Rear Admiral's Bruins Blog
Friday, June 1, 2012
Chris Bourque Fired Up To Join Bs
Friday, April 13, 2012
Kelly's OT Bomb Stakes Bs To 1-0 Series Lead
Conference Quarterfinals, 17,565 Garden denizens were feeling a bit skittish
that their Bruins weren't able to knock off the talented but underdog
Capitals despite vastly outshooting them. Rookie goalie Braden Holtby wasn't
fazed in the least. Despite the superb team D, the Bs were still just one
shot from being down 0-1. And now, given that this is the NHL Playoffs, it
looked like the Garden might be having the same closing time as the many
bars in the Bulfinch Triangle.
That is until Chris Kelly essentially yelled "You don't have to go home but
you can't stay here!" by whistling an absolute bomb past Holtby's far side
just 3:12 into the first and only extra session to put the Bs up 1-0 in the
series. Benoit Pouliot sent a sweet feed to a streaking Kelly on the left
wing who got behind, who else?, Dennis Wideman. Even though Holtby came way
to out to challenge Kelly, the laser found a seam and blew right by him. If
nothing else, the young netminder and his teammates served notice to the
defending champs: you're going to have to earn everything.
Conversely, the Caps are going to have to earn everything against a much
tougher D. It took them more than five minutes to get their first shot and
were outshot 26-7 after two periods. The Bs did a phenomenal job of keeping
the Caps to the outside and limiting their chances. Alexander Ovechkin was
held to just one shot on net, though it was nearly the eventual game-winner.
But Thomas looked like the Thomas of last year and made the save of the
night to keep it scoreless. Additionally, Thomas made several big saves in
the third when the Caps finally started to get some quality chances.
Also looking like something from last year? The power play, which went 0/4
and really didn't generate too many chances (unless they're just saving it
for the SCF again). Yeah, it's only one game but this team has too much
talent to not have an effective PP. If things aren't working, change them
up. And maybe have Tyler Seguin on PP1 by the left half-wall. More than once
last night, the kid made something out of nothing even if it didn't result
in a goal.
But overall, it was a great night at the barn. The score doesn't matter this
time of year---just the win. And the Bs grabbed the often-important Game 1.
They'll look to double up tomorrow at 3.
As noted by El Pres earlier, the Bs have a new post-win tradition in the
playoffs. After having retired the ugly Chalk Line jacket of last season
(can we please stop calling it a Starter jacket? Thing didn't even look like
a Starter jacket), the team is now issuing the Jam Master Jay Houdini bling
to the team-voted player of the game. It's a 20 link chain (one for each
player, no weak link) with an old-fashioned lock serving as the charm.
David Krejci missed practice today after hurting his neck as a result of the fluky accident where the glass fell on him during the post-game celebration. However, I've been told he'll definitely playing tomorrow.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Bs Can't Snap Out Of It; Ottawa Now Just A Point Back
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Battler of Bunker Hill: Brewster Captain Aaron Titcomb Looks Toward Future
After an impressive rookie campaign, Titcomb played himself up to the #1 backliner for a ranked squad. He played in all situations because of his talent and reliability. He was poised be the team’s best player in his junior year, infrequent for a D-man in MA HS hockey, and also be in a good spot to perhaps be the last man standing at the Garden.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Farrellys Are Back As "Hall Pass" Kicks Ass
Welcome back, Farrelly Brothers.
After a bit of a creative funk that bottomed out with the atrocious “Fever Pitch” (though it was followed by the underrated “The Heartbreak Kid”), the Rhode Island siblings of scat are back at a level not seen in well over a decade with their latest flick, “Hall Pass”, a return to their sweet-but-hysterically raunchy roots that had the Common theater missing jokes from laughing too hard at the previous one (or they missed them because of the 4-year-old that some shithead parents decided to bring to a sexually graphic R-rated flick at bedtime). And though the flick is right in the approaching-middle-aged-married-guy’s wheelhouse (you married pricks will find yourself nodding along more than once), this doozy will easily play to the ADHD, born-with-a-smartphone set as well. It’s an “Is the grass always greener?” tale that crosses all demos.
I was lucky enough to see a pre-release screening of “There’s Some About Mary” back when I still had hair and if that crowd was a 10 on the laughter scale, Tuesday night’s screening was a 9.5. You’ll need to make room on your DVD shelf (or iPod) for this flick right alongside “Kingpin”, “Dumb and Dumber”, and “Mary”. It deserves the space.
