THE BOSTON BRUINS - STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

WINNNNNAH !!!! THE BOSTON BRUINS - WORLD CHAMPIONS

GAME 7 Looms large for the BOSTON BRUINS

FOR BOSTON - The Boston Bruins have faced the doubters, the nay sayers. They have listened to the constant remarks from teams like Tampa Bay and others. They had to fight for this tooth and nail.

Now, after a drought that has lasted since 1972, they are pearched on the edge of SUCCESS.
Vancouver has acted liked they owned the cup from the start....Not like the dreaded Pin-Stripers from NYC but still a cocky arrogance that was turned back at every corner that this series has rounded. Oh and a message to Mr. Luongo - You have shown that when the heat is on, you fold up like a cheap card table.

Now, GAME 7 looms large. One Game, winner-take-all. Such as it ever was.

FOR BOSTON.....THE BOSTON BRUINS will push on to show the world who is the best hockey team this year. BOSTON - GO BRUINS !!

Full Cup
Bruins romp again at Garden to force Game 7
By Fluto Shinzawa
Globe Staff / June 14, 2011

There will be one more flight west. One more night in a Vancouver hotel. One more game.

Had the Bruins dropped Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Canucks last night at TD Garden, tomorrow probably would have been breakup day. For the final time this season, the Bruins would have gathered at their home rink, packed up their items, held exit interviews, and said their goodbyes.

Instead, they will be pursuing the greatest trophy in sports in the grandest spectacle of them all: Game 7.

“Not too many people counted on us being here right now,’’ Mark Recchi said after last night’s 5-2 win before 17,565. “It’s a great feeling. We battled real hard tonight. We came to play. It comes down to one game. This is what we dream of. When you’re a little kid playing street hockey, you’re in Game 7. We’re going to go out there. We’re going to lay it on the line just like they are. It’s going to be a pretty exciting game. We’ve got to go find a way to win a game and win a Stanley Cup. We’re going to do whatever we can.’’

The champagne that was on ice for the Canucks last night is only an afterthought. The Cup that was in place for the Canucks to hoist must now travel west to accompany both teams.

Last night, only one club could have claimed the Cup as its own. Tomorrow, because the Bruins did something good last night, they can do something great.

The day started with focus. The Bruins didn’t think about their season coming to a close. In the home dressing room, there was a quiet confidence as the Bruins tried to bundle their collective energy toward a single goal: living to see another day.

“It was very quiet in here,’’ said the usually chirpy Brad Marchand. “It was tough to figure out if it was nerves or just guys being calm and focused. It seemed like everyone was very prepared and very excited to get underway.’’

After warmups, the calm was gone. As the Bruins bosses had hoped, the mood rose another level while the players prepared for battle. The Bruins weren’t afraid of what was ahead of them. Instead, they couldn’t wait to get their job started.

So, what was quiet and poise ramped up to energy.

“Excitement, that’s for sure,’’ Michael Ryder said. “We were all pumped up. We knew that we had to come out hard, especially early in the game. I think it was pretty intense in here. Everyone was jumping around, getting ready to go. We knew what it meant. We knew the fans would be behind us. We wanted to make sure we set the tone early and got the fans into it.’’

Soon after the Bruins hit the ice, all that buildup, tension, and excitement exploded into a four-goal supernova. Marchand snapped a shot over Roberto Luongo. Milan Lucic hit a shot that dribbled between Luongo’s pads and rolled over the goal line.

Nathan Horton, his season over because of a concussion suffered in Game 3, stood in the Zamboni entrance during a television timeout at 7:27. With a smile across his face and rally towels waving in both hands, Horton gave the Garden even more juice.

“We didn’t know they were going to be doing that, showing him up there,’’ Marchand said. “For him to come in and give us that boost of energy is unbelievable. Obviously, the crowd loves it, loves him, and they’re supporting him every minute of the day. It was great to see him out there. He gave us a big energy boost.’’

That was nothing.

At 8:35, with Recchi setting a screen in front, Andrew Ference ripped a slapper that sailed past Luongo to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead.

During the Final, Luongo has had more ups and downs than a yo-yo. He has posted two shutouts at home, allowing just two goals in three games at Rogers Arena.

But at the Garden, Luongo fished eight pucks out of his net in Game 3. He was pulled after giving up four goals in Game 4. Last night, after three pucks went past him — one of the dribbling manner — in less than nine minutes, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault had seen enough.

Just moments after Ference’s shot hit the back of the net, Luongo was skating toward the visiting bench for the second time in his last two visits to the Garden.

