Look out Canada: Bruins continue their rampage up North

Granted the teams they've played on this six-game road trip haven't all been Stanley Cup contenders (sorry Senators, Islanders and Oilers) but can you remember a more successful trip in the last few years than this current one for the Bruins?

I certainly can't as the Bs (36-19-7) won their season-high fifth straight in Canada, 3-2 last night over host Edmonton (20-35-8) at the Rexall Place.

There has been a new star each night and against the Oilers-the NHL's worst team-it was Michael Ryder (1 goal, 1 assist) and Nathan Horton (1 goal, 1 fight).

It's been very under the radar since he's so inconsistent by nature but Ryder has had a pretty decent season. The good news is that with Boston scoring so many goals this season, they don't have to count on his mercurial talents to show up in the biggest games (the playoffs). It's a bonus now when he does something.

Horton has also been on fire lately. Using his big body to stick his nose in front of the net while also playing more physical. He's been rewarded with a ton of points lately.

Tuukka Rask (15 saves; 8-11-1) got the start and gave up a goal to Ales Hemsky (from Jim Vandermeer and Dustin Penner) 1:05 into the game but he settled down from there and basically sat back and watched his teammates pepper Oilers goaltender Devan Dubynk (37 saves) with 40 shots.

Horton jumped Edmonton's Theo Peckham at 8:27 of the first period after Peckham had hit David Krejci hard. They got into a short-lived fight but Horton pummelled him and Peckham didn't return in the game.

Ryder tied it up at 15:30 of the first period with a sweet goal from Milan Lucic and Adam McQuaid. It was Ryder's 17th of the season and he waited for Dubnyk to make a move before he roofed it over him.

Horton made it 2-1 at 18:39 of the first period from Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg. Krejci found him with a sweet pass and Horton crushed the one-timer past Dubnyk for his 17th of the season.

Rich Peverley scored his first as a Bruin late in the second period (at 19:08) from Ryder and Chris Kelly. It was Peverley's 15th of the season and it was all him after he made a nice backhand fake on Dubnyk. Somehow the two newest Bruins forwards (Peverley and Kelly) have squeezed some life out of Ryder. Something fellow bum Blake Wheeler (now on the Atlanta Thrashers) could never do.

Gilbert Brule of the Oilers cut it to 3-2 at 3:14 with a tough-angle slap shot from Jordan Eberle and Jason Strudwick.

The battle of the NHL's top picks in 2010 never really materialized. Edmonton's Taylor Hall was held in check and as usual, Tyler Seguin's minutes were limited along with his impact.

Things got more chippy in the third period as Brad Marchand fought Andrew Cogliano and Lucic scrapped with Vandermeer in one of the better fights of the season.

The Bruins have the rare opportunity to cash in a perfect road trip if they can just get a win in Ottawa tomorrow night (where they played a week and a half ago in Tomas Kaberle's first game with Boston). Ottawa is still the worst team in the Eastern Conference and they've had a fire sale, getting rid of almost all their assets ahead of today's trade deadline.

Celtics beat the Clippers in the start to the post-Kendrick Perkins era

Beating the Clippers is not usually the start of something special in the NBA but it was interesting to watch the Boston Celtics last night as Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green made their debuts at the Staples Center.

Most have second-guessed the latest trades by the Celts (42-15) and it certainly wasn't looking good as they trailed Los Angeles (21-39) 47-40 at halftime. However, in a metaphor for both the trade and the season, Boston showed that having patience will pay off.

The Celtics played a solid second half and left with a 99-92 win. Neither Krstic (9 points, 6 rebounds) nor Green (7 points) had performances that will set the world on fire but what can you expect for a couple players that have one practice under their belt with their new team? Krstic showed that he can hit shots and has good hands while Green is athletic and can run the floor, basically what the scouting report was for both of them.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 24 points, Ray Allen added 22 points and Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Rajon Rondo notched 11 assists while Glen Davis put up 10 points off the bench. Delonte West looked comfortable with nine points and five assists in 19 minutes backing up Rondo.

Randy Foye was immense for the Clippers, putting up a game-high 32 points and seven assists while Blake Griffin, the darling of the NBA, had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Kaman had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench, showing why he should be starting now that he's healed (over DeAndre Jordan).

LA jumped out to a 26-18 lead after one quarter and then the 47-40 halftime advantage. I was more busy watching the Bruins game at the bar but I did notice the Cs make their move in the third quarter (34-21). They put the Clippers away with the fourth quarter (25-24).

The Clippers shot 46.1% to 41.1% for the Celtics. LA made one more 3-pointer (5-4) but Boston made 18 more free throws (35-17) and pulled down seven more rebounds (43-36). Los Angeles had four more assists (25-21), four more blocks (7-3) and four more points in the paint (42-38).

Boston travels to Utah tomorrow night to face a team that just lost its legendary coach (Jerry Sloan) to retirement and traded away its franchise player (Deron Williams) to the Nets. So yeah, the Jazz are a complete mess right now.

