Maybe the Bruins should just see themselves as the first NHL team to play a 62-game schedule. If the first disappointing 20 games of the season were tossed out, then Thursday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Thrashers would be a fine way to hit the restart button. Milan Lucic returned to the lineup, special teams lived up to their name and play after 60 minutes of hockey was not an effort in futility. Even before Patrice Bergeron settled things by scoring the only goal of the shootout, the Bruins had a winning edge Thursday. A key player was returning, not leaving the lineup. Frustration was out. Fresh start was in. Skating in his first game since injuring his index finger on Oct. 16, Lucic didn’t have any direct effect on the ...
FOXBORO — By all accounts, Wednesday morning sucked for the Patriots. Coach Bill Belichick aired them out in a film session designed to guarantee there will be no hangover from last Sunday’s emotional loss to the Colts in Indianapolis. There was no bury-the-football moment, as Belichick has done in the past. Instead, it was all about moving on, putting the defeat in the rear-view mirror and moving on to a key divisional contest that could ultimately drive a stake through the heart of the Jets’ playoff chances. “You can’t [replay] it,” linebacker Junior Seau said. “What’s in the past is in the past. “We need to have a short-term memory. That’s the only reason why you’re ...
FOXBORO — Not since 2003 — when Ty Warren, Asante Samuel, Eugene Wilson, Dan Koppen and Dan Klecko were rookies on a team that ended up winning Super Bowl XXXVIII — have the Patriots relied on so many first-year players as they have this season. Currently, New England has 13 available rookies — 10 on the 53-man roster and three on the practice squad. (In addition, there are three on the reserve/injured list, one on the practice squad/injured list and three on the reserve/military list.) All 12 of the players selected by the Patriots in the 2009 draft are still with the club in some form or fashion. It’s a staggering number of first-year players for a franchise that as little as two years ago had just five ...
The start of the game looked familiar. The Celtics were outhustled on the boards. They struggled to find their groove behind the arc. Heading into halftime, it looked as if the undermanned Warriors had a legitimate shot at upsetting the Celtics. But the Celtics found their step again in the third quarter and pulled ahead, exposing the Warriors' lack of depth and inexperience. Led by Rajon Rondo, the Celtics played aggressive basketball to run away with a 109-95 victory. (Recap.) In the process, they offered plenty to digest: A FREE THROW BROUGHT THE RETURN OF RONDO Over the years criticism, of Rajon Rondo has centered around his jumpshot. But after finding his stroke on the floor, Rondo faced a different struggle this season – ...
11/11/2009 - 7:57am
CHICAGO — Theo Epstein issued the first defining words of the offseason in a secluded corner of the downstairs lobby at the O’Hare International Airport Hilton Tuesday. “I think we have a lot to do,” the Red Sox general manager said. “But I’m not so sure there are obvious ways to do it. Se we’re going to have ... more »
11/13/2009 - 9:11pm
Jason Bay’s agent did not attend the GM Meetings in Chicago this week. No need. Joe Urbon, who is the free-agent outfielder’s representative with CAA, had already had enough constructive conversations with major-league clubs about their interest in his client, and about Bay’s potential value to them, that a trip to the Windy City was ... more »
11/20/2009 - 1:36am
FOXBORO — By all accounts, Wednesday morning sucked for the Patriots. Coach Bill Belichick aired them out in a film session designed to guarantee there will be no hangover from last Sunday’s emotional loss to the Colts in Indianapolis. There was no bury-the-football moment, as Belichick has done in the past. Instead, it was all about ... more »
11/16/2009 - 11:01pm
Kevin Garnett was talking about defending the pick and roll Monday, which is the most essential play in basketball and one that has been giving the Celtics all kinds of trouble ever since Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns worked it to death a little over a week ago. In his career Garnett must have seen the pick and roll, what? Fifty thousand times? ... more »
11/19/2009 - 2:19am
The start of the game looked familiar. The Celtics were outhustled on the boards. They struggled to find their groove behind the arc. Heading into halftime, it looked as if the undermanned Warriors had a legitimate shot at upsetting the Celtics. But the Celtics found their step again in the third quarter and pulled ahead, exposing the Warriors' lack ... more »
11/10/2009 - 10:36am
Tim Thomas has always been known as somewhat of a slow starter, and it was no different for the Bruins goaltender this season. Coming off his second straight All-Star selection, coupled with winning his position’s highest individual honor -- the Vezina Trophy -- Thomas was lugging around his fair share of lofty expectations. Not that he was ... more »
11/18/2009 - 7:52am
They call it the fog of war: the swirl of chaos that makes it hard to tell fact from fantasy in the aftermath of battle. Not that football is like a real battle — that’s disrespectful to those who have served and who serve now. But the football-war metaphor works as a literary device. It also works to explain the fog of information and ... more »
11/18/2009 - 9:47pm
Look, it’s all fourth-and-2 here this week. And I suspect that some may view that as more of a warning than an invitation. I understand. But at least dig in and give the mailbag a shot, even if you are suffering from fourth-and-2 fatigue. Lots of good email from both sides of the argument this week AND I manage to zipper in some Andrea Kramer ... more »
10/28/2009 - 10:40am
While everyone (rightfully so) focused on Kevin Garnett and how his surgically repaired knee would hold up against LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Celtics' season-opener, the most encouraging sight of the night was seeing Kendrick Perkins on the bench in crunch time. I’ve said it over and over. Perkins is an ideal backup center for a ... more »
06/22/2009 - 10:33am
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover in the final pairing of the U.S. Open? It’s a storyline that looked as plausible at the beginning of the week at Bethpage Black as the grounds crew having to syringe the greens between groups just to keep them moist. Nonetheless, that was indeed the case when the two teed off Sunday ... more »