Bleacher Report - Articles by Jeremy Krantz

Boston Bruins on the Rise: Old Time Hockey Hits Boston Once Again

Jeremy Krantz — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:18:28 -0500

As an avid, season-ticket holder for the Bruins, I have been able to witness some pretty drastic changes in this original six team. Yes, the Bruins haven't won Lord Stanley’s Cup since 1972 (Ironically enough, when they did win that year, there was an engraving error and Boston was spelled “Bqstqn” on it).

However, this team which gained some attention-grabbing momentum near the end of the 2007/2008 season (right before and during the playoffs), has managed to be at the top of the conference as we near the half-way mark of this season.

To many people’s surprise, no one can quite seem to figure out how they have managed to get to where they are, especially since none of the possible big trades that were rumored to take place in the off-season for Sergei Gonchar or Marian Hossa.

Instead the Bruins settled for Michael Ryder who was predicted to possibly reach a tally of about 35 goals for this season (he currently stands at eight).

Fortunately for that team, despite making the headlines briefly with that trade, no one estimated that last year’s youngsters such as Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and the newly acquired Blake Wheeler would play at such a high level.

Each of these players has an incredibly well-developed hockey I.Q. on the ice and contribute heavily to the offense.

It appears that coach Claude Julien has changed his game strategies heavily. He previously emphasized on defense, but it appears that the team has very balanced scoring offensively and just about anyone on the ice is a threat now, especially Phil Kessel who is having a tremendous year. He is just a few goals away from a season high record for his career.

This team that struggled to find comfort and momentum last year has been able to outscore opponents in an incredible way, and have also found ways to win games that none could believe plausible if asked about last year; they are just very dynamic and aggressive: so far it’s paying off.

Many could argue that old-time hockey is back in Beantown and it sure seems that way lately. The players are just on what appears to be an unstoppable streak, which could only be matched by the San Jose Sharks in the Western conference.

The team isn’t playing just to play, they are now playing with a will that can be felt across the TD Banknorth Garden at every home game, and on the bench during away games.

For the past few years they were never considered a real threat to anyone and the wheels have now spun. They are working as a team, attacking as a team, fighting together as a team, spreading the scoring. and have a very strong goalie rotation.

Speaking of which, these two goalies, Thomas and Fernandez are both having quite a season; especially Fernandez who was not very respected by the fans until recently.

Thomas is looking like a strong favorite for the Vezina trophy so far, as we approach the end of the season’s first half.

Although no one can really nail the reason for the Bruins’ success this season, the chemistry, the passing, the offense, and the defense are top notch and they would make their alumni team proud, at least so far this season.

If they can maintain a healthy roster, they have enough depth in the roster to be strong contestants. They have suffered from injuries to Sturm who has a concussion, but have brought up both Matt Lashoff and Matt Hunwick which should reinforce the defense while also enabling the farm system players to get valuable experience at a higher level of profession.

Both youngsters have been pretty impressive so far, and if another defensemen were to go down, they could become critical to the long-term success of the team, especially with Ward on the verge of being placed on the disabled list.

But against this roster, even the mighty Habs looked nearly powerless so far in the few on-ice confrontations they have had. And not just them. The Bruins had a though early beginning to the season with a schedule that featured a majority of away games and a home opener against the Penguins.

Despite that, they mostly got Ws and seldom lost any of the games in regulation time.

Even as I type this, the Bruins are “one-siding” the Thrashers on a score of 7-3 with goals from six different players! This sort of thing never happened last year, or hardly.

The fans were begging for goals last year, where they averaged less than 2.5 per game (I can’t recall the exact number). The first 13 games I went to last season were all losses until they finally picked some momentum and won four straight, including the now legendary game six vs. Montreal.

This season so far has been incredible and they only seem to be getting better. Only the second half of the season will allow them to set a strong mark as they keep scoring their way closer and closer to a well-deserved top seed playoff spot.

Call of old time hockey, or old-time hockey, either way, this turnaround is just amazing!

MLB: Why Baseball Will Have A Hard Time Introducing Instant Replay

Jeremy Krantz — Sun, 25 May 2008 08:08:39 -0400

The topic of instant replay has been at the tip of everyone's tongue lately after a few calls have been quite controversial for the past few weeks in baseball.

With each ballpark being different, some consider walls, stairs, lines and other delimitations to be fair while others say they are foul. Despite Bud Selig's best efforts to keep things under control, a lot of controversy has risen.

But this doesn't just apply to home runs, but also for whether or not players are safe or have struck out. That is where things get real tricky.

