Stanley Cup Game 5 is upon us. Puck drops in a few hours. Biggest questions and concern on Bruins fans’ minds? What is Captain Zdeno Chara’s status? After taking a brutal deflected puck to the face last game, his future in this series is uncertain.
Is his jaw broken? Shattered? Did it land somewhere in the upper deck of TD Garden? Does Jack Edwards steal it off the ice and now it sits on his mantel from insanity? No one knows for sure. Speculation across the board and the Bruins are have gone darker than Wayne Gretsky’s dye job on the subject. What is going to happen here, people? As I type this I just learned Z’s jaw is wired and he is speaking to media with written messages, but “cleared” to play. Do’H!
While Z’s series playing future remains a 6’9″ question mark, I want to offer a few possible scenarios and the correlating reaction by Bruin’s fans. Some are good, some are bad. And there is actually the possibility we could see some storybook, Patriots-level ending to this Cup Final.
SCENARIO #1:
Zdeno returns tonight to play in Game 5. He is reinjured. Bruins lose game and then the series.
Boston Reaction: Fire Cassidy, burn the Garden down. Bring us the heads of any of Lord Stanley’s living heirs.
SCENARIO #2: Chara never returns to Series, despite clearance. Bruins win without him.
Boston Reaction: “Ship him back to Tall-istan. Waste of cash! I’m glad his jaw is broke so we never need to hear him speak again.“
SCENARIO #3: Chara never return to series. Bruins lose cup in 6 games.
Boston Reaction: “We total would have frickin’ won that thing if that big prick was in the lineup…”
MY SCENARIO:
Chara plays Game 5 only for Penalty Kills (PKs) and the Bs win. Reinjured, he can’t play Game 6. Bruins lose. PRIOR to Game 7, he writes down on a wipeboard for the press, “BRUINS CAPTURE CUP IN 7!!!” Captain Chara scores the game (and Cup) winning goal and retires as oldest and tallest Bruin. Statues are being built presently.
And we have the pleasure of witnessing this again…
Boston Reaction: Every real Bruins fan intentionally breaks their own jaw (preferably by a puck to the chops from their best buddy). They each write down “City of Champions” on their forged doctor’s note. And then, the whole city hums the Czechoslovakian National Anthem while the Duck Boats pass on by.
The series is now tied at 2-2 after the St. Louis Blues took a 4-2 win at the Enterprise Center on Monday. The Boston Bruins will have to turn up the heat at home in Game 5 on Thursday, as the competition for the Stanley Cup goes down to the wire.
Blues in Control
Before the series began, no one would have expected the Blues to have the upper hand in terms of control, as the St. Louis side has never previously won a game in the Stanley Cup Finals. Now however, Doug Armstrong’s side are 2-2 in the series having just secured a win in Game 4 – largely due to the fact that they controlled possession for 61% of the game in Missouri. The Blues dominated from early on, as Ryan O’Reilly opened the scoring for the Blues just 43 seconds into the game. A goal from Charlie Coyle brought Boston level in the 13th minute, only for the Blues to regain the lead just before the break thanks to a strike from Vladimir Tarasenko with 4 and a half minutes left on the clock.
Boston drew level in the second period with a shorthand goal from Brandon Carlo, but it was not enough to mount a comeback. O’Reilly took his second of the night with just 9 minutes to go in the game, and Brayden Schenn followed suit with just a minute and a half left before the final whistle.
To the Wire
The Bruins faded after the second period in Game 4, and struggled to keep pace with the Blues attack, but will be expected to play aggressively at home on Thursday night. With the extent of captain Zdeno Chara’s injury still unknown – there have been reports that he suffered a broken jaw during the second period of Game 4 – the Bruins could be at a defensive disadvantage, as Matt Grzelcyk also has yet to return to the squad following his concussion from Game 2. Still, the Bruins are keeping their options open – you can’t count anyone out for certain at this stage of the Stanley Cup.
You can check out more odds and predictions on the final two games of the Series at the Wincomparator site.
Insiders around the NBA don’t expect Kyrie Irving to be playing for the Boston Celtics in 2019-2020. The Celtics could lose one of the best players in the league, but they’ll also lose their point guard. Assuming the Celtics don’t address their point guard issues in the draft, they’ll look to free agency.
