Jack Edwards Stanley Cup Soliloquy

Jack Edwards being his usual ridiculous self.

Memorial Day

Just want to give a special Memorial Day thank you to all of the troops serving to protect our freedom and way of life in the United States.  God bless.

Tampa Bay Lightning: A Class Act

Although I had selfish motivations for rooting for the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals (my hope that I can catch a Stanley Cup final game while I'm in Boston), I've learned to love the Tampa Bay Lightning.   The Tampa Bay organization has conducted itself in a classy, professional matter throughout the playoffs, showing respect for their opponents, officials and fans at all times, both on and off the ice.  The players are terrific role models for young hockey players to look up to and emulate.  I wasn't surprised to learn that the day after their postseason elimination, the Lightning took the time to greet their faithful fans to show their thanks and support.

Steven Stamkos autographs a stick for a fan.

Coach Guy Boucher takes the time to shake hands with dedicated Lightning fans.

It was a great gesture to have the team show some appreciation and gratitude for their fans.  I'm sure after just being eliminated a round short of the Stanley Cup finals, the team wasn't necessarily enthusiastic about shaking hands and autographing sticks, but they did it anyway.  I have a lot of respect for that.

Let's talk about Steven Stamkos for a minutes.  One minute the man takes Boychuck's tipped slapshot directly in the face, skates off the ice doing his best to hold his perfusely bleeding, shattered nose together with his hands, and then a few minutes later returns to the ice with a cage on ready for his next shift like nothing happened.  Just another example of why hockey players are the toughest athletes around:

And why soccer players certainly are not:

Anyway, the Lightning squad represents the best of what hockey has to offer, and the team has a lot to be proud of.  It's too bad we won't get to see them contend for a Stanley Cup this year, but expect them to be right back in the race again next year.

Bruins Advance

Game 7 between the Bruins and the Lightning was one of the most complete and perfectly played games I have ever seen. The game was dominated by the defense, and even when the offense found scoring chances, Roloson and Thomas were there. Coming into Game 7 Roloson was 7-0 in elimination games. If it were not for a knee injury, he would already have had a ring on his finger. The Lightning relied heavily on Roloson in the first to fight off the incredible Boston crowd. After the first, Roloson and Thomas were perfect with 15 and 9 saves respectively. The second period had the same outcome with Roloson and Thomas perfect. Roloson, however, was a kept busy with 14 shots in comparison to Thomas' 8. Guy Boucher told NHL.com, "Roli really stood the fort there, he was outstanding tonight." At the start of the third period the game was notched at 0 and who would have expected anything less from these two teams. The lone goal tallied in the third would be all it would take to advance the Bruins to the Stanley Cup. The goal originated back in the Bruins zone when Andrew Ferrence collected the puck, regrouped, and headed up ice. Ferrence fed the puck to an open Krejci just outside the blueline. With a textbook offensive move, Krejci accelerated to the outside giving himself ample space from Lightning defenseman Eric Brewer. The move to the outside gave him so much space that he was able to bring the puck back to his forehand despite being on the left wing. In another display of offensive excellence, Nathan Horton crashed the net and found himself open on the back door. Being the playmaker he is, Krejci threaded a pass through Brewer and the back checking Stamkos for a tap in by Horton. With 17 points in 18 games, Horton now has a legendary status in Boston. Hortons eight goals will forever be remembered by the Boston faithful. He has 3 game winning goals in the series, two of them Game Seven winners. Despite Horton's publicity, he couldn't be more modest. Horton said, “Well, it does feel good,” Horton said, “but it feels better to know that we’re going to the Stanley Cup finals. In the end, it doesn’t really matter who scores the goals, but it does matter if you’re moving on.”(Norwich Bulletin) The Bruins are doing exactly that; moving on.

Tampa Bay @ Boston: Game Seven Preview

All the questions surrounding this series will be answered in tonight's Game 7 match-up between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Will the Bruins figure out how to score on a powerplay?  Can they continue to have postseason success if they don't?  Will they learn how to kill penalties against Stamkos, Lecavalier and St. Louis?  Which goaltender will emerge dominant in this best-of-1 series?  Will Tim Thomas continue to put his team on his back and make heroic saves?  Will Dwayne Roloson play the way we all know he is capable of playing?  If he doesn't, will Tamapa Bay manage to score enough goals to get the win like they did in Game 6?  Can Roloson continue his undefeated posteason record in elimination games?  Will this be another high scoring game?  Low scoring?

