A New (old) Place for the NBA

Posted on September 12, 2012 by christoph131

Yesterday, it was reported that a few rich guys are trying to bring the NBA back to Seattle. The SuperSonics were there for 41 years before becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. They also are interested in buying an NHL team and moving them there as well. They aren’t strapped for cash. One of the partners included in the deal to build a $490 million arena is Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer.

They still need some approvals before it can become definite. Apparently, these guys are huge Sonics fans and have been trying to get a team back there since 2008 when they left.

Seguin’s Here To Stay

Posted on September 11, 2012 by christoph131

Just as I stated yesterday while writing about the Bruin’s, the team has announced that they have continued to be in talks with multiple players in order to keep the core together for many years to come. They did so today by announcing that they have agreed to a new contract with star forward Tyler Seguin. The deal is averaged out to be $5.75 million over the next six years. He was supposed to be a free agent after this season.

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Bruin’s Notes

Posted on September 10, 2012 by christoph131

Bruin’s GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed late last week that their annual rookie camp and tournament have been cancelled for this season due to the expiring CBA and potential lockout. As of now, the regular camp is still set to begin on September 17^th.

He also said that he is in talks with other soon-to-be restricted free agents after extending Brad Marchand’s contract last week. He would not specify who he has been in negotiations with but Tuuka, Lucic, and Seguin are all set to be Restricted Free Agents after next season (assuming we have one). Who would you lock up first?

Bruins Lock Down Marchand

Posted on September 7, 2012 by christoph131

The Bruins agreed to a 4 year deal with 24 year old star forward Brad Marchand. The deal is worth 18 million and begins after next season. This will keep Marchand in the black and gold until after the 2016-17 season.

Last season he scored 28 goals and added 27 assists in only his second season with the B’s. This will make Brad the 3rd highest paid forward on the roster, behind Krejci and Bergeron. If we did not extend his contract, he would have been a restricted free agent after this season (if there is one). 8 days till the old Collective Bargaining Agreement expires and we see our third sports lockout in under a year.

NHL Locking Out?

Posted on July 17, 2012 by christoph131

The NHL’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in just less than two months. So far, the players like what they are getting, but the owners want more. The rich trying to get richer, sound familiar? (See NBA/NFL negotiations). The last report shows that the players would make 46% of the revenue for the league, when they made 57% last season. Contracts would also be limited to 5 years in the new proposal. This is a big difference seeing as Zach Parise and Ryan suter both just signed 13 year deals with the Wild, worth $98 million each.

This sucks. Hockey is just becoming very popular again, especially after the playoffs of the past few seasons. They already cancelled the 2004-05 season, due to negotiating problems. Commissioner Gary Bettman is actually a pretty decent guy, especially compared to NBA commissioner David Stern. He said openly that he sees the players as 50-50 partners with the owners.

Since the season is starting on October 11 (hopefully), there isn’t all that much time to get things done. All we need is another lockout to ruin yet another sport.

Weekend Recap

Posted on April 2, 2012 by jtulz07

Not a bad Monday for us those of us here in Boston reflecting back on this weekend in the sports world. The Celtics stretched their win streak to 5 games, topping off the weekend with an absolute clobbering D. Wade and the Heat. With a month left of games, the C’s sit at the 4 spot in a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race and one game up on the 76ers for the lead in the division. A 14 game April will make or break the C’s and set the stage for what could be the last playoff run of the Big Three era. On the ice, the B’s took care of business in New York, taking one a piece from the Islanders and the Rangers while clinching the Northeast Division with three games left on the schedule. The Bruins wrap up the regular season Saturday at home vs. Buffalo before gearing up for playoff hockey once again in Boston. As if a weekend of winning wasn’t enough, today brings us one day closer to baseball season. The Red Sox open up regular season play this Thursday in Detroit, starting off a 6 day, 6 game road trip before baseball comes back to Boston on Friday the 13^th against the dreaded Rays. It’s a good week to be from Boston. Happy Monday!

Double Dip: Match Play & Bruins

Posted on February 28, 2012 by amazze

Over the weekend, the annual Accenture Match Play Tournament took place in Arizona. Different from stroke play, match play pits two golfers head-to-head in a bracket style tournament, similar to the March Madness tourney (with maybe just a little less excitement). The American and goat of the Ryder Cup two years back, Hunter Mahan edged out rising star Rory McIlroy for arguably his best career victory. Mahan was solid throughout the event, but it was McIlroy who really impressed me. If you don’t already know, this kid is damn good. After falling 3 holes behind Lee Westwood in the semi-final match, McIlroy rallied back to take the next 3 out of 4 holes and square the match. I don’t know if there will ever be another Tiger Woods, but McIlroy is going to be great, if he isn’t already. Look for him to take over the World Number 1 ranking after the tournament this weekend.

