Category Archives: Bruins

2012 NHL Lockout Update: Mediation Might Not Work

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ImageThe Bad News: At first, the NHL and NHLPA agreeing to bring in federal mediators to help negotiate the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement, actually sounded like good news. Then the two sides met up for the first time in over a week this Wednesday, and after two days of lengthy discussion, (with federal mediators mind you) they still couldn’t come to terms on anything.

Here’s a friendly reminder of what’s on the table during these seemingly fruitless meetings: elimination of salary arbitration, free agency rule changes, limits to player contract terms, and of course shared revenue.

The Worse News:  As if it isn’t bad enough to see federal mediation failing to help, more cancellations have been made. All games through December 14th have been axed. This includes the NHL All-Star weekend festivities, which have also been wiped out.

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Salvage This Season: Boston Bruins fans and hockey fans alike can only hope that mediation brings an end to this lockout and allows a long awaited season to finally begin. Mediation has helped other sports end lockouts before, so there’s a chance this could work. However, the two sides ultimately still have to come to agreeable terms in order for anything to be salvaged. Hopefully they can cut a deal soon.

The players want to be back out on the ice playing, the owners want to be in their cozy executive chairs making profits, and the fans just want to see some hard-nosed, in your face hockey. Can’t we all just get along???

Only in Canada…

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An Ontario lawyer has purchased a toilet from the dressing room of the Maple Leafs hockey team. He paid $5,300 at an auction for this porcelain prize. The Garden which housed this toilet was opened from 1931-99, and was one of more than 100 items that went up for auction. He said he wants to sit on it, light a Cuban up and drink some Scotch while watching a game.

Look on the Bright Side

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Not much good news in the NHL this season, but there is one thing that Bruin’s fans can be happy about. Nathan Horton is now healthy and will play if and when the season starts. He last played on January 22nd after his 2nd concussion in just 7 months. His first concussion came against the Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. He scored 17 goals and had 15 assists last season before getting sidelined in January.

This will be big for the Bruins who struggled to score at the end of last season. Horton is a proven scorer with a 30+ goal season and many 20+ goal seasons. Can’t wait for the black and gold to get started again.

2012 NHL Lockout: Latest Update

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Lockout Lingers On: After four straight days of negotiations, the NHL and NHLPA have resumed labor talks this week and are trying, desperately, to salvage what’s left of a dwindling season.

The two sides have been meeting at the round table in New York City to discuss a multitude of collective bargaining hot topics, including shared or league related revenue, limits to contract terms, free agency rule changes, and the elimination of salary arbitration.

A Meeting of the Minds: Reportedly, NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, and members of the NHLPA Chris Campoli, Mathieu Darche, Ron Hainsey, George Parros, and Kevin Westgarth met up in the city that never sleeps. Needless to say, both sides are still restless on bringing an end to this lockout.

Cancellations Continue: As of November 9th, the 55-day lockout has caused the cancellation of 327 regular season games, including the highly anticipated Winter Classic game. Reports indicate playing a full season will be out of the question. The most Bruins, and hockey fans alike can hope for is a hybrid half season at this point. While it’s refreshing to see both sides talking, talk is cheap, and until they can finalize a new collective bargaining agreement, fans will continue to wait, watch, and wonder.

Bruins Find the Ice Overseas

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With the NHL lockout in effect until further notice, the NHL has cancelled all games for the entire month of November. Negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA have come to a standstill and now all eyes are looking forward to the end of 2012. As game cancellations continue, anything close to a full season looks about as likely as the Mighty Ducks beating Team Iceland.

However, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Lord Stanley Cup, hockey is underway overseas with many of the Bruins roster settling in for what could be a longer lockout than we (and probably the players) imagined. Now is a good time take a look at the best performances thus far by some Bruins bleeding black and gold in the Eurozone; Captain Zdeno Chara, Co-captain Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley , David Krejci, and Tuukka Rask.

Chara has gone back to Prague, Czech Republic where his career started, now suiting up for HC Lev Praha. Lev Praha is in their first season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and are fortunate to have big Z representing their team in the most prominent league in Eurasia.

