Zdeno Chara gets his Hall of Fame jacket

 

Total Eclipse of the Splash

 

Man, times change, huh? It's been 25 years since the Bruins picked in the lottery, which is incredible. After such a long run of success, one has to believe that they felt like nothing went right for them this year. It's hard for them, in a way things haven't been challenging in a long time. Sheesh, they couldn't even move up in the lottery this year. 

End of the season rooting interests

 There is a wide Gulf between the best teams in the NHL and the next tier. There is a long standing observation over how difficult it is to sustain the success of a season in which you won the President's Trophy, and carrying that through to success n the Playoff. At this point, since the team with the most points doesn't ever win the Cup, I think we can be happy if a team from this upper echelon wins it. 

There are 11 teams with more than 88 points, and 0 teams with between 83 and 88 points. There is also a gap between 89 to 93 points, and there are 8 teams with 93 points or more. Let's hope, then, that one of these 8 teams can win the Cup, and render the entire, long winded regular season valid. If you are a fan of one of the other 24 franchises, this is probably going to be difficult. To help, I have come up with 1 reason to root for every one of the top 8 squads.

1: Bruins - Do you like consistency? Well, these Bruins, like Brad Marchand or David Pastrnak or Charlie McAvoy have all been a part of the Bruins organization since 1976

2: Panthers - Last year, I picked the Panthers to win the Stanley Cup, feeling their all in attitude was laudable. Now a year later, I would still feel pretty good about myself if they won it all, and don't you want me to feel good about myself?

3: Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist still has close ties with the Rangers. Maybe you could get his number if he knows you are cheering for them? Or maybe you are just a fan of bad nicknames, then you can cheer for the Breadman, Artemi Panarin.

4: Hurricanes - Brent Burns  is still around and generally kicking but. He's been growing a playoff beard since he was 19, and it would be great to see if he would shave upon winning it all.

5: Avalanche - This is purely an "I like Denver" play, because Denver is lovely. The Avs won it two seasons ago, and the town got a little high on themselves, but still, a lovely town.

6: Stars - This is a tough sell for a fan from Minnesota, given the history, and the fact that the Wild aren't going to be in the postseason either, but here goes. Jake Oettinger and I have some common acquaintances, so that's pretty neat. 

7: Jets - This is the team for nearly every Canadian outside of Vancouver.

8: Canucks - This is the team for fans inside of Vancouver, or people who remember their last trip to the Final and the chaos that ensued in the city. Be safe, Vancouver.

So there you go, maybe you can use that handy guide to find the right choice for you. Or you can be a traditional Flyers fan and root against everyone. 

Tweet of the Moment

The third's a go.

📺@NESN
📻@985TheSportsHub #NHLBruins | @ESC_ElecSupCtr pic.twitter.com/LgADoHk5iO

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 23, 2023

DON'T WORRY PEOPLE! Even if you don't want to pay the dollar for the site, you are still going to be able to read updates like this one. Does it happen often that you follow a team's socials, it is the the third week of the season, getting to the third period of the game, and you are just now getting the information on who is broadcasting the game? And for what it's worth, the Bruins have been on NESEN for almost 40 years. Thanks for the Tweet!

Tweet of the Moment

Was there any doubt? pic.twitter.com/EnIcjKtPrO

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) July 10, 2023

Twitter got rid of Tweetdeck in a usable format, which is just one of the many things that has rendered Twitter unusable to someone like me. Really and truly, Twitter's utility now is only because Brands are using it, people still have it set up to push published posts online and lists are still a thing to corral those brands and their posts. If there is an easy way to track the social media commentary from all NHL franchises, please let me know, because right now, Twitter is it. It's the only reason to be on Twitter, and you should absolutely not spend any more time there. I don't even have access to the BarryMelroseRox account anymore, but these posts will show up on Post.news and Mastodon, both @Rhinoandcompass. If Threads ever figures things out (like a chronological timeline, for example) maybe I'll get there too.

But anyways, Milan Lucic has a new number.