Now on to the Bruins…

I don’t know about you but I am excited for the Bruins vs. Senators tonight. Up in Ottawa a couple of nights ago there were a few mix-ups and a lot of unfinished business left on the table. Both Boychuck and Corvo took some heavy shots late in the game from Senators Chris Neil and Kyle Turris respectively. Neil’s shot on Boychuck was clean, but unneccessary. It was a huge hit that if the roles were reversed we would be going crazy. However, since it was our guy Boychuck getting steamrolled I was a little pissed and Zdeno Chara also wasn’t too happy because with 7:00 minutes left in the third he duked it out with Neil. I’m not too sure if that will be the end of that, but look for guys to really “finish” their checks on him tonight. The hit on Corvo was not so clean. Turris received a 2 minute minor for boarding, but the hit to the head left Jack Edwards up in arms so I expect to see some retaliation on Turris tonight by either McQuaid, Thornton, or even Corvo. Regardless, it should be a good, physical game which suits the B’s well. Also look for new additions Brian Rolston (right) and Mike Mottau.

Milan Lucic vs. Shawn Thornton

Posted on February 21, 2012 by jtulz07

Having cooled off lately, the Bruins can at least be satisfied to have the NHL’s Toughest Man on their team, Milan Lucic. But what about Shawn Thornton? Does that mean they have the TWO toughest players in the NHL? I mean I wouldn’t want to go up against either but if you had to choose one, who would you rather drop the gloves with? Lucic or Thornton?

Lucic

Thornton

Mr. Underrated

Posted on January 30, 2012 by amazze

Although Tyler Seguin, Zdeno Chara, and Tim Thomas get all the publicity (and All-Star recognition), it is, Patrice Bergeron who leads the Bruins in points through 47 games this season. In addition to his offensive prowess, Bergeron is consistently one of the best faceoff men in the NHL and strong defensive center. His willingness to do the little things that go unnoticed on the stats sheet is the reason why he is a permanent assistant captain on the team; a guy who leads by example. Bergeron has been instrumental in Seguin’s development into an All-Star, unfortunately only the latter was afforded the honor of making the trip to Ottawa this weekend. Bergeron has been underrated by the mainstream media throughout his career, but the diehard Bruins fans know that the two-way pivot is critical to the team’s success.

Bergeron has always been a player I have enjoyed watching since he came to Boston as the 45^th pick overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft. He embodies the Bruin culture that Cam Neely and Peter Chiarelli have re-established here in Boston. I have nothing but respect for a selfless player who goes about his business in workman-like manner and has demonstrated the willingness to put team success before his own statistics. His resilience and determination were put on display when he came back from a serious concussion and broken nose suffered in 2007 and since then has battled through two more mild concussions. It’s obvious that each guy in the locker has nothing respect for Bergeron and the rest of the NHL needs to follow suit. Don’t say that to Patrice though, because he doesn’t care, he just wants to win another cup.

Blame It on the Lockout?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by christoph131

If you had to guess who had the best TV Ratings among NHL teams who would you choose? Flyers? Penguins? Blackhawks? Rangers? Guess again. The Buffalo Sabres statistically have the most people tuning in to watch them lose. Probably because they have nothing else to watch (i.e. Buffalo Bills) and they are basically a part of Canada. Typically, the Sabres and the cry baby Ryan Miller are usually a good squad. However, they are only 20-24 this season, sitting last place in the Northeast Division.

“The league’s biggest feel-good story locally is in Boston, where the Bruins have carried over the momentum from their 2011 Stanley Cup win to post the biggest local TV ratings increase this season. NESN’s average rating of 5.25 (third-highest in the league) is up a whopping 89.5 percent from last year. The average of 125,000 homes that tune in to Bruins games is the highest in the NHL.”

-Sports Business Journal

Clearly, Boston has found a revived love after seeing the Celtics enter into senior citizen status. It also probably helps that our hometown Heroes won the Stanley Cup last season (in case you guys missed it). The lockout in the NBA definitely has helped this as well, because you either watch hockey, or find a reality TV show to watch, which ironically is probably more exciting than watching the Celts this season. So keep tuning in after this all-star break as the Bruins make their second run towards the cup. Even if you don’t watch it, waste all of your schools power by turning on every TV in your dorm to NESN during game time to get the ratings up so we can get ahead of pointless Buffalo.

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