That Championship Season

His Cup Runneth Over

OK Everybody – stand back – make way for our newest correspondent, Peter. Thursday marks the first game on the Bruins 2011 – 2012 calendar, and it’s Peter’s day with the Stanley Cup.  And let’s be honest here; we’d switch places with Peter in a heartbeat.

Tyler Seguin. Yeah. That. Him. Wow.

Not that any of us would want to be Bruins fans per se, we just want the Cup. Badly. Desperately. [Truth be told, I’d sell Doug into white slavery if that would guarantee our Caps getting past the second round.]

Peter is the other half of our dynamic duo from Los Angeles. Yesterday, we met his partner Ryan, who previewed his Ducks.  They both play for the LA Blades and we hearby challenge them to square off against Jeff”s NYCGHA Boxers. Please, no wagering.

Peter will be covering his champs from afar, but no matter – NHL Center Ice to the rescue!  Depending on how ad revenues look in the 4th quarter, we may fly him regularly to Beantown to report from the ground.  Until then, we’ll let Peter bask in the reflective glow of his well-earned Cup.  And speaking of wagering, the smart money says that one of his PuckBuddys colleagues will drink their root beer out of the Cup next June. -Craig

“WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMP… Sorry about that, haven’t quite gotten over the celebrations that have been going on since June. The 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins scratched and clawed their way to hockey’s ultimate goal last spring (no biting Canucks fans!), capturing their first title in my lifetime.

The win put the icing on the cake of Boston’s 10 years of magic in pro sports. The party started with the Patriots 2001 Super Bowl win and the Bruins added the final piece to the puzzle, taking home the cup for the first time since 1972. Since we humble Bostonians would never bask in the glory of past accomplishments (unlike Canadiens fans, who have been talking about that last Cup title since ’93), we must look forward to the future titles we will win, which will no doubt be numerous. So, I give you the Boston Bruins 2011-2012 preview.”

“Before we get to that, though, a bit of an introduction is in order. Your humble correspondent for the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins (yes, I will probably call them that, in full, every time, all year) was born in Massachusetts in the early 1980s. I was too late to enjoy the Big Bad Bruins of the 1970s who played with toughness, skill and determination en-route to Cup wins in ’70 and ’72.

Joe Thornton

I was in time however, for President and GM Harry Sinden and owner Jeremy Jacobs to team up to bring Boston good to mediocre teams that were kept that way by shipping out anyone who wanted to be paid very much. When Ray Bourque hoisted the Cup in 2001 and held a celebration rally in Boston, a lot of Bruins fans thought that was the closest the Cup would come to return to the Hub of the Universe.

Joe Thornton’s flowing locks and surfer good looks provided hope of a change, but his playoff failings saw him shipped off to a place where that sort of this would be expected, San Jose. 

Thankfully, I had a long and illustrious playing career to distract me from my NHL team’s lack of success. I started skating on a pond at age two and soon found myself standing in front of a net with lots of pads on. A combination of Ken Dryden and Darren Pang, I unfortunately had only height in common with Dryden and shared a propensity for pulling the puck out from behind me with Pang. While it seemed like a career with the Maple Leafs was in my future, it wasn’t meant to be.

After spending high school and college watching some pretty good hockey from the bench, I decided that scoring goals might be more fun as an adult. So, I switched to playing right wing and soon after moving to Los Angeles in 2004, I joined the LA Blades, a gay and lesbian friendly hockey team. I met my partner playing for the Blades and we now spend just about every day from October to June watching the Ducks, the Bruins and other assorted hockey action.

Which brings us to the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins 2011-2012 season. If you’re interested in seeing the Bruins roster, you can take a look at the Stanley Cup’s latest engraving. Nearly the entire roster is back this year. 

Not returning are:

Michael Ryder, who despite his occasional goal streak or key glove save will largely be remembered for the 35 game stretches in which he did nothing (enjoy that Stars fans!)
Thomas Kaberle, who was really just there to make things more interesting for Tim Thomas last spring by turning the puck over constantly (enjoy that Hurricanes fans!) and because the Bruins owed Leaf’s fans something after the demoralizing Rask and Seguin trades.
Mark Recchi, who was rumored to be 137 years old, but still was tougher than any Canuck.

