give him a free pass to walk out on his contract and in doing so fuck his teammates and fuck the fans of the Boston Bruins!

For the past three days I have heard so many differing opinions on this.  Many have come down on me for my strong views on this and feel like I am being way too hard on him.  They feel like with what he did for our organization he is entitled to do whatever the hell he wants to do.  Well sorry I completely disagree with this and think its complete bullshit!

Let me just say that IF Timmy's contract was up and he was essentially a free-agent and he chose to walk away or take a "year off" I would be the first one to say "More power to ya Timmy...you deserve it!".  The thing is people HE DOES HAVE A CONTRACT!  In my eyes this is not about his 3 F's...

It's about 1 F...Fuck You Bruins is the only F I see in this whole debacle.

To touch on the contract for a moment.  Does it not smell bad to anyone else that he signs a multi-year deal as an older player...FRONT LOADS THE CONTRACT...and then walks away in the year that he is set to actually make the least amount of money in the deal??  People say "oh well look at all the money he is walking away from!!!" Well actually people he already milked most of the money out of this contract already!  Look at what Nick Lidstrom did. For the past few seasons Lidstrom always knew there would be a chance that he needed to step away from the game.  So what did he do all those seasons?? Did he sign a 5-year deal like he most likely could have got 3 years ago from the Wings?? No! He kept signing 1-year contracts because he knew at the end of any of those years it could be hist last.  So in order to not fuck the organization that had given him so much (and yes he gave them alot back) he just kept doing his 1-year deals so they would not be stuck with a large cap hit for a player no longer playing!  Bottom line Timmy...YOU signed a contract...no one held a gun to YOUR head to sign it....LIVE UP TO IT!

Yes I understand family comes first above everything else.  But come on...explain to the factory worker working 12-hour days that a guy with 4 months a year off just does not have enough time to spend with his family!  Sure these guys are on the road alot but how many hours comparatively to us working stiffs do these guys work on non game days?? Practice in the morning...mix in a work out..all in all about a 5-hour day.  Lots of time to pick the kids up from school if he so chooses to do. 

In my mind this came down to one thing...Timmy saw the writing on the wall...he heard the trade rumors and speculation and he picked up his toys and left the sand box before he could be told to move to another sand box.  I use the sand box analogy because he is acting like a 5-year old right now.

I have heard the term a virtual no trade clause by doing this.  Well why the hell didn't he push to have an ACTUAL no trade clause when HE signed that contract I mentioned earlier??

I have also had people say to me "Well if Tuukka is so good then why does it matter?"

Yes Tuukka is SO good and I firmly believe Timmy or no Timmy that Tuukka would have been the # 1 goalie this season.  It is definitely Tuukka Time BUT that is not the point! The point is the 5-million Cap hit that we are going to be stuck with!

I've also had people actually say to me "Well its the same thing Savard did...Savard could have negotiated a buy-out of his contract".  EXCUSE ME???? How is this the same as Savvy??? The game ripped away Savvy's day to day health and the physical ability to do his job!  How the hell are they even close to being compareable? Savvy deserves every penny that is owed to him on his contract.  This is a guy who returned to play early in the playoffs (when you don't even get paid) because he wanted to help his team that bad and he just wanted to play!

Also say what you want about the media BUT the media is in place to act as the information source of the fan.  Bruins fans deserve to HEAR and SEE Timmy being held accountable and having to actually answer some questions on this matter.  Hiding behind your facebook account to make this announcement is cowardly and self-serving. 

I would like to say I feel better now after getting that off my chest but the fact is I don't.  I still have a sick feeling in my stomach over this with a player who I held in such high regard as a Bruin who now
in my opinion has turned his back on the organization, on a contract he signed and has left a 5-million dollar hole for us to somehow climb out of!

Selfish!

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

I'm baaaaaack!!!! And guess what Bruins fans...so are the Stanley Cup Playoffs!!!!

Sorry to all my loyal readers for being somewhat on shutdown the last couple of months...busy with school, life, etc. blah blah blah but enough of that! I am back with a vengence and I am beyond
fired up for the playoffs to start!

