versus vs not versus

first, let me apologize. normally this blogger does not blog about anything other than my (ok our) bruins here. if i blog about the playoffs, it would be in relation to the bruins. if blog about issues of world politics, it would be in relation to the bruins. if i blog about my mom it would be in relation to the bruins. this particular blog is going to be about versus and its only tie to the bruins is my inability, through out this past season, to watch selected monday and tuesday night games that appeared on said station.

a little history. before the lockout there was no problem, all games on nesn and all games watched, or recorded and watched, by neb. then came the "new deal". with the nhl contract "vs" got 10ish games a season. this is where the problems starts. i live in a town whose cable contract was owned by adelphia. adelphia considered the V a digital cable channel. i thought about it but decided against spending an extra 25 bucks a month to get one single channel so i could watch one bruins game a month. for 25 bucks a month i could/should go to the game! plus, i get enough channels already. lastly i decided the problem would be mitigated, i would drive to my friends house in the neighboring comcast town were he had the V. the games would be seen there.

as you can imagine, i started missing games, as this was not a perfect scenario. but i did not sit idly by. i called adelphia, i wrote adelphia, i emailed adelphia, i emailed the bruins, i emailed dale arnold and dale read my email on the air during the dale and holley show. - sorry dale i know you couldn't really do anything but perhaps this helped others, also frustrated in similar positions, to hear that they were not alone.

back in the fall i thought my problems would soon be over. comcast had bought out the bankrupt adelphia. bankrupt i am sure by such idiot managerial decisions, such as making Vs a digital only channel. there is another hockey tie in here. the owner of adelphia i believe also owns or owned the sabres - another good reason i shouldn't of paid and extra 25 bucks, because indirectly it might be going to that diver briere's pockets. but i digress, this purhase of adelphia, i though, would bring me the V! how could it not. comcast in my neighboring town provided the V at the level of service i was at! my friend lived 4 miles away and there it was every tuesday night nhl hockey with the little round vs logo right there in the corner.

well game after game came and went and still no V. another season was lost. and now playoffs and games i would normally watch are just not available. the nhl plays its best hockey and my comcast house hold can not watch while my friends comcast household down the street could. already another round of emails and phone calls to comcast representatives had been made. many minutes were spent on hold.

then it happened this week, i got the letter. i was going to have the V!!!!

in june.

lotta good the F'ing V does me in june. o boy, i frankly can not wait for the the tour de france. this whole thing has left me a little empty. what is wrong with this world and now if you have gotten this far.... well ive wasted your time with all this drivel versus real insite. just a reminder, i apologized up front.

BAH!!! - I Hate The Habs!!!

Last night In La Belle Province The Bruins fell to The Habs 1-0. This was a two fold hurtful loss in that it makes Boston's quest to the post season more difficult and the 2 extra points help Montreal in their own playoff aspirations.
Both goalies put on a clinic and were superb between the pipes. Just like most of the season Thomas was once again our best player. The only shot to get by him was when a Habs forward La ten undressed Aaron Ward with a beautiful move and got in alone to score.

The Bruins will now host Montreal on Thursday in the second part of this home and home series. Out of all the 79 home and home series between these two teams there has only been 23 sweeps. The last time there was a series sweep was in December of 1981 so a Bruins' victory on Thursday has statistics on their side (but I hate stats. - The Bruins have to play hard and earn their victory). The Bruins also have to stop squeezing their sticks so hard. They need to relax and have fun out there - in last nights game they were way to tense and worried more about making a mistake than creating a chance.

Game hilights:
- Great move for The Habs goal.
- Both goalies were fantastic.
- Bochenski hit the post.
- Tenkrat had a breakaway but got forced outside for a bad angle shot because he had to avoid a hip check from the ref(???).

3 Stars as picked by me:

1 - Latendresse
2 - Halak
3 - Thomas

This loss hurts The Bruins chances of the playoffs but they are still not done yet!
They have 10 games left and if they win 9 or 10 they will be in and if they win 8 they still have a slim chance. Lets not give up on them yet. I encourage all fans to send good vibes and happy thoughts their way and hopefully they can get on the winning streak they so desperately need.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Making Mountains Out Of Mole Hills!!!

