B's Win Big One!

1) First off congrats to the Bruins players, coaches, management and entire organization for winning their first Stanley Cup in 39 years! We have to be honest/upfront in saying that we at Fauxrumors did not have the Bruins as one of the possible Cup winners going into the post season. We are thoroughly impressed with the job they did, winning 3 game 7's along the way. The final one on the road in a hostile Rogers Arena!

2) We also want to congratulate Claude Julian for being a positive and steadying influence. His job reportedly was on the line this spring and to say the least its a bit more secure today! He especially shown through after the nonsense the Canucks threw at them early on. Namely the Burrows biting incident and subsequent Lapierre taunting to the vicious Rome hit. His leadership quelled any thoughts of retribution and kept the team focused on the job at hand.

3) Speaking of the Canucks' antics; It has to be stated another time that we believe they shot themselves in their feet with these moves. The Rome hit especially will be looked upon as the turning point(as we wrote it possibly could. http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2011/06/rome-burned.html WE firmly maintain that if this doesn't occur the Canucks win this series in 4 or 5! The Bruins seemed to feed positive off the adversities and crap the Canucks were trying to pull.

4) What can we say about Tim Thomas that hasn't been written elsewhere? He was well deserving of the MVP trophy, having been one of the best players from either team in EVERY game of the series. He was indeed a tank in the Bruins net! On the other side what can be said of the 3 "superstars" on Vancouver? Luongo, and The Sedins. Luongo wasn't the elite goalie some have been professing. Sure, he's an excellent goalie but its the elite ones who step up their games when the money is on the line. Roberto in consecutive games could not propel his team to a win like his counterpart in the opposing crease did. As for the Twins, even had the Canucks won it would have been despite them. They basically were mere passengers in this series. Doing very little and contributing almost nothing. A huge disappointment for the reigning league MVP and the presumed 2010-2011 MVP to both disappear when their team needed them most!


5) So the LONG off season now commences. The first 4 weeks or so will be exciting with the awards ceremony (Look for our picks upcoming) The 2011 NHL entry draft on 6/24 in Minnesota and the associated trades/rumors. Followed by The free agent Open season on July 1st. Usually there is a flurry of activity or the first few weeks, along with Prospect camps, followed by the Dog Days which don't end until Rookie camps open in early September. We have several posts upcoming so as always keep it here for all the latest!

A Tale Of Two Cities?

1) Yes the Stanley Cup is going the distance. With another convincing win at home tonight the Bruins did their part in giving what many fans wanted, a 7 game Finals. In deference to Charles Dickens the series has indeed been A Tale of Two Cities. Only instead of London and Paris, Boston and Vancouver are the setting for this thrilling true-life novel. Why? Easy. Each city/their respective teams' have played vastly differently depending on the venue.

2) This has especially been true of the Canucks. In the three games in Bean town the Canucks have managed 4 goals and given up 17! Compare that with the three games in Vancouver where they have held the Bruins to a mere 2 goals while scoring 5 for themselves. On the other side the Bruins PP, invisible in Vancouver has scored 4 big PPG's in their 3 home games. If they are to have any shot in Game 7 they will have to bring their 'home' PP back west!

3) However the biggest single issue that undoubtedly will be discussed is the amazing difference in Roberto Luongo from one city to the other. His stats in Vancouver, 3-0 with a .980 save % and GAA under 1.20 are Conn Smythe -worthy stats. Unfortunately for his team his stats on the other side of North America are not as quite as impressive. More to the point he's sucked! (0-3 with a save % below .750!) The questions that seemed about to evaporate after his great performance in Game 5 are back with a vengeance after giving up 3 softies in the opening frame in Game 6. Allowing the Bruins to coast to another home win.

4) So the question will be asked: Where do we go from here? Well certainly Gary Bettman and the NHL have to be elated with how this series has gone. The more games (exposure) the better the league does in all ways. From a competitive standpoint it has been as exciting as could be expected. We still maintain the turning point if Boston holds on, is the Rome hit on Horton in game 3. If not for that we believe we'd be discussing the Canucks parade through the city today and not a game 7. So the questions will be:

• Will the Bruins PP show up in game 7?





• Will the real Roberto Luongo please stand up?





• How badly hurt are Raymond and also Kesler who has been a mere shadow of himself this series





• Can the Sedins score when the game is on the line?

