Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadians Game Preview: Even during the rough patch that the Canadians have endured, Habs/B's still has a way of bringing out the best in the Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins (34-15-3) vs. Montreal Canadians (28-20-5)

7:00PM January 30th, 2014

TD Garden, Boston Massachusetts

As someone who has watched sports long enough to realize that the term underdog should be taken like a grain of salt when it comes to games that do not involve the Oakland Raiders or the Houston Astros, I simply know not to call the Montreal Canadians an underdog going into this Thursday night match up with the Bruins. But nevertheless, what I will say is that when you put more weight on the last 10 games played by each of these teams, a strong constant emerges. The Montreal Canadians and the Boston Bruins are two teams that are moving in opposite directions...and you can guess who is trending upwards. 

For those who have not heard, the Bruins are 5-0-1 in their last 6 games and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. That translates out to a pretty productive first month of 2014 as when you go beyond the win/loss tallies, the Bruins have been one of the most offensively potent teams in the NHL this month scoring 43 goals while allowing just 29. Going back to the statistics of their last 6 games, the Bruins have scored 6 goals in 3 straight games to compliment 9 more goals scored in the other 3 games played. If you don't feel like doing that math, that is 27 goals in 6 games or a goals per game average of just about 4.5. 

I think everyone’s going. We haven’t really had any passengers from the goalie on out," Shawn Thornton said after Tuesday's win over Florida. "I think there’s obviously been a few stretches here, five-ten minutes that we get away from it a little bit, but we regroup pretty quickly and get back to playing our style of game. I think that’s helped us have success for sure." 

For the Bruins, these last 6 games have been all about beating the other team and then beating them more as unlike tight but high scoring games (Game Five of last year’s Stanley Cup for example) the Bruins have not gone into the 3rd period tied or trailing since Sunday January 19th against the Blackhawks. Their defense has not been perfect and frankly, even their goaltenders have struggled but nevertheless when you are scoring as much as the Bruins have been of late that does not matter. But in this game there might be a need for a bit more of that defense, simply because each of the 3 teams they have scored 6 goals against this month none of them have had a very good goaltender. Fact is even in his struggles and his subordinate nature, Peter Budaj is still a much better goalie than Steve Mason, Ray Emery or even Tim Thomas and his haphazard defense. Additionally, of all the defencemen the Bruins faced in these 3 games, none could even be mentioned in the same sentence at PK Subban or Andri Markov.  

But regardless of that, this is the Bruins/Canadians rivalry. That kind of rivalry that bring out the very best and worst in any player. Last time around there was the Max Paccoretty cheap shot on Johnny Boychuck and then a few years before that we saw the mid-season rugby scrum involving Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand and even Tim Thomas that brought back strong memories of the 70's editions of these games where the phrase "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" might as well have been born from. 

Even for a Canadians team that has lost 6 out of their last 7 games, this rivalry is magic and has a way of throwing every kind of separation between these teams out the window and replacing it with the kind of excellence that Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr, and Terry O'Rilley brought to these games. No matter the year, no matter the players, in this the first Habs/B's game in Boston this season we will cheer, Thornton will hurl some jabs and if everything goes to plan, the Bruin will score 6 more goals. 

Tim Thomas clubs Carl Soderberg in the head in 6-2 loss to Bruins: Former Bruin crossed line from self defense into brutality and poor sportsmanship

Loosing stings. Tim Thomas learned that from the first to the final horn of Tuesday's Bruins/Panthers game in Boston. But what stings more is getting clubbed in the head with the side of a goalie stick. Carl Soderberg learned that when Tim Thomas took a cheap shot at him with 3.2 seconds left in that same Bruins/Panthers game.

After the Bruins scored 6 goals, and made their former goalie look so bad that at one point in the 3rd period the sing song chant of "TAWW-MAS!" that rained down from the stands turn into one nearly incomparable to any other taunting this fan base has done in a while. While we can only speculate what Tim Thomas thought during the waning seconds of that game we know that he was no completely insulated from those chants, his skin was not so thick that those 6 goals did not get to him. He is an athlete and more so a competitor who no matter how sure of the fact that this team he currently plays on will not win the Stanley Cup hates to be beaten and then mocked like he was. But as the post-game interview dragged on, Tim Thomas said that the taunting, the goals already scored had nothing to do with it.  

"I didn't notice them in my crease more than any other teams and to be honest with you, nobody was really running into me until the end there." Thomas said before turning his answers to reporters’ questions to the subject of Carl Soderberg "Soderberg, you know, the play before that he did a hard jab and next thing you know, the puck is up in the air, catching it and his stick's in my throat. I mean, less than a minute left in the game, there up 4 goals, 6 to 2 I take exception to that"

And take exception to that he did. As Carl Soderberg came jumping into the crease charging for a 7th goal for Boston, Thomas caught the puck then reared back with his blocker/stick hand. Soderberg, who was still watching behind Thomas for the puck to come dribbling out had no clue even that the play was over. He was oblivious to Thomas' possession of the puck well, that is until the slash. With Soderberg just barely sliding through the crease, Timmy slammed the sharp side of his goalie stick right into the ear of Soderberg's helmet. Immediately felling Soderberg and causing him to writhe on the ground for nearly 5 seconds before getting back to his knees. 

Now frankly, Thomas has a history here but has never attacked someone on this level. As you may remember, Thomas of course got into that tussle in 2011 with Carey Price and then in those playoffs he slashed and then punched Alex Burrows in the leg after Burrows slashed him. In that incident in particular while the slash was pretty brutal for one it was not to the head as the Soderberg attack was and frankly he had a far greater reason to attack in that situation than he did Tuesday night solely because Burrows intentionally slashed Thomas in that case while Tuesday, Soderberg was going for the puck and accidentally connected with Thomas. 

Through all this, Thomas has never been suspended. But frankly, there is a first for everything. 

Tim Thomas lost his cool Tuesday night in Boston and he did so in a way that made this league look very bad. Unlike stuff like the Alex Burrows bite or even a discrete elbow check, this was a play that could be seen from the rafters, live TV or fairly conveyed through radio without need for further explanation or replay. If slashes like these go un-punished than they will continue and very quickly injuries will pile up. 

I have said it once and I will say it again, it is time to suspend Tim Thomas. 