What else can you say: Bruins top the NHL's best team, on their own ice

It was the first time in ages (maybe ever?) that I watched a Boston Bruins game at a bar and what better occasion than last night as the Bs visited the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL's best team?

The other overserved patrons in Beverly, Mass and myself were pumped as Boston (35-19-7) pulled it out, 3-1 over the Canucks (39-15-9) at the Rogers Arena.

Hometown hero Milan Lucic had a goal and two assists while goaltender Tim Thomas made 27 saves to improve to 28-8-6.

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo (22 saves) was fine but the high-scoring Canucks attack could never get going as the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler were all held scoreless.

The game looked destined for overtime but great hustle from David Krejci and Lucic was rewarded with the game-winning goal. Krejci dangled around one of the Sedins in Vancouver's defensive zone, went behind the net then threw it out in front of the goal where Lucic won a battle and flipped it past Luongo for his 27th of the season. Dennis Seidenberg also assisted on the highlight strike.

Manny Malhotra gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead in the first period at 16:58 with assists from Raffi Torres and Christian Ehrhoff. Thomas made the initial save but his defense didn't clear the traffic out of the way and Malhotra was able to score his 9th of the season.

After getting dominated in the first period, the Bruins awoke in the second period and tied it up when Nathan Horton scored his 16th of the season. Lucic and Tomas Kaberle assisted on Horton's goal. Like Malhotra it was the result of hard work in front of the net. The snake-bitten Horton's first shot was stopped as usual but he stayed with it and poked it in.

Patrice Bergeron put it away with an empty-netter with 1:13 left in the third period. Lucic also assisted on Bergeron's 21st of the season.

Boston travels to Edmonton tonight to face the Oilers, the NHL's worst team. Back-to-backs are tough especially on the road but the Bs should have enough talent to get by on this one.

Bet the NBA wishes it had flex scheduling for TNT Thursdays

It's hard to remember a regular season marquee matchup on TNT that fell apart worse than last night's meeting between the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics from the Pepsi Center.

Denver had just traded franchise player Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks while Boston shipped five players away, most notably Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson.

So yeah, the fact that the Celts (41-15) dressed only nine players (including D-League callup Chris Johnson) meant this one was over before it began.

Boston actually led 75-73 midway through the fourth quarter but from there, the Nuggets (34-25) went on a 16-0 run to take it 89-75.

To call this game ugly would be an understatement on par with saying Chris Anderson and J.R. Smith enjoy the occasional tattoo.

Denver was led by Kenyon Martin's game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Haha K-Mart capped off the weird contest with a 3-pointer. New Nugget Wilson Chandler scored 16 points off the bench while Nene (12 points, 10 rebounds), Smith (12 points), Aaron Afflalo (13 points) and Ty Lawson (10 assists) all had decent showings.

For the Cs, Paul Pierce led the shorthanded squad with 17 points. Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 13 rebounds while Glen Davis (11 points) and Ray Allen (10 points) were also in double figures. The one positive to come out of this throwaway game was Delonte West (10 points) had a nice game off the bench.

The newest Celtics Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic will make their debuts tomorrow night in front of Bill Simmons as Boston visits the Los Angeles Clippers and Blake Griffin.

The NBA Trade Deadline is Danny Ainge's favorite day of the year

Just like any other normal day, I went to Planet Fitness this afternoon. Thinking that with very few tradeable assets and a true championship contender roster (when healthy) the Celtics wouldn't make much noise before the trade deadline (3pm today) proved to be one of my worst predictions in a while.

In a series of three separate moves, the Celts shipped away five players and got only two in return. Wait what?

At first blush, seeing Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson go to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, cash and the Clippers 2012 first round pick was shocking and I have to say that I didn't like it. However, upon further review I feel like you have to trust Ainge since he's been able to make other solid (albeit not as big) deals before and after (buyouts) the trade deadline in past seasons.

In addition, Luke Harangody and Semih Erden were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 2013 second round pick. And finally, Marquis Daniels (who probably won't play this season due to his spinal injury) was sent to the Sacramento Kings for cash considerations and a protected second round pick in 2017 (haha really).

Whew and I thought the Bruins were the ones making moves before their trade deadline (next Monday).

Perkins is by far the biggest loss for Boston. He's their defensive stopper who's capable of guarding Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, etc. It makes you scratch your head since now the Cs will have to rely on Shaq or Jermaine O'Neal (don't hold your breath on that) along with Krstic who's not known for his defense.

For the time being, they called up Chris Johnson (2nd year 6-11 center from LSU) from the D-League since they only had eight players in Denver for their game vs. the Nuggets.

You always want to get the best player in a trade, not giving him up and it's obvious that in Jeff Green, the Celtics did so. He was drafted by Boston with the fifth pick in 2007 but then quickly shipped to Seattle for Ray Allen. We all know how that story ended up.

