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Sabres Crush Both Rask and Thomas in Buffalo

Matt Goisman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:55:10 +0000

The Buffalo Sabres played Wednesday’s game as a team desperately needing wins to keep its playoff hopes alive should: intelligent but physical, controlled but aggressive.

The Boston Bruins played as a team with a chance at the Eastern Conference’s top spot should not: lazy, disorganized, brainless.

Who do you think won?

The Sabres scored twice in each period Wednesday, cruising to a 6-0 blowout victory over the Bruins in Buffalo.

Poor Defense Rattles Rask

It was clear just minutes into the game that Tuukka Rask hadn’t brought his A-game to First Niagara Center. When Christian Ehrhoff fired from the blue line following a d-to-d pass from Tyler Myers, Rask misjudged the puck once it glanced off Gregory Campbell, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead on just their second shot of the game.

The Sabres went up 2-0 with just over five minutes left in the first when center Ville Leino made a nifty spin in the Bruins’ left circle, avoiding the defense and centering the puck to Jason Pominville. Pominville quickly chipped it in, with defenseman Mike Weber also assisting.

Clearly rattled by two goals that were as much his defense’s fault as his own, Rask lasted just 1:52 into the second period, when Andrej Sekera found Tyler Ennis in the neutral zone. Ennis changed direction twice in the Bruins’ zone, eluding multiple defenders before ricocheting a backhand off the goalpost and in for the 3-0 lead.

Rask exited the game following Ennis’ goal, having given up three goals in just 10 shots. It was his worst outing since lasting just one period and giving up three goals to the same Sabres on Jan. 1, 2010.

Thomas Can’t Hold Off Sabres Long

Tim Thomas replaced Rask, and for the first few minutes Thomas’ aggressive, energetic goaltending looked like it might hold the Sabres off long enough for a Bruins comeback. Following an interference call against a Zdeno Chara four minutes into the second, Thomas survived a Sabres power play in which they fired off seven rapid-fire shots before the Bruins finally cleared.

But such success would not last, especially with the unfocused, out-of-position hockey the defense continued to play. Strong puck possession by center Paul Gaustad in the Bruins’ circle led to a tight-angle shot for Patrick Kaleta. The puck deflected off Adam McQuaid‘s skates and between Thomas’ pads for a 4-0 lead late in the second.

The Bruins’ defense checked out for good in the third, leading to two more Sabres goals. Pominville scored his second when the Bruins left him completely alone in the crease for an easy rebound goal (Leino and original-shooter Sekera assisted) at 1:18. Then Joe Corvo turned the puck over behind his own goal, leading to a simple two-stage pass from Nathan Gerbe to Ennis to Drew Stafford in front for a 6-0 lead with a minute left.

Miller and Defense Dominate Bruins

The Bruins appeared to tie the game midway through the first when Milan Lucic put a slapshot past Sabre goalie Ryan Miller, but a goalie-interference call against Rich Peverley wiped out the goal. Replays showed only the barest contact between the two.

That was the closest the Bruins would get to an actual goal Wednesday, as both Miller and his defense played error-free hockey the rest of the game, including through the Bruins’ 17 third-period shots (out of 36 total). The defense completely neutralized the Bruins’ fore-checking, always finding open men to advance the puck back across the blue line. They quickly cleared most shots Miller couldn’t corral to the sides, and they stood the Bruins up on those rare occasions when a loose puck bounced in front of the net.

The Sabres controlled the puck better, giving nothing away on defense. They passed better, hitting teammates in stride and on the stick-blades. And they skated better, winning numerous sprints for the puck.

The Brutal Bruins

Buffalo handled all the physicality the Bruins brought to the game – three fighting majors, three 10 minute misconducts and six two-minute penalties – without backing down or losing focus. No pointless, juvenile display of idiotic brutality (sorry: no “hockey fight“) upset Buffalo enough for them to make a mistake, and Boston never came away from a fight so fired up they made a play themselves.

