I Can't Wait For The 2012-13 Bruins Regular Season To Start

With the NBA postseason concluding tonight (I forget who won), there's nothing but MLB from now until September when the NFL regular season starts. Of course, there are welcome diversions like Euro 2012, the College World Series, Wimbledon, London Olympics, Little League World Series etc. but today the Boston Bruins gave us something else to savor this summer: their 2012-13 regular season schedule.

At first glance, it's a very appealing start to the season for the B's as they open with three games on the road against Eastern Conference foes. The season starts on October 11 against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center, from there Boston visits the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils two nights later before taking on the Montreal Canadiens October 16 at the Bell Centre.

The NHL didn't wait long to get its money's worth out of the superb Bruins-Canadiens rivalry as the teams actually play a home-and-home series in the first week of the 2012-13 season. TD Garden will be electric for the home opener on October 18 with the Habs in town.

Boston will get its first crack at the Washington Capitals-the team that unceremoniously knocked them out of the 2012 playoffs-on November 2 as the B's visit the Caps. Too bad Tim Thomas will miss that one, no word on if his bunker gets NESN.

Other highlights include the Rangers visiting the afternoon following Thanksgiving (November 23) then the Penguins coming to Boston the next night and the Devils will be here two nights after that.

The Original 6 meetings with the Red Wings (December 10 in Detroit) and Blackhawks (January 12 in Boston; February 17 in Chicago) are always superb, I always wish they played them more often. Those games are 10 times more interesting and exciting than the usual Northeast Division games vs. the Maple Leafs, Senators or Sabres that seemingly take up half of the schedule.

The Stanley Cup champs-the LA Kings-only play the Bruins once, December 17 at TD Garden. Ditto for the Canucks although Boston will have to go there on December 29. The Blues visit on January 29 and Boston goes to Nashville on February 18.

For my money, Bruins-Flyers (March 9 in Boston, March 30 in Boston and March 31 in Philly) and Bruins-Canadiens (January 19 in Montreal, February 28 in Montreal, March 4 in Boston and March 27 in Boston) are usually your best bets for most intense regular season matchups involving the B's.

Boston's schedule is front-loaded with long homestands early in the season: six games in October and November/early December plus seven games in December. That means they will be paying for it in the second half on a long road trip: seven games in February (which feels like an annual occurrence before the trade deadline).

Three of the Bruins last four regular season games are on the road and they wrap it up April 12 in Buffalo against the Sabres.

Stay tuned for the NHL draft which begins tomorrow night in Pittsburgh then free agency officially starts on July 1. After that, it will be a very slow couple of months for hockey.

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Red Sox Pound Marlins 15-5, Get Out Of Last Place & Gain A Game On Everyone In AL East

There have been very few nights like this lately where basically everything goes right for the Boston Red Sox. When that happens, you remember why you started watching baseball in the first place.

Boston (35-33, 16-19 home) rolled to its fourth straight win as they blew out Miami (33-35, 16-17 away) 15-5 tonight at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have now won six of their last seven games as they slowly try to make people pay attention since summer is truly here.

The only negative part for fans was that it was an absurd 96 degrees when the game started at a place that is naturally a sweat box to begin with. Still, there was plenty to be happy about as the Red Sox climbed out of last-place for the first time since June 3 and also gained a game on every other AL East team since they all lost.

The Marlins are reeling (no pun intended) as they've lost 12 of their last 14 games. Starter Ricky Nolasco (6-6) was shelled as he allowed nine earned runs in only 3.1 innings.

Red Sox starter Felix Doubront (8-3) beat Miami for the second time in a week thanks to six innings of work. He was not nearly as good as last time out but with a big lead, he did more than enough.

The home team gave its sweaty fans plenty to cheer about as they posted a season-high in runs including 16 hits, 14 RBIs and five walks. In a cool thing that you'll very rarely see, Boston hit every variety of home run in the lopsided victory: grand slam (David Ortiz), three-run (Mike Aviles), two-run (Will Middlebrooks) and solo (Jarrod Saltalamacchia).

Every starter in the lineup-except of course for Nick Punto-had a hit led by Daniel Nava (4 hits, 2 runs), Aviles (2 runs, 2 hits, 3 RBIs), Salty (3 runs, 2 hits), Ryan Kalish (2 runs, 2 hits) and Kevin Youkilis (2 hits). Not to be forgotten, Cody Ross added a bases-clearing double.

Logan Morrison and John Buck had solo homers for the Marlins while Omar Infante (3 hits), Justin Ruggiano (2 runs, 2 hits) and Jose Reyes (2 hits) all had multiple hits.

Boston was 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position and Miami was 2-for-14 in that same spot.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) will look for his first win of the season tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as he faces Carlos Zambrano (4-5) and the Red Sox try to sweep the Marlins.

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Patrice Bergeron Wins His First Selke Trophy

After a bitter first-round exit in the playoffs against the Capitals and Tim Thomas' bizarre exit, the Boston Bruins needed something positive to celebrate. They got it tonight as alternate captain Patrice Bergeron captured his first Selke Trophy (best defensive forward) at the 2012 NHL awards held in Las Vegas.

