Bruins get back on the ice to raise championship banner, defend Stanley Cup. Have to be worst 10-1 shot to repeat as champs in history of sport.

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As much as I love the Boston Bruins (going back to the late 1950s) I give them next to no chance of repeating their recent "Perfect Storm" of a Stanley Cup winning season again this year...

If you like burning money, bet on the Bruins to repeat - as much as I hate to say this - it just is not happening...Repeats are simply not the nature of Hockey these days...Especially to a marginally good only team like The Bruins..The last team to repeat were the very talented 1996 and 1997 Detroit Red Wings.

The 1980s and early 1990s were different. Teams like Edmonton and Pittsburgh with stars as great as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux could repeat if their supporting casts were talented as well. Before them were the some great all around teams that no longer exist in today's NHL.

The 1970s saw expansion arrive but the decade was dominated by the powerful Montreal Canadiens led by the great Guy Lafleur and a rock solid defense. With both Boston and Philadelphia only interrupting the 70s Canadien's Dynasty twice each. The Habs won six Cups during the decade, including an amazing four in a row in the late 70s..

As did New York Islanders win four straight in the very early 80s before giving way to the Gretzky led Oilers who won 5 Cups in seven years from 1884 to 1990 when the Penguins won two straight to begin the 1990 decade...Since the 1993 Playoffs The Detroit Red Wings lead the pack with four cups spread over 18 years (with one year locked out).

Not counting the no Cup lockout year of 2004/05 there have been eight different Cup winners in eight seasons to date..

Today the NHL is another sport afflicted with the new controversial term in sports, the however you look at it - malady or blessing - scenario that we call parity..

BOL to all. wil...

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<article> BOSTON — Most of the Boston Bruins are looking forward to seeing the “2011 Stanley Cup Champions” banner hanging from the rafters at the TD Garden.


Coach Claude Julien is more concerned about what happens next.


“It’s going to be an emotional night, and somehow we’re going to have to find a way to shift into gear here and realize that we also have a game to win,” Julien said at the team’s media day this week as he looked ahead to the regular-season opener against the Philadelphia Flyers. “And that’s a challenge in itself.”

The Bruins are planning a pregame ceremony for Thursday night to raise their sixth NHL championship banner and recognize the team that earned it by beating the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Along the way, they eliminated the Flyers, sweeping them in the second round one year after Philadelphia rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Flyers captain Chris Pronger said it will be tough to have to watch the pregame festivities, but he hopes it will just make them hungrier for one of their own.

“It’s never fun when you have to go into the opposing team’s building and there’s a ceremony, especially one that’s as significant as this one,” Pronger said. “You can use that to your advantage. You can look and see the emotions of what they’re doing and hope you’re doing the same thing next year.”

Bruins president Cam Neely would not divulge any details of the ceremony in order to maintain the surprise for the fans. But Julien is already worrying about how his team will respond to the emotions — not just in the first game, but for a whole season when other teams will be aiming at the defending champs.

“We earned that right, and our fans earned that right to experience it. That’s just a part of winning a Stanley Cup,” he said. “I think our team is mature enough to be able to handle that.”

Julien and general manager Peter Chiarelli have already discussed fighting the possible hangover that often comes a year after a team wins a championship. Chiarelli said he discussed strategies with several previous winners, and the only consistent advice was that it’s real, and unavoidable.

Among the concerns: The players will be tired, either mentally or physically, after the shortest offseason in franchise history.

“I hate harping on it because sometimes I think it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Chiarelli said. “But all the people I’ve talked to have said that it does show itself up in some shape or form. So we’re just going to have to be on top of it.”

The Bruins won their sixth Stanley Cup title in June and the franchise’s first since 1972. It will be the first banner-raising ceremony for the team since Neely’s No. 8 was retired in 2004.

“It’s a long time coming for a lot of our fans,” said Neely, who retired in 1996 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. “We’ve had fans that have waited 39 years, we’ve had fans that have waited 3 years. ... Our community — the hockey community in Boston and New England has really deserved this. They’ve supported the Bruins for a lot of years.”

Tim Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, and he’ll be back along with almost all of the players from last season’s team, starting with Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on defense and Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Milan Lucic on offense.

Playoff phenom Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin, a rookie last season, will have another year of experience.

“I think you get a taste of winning; it’s a pretty good taste,” Neely said. “We’ve got a great group of guys, great character, still fairly young for the most part that I think aren’t tired of winning yet.”

Missing will be Mark Recchi, who retired, and Michael Ryder, who left as a free agent. Marc Savard is still out with post-concussion syndrome, but Nathan Horton, who took a frightening hit in Game 3 of the finals and missed the rest of the series, is back.

“They say that chemistry plays a (big) part in having success, and I feel we still got that chemistry, obviously, with the same guys,” Julien said. The guys that have come in ... have been accepted and done a great job at being accepted. So I think there’s going to be a smooth transition.”


Washington Post.




</article>
 

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virtually all pro futures (not on an exchange) are bad underlays..this one for sure a bad one...16-1 perhaps..
 

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virtually all pro futures (not on an exchange) are bad underlays..this one for sure a bad one...16-1 perhaps..

Exactly, not sure what Wil is trying to educate us on here...........................
 

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FH - when I wrote my portion of the article above you were the farthest person from my mind. Lets just leave it at that.

TryTryTry 16-1 is a much more realistic number but fwiw still almost borderline in my opinion. My point here is we are not talking about teams like the Packers, Lakers, Yankees or Phillies who in their particular sports they actually do have some fair shot of pulling off a repeat and in the case of the Packers as an example, should be close to even money to win it all again this year in the very competitive No Fun League..Sunday night's game in Atlanta while interesting should prove once again there is just no stopping Aaron Rodgers and Co..If you can lay 5.5 anywhere still, mortgage the house...

Back to hockey - The Bruins are the San Francisco Giants of the NHL at best...

The Bruins are more in The San Francisco Giants category of having that one great run in the playoffs after only a good but not great regular season and stealing the crown out of nowhere so to speak.

In the case of the 2011 Giants there were devastating injuries to Buster Posey, Freddy Sanchez, and others which left them with an offense that couldn't produce the clutch hit that carried this club to almost magical wins and an improbable World Series win last October. They never even got the chance to try.

Carrying a very heavy financial anchor cast adrift in the form of (if he is lucky #5 starter) Barry Zito. Giant's GM Brian Sabean and Manager Bruce Botchy are hamstrung to land the big free agent bat the team so sorely missed this last season.

With little to no chance of signing any of the super offensive free agents soon to be on the market - Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols or Robinson Cano. The Giants will be hard pressed to contend again in 2012. The Red Sox have no need for any of the three with Adrián González and Dustin Pedroia already on board, so they should go all out and spend whatever it takes to make an even richer man out of the already wealthy C.C. Sabathia..Not that The Yanks will let him walk without a fight...I smell a monster contract for CC and probably his last..

Speaking of the Yanks, their 97 winning game season rests on the rookie shoulders of Ivan Nova tonight against a red hot Dan Fister at Yankee Stadium. Sure it's all hands on deck for Girardi's troops including Sabathia but that would mean Nova was less than stellar. To put is short and sweet, win tonight or The Bombers only last a week and a day longer than the much maligned BoSox. Heaven forbid...

Should be a hot time in the Big Apple tonight troops...

wil..


 
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I hope the Jacobs finally get it of how important this team is to New England.Apparentley they are starting to get it. The players got their rings and the rings blew everyone away.
Over 300 diamonds in every ring.
The details on the ring http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=594465 (pretty cool stuff)
 

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TryTryTry 16-1 is a much more realistic number but fwiw still almost borderline in my opinion. My point here is we are not talking about teams like the Packers, Lakers, Yankees or Phillies who in their particular sports they actually do have some fair shot of pulling off a repeat and in the case of the Packers as an example, should be close to even money to win it all again this year in the very competitive No Fun League..Sunday night's game in Atlanta while interesting should prove once again there is just no stopping Aaron Rodgers and Co..If you can lay 5.5 anywhere still, mortgage the house...