It’s hard to imagine Aaron Baynes not exercising his $5.5 million ($5.5M) option, and restructuring Baynes’ contract seems unlikely. Al Horford is due $30.1M via a player option this season. and becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2020-2021 at age 34. If Horford earns that $301.1M, but another team signs Terry Rozier, the Celtics salary cap will still approach $99.9M. The Celtics would have just over $9M in cap space, and $23M in “soft cap” space, before hitting the luxury tax. It would be difficult for Boston to sign a marquee point guard while retaining roster depth with that kind of money. Horford restructuring his contract would not be difficult.
Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, left, smiles as he hugs teammate Terry Rozier (12) during a game in 2017. Both point guards are expected to sign with other teams for the 2019-2020 season. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
Restructuring Al Horford
The Boston Celtics could restructure Horford to a 4-year $100M contract that paid $20M in 2019-2020. This hypothetical contract would pay Horford $23.5M, $27.5M and $29M, respectively, until 2022-2023. The salary cap will rise as Horford approaches 38 years of age by contract’s end. That restructured contract would free up an additional $10M in 2019-2020, affording the Celtics the requisite cap space.
This hypothetical contract would also count for $23.5M against the 2020-2021 salary cap. Combined with Gordon Hayward’s $34.1M, Marcus Smart’s $12.9M, Jason Tatum’s non-guaranteed $9.9M club option and Jaylen Brown’s $8.6M qualifying offer, the 2020-2021 salary cap would sit at $89.5M. Considering the NBA salary cap increases to $118M in 2020-2021, the Celtics would have $28.5M in cap space. The luxury tax threshold increases to $143M that season, meaning Boston could theoretically have upwards of $54M in cap space. That money will cover any free agent signed in 2019-2020, draft picks, a veteran minimum contract and extension space for Tatum and Brown.
The Boston Celtics will need to restructure Al Horford’s contract moving forward if the Celtics plan to sign any marquee free agents, or even offer extensions to existing players such as Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Free Agent Point Guards
The market happens to be rife with point guards, some of which would fit the Celtics roster and salary cap. There are 18 unrestricted, and one restricted, free agent point guards available this off season. I believe six of them would be perfect fits for the Celtics. Kemba Walker, an All-NBA selection, will command the most money. Ricky Rubio made $13.75M in 2018-2019 and will likely command somewhere ~150% of that salary in 2019-2020. Patrick Beverly and D’Angelo Russell both made ~$5.8M in 2018-2019, but Russell’s salary will be drastically different in 2019-2020. Elfrid Payton and Emmanuel Mudiay provide the most flexibility, but the most uncertainty. Mudiay’s $5.8M qualifying offer would cost the New York Knicks nearly $13M against their cap.
Considering the money likely required to secure Walker and Russell, combined with Russell’s documented immaturity, I would pass on both. One could also make the same financial argument for Rubio, whose production likely won’t match his salary. Mudiay is a nice player, but not much of an upgrade over Boston’s current options. Besides, Mudiay could be retained by the New York Knicks. I argue here for the free agent signings of Beverly and Payton. Patrick Beverly would provide the defensive veteran presence and playoff experience Brad Stevens would appreciate. Elfrid Payton, 25, averaged 10.6 ppg, 5.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game for the New Orleans Pelicans. Those contracts would likely cost the Celtics ~$20M per season going forward, freeing up the requisite cap space for depth. The Boston Celtics need to make moves at point guard and I believe I’ve outlined the perfect plan.
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Imagine you’ve trained to do one specific thing. You worked yourself through the ranks. From the bottom to the the top. Now you’re in the big leagues. All that time spent grinding, practicing, and scrimming so you can show you’re the best at what you do. And then – you get asked to do something else. What would you do?
Like a first baseman asked to play outfield or a right winger put in as the goalie, blase, a dps specialist, found himself put in the brig. What is the brig? For the uninitiated, the brig is a special type of hellhole for those like blase who specialize in dispensing death to the masses. Instead of headhunting, smashing with your fist, or shooting grenades, you’re made to shieldbash. To hand out repair packs like halloween candy. Or to get all your teammates together and throw out a rally. What a miserable existence.