Before I get into the Bruins match-up with the Caps and my take it to the bank series prediction I would like to tend to a little house-keeping relating to the Honey Pot first.

I will start by admitting I was completely wrong about something.  Yes a rare occasion that I was off about something but I will own up to it right now. Before the regular season I so boldly predicted that the Flyers would not make the playoffs. Not only did they make it but they made it in as a 5-seed.  I blew this one folks (save your dirty thoughts..stay with me here) I did not believe in Bryz and I wasn't sold on some of their off-season moves. While I think they would still be better off with Richards, Carter and Bobrovsky rather than Simmonds, Schenn and Bryz with Bob on the bench....they did however have a very good season the Jagr signing turned out to be a smart move. Props to you Flyers and enjoy kicking Sidney's Vagina in the Round One!

Now after that rare miscue lets just point out that within the same blog entry I also pointed out that the Toronto Maple Leafs would continue to be the joke that they are and would once again...fail to qualify for the post-season.  Thus after reading an article stating that the Leafs were play-off bound.  Well Burkie not only did you renew my faith in what an ass clown of a GM you are you took it one step further and ended up in the bottom five and the Draft Lottery. Bahahaahahaha omg the Leafs are a joke that just keeps getting better and better.  All I have to say to you Burkie is.....stay away from Galchenyuk!!! I really shouldn't worry because drafting Gally would be the smart move which we know Burkie is incapable of!

Anyway I digress...enough ranting about that joke of an organization and on to one that actually knows what a Playoff game is.

So here we go folks!  Bruins vs Caps.  I was looking forward to playing the Sens in the first round (despite the fact CBC would have drove me insane) because I thought that was our best match-up.  But fuck it...we're the defending Stanley Cup Champs..bring on anyone!

Here is my take on how we match up with the Caps.

Forwards
Advantage Bruins - We may not have one player individually better than OV however collectively as a group this isn't even close.  I do think OV has somewhat found his old magic and its a boost for them that Backstrom is back but outside of that I think their depth is lacking.  Semin is a dog when it counts and after that I see a bunch of pluggers who don't get much done.  Our calling card all season long and during last years run is our depth.  We will roll four lines with legit scoring threats on the top 3 and a 4th line that will give the Caps fits and will continually set the tone throughout this series.  Don't look for any one player to lead the way...which is a good thing.  Look for the entire Bergy line to come through like they have all year and I love guys like Pevs and Kelly come playoff time...they always seem to score big goals!

Defense
Advantage Bruins - One word...Big Z!! The Caps don't have any defencemen on the same planet as Z.  I hope Ovi is ready for a steady diet of #33 because that is what he will see literally every shift he is on the ice. Green is not even close to the same player he was before his string of injuries leaving Bruins castoff Dennis Wideman as the Caps top D....ya good luck.

Goaltending
Advantage Bruins - This one is advantage Bruins in a landslide.  At the end of the day this will decide the series.  Don't give me any garbage about Timmy playing against Washington and being distracted because of all that political bullshit.  Reigning Vezina Tropy Winner vs. 11-games in his NHL career Holtby. Like most rookie goalies in the playoffs Holtby will show flashes of brilliance but in a 7-game series there is no way he leads the Caps to a series win.  Timmy had a tough second half of the season but its playoff time and its time for him to shut the door.

Coaching
Advantage Bruins - Experienced Stanley Cup Champion vs. Memorial Cup Champion. AKA an NHL  Coach vs. a Jr.A Coach. Need I say more? Another large advantage Bruins.

Add these all up and what do you get??

Prediction: Bruins in 5. I'll give the Caps a game somewhere along the line but we wrap it up at home in 5.

Thats it for now...but I will be much more active now that its playoff time and really...thats about all I can think about now anyway!  Enjoy the game tonight and Go Bruins!

Deadline......Just Around The Corner

The 2012 Trade Deadline is less than three weeks away so what better time to take a look at the Bruins roster and open up some discussion as per what our beloved PC should be doing this year to give us the best possible chance to become back-to-back Champions!