Here's what I think.  The Bruins will continue to struggle tonight with respect to their special teams.  I didn't see any indication in Game 6 to suggest otherwise.  They might be able to slide by the Lightning with their horrendous powerplay and penalty kill, but they won't be able to pull it off against Vancouver if they're lucky enough to get the chance.  I think both Thomas and Roloson understand the importance of tonight's game, and I expect both of them to play accordingly.  With that said, I'm sticking with the prediction I made before Game 6 that the Bruins will win the series.  That would mean Roloson will no longer be undefeated in postseason elimination game.  Expect to see a low scoring game for a change.  

Game 7's are as exciting as the sport gets, and hockey fans are guaranteed a great game tonight.  Only one team will have the opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup finals.  History will be made.

Tampa Evens Series

Right about now the Bruins are kicking themselves for blowing a first period 3 goal lead in Game 4. The loss of the 3 goal lead was crucial for Tampa's comeback to force Game 7. The Bruins, however, are staying calm because of their home ice advantage. Coach Claude Julien said, "That's one of the key things that if you can get home-ice advantage this time of year, you need to take advantage of it. We did against Montreal, and now we need to do the same thing against Tampa."(ESPN) Game 6 was filled with offensive fire power with both top lines contributing in big ways. The first line point tally went as follows:

Boston
1. David Krejci- 3 goals
2. Milan Lucic- 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Nathan Horton: 2 assists

Tampa Bay
1. Martin St. Louis- 2 goals, 1 assist
2. Vincent Lecavalier- 2 assists
3. Steve Stamkos- 1 goal, 2 assists

The game was opened up by the Lightning once again in the first minute. After David Krejci was kicked out of the face off, Purcell shifted from the right wing to directly behind Lecavalier after he recognized Chris Kelly's weakness. Lecavalier won the draw back and Purcell beat Thomas through a screen to make it 1-0. The Bruins headed into the locker room after goals by Lucic and Krejci. It took 13 minutes for the Lighting to even things up when St. Louis converted on a powerplay opportunity. After a slew of goals in the second and third, Martin St. Louis put the Lightning up 5-3 with just9:45 remaining. Krejci evened things up a few minutes later on a flukey goal that found its way passed the sprawled Roloson after redirecting off of a Tampa defenseman. The Bruins poured it on towards the end of the third but could not solve Roloson. One game will decide who advances to the Stanley Cup and who heads to the beach. Lucic put it perfectly when he said, "For all of us, it's the biggest game of our careers. We've got to go out there and have no regrets. You've got to be confident. You've got to believe. Everything is on the line here. It's a chance to move on and play for something that you've been dreaming about your whole life."(ESPN)

For a video recap click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IZaM1QU-uQ

The Bruins Look to Eliminate the Lightning in Tonight's Game 6 Match-Up

Tim Thomas' save on Steve Downie is the kind of save the can define an entire series.  Absolutely incredible.  The Bruins have no choice but to raise their standard of play after watching their goaltender make a save like that.  In Brad Marchand's post-game press conference, he commented on the fact that in the final ten minutes of the third period when things were starting to get hectic, Thomas appeared to be poised and calm.  This has a contagious effect on the entire hockey team, and it's obvious that the Bruins have the utmost confidence in their goaltender.  This confidence allows the five other skaters on the ice to take risks and chances knowing that Thomas has their back.  "With their goaltender, we're not nervous, we're expecting that," said Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher after Game Five.  Not only does Tim Thomas' performance earn the confidence of his own team, it drains the life out of the opposition.  Steve Downie remained on the bench reflecting on what could have been long after the game was finished:

The goaltending situation for the Lightning has not been as straightforward as it has been for the Bruins.  I believed that, despite being pulled in Game 4, Dwayne Roloson would still start Game 5.  Clearly, I was wrong.  Roloson watched the game from the bench in favor of Mike Smith who made 17 saves on 19 shots.

It has been confirmed, however, that Roloson will get the Game 6 start tonight.

The good news for Tampa Bay is that Roloson is 6-0 in postseason elimination games.  We'll find out at 8:00 PM EST tonight if he can keep that streak alive.  I believe that this series will take seven games to decide, and that the Bruins will eventually emerge victorious to play the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals.