Hockey 2011-2012

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Toronto lost their 3rd straight game, getting smoked by Montreal 5-0. They need to freaking wake up, and stop this win a few, lose a few mentality!

[transjen]

Originally Posted by shadows

Toronto lost their 3rd straight game, getting smoked by Montreal 5-0. They need to freaking wake up, and stop this win a few, lose a few mentality!

And on top of that it happend on Mat Sundin day
How rude
Penguinscheerleader Jen

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Apropos of the Tim Thomas discussion in earlier posts, I am adding here a column by The Boston Globe's Hockey Hall of Fame columnist Kevin Paul Dupont, who says far more eloquently than have I what is really at issue with our goalie's recent behavior.

Thomas needs a save to restore his legacy
By Kevin Paul Dupont
Globe Staff / February 12, 2012

It can still end well here for Tim Thomas. Right now, the Facebook-posting, self-imploding goaltender is shoulder to shoulder with Curt Schilling and Manny Ramirez regarding how Boston will remember him. Not just as a player, but as a person, a key player-citizen in what is the unique nation of Boston sports.

Through a trio of Facebook postings issued over the course of 19 days, the 37-year-old Thomas has told the world that he wants to be heard. He feels the need to get his thoughts out there, and we are left to believe he wants to stimulate thought and conversation.

But he doesn?t want the media talking to him about it, and he told a gaggle of reporters, bloggers, and photographers Thursday at the Bruins practice facility in Wilmington that he?ll simply stop talking whenever he is asked about the personal beliefs he is posting for the world to see.

?Peace. Out, ?? Thomas said Thursday, abruptly truncating an interview when asked another question about his posting.

OK, count me as confused, and I believe that confusion is headed to a bad place for Thomas, his Boston legacy, his team, and his teammates.

Perhaps Thomas is just naive, acting the way a child does when putting hands to the side of his or her head to block out what a parent or playmate is saying.

Or worse, maybe he?s delusional, truly believing that he can post about the perceived evils of big government and what he believes are threats to religious freedom, and that no one in the media should think, or has the right, to ask for further explanation or context.

Wednesday?s posting, which included a quote from Martin Niemoller, the late Lutheran pastor who wrote the missive, ?First they came,?? touched on such topics as Nazi Germany, trade unions, Jews, Communists, and Catholicism. In this town, any one of those subjects is a pretty good chew. Imagine the reaction had he included a word about hockey?

Whether Thomas is naive or delusional, his ?going Facebook?? is not going to wear well here, not in a town where fans and media invest deeply, perhaps care too much, in every little thing relating to their professional teams and athletes. Not only will fans and media quickly get fed up, but far more important, so will teammates, Bruins management, and ownership.

Contrary to what some of those significant Spoked-B partners are saying publicly right now, Thomas already has irritated some and angered others with his words, as well as his Jan. 23 White House no-show.

One teammate dismissed it with the standard, ?Hey, he?s a goalie, what do you expect? They?re all nuts.??

Sure, funny, to a point. But it will only get worse if Thomas keeps posting, then keeps invoking his right to remain silent, leaving the media to turn repeatedly to teammates, management, and ownership to ask, ?Hey, what?s with the goalie? Is he right? Is he angry? And, by the way, what do you think of politics, religion, and do you practice contraception???

Eventually, in a team setting, Thomas?s postings and subsequent media attention become corrosive, especially with players, many of whom don?t care about his sociopolitical views or simply don?t want them intruding in their workplace.

Thomas in turn can tell them it?s the media doing the intruding. But that?s the media?s raison d?etre. Case in point: when the intruding media did the legwork that chased Richard Nixon out of the house that Thomas didn?t dare visit because he can?t tolerate bad government. Seems the goalie and the media are sometimes on the same page.

Thomas fails to understand that he has a voice here, delivered through his Facebook missives, because of 1. his success, 2. the team that employs him, and 3. the fellow employees, including players, coaches, and managers, who have aided greatly in his success.

Let?s be clear: He has every right to say anything and everything he pleases. He has the same right not to have to explain himself to the media. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.

But with freedom and action come reaction and consequence. That is what Thomas is missing, or choosing to ignore. He is not operating in parallel universes, allowing him to deliver missives via Facebook and then assimilate anonymously, and without accountability, back into the team structure.

Oh, he?s right, there is a lot of wacky stuff going on in the world right now, much of it crazier than anything he has touched on in his postings. But he has watched far too many ?Star Trek?? reruns if he believes he can beam himself out of one world and act as if the other one never happened. Whoa, Scotty! Not the way it works. Not even in the make-believe world of pro sports.

True, he is not obligated to respond to the media. But he does have an obligation not to leave his teammates and the Bruins front office left to answer for him. He is, in hockey terms, leaving everyone in the organization out to dry. A goalie should understand how that feels.

Thomas skipped a White House visit, which was a mandatory team event. General manager Peter Chiarelli cut him a big break, told him he would not be punished or suspended for not attending, and by nightfall Thomas posted his railings on the government as a means of explaining his absence. Which in turn had club president Cam Neely issuing a statement that Thomas?s actions were disappointing and that his views did not express those of club ownership or the team.

Thomas used the back of the franchise and the shoulders of his teammates to promulgate his views that the US government has run amok. Skipping the mandatory team event could have prompted Chiarelli to fine or suspend him. Which, in turn, could have led Thomas to file a grievance through the Players Association, exposing himself, team, and teammates to more rounds of media scrutiny. I?ll bet, for the good of his team, and the hope of a second Stanley Cup, Chiarelli chose the high road.

Chiarelli, by the way, politely continued to offer ?no comment?? when I asked him his thoughts in the wake of Thomas?s actions Thursday.

Schilling, for all his incessant talk and bluster, remains around town and in decent standing with Red Sox Nation. His self-importance grew to be annoying, but he?s OK, and he remains within earshot while running a video business tethered to another make-believe world.

Ramirez, because of his abundant talent to hit a ball, was a tolerated fool in his Red Sox days. His image was soiled badly by his suspension in Los Angeles for the use of banned substances and later his abrupt quitting in Tampa. He leaves Sox fans wanting to erase him from everything but the box scores.

Thomas is a great talent. For a guy who was ignored and sometimes chided during chunks of his amateur career, his talents minimized and style quirky, he now has a shot of making the Hall of Fame. With one Stanley Cup and two Vezinas, maybe that?s a lock now.

The question for the moment is, what will he leave behind in Boston? Will it be Tim Thomas, the uber-talented scrapper who was the No. 1 reason the Bruins won the Cup in 2011? