This time it looks like more than idle speculation, too.
Bruce Garrioch of the Toronto Sun reports that two NHL execs have confirmed to him that Peter Chiarelli has offered up Tim Thomas in trade to teams in need of goaltending help.
It should be noted that Tuukka Rask has started three straight games for the Bruins, who broke their 10 game losing streak today with a 3-0 shutout in Montreal.
Intriguing stuff and a potential blockbuster.
Stay tuned.
Seeing Ilya Kovalchuk in a Devils uniform.
The man who was the talk of the town trade-wise made his debut tonight for New Jersey and had two assists as he and his new team came back late and ended Toronto’s post shake-up winning streak at one.
An Open Letter To Claude Julien
Hey there, buddy. How’s things? Not so good? Tell me about it.
Just so you know, I’m not writing this to pick on you or single you out or anything. I’m not advocating you get fired. I just have some questions to ask about the Bruins’ current 9-game losing streak that has them tumbled down into 12th place in the Eastern Conference and you seem like the logical place to start. Don’t worry, though, I have letters for Peter Chiarelli and most of the players, too.
So, tell me, when you finished the season in 1st place in the East last year and won the Jack Adams Award, when you had the Norris Trophy winner and the Vezina winner on your team, when your golatenders were awarded the Jennings Trophy, did you ever think, by February of the following season, you’d be coaching the Sixth Wortst Team In The NHL?
Because that’s where you sit today after last night’s shoot-out loss to the Montreal Canadiens at the Garden. Sure, the guys worked hard again, they put a lot of shots on net (though, a ton from the perimeter) but there wasn’t a whole lot of hitting or gritty play I thought. Not much fire on the ice, really. The power play was ineffectual yet again at a time when it really, really mattered. Once, with just a few minutes left in regulation and again in sudden death overtime. It’s like the Refs were giving you chances to win the game out of pity and still the guys couldn’t bury it.
You do realize, don’t you, that the last home game you won was played in a baseball park?
So, a few questions, if you’ll indulge.
First off, this one that’s been puzzling me and it speaks directly to the offense and the crappy power play. Your first line right now is Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and Miroslav Satan. I’ve noticed something about the two wingers you have patrolling with Savard here. Neither one of them see any time on the PP, on either 1st or 2nd unit. This begs the question: If they’re not good enough offensive players to see power play time, why are they on the 1st line? You see where I’m going? Now, don’t try and tell me this isn’t your “1st line” because anyone who doesn’t have a playmaking superstar forward like Savard on their “1st line” has to be out of their NHL coaching mind. No one would waste an asset like that, would they?
So please, then, if you would, find me a single other team that has a 1st Line two thirds of which never see power play time. Find me one single team who does that. I ask you, Claude, is it perhaps time you put your best potential scorers with Marc Savard, a proven playmaker of the highest order. Someone with a chance to put the puck in the net? Marco Sturm on the right side where he scored 5 goals in 5 games with Savard earlier in the season.
You can even keep Looch there if you just show him where the net is.
That’s another thing, by the way. Why do you allow all this perimeter play when you’ve got forwards who belong in front of that net? Why do you allow Lucic to spend so much time in low percentage scoring areas when a big, mean bastard like that could fucking clean up if he just parked himself in front of the net and looked for rebounds. Of course, that implies there’s anyone on the team who understands that what produces a rebound is a good, low, hard shot. I mean, are the curves on the guys’ sticks too pronounced or something? So many shots go high and wide or into the goalies chest it’s become absurd.
Which brings me to my next question. Blake Wheeler. The man I nicknamed The Rushkiller earlier this season because of his amazing ability to kill a breakout play with poor decisions coming over the blue line and an unwillingness to drive to the net with the puck or without. How much longer can you allow this guy to play like that. He’s not small. He’s not without abilty. However, he plays the game in a state of fear. Fear of making the play, fear of contact, fear of going into traffic. Hockey is just not a game you can play well if you’re afraid of getting your nose dirty. Wheeler, for all his speed and potential goal-scoring, is just unwilling to pay the price in front of the net.
