MySpace Countdowns
Reminder: Mailbag blog coming soon! Please submit your questions to [email protected]
Finally. The end of August is almost here. The most dull, uneventful month in the calendar year for a hockey fan is coming to a close. Whew. So, why don't we take a look back at everything (sort of) relevant to the Bruins that's gone down in the past four weeks (with some added commentary and a hint of fiction):
August 1 - The day marks the 65th anniversary of Anne Frank's last diary entry. In it, she confessed to having a huge crush on Bruins' star Dit Clapper.
August 2 - Mary Louise Parker, the lead actress on the show Weeds, turns 45. In other news, Mary Louise Parker is really attractive.
August 3 - Former Bruins defenseman Milan Jurcina re-signs with the Washington Capitals. Ho hum.
Former B's prospect Sergei Zinovjev (who pulled a Soderberg long before we knew Carl's name) is named to the list of invitees for Team Russia.
August 4 - Reading Royals named as the ECHL affiliate of the Bruins. Reading Railroads would be a much snazzier name.
Patrick Eaves signs with the Detroit Red Wings. RIP Patrick Eaves' career with the Bruins. Two hours of my life I'll never forget.
August 5 - Paul McCartney performs live at Fenway Park. To please the locals, he changes the lyrics for the song "I Am the Walrus", naming Bruins' Head Coach Claude Julien as the egg man.
August 6 - Soleil Moon Frye (aka Punky Brewster) celebrates her 33rd birthday. Anyone remember the episode when her friend Cherie got stuck in an old refrigerator? I never played an elaborate prank that involved hiding in a discarded, unplugged appliance ever again after watching that.
August 7 - The US National Junior Evaluation Camp kicks off. No Bruins are invited.
August 8 - Meanwhile, at Team Canada's camp, Colton Teubert levels B's prospect Jordan Caron at center ice, leaving his feet to demolish his own teammate. He is awarded the Ray Emery Trophy for Biggest Knuckleheaded Moment at a Practice. Caron is awarded a fractured collarbone.
August 9 - Rumors surface that the Canadiens have offered Manny Fernandez a 2-way deal. No joke necessary.
August 10 - The number of Phil Kessel threads on HFboards reaches the million mark. Kessel sets up an appointment with his doctor, not to check on his rotator cuff but to figure out why his ears feel like they've been doused in gasoline and set ablaze.
August 11 - Shawn Thornton chats it up with B's fans on the team's official website, but can't seem to figure out why everyone is asking who he thinks the next captain of the Sharks will be. However, he is quite humbled when one poster tells him he has faith that Thornton can finally shed his reputation as a playoff choker and carry the team to a championship.
August 12 - Yahoo pegs the Bruins as #3 in the East. They claim that the signing of Shane Hnidy will be an underrated boost for the club. Something tells me Mark Mowers and Petr Tenkrat will be equally as helpful.
*winks at you*
August 13 - The Sports Hub, a new FM sport's station in Boston set to be the flagship for the Bruins and Patriots, debuts on 98.5.
August 14 - Actress Catherine Bell (JAG) celebrates her 41st birthday. Catherine Bell is no Soleil Moon Frye, and JAG was no Quantum Leap (both created by Donald Bellisario).
August 15 - Fans from around the globe chime in with some of the best stories ever told on Bruins' blogger Jesse Connolly's latest edition of Fan Poll Friday: The Most Memorable Hockey Game You Have Ever Attended. Seriously, that was incredible. People going to game sevens of the finals, high-fiving Wayne Gretzky....unbelievable.
August 16 - Actor Timothy Hutton (Leverage) turns 49. Hutton, still the youngest person to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting actor (20-years-old for Ordinary People), also starred in Turk 182, The General's Daughter, The Secret Window, Beautiful Girls and, one of my all time favorites, TAPS (alongside Tom Cruise and Sean Penn). Timothy Hutton, simply put, is the man.
August 17 - Phil Kessel, present but unavailable to participate at the Team USA orientation camp, tells members of the media he will have a contract signed by October 1st. With what team remains in question.
August 18 - The Hockey News releases it's annual yearbook, picking Boston to repeat as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
August 19 - Uncle Jesse, err, John Stamos, turns 46. Have mercy!