Bergeron and Seguin have made the move to the Switzerland to play puck. Bergeron (HC Lugano) and Seguin (EHC Biel) are having tremendous starts to their Swiss campaigns. Seguin is tied for first on his team in points (8-9, 17) and Bergeron is tied for third (7-7, 14) while playing in just a third of his teams games this season. Seguin’s numbers are good enough for 9th overall in the Swiss National league and he has been the best performer among Bruins players overseas, which is a great sign for Bruins fans.

Rich Peverley (JYP) has taken his talents to Finland, posting 1 Goal and 9 assists in 11 games, good for 6th on the team in points (1st place team in the Finnish league).

Krejci, playing in the Czech league for HC Parbudice in the same league as teammates Tuukka Rask and Andrew Ference, is currently on a ten game point streak and hasn’t been held without a point since his debut. Krejci scored against Rask on October 26th but was stuffed by Rask in a shootout later that game.

Finally, in the wake of Tim Thomas’ baffling leave of absence, Tuukka Rask has shown he is more than ready to make Thomas disappear from the conversation. Rask has posted an 8-2 record with a league leading 1.97 GAA and a 92.86 SV% playing for the first place HC Plzen in the Czech league. On October 23rd Rask came up lame in the first period with a groin injury and left the ice. It turned out to be precautionary but was certainly a scare for Bruins fans as Rask missed the last 6 weeks of the 2011-2012 NHL season with a groin injury. He returned to action three days later to earn another victory.

So although the NHL season lies motionless like Eric Lindros for the better half of the 90’s, there is reason to be optimistic and excited about the Bruins when an agreement is reached and the NHL resumes. The Bruins roster is full of young, talented players who have a great opportunity to bring the Cup back to Boston. As more and more NHL players populate Euro rosters, it’s awesome to see Bruins among some of the best performers. As for the few remaining Bruins that are either too mediocre to play in Europe or too old to care (Shawn Thornton) my Tuesday night team could use a ringer and we haven’t had a lockout since Nam.

2012 NHL Lockout Update

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No-play-vember:  The NHL Lockout remains at a stand-still after weekend meetings failed to bring anything to fruition. So, Boston Bruins fans will have to watch games at TD Garden from the hardwood, not the ice rink. That’s because the league has canceled all of the regular season games for the month of November. The cancellation of games comes as a result of the players union rejecting the most recent proposal from the owners two weeks ago in Toronto.

The Beef Between Both Sides: As with most lockouts, the biggest road block between the two sides is shared of league related revenue. The owners (big surprise here) wish to decrease the players guaranteed share of 57% in hockey related revenue. While the players union (shocker) wants increased shared revenue beImagetween them and the owners, as well as a fixed salary cap that’s not tied to league revenue. Other topics on the table include: free agency rule changes, the elimination of salary arbitration, and limits to contract terms.

Cancellations to Continue: With the November schedule axed, more cancellations are reportedly on the horizon. Next up on the NHL Lockout chopping block: both the Winter Classic and the All-Star game could be canceled by this Thursday. It’s likely both will be nixed because neither side will be able to actually meet in New York City, as methods of transportation have been shut down due to the recent “frankenstorm” that struck the east coast.

I want to hear from Boston Bruins fans and hockey fans alike on this one. What do you think of the lockout? Do you see it ending anytime soon? Leave a comment.

Hamilton Ready for B’s

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According to Claude Julien, 19 year old defenseman Dougie Hamilton is ready for the NHL. Coach Julien went to see him play in the AHL and said that he belongs in the big leagues. He is a 6″5 defender who was drafted 9th overall by the Boston Bruins. He has Mcquaid’s size (not quite Chara’s), but is quicker and younger, and can do damage on both ends. “Dougie is such a big player and he’s gotten so much stronger”, said Julien. He will easily be in the top 6 for our defenders when (if) this lock out finally ends.

Non-Lockout NHL News

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Although we are in a work stoppage for hockey, there has been some speculation of the NHL expanding. They’re not going into useless Maine or Montana or something, but into bigger markets. However, they are markets that most will probably not care about, in our neighbors to the north. They have been in talks to bring two new NHL teams to Canada (Quebec, and the Greater Toronto Area known as Markham). Keep in mind that Toronto already has the Maple Leafs up there, but with the popularity of the sport up there, it just might work. New York has multiple teams for virtually every sport and that seems to work out for them.