I whole heartedly believe that we won the cup last year at the deadline.

Say what you want about Kabby and I know alot of you will and do have negative opinions regarding about his time with our B's but I still think he made some positive contributions and even
though he didn't produce the way many wanted or expected (myself included) I do think he was a valuable piece just to add to our depth on the blue line and made us tougher to match up against.

And of course...picking up Kelly and Pevs well without the addition of those two I definitely don't think we would have won the Cup.  Both guys chipped in with big timely goals played that playoff style that veteran guys like that seem to be able too and really put us over the top in my opinion.

Fast forward one year later and we had an amazing parade (which yours truly witnessed first hand), a summer of shirtless clubbing, a banner raising, a good excuse for  Timmy to express his political beliefs and here we are....defending champions poised to take another run at Lord Stanley!

So what still needs to be done to this roster to give us the best possible chance to repeat you may ask?

Well let me tell ya (you knew I would)...

Lets do a little housecleaning here before I propose some major renovations shall we.

First and foremost and at the very top of my list...GET KAMPFER OUT OF TOWN!!! Seriously people...what is the fascination some fans have with this guy?  I realize he is a healthy scratch 90% of the time (which should tell you all you need to know about him) but when we get into injury or suspension trouble like we recently did it drives me fucking nuts to watch this guy.  I mean seriously what
does he bring to the table??

For me the fix for this is to send him back down for good OR even better see if some GM is dumb enough to be sold on his "potential" and bring Colby Cohen up from Providence.

Granted his stats in Providence won't jump off the page at ya BUT as a depth defenceman who needs to slot into the 5-6 spot from time to time he is a MUCH better fit than Kampfer.  He is huge, physical
and will drop the mitts from time to time.

Its time for everyone to realize Kampfer is what he is...its not like he's 20 years old and we know he is a sure fire top 4 dman of the future.  Time to turn the page on him and let him take an early vacation to see his buddies Mickey and Goofy.

Now for the meat and potatoes....let me get to MY personal wishlist for the trade deadline.

Yes some of this is just fantasy but hey these are some of the names that are out there!

1. Shea Weber - Yes laugh and snicker if you want and I realize the chances of Weber being dealt are slim but hey this is MY wishlist.  I think there is a real possibility that Nashville needs to break up the dynamic duo of Weber and Suter.  As much as they don't want too Suter has already come out and said he will not sign in season.  Weber is a RFA and Suter a UFA...yes this make the chance of it being Suter dealt a much greater possibility but hey come on here and dream for a minute.  I remember this kid playing at the Memorial Cup in my hometown with Kelowna and I was blown away then.  He is the complete package...he hits, he fights and next to Big Z might have the hardest shot from in the league.  Obviously the asking price would be through the roof and I am sure would include 2 roster players and most likely Dougie but if this
guy ever came our way you can start planning the parade again.

2. Ryan Suter - See above for my explanation on why he may be available.  As I said IF the Preds break up the duo he is the most likely to be moved.  He is no Shea Weber but he is still a stud. Again the asking price will be high but I as you can see the piece I covet the most would be on the blue-line.

3. Lubomir Visnovsky - Not the same mold by any means as Suter and Weber but this guy INSTANTLY revamps our power play.  Somewhat underrated because he's out on the West Coast so you don't see him alot but the numbers don't lie.  Anaheim may or may not clean house but if they do look for Visnovsky to possibly be available.  Yes I know the price tag again will be high but these guys don't grown on trees people!

4. Derek Roy - I LOVE our forwards.  I love our line combinations I love our depth I love the mix of everything we have.  That being said our third line tonight is Pouliot-Krejci-Caron. I am very happy with the low risk low expense signing of Pouliot and what he brings and I know Coach is in love with caron but adding Roy would give us three potent scoring lines to go along with the best fourth line in hockey.  Personally I've always liked Roy and think he has a boat load of potential that he hasnt even completely lived up too.

