Montreal...Let it Go...

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/08/10/montreal-police-complete-probe-into-bruins-chara/

SERIOUSLY?

"Crown lawyers will decide whether to charge Boston’s captain for the hit during a regular-season game on March 8 that sidelined Pacioretty with a concussion and a cracked vertebra."

I cannot believe this. There was zero intent to injure. In the course of hockey history, there have been hits and cheap shots that might have called for legal implications. The two that come immediately to mind are the Marty McSorely/Donald Brashear incident and the Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incidents. These are special cases however where the two players involved were calling eachother out, and there was a pretty bad history between the two. Sure Paccioretty and Chara have had their issues in the past but they weren't sitting in the locker room saying "I'm going to get this guy". The other difference is that the play in which Paccioretty was injured was not a cheap shot or an issue with intent to injure. McSorely smacked Brashear on the head with his stick. Bertuzzi grabbed Moore and threw his glove off, smashed him in the head, and drove him down. Chara and Paccioretty? In defense of the puck, Chara had to drive Paccioretty to wall, and the stanchion happened to be there. Am I a Chara fan? No. I've hated him since he played on the Senators, but I back him 100% in this. This is getting ridiculous, and I honestly think even the Mounted Police think it is absolutely ridiculous. This, mark my words, is just Jacques Martin tryin to stir up controversy and get the Habs name out there, but in reality, he just looks like a jackass.

Terriers finalize roster for 2011-2012 season

The Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey roster was finalized in the last week and can be found by clicking here. The Terriers formally announced an incoming class of four new additions to the roster which includes F Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues along with D Alexx Privitera and last year's practice goalie Anthony Moccia, who will become the third goalie. With having the full roster I obviously have to give my first attempt at predicting the lines for opening night on 10/8 even though i will probably be way off anyway well here we go.

Forwards

1 - Connolly- Coyle- Chiasson

2- Nieto- Trivino- Megan

3- Gill- Hohmann- Rodrigues

4 Cisse- Rosen- Courtnall

Defense

1 Noonan-Clendening

2 Privitera- Ruikka

3 Escobedo- NiCastro

Goalie

1 Millan

2 Rollie

3 Moccia

- Obviously I reserve the right to change my mind as Ross Gaudet and Cisse were a tossup to me for that fourth line and it depends on how both return from surgery(ankle for Cisse, hip for Gaudet). Feel free to tell me how wrong I am below but we all know we're going to win it all no matter what lines we throw out there. Go BU!

Cold-Stove NHL Predictions

I apologize for yet another long hiatus from yours truly...my bad guys...

Anyways, I've been following NHL senior writer Dan Rosen pretty faithfully this offseason, and with some of his insights, I'd like to give my midsummer predictions for the upcoming season:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

1. Philadelphia Flyers
   
2. New York Rangers
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
   
4. New York Islanders
5. New Jersey Devils
   

Northeast

1. Boston Bruins
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. Buffalo Sabres
4. Ottawa Senators
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
   

Southeast

1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Washington Capitals
3. Winnipeg Jets
4. Florida Panthers
5. Carolina Hurricanes
   

Western Conference

Central

1. Nashville Predators
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Detroit Red Wings
   
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. St. Louis Blues
   

Northwest

1. Vancouver Canucks
2. Minnesota Wild
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. Calgary Flames
5. Edmonton Oilers
   

Pacific

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Dallas Stars
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Los Angeles Kings
5. Phoenix Coyotes
   

Notes:
As far as the Eastern Conference as a whole goes, there is ZERO doubt in my mind that this will be a season that comes down to Boston and Philadelphia absolutely battling it out. The Bruins basically have done nothing in this offseason, save acquiring a defensemen and a left winger to fill in a few gaps left from the free agency, but there's no reason they would need to make any adjustments. This was a team scoring more than 5 goals in a Stanley Cup final game. The Bruins are one of the deeper teams in the league. The Flyers, however, have been making many many moves. They acquired a great talent in net with Bryzgalov, a gritty forward with Maxime Talbot, and some supreme veteran leadership/locker room booster with (my all time favorite hockey player) Jaromir Jagr. This is a team who is scaring me. They are almost as deep as the Bruins, and they are going to be playing with some fire in them. Philly will not forget their conference rivals sweeping them in the playoffs. Mark my words, Boston and Philadelphia will get nasty this year. Other teams of note in the Eastern Conference in my mind are the Rangers, Jets and Lightning. The Lightning will most likely take the Southeast division with little problem. They were revitalized with the re-signing of Stamkos, and they were able to keep most of their free agents. They picked up former Ranger and Terrier Matt Gilroy, along with others from around the league (Including Garon, who will most likely get more net time than the geriatric Roloson). I would watch out for the Rangers to have a decent season. They signed one of the biggest free agents, Brad Richards, and between him, Dubinsky, Callahan, and Gaborik, there's a lot of talent to go around.

The one team that will be under the most scrutiny/bandwagoning is the Jets. I am very intrigued to see them play, and I would not be surprised to see them have an alright season. They got a couple great draft picks, and re-signed soon-to-be captain Andrew Ladd to a 5 year deal. Dustin Byfuglien will be looking to have a great season to try and cement his name up in Winnipeg and in the minds of the team as a potential future captain.

The teams in the East that will, and I promise you, suck - Devils, Isles, Canes and Maple Leafs. The only one of them who might come out alright at best would be the Islanders, ONLY because they have a bunch of excellent prospects who might be suiting up for them to pump some life into that ever-struggling team.