Bruins beat Tim Thomas and then beat him again in 6-2 Boston win over Florida: A look at one of Boston's most explosive 3 game stretches in years

I will say this, after enjoying my thrilling trip to a Bruins game Tuesday night, my voice has left the building. Why? Because when David Krejci scored with 2 minutes and 9 seconds left in Tuesday's game against the Panthers, that goal not only marked the 6th of the game but also the 18th Boston tally in the last 4 days. 

In 3 games, the Bruins have blasted 3 straight 6 goal games lifting their fans out of their seats and keeping them there as goals against 5 different goaltenders have proven that even after last off seasons overhaul, the statistics put up by the Bruins can be misleading. While they have not had a 30 goal scorer since 2011 and have had just 2 since the dawn of the Claude Jullian era, the Bruins remain a team that can tussle with the big boys not only physically but also on the score sheet. That mantra of play that goes against that of guys like Sidny Crosby and Evgeni Malken, Patrick Kane, Stephan Stamkos of Alex Ovechken, has been reflected not only in Tuesday's scorecard but in every one since this offensive assault began Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.  

In these 3 games, Zdeno Chara has scored 4 times, Reilly Smith has netted 3, Patrice Bergeron, Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic have all scored 2 goals while Loui Eriksson, Brad Marchand, Carl Soderberg, Shawn Thornton and David Krejci have all scored. If you lost count that is 9 different players combining to score 18 goals. By comparison, when the Pittsburgh Penguins notched their most productive 3 game stretch of the year back in November, their 14 goals, spread out over wins against the Leafs, Lightning and Panthers, were scored by just 6 different players. 

By pure strategic reasoning it is no secret that if a person were presented with the opportunity to score the same amount of goals with more players scoring those goals than less, the smart option would be to choose the more distributed option solely because it is harder to defend and set match ups to a 9 man attack rather than a 6 man attack. 

But the story last night was not that of the Pittsburgh Penguins unbalanced attack. No, rather it was a game of many facets, more complex than just a simple 6 goal onslaught of goals and just as thrilling as a 1-0 final would be…but for different reasons. Before the game even started, we knew what was coming, feisty Tim Thomas, who cited the Bruins 2013 cup run as the reason he returned to hockey was back on Garden ice for the first time since Game Seven of the 2012 ECQF match-up between the Bruins and Capitals. But now, the roles were switched. Since Timmy Thomas elected to forgo the 2013 season, he has been replaced in the hearts of Bostonians by the man who for so long waited for his turn to shine in such a hockey driven city. In this season alone, Thomas who, despite being the starter down in Florida, has backstopped his team to just 14 wins in 33 games has been by far the inferior goalie to Tuukka Rask and while he knew that and we knew that, coming into this game, Bruins fans remembered what Thomas meant to this team. Despite his quirks, despite the fact that he certainly is prone to saying controversial things, Tim Thomas was the biggest reason the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and so we knew coming in to this one that there would be no disowning of the former star. 

Coming in, he deserved a cheer, and so we gave it to him, raising our unified voice to a roaring cheer as his name was introduced on the scoreboard prior to the game.  

But from there on, he was nothing, nothing more than the goalie who seemed to be lacking a little bit of the jump and agility that made him so unique in Boston. As Boston rode through the first minutes of the game, Boston dominated the neutral zone and actually tallied 6 shots before the Panthers even got one. Before long, those shots turned into a mid-period tap in by Milan Lucic and eventually what was originally deemed a tip in by the same Bruin. Also embedded within that 2 goal 1st period was a standing ovation given to captain and veteran defencemen Zdeno Chara when the Garden HDX scoreboard paid tribute to his 500th career NHL point scored Monday night in against the Islanders. As he gazed up at the scoreboard, and Tuesday's referee, Chris Rooney allowed the game to be put on pause for the moment, Chara finally smiled towards the camera that was pointed at him and gave a slight wave to the crowd that launched the arena into delirious cheering. 

But nonetheless, as fans flooded towards the bathrooms and concession stands, during the intermission break there was a scoring change that may have been missed by a few Bruins fans. The 2nd goal of the game, originally credited to Milan Lucic, was given instead to Zdeno Chara, a change that when Lucic scored his real 2nd goal of the game, 1 minute and 46 seconds into the 2nd period was not remembered by a few Bruins fans. As he wrapped the puck into the side of the net, many thought that this was his hat trick goal and so, as 4 or 5 hats fell to the ice, you could imagine the dismay when the reminder was made that this was goal number 2 not number 3. 

For the rest of the game that before long was one summarized entirely by the 4-0 lead held by Boston, it was no secret that quite a few people would have loved to see Lucic get a cheap goal from sitting in front of Tim Thomas and snag the hat trick for real this time. Long story short, that did not happen. But what did happen was a sudden surge by the Panthers that at one point cut the Bruins lead to 2 and seemed to say to the team hey, time to go out and score a few more!

They listened and even Shawn Thornton pitched in to grab his piece of the goal scoring pie, when he pulled off a miracle move that saw him pull he puck between 3 defenders legs and the roof it past Tim Thomas on the backhand shot. For a guy known for his fighting, this goal was something to be remembered as even when you think about last season’s penalty shot beauty scored by Thornton this might likely be the best goal of Shawn Thornton's career. At least Milan Lucic thinks so. 

"It will definitely be a highlight of the night around North America," Lucic said. "I would say for right now I would put it in the top three or four of goals of the month."

"It was awesome to see him do what he did there, and I know everyone had a good chuckle because we love seeing him score and get rewarded when he does. It almost seems like when he does score he gets the pretty ones, and that one was probably his prettiest since he’s been here on the Bruins."  

In a season dominated by the work of Tuukka Rask, and the unseen talents of Reilly Smith the Bruins big guys have taken center stage these past few games, scoring time and time again, pelting their opponents into submission and making their fans awake each morning with a bit of a soreness in the backs of their thoughts. 

Wait, I should not include that, I mean, too many goals: what a nice problem!

Bruins veterans shine in 6-1 demolition of Flyers: Iginla, Chara both score twice proving that the young call ups are not the only thing that helps this team

Zdeno Chara looks real big in that picture not only because the man on his right stands at just 5 feet 9 inches but also because his 2 goals had his team and he flying high en route to a win labeled by many as their best of the season.

