The Bruins will be welcoming the Dallas Stars in to the TD Bank Garden. I have my game preview here.

8.5% of alcohol, 100% delicious

So I’m going to stick with the microbrews today for Gameday Brew #11. My recommendation for today is RJ Rockers Bellringer Ale. Just like the Fuel Cafe beer from Lakeside Brewing Inc, the RJ Rockers Bellringer came to me in the Beer Of The Month pack. RJ Rockers is a brewery located in Spartanburgh, South Carolina.

I grabbed three of the RJ Rockers Patriot Ale and three of the Bell Ringer Ale and headed up to my man attic for some wonderful Call of Duty: Black Ops while my wife and child were fast asleep. What I didn’t realize is that after chugging down the Bell Ringer Ale, I was already feeling pretty good. Well after visiting RJ Rockers website, the Bell Ringer Ale is 8.5% alcohol!

The beer itself was delicious and much, much better than the Patriot Ale. The Bell Ringer Ale isn’t overly carbonated, in fact, I would say there is a medium carbonation. Nothing like Sam Adam’s where the head sits in your mouth for awhile (giggity). The beer is very malty, with earthy undertones and finishes with a great hoppy taste.

This beer WILL fuck you up based on the 8.5% alcohol in it, but unlike high alcoholic beers like Molson XXX, it has a very good taste to it.

I would recommend it to everyone reading this. I’m currently e-mailing the company to see how I can get some more. I’ll update everyone as soon as I hear back from them.

Cheers!

Nice facial hair, Spencer Pratt

Fuck Steve Ott.

The guy plays the instigator role so well that you want to hop the ice and punch him in the face for the team he’s bothering. As a fan of hockey, I love the instigator role. As a fan of the Bruins, tonight, I’m going to hate Steve Ott.

Unlike last year, Dallas is once again relevant in the NHL, sitting at third in the West with 65 points. Boston sits third in the East with…wait for it…65 points! OH EM GEE, how can this happen? Sorry, I think I still have some “snow hysteria” lingering from the past couple of days. I didn’t mean to fly off the handle like that.

The Stars are coming off a 4-1 home loss to the Vancouver Canucks while the Bruins are coming off of a 3-2 road win in Carolina. Boston has won their last two games and are looking to start their tough four game home stand with a win. Boston has to face Dallas (3rd in West), San Jose (5th in West), Montreal (6th in East) and Detroit (2nd in West) at home before flying to Detroit for the second game of a home and home series. This is the type of stretch that tells you the type of team you have. When you’re playing the best of the best in the NHL, you have the opportunity to show the league you’re an elite team and not a team that just beats the shitty teams.

Bruins Leaders
Goals: Milan Lucic – 20
Assists: David Krecji – 27
Points: Patrice Bergeron – 41
Plus/Minus: Zdeno Chara – +23
Goals Against Average: Tim Thomas – 1.82 GAA
Save Percentage: .945

Stars Leaders
Goals: Brenden Morrow – 21
Assists: Brad Richards – 38
Points: Brad Richards – 58
Plus/Minus: Loui Eriksson – +15
Goals Against Average: Andrew Raycroft – 2.45
Save Percentage: Andrew Raycroft – .920

You know what really bothers me? It seems that every team the Bruins play has a player (or in Dallas’ case, two players) with 50+ points. Why is it that all these teams (including bad teams like Carolina) can sport a player with 50+ points and Boston can’t? Does it have to do with Julien’s system or that the Bruins don’t have a “stud” offensive player?

Savard's second concussion in 11 months

Can you tell that work is slow? I’m cranking out more blog posts today than I have in the past month. There’s been a lot of talk of the Bruins “seriously considering” shutting down Marc Savard for the season due to his second concussion in 11 months.

Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston had a phone conversation with Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli where Chiarelli stated:

“There is a strong possibility [of shutting him down], but you have to take it step by step,”

Is anyone truly shocked/surprised by this? In the past year Savard has had two concussions, one on a blatant cheapshot by Matt Cooke and the other on a clean hit by Matt Hunwick, that has left him sitting at home in the dark.

Hunwick’s hit on Savard

Watch the video, there’s nothing wrong with what Matt Hunwick did. It was a legal hit, much like the hit that cause Sidney Crosby to suffer a concussion (and by proxy finally have the NHL say “Oh hey, maybe we should seriously look in to head shots” [although the Crosby hit wasn't a head shot]).

So Savard has been at home since the hit on January 22, 2011 and hasn’t touched the ice since then. The guys of Days of Y’Orr and I (who have welcomed me as part of their own) had a round table discussion a few days after the hit to discuss if Savard should retire. Once that went live – Twitter was a buzz with people telling us that we were jumping the gun and need to wait it out.

Well a week or so later, people are beginning to use the “R” word in terms of Savard, especially if he gets shut down because of this. There’s two ways to look at this, hold out Savard and hope that he can come back next season and play at the All-Star level he was a year or so ago or shut him down and he retires.

Realistically what will happen is that the Bruins will shut down Savard for the season, he’ll struggle in 2011-2012 and will hopefully be back to form in 2012-2013. When Patrice Bergeron suffered the concussion at the hands of Randy Jones, it took him (seemingly) forever to come back from it. Add in his second concussion against the Hurricanes (in 2008) and he is just now becoming the Bergeron of old.

Don’t forget, Bergeron is still 25 years old. Marc Savard is 33 and has been down this road before. We all know that the body tends to recover slower as you get older so it is very possible Savard is done for the season. What does this mean in terms of the Bruins?

That’s something we’ll get in to a little closer to the trade deadline.

Today’s Gameday Brew is special. Not in the “taking the shortbus to school” variety but in the “my kid just came home with an A in a real class” special. It is Gameday Brew #10. I must say, I’ve had a lot of fun doing the Gameday Brew entries, especially because it allows me to go to the liquor store and try out random beers IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE (or lushes, whatever).

Story time boys and girls:

My sister got married on October 10, 2010 – that’s right, 10/10/10. Don’t judge. My brother-in-law is a huge beer guy and enjoys sports, so he’s good in my book. For my groomsman gift he got us all a Beer Of The Month type of membership where we get a couple microbrews sent to us for free and then if we want to buy in to the program we can.

So I came in to work last Monday and what was sitting on my desk? A big brown box full of beer. There’s no better gift to receive at 8:30am than a box full of beer.

I open the box with the vigor and excitement of a kid at Christmas – tearing through the tape and paper work to find 12 bottles of microbrew beer staring me right in the face. I swear I heard angels singing and I think God winked at me.

Beer and Coffee - combined!

So today I will reviewing one of the microbrews I got. This beer is called “Fuel Cafe” and comes to us from the good people of Lakefront Brewery Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So the reason this beer is called “Fuel Cafe” is because it is a stout beer brewed with coffee.

Now being a caffeine addict and a beer fan, I figured this is the best of both worlds (cue: Hannah Montana theme). Yes I have a 7 year old daughter, shut up. So last night I decided to crack open one of these bad boys and watch some thrilling Intervention (fucked up right?).

Right when you open the bottle you get a nice whiff of coffee and then the smell of alcohol. The first sip brings a rush of coffee to the front of your taste buds and after you swallow, leaves a pleasing after taste in the back of your mouth. I didn’t notice any hyper effects like when I was drinking Four Lokos or something with an alcohol/caffeine mix, but that could be due to me just having one.

If you can find this beer out there, it’s worth a purchase. I was only able to get three of them, but hopefully I’ll be able to find more around here.

This may be the Bruins second home

Jesus Christ, I feel like the Bruins have been in Carolina for the past three weeks. Also – fuck the snow. I can’t take it anymore! This white stuff coming down from the sky makes me want to run in to an orphanage and tip over all their bowls of porridge. Orphans still eat porridge right? Do we need to update Oliver Twist now, America?