Thanks to Zanstorm an issue has been brought to my attention. There is still a backlash going around about The Bruins trading Boyes and Jurcina. This time, however, it is not coming from an individual's blog but rather from a supposed knowledgeable reporter. Stephen Harris from "The Boston Herald" is now reporting on Boston's mistake in trading these players and that they were to be a big part of our future.
I would like to, because of this article, finally offer my opinion on this issue.
First off let me remind people that these were not blockbuster trades involving players like Crosby and Lidstrom. The players traded were Boyes and Jurcina - no big deal (not superstars now nor will they be).
First off lets look at Jurcina. In 112 NHL games he has recorded 21 points and was a BIG liability on defense. I know we never got anything for him but when you give up nothing you get nothing in return.
Next we have Boyes. I personally do not see what all the commotion was about when he got traded. At the time of the trade he had 34 points in 62 games and he was billed as an offensive weapon. He played most of the season with either Savard or Bergeron on his line and he still only had (I repeat) 34 points in 62 games. His offense was sucking and no one would ever accuse Boyes of being a defensive player as he wasn't even sure where his own end was located (an impressive -17 at the time of the trade)!
People were outraged at him being traded as he was just having an off year. Truth be told when last year, as a rookie, he recorded 69 points he was actually having a career year as even in the AHL he not once averaged a point a game for a season. Why do people think his average would be that or better in the bigs?
I would like to ask Mr. Harris why he thought these two players were a big part of our future? Does he want to see the Bruins' future as dismal or does he not really watch hockey and just report opinion instead of looking at the facts. I only brought this up because of the source it came from. I never attacked any blogs that said the same thing but they are just blogs. Mr. Harris writes for "The Boson Herald" and should have better sense than to print such garbage!
I would like to thank Zanstorm for bringing this to my attention and would recommend his site for reading to any true hockey fan.
Also as I am pimping sites I would like to inform everyone that #4 Bobby Orr now has his own Bruins' blog (he has been a long time commentator on this site and writes on facts and knowledge rather than emotion and falsities). I highly recommend his site!

My T.V Joins the Bruins

Last nite, at 5 minutes before game time, my baby (51" RCA T.V.) joined the Bruins' line up as it also decided to quit. I guess it had enough of showing Bruins' games this season and decided to join the team in giving up.

I had this T.V. for 11 years and watched alot of games on it. The picture is of the T.V. in my truck before I took it to the same place the Bruins' season has gone; the dump!

I picked up a 32" Sanyo (empty box in the truck) this morning to do me until I get another big screen for my bedroom.

It Gets Worse...

Well I just finished watching the second period and figured that this is as good a time for a post-game as any. What to say, not much.

1) No offence
2) No defence
3) No PK
4) Another short-handed goal
5) Penalties!
6) No aggression

Honestly, I think the lack of aggression is the worst right now. There is getting beaten, and then there's being bent over Buffalo's knee getting your naked ass spanked! I will need to look at the tape to see if Toivonen is to blame, but I really doubt it.

Some minor notes; Alberts was hit in the eye and nose with a puck and now has stitches and a visor. Dave Krejci, playing in his first ever NHL game, was felled like a giant redwood tree, and has not returned. Thomas has replaced Toivonen for the third period just as Toivonen replaced Thomas yesterday.

Maybe I will update after the game. Although something exciting would have to happen for me to do that.

3rd period update:

Stuart nailed a guy on the boards with a great hit, so Mair decided he would blind side Stuart. In comes Primeau and immediately beats him down. Great fight, shitty game. Final score 7-1 Buffalo. 48 hours and we get to do this again, yippy.

I'm Speechless

Fortunately, I can still write. What the hell! What has happened to our once good team? I know we were never the best team in the league but for awhile there I actually believed we might win a round in the playoffs. After so many memorable ass kicking against the Senators and Maple Leafs earlier in the season, we were all on cloud nine! Now, I watch the games and I can't figure out what is wrong!?!

Earlier in the season we complained of a lack of defence. We had 2 guys on each shift, spinning around and circles while the opposition blistered shot after shot on our goaltenders. Our Penalty kill sucked, we didn't have a spectacular offensive, but we did have a great power play and decent goaltending. We got by, won more than we lost, but now...

The defence after smartening up a little (just a little) has reverted back to its old ways, and now the offence has joined them. In the last two games the penalty kill has been really good and the defence not that bad. Now I just got finished watching the NY Rangers game a few minutes ago, and yeah they had another bad 3rd period, but it was over long before that. The giveaways were BRUTAL! Bergeron, Hoggan, Savard, etc, etc... As always I felt bad for our goaltenders. Lewis made a great decision taking Thomas out. Poor bastard.

The worst thing about the game is that the Bruin's forwards were fore checking, making beautiful plays, and just when it looked like they would score!!! *zwap* It's a wrist shot off the boards. Over and over again this is happening, and not just in this game. What is wrong with these guys?

I can't go on. I can't wait to field more questions at work about why they suck. I no longer want them to trade Sturm, Primeau and Stuart for legitimate players. I want draft picks and good prospects. We need help and there is no trade that will pull these sorry bastards out of the gutter. The only thing we can hope for now is that they continue to suck so we can get a high first rounder out of it.

Hopefully PC can get something and then begin the build for the future. We can no longer take on players that will either leave or need to be re-signed the next season. We are loosing too much. I know I said let's get Avery and Sopel but I take it back. They would be great, but why the hell would they want to resign here after the season is over? We need to draft some more offensive talent and pick up another good UFA defencemen in the summer. For that we need to lose and get rid of some dead weight salary.

Sorry guys.