Boston Sports Fan Blog

A four all-star, 2 Vezina trophy winner, Conn Symthe winner, Silver medalist and most importantly 2011 Stanley Cup Champion. Those are all the qualities any player in the NHL wants. Those are all of the qualities Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas has. After playing all four year at The University of Vermont Thomas came into the NHL in 2002 after a few years playing in the AHL and IHL. It wasn’t until 2005 that he cemented his stay in the big leagues and has never looked back…until he recently decided he was going to take an entire year off from playing the game he loves. News of him not returning shocked the hockey world, most importantly Bruins fans. After witnessing a winning season in 2011, they saw their beloved Bruins fall in game 7 to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But Bruins fans never thought their starting goalie would leave.

Thomas is 38 years old. He has a wife and kids and claims to be taking time away from the game to be with the people he loves. With his family living in Colorado, after Thomas moved them mid-season, living in Boston would be difficult for him to see his family. But another thing Tim Thomas has is one year remaining on his four-year contract. This coming year while Thomas is enjoying his time away from the ice with him family, the Bruins will be eating $5 million that is left on Thomas’s contract, and that is with not knowing what the CBA will be in the coming months. Thomas has really put the Bruins in a bind. Tukka Rask would be a starter on any other team, and now he will get to prove himself in the 2012-2013 season. But knowing they will be out a significant amount of money, and now needing to find a decent backup goalie the Bruins management has their backs up against the wall. Thomas clearly is over playing in Boston after waiving his no trade clause in 2010 and with moving his family to Colorado he is sending a message loud and clearly to the entire league. He says he still wants to play because he has his sights on playing in the 2014 Winter Olympics but in reality, he will be 40 years old and haven taken an entire season away from the game where other US goalies like Jonathan Quick, Ryan Miller, Craig Anderson, among others will have had the time to improve. The 2012-2013 season will be one full of tests for the 2011 Stanley Cup Champs, tests no fans is ready to endure.

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Too slow? Too old?

Indeed, the Boston Celtics look like they saved their best this season for when it mattered most.

“I know,” Boston’s Paul Pierce said. “It’s starting to look that way.”

Pierce scored 28 points, Rajon Rondo had 25 and the revived Celtics again avoided a late collapse to take a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 95-92 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Boston bullied and bruised its way to a 2-0 series lead on the road against a Magic team that had won 14 straight until this series.

After being hampered by injuries for much of the season, often showing their age, the Celtics are now just two wins away from their second finals appearance in three seasons.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPNBoston.com

The Boston Celtics sent LeBron James and the Cavaliers back to Cleveland to admire all of their regular-season accomplishments and ponder their future.

It’s the Celtics who are still in the chase for an NBA title.

Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 12 assists to beat Cleveland 94-85 in Game 6 on Thursday night and advance to the Eastern Conference finals. They’ll play the Orlando Magic, who are undefeated in the playoffs.

“Winning is gratifying,” Garnett said. “You’re playing the best team in basketball; the challenge is there; you don’t have to dress it up. One thing we don’t lack is confidence. We’re a veteran team and we understand when it’s time to lock in as a group. I think we did just that. I think the experience is taking over.”

Despite his sixth career playoff triple-double, James is headed for another early offseason after winning a second MVP award and leading the Cavs to an NBA-best 61 wins and a home-court advantage they never got to use.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPNBoston.com

Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce understands it’s only natural for some to question whether he’s completely healthy given his offensive struggles against the Cleveland Cavaliers so far this series, but he stressed Monday he’s in good condition and reaffirmed that his production doesn’t matter so long as his team wins.

Averaging 11.8 points per game on 32 percent shooting through four games, Pierce is under the microscope for a dip in his typical offensive production. On Monday, repeating what he said after Game 4, Pierce stressed that his focus in this Eastern Conference semifinal series is more on the defensive end.

“I do whatever I gotta do to help this team win,” said Pierce. “Guarding LeBron [James] is no easy task. He’s the two-time MVP and a lot of their offense goes through him — pretty much all of it. I know I have to focus on that end, more so than the offense. I knew that coming into the series.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers echoed everything Pierce stated, suggesting he’s healthy and doing his part defensively.