Fact is for many veteran guys on this team, the shocking, unexpected work of guys like Ryan Spooner, Kevin Millar, Reilly Smith, Torey Krug, and Matt Bartowski has stolen their thunder this season as well as steeling their points. Reilly Smith leads the team in goals scored, while Kevin Millar has outhit, massive Johnny Boychuck himself. Even guys like Matt Fraser have made their mark in Boston as that 23 year old right winger helped provide a much needed aspect of physicality for the team especially during last month's Shawn Thornton suspension.

Fact is with all these injures to top players like Dennis Sidenberg and Adam McQuaid, the unexpected talents of these rookie call ups and 1st year starters has been one of the biggest reasons the Bruins are the best team in the Atlantic Division this season, but nevertheless, they are not all of it. Through the first 50 games of this season, Chara has quietly assembled quite a goal tally. He is on pace to tie his career high in goals of 19 and actually leads the Bruins in power play goals with 8. At 37 years old, Chara is playing 25 minutes per game and yet he is taking the fewest penalties of his career. If one were to call Zdeno Chara a star than they would have seen him shining Saturday afternoon in Philly. The 6 foot 9 inch defencemen assembled his best statistical game of the season scoreing 2 goals, taking 4 shots while blocking 4 more. For Big Zee, his 10th and 11th goals of the year snapped a 15 game goalless streak and undoubtedly provided backing to his being named the CCzechoslovakian flag bearer for the 2014 Winter Olympics but he was not the only veteran snapping streaks during Saturday's game.

Like Chara, 36 year old Jarome Iginla who has been praised this year for his rookie like drive to win his first Stanley Cup of his carrer had, despite logging 15 goals in this season not scored since January first and was caught in his longest scoreing drought as a Bruin. However, in true Iginla fashion, he snapped that trend via his 21st carrer 4 point game scoreing 2 goals and assisting on 2 more. Of those 4 points 3 of them were logged on the power play scoreing 1 of Boston's 3 power play goals midway through the 3rd period. Even David Krejci was a huge force in this game assisting on 3 out of 6 goals each one better than the last.

"I thought, right from the drop, every single guy was ready to go," said Iginla "And it was a fun game to play, for sure."

As Iginla hinted at, the Bruins were almost constantly scoreing distributing their 6 goals evenly over all 3 periods and never going more than 15 minutes between goals. Late in the 3rd, when Jordan Caron took a brutal high stick to the jaw, chipping a tooth and knocking out another the Bruins scored twice on the ensuing double minor penalty. Those goals were separated by just 55 seconds and effectively turned this game from a convincing win to a full out obliteration of the struggling Flyers. 

But back to the story of veteran contributions. While the works of Zdeno Chara, Jarome Iginla and David Krejci were all offensive, Tuukka Rask proved to the world that while last season was great and while he has struggled at times this season he is still having a career year in 2013-2014. He stopped 25 out of 26 shots, held a shutout through the first 47:55 of the game and overall, lead the team to their 23rd win of the season with him between the pipes. In this his 39th start of the season, he has already topped his career high in wins set back in 2009 and furthermore is on pace to up that total to nearly 38 wins by years end. 

"Yeah, it was great," Rask said as he was swarmed by reporters following the game, "Really kept it going the whole 60 minutes. I think the first period was the most even, both teams had chances, and we ended up scoring. And the good thing is, that we never let our guard down, we just kept pushing and getting more goals."

"Great game."

In a game that Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux labeled as "the most embarrassing" of his carrer, the Bruins distributed their wealth across 8 different players, snapping streaks and reviving memories of the kind of dominant routs powered by veterans that the Bruins so artfully enjoyed back in their Championship winning 2011 season. For 3 hours Saturday afternoon, the Bruins never quit, never stopped pressing and never stopped working. All of those qualities are ones that can only be fully mastered by those who know this league like the back of their hand and that was shown Saturday vs. the Flyers. 

If There is Danger: As the Sochi Olympics hold the possibility of turning into an international panic, the IOC must know that if catastrophy strikes than they will have to answer

If there is danger at any point during next month's Winter Olympics, there are measures in place for the United States to get their people out of Russia and yet, at the same time, we know that when the dust settles in such an event, the IOC will be in serious trouble.  

For those who have not been following the drama that has transpired in this lead up to Sochi, Russia is a nation that has recently fallen off the rails of political stability. Less than two years after the succeeded Dmitry Medvedev as the 4th president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin is a man disliked by many in the political world. He is violent, abusive of his power and borders on being a dictator. Within days of his election, Putin disbanded a protest of his election by ordering police to arrest as well as beat a musical group that spoke critically of his actions. Within a few months of that, it was June 2013 and time for Putin to make even more global enemies when he signed into law a decree banning what he deemed to be "homosexual propaganda." That law deemed it illegal for one to carry a rainbow flag, or any other gay rights symbols or even hold hands or hug someone of the same gender. As riots, hate crimes and the brutal arrests continued, a sense of worry began to cloud over the Olympic games set to commence within 1 years’ time. And now, that worry has turned into a complete and total dreading of what might happen this February.

Many Olympians have asked their family to stay home rather than putting themselves at risk by attending such a tense games. 

"I told my family not to go, but my mom wants to go so I can't stop her. I would prefer if she didn't go," Chezh Republic and Boston Bruin forward, David Krejci said to ESPN Boston earlier this week "I understand everybody who doesn't want their families to go. It's a scary situation."

Even Canadian/Bruin coach, Claude Jullian has requested that his loved one's stay home. 

"That's still a debate right now," Julien said. "Not my family. If anything, it will be my wife, but that's still under debate right now. There is concern, like anybody else, but there's concern like that everywhere else. I think it's been exposed more because of what it represents, but it's a decision we'll make later."

We hear stories of shootings, attempted bombing and by extension, the army of security forces that will be dispatched to protect these games and frankly, it is hard not to feel scared. When people from this United States of Amarica hear that there are measures in place for all American Atheleats and press workers to be evacuated from Russia at a moment's notice, when we hear that there was a memo sent out to US Olympians stating that they should not where USA gear outside of the arena for fear of being attacked we wonder, why is this nation sending its people into this situation? Frankly, we do not know. When the homophobic laws ruffled some feathers back in June, there were already talks of boycotting the games for that reason alone and yet while we rapidly realize the extent of the poverty and anger that thrives just feet from many of these Olympic venues we will still participate. 

So why?

No matter the fear, no matter how evil and inept at keeping control of their country the Russian government may be, there is still a magic about this age old tradition. To be named to an Olympic team in any sport in any country is still an honor, still an example of thanks and respect simply telling you that you are one of the best, ski jumpers, one of the fastest skiers, skaters or luge riders in your nation of millions. And no matter the worry, no matter what kind of looming fear of attack there may be, we will still watch these games and we will still marvel at the speed at which these human beings can move their bodies, no matter what kind of skies or other implements they use to do so. NBC will still make millions, even billions off of these games and frankly, nothing bad will happen until something happens. Fact is, the United States should not have to deprive their athletes of the opportunity to compete, the IOC should instead have to work to provide those athletes with a safe stage to showcase their skills and at this point, it does not seem like they have done that.

If these games are great than there will be praise but if they go badly, if there is danger, if there is an impending reason for great fear at any point during these 17 days of competition than the IOC will be ripped apart and brutally condemned for what may be the biggest mistake they have ever made. 

That is, awarding the 2014 Winter Olympics to Sochi.

"It was a deliberate play to take out Aqib" - Bill Belichick on Welker hit on Aqib Talib

The biggest game left on the Patriots calendar is the meaningless Pro Bowl. The biggest game left on the Denver Broncos calendar is Febuary's Super Bowl. Those words, that future and this reality must sting for Patriots fans and yet, it we would be sore losers if we diminished the skill it took for Denver to earn themselves such a promising future. They won 13 regular season games in 2013, obliterating defenses through tic tack tow passing and well-timed rushing while remaining disciplined on defense and never letting up no matter that in game situation. 

They were not cocky, they never underestimated an opponent and so, here they are AFC East Champions for the first time in decades and playoff winners against one of the hottest teams in football, the Chargers and the omnipresent in the playoffs Patriots. In both of these playoff games, their pass game has been critical in their victory as Peyton Manning has already hurled 630 passing yards in these two playoff games. A huge part of that passing proficiency must be attributed not to the work of Manning but instead to his receivers. Wes Welker is one of those receivers and while he once again had a huge impact on Sunday's AFC Title Game victory over his former team, the Patriots it was not made via a play he made on the football. Early in the 2nd quarter of the game, the Broncos who were up 3-0 but would soon be relishing a 10-0 lead by the end of the drive ran a play that stacked the left side of the field with 3 down field threats. As the play unfolded however, receiver, Julias Thomas crossed the middle of the field and ran unchecked as Manning reared back to deliver the screen pass. However, the separation that allowed for the play to be executed with such ease was not created by any sort of speed or movement by Thomas. That separation was caused by the sheer fact that the man who was assigned with the job of covering him was on the ground, writhing in pain after he was decked by Wes Welker. 

Aqib Talib who made 35 total tackles and grabbed 4 interceptions in 2013 was the best and brightest of this Patriots defensive unit that otherwise lacked backbone this season but sadly for Patriots fans, in this game involving such an array of offensive talents for Denver, he never returned to the field after the Welker hit that was suspected of causing both a rib and knee injury to the Pro Bowl corner back. According to Bill Belichick, the possibility of that being a coincidence was very low. 

"It was a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib. No attempt to get open," Belichick said. "I'll let the league handle the discipline on that play, whatever they decide. It's one of the worst plays I've seen. That's all I'll say about that."

For those who follow the Patriots, Belichick opening up at all, much less calling a play made by a former player of his "the worst he has ever seen" is as finite as humanly possible. For many, this is as mad as Bill has ever gotten at a opposing player. 

While Belichick was the only Patriot employed person to break his strongly imposed veil of no comment interaction with reporters, several other Patriots did comment on the hit amidst this media frenzy 24 hours after the fact. 

"I was asked about the hit on Talib, and I feel badly for Aqib," Tom Brady said Monday. "The way that play turned out -- I went back and watched it, which I didn't have a chance to yesterday."

Additionally, it was Welker who came to his own defense in an attempt to preserve his public image. Predictably, he denied any intent to injure on his part.

"It was one of those plays where it's kind of a rough play and I was trying to get him to go over the top, and I think he was thinking the same thing and wanted to come underneath and we just kind of collided," Welker said Sunday. "It wasn't a deal where I was trying to hit him or anything like that" he said "I hope he's OK. He's a great player and a big part of their defense."

John Tortorella, the Vancouver Chanuks and all within the Flames organisation are a disgrace to hockey: A reaction to Saturday night's melee in Vancouver

Never is a game that begins on a 252,000 penalty minute pace a good one for hockey. Saturday night's game between the Chanuks and Calgary Flames was proof of that. To provide background, the situation began as two teams in the Chanuks and Flames separated by just 602 miles geographically and 2 spots in the standings met in an all Canadian clash that most notably renewed a territorial rivalry that has existed between these 2 teams for years.  

That animosity was proved before the puck was even dropped. As is customary, the away team submits their starting lineup first, thus allowing the home team to tailor their starting lineup around that of their opponents. Nothing about this custom was different in this game and yet it was the details of that custom that initiated this far from normal beginning to the game. According to Vancouver coach, John Tortorella the card he was given dictated that the Flames would be starting an offensive unit that had already racked up 13 fights in this season alone. To state things plainly, the Flames were starting their 4th line that would normally only be played in situations where the team needed the pick me up that a fight or big hit can provide a team. John Tortorella interpreted this move as a challenge and he so willingly met it by dispatching his 4th line to the ice with one intention. To fight. 

However, in a post-game press conference this move was not one meant to prove the toughness of the Chanuks team. He said it was a necessary move intended to protect his key players from what he believed to be a  Flames coach intent on turning this hockey game into an edition of the Hunger Games. 

"I see the starting lineup and I know the other guy across the bench. And it's easy for people to say well put the Sedin's out there and it's deflated. I can’t put our players at risk that way, with the lineup that he had, I am not going to put those types of players at risk."