To have such an exceptional skill set, to be on the grandest stage, and to be told – to do something else? That has to set off an array of emotions. We got the chance to ask blase about it, how the Uprising are doing, and where he sees the team going.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Boston Sports Extra’s LoadScr33n:We’re just about halfway through the 2019 season – what are some of the highlights for you and the team?
Jeffrey ‘blase’ Tsang: Some highlights were being able to play DPS on certain maps like Koth where I got to show my doom off. Another highlight is our three reverse sweeps in a row which was pretty cool to pull off, and also making the Stage 1 playoffs when the odds were stacked against us.
LoadScr33n: It seems the Uprising have been able to deal with major roster turnover both as the season started and as it progressed. What are some reasons why this team has so quickly developed such strong cohesion?
blase: Everyone on our team is nice and easy to approach, no one has a huge ego and we all get along. We also have a great coaching staff that keep everything in order if things ever go awry.
LoadScr33n: Let’s talk about week 5’s two matchups. There were low expectations for the Uprising going against the then Stage 2 undefeated LA Gladiators. What did were some big things you did to prepare for the match?
blase: We knew that LA Gladiators wanted the perfect stage and to accomplish that, they needed to win one more match which was against us. We knew they were pretty nervous and the way we thought about it was the way we lost to the Hangzhou Spark and we could do the same thing against them. We could be the Spark against the Gladiators, like the hole in the road they were against us. We just played our game and tried our best.
LoadScr33n: You guys played a lot of DPS comps on Control and Assault maps against Washington/LA – why is Boston not only willing to play that way but successful at it?
blase: After obtaining RCK, we were able to flex more to triple DPS compositions because we also have good DPS players in Colourhex and myself. We are also not perfect at goats much like the top teams so DPS comps are a good “cheese” to beat certain teams that are weak at it.
LoadScr33n: Boston is 12th in the league standings – far away from the automatic season playoffs cutoff of sixth place. What are some things the team can work on to better their position and improve as a whole?
blase: We just need to keep practicing and be more consistent with our performances and keep a certain level of skill even if we play a weaker opponent. It’s also probably going to be more goats in stage 3 so we will keep at the grind to be a better goats team.
LoadScr33n: Fans learn about the team and players from watching matches, following Twitch streams, scanning Reddit, and several other online news sources. Despite this plethora of information, what would you say are some things fans don’t know or understand about the Boston Uprising and you specifically?
blase: I don’t mind playing brig but would like to play a different meta.
Everyone at Boston Sports Extra appreciates blase taking the time to speak with us. At 7-7, Boston sits at 12th place in the league. Missing the Stage 2 playoffs, the team has its work cut out for them. Stage 3 begins this Friday, June 7th at 8:45pm. Uprising are hosting a free watch party at the Hard Rock cafe for fans. Get there early.
Two steps forward, one step back. That’s how the Stanley Cup Finals have gone for the Boston Bruins. They won Game 1 with a four-unanswered-goal comeback, taking it 4-2. They dominated Game 3 scoring four power play goals and winning 7-2. Unfortunately, Game 4 played similarly to Game 2. The Bruins couldn’t maintain the puck in the offensive zone, couldn’t keep it out of their own, and committed far too many turnovers. They lost Game 2 in overtime 3-2, then lost Game 4 by a score of 4-2. Both losses also came with injuries to the Bruins defense. In Game 2 Matt Grzelcyk was hit by Oskar Sundqvist and hasn’t played since due to a concussion. In Game 4 Zdeno Chara deflected the puck into his face and it’s reported that he has a broken jaw.
Tie Breaker
Tied at 2, the series is now a best-of-three. Game 5 is in Boston, as well as Game 7 if necessary. The Bruins will look to utilize the home crowd and light up the scoreboard early. They’ll need to establish and maintain offensive zone time and shoot at the net every chance they get. In both losses the Bruins had significantly fewer shots on goal than the Blues. Tuukka Rask has been amazing throughout the playoffs, but he’s going to need more offensive help to win the Stanley Cup.
(Associated Press)
Utilizing the Power Play
The Bruins haven’t been as productive during 5-on-5 play lately, so the key will be drawing penalties. They’ve been lethal on the power play and that can jump-start the full-strength offense. The Blues have been physical with several borderline (and a few egregious) hits, so getting a few calls should be inevitable. If the Bruins can capitalize on those chances and get something going, maintain puck possession, and cut down on turnovers, they’ll have a great chance of winning.
