Justin Bourne

Recent Posts


The NHL has suspended Raffi Torres in a way that rarely, rarely happens (Matt Cooke and Todd Bertuzzi were subject to something similar). He’s been suspended for the second round of playoffs. Whether that be three more games or six, that’s his deal. He can’t play in round two.

I doubt the NHLPA will love this, it’s just…odd. How can you say a play is worth X… but possibly Y if other things unrelated to that play happen? Something is worth what it’s worth, and in my mind, you have to quantify it and live with that decision.

Minnesota Wild v Chicago Blackhawks - Game Five
chris neil anvil headHowdy! Sorry for the late show today, Noon was busy rescuing kittens from trees today.

* Can Jimmy Howard hold off the Hawks?

* Why did Roszival try to kill Abdelkader

* TOEWS

* Boston Bruins/New York Rangers preview

* Kings/Sharks Game 2

* And more

You can listen to it here:

 

Download it here, subscribe on iTunes here, and OMG FACEBOOK.

New York Rangers v Boston Bruins

With the playoffs on the horizon, I wanted to put together previews of each series, but more specifically, I wanted to put together the type of previews I’d want to read. Bite-sized, few stats, and little splash of opinion for seasoning. This is my attempt at providing that.

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4) Boston Bruins vs. 6) New York Rangers

Head-to-Head in 2013: One win for the Bruins, two for the Rangers, haven’t played since Feb. 12th

A stat: Two squads haven’t met in playoffs since 1973! Read the rest of this entry »

New York Rangers v Boston Bruins

As I wrote prior to the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs:

This may not be the case for all hockey fans out there, but when I turn on the TV to watch a hockey game, my enjoyment of said game is affected by the uniforms being worn, the way they work together, and how they work with the crowd around them. I can barely watch the Panthers, for example, regardless of opponent.

A couple simple things matter:

* Contrast: for example, Oilers/Flames is going to be better than Senators (white/red/black)/Hurricanes (white/red/black).

And…

Simplicity: Clean, two-coloured jersey matchups – say Red Wings/Leafs – is going to be better than busy, multi-colour jersey matchups – say Florida/Colorado or something. (Guh, the thought of that.)

We all have our personal preferences – for me, I find red-on-red matchups less pleasurable than cooler colours, and tend to prefer all of the Original 6 jerseys. So we might not agree entirely on the order of the list below, but that’s only because you probably have bad taste and I don’t.

Wow, I was particularly mean that day. Anyway, obviously home/away sweaters make some difference, so take my opinion as an overview of the teams sweaters minus thirds. For the record, this round was extremely hard. Read the rest of this entry »

New York Rangers v Washington Capitals - Game Seven

Via Toucher and Rich, The Fonz’s John Tortorella’s yearbook photo from Concord-Carlisle High in Massachusetts has surfaced, and you won’t be disappointed, mostly because he includes the phrase “bathroom brawls” in his…what were those things called, “bequeaths?”

Some thoughts:

* “Lanas Garage” – him and his buddies leaving certain special dates/locations for posterity?

* MAN, his friends had cooler nicknames than mine. Snake, Mendy, Musky…bad to the bone.

* B.D.W.B? Bhat Dould Webus Bo? That can’t be right. Bacon Derby Wombat Brisket? I’m open to suggestion.

Enjoy, and here’s to hoping that he eventually found MUSKY: Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto Maple Leafs v Boston Bruins - Game Seven

One of my favourite things about older players is that they’re more prone to honesty, given everything they’ve been through in the NHL. They’ve built their reputations, proven themselves, and tend to open up a little bit more as they get on in years.

Jaromir Jagr is one of those “on in years” players, and in reflecting on his time with the New York Rangers prior to playing them in a best-of-seven series (starting tonight), he made some awfully interesting comments about himself.

Here are the quotes, as given to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com (stick-tap to Pro Hockey Talk): Read the rest of this entry »

Detroit Red Wings v Chicago Blackhawks - Game One

Last season during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I put out a morning “noteworthy” column in the style of Trey Kerby’s “Things Of Note” posts on The Basketball Jones. This year I’ll be doing something similar (I think with some upgrades on my own previous attempts) using the NHL’s morning press release (“Stanley Cup of Joe,” they’re calling it), my own opinions, and some videos, .GIFs and appropriate pictures. Quoted passages are from the NHL press release.

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Only one series was in action last night in the NHL (we’re getting perilously close to that time of the year where some nights there’s none), and that was the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings Game 1. The Blackhawks beat Detroit 4-1, and it was never really all that close, despite being 1-1 in the third period for awhile. Hell, Chicago outshoot their opponent 42-21. Read the rest of this entry »