Then, after relief netminder Cory Schneider had been in goal for only 70 seconds, Ryder tipped a Ference shot into the net to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead.

“We needed to come out hard tonight,’’ said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “I thought our guys responded. We needed to come out hard the last two games before that, because we were trailing, 2-0, in the series. Our guys have responded well. Now we have to make sure we don’t get comfortable with our game. We’re willing to bring it to Vancouver with us, because that’s what it’s going to take to win.’’

Unlike their two previous stops in Boston, the Canucks pushed back. Henrik Sedin made it 4-1 at 0:22 of the third. Jannik Hansen thought he had trimmed Boston’s lead to two at 3:17 of the third, but video replay showed his shot hit the left post.

But Boston’s cushion was too large.

And now it’s come down to this. Next win is for the Cup.

“There’s no pressure,’’ Recchi said. “Go play. Go out and have fun with this. It’s what you play for and what we’ve worked hard for all year. We’re going to have a blast doing it.’’

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

ONE GAME AT A TIME.....

The BOSTON BRUINS are now learning what the PATRIOTS, RED SOX and CELTICS all learned over the last few go-rounds in the FINALS....ONE GAME AT A TIME....

That's how the other three teams from BOSTON were able to push through to final victory...one game at a time....There is no tomorrow....WIN or go home....Boston Fans have been here before.

Once again, the VANCOUVER SHA-MUCKS will be trying to pursue a 'wounded bear" into his lair...Not a wise move.

GAME 6 in BOSTON will be one for the ages.....ON to VICTORY for BOSTON !!!!!


It really is one game at a time
By Bob Ryan
Globe Columnist / June 11, 2011

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — One of these days people will realize this simple fact: There is absolutely no such thing as game-to-game “momentum’’ in the world of sports.

Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!ShareThis One game is one game, or in the case of Games 3 and 4 in this series, two games are two games, especially when the team getting its butt resoundingly kicked is the team playing on the road.

Teams good enough to reach the Stanley Cup Final have the capacity to clear their heads and move on. That’s what the Vancouver Canucks did after losing two games by a combined 12-1 score in Boston. They returned home to Rogers Arena, beat the Bruins, 1-0, last night, and now are one win away from having their names inscribed on the most famous trophy in North American sport.

And as for all the hullabaloo about Roberto Luongo’s psyche? Next question.

He was pretty bad in Boston, although he was hardly alone in stinking up the joint. But he answered those who thought Canucks coach Alain Vigneault had lost his mind in starting him last night by posting a 31-save shutout. This is not to say he was the better goaltender, because he wasn’t. Tim Thomas faced more quality shots. But all a man can do is stop what’s thrown at him, and Luongo did that.

“He was really good,’’ said Canucks center Ryan Kesler. “He responded well. That’s what elite players do. He was our best player tonight.’’

It was a game of mounting tension, scoreless for more than 44 minutes before the villainous Max Lapierre found just enough space on the short side to get one by Thomas on a play initiated by defenseman Kevin Bieksa, the chap whose weird goal against San Jose had gotten the Canucks into the Final. Also assisting was Raffi Torres, the professional noodge whose goal had settled the first game a scant 18.5 seconds before the teams would have headed to overtime. Losing to the firm of Lapierre & Torres makes the loss just a bit more annoying.

It would be wise for Bruins fans to remember that players don’t really care about the final score, no matter which side they are on. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 1-0 or 8-1,’’ said Luongo. “A win is a win and a loss is a loss.’’

Nothing in professional sports is more misleading, or more aberrational, than the rout. There is always a point in routs that what happens afterward is of relevance only to the stat man doing his job and the fans who love to see scores mount. The Canucks didn’t care whether the final score of Game 3 was 4-1, 8-1, or 118-1. They had lost, period. And when they lost Game 4 by a 4-0 score, their immediate rationalization was, “Hey, we’re still tied and we’ve got two of the next three at home.’’

“It doesn’t matter,’’ insisted Kesler in reference to the Boston disasters. “It’s a loss. You look at the video. It just doesn’t matter how big you win by or how much you lose by.’’

The Bruins could not complain about the officiating. Here they were, the road team, getting four power plays — the first at 1:39 of the first period — before the Canucks had any. Milan Lucic tested Luongo on the first one, but that was the only true top-quality scoring opportunity in those power plays. Luongo demonstrated that he was alert and focused, but the reality is he was being very well-served by his mates, who had come under fire locally for letting him down badly in Boston.

If you were grading these teams on the eye test, the Bruins were the better team in the first period, but the Canucks were clearly the aggressors in the second. And there’s no doubt who won the third.