Anyways, [macho man]OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH [/macho man] hockey is back! After a terrible All-Star game, the real shit returns as the Bruins only have 32 games left to get their shit together and get ready for the playoffs.

Since most of the team has been off for the past three days what better team to tune up against than Carolina? I’m kidding of course since the last time Boston played Carolina, they squeaked out a victory thanks to Tim Thomas and his amazing goaltending abilities. DONT LOOK NOW EASTERN CONFERENCE, CAROLINA IS ALMOST IN THE PLAYOFFS. Seriously, Carolina is sitting at 9th in the East with 56 points and two games in hand on 8th place Atlanta (57 points).

I have no idea who will be starting in net for the Bruins tonight but I’ll put my money on Tim Thomas. If I were Claude Julien, I’d look in to hair transplant surgery (rimshot). Seriously though, if I were Julien, I’d look to start Tuukka tonight. Rask hasn’t played since January 20 in a 4-1 loss against Buffalo while Thomas got some work during the All-Star Game on Sunday in North Carolina.

On the season the Bruins are 2-1 against Carolina which includes a 7-0 win at home and a 3-2 win in Carolina during a home-and-home series in January. This will be the last time that Boston faces Carolina in the regular season.

Bruins Leaders
Goals: Milan Lucic – 20
Assists: David Krejci – 26
Points: Patrice Bergeron – 40
Plus/Minus: Zdeno Chara – +22
Goals Against Average: Tim Thomas – 1.81
Save Percentage: Tim Thomas – .945

Hurricanes Leaders
Goals: Eric Staal – 25
Assists: Tuomo Ruutu – 28
Points: Eric Staal – 52
Plus/Minus: Brandon Sutter – +12
Goals Against Average: Cam Ward – 2.70
Save Percentage: Cam Ward .920

To me it is amazing that the Hurricanes, who are 9th in the East, can sport better offensive numbers individually (and score .04 goals per game less than Boston [3.02 for Boston compared with 2.98 for Carolina]). What this really speaks to is that Tim Thomas is on his game and Claude’s defensive system is working well. Need more proof? Boston is once against tops in the league in Goals Against per Game with 2.14 while Carolina is ranked 23 with 3.02 GA/G.

I love you, you sick fuck

That’s right, someone found my site by searching “spaghettios in my vagina”. How disturbing…and kinky.

Whoever you are, I’m sure that my site disappointed you and your sick fetish.

Time for this to become the last all-star logo you ever see

With the NHL All-Star game and NFL Pro Bowl finishing up this weekend, I think that it is safe to say that all-star games need to go away. I’ve never been an all-star fan and I don’t think many people out there are. They may do well in terms of ratings, but I would say this has more to do with people being a big sport of the fan than someone being interested in the actual all-star game themselves. I’m going to tell you why I believe all-star games need to go the way of the newspaper, Apple computers and the Commodore 64.

1. Fan Voting – The biggest abomination to any all-star game is letting fans have a voice in saying who goes. While the idea behind it is sound, the execution of it is terrible. Letting a biased group of people have say in what happens always turns out to be a shit show. Case in point, look at the NHL All-Star game during the 2008-2009 season in Montreal. This was probably fan voting at its worst since the dregs of Montreal voted in Carey Price, Mike Komisarek, Andrei Markov and Alexei Kovalev to start the game. It’s a little curious that four Canadiens make the all-star game when the game in held in Montreal. A few of those guys (Price and Komisarek) didn’t even deserve to be there, let alone start.

The NHL isn’t the only sport where fan voting has diluted the allure of an all-star game. The NBA announced their starters last weekend and guess who is the starting center for the West? Tim Duncan? Wrong. Channing Frye? Nope. Andrew Bynum? Negative. It is Yao fucking Ming. You know who he is right? The overrated center from China who has played in five NBA games in the past two seasons. Yeah, that guy is an all-star and a starting all-star at that. Another issue? The two best teams in the NBA (Spurs, Celtics) have zero starters in the all-star game. How does this happen? It’s easy, allow fans to vote.