Baseball is a sport of tradition, and has been praised for the fact that not much changes. As a matter of fact, along with golf, it is one of the two few sports where things have pretty much never changed.

Other sports like hockey, football and even soccer have introduced new technologies in order to enhance the game and make sure that things are fair. Whether it is wireless referee communication or instant replays, those sports have evolved, but baseball has trailed behind, relying on human judgment.

But with teams and athletes costing more money, a lot of skippers and owners want their teams to win at all costs. When you get robbed from a home run because of a bad home plate umpire call, what happens then? Do you just suck it up? Should you just live with the fact that you were robbed of a possible win?

Although I am a big supporter of instant reviews on certain things, I don't believe it should be used for pitching counts. I think that part of the game and excitement in baseball is the fact that each home plate umpire is different, forcing teams to scout them and pitching according to some of their habits. This makes for an unpredictable and exciting game despite some bad calls.

I do believe replay should be used for certain home runs, though. If not, I strongly suggest the MLB should re-enforce and clarify each specific fair and foul area of each ballpark to each umpiring team before each game so that the fair calls can be made. Something definitely needs to change.

I was shocked at how poorly these decisions were made when watching the game highlights on ESPN. These mistakes should not be made in 2008.

In the second case, there would be no need for the implementation of new technologies enabling people to see the slow motion of a possible home run and therefore the tradition of little change could remain.

However, ESPN has been pushing the issue forward, and change seems to be coming eventually. Even minutes ago, as I was writing this, they just displayed another instant replay of the Pirates being robbed on another bad call. Although I don't expect the changes to be imminent, I am confident that they will take place, as the MLB tries to catch up with other leagues.

Either way, the game needs to be made fair. Each game can only feature one winner and with some races towards pennants, each bad call can be quite significant despite the 162 regular season games.

Time will tell whether Selig is on top of things. Meanwhile, the public will continue to watch in frustration. I know I will.

Bruins-Canadiens Rivalry Continues Despite Change in Momentum

Jeremy Krantz — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:01:06 -0400

You have all heard of it, witnessed it, and know about it: the sacred, legendary rivalry between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. The players hate one another, and so do the coaches.

Both part of the original six NHL teams, their games often sell out within minutes of the tickets going on sale and feature some of hockey's toughest and loudest crowds.

Although not too many Boston fans travel to Montreal for games, hockey is their only sport in Montreal since the Expos have left. Many of them do travel to see their team play at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.

Actually, a lot of them travel here.

Living in Boston, I've been to games where about a third of the 18,000 seats were taken by Montreal fans and boy, are they loud. It's quite interesting to see actually, and they really are die hard fans.

I do have one advantage and that is that I speak very fluent French as I was raised in Paris, France for 20 years. That gives me an edge to better understand the fans, although I would never trade my B's jersey for any other.

Boston actually had a really tough time with Montreal this year. Whether it was our slacking offense or defense, we managed to drop a total of 13 straight games to them before managing to win one in the playoffs.

Yes people, that was over a year of regular season face offs between the two teams which resulted in one-sided wins by them. Quite impressive and sad for Boston who often came close by failed to finish.

Maybe it's that Red Sox curse, which was rubbing on them.

But them came the 07-08 season playoffs, and guess who's facing who in the first round?

Boston and...drum roll...the Canadiens! What??!! You've got to be kiddin'? The first seed is the Habs?! Again? And Boston? What are they doing there?

As ESPN's NHL journalists all summed up, this series is going to be "one sided" and "very short.” Oh well...

But then something magical occurred on the ice, something that no one expected. After creating a three to one deficit in the series, Boston played even harder and tried to survive...and they did…at least for a few more games.

They won a tremendous game over in Montreal before winning game six back at home under what could have been the loudest Bruins game in history. I was there, and it was electric!

Unfortunately, just like the numerous rivalries, tired of striving to perform at a higher level, they eventually lost in the final game of the seven-game series on a score of five to nothing.

The recent change in momentum was due to end but showed that Boston was to be trampled no more by the Habs.

The Habs' new goalie, Price, who replaced the highly skilled Huet was shaky in the series and Boston found the net too many times for Montreal's comfort.

Sure they won, but taking them into seven games, in many ways, was something that Boston and its fans could be proud of. No more will they go get spanked by the Habs.

This losing streak was clearly over, and many of the toothless players are already looking for a revenge game next season.

Get the boards ready and zamboni the ice because this rivalry just grew stronger.