Now, for the Western Conference, I would not be surprised to see the Canucks with another President's Trophy season. This is due, yes, partly to the soft feel to the West, but also to this team's roster being almost as stacked as the Bruins. The Canucks organization absolutely covered all its bases with the losses of Erhoff and Torres with the acquisitions of Marco Sturm and Alex Sulzer. This team will have one of the best defenses in the league, with Sulzer, Sami Salo, Kevin Bieksa, and Keith Ballard. The offensive talent will lie again with the Sedin twins and most of those first and second line guys, but watch out for Malhotra this season. He's a faceoff winning machine, and has pretty good offensive prowess. The only thorn in their side will be Ryan Kesler being out for the rest of the offseason due to surgery. His recovery takes 10 weeks, and the season starts in 9.5 weeks, which means he'll most likely miss a few games at the beginning of the season, and will have a lot of catching up to do. All this team needs is for Luongo to forget about his abysmal display in the Stanley Cup Finals, and they should take the West quite easily. The two Western teams that will be duking it out the most are San Jose and Nashville. I would give the edge to Nashville on three skaters - Pekka Rinne, Shane Weber, and Ryan Suter. Shane Weber, who recently avoided arbitration, and signed long-term with the Preds, will be an offensive standout for them this year. Pekka Rinne was a beast in net in the playoffs last year, and will be looking to use that as momentum to make him a force to be reckoned with in the West. Rinne and Suter, a defensive tactician, are entering their last year of their contracts, and will most likely be fighting to have great seasons to get good offers at the end of the season. San Jose was able to nab some decent offensive talent with Handzus, Havlat and Andrew Murray, but I don't think they'll be able to match Nashville.

One team I will be looking to make a massive comeback this season is the Dallas Stars. They lost some major talent but balanced it out with major acquisitions, such as Michael Ryder, Radek Dvorak, Sheldon Souray, and Eric Godard. I'm expecting big things from a very frustrated franchise. Their GM, Joe Nieuwendyk, made front office changes, appointing Glen Gulutzan head coach, and he'll be looking to take this team out of their dark days.

The only crappy team I want to focus on is the Coyotes. This is a dying organization. I give the Phoenix Wastes of Money 1 to 2 seasons before they do not exist. My bet is that they move north to either Seattle or Quebec. This team is hemorrhaging money, and shows no signs of turning around. They traded away one of their biggest assets, Ilya Bryzgalov for draft picks. This is going to be a tough year for them.

only 62 more days until the first NHL puck drop...so soon...

Long Time Islander Fan Disappointment

Hey ya'll! I am an Islander fan and I hate politics that is why is article will give some light into what is happening from where am from.

I understand most of you are from eons away from here but at least support us cause this might be our last 4 years here.

Pats have busy day in trade market, bring in Haynesworth and Ochocinco

So are Patriots fans still complaining about a lack of a splash in the accelerated free agency period since the new CBA was signed? Yeah, I didn't think so. The Patriots woke everyone up with a bang with the announcement of trading a 2013 5th round pick to the Redskins for DT "Fat" Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth comes with his share of baggage with quite the "rap sheet" including a trial next month over feeling up a waitress with his credit card. Hey, we've all be there Albert. Fat Albert is a total win/win for the Pats as Washington, who signed him to a seven year 100+million dollar deal two summers ago but only played 20 games in two seasons for the Skins. He clashed with head coach Mike Shanahan and it go to the point where Washington dealt this headache away for a fifth round pick while paying all of the guaranteed money on his contract. I love this move for the Pats. You can listen to Felger and Mazz on 98.5 reading off his offenses since he joined the league. Yeah, yeah he gets angry and doesn't want to pay child support. He is a shitty human being for sure, but thankfully we only have to give a crap about how he performs on the field. Yes he need to stay out of jail but the guy doesn't need to be my best friend for me to root for him on the field. I think the line of Warren-Wilfork-Haynesworth has offensive lines hating their lives and Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes licking their chops. Mayo is gonna have 4000 tackles this year and just be lighting people up. The Patriots still need a solid OLB behind Jermaine Cunningham and Rob Ninkovich but it will be alot easier for them with this mammoth line along with DT Mike Wright, DT/DEMyron Pryor and DT/DE Brandon Deadrick coming off the bench.

Then if that moves wasn't enough for you, the Patriots have reportedly traded for WR Chad Ochocinco in exchange for two draft picks going to the Bengals. This is another win/win move as Ochocinco is always in great shape and gives the Patriots a legitimate quick, explosive wide receiver. Ochocinco also has agreed to restructure the three years left on his contract to fit the Patriots cap. This has to have the whole offense smiling from Brady to Wes Welker who can exploit the slot all season with Branch and Ochocinco on the outside. Yeah, yeah the Jets might have two shutdown corners but then you got Welker in the slot and the two young TE's(Gronk and Hernandez) running up the seem against Bart Scott. I like that matchup everyday and twice on Sunday. Now all fans are going to react way too hard and think this seals up the SB while the media will bash both guys for their off-the-field issues. The ideal way to look at it is somewhere inbetween the two. The guys are solid players with potential to be great on this team if they work hard can be special players on a special team. Sure they could be hitting up strip clubs in Providence all year long but usually players who are ringless this late in their career just want to win and will do what it takes. They will buy into the "Patriots way" and prove the critics and their former teams wrong while they are at it. I love these acquisitions now let's play some football!