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Pre-game Skate: B’s/Sens
With one more game remaining after tonight’s tilt in Ottawa, the Bruins are playing tonight’s game very cautiously. Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tim Thomas did not make the trip to Ottawa and will probably not play Saturday in the regular season finale.
Johnny Boychuk also did not make the trip. It was announced today Boychuk is day-to-day with a mild knee sprain. PHEW!! That play looked like it could have been a lot worse and he could have missed weeks at least its only a day-to-day injury.
The Bruins will test the waters with Anton Khudobin tonight in net. Khudobin will be Tim Thomas’ back-up in the playoffs for the first round, or at least until Tuukka is ready to go.
All signs are pointing to these two teams playing each other in the first-round of the postseason. Don’t put too much stock into tonight’s game because Ottawa needs points and the B’s are just trying to stay healthy.
NESN has the line-ups:
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Tyler Seguin
Brad Marchand-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Benoit Pouliot-Brian Rolston-Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Andrew Ference-Dennis Seidenberg
Greg Zanon-Joe Corvo
Torey Krug-Mike Mottau
Goalies
Anton Khudobin
Marty Turco
Scratches: Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tim Thomas, Johnny Boychuk (knee), Adam McQuaid (eye), Lane MacDermid, Nathan Horton (concussion), Tuukka Rask (groin)
Projected Senators lines
Forwards
Colin Greening-Jason Spezza-Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno-Kyle Turris-Daniel Alfredsson
Zack Smith-Jim O’Brien-Chris Neil
Rob Klinkhammer-Jesse Winchester-Erik Condra
Defense
Filip Kuba-Erik Karlsson
Chris Phillips-Matt Carkner
Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar
Goalies
Ben Bishop
Craig Anderson
Scratches: Matt Gilroy, Kaspars Daugavins, Rob Klinkhammer. Zenon Konopka, Alex Auld
Pre-game Skate: B’s/Caps
Bruins can officially clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight over the Capitals at TD Garden.
The Caps played in Boston just a few weeks ago and defeated the B’s 4-3.
Seidenberg is out with an infection from a cut on his leg he suffered during the game against the Kings over the weekend. So Joe Corvo will take his spot.
NESN has the line-ups.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Tyler Seguin
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Rich Peverley
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Brian Rolston
Jordan Caron-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Greg Zanon-Joe Corvo
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Marty Turco
Scratches: Dennis Seidenberg (leg), Mike Mottau, Daniel Paille, Torey Krug, Nathan Horton (concussion), Tuukka Rask (groin)
Projected Capitals lines
Forwards
Marcus Johansson-Brooks Laich-Alex Ovechkin
Jason Chimera-Mathieu Perreault-Alexander Semin
Matt Hendricks-Jay Beagle-Troy Brouwer
Mike Knuble-Cody Eakin-Keith Aucoin
Defense
Karl Alzner-Dennis Wideman
Roman Hamrlik-Mike Green
Dmitry Orlov-John Carlson
Goalies
Tomas Vokoun
Michal Neuvirth
Scratches: John Erskine, Jeff Halpern, Joel Ward (foot), Jeff Schultz, Braden Holtby, Nicklas Backstrom (concussion)
Ode to Playoff Facial Hair
For as long as the NHL has had playoffs, it seems like the players on the teams in the playoffs have sported the playoff beard. Over the past few years the theme has changed from just the out-right beard to all different kinds of facial hair.
Last years Stanley Cup Champions had Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews lead the way with mutton chops and a mullet
This year features some sweet mustaches, some of the better one’s this year are being sported by Tim Thomas and Brandon Dubinsky
Then there is always the Oggie Ogelthorpe look..
NCAA Playoffs, Round 3.
Now that Christmas has come and gone, thank God. It is time to focus back on sports. This weekend would have been the third round of my mythical NCAA Football Playoff system. We are down to the elite 8, which means the winner of this weeks games will determine the winner of the bracket. Leaving four teams remaining.
To win your bracket, the team must win the Bowl game in the bracket they were given.
ROSE BOWL:
1. Auburn over 3. Oklahoma
ORANGE BOWL:
5. South Carolina over 1. TCU
SUGAR BOWL:
1. Oregon over 3. Boise State
FIESTA BOWL:
1. Wisconsin over 2. Arkansas
NCAA Football Playoffs
Well folks, college football has reach its most exiciting time of the year. Playoffs, wait no. There are no playoffs. It’s bowl season. C’mon. I’ve been saying this for years, can we please change the bowl games into a playoff system.
So here’s how this works. The top seed has home field advantage, for the first two rounds. Then the third round will be the bowl game (Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Sugar) to narrow the field down to the Final Four.
