Thursday night the NHL All Star Draft happened in Ottawa. Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson captained the two teams selecting two All-Star rosters. Chara called the puck toss and won the first pick.

Pavel Datsyuk was the first name called. Many people thought Chara would take Tim Thomas (though he did grab him in the second round), or Evgeni Malkin. Datsyuk is arguably the best two-way player in hockey and is one of the best puck handlers in the league.

Alfredsson answered with his first selection of hometown defenseman Eric Karlson, who is leading the NHL in points for defenseman, but Alfredsson left a few top players for Chara to take. Continue reading 2012 NHL Fantasy Draft: Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson are Good GMs »

We’re in the All Star break, and it’s still a tough time for many teams. There are close races abound, at both ends of the seeding. Just about the only thing well-entrenched is Columbus at the bottom of the NHL by a whopping nine points. There’s a lot a time off for everyone to re-energize before trying another round of one-upsmanship in the seeding, so let’s look at what would happen if the playoffs started as of Thursday, January 26: Continue reading If the Playoffs Started Today – NHL Week 16 »

This week, Tim Thomas made a choice. He chose not to join his teammates at a White House ceremony honoring the Boston Bruins for their 2011 Stanley Cup Championship. Thomas released a statement to the public stating why he did not want to attend the ceremony. It had something to do with big government, rights of the people, and property.

For the record, I think Thomas made a mistake. I think regardless of ideology, being invited to the White House is a privilege. I think meeting the President of the United States with your teammates is a pretty cool gig and I think you should go. I think THAT office deserves THAT respect, regardless of who the President is and regardless of his party. Thomas chose not to; he has that right, but I think he chose poorly. That’s where the story should end. And the coverage of the story should have ended in a sports flash on Monday night. But it didn’t, it went on and on and on, and by Tuesday, you would have thought based on the media reaction and subsequent public reaction that Tim Thomas challenged President Obama to a fistfight. Continue reading Thomas’s White House Snub Brings Out the Cult of Media Hypocrisy »

Tim Thomas was first off the ice at practice Tuesday, which usually indicates he would start in net that night.

He did not.

One day after purposely skipping the Bruins’ event at the White House, and on the same day as President Obama’s State of the Union address, Thomas rode the bench.

In his place was Tuukka Rask, who proceeded to allowed four goals on just 22 shots Tuesday night in, of all places, Washington, D.C.. The Caps added an empty-netter to win 5-3. Continue reading Tim Thomas Benched, Capitals Beat Bruins 5-3 »

Tim Thomas released a statement on his Facebook page why he skipped Monday’s event at the White House as President Obama honored the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.

This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Continue reading Tim Thomas Explains Why He Skipped Obama Event at White House »

President Barack Obama congratulated the Boston Bruins Monday for their 2011 Stanley Cup championship. Citing differences of opinion, Boston Globe hockey writer Fluto Shinzawa reported, Tim Thomas chose not to attend.

Good for Thomas. Continue reading Tim Thomas Exercises Free-Speech Right, Declines White House Ceremony »

The Boston Bruins (31-13-2) and Philadelphia Flyers (28-14-5) sure did turn some heads on Sunday afternoon. Sure the attention wasn’t all theirs at 3 pm eastern time, but a dramatic 6-5 Bruins shootout win gave Boston fans just another thing to celebrate on a day that featured wins from the Celtics and Patriots.

1st Period

The Bruins and Flyers were certainly ready for lots of early action. Under a minute into the game Brad Marchand set up Patrice Bergeron for a score past Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. The goal was Bergeron’s 15th of the season.

Philadelphia made plans to respond sooner than later, but they weren’t intending on Dennis Seidenberg being such a key contributor to their offense. A centering pass by Max Talbot looked to be intercepted by Seidenberg, but the Bruins defenseman instead deflected the puck off his stick past Tim Thomas as an equalizer. Continue reading Bruins Beat Flyers in Shootout, Now 1st in Eastern Conference »