It was the first time Bergy had been nominated and he's the first Bruin to win it since former coach Steve Kasper 30 years ago in 1982. Those are the only two guys in franchise history to take home the Selke. The other nominees were St. Louis' David Backes and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who won three straight from 2008-10.

Individual honors don't usually do it for me but I have to say that this was pretty sweet. I was definitely cheering while I watched it since Bergeron not only is one of the classiest and most professional athletes in Boston, but he's also returned from a couple of horrific concussions that looked like they might end his career way too early.

From ESPNBoston.com
"Playing both sides of the rink is something that I take a lot of pride in," Bergeron said after receiving the award. "That's the way I learned to play hockey, and to actually win an award that's given to the best defensive forward, or two-way forward, is something very special.

"Hockey's such a team sport that I have to thank all my teammates for this right now," Bergeron said. "They're the reason why I'm here, and thanks for making my job easy."

What likely earned him the nod over two very worthy opponents was the fact that Boston's second-line center led the NHL in plus-minus (+36) for 2011-12, won the most faceoffs (973) in the entire league and had the second best faceoff win percentage (59.3, .1 behind Jonathan Toews). Bergeron paced the B's with 42 assists and he was second in points (64). Perhaps best of all, the team's steadiest forward played in a career-high 81 games.

Bergeron is at the peak of his career and it's wonderful that he was rightfully recognized by the NHL. He's no longer just a player that we all love, now everybody can point to his Selke to see what a special player he has become. PS his girlfriend that I had never seen before tonight is a smokeshow so he's got that going for him too.

Bruins captain and defenseman Zdeno Chara came in third for the Norris Trophy (best defenseman), losing to Ottawa's Erik Karlsson.

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Red Sox Get Back Over .500 Thanks To 3 Home Runs, 7-5 Win Vs. Marlins

After they had a 2-1 pitcher's duel (won by Boston) last Tuesday in Miami, it's only logical that tonight Clay Buchholz and Mark Buehrle both faltered as the Red Sox slugged their way to a 7-5 win in the interleague series opener at Fenway Park.

Boston (34-33, 15-19 home) climbed back over the .500 mark with their fifth win in six games as they sent Miami (33-34, 16-16 away) under it with the Marlins' 11th loss in their last 13 games. The victory was somewhat tempered by the fact that Dustin Pedroia left in the 7th inning after he popped out. It appeared like he re-injured his thumb but I guess we'll have to wait and see since the Red Sox act like the Patriots now when it comes to talking about hurt players.

Far more than starting pitching, this outcome was decided by three Red Sox home runs and a few other hits which were enough to overcome a career-high 5 RBIs from Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison (3 for 4, 2 double, 1 HR).

For the fourth straight game, Buchholz (8-2) still got the win but it broke up a string of four quality starts in a row. In six innings, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

Buehrle (5-8) was hit even harder as he gave up six earned runs on seven hits in only five innings. He struck out one and walked none but allowed all three longballs.

Morrison gave the Marlins a 2-0 lead in the first inning with his sixth homer of the season.

David Ortiz (17th of the season) tied it with a two-run blast of his own that just got over the wall in right during the home half of the first. Kelly Shoppach (4th of the season) continued his mastery of Buehrle (don't ask me why) with a two-run homer of his own over the Monster in the second inning.

Morrison's RBI double in the third scored Hanley Ramirez (3 hits, 2 runs, walk) and cut Boston's lead to 4-3.

Cody Ross had a memorable first game back from the DL (Scott Podsednik went on the DL with a groin strain) as he connected for a solo home run (his 9th of the season) in the fourth which made it 5-3.

Morrison tied it with a two-run double in the fifth but Adrian Gonzalez had a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Will Middlebrooks (2 hits) doubled in Kevin Youkilis (who had also doubled) in the sixth for the last Red Sox run.

It's become redundant to say but Boston's bullpen was superb again tonight: three innings, one hit, zero walks and three strikeouts. Matt Albers got the first two outs of the seventh before Andrew Miller got Morrison to fly out with Jose Reyes on third base and two outs.

Vicente Padilla allowed a hit but still got his 16th hold with a scoreless eighth (6.2 scoreless innings in a row). Alfredo Aceves struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save of the season.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) is another repeat from a week ago as Felix Doubront (7-3) faces Ricky Nolasco (6-5) with the Red Sox looking for their fourth consecutive win. Last Wednesday, Doubront flirted with a no-hitter as Boston rolled 10-2.

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Hockey Isn't That Far Away: Boston Bruins Announce 2012 Preseason Schedule

I thought it would be funny to write about the Boston Bruins since by this time tomorrow or definitely Thursday, we will probably all have melted from the oppressive heat wave coming to New England.

Today, the B's announced their 2012 preseason schedule and believe it or not, they'll be back on the ice in less than three months. Rookie camp begins Friday, September 14 at Wilmington's Ristuccia Arena and training camp opens a week later.