“I think tonight, as a whole, they were the better team,’’ said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “We have to acknowledge that.’’

Once again, the individual story of the game was Thomas, who continued his sparkling play, and who, depending on the outcome of the series, remains the leading candidate to win the Conn Smythe Award as the outstanding player of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The winning goal was only the second scored on him in more than eight periods of play, and he was so frustrated he banged his fist on the ice after retrieving the puck.

It might be a reach to say the Canucks were totally transformed with the change of venue, but they definitely looked more comfortable. “We lost our focus in Boston,’’ acknowledged Henrik Sedin (at least I think it was Henrik. No, just kidding). “We got our confidence back tonight. Yeah, we were more focused. We got a little bit rattled on the road and got away from our game.’’

They certainly came out flying, racking up a 23-13 hit advantage in the first period. Who knows? Perhaps they felt they had let the Green Men down after they had traveled all that way to see them play.

It was the third one-goal game the Canucks have won on their home ice. That’s nice, but not particularly relevant to the Big Picture. In order to celebrate properly, they will need to win one more — somewhere.

“I’ve said it a thousand times,’’ sighed Vigneault. “Now I’ll say it a thousand one. It’s one game at a time.’’

Call it a cliché if you like, but true professionals realize there is no other way to approach it.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist and host of Globe 10.0 on Boston.com. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.

Bruins fans donate Jackpot to Western Massachusetts Tornado victims

This is the kind of people that make BOSTON the special place it is.....BRAVO ZULU to
Steve & Joyce Eby of Braintree, MA for showing what world class fans there are in Boston.....awesome.

Glad to be able to share along some good news for a change.....GO BRUINS !!


Bruins fans use jackpot score to help victims of tornado
By O’Ryan Johnson - Boston Herald
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 -

A bighearted Braintree couple had no trouble figuring out how to spend a $10,000 windfall from Monday’s 50/50 Bruins raffle — they swiftly donated the entire jackpot to the Red Cross to help the twister-ravaged areas in and around Springfield.

“Once we got in the car and the shock wore off, we agreed: We can’t keep this money,” said Joyce Eby, 48. “It’s not like we couldn’t use it ourselves, but I feel like it wouldn’t be right. I feel like this is supposed to go to the Red Cross to help these people. It’s a crazy world. We get snow. We don’t get tornadoes. We need to help each other. These are our neighbors. And who’s better than the Red Cross?”

Season ticket-holders Eby and her husband Steve, 47, were looking for a way to help the tornado victims in western Massachusetts when she took the last $10 in her purse and bought the charity raffle ticket at the Stanley Cup finals on Monday.

“We haven’t missed a game yet in the playoffs,” she said. “So last night I felt this need to get up. I really felt compelled to buy these tickets.”

In the so-called 50/50 raffle, fans buy a ticket and half the cash goes to charity, with the other half going to the winning ticket-holder. The Boston Bruins Foundation, which runs the raffle, has raised $6 million for several charities since 2003, and had planned to give $10,000 to the Red Cross on Monday night.

Now, the Red Cross will get $20,000 thanks to Eby and her husband — who have two kids and their own home repairs under way, but saw a greater need in their neighbors across the state. However, she admitted, regifting the winnings was not completely altruistic.

“We need some good karma,” she said. “We want the Cup!”

ojohnson@bostonherald.com

A Wounded Bear....

A Wounded Bear is a very, very dangerous animal....The Vancouver Canucks found that out tonight in Boston.... THE BOSTON BRUINS will work back to VICTORY one game at a time....Vancouver will learn that tangling with a Wounded Bear is not something any sane person would consider.

Sweet revenge: B's clobber Canucks 8-1
By: Mike Petraglia - WEEI.COM

The Bruins responded to a late, devastating late hit on Nathan Horton with a four-goal second-period explosion and manhandled the Canucks, 8-1, Monday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals. Game 4 is set for Wednesday night in Boston before the series returns to Vancouver for Game 5. Tim Thomas stopped 40-of-41 shots in another brillant playoff performance.

Just over five minutes into the game, Horton skated into the offensive zone on his second shift of the night and was leveled by a late hit from the blindside by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome. The Bruins top-line forward was laid out on the ice for several minutes and examined by Bruins medical staff before a stretcher came on the ice to take him off. Horton was taken to Mass General and had movement in all extremities but is expected to stay there for further evaluation. Rome was given a game misconduct.

The two teams played a scoreless tie in the first, with the Bruins managing just six shots. But just 11 seconds into the second period, Andrew Ference fired a shot on Roberto Luongo from the left point and it found its way through a screen and past Luongo, who would give up all eight goals on the night. Four minutes later, Mark Recchi received credit for a goal that went off the stick of Ryan Kesler for Boston's second power play goal of the series and Recchi's fourth of the playoffs.

