Last Skate of The Day, January 19, 2014
Jan 19, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Bruins left wing
Brad Marchand(63) celebrates scoring a goal during the shootout at the United Center. The Blackhawks beat the Bruins 3-2 in the shootout. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks played some of the finest hockey we’ve seen this year. It took a freakish bounce to Tuukka Rask and the incredible stick skills of Patrick Kane in a shootout to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 win. One of the finest moments of the game was when Patrice Bergeron skated over to a bowled over Patrick Kane. In the end, the two best teams in hockey respected each other. For all the craziness of the Calgary/Vancouver game, it was nice to see two good teams on the ice again.
Here is how the Boston Bruins organization saw the game go down. (Boston Bruins)
The Chicago Blackhawks reaction to the game. They called it “A Worthy Sequel” and it most certainly was. (Chicago Blackhawks)
On the subject of worthy sequels we turn to the Boston Bruins, Public Enemy #1, Matt Cooke. Matt Cooke is to the Bruins organization as Zdeno Chara is to the Montreal Canadiens. Matt Cooke was hit in the head by Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn. To be completely fair, it was a very Cooke-like shot to his head by Benn’s outstretched elbow. For the sake of rules consistency, Benn should have faced supplementary discipline by the NHL. He should have gotten a two game suspension for the hit. The Department of Player Safety should have done something to penalize Benn for the hit.
Now, the rest of me (including the part of me that is a Bruins fan) is pleased that Cooke got his bell run. It even amuses me more that Shanahan and the rest of the Department of Player Safety chose to look the other way on a classic repeat offender. For all the times that Cooke said he had changed (but never did), perhaps one solid cheap shot inflicted on him might actually see him change his ways at last. Here is the whole story courtesy of NBC.(Pro Hockey Talk)
Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins has been named captain of Team Canada. I’m sure Pierre McGuire is in absolute ecstasy over that announcement. Here’s all the news from the league itself (NHL)