For those who did not get where this was all going, I will just tell it straight. The puck was dropped and center ice turned into a place of anarchy spawning fights involving all 10 skaters and a collection of discarded gloves that made all ice not occupied by a duo of angry hockey players look like an exploded laundry mat. Furthermore, a quick analysis of the some 142 penalty minutes assessed as a result of this assault shows 2 10 minute misconducts assessed an 8 5 minute major penalties that resulted in ejections from the game. Ridiculously, the 2 teams spent longer than 5 minutes of the 1st period playing 3-3 hockey. But that was not the end of things. On 2 additional occasions in that first period, scrums erupted thus adding a seemingly endless slew of roughing penalties to the penalty summary of the game and further fueling a rage within John Tortorella that boiled over during the 1st intermission. 

In a scene that seems to only have a place in the movie Slapshot, cameras were rolling as Tortorella attempted to fight his way into the Flames locker room during the intermission. Cameras were rolling, broadcasting that sight to all watching the game live or the millions more watching the clip of it that has gone viral. While Tortorella was eventually restrained, the mob of the entire Flames team as well as nearly half of the Chanuks ought to have given the NHL chills. These players were just 1 punch away from a melee away from the intervention of officials while being shoved together in a tight un-padded hallway. While there is a place for fighting in hockey, there is no place for the kind of staged fight at the beginning of this game and of course the ensuing confrontation in the hallway. And here, the ownes is on John Tortorella and Bob Hartly (the Flames coach) to diffuse the situation rather than fuel it. 

But as we watched that game last night at least for the Chanuks could we really expect anything more. No, the Chanuks are a team lacking accountability for the cheap plays they commit. They strongly damage the integrity of Nathan Hornton's career via hits by Aaron Rome, hire and stand by dirty players such as Todd Burtuzzi and Raffi Torris who have both assembled long records of malicious actions. They dive and then whine about the penalties assessed to them while all the while refusing to stand up and fight the good fight rather than the staged one where they have the luxury of sending out a skilless enforcer to mash in some faces. 

It is teams like this, players and coaches like these that have no place in this sport that holds such popularity in the sports world. These players, these teams, these actions and these coaches are all individual disgraces to the sport of hockey and that is that. 

New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos AFC Championship Game Preview: Brady/Manning takes a seat as Blount/Moreno figures to steal the show

In early August when the Patriots kicked off their preseason many Patriots fans, myself included never believed for a second that LeGarette Blount would become what he has. Logically, such an argument could be fairly defended seeing as going into this season Blount had not logged a 100 yard rushing game since the middle of 2011 and seemed to be more of a filler than a key piece on the Patriots preseason squad. However, as Blount blew away the Eagles in New England's initial preseason game, there was a bit of a though somewhat along the lines of who is this guy? and where did he come from?

But nevertheless, while he did made the team in September, Blount was no star. He took a back seat to star teammate Stephan Ridley who was coming off of a 1,263 yard, 12 touchdown 2012 season and did not even register his first of 7 touchdown runs this season until Week Four in Atlanta. However, as Ridley suddenly ran into a wall and began fumbling footballs like they were coated in butter, the need for Blount began to be finally recognized. From Week 12 on, Blount steadily increased his rushing yardage as each game during that span has had more yards gained by Blount than the last. For Blount however, Week 17 was the ultimate highlight. In what has been officially confirmed to be the greatest single game performance ever by a Patriot running back, Blount scored 2 touchdowns, ran for 189 yards and blew things up with 365 all-purpose yards, the most ever by any Patriot aside from their quarterback. 

As LeGarrette Blount has come of age, it has rapidly become known that even on this team, this team that has spent 15 years now benefiting from the services of guys like Wes Welker, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, a 27 year old 6 foot tall 250 pound Blount is their most important weapon in this, their most important game. But while he is the most important weapon, he is not the only weapon. 

In the immediate wake of divisional playoff week, it began to be suspected that something was wrong with star Broncos corner back, Chris Harris. The 3rd year corner had led his team in snaps in the 2013 regular season was soon diagnosed with an ACL tear and was ruled out for the AFC Championship. As could be fairly assumed, the loss of such a hardened pro will leave an immeasurable void within the Broncos defensive unit. That void combined with that left by the loss of Von Millar 3 weeks ago, will undoubtedly open up a huge hole for big yardage receiver, Julian Edelman to haul in passes and an equally weak linebacking core that might likely allow for guys like Shane Verreen to nab those screen passes and simply lower the shoulder and gain some big yardage.  

On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots won’t be given as much of a break. Between Wes Welker, Julias Thomas, Demarius Thomas and Eric Decker Peyton Manning has broken nearly every single season QB record in 2013 tossing 4 or more touchdowns on 9 different occasions this season. 

In what might likely go down as the last meeting of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning this game will not be focused on the two. It will the focused on LeGarrette Blount and Knowson Moreno, Julian Edelman and the assortment of Denver pass catchers and frankly it should. While this game might decide the hierarchy of each of these player's careers, it will also decide who gets to go to New York to participate in the biggest sporting event on the planet and for these teams, it is that later facet of meaning that this game will contain that is the most important. 

No matter the history, we live in the moment and when the moment dictates a proficiency in the Patriots running game than so be it. We will run. 

Statistically speaking: A preview of the AFC Championship Game solely through numbers

As the long awaited AFC Title Game sits so tantalizingly close to us Go, Titletown looks at some key stats and trends that might play a role in this game.

New England Patriots (12-4-0, AFC East Champions, 2nd seed)
Denver Broncos (13-3-0, AFC West Champions, 1st seed)

The History...

Tom Brady has never lost to a defense coached by current Broncos defensive coordinator, Jack Delrio. He has pitched an 8-0 record with no interceptions thrown.

 Bill Belichick is 2-1 against Peyton Manning in the playoffs and has held the star QB to just 18.33 points per game in those 3 playoff games

In 3 Brady vs Manning playoff games, Brady has outscored Manning 78-55

Two quarterbacks have respective TD/INT lines of 3/2 for Brady and 2/6 for Peyton Manning in their 3 games vs one another.

In the biggest game of John Fox vs Bill Belichick Bill beat John in the Panthers 32-29 in the 2003 Super Bowl.

The Last Time They met...

The Patriots pulled off the biggest comeback in franchise history erasing a 23 point half time deficit en route to a thrilling OT win.

In that game, Tom Brady out dueled Manning by throwing for 354 passing yards over the 150 Manning threw for. Brady tossed 3 touchdowns to the 2 thrown by Manning and the 1 interception.