New arrivals are:

Jordan Caron, who had a cameo last year and should be a solid 3rd liner/PK guy as a rookie.
Benoit Pouliot, who I am not sold on, as he was a Canadien, though to his credit he fought a Bruin last year. That’s probably what got him sent out of Montreal, as he didn’t simply dive and roll around on the ice when confronted…
Chris Clark, who hasn’t yet signed a contract, but will look to provide veteran leadership a la Recchi. The fact that he comes from the Caps has me questioning the value of his leadership, especially since he keeps asking, “wait, there’s a 3rd round of the playoffs?!”

Two of those three will most likely be centered by second year twink…er, I mean center Tyler Seguin, who will be looking for a breakout year along with fellow soph Brad Marchand, provided the two of them can find their shirts after such a trying summer.

If not, at least they look better shirtless than Phil Kessel (sorry Leaf fans, I’ll ease up after you’re eliminated from the playoffs, but you’ll just have to suffer for these next few weeks). 

These minor tweaks should be enough to keep the Bruins hungry as they seek to repeat this season (also helping is that Dustin Byfuglien broke into training camp and ate most of the food). 

Therefore, I will boldly (and with a complete lack of consequences) predict that Tim Thomas and the Bruins will repeat in 2012! If not, well, hey, they’ve got to do better than the Red Sox, right?”

You can follow Peter on twitter: @PTBents34

About Craig

Proudly serving gay hockey fans and players since 2010
This entry was posted in Boston Bruins and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to That Championship Season

  1. Andrew says:

    I will never, ever understand that Kessel trade. Ever. But great opener! Even if my Canucks half is still sore. :D

  2. GayCanuck says:

    OMG, I knew this would happen one day; that a Bruins fan would arrive here at PB and foul the homepage with Bruins talk. It’s a good thing I’m Fantasy Hockey dating Tyler Seguin who will be playing for the Canucks next year if I get my way. Otherwise, I might have to flip this website over and set it on fire.

    It’s a pretty good article for a Bruins fan. Welcome to the Octagon! :) XO

  3. sconnors37 says:

    I LOVE YOU. THAT’S OK, RIGHT.
    Few things:
    -Chris Clark was released from his PTO today! (sorry, Caps guys, love your former cappy but there ain’t no room at the inn, bro)
    -the Ray Bourque rally was sooooo embarrassing :(
    -JOE THORNTON >:(
    -I have good feelings about Caron and Pouliot both. Pouliot, for one, is a ridiculously nice guy who seems eager to learn the ins and outs of the Bruins system. Where in Montreal players were encouraged to “cheat” up ice a little, Julien’s system doesn’t allow for that at all and Pouliot looks like he’s getting it. The lines for tomorrow involve Pevs taking the recchin’ ball’s old spot and Pouliot filling in on the 3rd line, with Caron in the press box. Hopefully they both get a look.

    YAY WELCOME!

  4. Kessel’s going to be rejuvenated this season, just you wait. He’s got a true, number one center playing with him now in Toronto…. oh wait, that’s Marian Gaborik. Kessel’s stuck with Tim Connoly. Pity.
    Enjoy the banner raising tonight! As a veteran of three such nights, I can tell you that it’s pretty great. Go Devils!

  5. knxvil says:

    Although my heart beats for Mathieu Perreault (making the team out of training camp for the first time–I’m so proud!), I must admit that as a Bostonian I delighted in attending the Stanley Cup parade and have been waiting all summer to see Bruins D Adam McQuaid’s mullet up close and in person again.

    Now, if he could just stop running into the boards by himself when trying to check his opponents… watch that shoulder this year, please. On Marchand, he needs a proofreader for any future championship (or should I say “chanpianship”) tattoos. Blast it, the Caps aren’t coming to town until March.

    How many times will I have watched Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and Keanu Reeves in “Youngblood” by then? With all the movie remakes lately (Footloose et al.), why not remake this hockey classic starring Caps and Bruins, come to think of it? The evil team was black and gold, if I remember correctly… ;)

  6. I hope the Isles HOF celebration nights this season are as ridiculous and tacky as the Bruins opening. Maybe Kaspariaris can jump Lemieux in the parking lot.

  7. coachbentley says:

    nothing about ADAM oATES? what kind of blog is this, other than genius? nice work.

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