Last spring, Boston and the rest of the hockey-world watched in disbelief as every bounce, match-up and puck seemed to go Boston's way.
Everything, no matter how unlikely it seemed, fell in place for the Bruins.
Nathan Horton's first round overtime goal a year ago? 99 times out of 100, that's an easy glove save for
Carey Price. Breaking through the patented one-three-one and keeping guys like
Steve Stamkos,
Marty St. Louis, and
Vinny Lecavalier off the board with an Eastern Conference title on the line? Seriously, in what world does that sound like the Bruins? Overcoming
another 0-2 series deficit and winning your first Stanley Cup in almost 40 years, on the road in a Game 7?
It was all storybook, bordering on pure fantasy, and was by all means
not to be known or thought of as 'common' in the Hub. Now, to understand how unlikely it is for that to happen two years in a row, you'd probably need some sort of math equation that I simply don't have the mental patience for. No, really, today's not the day for that.
But last night in Boston, nearly 18,000 in the black and gold seats of the TD Garden, a building that brought simply unforgettable memories to Bruins fans a year ago, witnessed the polar opposite of everything that epitomized the 2011 playoff run.
The Bruins couldn't generate momentum, their passes weren't crisp, and to put it simply, the B's shot themselves in the foot on the way to a first round bow-out.
In what was a story of the round, the B's power-play was (beyond) lifeless all game long. Not only was the Boston 'advantage' dead, it was literally buried at least 12 feet into the ground, because six feet would be too generous.
As the B's failed to strike on four man-advantages, there was no greater power-play failure than the one that came late in the third period. On what was a suspect (see: bogus) call to begin with, the Bruins found themselves on a 5-on-4 with just 2:26 to play in the third period.
But as the Caps'
Jason Chimera begrudgingly and irately went to the box, the then 0-for-3 power-play went to work. The results? Just one 60-foot slapshot from the 39-year-old
Brian Rolston. Unable to come through with magic that would've been reminiscent of last year, an overtime frame began with a wide-open cage in front of the Bruins' ailing
Patrice Bergeron. Again, no dice.
And when the play went up ice off a botched
Benoit Pouliot chip-in, leaving a winded Bruins defense to back-peddle towards a Caps rush towards
Tim Thomas, they made it work.
In one fell swoop, the Caps slayed the beast known as the Bruins. Just like that, the ride, the dreams, and the hopes for
another unforgettable run were crushed. All off the stick of
Joel Ward, a player originally signed by George McPhee given his penchant for big time goals throughout the Nashville Predators' run last year, good for his
first playoff goal as a Capital.
"It wasn't pretty," Caps owner
Ted Leonsis said when asked about Ward's tally. "It was beautiful."
On the other side, the efforts of the Black-and-Gold were anything but pretty.
Boston's elimination can be described as pure self-inflicted wounds. The Bruins' top-line was held to nothing for too long, the majority of their defensemen not named
Dennis Seidenberg had uncharacteristic breakdowns, and their power-play was a beyond terrible 2-for-23. Factor that in with a hot goaltender in Holtby, and you've won yourself a deserved first round exit.
In what could be final stand, Thomas shined for Bruins
Throughout Boston's run to Stanley Cup glory last year, the 38-year-old
Tim Thomas was everything the Bruins needed.
A perfect 3-0 in Game 7's, even entering play with a two-hour (plus) long Game 7 shutout streak, and with four straight elimination-game victories, there was no goaltender in the National Hockey League that the Bruins would take over the battle-tested Thomas for last night's battle. Simple as that. And what might go down as his final game as a Bruin, Thomas stood up for the challenge.
Stopping 25 of 27 on the night, and finishing the series with a .923 save-percentage, Thomas' inability to make it work this time around certainly came as a shock.
"I really believed that we were going to win," Thomas said after the loss, his first elimination game loss since Game 7 overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2009. "I thought that, I really had a deep feeling that this wasn’t the end of the road for us, and that this wasn’t going to be the last game of the season."
That being said, could Thomas have been better for the Bruins? Absolutely. He didn't have a great Game 5 -- surrendering four goals on just 32 shots faced -- but we'd be flat out stupid to disregard the miles logged on Thomas' pads over the past year. Since the start of the 2011 playoffs, Thomas skated 5,342 minutes worth of hockey for the Bruins. Over that stretch, the Michigan-born Thomas allowed just 199 goals, a 2.24 goals-against-average. "
"It was a tough season," Thomas said, noting the taxation put on the bodies of his teammates. "There were difficult periods at times. I looked around the locker room at many different points during this season and saw some very tired guys. And that’s no excuse, that’s just reality."