2. Players Don’t Seem To Care – The NHL All-Star game is a prime example of this. I watched some of it last night (more for the NHL Guardian Project than anything) and constantly saw players avoiding checks and/or not even attempting them when the situation would warrant it in an actual game. So if the players aren’t taking the game seriously than why should we, as fans?

The NBA All-Star game is the same way. No one plays defense and allows the game to get in to the upper 120′s at times. How is this entertaining? I want to see people try on defense, not just allow guys to penetrate the lane and dunk the fucking basketball. Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way, but come on…someone try out there.

3. Takes up valuable air space – Seriously. All I wanted to do last night was watching “Bob’s Burgers” and enjoy some mindless animated comedy. What do I get instead? The NFL Pro Bowl, something I could care less about. This seems to happen all too frequently when it comes to All-Star games. I can’t really comment about what I’d be watching on Versus because if the NHL isn’t on it, I’m not watching it. I guess by “valuable air space” it means shit I would rather watch.

I have a solution to the All-Star game fiasco. Every sport has some sort of skills competition and each sport (with the exception of the NFL) as a signature skills comp event. The NHL has the hardest shot competition, the NBA has the 3 point contest/slam dunk contest and the MLB has the homerun derby. Instead of having an all-star game, why not put on a skills competition and then let your players rest. Allow the leagues to vote for the all-stars based on their play and not allow fans to vote based on name and hold some sort of skills competition. It allows for players to get their all-star bonuses (if they have them in their contract) and also allows for leagues to get some sort of money without having to put out a horrendous product like an all-star game.

I have to ask all ten of my readers out there, did you miss the 2009-2010 NHL All-Star game? I know I didn’t. I think that Olympic break taught us that you don’t need an all-star game, especially if your product is strong. Despite the NHL’s attempt at shitty marketing (see: The Guardian Project), the game is becoming more popular and is growing in most of its markets.

Time to “Old Yeller” these all-star games.

Another abortion from EA Sports

EA Sports EASHL mode sucks a drum full of donkey dicks.

The mode was introduced in NHL 09 and was something new for hockey fans. What EASHL did (EASHL stands for EA Sports Hockey League) was allow friends to get together and team up to play other teams in some online hockey. Back in 2009 it was something new and pretty fucking awesome. Sure the mode had some flaws but we looked past them because this was shiny and new and exciting and we just wanted to hug it and squeeze it until the disc shattered in to a million pieces.

When NHL 10 came out we were promised that EASHL was going to be fixed and the cheese goals from NHL 09 (curve shot, wrap around shot) were not going to be there. Unfortunately EA Sports lied to us (unfortunate but not surprising) and not only were those exploits still in the game (and being used frequently) but there were also some new ones as well. Because of that, I didn’t touch NHL 10 and it was basically a waste of $60. The game rotted on the shelf as other games like NBA 2K10 and NHL 2K10 got played to death.

So when NHL 11 came out I was pretty skeptical. EA was pimping a new physics engine and all new game modes and improvements to EASHL. First of all the new “physics” engine is complete horseshit. Put NHL 10 in and play it. Then put NHL 11 in and play it. Guess what, there’s no difference. The skating physics of the game still sucks and the “big hits” are genuinely terrible.

So lets focus here on EASHL for a minute. I know I’ll get some heat because there are people who absolutely love this fucking mode, but to me, especially after 3 years of playing it, it is shit. Here’s a list of issues with EASHL that EA Sports continues to look over:

1. Icing - How EA Sports can fuck something has simple as icing up bothers me. There are times in EASHL where you can pass the puck from your end, miss everyone and have it slide in to your opponents end and it won’t be icing. There are also times where you can skate past the center ice red line, pass the puck, not hit anyone and get called for icing. WTF? Do I just misunderstand the rule of icing or has something totally changed since I’ve been following the game of hockey? How can you continually make this mistake? It’s fucking HORRIBLE and that fact that it still happens boggles the mind. Seriously, icing. It’s probably the easiest rule to understand.