After fumbling 3 times in the first quarter, Stephan Ridley and LeGarette Blount were both benched as the Patriots run game rushed for just 116 yards in the game. By comparison, top Denver rusher, Knowshon Moreno alone rushed for 224 yards on 37 carries in the game.

Julian Edelman led the game in receptions as well as yards hauling in 9 passes for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns.

And now the big one...

Since these two teams week 12 game, the Patriots have actually outscored the Broncos by a margin of 190 to 177.

The running game of the Patriots is drastically better than that of the Broncos. Since week 12, a combination of LeGarrette Blount and Stephan Ridley have rushed for 914 yards, that is 239 more than the 675 rushed by Denver.

According to Sports Center's twitter feed, of the 3 times Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have met in the playoffs the home team has not only won every time but also has won the Super Bowl.

At last check, Sports Illustrated is reporting the odds for this one as being -5.5 for Denver. That signals that the Broncos are a heavy favorite.

3600 seconds vs 17: A look back on last years Cup as well as what the Bruins will have to do in their rematch of the game on Sunday

As a Bruins fan preparing myself for the impending Stanley Cup rematch that will occur on Sunday, I felt the indecipherable urge to revisit the day this game will hopefully provide answer two. That day, those questions, those 17 seconds broke the hearts of every Bruins fans the world over while shocking and delighting those who simply love the sports of hockey. 

As a Bruins fan, I myself remember it clearly. As the game wound to a close, the 2-1 lead currently held by the Bruins seemed solace enough for most reasonable humans to believe that the game would end that way. Bruins win and off we go to Chicago for the Bruins second Stanley Cup Game Seven in 3 seasons. But that was not the case. There I was, a sneaky grin tracing my face as I counted down he seconds, 1:30, 1:29. The goalie was pulled with 1:27 left in the game and I knew that one clear break past the offensive blue line from the Bruins would seal the game. But we never got the puck that far. 

Instead the Bruins chased the puck into the corner with 1:21 to go in the game. By 1:18 though, the Hawks had dug it out and suddenly, there was Johnathan Towes marching strong towards the net with 3 Blackhawks there charging a disoriented Tuukka Rask. As Towes pounded the net, deflections were made and in the blink of an eye, the game was tied. 1:16 to go and this game was tied, I was shocked but even then I never guessed for a second what might happen next. 

After the Bruins won the ensuing draw, Patrick Sharp took the puck as his own blue line with nothing peculiar going on regarding the positioning of the players on the ice. To that point there was 1:12 left in the game and it has been 4 seconds since the Bickal's game tying goal. Sharp however turned up ice and fired the puck into a pile of 3 teammates one of which was Johnny Oduya. 1:06 left in the game, 8 seconds since the Bickal goal. With 1:03 left Oduya let his shot go and forced a long rebound off of Rask's pad and back to the blue line. Now the game clock read 1:01. Michal Frolik let a shot go and once again it bounced off Tuukka Rask's pad, only this time there was someone there to bang it in. With 58.3 seconds left in the Game, the goal was scored, the deal was done and so, a 3-2 Blackhawks lead had Boston in a state of shock. One word that seems fit to describe the feelings Bruins fans felt at that moment. Disbelief.  

As we awoke that morning the Boston Bruins and their fans knew that the 17 seconds separating those 2 goals would forever live in hockey history as a comeback even better than the one the Bruins had built up just over a month earlier solely because instead of winning a series, 17 seconds won the Cup. 17 seconds ruined a run and yet as we worked so dearly to distance ourselves from that dreadful day, we managed to forget it replacing those memories with those of Reilly Smith stealing the show and Tuukka Rask playing with Vesna like talent.  

When the Bruins step into the United Center Sunday afternoon however, the Blackhawks fans will not be so courteous in respecting our selective forgetfulness.  As Boston returns to the home base of the perpetrators who committed that miracle that felt more like a crime to Bruins fans this game however stinging the "We Got the Cup" or "17 Second" sing song chants may be, if the Bruins can get a win, if the Bruins can beat up the Blackhawks in their own building, just like the Hawks did to them than it will be the greatest healing potion this team could drink.  

A win, 1 win over 3600 seconds rather than 17 will add 2 points to this Bruins tally and above all prove that they remain an elite team. 1 win and 1 win only against this 1 team in this 1 city will ignite a fire in the Boston Bruins that may lead them to greatness as well as igniting that same fire that led the Blackhawks themselves to this great start in the wake of their Cup win. Frankly, it is a wonder what even a normal run of the mill win can do for a team. It is truly magical what a win in a game like this could do. What the Bruins need to do is forget 17 seconds and focus on those 3600 that will be the only thing that matters on Sunday and if they can do that than they will be the team that swept the Penguins last season and has dominated this league for so long. 

Not so perfect with Peyton: As Wes Welker comes back to New England for his biggest game since joining the Broncos the WR has struggled

Bill Belichick and Wes Welker never had a great relationship. Belichick condemned his hall of fame receiver's costly drops at the very worst times in games while Wes believed Bill was too hard on him. With such animosity between player and coach it is no secret why the Patriots let him walk and yet even now we remorse.

Wes Welker was one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history and a premier threat for the Bruins 3rd down attack that has certainly cost the Patriots games this year. Additionally when you think further into it, after the loss of Rob Gronkowski and the seemingly inconsistent play of both Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins the perennial 100 catches and 7-9 touchdowns hauled in would without a doubt be greatly appreciated.

But nevertheless, the deal was done, Welker has left and while he did make those early season comments about removing himself from "The Patriots Way" he has fully severed any connection between his career with the Patriots and that with the Broncos. And that includes the chemistry with his quarterback he enjoyed in these parts.

Since moving to Denver, while he has racked up more touchdowns than he did in any season with the Patriots, his 778 receiving yards were his fewest since his second year in the league when he was catching passes not from Peyton Manning or Tom Brady but instead a combination of Joey Harrington, Daunte Culpepper and Cleo Lemon. All season long the former Patriot has struggled fend off those calls of his being a mediocre player under pressure and frankly several key mistakes have not helped that image. Welker has fumbled just once but has dropped close to a pass per game the worst of which being one that occurred just this past week. Late in the first half of their divisional round game with the Chargers, Peyton Manning chucked a 25+ yard pass intended to be caught over the shoulder by Welker. As the ball landed in his outstretched hands instead of hauling it back into his chest, Wes let it bounce harmlessly down to the turf. Instead of making a play that would have given Denver a 21-0 lead Welker dropped the pass and so his team went to halftime contempt with a 14-0 lead. 