Boston has seven preseason games which seems like way too many but what can you do? They go to DC to meet the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, September 25 (7 p.m.) then Buffalo the next night to face the Sabres (7 p.m.). I've been told the only thing better than one night in rural Canada is an entire weekend, haha I guess I'll have to ask the Bruins if that's true since they play the Jets on Saturday, September 29 (9 p.m.) in Saskatoon and Sunday, September 30 (8 p.m.) back in Winnipeg. That desolate area will probably have a foot of snow on the ground already.

The B's only two preseason home games are Wednesday, October 3 vs. the Caps (7 p.m.) and Friday, October 5 vs. the Sabres (7 p.m.). The fake contests mercifully come to an end on Saturday, October 6 as the Bruins visit Montreal (7 p.m.) at the Bell Centre.

Not sure when it drops but the 2012-13 regular season schedule should come out soon. I'll have a full look at it when I find out the particulars. There is plenty of NHL stuff going on this week though as the NHL Awards take place tomorrow night in Las Vegas-Patrice Bergeron could finally win the Seilke award-while the NHL draft is Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh. Boston has the 24th pick in the first round along with selections in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

I'll let you know if anything noteworthy happens then, namely if Bergeron wins (he should) and/or if any trades go down at the draft-something which often occurs-since much like MLB's draft a few weeks back, I don't know anything about the players that will be chosen. Also, stay tuned for more information about training camp including the full rosters and practice schedule.

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Four Boston Pro Athletes Among Forbes' List Of Top 100 Highest Paid In 2012

As the saying goes, playing professional sports in New England isn't for everybody. There is tons of pressure and an insane level of scrutiny but it is also doubly rewarding when you do well since we will shower you with an unhealthy level of love and affection.

Forbes' List of the Top 100 highest paid athletes in 2012 proves that playing for the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox also has another positive aspect: you'll get paid handsomely. Bottom line, if you're a great competitor, you want to play in a market like this since the fans care so much and are for the most part very knowledgeable about the respective sports.

No surprise that Pats quarterback Tom Brady has the top spot locally at No. 28. He earned $23.1 million in salary and $4 million in endorsements. He's joined by teammate Logan Mankins who checks in at No. 51. New England's outstanding offensive lineman made $21.9 million in salary and $100,000 in endorsements. Haha I have no clue what Mankins pitches, maybe cowboy boots or trucks?

Celtics big man Kevin Garnett is the only guy on his team that's on the list. He was 57th, making $17.1 million in salary and $4 million in endorsements.

Finally, the last Boston athlete to sneak onto the list is Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford. Obviously, his inclusion is the one that sticks out the most since he had an awful first season with Boston last year and he has yet to play in a game this season due to a bunch of injuries. He was 98th with $16.8 million in salary and $150,000 in endorsements. I guess those Dunkin' Donuts ads don't pay what they used to.

There were no Bruins on the list which is probably a good thing since it would give Tim Thomas something else to complain about on his Facebook page. That stupid government! Apropos of nothing, he is tied for the third highest paid Bruin next season ($5 million) behind captain Zdeno Chara ($6.9 million), center David Krejci ($5.25 million) and tied with center Patrice Bergeron despite the fact that he supposedly won't play in 2012-13.

We are lucky enough to currently have some of the best professional coaches (remember the Highest Paid Coaches list by Forbes?) and players residing in our region.

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New England Patriots Owner Bob Kraft Wins PFWA's 2012 Halas Award, Whatever That Is

No matter who you are or what has happened in the past year, odds are that New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft has been through more since this same time frame in 2011: he was a big piece that helped end the NFL lockout, his beloved wife Myra passed away and the Pats had another great season but lost in the Super Bowl to the Giants.

Today, it was announced that Kraft was chosen as the 2012 George Halas award winner by the Professional Football Writers Association (PFWA). It's a nice way to wrap up what has no doubt been an exhausting and very emotional period in his life.

He is the first NFL owner and also person associated with the Patriots to win the award which recognizes the NFL player, coach or staff member that overcomes the most adversity to succeed during a given season.

The other nominees were Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson and Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford who both came back from season-ending injuries in 2010 to have great individual seasons in 2011 while former No. 1 overall pick 49ers quarterback Alex Smith finally put it all together as San Francisco made the NFC Championship game before losing to the Giants.

That wasn't the only big news for Kraft as it was also revealed that he'll be inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony on October 18. Kraft earned two letters at the Ivy League school: he played on the freshman football team in 1959 then was on the varsity lightweight football team in 1960. An injury during his junior ended his football career.

Even though we never saw him play, we can all agree that Kraft is a much better businessman than football player, still it's pretty cool that his alma mater is recognizing him. Not that they need the money but you can bet that Kraft has built a few laboratories or dorms on Columbia's campus. That and the fact that he's so famous are probably why he is getting this honor in the first place plus it's not like Columbia is known for its powerhouse sports programs.

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