Joel Quenneville, head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, said before Finals began between his team and the Boston Bruins that Tuukka Rask, our goaltender, isn’t all that good. And man, I bet he’s chewing on those words this morning. Our ‘not so great’ goalie and the Cup-caliber Boston Bruins team standing tall in front of him pulled off a win in regulation (the first in this series) and…
Wait for it…
A shutout.
That’s right Quenneville, Rask now has 3 shutouts under his playoff belt. How many does Corey Crawford have? Oh, just one? Aw, that’s cute. What’s that you say? Crawford has a 1.74 goals against average and a .936 save percentage?
Wow, that would be so impressive if Rask wasn’t sporting his 1.64 GAA and .946 SV%.
Okay, okay. To be fair it isn’t like Crawford’s numbers are awful or anything. And considering 2 out of the 3 games they’ve played have gone into overtime it is a pretty hard-fought series. With this matchup I would have expected no less than grinding games full of heart and spirit. Neither team has let me down.
The Bruins have lost one game so far in the Stanley Cup Finals. That night Rask played 112:05 minutes as opposed to the usual 60:00. Almost two full games in one night? Impressive all around.
But now with Marian Hossa, leading points man, on the questionable list for Chitown in game 4 and Kaspers Daugavins fitting in just fine on the B’s fourth line with Shawn Thornton and Rich Peverley, The Hawks will have their work cut out if they want to win. Especially with game 4 taking place in Boston.
Call your arena the Madhouse on Madison if you like. The Bruins have the Gahden. Simple and unfussy. Gritty and tough just like the fans, ready to cheer their heads off for their team when they retake the ice on Wednesday night.
And if playing hockey were anything like battling the Devil these guys sure got it fahkin right, kid.
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Published in multiple print and online sources, Author, Blogger and Freelance Writer Jenn Flynn-Shon has been writing for publication since 2001. Follow her antics on twitter @jennshon
2 comments:
You must be sitting on pins and needles...
I remember when I followed baseball and basketball... I was a basket case... lol
Oh, my goodness! Quoting stats! What on earth has gotten into you, Jenn? Are the blogsphere's new chief sports reporter? You could be.
Please, don't chew your finger nails down to your wrists tomorrow night, OK?
Blessings and Bear hugs!
Bears Noting
Life in the Urban Forest (poetry).
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