What do you do about that, Claude? How do you make a guy realize what he needs to do? I certainly don’t know.
You’ve got the worst offense in the NHL right now. I have no idea what you can do about it. I’m hoping you do but I’ve got my doubts. Perhaps there’s an assistant coach out there somewhere who could specialize on running a decent power play, I don’t know. Maybe you’ll realize that perimeter play and weak, high shots from the point won’t cut it. Maybe you’ll set the lines and leave people to adjust to playing with one another at some juncture. The bottom line is you have to fix what’s not working.
Or else it’s you who’ll get fixed, brother. We don’t want to see it come to that, do we?
Regards,
Ken
Maybe you’ve noticed the marked lack of game by game Bruins posts here lately. Maybe you’ve wondered, “Is Ken even still watching at this point?”
Well, of course I am. It’s just there isn’t a whole lot left to say about the B’s recent woes. What I see now is a team working like crazy to break a nasty slump and recover a season in danger of sliding right into the dumper. They shouldn’t be as bad as they are right now but, then again, maybe that’s not realistic. How many guys are playing with injuries? How many guys are trying desperately to get from, say, 80% up to 90% on ice functionality?
The poor seasons from various players are well documented. The Goalie Controversy just has not developed because, frankly, Tuukka Rask hasn’t pushed it with his play. Claude Julien is not being fired. Peter Chiarelli has made that clear in the media, no ifs ands or buts. He’s also not making any panic moves via trade that will hurt his team’s future and I can’t really argue with that.
So where does that leave us? In a holding pattern hoping this thing comes to an end soon.
Tonight seems like a good place to start, then, at home versus the Montreal Skating Men’s Choir.
A few notes in anticipation.
There’s a report that the Bruins are making the underperforming Michael Ryder available for trade. In other news, you can get a freaking great deal on a Toyota right now, too.
Kevin Paul Dupont tells us that, while the chances of Ilya Kovalchuk being traded by the Thrashers are increasing, the Bruins are not leaders amongst the 7-8 teams bidding for a deal. No real surprise there, Dupes. A more interesting story may have been telling us who is the frontrunner.
Apparently, Zdeno Chara has been playing for over two months with a dislocated pinkie finger. What the hell is with all the finger injuries on this team? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of so many players felled or slowed by digital issues. Patrice Bergeron’s thumb. Mark Stuart, surgery to repair a broken pinky.
Bruins can’t keep their pinkies safe, apparently. Someone needs to investigate the trainer to see if he’s got a proper Pinky Strength Regimen. If our boys are going out there without properly conditioned pinkies, then someone’s head needs to roll.
Lastly, and I’m sure Gonz will chime in on this at some point, the Columbus Blue Jackets have finally pulled the plug on Ken Hitchcock.
All employees at Chinese Food places within a ten mile radius of Nationwide Arena are wearing black arm bands today.
Wait. Jesus isn't the King of Kings fans after all?
So I guess there’s a group of semi-literate, brain damaged inbreds called the Westboro Baptist Church that’s got themselves a little publicity over the years going about staging ridiculous, hateful protests at funerals. Known mostly for their anti-gay activities, picketing the services of tragic victims of anti-gay violence, they’ve also got their nut-on for the Marine Corps and the American Jewish community, as well. I believe they even showed up at the funeral of Heath Ledger because he once played a gay man in a film.
Obviously these are attention seeking monkey-people with the IQ of peat moss. Of that, there can be no argument. People with just no real purpose in life and absurd amounts of time on their hands. Every picture I see of them screams Childhood Trauma, Mental Illness, Alzheimer’s and Prescription Drug Abuse.
It’s also obvious, given their vitriolic anti-gay themes, that the large majority of them are closeted homosexuals, as well. What else would drive them to such extremes? If Trench Coat Granny there would just trade in her sign for a strap-on she’d probably enjoy a much less miserable existence than she does now. I’m sure.