5) Not that our recent track record is all that impressive but we believe that the Bruins will pull this thing out. They have NOT been intimidated by the atmosphere of Rogers arena, unlike the Canucks in TD Gardens. All 3 games in Vancouver could have gone the other way. Despite his game 5 performance Luongo right now(mentally/confidence wise) is damaged goods. having been pulled twice in a week, Vigneault will likely have a quick hook on his starter if the Bruins again get off to a fast start. On the other side Thomas has yet to have a bad game and if the B's prevail he will undoubtedly be the Conn smythe winner (he might even if they lose a close Game 7). We just like the Bruins' intangibles right now and feel that the 'Mo' is on their side, but it will likely be another nail biter. Lets all enjoy as we head back to 'Terminal City' for the final game of the 2011 season!

Rome Burned!

1) The Bruins rebounded with avengeance, or should I say to avenge the nasty/dirty hit on Nathan Horton by the Canuck defensemen early in the 1st period last night in game 3 of the Finals. In our estimation the Bruins were ripe for the picking up until that point. If the Canucks had scored first there is little doubt that the Bruins would have folded like a cheap suit and we wouldn't be having this discussion right now.

2) What Rome did was to unleash the fury (sorry Caps fans) in the Bruins. They already were steaming at the Burrows bite and subsequent LaPierre taunting of Patrice Bergeron that this was the last straw. Even after they failed to convert on the Rome 5 min penalty you could still see the fire in their eyes, determined to have the Canucks pay for their team mates indiscretion, and that they did in a big way! To their credit, despite a few scrums the Bruins were restrained in their retaliation and scored early and often from the beginning of the 2nd period on despite the Canucks bizarrely getting tons of PP time.

3) In my opinion the Canucks have played right into the hands of the Bruins with this approach. If they simply played a solid, albeit tough game without the nonsense they would probably easily dispatch the offensively depleted Bruins quickly. However by playing an abrasive style they effectively eliminated the Sedins because the brothers are not going to play that way and you could see them wilt in the heat last night.

4) If Alain Vigneault is the great coach we have been led to believe, he will do what Caude Julian did prior to and after last night's game and tell his team to knock off the nonsense and simply play hockey. Talent wise, player for player the Bruins can NOT keep up with the Canucks, but if the Vancouver denizens persist in playing it close to and over the edge then the Bruins will stay with them and perhaps even make this a series after all. If the Bruins somehow won the Cup after being down 0-2 we can look back on Rome's hit as the turning point. It remains to be seen if Rome will in fact burn the Canucks chances of winning their first Cup, ever

Winnipeg Move....... Dumb!

1) OK, before we get too far along we do want to congratulate the city of Winnipeg for getting an NHL team back/ We want to say we have NOTHING against that great capital city of Manitoba! It s a great All-Canadian city in the prairies. A very nice place to visit(except in winter!)

2) That all said, its a horrendous business decision. One that from what we've heard Gary Bettman wanting no part of but had no choice as there were no options left in Atlanta. Its sad because Atlanta had ZERO chance of making it. Not that its an awful sports town. Its not a great sports city but could have supported an NHL team if they were ever to actually have one. From day 1 management has botched the franchise. Could ANY NHL team( south of the border) other than perhaps the Rangers and Philly had decent attendance if they never won a playoff series in 10 years(and made the post season a mere once in that time??)

3) Even Chicago couldn't draw flies to games when they were run shoddily. So it was no wonder that the Thrashers run into the ground by hockey-dunce Don Waddell had one of the worst attendance records in the league. Who in their right mind would shell out thousands of dollars in this economy to see a losing team?? Very few so the owners needed to find a buyer for a team hemorrhaging money. Oh, and by the way I guess the salary cap wasn't the panacea after all for saving teams, huh Gary?

4) As for Winnipeg, there was a reason they (like Atlanta) lost a team before, economics. They have a relatively small population with a very small (for NHL standards) arena to boot. There is no doubt in our estimation that they will pack the building the first season or two, despite having one of the highest ticket prices. However, once the bloom is off the rose, and the team isn't playoff bound for 3-4 years they will be no better off than they were in Atlanta. Worse yet, if the Canadian dollar should once again falter like it did in the mid 90's (or even sightly decline 10%) it could be a catastrophic turn of events for the smaller Canadian franchises and the new Winnipeg team would be most vulnerable.

5) A note to our Canadian readers. I know from talking with you folks over the years that you feel Gary Bettman hates Canada. Well, despite sharing your dislike for the commissioner, we disagree. Bettman could care less one way or another anymore where a franchise is located. Now that he has his 10 year TV deal he is no longer looking to make an imprint on the southern U.S, but looking to maximise league profits. With that in mind we hear he wasn't enamored with this deal(as he also knows the Winnipeg realities) but also knew at least in the short term it will be a little boost to the league bottom line AND more importantly takes pressure off the league owned Phoenix Coyotes to move as they have lost a possible destination (Cue the Quebec rumours please!)