Green is young (24), big (6-9) and versatile. This was a move with the future in mind, a tough balance when you're trying to get Banner 18 this season. As my friend said, having Rondo and Green in a few years is much better than just Rondo and Perk. Plus, Perk's contract was going to be up after this season and I have to assume that the Celtics tried to re-sign him but couldn't so they wanted to get something in return while they could.

Losing Robinson isn't a big deal. Aside from a few playoff games last season, he never really had any consistent play. He's fun to watch but if they made a deal, you knew he would be involved. I'm also bummed to see Erden and Harangody go since they're both young players who could turn out pretty good but again, who else could they trade?

Daniels might still return next season. With two roster spots left, what does Ainge do? Troy Murphy, Leon Powe, James Posey and Richard Hamilton are names that have all been mentioned for buyouts. Murphy seems most likely and he would be a good fit: he averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds last season so he can't be completely washed up. Who knows how much Powe or Posey have left? Rip can still play but I don't see how Boston can afford him.

Got all that? It's going to take some time to digest these moves but one thing's for sure: Danny Ainge has the biggest balls in the world. The anti-Peter Chiarelli if you will. Rather than hemming or hawing for years about minor players, Ainge completely surprises you. Let's hope the Mormon is right again.

We'll miss you Perk.

Bill Walton rules

First of all, I have to give props to Bill Walton last night. Taking over on the West Coast trip for Tommy Heinsohn, Walton was absolutely on fire for the entire game. Ripping players left and right, making fun of anything under the sun, it truly was a joy to listen to. I love Tommy and I'm sure Walton never wants to leave California but the Celts should find a way to incorporate him (for the playoffs?) more moving forward.

I've never drank Four Loko (my college experience sadly came a few years too early) but I imagine downing one of those is similar to watching the Golden State Warriors play basketball. One of my buddies from home has season tickets to the Warriors and at first I thought it was a waste of money since the NBA is seriously flawed. However, it would be a trip to see that team play a bunch of games. There's nothing like them: no shot is bad, no player is lacking for overconfidence, defense is non-existent.

It looked like the Celtics (41-14) might get run out of Oracle Arena but they recovered with a fine second half to take a 115-93 win over Golden State (26-30) in their first game after the All-Star break.

In any sport, a sign of a great team is that they can play any style and still beat you. Kevin Garnett (24 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) and Rajon Rondo (19 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds) especially seemed to pick it up against the layup line known as the Warriors.

Paul Pierce added 23 points and Ray Allen had 18 points while Glen Davis was nice off the bench with 12 points and 10 assists.

Besides the stud guards Stephen Curry (18 points) and Monta Ellis (15 points), Golden State now has some quality supporting players including David Lee (17 points) and Dorell Wright (19 points) who has become one of the NBA's best shooters out of nowhere.

Boston was up 31-30 after one quarter but it was tied at 60 going into halftime. The Cs won the third quarter (28-15) and the fourth was more of the same (27-15) as the team with the defensive identity showed up when it mattered.

The Celts shot 55.6% to 39.3% for the Warriors. Golden State made 14 more free throws (22-8) but Boston had 17 more rebounds (52-35) and assists (35-18). The Cs had a season-high 30 fastbreak points and 54 points in the paint. What a wacky game. You mentally prepare yourselves for a Warriors game but you can never imagine just how insane they play.

The only bad news for the Celtics was that Kendrick Perkins hurt his left knee although it didn't look too serious. He's questionable for tomorrow night's game in Denver against the Carmelo Anthony-less Nuggets.

Bruins knock off the NHL's hottest team (bad pun alert!)

The Calgary Flames were 11-1-2 in their last 14 games, an incredible stretch that had gotten them back from the dead and in the middle of a very messy Western Conference playoff picture.

No matter since with Tomas Kaberle, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley playing their first game together, the Boston Bruins were the better team and came away with a 3-1 win last night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Milan Lucic scored two goals, David Krejci had two assists and Tim Thomas (28 saves; 27-8-6) looked like the brick wall we've all enjoyed this season (leaving his past three poor performances in the dust).

It only took Lucic 59 seconds to give Boston (34-19-7) a 1-0 lead. Krejci faked out Flames (31-23-8) goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff (26 saves) and dished across the goalmouth to Lucic (his 25th of the season) for an easy tap-in. Adam McQuaid also assisted.

After a scoreless second period, Marchand gave the Bruins some insurance with his 19th (!) of the season from Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Ference at 5:55 of the third period. Bergeron started the play with a great body check to keep the puck deep in the Calgary zone. Ference's shot went right to Marchand who is on quite a tear. He roofed it in a flash.

Curtis Glencross scored his 20th of the season, off a sweet dish from Jarome Iginla (and Alex Tanguay) to cut it to 2-1 at 17:27.

Lucic cinched it with an empty-netter with 47 seconds left. Krejci and Mark Recchi assisted.

So far the Bs are 3-0-0 on their pivotal six-game road trip. It doesn't get any easier as they matchup with the NHL's best team: the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.