So, then, the latest target of their mind-addled hatred?
Hockey.
This past Sunday, they were outside American Airlines Center in Dallas picketing the Stars/Coyotes match for reasons that are as baffling to us thinking people-folk us as, likely, television remote controls are to them. Let’s be honest, I’m pretty certain one of them recently died from a massive brain aneurism brought on by trying to program some favorites into their car radio.
From their online announcement relating to the event:
God H8s Ur hockey! WBC will picket your stupid, cold (you will truly pray for these days of being in the cold hockey games when you burn in hell for eternity) violent, time-wasting hockey game – your SPORT.
Well, there’s one thing I’ll give you guys at the WBC. When it comes to time-wasting, you’re motherfucking experts. Beyond that, there’s not much I can really credit to this endeavor or anything else you do that makes any sense. You really think Jesus wouldn’t like hockey? The guy was a carpenter, for Christ’s sake. If he lived in Boston, he’s be just another pot-bellied lunch pail type sitting in the Garden stands with his Terry O’Reilly or Cam Neely jersey and a beer in each hand. And, like any good local Catholic, he’d hate the Canadeins, too.
Let us not forget the famous bumper sticker here in town.
“Jesus Saves! And Espo Scores on the Rebound!”
Hockey is a religion around here.
I don’t get it. Then again, why would I waste any time trying to “get” a single damn thing these sausage brained refugees of a defective lobotomy do, anyhow. I mean, if they were there protesting the NHL’s decision to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix for another 26 years, I could see it. That, I’d be on board with. Maybe if the signs said, “God Hates The Shoot-Out”. I’m there. Otherwise? All I’m praying for is the Bruins to get in the playoffs, people. I’m saying the Rosary every damn night for a puck moving defenseman at the trade deadline. Maybe a winger who can put the puck in the net. That’s worth a few Our Fathers to me, for sure.
Anyway, I’ve got a pretty decent solution in mind for this. The next time these dirt-kicking retards are scheduled to show up outside a hockey arena, we give the Hanson Brothers a call. In fact, get an entire western canadian beer league hockey team and put them in full Charlestown Chiefs uniforms, too. Foil and everything.
Then, we have them go to the protest and re-enact the final scene of Slap Shot with the Westboro Baptist Church as stand-ins for the Syracuse Bulldogs. I want each and every one of those unholy bastards pinned to the ground and beaten bloody by a crazed cement head, just pounded silly. I’m talking a VandenBussche vs. Kypreos type of beating.
All while a handsome, athletically built young man skates around them on rollerblades and does a long, drawn out striptease routine. Right down to his thong.
Now, admit it.
That would be righteous.
Thank you, Toronto.
As holders of the Toronto Maple Leaf’s (already the 3rd worst team in the NHL) 2010 1st round pick, that might be what Peter Chiarelli and the Boston Bruins were saying yesterday when they saw this.
Is it me or did Brian Burke Just completely gut his offense in order to acquire a defenseman and a goalie? Granted, an All-Star calibre d-man in Dion Phaneuf but, potentially, a fairly mediocre goaltender in J.S. Giguere. He’s posted goals against above 3.00 for the past two seasons and a saves percentage hovering right at .900.
Headed out of town are defenseman Ian White, goaltender Vesa Toskala and a shitload of points from the forward position. Niklas Hagman, 20 goals, Matt Stajan, 41 points and 26 years old. Jason Blake has under performed and Jamal Mayers is a role player but that now leaves 4 regular slots at the forward position that Toronto will need filled, either from the minors or other transactions.
Hello Jay Rosehill.
Head Coach Ron Wilson unintentionally spells out the problems for his team in the near future.
“In one fell swoop, we’ve made ourselves the youngest team in the league,” head coach Ron Wilson said. “Instead of looking back, we’re looking forward.”
Yes, Ron, by necessity. Because half of your roster is about to be populated by Toronto Marlies.