Defensive Woes
The defensive situation is a big question. Matt Grzelcyk was at practice on Wednesday, which is good news. But he was wearing the red, “no-contact”, jersey. So whether or not he plays in Game 5 remains to be seen. Chara is another question mark. There still hasn’t been any official word on him or his availability, but he wasn’t at practice on Wednesday. He’s consistently led the Bruins in ice time, so if he can’t play that leaves the Bruins with a large defensive hole. The current speculation is that Coach Bruce Cassidy will dress seven defensemen, instead of the usual five, to fill that void.
(Photo by Billy Hurst)
The Bruins had to win Game 3, and to do so they would have to play their best game of the season. They did. This time even more is on the line and they’ll have to play just as tough. They can’t allow the Blues to win Game 5 in Boston and go back to St. Louis to potentially win it all. Game 5 is an absolute must-win for the Bruins, and they’ll need all four lines showing up in force to do so. The series, the season, and the Stanley Cup is on the line.
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The London Spitfire have so many talented players on their roster it’s insane. You could discuss Profit and Birdring for literal hours going back and forth about who can carry their team harder. Then you have Gesture creating all sorts of space for the back line, while Fury is having an incredible season eating almost a grav a game. But today we are going to breakdown how Bdosin, London’s off-support, surprised Boston and pulled the match into London’s favor.
The last time these two teams met, the match came down to a last minute push on King’s Row. Boston was able to hold London short of the last point, so all they needed to do was push 1 meter farther. The fight was shaping up to be a clean Boston win.
rCk looks for the game-winning EMP
Let’s Watch the full fight and see what happened.
Clip Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment and the Overwatch League
By just a hair, rCk missed Bdosin with his EMP and Boston lost the fight because of it. This one small play by Bdosin prevented another reverse sweep attempt from Boston. But after watching this series multiple times over, it’s obvious that this match wasn’t defined by one play. It was won by Bdosin having one of the cleanest games of his OWL career. I want to take a look at how that happened, and what Boston can do to stop him in the upcoming match against London.
Superior Positioning
Bdosin’s strongest asset he brought to the match was his incredible positioning. He constantly creates situations where Boston was left with an impossible decision. Does Boston attempt to attack the back line first in a 3-3 mirror? Or do they believe they can power through the front line and clean up the healers after? The usual answer is the latter – burst down the enemy Reinhardt or Zarya, and then quickly roll the rest of the team over since their main source of damage is gone.
Having seen his fair share of GOATs, it looks as though Bdosin decides to create as much pressure as possible from difficult to reach positions. By staying far away from the chaos, he is able to force Boston to take fights that are out of their favor. Take this example from the first map Busan – Meka Base.
Busan – Meka Base
As Boston approaches the point, London is posturing just for a moment to build ult charge and to allow Gesture to return to the point. In the meantime, Bdosin takes advantage of the high ground that overlooks the point. The strength of Bdosin’s position lies in the fact that he is both uncontested and able to see the entire point. Why is this important? From where Bdosin stands, he is able to generate ult charge twice as fast as Aimgod. Being able to have line of sight to heal as well as deal damage, Bdosin gains 55% ult charge in 27 seconds. To compare, Aimgod gains 41% in the same time span.
Bdosin overlooks point from a safe distance
Even worse for Boston is that even if they do decide to pressure Bdosin on the high ground, they would waste large amounts of time to force him to simply rotate back to his team. Because he plays near the ledge behind his team, Bdosin puts himself in a spot to be able to drop down and ult if needed. From this one fight, London is able to snowball their advantage into a map win.
Paris Defense
As a bonus example, I wanted to share this little clip from the next map Paris. London has given up the first point easily to Boston, and now face a large time bank to hold Boston from completing the map. It’s a brief moment, though I think it really defines why these players are pro and most people are not.
Bdosin avoiding unnecessary damage
Boston eventually pushes London out of this position, but Bdosin sets up in a spot with 3 forms of protection against the enemy Zen. Bdosin sets up behind Birdring here, but he has the option to stand behind the globe as well as Gesture. From this position, Bdosin also has two very easy escape routes behind him and to the right towards point. Small moments like these are excellent for showcasing how each position should bring value to your team, even if you aren’t in a fight.
