Boston Bruins

Having played, reffed and coached my share of hockey games like The Game 7 That Shall Not Be Named, I can safely say there’s no worse way to lose a hockey game.

The Bruins came out on fire and threw everything they had at Jordan Binnington, and Binnington stopped everything they had. Those kind of games are THE. WORST. It’s so demoralizing when you’re getting grade-A chances and nothing’s going in. Then, to give up not one, but two goals on your only breakdowns of the first period?

The first, a deflection by a Conn Smyth-winning player. The second, a heartbreaking fast-break goal featuring a poor decision by a star player in the closing seconds.

Goals at the end of periods are bad enough. One like that on the grandest stage was even worse. And it was one of your best player’s fault. Ick.

Every once in a while my urge to write about the Bruins overtakes my edict to keep this a Patriots football-only blog. Now, with the Bruins taking game one of the Stanley Cup finals, it’s time for another edition of My Bruins Diary.

Your regularly scheduled Patriots programming, featuring me white-knuckling it thinking about the tight end situation will return tomorrow. Today, it’s Bruins.

In truth, since moving back to Boston I’ve been more heavily involved in the Bruins (and hockey in general) than the Patriots. I’ve enjoyed producing videos for CLNS last season and Bruins Daily this season. The Bruins give access to blogs that the Patriots don’t and I’ve been lucky to be in the press conferences and locker room soaking it all up. It’s hard not to feel especially close to this team and it’s been a joy to see how well they’re playing.

Something a little outside the norm here on this usually-Patriots-only blog as I take a little dive into, gasp, hockey and specifically the Boston Bruins. It’s the slowest time of the NFL season and while researching draft prospects is keeping me busy, the urge to write about hockey has been overwhelming so it’s time to throw a little changeup.

First, a little background on me because most of you only know me as the Bill Belichick Hoodie blogger guy who’s been writing about the Pats for over a decade. But the weird thing is that the Bruins were really my true love when I was growing up. Those early 90’s years were lean for the Patriots but the Bruins were in the Stanley Cup hunt every year and they helped eased the pain of one- and two-win Patriot teams.

I played hockey all the way through college, with many players who went on to pro careers. Since moving back to Boston I’ve found myself re-immersed in the sport that was really everything to me growing up.

Last fall, I started reffing youth hockey, which is probably worth its own blog post series itself, and have been lucky enough to work with Jimmy Murphy and CLNS producing the Garden Report on Ice. I’ve been credentialed for a bunch of Bruins games and practices this season so yes, I’ve been enjoying this unexpected season up close and personal. Here’s the latest video we put together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75rxGiOUQL0&t=3s

As the season has progressed I’ve found myself getting the itch to write some hockey posts more and more. So what am I going to do? Start another whole blog from scratch? Ask some other blog to let me write for them on their terms? Nope. I’m just going to fire them up here from time to time.

If you’re here just for the Patriots stuff there will be plenty more coming, with the Top 50 Big Board on tap for early next week, along with my mock draft, more Patshow broadcasts, and plenty more draft analysis as the picks and signings start to come in. You can stop reading now, while any brave souls who happen to love the Bruins like they love the Pats will hopefully enjoy some of my Bruins analysis as they embark on a playoff run that starts with a tough Toronto Maple Leafs team.

Let’s do that hockey!

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