2. Stupid AI – When you are playing EASHL, there will always be a full team on the ice. Sometimes these teammates will be the computer and 95% of the time the AI for these teammates will be fucking terrible. The CPU defense makes awful passes. When said CPU D goes to get the puck in their zone, they automatically pin themselves to the boards (seriously). The CPU D also makes terrible decisions on when to shoot the puck in the offensive zone and holds the puck so long it usually leads to a giveaway and some sort of 2-on-1 situation.

The goal tending is just as bad. When you get in to a game you are going to get one of two things when it comes to your goalie. The 2010-2011 version of Tim Thomas where they stop EVERYTHING or the 2009-2010 version of Tim Thomas where they can’t even catch a cold correctly. Case in point is this goal I scored:

http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/63610393

My teammate is coming up the boards and we have a 2 on 0 with only the goalie to beat. He (teammate) saucer passes the puck to me, I make an easy move around the goalie and score. Now, watch it again and look at the goalie…he doesn’t fucking move. The only time he makes an attempt at the puck is when it is in the net and he lazily kicks his leg out.

This wouldn’t happen in the NHL. No recovery save? Nothing? Not even an attempt to try and make the save? It’s bullshit.

3. Penalties – This might be the biggest issue in the game. Sometimes you can get around having a terrible goal tender if you’re playing a shitty team, but it’s tough to kill off shitty penalties. The referee AI makes a shit load of bad calls, especially when it comes to tripping. They seem so erratic that it makes my head hurt. The other issue is that they are very, very, inconsistent. You can see the same play happen over and over and only 1/4 of the time is a call made. It’s frustrating to know that a penalty, especially a bad one, can change the course of the game. If EA Sports is going to include things like “checking from behind” make it count, don’t do it when it doesn’t call for it.

Those are probably the biggest three issues that I can think of right now. Obviously, combined, they are a game breaker and that’s exactly what NHL 11′s EASHL mode has become…broken.

I know some people will probably  come on here and all me a “noob” because I’m stating facts. Sorry, but that argument doesn’t hold up. My team has been Pro playoff champs, finished in the Elite bracket multiple times and I can hold my own. This mode is broken, plain and simple.

It is amazing that the Internet allows anyone with a brain keyboard to say whatever they want. Today The Hockey News tweeted this:

RT @TheHockeyNews: It is very sad to see Marc Savard struggling with concussions. But don’t forget that, in a sense, Matt Cooke has been victimized, too.

This caused Bruins fans to shit their pants and send Twitter’s version of flaming paper bags full of shit their way. It also allowed Pens fans to grab their shields and defend THN.

Whatever your stance is the statement that THN made was ridiculous. Everyone reading this knows that my blog is pro-Bruin.

My issue with the tweet is that NOTHING makes Cooke a victim. The NHL didn’t make him a victim because they didn’t dine or suspend him. The people of Pittsburgh didn’t make him a victim because they defended his actions. You heard the bullshit from Pittsburgh.

“oh, it was a legal hit.”
“Savard should’ve had his head up.”
“Who cares its just Marc Savard.”

The same douches that said this also have their vaginas in a twist because Sidney Crosby has been out with a concussion on a legal hit.

The problem with THN’s tweet is that this isn’t the first time Cooke has put himself in this situation. Do a quick search of Matt Cooke dirty hits on YouTube and there are plenty of videos.

Matt Cooke hits Savard.
Matt Cooke’s dirty hit on Keith Yandle
Matt Cooke’s dirty hit on Andrei Markov

There’s even a 5 minute video of Matt Cooke cheapshots and dirty hits.