The Clutch Factor
Just like physical sports, the attributes that separate a good player from a great player are the intangibles. During this series, Bdosin displays what it means to have incredible game sense. His plays on Paris and King’s Row highlight what exactly “the clutch factor” can do for a team.
Paris Attack
If you re-watch this series, you’ll start to notice a trend in Bdosin’s play. He solely focuses the Boston supports in the posture phase. The pressure he inflicts onto the Boston backline causes Aimgod and Kellex to position themselves in awkward areas.
On the second Paris attack, Bdosin turns on the heat and brings Aimgod to half health the moment he peeks the choke. The shock of almost getting one-shot forces Aimgod to back up and play safer around the small wall and Blase. This also forces Aimgod to use bio-nade, a crucial cooldown Boston needs in order to slow down London’s push.
Moments later, Bdosin ends the game with a pick on Kellex to break the stalemate. The death of Kellex creates a flurry of opportunities for the London attackers.
First and foremost – Boston no longer has a defensive ultimate because they had elected to play Ana in hopes to counteract Bdosin’s transcendence. Second, Boston no longer has the speed boost to control the pace of the fight, once Lucio is gone London is given the freedom to attack when they choose.
Without that kill, Boston has a shot at winning the map and gaining momentum into King’s Row. Unfortunately Bdosin had other plans.
King’s Row Defense
Down 0-2, Boston needs to create a spark to get the momentum back in their favor. Up until this point, Boston has not brought out their Sombra GOATS despite having resident expert rCk in the lineup. It only makes sense that now would be the time to lean back on “the crutch” that is Sombra.
Sure enough, that is exactly what we see from Boston on their first attack. Even though Boston is able to complete the map, it was obvious the match would boil down to Bdosin’s transcendence vs rCk’s EMP. You can guarantee both players knew this as well, but only one was able to come out the victor. When the dust settled, Bdosin dodged 4 out of the 6 EMP’s from rCk.
Just another dodge from Bdosin
How was the battle so lopsided? Bdosin knew that each fight he had transcendence available, he needed to watch and listen for Sombra. Understanding that Sombra is the Boston win condition, Bdosin positions himself in spots that allows him to either ult early or avoid a hack altogether. Most importantly, when the last fight came around, Bdosin was simply more clutch than rCk.
When you watch the clip at the start of the article, you can see rCk trying to line up his EMP. He looks to hit both tanks and DPS, but Bdosin knows he is out of line of sight. Staying in that room forces rCk to either commit fully to hacking only Bdosin, or hack the rest of London with Bdosin left able to use his ultimate. By taking a small step back, Bdosin ends the match with a bang. Bdosin’s clutch dodge leads to a disappointing loss for Boston.
Moving Forward for Boston
This time around, I believe Boston can beat the Spitfire if they neutralize Bdosin’s play style. It’s important to not let him become comfortable standing in the back line uncontested. Whether it be Sombra or a triple-DPS team composition, Boston needs to be more proactive against London. After Busan, Boston was down 31-12 in terms of eliminations. Against any opponent this is a terrible ratio, let alone a team as strong as London. As we watch the games this weekend, keep an eye out for the thrilling rematch of rCk and Bdosin. Hopefully this time rCk waits just one more second to use that EMP.
All clips featured in this article are courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
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Dogs truly are the gift that keep giving, even in sports. Everyone knows you can incorporate your dog in your amatuer sports, but now you can include them in professional sports too, just like the NHL did.
According to petandpaws.ca, dogs have a whole range of health benefits. They can keep your fit and healthy, reduce your stress, help your lose weight, reduce your depression and anxiety, and improve your heart health.
With that in mind, recently the star that stole the show on the media day at the Stanley Cup Final wasn’t a hockey professional, but Sunny the dog.
Stanley Cup Final
Ask any Boston Bruins fan how excited they are about the Stanley Cup Final and they will exclaim “extremely!” Currently, on game 4, the score is 2-2 tied – there have been some incredible players to note, but none as incredible as Sunny who stole the show on the media day.
Sunny, the 18 months old dog, had fun in the interview room the day before the Cup Final began. He was interacting with players, in collaboration with NBC Sports and the Guide Dog Foundation.