Though the premise is unlikely for so-called “normal” couples and a potential deal-breaker for plausibility, two wives giving their hubbies a week of free reign to do as they please and scratch any itches they may have to get them out of their system, it’s set up in such a funny way that you buy in from the get-go (and who’d a thunk Joy Behar would be the one to convince you?). Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christine Applegate) are married to Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis), a pair of hornball dorks who just might be the slightly wiser, pussified spiritual older brothers of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne.
With all due respect to Wilson’s prior funny endeavors (and he’s very good here, finally laying off the whole stoner bit save for one riotous scene), Sudeikis absolutely shines in a star-making role and steals the movie. He and the Farrellys are a match made in comedy heaven. The SNL vet’s take on Rick is pitch-perfect and he fucking nails it—no two ways about it. I’d be shocked if he’s still working for Lorne Michaels in the ’12-’13 season.
The wives head off to the Cape with the kids (keep an eye out for a Sox legend) and Rick and Fred head out with their buddies…to Applebee’s on Day One (duhn-duhn). The hilarity starts in the shitty chain and just amps up each day. Meanwhile, on the Cape, the wives essentially give themselves a ‘hall pass’ at the same time to provide a little bit of balance to the movie. Fischer and Applegate have more than token roles and are able to show their comedic chops as well. But make no mistake; this movie is about the two leads and the adventures with their buddies, including a nearly unrecognizable, scene-stealing Richard Jenkins as the confirmed bachelor we all dreamed of being one day (right?). Stephen Merchant of the original “The Office” and J.B. Smoove from “Curb Your Enthusiam” also chip in with great turns.
I won’t play spoiler here and give away all the good parts. And there are many. Gross, “holy shit”, no-fucking-way parts. One-liners galore. Bodily discharges. The obligatory stoned scene. Trust me, the previews spoil very little if only because the really good shit won’t fly on TV. Let’s just say Jason Segel’s dick-wiggling turn in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” may move a notch or two down the cinematic, um, totem pole after the gym scene.
The ‘Gansett is prominently featured throughout the many boozing scenes in the flick. As for the filmmakers’ penchant for ex-NHLers, one of the derisively-named “Massachusetts Highway Patrol” officers (in MA Statie doppelganger vehicles) is billed as Jeff Norton. I didn’t recognize him without his helmet on but I can only guess it was the former San Jose Shark who is a Massachusetts native.
It’s a safe bet that the Farrellys launched some new vocabulary with this crisp script that may have people looking down next time they’re getting down. It will undoubtedly approach the quotability of its predecessors. More importantly, the two guys who made Hollywood comedies take a delightfully decrepit turn in the ‘90s have gotten their sick swagger back. And fans of filthily funny flicks everywhere will rejoice this weekend and in the coming months. The Farrellys are back and in vintage form. If you need some belly laughs to chase away the winter blues, see this fucking movie. You’ll genuinely feel better leaving the theater. A-
“Hall Pass” opens nationwide today.
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Friday, November 19, 2010
Farwell, Pat Burns
Pat Burns, one of the more popular coaches in Bruins history and the only man to win the Jack Adams Award (best coach) with three separate teams, passed away today at the too-young age of 58 after losing his third battle with our modern plague.
After two previous battles with cancer, Burns opted to skip further treatment and live out the remainder of his days. The fiery former cop went from Canadian Jrs. to the Stanley Cup Finals in just two years and his blunt style made him a favorite among fans, if not always his players.
He did 3+ memorable seasons in this city, winning the Adams in his first season here. But like 99% of hockey coaches, he was canned before resurfacing in the swamplands of North Jersey two years later.
Ironically, Burns won his only Stanley Cup with the one team, the New Jersey Devils, that he didn’t win coach of the year with.
Burns was twice eligible for Hockey Hall of Fame induction but was inexplicably denied both times by the HHOF’s ridiculous process (like most HOFs). Prior to the last induction, there was a heavy campaign to vote Burns because of his terminal condition and people rightly figured that it’s better to elect a living man and allow him to enjoy it rather than years down the road when the man is gone (and that’s exactly what going to happen). It unfortunately fell short.
But being the straight-shooter Burns was, it’s likely he knew for a long while his place in the history of the game and that he will eventually join the others in hockey’s ultimate club.
Farewell, Burnsy. We’ll see you in Toronto soon enough.