Close to even money??

Not
 

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The Packers are around 4-1 at most respectable shops currently........and this after starting the season 4-0.

Obviously, they were even higher than this before the season.


The odds are favorable that neither the BRUINS nor the PACKERS repeat with league championships.
 

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I hope the Jacobs finally get it of how important this team is to New England.Apparentley they are starting to get it. The players got their rings and the rings blew everyone away.
Over 300 diamonds in every ring.
The details on the ring http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=594465 (pretty cool stuff)


AWESOME ring!!

One of the best looking championship rings I've ever seen, thanks for the photo.`
 

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gb has a LOT better shot than boston does....and thats not even debatable

bruins played their longest season ever, then partied like rock stars all summer...playoff hockey is much more intense, just look at their playoff run last year with 3of4 series going 7 games... i dont think the bruins will have the stamina to repeat....it will help having rask to give thomas some much needed rest and it will help that they are a very young team but i dont think they will repeat this year...i would not bet them at 10-1 i would wait until the playoffs start and see what the odds are and go for there if you think they can pull it off again....nor would i bet VANC at their crazy low price...

i do think this bruins team will win another Cup <5years....they are young and loaded and most of the key players are signed into long term deals
 

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Nice thread Topic, Wilheim

Sincerely,

The Rx Pucks Pub Denizens
 

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Also Ran....I know I am all over the place with this thread but what the heck - Best Record in the AL is home early...

Speaking of the Yanks, their 97 winning game season rests on the rookie shoulders of Ivan Nova tonight against a red hot Dan Fister at Comerica Park in Motown. Sure it's all hands on deck for Girardi's troops including Sabathia but that would mean Nova was less than stellar. To put is short and sweet, win tonight or The Bombers only last a week and a day longer than the much maligned BoSox. Heaven forbid...

Should be a hot time in the city of Detroit tonight troops...

wil..

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Move over Red Sox.....


wil...:howdy:

Thanks Barman, I will write more often to our Puck-heads this fall...Right now however I am enjoying a natural serotonin rush courtesy of The Detroit Tigers..
 

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Theeeeee Yankees suck!....Theeee Yankees suck! - John sterling
 

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Saturday October 8th...
Tampa Bay 0 1 0 1 Final
Boston 0 2 2 4
Game Winning Goal: D. Paille (BOS)

Fairly easy win on Packers last night also. Posted on October 6th. in this thread (Post #4).

in the case of the Packers as an example, should be close to even money to win it all again this year in the very competitive No Fun League..Sunday night's game in Atlanta while interesting should prove once again there is just no stopping Aaron Rodgers and Co..If you can lay 5.5 anywhere still, mortgage the house...

wil.
 

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The Bruins had everything go their way last year. They got every break possible with Savard going out on IR and freeing up salary to add the parts they needed to win, if he did not go out for the year they had no salary cap space to make any moves.... Crosby and Malkin going out for the year opened the Eastern Conference up for everyone... Every bounce and I mean every bounce went their way from February on through the Stanley Cup...

A team with a PP that sucked as bad as it did and still winning is a complete fluke in this day and age... A team with a dearth of offensive talent like the Bruins is a complete fluke to win the cup in this day and age... A team that plays to win with such a strong defensive/goaltender emphasis is a complete fluke. A coach who while is good but by no means cutting edge and the team won despite many of his horrible coaching decisions. The biggest thing Julien has/is doing is misusing Seguin still to this day. He is by far their most talented player and he is a natural center but yet insist on playing him on the wing and not letting him to use his full talent...On top of that he plays with muckers and grinders, it a fvcking joke that they are wasting this kid like they do...

The whole 2nd half of the season was a complete fluke and will not be seen again anytime soon...

I really can't explain how the hell they won except a total fluke and luck. They worked hard and them winning goes against everything that pretty much all cup champs since the lock out have been...

I would be surprised if they make a deep run this year... If you bet them to win the cup or the eastern Conference you might as well walk over to a window and throw that money out it...
 
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