As we all know, the Broncos did eventually make it out of that game but when you think about how close the game got before the score went final, Welker's making that catch would have pretty much sealed things off before they got so bad. 

Welker dropped a key pass in last week's game vs. the Chargers. Should he have made the catch the Broncos would probably have gone to half time up 21-0 

But that was San Diego. 

As Wes Welker and his Broncos teammates take the field this Sunday the Patriots team they will be going up against is without discussion a better team than the Chargers. In a game with more on the line and a room for error shrunk by the potency of this Patriots offence the nerves that still plague Welker must be overcome if he wants to prevent himself from becoming the butt of jokes here in New England. 

But nonetheless, no matter how he plays, no matter what kind of meager statistics that he assembled this season Wes Welker will have a special place in the hearts of Patriots fans worldwide. Even after he dropped that pass in the Super Bowl and even after he dropped that pass a year later in the AFC Championship game, Wes was that little ball of football power that simply refused to go down. He was a great and he was the core of this offence in those years between the departure of Dion Branch and Randy Moss and the arrival of this current core of tight end, screen pass oriented play calling and without him that lone rough patch in this near 15 yearlong swing of Patriots success might have bleed into years beyond the one without Tom Brady. 

We will always love Wes Welker.

When Bruins fans booed their team Tuesday night there was a story to be told

Very rarely do the fans of this Bruins team that has spent each of these last few years refusing to be knocked out of a game give up and express their displeasure with that team like they did Tuesday night. After the Bruins twice surrendered 1 goal leads in the 2nd period, they fell behind in the 3rd and so the boos rained down. But not because of the score, Bruins fans have learned in these past few years not to cast a second glance. 

When for the majority of the 2nd period of Tuesday's game, the Boston faithful booed and sarcastically cheered every mistake or minor success the team they were calling out their team and condemning a lack of desperation that has become a theme in these last few games. 

"I think it’s hard to win in this league when you’ve got to play from behind all the time," said Bruins Coach, Claude Julien. "I think that’s the biggest thing for me right now. We’re not great at playing catch-up hockey. We’re a team that’s pretty good playing with the lead, and we didn’t do a good enough job of that."

The team has gone into the 3rd period of games with the lead just twice in their 6 games this month and while they have posted an even 3-3 record they have spent far too much time playing from behind. By extension they have relied far too much on lucky bounces and costly mistakes on the part of their opponents rather than actually making plays and relying on the pure execution we were treated to early in the season. While such a mantra of play can carve a few wins out of games that you deserved to loose when you run into a team and a goaltender like they did Tuesday night you just are not going to win the game. Even on a night where they drilled 44 shots on Jonathan Bernier the Bruins struggled in the 2nd and 3rd periods and just could not make  those tic-tac-tow passes that scored those 2 goals in the 1st period. But even that was not what these Bruins fans were booing. What they were booing was the defense or lack of it for that matter.

In 8 games since Dennis Sidenberg tore his ACL, the Bruins have allowed 10 goals on the penalty kill and have slipped from 2nd to 12th in the league in the category now killing just 82% of penalties called against them. For this team whose penalty kill has been one of the best in the league these past two years it was uncharacteristic for even in a situation without Dennis Sidenberg in the lineup the Bruins to be suffering from such mediocrity on special teams. As they were hemmed in at the blue line, and forced into choppy passes, TD Garden showered those who they came to see in verbal embodiment of their displeasure. 

Finally, these Bruins got the message. They were the power team, they were the guys who should be bashing bodies and winning puck battles an though they had spent the majority of the night not doing that, when the realization that they were by then 2 goals down with under a period to go in the game kicked in their effort alone changed those boos back to the cheers that have such a more fitting place in Boston. We saw Kevin Miller bash into Morgan Rielly early in the 3rd period and then Johnny Boychuck wreck James Van Reimsdyk with such force that the Leaf winger's glove was catapulted into the stands. We saw Boston load on even more shots in the 3rd as well as finally locking down on defense and limiting the Leafs to 6 shots on goal in the final frame. 

The desperation was there, the execution and will to be that first guy to get to the puck was there and as assured, so were the goals. With just under 10 and a half minutes to go in the game, Gregory Campbell scored to bring the Bruins within 1. But in the end, the Bruins fell short. They simply ran out of time and so the score was settled as a 4-3 Toronto win. 

Now as we return to the subject of the booing, those who took part last night were not fair weather fans. They did not call for drastic change they did not hurl offensive language at the ears of the Bruins and yet, their boos sent a message. These are the Bruins, the Bruins who win the Stanley Cup and beat up on their way to it. But for 2 hours Tuesday night, they were not being those Bruins and so, there was discontempt in Boston.

Patriots rush their way into the AFC Title Game: LeGarrette Blount sets records while unlikely heroes light it up on defence

Before yesterday’s game is said with absolute certainty that the results of the Patriots divisional playoff game against the Colts would go beyond the score. After Tom Brady and his rush oriented team demolished the Colts by a margin of 42 to 21, this dynasty of perennial berths in the AFC Championship game has been stretched to one 3 years long while the praise of Andrew Luck that was present as we rolled into the game yesterday has rapidly turned to criticism.

For the 3rd straight year, the New England Patriots are headed to the AFC Championship game and much like each of these last 2 years, they grabbed this decisive divisional playoff win via dominant rout of a team not inferior to them. In 2011 we ripped down the Broncos 45-10 then 1 year later against the Texans, Brady and company moved past their opponents 41-28. In both those years they rode a great passing day by Tom Brady to a berth in an AFC Championship vs the Baltimore Ravens. This time around, everything will be different. While the Patriots do not yet know who their AFC Championship opponent will be they know they won’t be from Baltimore. The Ravens finished the season at 8-8 were not included in the playoff picture meaning that as the second half of the AFC's divisional games draws nearer, it will come down to either a title game in Foxborough against San Diego or in Denver vs Denver.