Not even the massive “brawl” in the final minutes of the game – in which the referees handed out nine penalties – disrupted the Sabres’ near-perfect performance. Which begs the question: if fights don’t really motivate, or at least not as much as actually playing well, what point do they serve?

Tyler Seguin: Star in the Making

Bobby Doherty — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:00:27 +0000

Tyler Seguin recently celebrated his birthday turning 20 years old. In Sunday’s win over Washington Seguin celebrated his 20th goal making him the first Bruin to hit that mark this season. What a difference a year can make: in 74 games last season Seguin had 22 points. This season Seguin has 44 points in 50 games.

If Seguin played on a top line last year and was on the ice more than 12 minutes a game his rookie numbers would have been much better than what they are. His stats this season don’t come as a surprise to anyone, we knew he was fast and has all the tools he needs to be an elite NHL player some day. The surprise has been his growth on the defensive side.

Playing with one of the best complete NHL players in Patrice Bergeron has helped and motivated Seguin to be better in the defensive zone and in the neutral zone. All season we have seen Seguin tenaciously attacking opposing teams on the forecheck and that has led to immediate offense. Some of Seguin’s best defensive work comes on the back check, using his speed he can catch close to anyone from behind and take the puck of their stick before they know it.

We still haven’t seen Seguin really play a physical game with a handful of hits or even drop the gloves yet. If he is going to wear the spoked B that time will come, but he is still a kid. He is plenty strong enough to throw a hit here and there but often pulls up and plays the puck.

The Bruins have a 20-year-old budding star in this league who is only going to get better, sit back and watch this kid evolve.

David Krejci Demoted to Third Line Center

Bobby Doherty — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:15:24 +0000

Bruins fans have gotten use to seeing David Krejci centering a line with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton on his wings. With Horton out of the line up due to a concussion, Rich Peverley jumped up to fill his spot. The first and only game that the Lucic-Krejci-Peverley played together was a loss against Pittsburgh, all three forwards recorded no shots on net.

As the center, Krejci has to get his wingers chances and still needs to look for his own offense. Krejci found himself centering a line with Benoit Pouliot and Zach Hamill in a win against Washington. Krejci has never been a player that can put up points every night, he is one of the more streaky regular season Bruins.

In the last five games Krejci has hit a bad streak with only one point during the stretch. An interesting stat on Krejci; 39 points on the season, 33 of those points came in games that the Bruins won. Krejci has eleven goals on the year so far and ten of those came in games that the Bruins won.

If the Bruins are going to win a lot of games heading into the playoffs and in the playoffs in general, Krejci and his line need to step up. Krejci practiced today with the third line again and could play there for some time, but he will be back in his normal spot at some point before the playoffs. Krejci took his game to another level in last years playoffs with 23 points in 25 games.

Bruins Continue to Slide, Lose to Penguins 2-1

Matthew Bond — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:24:04 +0000

The Bruins have had a terrific season thus far, entering Saturday afternoon’s matinee with the Pittsburgh Penguins only three points out of first place in the Eastern Conference. But recently their play hasn’t been up to that level, the roar of the seemingly unstoppable Bruins had seemingly hit a wall, they are only 4-4-1 in their last nine games, and were humiliated in a 3-0 loss to the last place Carolina Hurricanes and a stellar Cam Ward. Things didn’t get much better as they lost 2-1 to Pittsburgh.

1st Period

Things started off slow for both sides, Boston and Pittsburgh trying to develop their respective offenses. The B’s managed that first, gaining a few early opportunities which turned into a good amount of pressure against Marc-Andre Fleury in net for the Penguins. In fact the majority of the first period was lackluster until a late penalty shifted any momentum to Pittsburgh.

Rich Peverley was called for slashing, though there may have been a good amount of acting by Evgeni Malkin, either way leaving the Bruins shorthanded at 19:16. Sure enough, the Penguins capitalized on the opportunity, as Malkin scored off of a rebound past Tim Thomas with just 8.1 seconds left in the period.