And for the Bruins, the reality is that this could very well have been Thomas' last game in Black-and-Gold.
Entering the final year of a four-year pact signed back in April 2009, and with a no-trade clause ending on June 30, a number of factors in regards to the Bruins' goaltending situation could lead to a departure for the only goaltender in Bruins history to have four 30-win seasons. Not only do the Bruins need to re-up pending restricted free-agent
Tuukka Rask (and have
Anton Khudobin waiting in the wings with a one-way deal next year), but the rumors of disconnect between the Bruins and their star goaltender will continue to grow as the team continues to prepare for the 2012-13 season.
But we'll cross that bridge when we get there...
In mild East, loss should sting doubly for Bruins
I remember 2010, and I remember
Mark Recchi sitting there without answers. He noted how 'easy' the road would've been for the Bruins. There they were with an Eastern Conference Finals match-up with the Montreal Canadiens sitting just one victory away, and with four chances to do it! But the Bruins ultimately blew it, and the 2009-10 Bruins became another patented Bruins "could-have-been."
That's how we'll remember the 2012 Bruins.
Whether we want to acknowledge now or not, you can't help but look ahead towards the road that was laid before the Bruins. The Pittsburgh Penguins were out. The Washington Capitals would've been out. And most importantly, depending on how tonight plays out, the New York Rangers could've been out. You really can't map out a better dream scenario for the B's and their efforts towards repeating.
Evident by the Bruins' 15-7 record against the remaining field in the East, 14-4 if you take out the Rangers, and an even better 12-2 if you take out the Florida Panthers, there was literally not an easier road back towards the Cup for the Boston Bruins. No matter how you care to slice it, this was an opportunity lost.
Idiots in the crowd, and on the Internet
Nothing has ever come easy for the 31-year-old
Joel Ward. But in his 25th career playoff game, the undrafted winger chimed in with what's unquestionably the biggest goal of his professional career. But instead of basking in the glory of an unlikely goal, Ward was faced with stupid questions regarding what people on the Internet were saying about the color of his skin.
Are we serious? No, honestly, are we serious?
Before we delve into this topic, let's preface this with something that we all know as universally true: The Internet, a place that has no restrictions as to who can join, post, or write, has assholes. Now I know what you're saying, "Ty, there's no way that's true," but I assure that it's something that we can all regard as factual.
Are you really surprised that the sewer of the internet felt the need to chime in and call Ward a heap of racial slurs? Well, if you're seven years old and haven't been exposed to Twitter's ability to make the most sensible of people look like a piece of walking human garbage, you're allowed to be surprised. Otherwise, when it comes to what disgusting people will say behind the guise of anonymity, nothing should shock you.
Now, what bothers me (Beyond the obvious ignorance displayed in 2012) about this matter is that we're seeing the entire Boston fan-base depicted as racist knuckledraggers.
Simply put, that's flat out wrong.
As somebody that's extremely involved when it comes to the forums, boards, and Twitterverse (I feel like a damn idiot saying that), I didn't see a single person praising the group of neanderthals that made such hateful remarks. None.
99.9% of Bruins fans can agree with the rest of the world (and anyone with a brain for that matter) when it comes to this issue. Those tweets were deplorable, vile, and again, downright wrong.
Yet, consider this Boston's turn in the wheel of blind ignorance from fans. From the same fan that will tell you that
all Vancouver fans riot when they lose, that
all Montreal fans call 9-1-1 when their players are injured, that same ignorant fan is now going to tell you that all Bruins fans are racist.
A theory that's ignorant in its own right and shows a lack of basic understanding, actual Bruins fans don't have to defend their personal beliefs when it comes to the hate-mongering of some. There's simply no need to, because the thoughts of slime do not reflect the organization, the fans, or most importantly,
you.
If people want to fight ignorance with ignorance, that's their choice, but pride aside, it's not a call for Bruins fans to defend themselves with a list of reasons as to why they're not racist or why the accuser is wrong. As hard as it may be for fans of a franchise famous for signing the first Black player in
Willie O'Ree, and residents of a city intent on erasing the racist labels that came with the dark days of the mid-20th century, this is not something that Bruins fans should even entertain.
Let the ignorant be ignorant.
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