Hammers Gear Up for Day One in Lake Placid

It is 8:55am and I am awake. Should I be? Probably not, but then again I have never been able to sleep late so who cares. We made it Lake Placid yesterday afternoon about 3:30 pm and after seeing my room I knew it was going to be a great weekend.

Rock is my roommate. Eric Plainte is his real name, but for the record, I have never ever heard anybody use his name. Actually, the first three years playing with these guys I never knew his real name.

Now, I get here and check-in and head to the room. I open the door and walk in. My jaw hit the floor.

“How the hell did I manage to land a suite,” I muttered to myself.

Yes, you read right. We got a suite. Now, this could be great or very bad. No matter what, I love it. We have a couch and a fireplace up in here. It’s awesome. So right now, I am on the couch, buck naked, typing this while Rock-o sleeps. I really am naked and I only told you so you can picture it perfectly in your head! SORRY! Hahah

So last night we went to Rumours – a nice bar/ club in the hotel. It was dead at first and I was skeptical, but as the night went on it got better. I should not fail to mention that George had already put me in a Jacuzzi and soaked me so I was on my second set of clothes for the day. Figures, the year I don’t bring much and that happens. It’s ok though, you know what the say about payback.

So back to Rumours. I’m a young guy and single so naturally when I see a girl by herself at the bar, I’ll say hi. Her friend stood her up and she’s throwing back Long Island Ice Tea’s like a champ. I’m impressed… and attracted. No, she was not fat. So, we get to talking and Paulie comes over and dumps popcorn on my head… and hers. Really?!?! I thought right there it was over, but shockingly enough, we kept talking.

We laughed it off so no big deal. But at this point I know any single guy on our team is going to try and mess up my game. Sure enough, I couldn’t have been more right. Where was Rock when I needed him? Mackin and Mike (Philly Cheese Steak) come over and start talking to her so I just said screw it. It doesn’t matter because I realized she was just looking for free drinks. So I let them by her the drinks. I am here to play hockey and win games anyway. If there are girls, that’s just bonus.

I let them do their thing… no clue what happened because I headed back to MY SUITE. Did they? No, so I don’t care, I was happy regardless.

Now, back to hockey. We have two games today. If you click here, you can follow us on Pointstreak.com.

Our first game is against the Westmount Nordiques. They are from Quebec so we won’t be able to understand any of their French. Dad, if your reading, thanks for teaching me the French you know… sense the sarcasm!

That first game begins at 11:20 am and then we play the Syracuse Rangers at 4:50 pm. Hopefully when I come back later for game recaps we will be 2-0. If we play the way we can, we are capable of coming up here and kicking the crap out of every team. That’s a fact.

Ok its 9:15 and I need a coffee and a bagel and need to hit the gym for a quick jog to loosen up. Keep checking in all day, Ill have updates!

Beantown Beatdown

I definitely stole TSN’s headline… but I truly don’t care because I like it.

This blog thing could get very, very addicting. I realize I miss writing about hockey after being away from it for a while. With that being said, I would like to talk about the Bruins quarterfinal match up against the hated Montreal Canadiens.

I really don’t have a plan for this so I might be all over the place. Deal with it. After basically swapping spots in contrast to last year’s playoff spots, the Bruins enter with the top seed and the Habs take the eighth spot. Boston has played some great hockey all year and they seem to have elevated their game an extra few notches for the playoffs. I attended game one and it was exciting! 18,000 screaming Bruins fans decked out in their sacred black and gold waving gold rally towels above their head. It was a sight of beauty and I’m glad I got to experience it.

All things being equal, the Bruins played like their fans acted. That can be summed up in one word, FIERCE. They got down and dirty and played Bruins hockey like it used to be played. Physical and blue-collar like. Basically, they brought their lunch pails to work.

From Thomas continuing his Dominik Hasek like style, Chara flattening Montreal forwards and sending scud missiles at Carey Price from the blueline, to Phil Kessel and Marc Savard buzzing around Les Gloriuex like parking cones -- the Bruins came to play. In my opinion the only time they looked flat was the second period in game one. Maybe they were bored with Montreal? That’s the only ideal explanation because since Chara’s laser beam winning goal at the 8:45 mark of the third stanza on Thursday, the Boston Bruins have totally put the pedal to the medal.

Now, it is important to understand that its only half way there. The Boys flying out of Hanscom Air Force Base this afternoon to head North of the Border is like Rocky flying into Russia to fight Ivan Drago in ROCKY IV. But, they sit pretty and that’s important because now we have to listen to the Crazy Canucks booing our National Anthem and screaming OLE OLE OLE. Last I checked, this is hockey, not soccer. But hey, what the hell do I know?

So the keys to winning in Montreal are pretty much the same as before. The B’s need to jump out early and shut their fans up. That will be the most important key to winning both games. Montreal fans are mean and loud so quieting them down is a priority. Next, keep being physical but continue to stay disciplined. In game two, they gave the Blue, Blanc et Rouge just one meager power play and popped three of their own into the twine screen during the man-advantage. Lastly, puck possession because that’s the way Peter Chiarelli built this team. Name another team who plays that style? Detroit. Oh gee, when’s the last time the won the Cup? Last Year. Mmmmhmmm. You heard it here first, you cannot score if you do not have the puck. Pretty simple theory. Anyway, those are three keys.

To summarize:
Jump out to early lead
Stay physical, yet disciplined
Puck Possession

Monday will be fun to watch and I cannot wait.

I’m off to watch the Philadelphia/ Pittsburgh game three on NBC. Should be a good one. I will say I am a bit miffed as to how the Pens are up 2-0 in the series. Philly has been pretty solid all year and I figured this would be a great series. I know Pitt has Crosby and Malkin, but that’s all they have. There is no depth and as far as I’m concerned, Marc-Andre Fleury is not a big game goaltender. I don’t care if they made it to the Finals. You should with Crosby, Hossa, and Malkin playing forward. But, that stands behind my belief that defense and goaltending win Championships. They are prime example.

The Washington/ New York series has been exciting. I cant believe the Rags are up 2-0. It makes me happy though because as a Boston fan, Washington and Ovechkin make me a bit uneasy.

Ok that’s it for now. Enjoy the games today… Ill be back soon. Tell your friends.

Over and Out…