Bruins Celebrate Cup Win: $156,679.74 Bar Tab

The Boston Bruins Celebrated their Stanley Cup victory in a HUGE way racking up a $150K+ bar tab in Connecticut Saturday night.

The majority of that astonishing total was spent on a $100,000 bottle listed on the bill as Ace MIDAS. What did they do make the bottle out of gold? Well yes, yes they did.

It’s a $100,000 30 liter bottle from the Champagne house Cattier. The Gold Metallic bottles are crafted entirely by hand, inspired by fashion designer Andre Courreges. There were 6 bottles in existence in the entire world. There are now 5 after the Bruins drank one out of the Cup. Here is a picture for a size comparison with the Cup. It may be $100k, but it is certainly a “Chara” sized bottle.

Our crack research staff here at Puck_and_Pols did some futher investigation into that crazy New England night and determined the following from the bill-

A) 'Creepy-Comic-Store-Clerk’ voiced Tim Thomas was on the 2 Coors Lights. Goalies are always the weird, non-conformist ones.

B) The ‘soff’ Euros on the team had to be the ones ordering Amstel, Blue Moon, and Heinikens.

C) 19 year old rookie winger Tyler Seguin underwent the hazing of a lifetime that night

D) Mark Recchi ordered the Corona in preparation for his well earned tour of the world’s greatest beaches next winter after grinding out a 20 year career.

E) 136 Bud Lights, at 20 players on the active roster + we’ll give them 10 guys who were injured and the minor league call-ups = 4.5 beers per player. And that is obviously just the tip of the iceberg, when you take into account all the shots and champagne it just gets nuts.
Crazy Canadians.

Finally: They obviously ordered the Kami Kazi because they were trying to drink the alphabet and needed a drink that started with “C”

NHL Award tonight in Vegas

For those of you that haven't experienced Sin Las Vegas, you're missing out.
I believe that's why the NHL hosts its annual awards show in Sin City.
The show will air tonight on Versus at 7 p.m. and I'm here to offer my picks.
First off, congratulations to the Boston Bruins for their remarkable run in winning the Stanley Cup. What a finals it was between them and the Vancouver Canucks.
The Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL MVP, will be won by the Canucks' Daniel Sedin. Sedin had 41 goals and 63 assists for 104 this past season. He was also a plus 30 for the Presidents' Trophy winners.
The other finalists are Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis and Anaheim's Corey Perry. Perry led the league in goals with 50. St. Louis led the Lightning with 99 points.
I hate to be a homer, but it's a shame that Sidney Crosby missed all those games with a concussion. If Crosby had played a full season, he would have bettered his career-high of 120 points and may have scored over 50 goals.
The Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalie, will be won by Boston's Tim Thomas. Thomas won 35 games for the Stanley Cup champions and had a goals against average of 2.00 and a save percentage of .938.
The Canucks' Roberto Luongo and Nashville's Pekka Rinne are the other finalists.
Thomas was exceptional this season, and deserves the award. Keep in mind that the votes are in before the playoffs and I'm trying, even though it's hard, to judge my picks by the regular season. Thomas was the best, though.
The James Norris Trophy (best defensive player) will be won by Boston's Zdeno Chara. The Bruins' captain put up 44 points on 14 goals and 30 assists and was a plus 33. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom is going for his seventh award, but I believe Chara was more important to his team, defensively. Nashville's Shea Weber, who has a wicked slap shot, is the other finalist. I believe Weber is a future winner of this award.
Carolina center Jeff Skinner will take home the hardware by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Skinner had 31 goals and 32 assists for 63 points. San Jose's Logan Couture and New York Islanders' Michael Grabner are the other finlists.
Lidstrom will take home the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy that is given for sportsmanship. Lidstrom is a class act, and so are Dallas' Loui Eriksson and St. Louis, the other finalists, but everyone respects the Red Wings' captain.
The Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is given to the best defensive forward, will be won by Vancouver's Ryan Kesler. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Chicago's Jonathan Toews are the other finalists. Datsyuk is constantly mentioned as the best defensive forward in the game by the national media, however Kesler had a great season.
The Jack Adams Trophy is awarded to the league's best coach, and Pittsbugh's Dan Bylsma will get the honor. And no, I'm not being a homer. Bylsma did a tremendous job of guiding the Penguins to the playoffs with 106 points after losing stars Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The Canucks' Alain Vigneault and the Predators' Barry Trotz are the other finalists. Trotz is a very close second in my book. Vigneault did lead Vancouver to the Presidents' Trophy, but he had a very talented team to work with. My opinion of the best coach is the guy that deals with the least amount of talent and has success.
The Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy is given to the player who exemplifies sportsmanship, preservance and dedication to hockey. The nominees this year are Anaheim's Ray Emery, Calgary's Daymond Langkow and Philadelphia's Ian Laperriere.
I don't know too much about these guys, so I'll go with Langkow. I don't believe a Flyer deserves this award and I'm not feeling Emery on this one, either.
The Ted Lindsay Award (formely Lester B. Pearson Award) is voted on by the National Hockey League Players' Association to the "most outstanding player."
Up this year for the award are Perry, Sedin and St. Louis.
Sedin will get the nod from his fellow players and I agree with that pick. Perry did score the most goals, but Sedien had the most points, and I believe the guys he plays against will agree.
The Mark Messier Leadership Award is picked by the man himself after suggestions for the nominees are taken from fans, clubs and personnel.
The three finalists are Chara, Phoenix's Shane Doan and Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom.
I believe Messier will pick Lidstrom. I would go with Chara, but what do I know.
The NHL Foundation Award, which is basically the community service award, will be won by Los Angeles' Dustin Brown, although all these guys deserve to be honored for the work they do. The other finalists are both Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks and Washington's Mike Green.
Daniel Sedin will grab some hardware for scoring the most points and Perry will be awarded his trophy for scoring the most goals in the season.
Awards shows stink, in my opinion, but at least look up the results.