2nd Period

A trend for the Bruins lately had been sloppy play in the second period, and things didn’t significantly change on Saturday. They played well in the first period despite the late goal, but failed to get on the board in the second either. They had early opportunities again that they wasted though their defense stood strong.

The Penguins got their second power play of the day when Beniot Pouliot was called for hooking a play in which he ended up down on the ice. The Bruins managed to kill off the penalty though, and then gained their own power play when Tyler Seguin was the victim of a high-sticking that spilled blood. The Bruins offensively dominated the four-minute double minor but failed to score, and the period closed with them trailing 1-0.

3rd Period

Old friend Matt Cooke dealt some serious damage to the Bruins, scoring off of a rebound to give the Penguins a commanding 2-0 lead early in the third period. Cooke was infamously involved in landing the hit against Marc Savard that left him seriously concussed in 2010. The Bruins were in trouble, needing a substantial third period rally to escape another defeat.

After six minutes without a shot entering the third period, Joe Corvo took the first for the Bruins and it reached the back of the net. His goal cut the Penguins lead to 2-1, giving Boston some hope. He led another attack moments following the goal but was denied by Fleury who maintained the Pittsburgh lead.

In the final minute, the Bruins missed a chance at the tie when the Penguins gave up the puck in front of their own goal. Fleury stopped a steal by Brad Marchand the Bruins fate was sealed as time expired on another disappointing loss, falling 2-1 to Pittsburgh in a game with a good number of wasted opportunities. On the upside the Bruins did play well enough to win, but they instead continue to struggle as of late.

Boston will waste no time following the loss though, as they travel to Washington where they will face the Capitals tomorrow afternoon.

Ward’s Shutout Gives Hurricanes First Season Sweep Over Bruins

Matt Goisman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:15:21 +0000

The Boston Bruins did just about everything they could against the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday night at the TD Garden. They won over 70 percent of their face-offs. They hit hard and often. And they ripped shot after shot after shot at goalie Cam Ward.

They just couldn’t score.

Ward saved all 47 shots against him Wednesday, and the Hurricanes scored in each period to beat the Bruins, 3-0. With the win, the Hurricanes completed their first season-sweep of the Bruins in franchise history.

Ward Unflappable in Goal

The Bruins put Ward to work almost instantly Wednesday night. David Krejci won the opening faceoff – one of 38 faceoff victories – and the Bruins went on the attack. Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly both fired at Ward within the first two minutes of the game, but Ward turned them both aside.

The Bruins kept this attack up throughout the period, hammering but never fooling Ward. They couldn’t even score when Brad Marchand stole a puck in the Hurricanes’ zone and found Patrice Bergeron wide open in the slot.

Ward’s defense backed him up by rarely allowing loose pucks to bounce the Bruins’ way. The Bruins had plenty of scoring chances, but they had very few second or third chances. That meant Ward could get back into position after every shot, never getting caught out of the goal or turned the wrong way.

Unable to score despite 22 first-period shots, the Bruins came out of the first intermission clearly dejected. They took just five shots in the second, unable to muster the same ferocity with which they played the first. That dejection turned into frustration in the third, when the Bruins took 20 more shots.

Ward turned aside all 20 shots, and the Bruins finally lost their composure. Given two third-period power plays that could have helped the Bruins get back into the game, they shortened both with penalties of their own. They killed their second play just eight seconds in, when Marchand slashed defenseman Bryan Allen.

Defensive Miscues Cost Bruins

The Hurricanes scored all three goals through aggressive fore-checking that led to defensive mistakes by the Bruins. When center Tuomo Ruutu jammed Johnny Boychuk at the goal line, bending Boychuk’s arm awkwardly into the boards and temporarily sending him off the ice, Jiri Tlusty swooped in grabbed the puck. Tlusty sent the puck through the crease to Eric Staal, who one-timed it past Tuukka Rask for the 1-0 lead at 11:51.

Aggressive offense paid off again in the second, when Anthony Stewart sent a moon shot over the blue line. The puck bounced in between Andrew Ference and Adam McQuaid, but neither took control, staring at each other as the puck stayed in no man’s land.

Rather than give up on the play, Brandon Sutter burst through the two defenders, firing off a shot that forced Rask to sprawl to deflect the pass. Ruuttu grabbed the rebound, spinning and backhanding the puck into the open net for a 2-0 lead with just over three minutes left in the second.

Sutter earned his second point of the night early in the third period, when Rask skated behind the goal, corralling a loose puck and slinging it away along the boards. Andreas Nodl jumped in front of the pass, grabbing the puck by the right circle and quickly getting it to a nearby Sutter.

Sutter immediately fired off a wristshot from just outside the slot, catching Rask slightly off-guard and putting the Hurricanes ahead 3-0. The goal silenced the TD Garden crowd and killed any lingering hopes that the Bruins might at least tie the game.

Poor Start to Second Half

The Bruins have not played well in two games following the All-Star Break, giving up six goals on defense and lacking balance between the lines on offense. For the Bruins to re-take the top spot in the Eastern Conference, they’ll need to fix both of these problems. They can’t continue to play lackadaisically on defense, allowing aggressive but untalented teams like the Hurricanes to dictate what happens once the puck crosses the blue line. And they can’t settle for one good shift, followed by a couple of bad ones.

The Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin line (which has three of the top five goal- and point-scorers on the team) can’t continue to do it all. Another line must step up to share the responsibility.

If the Playoffs Started Today – NHL Week 17

John — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:03 +0000

Now that we’re into February, time is beginning to become a factor for teams that need to make up ground; teams have anywhere from 29 to 34 games remaining before the playoffs begin, and while it’s not yet time for desperation to set in, concern is starting to creep up. With teams like Detroit and the Rangers pretty secure, teams like Ottawa and Minnesota are getting knocked around at the wrong time. With everyone getting ready for the home stretch, let’s look at what would happen if the playoffs started as of Thursday, February 2, before the day’s games:

West

#1 Detroit Red Wings vs #8 Minnesota Wild

With Minnesota stumbling like they are, they really can’t do much of anything against Detroit‘s might.

#2 Vancouver Canucks vs #7 Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles has a good defense, but Vancouver‘s offense has them cruising. L.A. will have a difficult time keeping up with Vancouver’s onslaught.

#3 San Jose Sharks vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks

This one could get pretty interesting. Chicago has three more points, but San Jose has three games in hand. The Sharks have a goal differential 10 better than Chicago, but neither team will be able to readily pick off a game on the road. It’ll be difficult for both sides, but San Jose has the slightest of edges.

#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 St. Louis Blues

Nashville has won five in a row, 10 of 11 and 13 of 15. But St. Louis is one of the most dominant home teams in the league. However, their road record leaves something to be desired, and with just two road games in the past month, they haven’t had much practice. The Blues are one point behind, but they do have two games in hand. However, Nashville has the advantage for now.

East

#1 New York Rangers vs #8 New Jersey Devils

The Rangers are finally the last team to allow 100 goals on the season. And their offense is a little better than New Jersey’s. Don’t expect things to end well for the Devils.

#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Toronto Maple Leafs

Boston may be having some defensive issues lately, but they’re still much better than Toronto, and have the season series to prove it.

#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 Ottawa Senators

This is the only series where both teams have a negative goal differential. While Florida isn’t exactly the best, Ottawa has lost four straight. In a match-up where defending is an issue all around, the best scoring team has an odd advantage, and Ottawa’s offense is in the top quintile in the NHL.

#4 Philadelphia Flyers vs #6 Pittsburgh Penguins

Both teams are quite good; in fact, Pittsburgh just had their eight-game winning streak snapped. However, they’re under a lot of extra pressure without Sidney Crosby in the lineup. Philadelphia can be just as deadly, and at 18-7-2, they’re the best road team in the league. If Philadelphia can stop a few extra shots and keep their offense going, they should come out on top against their division rivals.

What Might Change Next Week:

Behind a home game against Minnesota, look for Dallas to take over #8 in the West.
With New Jersey’s difficult schedule, look for Washington to take over their spot, and while the Caps are at it, the Southeast Division from Florida.

Bruins Start 2nd Half With Win Against Ottawa 4-3

Bobby Doherty — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:55:38 +0000

The Bruins started the second half of the season at home against Ottawa with a win 4-3. The Senators played the Bruins tough, which is not a surprise with a huge improvement from last season for them. With goals from Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Milan Lucic, and Brad Marchand along with 30 saves from Tim Thomas Boston took home the two points. Nathan Horton was not in the line up tonight, still out with concussion problems.

Power Play Paves the Way for B’s

The Bruins had the worst power play for most of last season. This season, it has been better, but is still up and down. Tuesday was a good night though, as the B’s scored two power play goals on four man-advantages for the Bruins.

The first power play goal came from the captain, who let go a bomb from the point that found net. The power play goal was the 8th of the season for Zdeno Chara. With Chara on the point for the power play, this unit should score goals.

Brad Marchand added his 18th goal of the season on the power play early on in the third period. If Marchand could have avoided some suspensions this season, he very well could have been an All-Star.

Dennis Seidenberg, meanwhile, scored from roughly center ice, as he has done in past seasons. He baited the goalie into playing the dump in and beat him with the long slapper.

Has Tim Thomas come back to Earth ?

Tim Thomas made 30 saves on 33 shots, which was just enough to win; nothing more, nothing less. Thomas had been playing so well at the beginning of the season and now he is leveling off. His last shutout came on December 17th, but the recent fantastic play of Tuukka Rask could push Thomas to bring it to another level.

The Bruins are one of the few teams in the NHL who don’t need their number one goalie to play like one every game. With Tuukka as an alternate and a strong offensive attack, the Bruins can win a lot of games even with Thomas letting three goals in.

2012 NHL Fantasy Draft: Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson are Good GMs

Bobby Doherty — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:35:29 +0000

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.

Chara had Joffery Lupul as his assistant. He selected his teammate Phil Kessel, and it will be interesting to see if Kessel and Seguin play together on the same line.

Team Chara looks really good and is my pick to win the Sunday game, with guys like Datsyuk, Malkin, Perry, Kane, Iginla, Gaborik, Kessel, and Seguin. Chara did benefit from Alfredsson selecting his teammates earlier than he should have.

Mr. Irrelevant this year was Logan Couture from the San Jose Sharks, taking the title from Kessel. Couture is a first time All-Star and he seemed to take it pretty well. Of course with that last pick, Couture received a car. The MVP of Sunday’s game also receives a car.

My MVP prediction is Evgeni Malkin. He has been on fire leading up to the All-Star break and I think he will light the lamp a few times.

If the Playoffs Started Today – NHL Week 16

John — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:33:17 +0000

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:

West

#1 Detroit Red Wings vs #8 Minnesota Wild

The Wild have won two straight; who would’ve thought? But they’re still not in a good place with themselves, and there’s no way they’ll break through Detroit‘s home record.

#2 Vancouver Canucks vs #7 Los Angeles Kings

The Kings have a good hold on a playoff spot. However, they’re also locked into the bottom of the seeding too. It’s tough for them to put a prolonged push together, which won’t be good against a highly skilled team like Vancouver.

#3 San Jose Sharks vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks

This has all the makings of a great series. Chicago has the best offense in the West, while San Jose sports the West’s second-best defense. Both are good at home and have similar goal differentials. San Jose has four less points, but three games in hand. The games should be close, and while San Jose has two more shootout wins and home-rink advantage, that’ll work in their favor.

#4 St. Louis Blues vs #5 Nashville Predators

St. Louis might not have the best offense, but their stellar defense more than makes up for it. Nashville is good themselves, having won four in a row and nine of ten (the one loss being at the Rangers). And they have three wins over St. Louis already this season. However, the most recent wins were in shootouts, and St. Louis has gotten much better since October. Nashville needs to put everything into winning a road game in order to have any chance, and that’s not a gimme.

East

#1 New York Rangers vs #8 New Jersey Devils

New Jersey is still hanging around, but they’re having a tough time staying in that position right now. New York just has way too good a defense to fall in this series.

#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Florida Panthers

Boston may be so-so right now, but they’re still only two points behind the Rangers. Florida‘s not doing too well, either, and they’ll have a very hard time holding back Boston’s offense.

#3 Washington Capitals vs #6 Ottawa Senators

It’s hard to believe that at #3, Washington is only a point away from being out of the seeding. They have an abysmal road record to thank for that, but Ottawa has lost three in a row, and isn’t too good on the road themselves. The added pressure from Washington’s point total should provide some added incentive to do better, which will help against teams like Ottawa.

#4 Philadelphia Flyers vs #5 Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh has won seven straight, which follows their six-game losing streak. Philadelphia has taken advantage of that inconsistency, winning both games in the season series so far. Each team is capable of winning in either city, but Pittsburgh needs to keep games close to have a good chance; Philadelphia has eight more non-shootout wins in one less game. Any lack of consistency and Pittsburgh will be eaten up.

What Might Change Next Week:

Not much is likely given the short week, but there is some wiggle room with the likes of Washington’s division lead and Minnesota’s playoff spot.

Thomas’s White House Snub Brings Out the Cult of Media Hypocrisy

gcain — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:21:48 +0000

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.

Local Sports Media’s Double Standard: Theo’s Snub of George W. Bush

So this is where the hypocrisy comes into play. In 2007, Theo Epstein, then the GM and VP of the Boston Red Sox, snubbed President Bush in the same way Tim Thomas did. Theo Epstein then was an executive representing the team, he wasn’t just a player. Theo didn’t give a big statement, and he just made some stupid excuse and didn’t go. I mean, how could he? What would Eddie Vedder have thought of him? In 2004, Theo did attend the White House ceremony, but refused to pose with President Bush for any pictures. You all remember that visceral reaction to Theo’s snub don’t you?

Oh you don’t? You want to know why, because there wasn’t a reaction to Theo’s snub. The local media didn’t seem to have a problem with that one. I invite anyone reading this to perform a Google search on articles or comments condemning Theo Epstein’s snub of President Bush in 2007. Good luck if you can find one by page 58 on Google.

Nope, you see in Massachusetts when a liberal snubs a Republican, it’s OK, but when a conservative snubs a Democrat, it’s a sin. I don’t care either way, they’re both wrong. However in Thomas’s case, it was worthy of three days of talk radio discussion, sports articles, racist tweets (did you know that Tim Thomas has 3 kids with names that begin with K), and some of the most pathetic rants by the media that made me not only question their integrity, but their sanity.

So why the double standard? Has partisanship engulfed this country so much that we can’t even separate it from the sports world? I ask that question to Michael Felger, Tony Massarotti, Kevin Paul DuPont, Joe MacDonald, Joe Haggerty and every other phony who piled on Thomas. The first mention I heard of Theo’s snub wasn’t until late Monday night when Michael Holley mentioned it on Sports Tonight. Until then, all Michael Felger could come up with was Eddie Vedder, Mark Chmura and Bruce Springsteen. What a bunch of hypocrites you all are. I confronted many of you with tweets or emails; I heard either silence or excuses like “I wasn’t on the Red Sox beat.”

F&M on Thomas

As for Felger and Mazz, well, for two guys who like to state how much they hate all the “political stuff,” they often have political opinions. Mazz has flat out said he does not like Republicans and Felger constantly mentions the “people” that watch Fox News. So it’s clear they have an ideology. That’s fine; the hosts on many of the shows on WEEI have an ideology. I don’t mind the ideology; I mind the hypocrisy behind it. Felger on Wednesday said he condemned Theo back when he was working at ESPN 890. I would love to hear the audio on that. Funny on many of my long commutes home I fail to remember any of it, but I do remember lots of Spygate talk, though.

Tuesday afternoon, the criticism became calamity when Mazz finally went off the tracks. Tony said, and I am paraphrasing slightly, ‘if you don’t like the government in this country Tim Thomas, move to Finland!!’ I guess that was because Thomas played there once?

I couldn’t believe it. A career newspaper writer and media personality advocating AGAINST free speech! What a complete joke. (Tony has since apologized for the comment). Felger was no better in some of critiques of Thomas. He stated that because Thomas was earning a living playing a “game,” he should be more thankful to his country. It’s comments like that one, which really makes me wonder if Felger has ever read an American History book. If every affluent person didn’t exercise their right of free speech, what type of country would this be? So, if your wealth is from a “game,” your opinion matters less than someone’s who gained wealth through manual labor? What about the talk show hosts Mike? Don’t they deserve their free speech? Should they not be allowed their First Amendment rights? It’s entertainment, I heard John Henry say so. Thank you to Toucher and Rich for being the voice of reason on this topic from the beginning. They actually had to comically call out their fellow colleague at 98.5 to make the point clear.

So by Wednesday, I thought this story would finally have died down. It didn’t, it evolved. Michael Felger, citing articles written by Joseph Haggerty and Fluto Shinzawa, discussed the possibility that this would lead to Tim Thomas being traded because he was not popular in the locker room. Felger, then asked his listening audience what they thought of the possibility of trading Tim Thomas.

For the small percentage of Bruins fans that would even consider this, let me enlighten you. Without Tim Thomas, you would still be staring up at that 1972 Stanley Cup Championship banner. Don’t let the media sway you into running the best player on your team and maybe in the league, out of town.

The Witch Hunt

This was a witch hunt, an ideological witch hunt. Because, as I said before when Theo Epstein and Michael Jordan snub Republicans it’s not even discussed, but Tim Thomas, well he’s enemy number one. As I said before, I didn’t agree with Thomas’ decision, but at least he did back it up. He didn’t hide away under media cover like the Boy Wonder Theo Epstein.

I can’t tell yet if this is just a Boston problem or it’s symptomatic of the negativity that is encompassing the entire world including sports. I hope this issue is finally coming to an end, but let’s not forget, Thomas is just the latest to fall under attack in his own town. I was conflicted writing this column, because I believe sports is the one place where politics has little place. At the same time, I can’t just sit by and listen to the media pick and choose who they get to stone.

Super Bowl Malaise

There’s still about a week until the Super Bowl hysteria really takes off, so I found it interesting that the #1 Sports talk show in Boston chose to spend half its show focusing on Patriot cheating allegations. Felger and Mazz have clearly decided that they want to live in the world of tabloid, and their minions are there to follow them. But, on the flagship network of the New England Patriots, Felger is still talking about Spygate. He is talking about an article citing them for cheating in 2007, he is talking about corrupted scoreboard operators and even talking about the Patriots being involved with sideline headphone communications. Of course, Felger says he doesn’t BELIEVE any of these allegations, but I then wonder, why discuss them?

So let me enlighten you, in a down week when there is no football game, no baseball season, a struggling basketball team and a hockey All-Star break, Felger is returning to his contrarian roots and he knows calling the Patriots cheaters brings anger and ratings. Just like bringing up the Jets, firing Claude Julien (last year) and trading Tim Thomas.

It’s all about getting the radio listener outraged enough that he’ll keep listening. Felger actually had the audacity to threaten not to take calls this week because they were not up to his liking. It’s funny how the local media king whose popularity was built on his listening fans is now above them.

Well, the Super Bowl can’t come fast enough. Media day should be fun next week, when I am sure Felger will mention Spygate, Rex Ryan, Tom Brady’s declining game and the Patriots’ “value” proposition. This will all take place next to his buddies at WEEI on Radio Row. He will then go on to praise the Patriots and then pick them to win the Super Bowl. As for Tony, well he’ll probably be on the lookout for any rebels speaking out against our great government.