Click here to read the full article – By Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com

Boston Bruins center David Krejci will miss the rest of the playoffs with a dislocated right wrist suffered in Wednesday night’s Game 3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, the team confirmed Thursday morning.

The 24-year-old Krejci took a vicious but clean open-ice shot from the Flyers’ Mike Richards in the first period and did not return.

The play led to the Bruins’ go-ahead goal in the 4-1 victory that gave Boston a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Krejci ended up in Baltimore after the game at Union Memorial Hospital, where he had surgery on the wrist. He is expected to be ready for the 2010-11 preseason.

Bruins coach Claude Julien did not take issue with the hit on Krejci, who had 4 goals and 4 assists in 9 games this postseason after tallying 17 goals and 35 assists in the regular season.

Losing Krejci could be devastating for the Bruins moving forward, especially because the team lost Marco Sturm for the remainder of the season when he tore his ACL and MCL in Game 1 of this series.

Click here to read the full article – By Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com

The Boston Celtics have a few days off to prepare for the second round of the NBA playoffs and a matchup with LeBron James.

Dwyane Wade has all summer to recruit him.
Ray Allen scored 24 points, making five 3-pointers in the second half to help Boston beat Miami 96-86 on Tuesday night and eliminate the Heat in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Celtics will play James and the Cavaliers in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal series that will open Saturday in Cleveland.
“I think it’s a great matchup. It’s great for basketball — such a classic series,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 21 points on Tuesday. “They’re the team to beat right now. They showed it through the course of the season the way they played. We know this is going to be a tough series, another really, really tough series.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPNBoston.com

Too many men on the ice — a painful reminder of franchise futility for a generation of Bruins and their fans — is finally a reason to celebrate in Boston.

Miroslav Satan scored a power-play goal after Buffalo was called for having too many men on the ice in the second extra period, and the Bruins beat the Sabres 3-2 at 27:41 of overtime on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

“Finally, it’s over,” said an exhausted Satan, who was stopped by Olympic MVP Ryan Miller in the first overtime on what seemed like such a sure goal that the scoreboard operator even sounded the horn. “We have a 3-1 lead, so it’s a little more breathing space, but the whole series has been good hockey from both sides and great goaltending, and we know that’s not going to change.”

The Bruins rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to force overtime, and it was still 2-2 when in the second OT when Drew Stafford was caught on the ice as a sixth skater and was unable to scramble back to the bench in time to avoid a penalty. There were just 9 seconds left in the power play when Satan got a pass from Michael Ryder in front of the net and put it past Miller.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Even without Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat.

Easily.

With the good-humored but hard-playing Glen Davis filling in while the Celtics’ emotional leader served a one-game suspension, Boston rolled to a 106-77 victory Tuesday night that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra called “embarrassing.”

It gave the Celtics a 2-0 lead in their playoff series and Davis a chance to reprise the nickname he hung on himself last year when he replaced the injured Garnett — known as the “Big Ticket” — in all 14 playoff games.
“The ‘Ticket Stub’ came,” Davis said. “Whenever they need the ‘Ticket Stub,’ he’ll be there.”
Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds, and Ray Allen heated up in the third quarter and scored 25 points. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 29.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Marc Savard is one step closer to returning to the Bruins’ lineup.

Tthe Bruins forward passed his neuro-psyche test Tuesday afternoon and has been cleared to rejoin the team. He has skated on his own the last two days and now he’ll be able to continue his conditioning with the rest of his team. It is still unclear when he’ll be able to return to game action. It’s likely the Bruins will be cautious in deciding a timetable for his comeback.

“I have to be realistic here, and when I’m 100 percent condition-wise and mentally positive I can do this, I’ll be ready to go,” Savard said.

During his twirl on the ice Tuesday morning, Savard was able to work on stops and starts and said he felt pretty good.

The neurological test was done on a computer and consisted of choosing the right numbers and colors when asked, according to Savard.

Click here to read the full article – By Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com