Instigating- 2 minute minor
Fighting- 5 minute major
Kicking Ass- 10 minute misconduct
Losing your best player for nearly a whole period to defend your teams's new found prime time scorer- worth it.
Midway through the 2nd period in Saturday night's Bruins, which they went on to win 4-2 in rather convincing fashion, Boris Valabik (some punk on Atlanta), starts cheap shotting Phil Kessel. An obviously frustrating Kessel gives Valabik an F U whack of the stick, but Valabik isn't stopping. Out of the right side of screen flies in 6'9" Zdeno Chara to take on Valabik.
The fight itself wasn't all that impressive, but it was clear that Valabik wanted to no part of Chara. Chara got a few decent punches in then headed to the locker room after having secured himself a 17 minute rest. What's important here is that Z had Kessel's back. The old Bruins, well not the old Bruins, but the Bruins of the last ten years or so probably wouldn't have acted so quickly to defend Kessel. The fact the we even have to defend Kessel says something in itself. This guy is becoming one of the premier scorers in the league and is on a hell of a hot streak as of late.
I'm loving this Bruins team. They've got each others backs. They actually take shots on power plays instead of just passing it nine times before turning it over. They've got scoring depth with the addition of Michael Ryder and the return of Patrice Bergeron. The fact that Z, who logs more ice time than anybody, could take a 17 minute penalty without the team skipping beat says something about our D as well- it's more than solid. We've got a pair or quality goaltenders, and a coach who seems to have the whole team on board.
It's sweet that the B's are 21-5-4, but seeing the little things like Z go after a guy who's pestering Kessel, or the 4th line keeping the puck in the offensive zone for 1:47 is exciting, and just flat out fun to watch. I'm loving this team.
4 comments:
Fun fact: Chara is/was Valabik's childhood idol. That must be one hell of a time, getting your ass beat by your idol. I doubt it changed his mind, though, because after the fight both players seemed semi-respectful of one another.
Players on this team that I have borderline strange man crushes on, in no particular order:
Chara, Kessel, Krejci, Bergeron,
Wheeler, Ryder, Savard, Lucic, Ward, Wideman, Hunwick, Stuart, Thomas, Fernandez...you get the picture, I think.
Also, I almost voted for the Bruins to win the AFC East, but I figured I might as well show the Pats some love, since I do, after all, still love them.
I voted for the Bruins. I mean I designed the poll for them to win it- I had too.
Things that need to happen this break:
1. We need to watch several Bruins games together.
2. You need to buy a Bruins jersey (if you don't already have one).
3. We may actually need to go to a game.
When are you home again? I'm home now!
I've been wanting to buy a Kessel jersey for quite a while now...the only problem is that EVERY TIME I buy a jersey, the player gets traded/injured or retires. I doubt the last one with Kess, but I have to hold off on the jersey until he gets signed long-term.
Post a Comment