August 20 - Individual game tickets go on sale for Bruins' home games at the TD Bank Garden.
August 21 - Patrick Kane is referred to as "20 Cent" for the billionth time on the world wide web. That guy you knew in high school who laughed at every lame joke, trying too hard to fit in, still roars every time he reads it. Some people never change. And some get really upset when they don't get their change. That one was for you, guy who will never be cool.
*gives thumbs up, shakes head no*
August 22 - Recently retired forward Jeremy Roenick tells Nesn.com's James Murphy that he was close to signing with the Bruins back in 2001. The idea fell apart when the B's didn't pony up to re-sign Bill Guerin, who, as you know, couldn't turn down Dallas when they offered him a key to the city, a lifetime pass to Six Flags (valid in continental U.S. only), a Jaws movie poster autographed by Roy Scheider and eleventy billion dollars. Who could blame him?
August 23 - The New England Hockey Journal's Doug Flynn posts an interesting article about financial dead weight tearing into the Bruins' limited available cap space. The B's are on the hook for $2.2 million in buyouts, trailing only the NY Islanders ($3.635) for the league lead. Sorry Phil, we can only offer you $129,000 per season after going out of our way to fight Glen Murray in court and being gentlemanly enough to waive Peter Schaefer. Please, don't score too many goals against us in the next 15 years.
August 24 - Video game designer Hideo Kojima turns 46. The man invented Solid Snake for crying out loud. Ignoring his birthday would be criminal. Snake, come in Snake. Snake?? SNAAAAAAKE!!!!!!
*GAME OVER*
August 25 - Six days ago Stephane Yelle signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. Sorry, Uncle Jesse pulled rank on Old Yeller. Yelle took a paycut yet again, agreeing to a deal for $500,000. At this rate by 2012, if still in the league, the defensively gifted forward will accept food stamps and loaves of bread as compensation.
August 26 - The Bruins announce the schedule for rookie camp 2009. Things are set to get underway on September 5th at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington. From there, the group will head to Kitchener, Ontario to continue camp. Here's a look at the roster:
2009 BRUINS ROOKIE CAMP ROSTER:
Goaltenders (3): Adam Courchaine, Matt Dalton, Mike Hutchinson
Defensemen (7): Ryan Button, Scott Fletcher, Brad Good, Alain Goulet,
Mark Isherwood, Rob Kwiet, Marc Zanetti
Forwards (14): Jamie Arniel, Chris DeSousa, Zach Hamill, Jordan
Knackstedt, Jason Lawrence, Lane MacDermid, Taylor MacDougall, Jason
Lawrence, Jeff LoVecchio, Levi Nelson, Tyler Randell, Max Sauve, Peter
Stevens, Jason Wilson
Will not participate due to injury (1): Jordan Caron
August 27 - Portugese soccer star Deco turns 32. Having never heard of him before, I automatically awarded him a spot on my top ten "Stupid Athletes with One Name" list. Deco (aka Anderson Luis de Souza), ranks just above Nene and Yao, but, like everyone else, will never reach Kaka status.
August 28 - Former Bruins' captain Jason Allison, who hasn't played in the NHL since 2005-06, will be given a tryout at camp by the Toronto Maple Leafs next month. Loved #41 as a kid, and I'll always wonder what might have been if he hadn't been shipped out to Los Angeles. If you needed an example of someone damn near impossible to knock off the puck, you need not look any further than Allison.
August 29 - CKAC in Montreal reports that Francis Bouillon is close to signing with the Boston Bruins. Details to come, but, if true, I give this signing the thumbs up. More on this topic later.
August 30 - Bruins' blogger Jesse Connolly comes to the realization that its 6:00am and he's still awake. He pats himself on the back for finally posting something on here, and hopes to write again soon to let everyone know his gameplan is to fill the voids in September by doing player profiles and individual season expectations. He also hopes to wake up to some more questions for his upcoming mailbag blog. He digs what he's received so far, and looks forward to more of it. He is hereby done writing in the third person. He is going to bed.
JC
Shameless Twitter Self-Promotion:
Join the Discussion:
»