So my question is where does Matt Cooke become victimized in this?

One could make the case that the NHL makes him the victim because they did not penalize Cooke. Although the point is very valid, it can’t be used as an excuse for all the “pro-Cooke” people out there.

The only real victim here is Marc Savard who is back in Ontario after suffering his second concussion in 10 months.

There are those who believe that having a concussion will leave someone susceptible to more. I can’t really comment on this as a professional but as someone who has suffered multiple concussion playing sports, it makes sense.

THN’s tweet is both ridiculous and irresponsible. I am glad that many, included respected media personnel condemned THN for their comments.

Maybe something like this will make a “respected” hockey outlet think before they tweet.

The root of my evil

If I am more ornery than usual, I apologize blow me. Dunkin Donuts fucked up my coffee order and the heat in the building isn’t working. I can live without heat because I’m rocking a sick CAT vest that will have me sweating by lunch time. My feet are fucking freezing though. It could be the fucking ankle socks I’m wearing, which is my fault for being a cunt-faced gremlin.

The coffee thing is unforgivable though. For those that don’t know, I have a caffeine addiction. A legit, if I don’t get my caffeine by 9 I’m going to get a migraine all day and be miserable, addiction. Every day I go to Dunkin Donuts and get the same thing: Large hazelnut iced coffee, skim milk and 3 Splenda. What the fuck is so hard about making this coffee? I’m going to go through the steps and I don’t even fucking work there:

1. Grab large iced coffee cup
2. Fill coffee cup with coffee
3. Pour a splash of milk
4. Rip open 3 bags of Splenda
5. Pour said bags in to coffee
6. Put flavor in to coffee
7. Put on lid
8. Give straw
9. Serve

A fucking monkey can do it. So what I got this morning was a large coffee with cream and sugar. I FUCKING HATE CREAM IN MY COFFEE and the issue is that this certain Dunkin Donuts on a certain street (Elliot St) in a certain town (Beverly, MA) continually fucks up my coffee.

[Lebron]So what should I do?[/Lebron] But seriously, what do I do? Do I just suck it up and say “Hey stupid, you fucked up my coffee?” and potentially allow them to spit in it? I think it has happened before, I just don’t think I gave a shit. I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but after seeing the movie Waiting, I refuse to send anything back from anywhere.

At some point, I’m just going to receive my wrongly made coffee and go through the drive through for a second time and throw wrong coffee through the fucking drive-thru, but that would make me the bad guy right? The feeling of euphoria as I throw that ice coffee through the window would be sensational. Seriously, your job is to make fucking coffee.

If my job was to make sandwiches, I’d make the best fucking sandwiches you’ve ever tasted. If my job was to put out fires, I’d fucking put them out. By the “Dunks logic” if these people were fire fighters and your house was on fire, they’d put half of it out and move on to the next house.

I hope the asshole who made my coffee this morning trips and cracks his head open in a puddle of AIDS.

- So the Bruins lost last night. I’m not going to talk much about this game because I was sleeping. The only thing I saw was like the first five minutes, but I couldn’t stay awake. I tried, I really did. Once my head hit the pillow it was all over man. If you’re looking for a recap, here you go. Pizz at Days of Y’Orr has you covered!

- Thomas was awesome last night. I saw some of his saves via highlights. Great stuff. Apparently he still sucks though, right people?

- Marc Savard has a moderate concussion, his second one in ten months. I think it is time for Savard to hang up the skates. I don’t think it is worth him going out there and risking his brain anymore. He clearly wasn’t the same after the first concussion. I hope he is okay and as much as I call him “Scrambled Eggs Savard” I hope he doesn’t pull a Lindros and make a career out of concussions.

- With Savard out of the lineup I would say the upcoming lines will look something like this:
17-46-73, 26-19-18, 28-37-63, 22-11-20

- Horton Watch 2011 is live. 22 days without a goal. Poor bastard. Welcome to Boston.