Wait, wait. You also got Fredrik Sjostrom from the flames. 46 games, 1 goal. Take a quick peek at the Toronto Roster following these trades. Looks to me like your second line right wing is now Colton Orr.
Don’t get me completely wrong, I think Dion Phaneuf is an excellent defenseman, someone the team can build around. J.S. Giguere was once an excellent goaltender and perhaps can be rehabbed. Perhaps you’re thinking you can build a team around defense and goaltending, though, if that was the case why would you center your offense around Phil Kessel and have Ron Wilson as your coach? Chances are better that they want to unleash Phaneuf as an offensive force and not worry about his shortcomings in his own zone.
One thing is certain, at $6 million a year, he better be good. Oh, yeah, Giguere makes $7 million. A lot of cap space taken up there, now, which makes this move all the more of a gamble when you think about it.
All I’m certain of is that, in the short term, this is the Leafs throwing in the towel for this season, and who can blame them? Mired at the lowest levels of the entire league all year and nowhere to go but up, Burke must be in total why-the-fuck-not mode. The best player of all ten who changed teams yesterday ended up on the Leafs. A lot of folks will say that’s how you win trades.
I’m not sure the 2010 standings will show that, however.
All to the Bruins benefit, of course.
Could The Tank be in another uniform by season's end?
This one comes out of the Left Field of Speculation and Irresponsible Rumors but I relay it to you here for two reasons. One, it really got me thinking about the possibilities and Two, when the rumors come flying from a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, you know it’s going to get a little play.
From Elliote Friedman (via Pension Plan Puppets):
The Maple Leafs say they will take an ugly contract if the rest of the booty is worth it. Philly (a prime candidate) does not have a first-round draft pick. He’s got to get either a first-rounder or a high-end prospect to make sense. You know who’d make sense – and I STRESS I’m guessing here, too – is Tim Thomas, but he’s got a no-trade for the first three years of his contract.
So, yes, this is straight out of Friedman’s head onto the page, obviously. It’s not grounded in any real information from any source close to any team or player. But is it total nonsense? And does it raise some interesting possibilities?
The Bruins need to make a move badly and, unless things take a dramatic turn for the better when Marc Savard, Steve Begin and Byron Bitz return from injury this weekend, the chances are they will. When considering who on the current roster has trade value and could me moved within the constraints of the cap, there are few players outisde the boundaries of those Peter Chiarelli considers the young core of the team and want to hold on to (Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Tukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron). You can’t blame him for not wanting to mortgage the future like that and I can’t help but agree. The young and the talented need to stay.
So who does that really leave to trade that has value to other teams? Forget about Marco Sturm or Michael Ryder. Forget about the old veterans and the marginal players, none of whom would bring anything of impact in return. Forget about anyone on defense. Who does that leave? Blake Wheeler? Random Providence Bruins Guy?
Or Tim Thomas.
Reigning Vezina Trophy Winner. Proven Number One NHL Goalie.
A team with a need at that position, a willingness to take on a big contract and a serious desire to do some dealing and maybe things can happen. Hello Toronto and Crazy Ass Brian Burke who, of course, recently named Tim to Team U.S.A. for the Vancouver Olympics. Certainly he thinks highly of the player. Certainly he has a need at that position as the Leafs goaltending has been fairly miserable all season long and the pressure in Toronto to solidify that spot is surely immense. Kind of like if the Boston Red Sox had a crappy closer. The natives get restless.
So could it happen? Well, the Bruins and everyone around the team seem to think that Tuukka Rask’s time has just about come. His numbers this season are better than Thomas’ and there’s a feel that it’s only a matter of time before he becomes the team’s Number One. Which puts The Tank and his fat, four year contract solidly in the way and a lot of the team’s cap number tied up at the goaltending position.
Meanwhile, the B’s and Leafs have already done some significant dealing this season, as we all know. The B’s desperately need help on defense. And on the wing.
Hello Tomas Kaberle and Niklas Hagman.
Throw in Tyler Bozak and you might even get one of your first round picks back.