Boston to make first finals appearance since '90

Boston edged Tampa Bay, 1-0, Friday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in Boston.
The Bruins' will face Vancouver in the Stanley Cup finals. Game 1 is Wednesday in Vancouver at 8 p.m. on NBC for those of us in the states. CBC and RDS will also carry the game. Boston, winners of two Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972, are heading to the finals for the first time since 1990, while the Canucks are in their third finals appearance, and first since 1994.
Boston's Nathan Horton scored the game's only goal at 12:27 of the third period on a tip-in off a David Krejci pass past the Lightning's Dwayne Roloson, who made 37 saves. Andrew Ference had the secondary assist. Ference said the Bruins' had used it as a set play to break Tampa Bay's 1-3-1 trap, and it worked.
Horton was tabbed the No. 1 star, while Boston goalie Tim Thomas was the No. 2 star with 24 saves in a shutout. Roloson was the third star, as voted on by the media.
Although only one goal was scored, the game was exciting from the first face-off. Pierre, Edzo and Doc repeatedly stated that it's a shame someone had to lose, and I'm inclined to agree with them.
Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos showed plenty of character after returning from a puck to the nose. Thank God he was wearing a visor. Stamkos will have some work done.
Stamkos had only one shot, was a minus-one, but was on the ice for 18:57 and showed how bad he wanted to help his team. Stamkos' effort is what playoff hockey is all about.
Referees Dan O'Halloran and Steven Walkom let the players decide the game as no penalties were called. Usually the refs get blamed, but I think they made the right decision. I did see some penalties occur, but nothing blatant, and the guys in the stripes deserve to be congratulated.
The Bruins outshot the Lightning 38-24, and had a 15-9 advantage in the first. They put 14 shots on Roloson in the second, compared to 8 for Tampa Bay and had a 9-7 edge in the third.
Roloson had the tougher task than Thomas, in my opinion. Thomas was the second star because he won, but Roloson was very good. He stopped a breakaway and made far more tough saves than Thomas.
Take nothing away from Thomas, he put himself in good position and made the routine stops.
Boston kept putting the pressure on and had the puck in Tampa Bay's zone for lengthy periods of time using a strong cycle.
The Lightning had some good opportunities and my gut feeling was their were going to score late on a fluky goal, but the Bruins got the late goal, however, it was not fluky.
NOTES: Boston captain Zdeno Chara didn't touch the Prince of Wales Trophy, but had all his teammates and coaches gather around for a picture. For what it's worth, the Bruins seemed to be more amped up than the Canucks. Martin St. Louis and Tim Thomas, former college teammates, shared an embrace.

.....And Justice For All

Sing High Praise: Matt Cooke has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs for his indefensible and incomprehensible elbow to the face of the Rangers' Ryan McDonagh. For those scoring at home, that would lead to total suspension of 17 games if the Penguins first round series goes the distance. For those with a memory and scoring at home, that is 3 less than games than Todd Bertuzzi received for ending Steve Moore's career. It's also 17 more than Zdeno Chara got for  more-or-less paralyzing a guy, but let's not split hairs.

If you know me, I love and appreciate irony. I love that the Winklevoss twins are being sued by somebody for allegedly cutting him out of profits for the sale of ConnectU to Facebook after they sued Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly cutting them out of Facebook altogether. I love Mike Huckabee saying it was inappropriate to comment on Bristol Palin's out of wedlock teen pregnacny in 2008 yet blast Harvard grad and 29 year old Natalie Portman for also being pregnant out of wedlock. Irony would also rear it's beautifully hideous head when Matt Cooke would serve the first game of his suspension against a Red Wings team featuring the aforementioned Bertuzzi. Prior to the game, Red Wings Alternate Captain Henrik Zetterberg weighed in on the Cooke situation calling for Cooke to be shelved for the remainder of the season and much like everything else in the NHL, the Red Wings got their wish. Zetterberg clearly overlooked the fact that his chroiboy organization employs a guy who once came up behind another human being, grabbed him by the back of his sweater, wound up, and delivered a gloved punch to the back of his head sending him plummeting to the ice face first. The result was merely a concussion, 3 broken neck vertebrae, facial lacerations, and 5 months in a hospital plus a year in a neck brace. Nothing major, I guess. Heck the most storied Red Wing ever, Mr. Hockey himself, was known to throw an elbow or 10 during his career, so at least they have that going for them!

For all of Steve Moore and his family's suffering, Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for only 3 more games than Matt Cooke for an elbow that didn't even sideline a guy for a period. Since the "Steve Moore Incident" Bertuzzi has  played in nearly 400 NHL games and pocketed nearly $18 million dollars for his troubles while Steve Moore can skate, but that's about it. While his neck has healed but he still suffers from the concussion he received when Todd Bertuzzi held the back of his jersey, cocked his fist, and sucker punched him in the back of the head so hard that he fell helplessly to the ice face first and unconscious. For that, Bertuzzi got only 3 more games than Matt Cooke for his stupidity in finishing a check with a dirty elbow. Get my drift?

Truthfully, I feel that the Cooke suspension is exactly what he deserved for his selfish actions. He has had umpteen chances to keep his focus on winning puck battles and doing the things that make him a valuable hockey player  and he only has himself to blame for being out for 17 games. Bertuzzi, as far as I am concerned, got off light. So did Chara and Heatley amongst many, many others in the league.But Cooke, and the Penguins for that matter, are the only ones who face league wide scorn. The Pittsburgh Penguins are not the only team who employ a Matt Cooke type player and frankly it would be a shorter list of teams who don't and anybody who says otherwise is a bigger homer than I am.

With the Cooke punishment handed down from the father of Boston Bruin Gregory Campbell ( just thought I would mention that tidbit), the NHL has set a precedent that targeting the head is not going to be tolerated. That is awesome, that is progress. BUT, the NHL has also put themselves in a precarious position for future suspensions. Will Alex Ovechkin get the book thrown at him the next time he leaves his skates to hit somebody? Will Mike Richards finally get a suspension for one of his trademark blindside hits to an unsuspecting opponent? Will Zdeno Chara get off scot-free the next time he hospitalizes a player with whom he has a grudge and no longer has the puck? I would have to go with an emphatic NO on that one. If there is one thing we can ascertain about the NHL's policy on consistency, it's that there doesn't seem to be one.

Sports, Politics, and Partisanship

It was about a year ago that fans of the Boston Bruins were up in arms about a hit placed by Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins upon their forward, Marc Savard, which lead to a serious concussion for Savard. The outrage and venom from Bruins fans and their media was off the charts. Even though an almost carbon copy identical hit had felled David Booth of the Florida Panthers and no action was taken to punish the perpertrator, Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers, you would have thought that Cooke playing for the rest of the season was the grossiest miscarrage of justice for decades in the league to hear a Bruins fan tell it.

Now the Bruins are on the opposite side of a controversial hit. Mamouth Defenseman and Captain Zdeno Chara was thrown out of a game last night against the rival Montreal Canadiens after shoving Max Pacioretty face first into the divder between the Bruins bench and the score keepers booth. Like Savard, Pacioretty had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher and right to a local hospital. I want a Bruins fan to come forward and really explain to me how the Chara hit on Pacioretty was different from Cooke’s hit on Savard. Neither was done with an intent to possibly end a guys career, but both were dangerous hits in the “gray area” between establishing a physical game and gladiatorial chaos on ice. I’m not saying this to condemn Chara, I’m saying it because I’m sure the self-righteous and pious Bruin fans will see no problem with the hit last night, while they continue to push for public flogging, Abu Ghraib styled tortures, and ultimate crucifixion of M. Cooke.

In this way sports is alot like politics. If a guy (or girl) on your team, party, or side of the aisle or spectrum, is embroiled in a scandal its always viewed as a rightous public servant being harrased or persecuted by the other side, media, corporations, unions, or whatever boogeyman is a plausible explanation. While if it is someone that you don't like, they are a dirty, rotten, corrupt politician who oozes slime as they slither down the hallways of power making shady backroom deals by the dozen as they go. Like so many things in life, perspective plays a larger role in our judgements then any sort of objective evidence. Some days it seems like the worlds of both sports and politics can be boiled down to a giant rorschach test in which we view exactly what we always want to see.