With Luongo shaken and the Canucks playing wrecklessly with the puck on the power play, Brad Marchand broke in alone and scored shorthanded as the Vancouver goalie dove forward and left the net open. David Krejci then added his NHL-leading 11th of the playoffs with 4:13 left in the period to cap the second period domination.

After the Horton injury, the Bruins won the physical battle, outhitting the Canucks, 40-31. Shawn Thornton, who drew the penalty that led to Recchi's power play goal, was inserted into the lineup to replace Tyler Seguin and provide a physical presence. He was tossed from the game with 12:02 left in the third on a misconduct. Later, Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Milan Lucic were thrown out as were Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler.

The Bruins lost their shutout when Jannik Hansen scored on the doorstep with 6:07 left.

The BOSTON BRUINS head out to Vancouver in the QUEST FOR THE STANLEY CUP

Those of us who are older than a certain age,(and I'm not telling you what age that is), can remember the days of "The Big Bad Bruins". Boston was a huge hockey town and playing "pond hockey" with your friends was the sport of choice in the winter. We would get dressed up, my Mom would hand us a bag lunch and we would head out to the local pond in the woods for an all-day hockey fest. Each of us would want to be Bobby Orr or Phil Espisito...These were our Heroes and Hockey was huge...Every kid wanted to find new hockey skates & a new hockey stick under the Christmas Tree.

As time went forward, Hockey lost some of the luster after the Bruins became regular cellar dwellars...we had the 1980's USA Olympic Team which had many hometown players from the Boston area. The Bruins teams we had in the late 1980s and early 1990s had some of the best players we had seen in Cam Neely, Ray Borque and Andy Moog. Those were good days but still no Stanley Cup while the other teams in Boston,(Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics) all made efforts to once again stand on the top of the mountain....Only the Bruins lagged behind.

NOW, we will see if the 2011 BOSTON BRUINS can recapture the magic and the title of the BIG BAD BRUINS....THIS will be good.

‘It’s unbelievable!’
Fans fired up as B’s skate into finals
By Ira Kantor
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - The Boston Herald

Hundreds of devoted fans clamoring for a long-sought Stanley Cup triumph sent their hometown heroes off with cheers at TD Garden yesterday, as the Bruins [team stats] headed for Vancouver and a brutal battle with the Canucks.

“It’s the first time they’ve advanced to the finals since I’ve been alive,” said Colleen Donovan, 21, of Lynn. “It’s long overdue. We don’t have any passengers on this team. Everyone’s up front.”

Season-ticket holder Danny Fortunato, 54, of Beverly brought along his son, Michael, 18, who was not only wearing a Bruins jersey coated in autographs but also was draped in a Bruins flag. The die-hard fans have a Bruins “shrine” in their home full of team paraphernalia.

“The players are really into the fans and vice versa. You can just feel it throughout Boston — it’s like a family atmosphere,” said Danny Fortunato, a social worker. “You don’t see it every day like this. You got to take it all in. We’ll be following them the whole way.”

“I will not move,” added Michael Fortunato, “I don’t want to a miss a second of it.”

Fans proudly draped in black and gold stood behind a yellow barricade in the Garden’s parking lot chanting, “We want the Cup!” and, “Let’s go, Bruins!” as star players, including defenseman Johnny Boychuk and center Tyler Seguin emerged from inside to slap high-fives and sign autographs.

“It’s unbelievable,” Boychuk told the Herald. “Everybody’s dream is right now. We just got to make sure we fulfill that dream.”

Seguin called the fan support “phenomenal.”

“Everyone wants the Cup back here in Boston,” Seguin, 19, told the Herald. “If hockey wasn’t in Boston the last few years, it definitely is right now.”

Game 1 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals takes place tomorrow night in Vancouver. The Bruins have not won a Stanley Cup since 1972.

“It’s such an awesome feeling,” said Julie Happel, 45, of South Weymouth, who came to the Garden with her husband, Fred, and sons Michael, 9, and Sean, 4. “It’s true hockey at its best.”

Jay Dellisola of Lynnfield said he encouraged his two sons Alex, 14, and Jack, 7, to stay up late on school nights to watch the Bruins’ nail-biting playoff games.

“I was 7 when [Bobby] Orr won us the Cup, now (Jack’s) 7. It’s a sign,” said Dellisola, who predicted the Bruins would win in six games. “I don’t think they’ll let this chance fly by. It’ll be a great two weeks.”