ROSE BRACKET
1. Auburn v. 8. Navy
2. Stanford v. 7. UConn
3. Oklahoma v. 6. Mississippi St.
4. Nevada v. 5. Nebraska
ORANGE BRACKET
1. TCU v. 8. Northern Illinois
2. Michigan State v. 7. Maryland
3. LSU v. 6. Florida State
4. Alabama v. 5. South Carolina
SUGAR BRACKET
1. Oregon v. 8. Miami (OH)
2. Ohio State v. 7. UCF
3. Boise State v. 6. West Virginia
4. Missouri v. 5. Texas A&M
FIESTA BRACKET
1. Wisconsin v. 8. San Diego State
2. Arkansas v. 7. Tulsa
3. Virginia Tech v. 6. Hawaii
4. Oklahoma State v. 5. Utah
…teams in BOLD are my predicted first round winners and again the playoffs would work as followed:
-The higher seed would have home field for the first two rounds
-Top 11 teams in overall standings are Conference winners
-If the playoffs were played on this years calendar the rounds would be
-1st round Dec 11 (32 teams)
-2nd round Dec 18 (16 teams)
-3rd round Dec 25 (8 teams)
-4th round Jan 1&2 (Final Four)
-5th round Jan 8 (National Championship)
When the four brackets have only two teams left, those teams will play in the cooresponding Bowl name in their bracket for a trip to the Final Four. As the weeks come and go when the games should be played I will post the match-ups and the bowl game each team would play in as the rounds go on.
Bruins Pick 2nd; Start Quest Tomorrow
Last night was the always exciting NHL Draft lottery. Peter Chiarelli was in attendance as he was hoping he could pull-off the ultimate “F** you” to Toronto by trying to make the trading of Phil Kessel turn into the first overall pick in the draft.
2010 Draft Order:
1. Edmonton Oilers
2. Boston Bruins (from Toronto)
3. Florida Panthers
4. Colombus Blue Jackets
5. New York Islanders
The draft lotto came and went but Edmonton received the first pick and the Bruins ended up with the second pick in the draft, as expected. This is still excellent, as of now all signs are pointing to Taylor Hall but Tyler Seguin looks to be just as good of a player. Although this could all be worthless is the rumblings are true about Chiarelli toying with the idea of trading the pick along with Bergeron and Ryder to Calgary for Jerome Iginla.
–Side note: This is the second time Chiarelli has ripped off Toronto, his first move as a GM with Boston was trading Andrew Raycroft for the rights to Tuukka Rask.
On a current note the Bruins begin the playoffs tomorrow, in Buffalo. It will be interesting to see which Bruins team shows up, this is going to be a low scoring series, which in a way could work into the Bruins favor but there needs to be goal production from every line in order to win.
If there is anything the Bruins should play for is the possibilty of Marc Savard’s return. Chiarelli dicused the health of Savard during the draft lottery last night. According to espn.com Chiarelli said, “Savy’s had some good days lately and you don’t want to rule him out, but he’s still a ways away.” It is still a long shot, the article also said Savard would need to be headache free for seven days before he could return to the ice.
With the way the Bruins dealt with Bergeron and his concussion after being hit by Randy Jones I find it hard to believe Chiarelli, Claude, and the medical staff would let him just hop into the second round of the playoffs. But stranger things have happened, who knows
7 Games for the Season
Saturday’s 2pm game at New York Islanders marks the first of a seven game road trip for the Bruins. This road trip will mean a lot of things for the B’s and there are three things that can come of this trip. The three things will involve many things.
The Bruins currently have a 28-23-11 record, which earns them 7th place in the Eastern Conference. Boston has 67 points, three behind 6. Philadelphia (70pts) but only a one point lead over seeds 8 thru 10. The Bruins road trip will include:
NY Islanders (3/6) W 3-2
Pittsburgh (3/7) L 2-1
Toronto (3/9) L/OT 4-3
Philadelphia (3/11) W 5-1
Montreal (3/13) L 3-2
New Jersey (3/15)
Carolina (3/16)
If the Bruins win three or less games on the road trip, the season is effectively over. Games against Pittsburgh, Montreal, New Jersey, Philly are all critical games when it comes to a playoff spot. Not only do the Bruins NEED to win those games but they need to be regulation wins. A 1-6, 2-5 performance on the road trip will destroy a chance of a playoff spot. Granted they could have a huge rally but they would be around the 70 point plateau with 13 games to go. Usually 87+ gets a team a playoff spot.
Team morale, sometimes it is good for a team to spend awhile together. The team was separated for two-weeks because of the Olympic break and when the team did begin to practice again, some players were still representing their countries in the Olympics. Time on the road together will be a time for the guys on the team bust-balls, play cards, and probably hear fellow teammates Olympic experiences, maybe some stories will inspire. The point is, even if the Bruins win 3-5 games on the trip, it will still be enough for the Bruins to be in playoff chatter and if these guys really bond and develop a team identity it could help when they return home.
Finally, the ideal scenario. Ideally the Bruins, well rested after the Olympic break are able to win 5 or 6 games on the road trip. The Bruins are 14-10-5 on the road, which is slightly better than their home record. Maybe the identity or swagger I just mentioned has already been developed and continues to get stronger because of the road trip.
The trade deadline has passed so this is the Bruins team that will win or lose them a playoff spot and if applicable a Stanley Cup opportunity.
NCAA Football Playoffs: Final Four
(Left) Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow (Right)
We started with 32 teams, played out the bracket and all the bowl games and now there are only four remaining. The games for the Final Four would be a rematch of this years SEC championship game with Alabama taking on Florida. The other game is Texas taking on Ohio State.
