Saponari and Trivino Suspended? UPDATE

UPDATE: According to the same WTBU report, Vinny Saponari's older brother Victor Saponari will reportedly be kicked off of the team. This is all unconfirmed still so stay tuned for the latest. According to WTBU, Vinny Saponari, Corey Trivino and another player have been suspended from the BU hockey team, the first two right now and the other at the beginning of next year. This is, however based on a very cryptic post on the USCHO fan forums, so take it with a grain of salt. More to come on this developing story on Comm. Ave.

Bruins to Meet Flyers in Second Round

As much as I hate to say it, I rooted for the Canadiens last night. Hopefully it's the last time I'll ever have to do so. I took like 5 showers after the game to get rid of the stench of shame. But alas, it paid off in the end - the Canadiens managed to beat the top seeded Washington Capitals in Game 7 last night to advance to the second round. Effectively, that means the Bruins will meet the Flyers in the conference semifinals (and the Canadiens will meet the Penguins. Talk about a lose-lose situation). The 7th seeded Flyers got by the 2nd seeded Devils in the first round, a surprising victory for sure. The Eastern Conference playoffs have been full of surprises - the top 3 seeds were all knocked out in the first round, leaving seeds 4, 6, 7, and 8. Definitely not what the NHL expected I'm sure.

The Flyers and the Bruins both got hot at the right time, making this second round series perhaps an interesting one. Philly took care of the Devils in only 5 games, thanks in large part to the play of goalie Brian Boucher. Boucher, in the first round, had a 1.59 goals against average, letting in 8 goals on 134 shots for a 94% save average. Consider, however, that in the regular season Boucher only played in 56 games, with a 2.76 goals against average and 89% save average. With those numbers, he wasn't even the 3rd best goalie on his team.

Let us not forget our own goalie, the phenom Tuukka Rask. Rask, in 6 games, had a 2.18 gaa with a 92% save average. Sure, the numbers are a little worse than Boucher's. But Rask also played in one more game, and faced more shots. Against the Devils, Boucher faced on average 26.8 shots per contest. Rask, on the other hand, faced 32.1 shots a night. 5 shots more per game is a decent sized difference in the playoffs.

The Bruins will also be able to enlist the help of veteran Marc Savard in this series, as Savvy will be ready to go after recovering from his head injury. You know Savard is itching to get out there and contribute, and maybe even get a shot at Matt Cooke and the Penguins in the Conference Finals. The Flyers will be down three starters for this series- Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne and Ian Laperriere. Both the return of Savard and the loss of 3 guys for the Flyers all helps out the Bruins here.

My prediction for the series is contingent upon Boucher and Rask. If Boucher somehow manages to keep playing out of his head, this series will be very similar to the last one with the Sabres. If Rask slips up, the Bruins are absolutely in trouble. So, my pick is this - Bruins win in 6. I think Rask will keep playing steady in net, and Boucher will slip up a bit with all the net pressure that the Bruins bring. Regardless of outcome, get ready for a great series. Game 1 is Saturday, at 12:30 pm, on NBC...

Is This Guy A BC Alum or Something?

With a name like this, this dude just has to have gone to Chestnut Hill Community College. Given his age, he prolly played with York there. If this was you, wouldn't you go by Richard?

(Courtesy of the phenomenal failblog.org)

"The Hooded One" sends a hoodie to his baseball counterpart

Bill Belichick aka "The Hooded One" has sent a gift to his baseball counterpart, Joe Maddon. Maddon, the manager of the Tampa Rays, received a personalized Patriots hoodie in the mail from the New England coach. The jacket Belichick sent Maddon has "J.M." on the front.

Maddon was impressed with the gift as the two have seemed to grow close with their hoodie obsession. Maddon said he planned to send Belichick one in return.

Earlier this month, MLB said Maddon and other managers and coaches could only wear approved jerseys or outerwear. A few days later, baseball reversed the ruling.

In more important news, the Sox won 2-0 tonight behind 7 innings of one-hit ball by Jon Lester who finally got his head out of his ass and pitched like the pitcher I drafted in my fantasy baseball league should. Darnell McDonald had an RBI and a run scored. Paps came in to seal the deal and get the Sox to .500 with their sweep of Toronto.

Sox called up veteran Alan Embree before the game to help the bullpen and prevent him from opting out of his contract on Friday.

Notre Dame Hockey Frosh Are Boozebags Too!

Not to be outdone by their Catholic school brethren at the outhouse on the hill, Notre Dame Icerish freshmen Riley Sheahan and Kyle Palmieri were arrested for public intoxication on Sunday. And by public intoxication I mean standing in the back of a moving pickup truck and blowing a .10 and .12 respectively. And oh yeah, Palmieri apparently also attempted to wrestle himself away from the cops who were attempting to arrest him while trying to get at one of their tasers. BADASS!!

Even Notre Dame kids are better at drunken debauchery than you, BC. Take note Parker Milner: you don't just toss away your beer, abandon your buds and run off to the hospital when you think you're gonna get tagged by the cops. No, you try to wrestle them and steal their taser first before ultimately running for the hills. At least try to get a good story out of it or make a show for your less belligerent friends to enjoy. Point to Notre Dame. Once again, BC shows that their real name oughta be Bushleague College.

Pats draft pick loves the ganja... Sox's Westmoreland leaves hospital

Pats 4th round pick Aaron Hernandez says he violated the substance abuse policy once at college. He denied reports that he was a multiple offender. This explains though why an expected 2nd round draft pick would fall into the Patriots lap in the middle of 4th round.Hernandez set records for a Florida tight end last season with 68 catches and 850 yards receiving while playing with virgin QB Tim Tebow.

These reports are being blown out of proportion. The kid smoked pot...didn't kill a man and cover it up. It explains his drop on draft day but it helped the Patriots who would be the last team in the league to sign a kid with a real substance abuse problem. He explained the use to teams at the combine. Sources have linked his usage back to the death of his father when he was a junior in high school. Its not like the kid is the next weezy out there trying to play in the NFL.



In better news, Sox minor league prospect Ryan Westmoreland has been released from a Boston rehabilitation hospital more than a month after brain surgery.

The team announced Tuesday that the 19-year-old outfielder was released on Saturday and will continue physical and occupational therapy as an outpatient at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Westmoreland had surgery in March to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain.

A cavernous malformation is a cluster of abnormal or dilated blood vessels that affects the central nervous system. Symptoms can include bleeding in the brain, seizures and headaches.The team says he has been making steady progress and is in great spirits.

Celts Advance With Win Over Heat

The boys in green got the job done tonight with a solid win at the Garden to make a date with LeBron in the second round of the playoffs. Leading by 8 after a quarter they never really looked back and managed a reasonably comfortable 10 point win over the Heat. Rondo looked good with 16 and 12, just 2 boards shy of a triple-double on the night, while Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen all scored in double figures as well.
LeBron, however, almost certainly will not be going down in 5 games like the Heat did. The Celts need to take the next few days to get mentally prepared for what is gonna be a much tougher series than the one they just got out of. Still, this is a series that they are capable of winning. They have beaten the Cavs before this year, so a series win, especially if they can steal game 1 or 2 at the Quick, is not out of the question, especially if they can keep up the form that they showed against Miami.

To get you all in the mood for more playoff Celtics basketball I give you the one, the only...Tommy Heinsohn!

BC Hockey: Attending Masses, Causing Crashes--UPDATE

The MBTA police report of the BC Hockey crash is now available on the Boston Globe's website. Props to the LetsGoDU Hockey Blog for posting it first!

Also gotta love the headline in today's Metro about the accident--"T says BC boozebags should pay." BC Boozebags! I love it!