6) Another dumb move is keeping the team in the SE division. Are you kidding me?? Its a bloody 3,000 miles from Florida to Manitoba!! Not exactly neighbors. The division was already strained to create real rivalries as it stretches almost 800 miles as it was, now it absurd. The rational thing to do was to move the Blue jackets or Predators into the division from the Central and replace them with Winnipeg. The SE division would still suck ass, and not have any real rivalries, but at least they'd have less travel. Lets hope they rectify this next year when and if the Coyotes also are moved to a new(or old?) city. By the way, where has Jim Balsille been in all this? Our spies tell us he has been more quietly been working the proper/back channels to get a team in southern/central Ontario. Keep an eye on that folks!

As always, keep it here fr all the latest!

Finals Prediction

1) OK so here we are, the Finals. the ultimate playoff series to decide who gets to sip from the silver chalice known as the Stanley Cup!

• Looking back the semi's were exciting and we were admittedly wrong about the Sharks and especially both Joe Thornton and on the Canucks side, The Sedins. Both upped their game to the next level. For Joes team his efforts and playing with a separated shoulder was not enough, especially with loser players like Dany Heatley stinking up the series. On vacouver not only did the Sedin's whitewash their detractors, but more inportantly, embattled goalie, Roberto Luongo finally won and played well to propel his team to get this far







• On the other side the Bruins won a close, hard fought series against the best the SE division could offer this season in the Lightning. Ultimately the B's had slightly better, more settled goaltending and won a 7 game nail biting series. Nice job by Guy Bouch, AKA-"Scar" for out coaching his 3 adversaries but not quite enough to get to the next level (this time around) No doubt the Lightning will be back again next season as they appear to be the class of the very weak SE division

2) Now on to tonight's match ups:

• Can Luongo continue the current ride and not resort to his previous MO of making big stops only to let in a few 'softies"? He better bring his A game else the Canucks will be in trouble







• Will Claude Julian have a better strategy to stop 'The Twins" than did SJ's coaching staff? Henrik and Daniel seemed to do whatever they pleased, especially with the extra man, against SJ. If Boston wants to win their first cup in 40 years they better!





• How healthy are Malhotra and Kesler? Certainly the 'Nucks have been able to win without Manny, but we doubt they'd have a shot without Kesler AND Malhotra.







• Can the Chara and Seidenberg be the 'Shut down masters' they've been so far n the playoffs. Both play big time minutes and undoubtedly will once again. Look for Alain Vigneault to try to get his big line away from the "big 2" as much as possible at GM Palace where he can match lines more easily







• Will the Bruins PP finally come out of hibernation? This we believe will be the key to the series. If the B's don't get this aspect of their game untracked this could be a short series. If they start to light it up, they actually would have a good shot to win it all

3) So what is the Faux prediction? We believe this will be a reletively short series. We think the canucks are and should be favoured to wi their first Cup. They have been the best team in the NHL from start to finish, and unlike last years President's trophy team, they weren't a mirrage, but the real deal. We believe that even if Boston plays at a high level they still will be unable to win, but merely prolong the series beyond the 5 games we think this series wil likley end with. Yes, we're saying Canucks in 5!

Year of BLACK AND BLUE!

1) An interesting observation we have made as we watch the playoffs progress. The teams with bright colors, IE. Red and Orange are not fairing very well this post season. Teams such as Montreal, Chicago, Washington are already out and the Redwings, and Flyers are o the brink.

2) Meanwhile the Black and Blue teams, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, and Boston are poised to make up the Final 4 this year. Not a 'red' team in site! Perhaps an inane observation, but i found it interesting/unique.

I am back

1) Firstly a big Thank you to fauxrumors2 for getting us back up and running. As the founder of the blog I am enthused to be back at this. As FR2 mentioned we probably won't be as busy here(right now) as we were a few years ago but you can be sure we'll be posting here regularly from here forward. Thanks again for all the MANY e-mails, texts, cards and letters imploring our return.

2) Yes, I wrote "I". We (FR2 and I) will dispense with the first person plural writing style. It seemed to confuse some folks so we both will from here forward implore the typical first person singular style.

3) I and FR2 are loking forward to writing more of our unique commentary/observations as the Cup playoffs progress and ofcourse relate any rumours we hear from our various sources throughout the league.

As always, keep it here for all the latest!!