Sunny brought cards with questions on them to the players to read, in return he received strokes and love – just what he loves. The media interview went down a treat and all the players really enjoyed Sunny the four-legged reporter’s company.
Not only did it help relax players during the interview, it was also very beneficial for Sunny who is learning to become a guide dog, with the Guide Dog Foundation. Guide dogs need to stay calm and collected, and experiences such as these are great for training the dogs.
The idea to bring Sunny along to the Cup Final media day came when NBC sports’ marketing department spotted Sunny at a New York Islanders game. The St. Louis Blues are amongst the National Hockey League teams with dogs who are also being trained for service.
Dogs in Sports
Dogs have such a role to play in sports, something more and more people are coming to realise. Most notably, dogs and other animals, such as cats, birds, pigs, or even llamas, can have a great impact on helping athletes.
Animal therapy is something that has helped many amatuer and professional sports players. For example, if you are a pet owner and fancy having a jogging buddy, you can take your furry friend with you and they can be a great motivation to keep going.
Whilst professional sport players can enjoy the company of friendly pooches at press conferences and media interviews, to try and take the nerve off and to make the day more memorable and different.
We love you Sunny
Whoever wins this tightly tied hockey final, will definitely have battled it out against some of the best players in the league.
Regardless of who wins and who loses, Sunny will be very proud of all the players. Because dogs really are man’s best friend. Which is exactly why more dogs need to get involved with sports.
The Patriots started mandatory minicamp this week. Quarterback Tom Brady took the field once again as he turns 42 in August. Brady didn’t take part in OTA’s for the second straight season, but worked out with a few receivers and by himself to prepare for minicamp. Tom Brady looked sharp and hasn’t looked like he’s missed a step. Brady has already worked with N’Keal Harry and Julian Edelman at his home, but it’ll be interesting to see how they connect as offseason workouts go on.
They have some work to do at the Tight End position
With Rob Gronkowski retired and Austin-Seferian Jenkins released their tight end position is thin. Benjamin Watson is also suspended for the first four games of the season. When Watson does comeback though, hopefully the chemistry between him and Brady is pretty solid and he can get some good production. They’ll also miss Gronkowski’s blocking. He was such a big guy to have block when running backs or receivers were headed his way with the ball.
The Patriots secondary is also pretty solid. Lots of leadership between Patrick Chung, Stephon Gilmore, and the Mc.Courty brothers. That defense helped the Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl in February. They also have Michael Bennett, who can help as a pass rusher. Bennett had nine sacks last season, and hoping to have more this season. He is very open to the media, which is non Patriot like, so we’ll see what happens if the Patriots turn him around. If he wants to win he’ll just listen and say what he’s told to say.
Before you know it training camp will be starting and it will be August. The Patriots really have everything going for them heading into the season. They are coming off another Super Bowl victory and get their rings on Thursday night. It should be a fun year with the chance at another Super Bowl run.
A tough series in New York topped off a tough couple of weeks for the Red Sox. Thanks to a win on Sunday night they are one game above .500 and kept themselves from falling another two games back. Failing to win the series was not great, but the fightback must start now.
The Red Sox starting pitching is largely to blame for the losses in New York over the weekend. Chris Sale and Rick Porcello allowed four and five earned runs respectively, in their two starts. Of course, they are not the only ones to blame. The Red Sox offense scored a combined four runs in those two games. That is just simply not good enough to win a series on the road.
The Royals Game 1 starter will be making just his third start of the season, and just the sixth of his career. Part of his role this season has been as an opener, but in this start, he will be serving more like a conventional starter. However, do not expect to see him go deeper than four or five innings.
As for the other two starters in this series, they have had differing seasons. Jakob Junis has a 5.35 ERA on the season and has been consistently inconsistent. In his last two starts, he has allowed just four earned runs, in the three before that he allowed 13. As for Danny Duffy, he has a 4.05 ERA this season. In his last four home starts he has allowed just nine earned runs to score.
HITTERS
The Royals offense is overall pretty middle of the road, and at home, they have been pretty hit or miss. However, in their last home series against the Yankees, they scored 16 runs in three games. Before that against the Rangers, they scored 16 in the first game alone, but just two in the following two games combined. Overall at home, they rank 23rd in ISO and 18th in SLG.