1. Alabama v. 3. Florida
1. Texas v. 2. Ohio St.
*bold is my projected winner
Yes, there was the possibility that Texas could have played Alabama just how the National Championship is slated to be this year. Personally, I think Florida would win, with a second chance at playing Alabama. As for Texas and Ohio State, with the way the brackets were formed Ohio State had the easiest road to the Final Four where they would end up losing to Texas.
Find out next week who I take in the National Championship, to conclude this great playoff system
College Football Playoffs: Round 1
First off congratulations to Mark Ingram on winning this year’s Heisman Trophy, he is a great player and is well deserving of the award.
What better way for Mr. Ingram to show off his award in a college football playoff system. Like I said before I would set up the match-ups and how this playoff system will work. Last week I showed the four different pools and the teams who would be in them. This week I will show the same teams, what bowl they are participating in, and my projected winner.
ORANGE BRACKET:
1. Alabama (13-0) v. 8. California (8-4) GMAC Bowl
2. Boise St. (13-0) v. 7. Arizona (8-4) MAACO Bowl
3. Central Michigan (11-2) v. 6. West Virginia (9-3) Alamo Bowl
4. Iowa (10-2) v.5. Miami Fl. (9-3) R+L Carriers Bowl
FIESTA BRACKET:
1. Cincinnati (12-0) v. Texas Tech (8-4) Poinsettia Bowl
2. Georgia Tech (11-2) v. 7. Houston (10-3) Meineke Bowl
3. Florida (12-1) v. 6. Oklahoma (9-3) Sherathon Bowl
4. LSU (9-3) v. 5. Pittsburgh (9-3) Little Cesar’s Bowl
ROSE BRACKET:
1. Texas (13-0) v. 8. USC (8-4) Brunt Sun Bowl
2. Oregon (10-2) v. 7. Utah (9-3) Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl
3. East Carolina (9-4) v. 6. Stanford (8-4) Bell Armed Forces Bowl
4. Penn St. (10-2) v. 5. BYU (10-2) Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
SUGAR BRACKET:
1. TCU (12-0) v. 8 Clemson (8-4) Champs Sports Bowl
2. Ohio St. (10-2) v. 7. Wisconsin (9-3) Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
3. Troy (9-3) v. 6. Nebraska (9-4) Advocare Independence Bowl
4. Virginia Tech (9-3) v. 5. Oregon St. (8-4) Emrald Bowl
*teams in bold are winners
That would have been the slate for this weekend’s playoff games, if there was a playoff system in place. Next week I will have the new match up’s and the next round of bowl games
No More BCS
This is an idea I came up with in the fall of my sophomore year in college. It came to me when I was watching every sports analyst with any interest in college football try to make brackets for playoffs a la March Madness. Most of these analyst agree that the best fit would be a 16 team format and that works but it still doesn’t bring the hype as March Madness does by having 64 teams. Having a 64 team college football tournament would be impossible and take way too long. Losing the bowl sponsorships is another reason why the NCAA does not want to part ways with the college bowl season. Now how do you incorporate all of this into a crazy college football season playoffs system.
First you do not even begin with the playoff system; it starts with the regular season. Every year it is always hard to judge who actually the best is because some teams play one or two more games. Other teams do not play in a Conference Championship Game. To make it a bit easier on everyone, cut the season down to 10 games FOR EVERYBODY. Make it a 10 game in 11 week season, every team would get a bye week and the 11 weeks would end a week before Thanksgiving. For the 2009 season if the season started Sept. 12th it would end Nov. 21. Now with the next week being Thanksgiving, this gives the NCAA a chance to hype a conference championship week and what better thing to have during all the days around Thanksgiving. Also every conference would have to have a championship game because this will help to even the playing field for ranking teams. At this point in the season if your team has played 11 games you got to play in a conf. championship game.
Now we have made it to the first week of December and it is time for playoff season. The playoff season will consist of 32 teams. Why 32, because it gives every team in the top 25 a chance to win also the reason why each conf. would need a championship game, there are 11 conf. which would give every conf. winner an automatic bid into the tournament just like in March Madness. Now with the 21 spots remaining, those teams will be voted in by the committee of writers who will come up with the AP top 25 every week, NO MORE COMPUTER RANKINGS. When the brackets are filled out and ready to go we begin the tournament.
The higher seed will get home field advantage thru the first 3 rounds, leaving the final four and championship rounds to be played in a neutral site. After the first 4 rounds have been completed, on the calendar it brings us up to a week before New Year’s Day. Making it perfect for having the one final game in college football at 8pm New Years Day.
Now don’t forget about all of those Bowl Sponsorships those are not going to go unnoticed. During the entire playoffs there would be 31 TOTAL games and there are currently 34 Bowl games. If NCAA cut their deals with 3 Bowl Sponsors they would be able to have each game in the playoffs still be sponsored. As the teams get fewer the Bowls will become bigger leading up to the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl…etc and one of those Bowls will be rotated for the Final game each season.
The only problem is all of this would occur during finals and sports are usually on hold during Finals but I think in the grand scheme of things there would be a way to work around it.
NHL Need's Gary Thorne 