Okay, maybe that’s crazy talk, who knows. And maybe Toronto isn’t the only possible destination for him, either. A serious look might need to be taken at what other teams could be in play if the team decides this is a possibility. And maybe Thomas decides not to waive that No-Trade and he goes nowhere at all. The whole thing is wildly speculative, as I stipulated right off the top.
Nonetheless fascinating a possibility, however.
What say ye?
It’s called Free Falling.
Not that I’m a huge fan of his music (though I would take a crack at it on Guitar Hero) but it perfectly describes the current state of the Boston Bruins. I’m sure there’s a host of tunes from the Butthole Surfers with titles I could apply here, too, but I don’t want to disturb any of my more sensitive readers.
It’s just an abyss of uselessness the team has fallen into. A team wide malaise without any sort of innoculation one could administer to fight whatever disease it is that makes a formerly proficient, responsible defensive team suddenly turn so inept in it’s own zone that the worst team in the league scores five goals on you with such absolute ease that you wonder if they’ve signed some Voodoo Blood Pact that allows them to channel the 1980’s Edmonton Oilers.
It was that bad in Carolina yesterday. That embarrassing.
Something is deeply, fundamentally wrong with this team right now and I don’t see any answers on the horizon. For example, you can forget about any major trade addition coming in to try and staunch the bleeding. It just can’t be done within the constraints of the salary cap. People around here keep mentioning Ilya Kovalchuk but there are HUGE problems with that. Firstly, there are going to be a lot of teams in the running, teams with more cap space and more willingness to part with young talent and draft picks on an all or nothing rental of this guy. Rumors still suggest there could be a $15 million dollar offer for him on the table from the KHL next season making any deal for him a very risky proposition without a pre-arranged contract extemsion in place. The odds of the Bruins doing that deal are close to non-existant, especially with Peter Chiarelli’s public statements about not wanting to part with that Toronto 1st rounder acquired in the Phil Kessel trade. Kevin Paul Dupont agrees.
The only other deal that could work would be talent for talent to shake things up. Blake Wheeler and a pick to Anaheim for Bobby Ryan. Something like that, maybe. In my dreams.
Small moves aren’t going to cut it. Marc Savard will return on Friday and that’s a good thing but there remains no goal-scoring winger for him to pass to at this time so what can he really do by himself?
And it’s very possible the team he returns to might be in 13th place in the Eastern Conference by then.
People are looking at Claude Julien right now, of course, as his job comes under the microscope. Constant line juggling, no answer on the power play and a lack of consistent effort from the guys on the ice suggesting that players might be “tuning him out” now. I find this hard to believe, hard to understand. I mean, can you go from Jack Adams Award winner to the unemployment line in the space of about 8 months? I just don’t see that as a serious answer but, at this point, as the disappointment snowballs, everything needs to be on the table. Scary times in Boston folks.
Sing it with me.
“I’m Free! Free Falling!”
Tell me something I don’t know, you say?
This is getting bad, folks. Something drastic has to be done. I wish I could tell you what exactly that is but, then again, I’m not being paid a seven figure salary to run a professional hockey franchise in the NHL.
This Sunday morning, the 24th of January 2010, the Bruins find themselves, for the first meaningful time this season, outside the Eastern Conference Playoff picture looking in. Currently they sit tied for 9th place with the New York Islanders, looking upward at hated rivals the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators (who delivered the latest beating to the team, yesterday afternoon at the Garden).
The thing is, they’re only two points out of the 13th spot in the Conference, too. This is a problem. This puts the team’s recent slide into the realm of the epic, the disastrous, the monumentally frustrating.
If you wear Black and Gold today, my friends, then today is officially Gut Check Time. Today at 5 p.m. visiting the last place Carolina Hurricanes, that very same team that drove you to a humiliating early exit from last year’s playoff on Scott Walker’s Game Seven overtime winner, is the team you need to show up against today loaded for bear. You need a bucketload of vicious, snarling hatred and rage today, boys.
Show up or pack it the fuck in.
You decide.