But that is not the only thing that is different about this year. Instead of Tom Brady singlehandedly carrying this team on his back week 17 and now this divisional game have both been one by LeGarrette Blount's memorizing rushing talents. He slammed together 4 touchdowns and 166 all-purpose yards this week to compliment the team record 364 yards he banged up in Week 17. In the blink of an eye, this 6 foot tall 250 pound wrecking ball has become the hottest running back in football and basically from the get-go of Saturday's game the Patriots knew it was foolish to keep the ball out of his hands. That kind of will alone is what makes Bill Belichick as great as he is. Even with perhaps the greatest QB in history playing on his team, Bill knew that at that point in time, Blount would give the team the best chance to win and so he played him calling for Brady to shove the ball into Blount's gut 23 times from start to finish of this game. In the minds of many, this was the most rush oriented game the Patriots had played since Tom Brady has been their quarterback.

"That was amazing." Tom Brady said when asked about the excellence of the running game. "We keep handing it off and those guys just run so hard and do such a great job running and finding the holes where they can just slice through there and gain as many yards as they can. It was pretty cool."

The Patriots set a team record in rushing touchdowns in this game scoring 6. By extension that resulted in 6 extra-point kicks minus the 2 point conversion the Patriots attempted and scored on. However after Ryan Allen injured his shoulder on a punt early in the 2nd half, that left QB Tom Brady to deal with the duties of holder for a good portion of this one. 

"It's been a while since I've done that. I was happy to help the team. Maybe I'll try renegotiating my contract or something for doing more work." Brady said when asked about the holding situation. Of course, that last part was said with a joking tone of voice.  

As for the last time Brady said he held a kick,  "I think it was when I played in the Orange Bowl 14 or 15 years ago. I don't even do it in practice. They said, ‘Get in there and do it,' and I said, ‘What do I say?' But we figured it out." 

The stage is set, the Patriots are in the playoffs and at last check it seems that they will be heading to Denver to play that game. But there will be a different tone to this Patriots offence next week and while it will involve Tom Brady, he will not be throwing the ball. He will be looking back to his hulking running back Blount, shoving the ball into his gut and watching the rest. Even in a season so up and down as this, the injury to Gronkowski, the loss of Wilfork and others for the 3rd straight year the Patriots will find themselves involved in a game the winner of which will be Super Bowl bound. 

Patriots vs. Colts first half notes: Blount dominates while Ryan Allen makes huge mistake to give Colts safty

Score: 21-12 Patriots lead

Even in a game that has New England owners of a comfortable 9 point lead over their divisional playoff game opponent, Ryan Allen seemed to have lost a bit of respect with this Patriots team. Midway through the 2nd quarter of this one, Allen got unlucky on a terrible long snap that soared high over his head. While that mistake was not one that could be blamed on Allen his decision to pick the ball up on the 1 yard line was bizarre. 9 times out of 10 such a play would result in the punter kicking the ball out of the back of the end zone and yet, while the result of Allen's picking up the ball was no different than the alternative on the scoreboard, he was clobbered as 3 Colts swarmed the ball resulting in his eventual removal from the game because of what looked like a pulled bicep. 

But the Allen debacle was not the only thing that happened in this half. As predicted, the Patriots relied heavily on the run in this half putting the ball in a running back's control 27 times in the half while throwing it just 11 times. When he did throw it, Tom Brady was surgical tossing the ball not only where his receivers could dive an get it but more so where they could grab a ball 10 yards forward of the line and then sprint past the Colts coverage an turn the play into a 20 or 30 yard gain. This was the case at least 3 times in this half as while LeGarret Blount did the scoring guys like Julian Edelman and Danny Ammendola pushed the ball to the point on the field where Blount could bash it in. 

With a 9 point lead the Patriots kick things off in the second half looking to prevent the Colts from reviving that comeback magic they employed last week in Kansas City. 

Playing in the rain: How a rainy prelude to tonight's game vs Colts will affect New England

As kickoff to Saturday's Patriots vs. Colts game draws nearer, rain continues to pound the field in Foxborough soliciting at least a few looks of worry among the Patriots fan base. For 2 years now, a rainy field has translated to a loose football as when we look back to games like Week 15 of 2012 vs. the 49'ers and Week 17 of this season vs the Bills, the Patriots have fumbled the ball a combined 6 times and while 4 of those 6 were recovered by the Patriots, it is never a good thing to have the ball on the ground.  

Unfortunately, when it comes to the Patriots their players either seem unfocused or incapable of preventing that meaning that as we prepare to watch as the Patriots take part in their 3rd game in which their field is turned to a swimming pool in 2 years they will be looking to reverse this trend and simply hold onto the football. 

"It's a long year," New England coach Bill Belichick said when asked about the impending possibility of rain. "It's something that you have to deal with, unfortunately, during the season. But it pretty much happens to everybody."  

At last check, The Weather Channel.com has the weather conditions at tonight's 8PM kickoff involving close to 25 mile per hour wind and torrential downpours all combining to form what the website's forecasters deem to be a heavy thunderstorm. While such conditions are only projected to last until that about 9PM, this wind that has caused a wind advisory to be posted until 11PM will likely be a huge factor for both teams. Lucky for New England, the 25MPH winds at kickoff and then 15MPH gusts that will continue up until around midnight will without a doubt be enough to stifle any attempt to chuck something down field where New England is week defensively. Furthermore, the famous gap in Gillette Stadium's construction will make it so that whoever is throwing towards it might not even be able to throw for anything farther than 15-20 yards. 

When you take realities like that into account, the possibility of a game focused around the running game and a few surgical screen passes from Brady to Edelman or Ammendola ought to give the Patriots the edge. But I caution you this, of the Patriots top three backs this week, LeGarret Blount, Shane Vereen and Stephan Ridley two of them are not the best at holding a ball especially when it is slippery against their chest. While LeGarret Blount has given the Patriots  that power rusher kind of player than even Stephan Ridely cannot be he fumbled 3 times in the regular season. As for Ridley, his 4 fumbles, all recovered by the Patriots were what landed him on the bench for much of the second half of this season. 

As the rain pounds down, the thunder echoes through Foxborough the ball will be shoved into the gut of anyone who can be used in such a way. Yards gained after Brady either hands the ball off or tosses it over the line of scrimmage, will be key in this one and if the Patriots are to win they will have to do one thing. Keep the ball in their hands and off the turf below them. 

*Check back later tonight for any updates on the weathers effect on the game and for a reflection on the first half