5. Antoine Vermette - This would be the easiest deal of all these guys to get.  Yes I am sure many of you will read this and shake your heads BUT this is all about the price being right and some upside this guy would bring.  Again I am very happy with what Pouliot has brought to the table this year for what we signed him at BUT Vermette is an upgrade.  Speed to burn, kills penalties, experienced and has some skill too.  I think adding him would be comparable to adding Kelly last year.

So there you have it folks.

Let me be clear...I LOVE our current roster and if the playoffs started tomorrow I would love our chances to repeat.......but hey a girl can dream :)

- Ashley

This Just In...Well Actually A Bit Late But....The Canucks Are Still Annoying Pussies

The Jacket Says It All - Stanley Cup Champions

Happy New Year to all my readers and most especially my fellow Bruin fans!

What a way to kick off the new year.  Last Saturday we were reminded just how much we can't stand those losers from the West Coast...the Stanley Cup Runner Up..the Vancouver Canucks.

Now I will start off by saying that this game just pointed out to me all that is wrong with the NHL Schedule.  Its a crime that after last years Stanley Cup Finals and our one game reunion filled with so much hate and passion that we only play these cocksuckers one time this season.  Well only one time unless the Canucks find their way back to the Finals...cause we all know WE will be there!! But come on Betman and NHLPA get your act together.  We need to play teams in the West more than once per season. 

Ok now lets get to the Canfucks a team filled with a couple of weasels, twin sisters,a very sensitive goaltender and a pompous arrogant Coach who doubles as a complete hypocrite!

As for the game itself.  I wasn't able to watch it all live as I was busy being Maid of Honour of the Year
and attending a Bridal show...BUT being the true fan and student of the game that I am I did watch it in its entirety through my NHL Online Centre Ice package.

Call me biased whatever but the better team did not win that game.  I do however love how the Canucks, their media and their fans act like it was some sort of vindication for the Finals. Umm...at the end of the day it was 2 points we still have the Cup and your still runners up!

I love how the Canucks also feel like they proved a point with some of the rough stuff and "answering the bell".  Ummm lets see you had a player challenge Thorty then run scared and refuse to drop the mitts, you start a mini brawl by getting your stick in our face and then of course no one is man enough to deal with Looch...and as always at the first sign of any altercation the Sisters Sedin were skating furiously to the bench to change their tampons.

It drives me nuts how after the game all that anyone would talk about was the low bridge hit by Marchy on Salo.  To me this was a minor penalty at best and thats it! Were his elbows up? Did he target his head? Was his stick up? Not to sound like Milbury but his 5-game suspension is just another example of the wussification of the NHL.

What pisses me off though more than the penalty or the suspension is the reaction from Alan VignFUCK.  Essentially through his crying and his whining he was insinuating that someone should seriously injure Marchy.  Well guess what Vignfuck...take a look in your own backyard before this shit comes out of your mouth.  Unlike the pussies you throw out over the boards every other shift every player wearing Black and Gold will actually defend themselves and back everything up. 

Just for fun...and I'm sure most of you have seen this but what a perfect way to close off the Canfucks and let Thorty have the final word!  Oh wait that loser writer from Vancouver says it best himself when he admits "they have no toughness" hahaha this coming from one of their own reporters..this is classic.

Anyway Canfucks until we meet again...rather IF we meet again.  And if we do you will once again end the season as the second best team in the NHL.


Also some quick love for my other team!  The OHL trade deadline recently came and went and my Sarnia Sting loaded up! Most importantly they loaded up with one of the top Bruin prospects!!! Ryan Spooner is now a member of the Sting and they've been rollin ever since. 

With the addition of Spooner the Sting easily have the best "top six" in the OHL and quite likely all of the CHL. 

Sadly Nail is currently nursing a knee injury but when he comes back and when him and Spooner are on the ice together....wow...its going to be incredible.  Yours truly will be going to watch him and the Sting on Thursday night and I will be sure to give a lil scouting report for any of you wanting to read up on the Bruins prospect!

- Ashley