The Red Sox road offense has been pretty grim itself this season. They rank 15th in ISO, 14th in SLG, 12th in wOBA but 11th in wRC+. In their most recent road trip to New York, it took until the third game for the bats to light up. The Red Sox hit just two home runs in the first two games, and then a further two in the final game. However, they did manage to put eight runs on the Yankees in prime time on Sunday night.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Pitching: The starting pitching remains an issue. Yes, they did not get much run support in the first two games. However, it is no major shock they won the only game where the starter gave up less than three earned runs. The bullpen has had its issues at times, but the starting pitching has been to blame for a lot of the losses this year. The Red Sox need that pitching to improve if they are to stay in touch for the division. They can start that in this series, by improving on that 14th ranked 4.50 staff ERA on the road.
Hitting: I touched on the road struggles for this offense above. At home, they rank top-10 in many of the major stats, at least from a power point of view. The Red Sox remain sub-.500 (16-17) on the road, and with a 4.50 ERA from their pitchers away from home, their offense needs to be above average. This is now especially important, as the Red Sox are looking less and less likely to have home-field advantage at any point in the playoffs.
EXPECTATIONS
Losing two out of three on the road to anyone is not ideal. Losing two out of three on the road to your fiercest rival, when they are already 9.5 games ahead of you before the series, is a borderline disaster. However, that has happened and now the Red Sox must respond in a big way in the coming week.
After a tough two weeks, things get a little easier for the Red Sox. Just four of their next 14 games are against teams with a plus-.500 record. Now is the time to cash in for the Red Sox, and that starts in the next three days with the Royals. The Red Sox need to win at least three of these four upcoming series, including this one in Kansas City.
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals is set for Thursday, June 6th at TD Garden in Boston. It’s a pivotal and important game for both teams with the series tied at 2. The Blues will be riding momentum after beating the Bruins 4-2 in Game 4. The Bruins, however, have shown they have the resilience to fight back after coming back from a 2-0 deficit in Game 1 and winning 4-2. They’ve also shown they can completely dominate by winning Game 3 in St. Louis 7-2. The Bruins will need the hometown crowd to participate, getting as loud and supportive as possible. One of the keys to their Game 3 win was scoring early and taking the St. Louis crowd out of the game. They weren’t so lucky in Game 4.
Crowd Involvement
The crowd needs to get into the game early. In fact, they need to get loud and rowdy before the puck drops. That’s a job for the Banner Captain. The role of the Banner Captain is to wave the Bruins flag shortly before puck drop to get the crowd going. For Game 1 it was a position mutually held by the 2011 Stanley Cup-Winning Bruins team. In Game 2 it was New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. So who should wave the flag as Banner Captain before the pivotal Game 5?
(Photo by Associated Press)
Could it be Brady?
The rumor mill is churning with heavy force in that regard. The overwhelming prediction is Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Brady doesn’t usually participate in other Boston sporting events due to his rigorous schedule. That said, if the G.O.A.T. showed up waving the flag the crowd would erupt on an epic scale. Brady’s already assisted Captain Zdeno Chara in a hype video before Game 1, and has actively participated in support of the Bruins via social media. If he were at the game in person it wouldn’t just be the fans with electric energy, it’d be the Bruins themselves. In the company of greatness a competitor always wants to push just a bit harder and execute just a bit better. One of the greatest players in the history of the NFL showing up at the Garden to represent the Bruins would be dangerous for the Blues.
(Photo by Bruce Bennett)
Orr Someone Else?
If Tom Brady is unavailable the second most likely choice is Bruins legend Bobby Orr. Yes, he was already a Banner Captain during the series against the Carolina Hurricanes, but there are two things to keep in mind. First, let’s be honest, the Boston faithful never get tired of Mr. Orr. Second, in such an important game, tied against the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals, an ideal choice would be the man that scored the game winning goal against them in 1970. History and Bruins royalty make an electric combination.
There’s always the chance they go with another Boston sports icon. Rob Gronkowski, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez… frankly, the list could go on and on. But the Bruins will likely be looking to make a big splash with this one and, for the record, Tom Brady is currently participating in Patriots Mini Camp right down the road. Imagine him waving the flag while yelling his inspirational catchphrase, “LET’S GO!”
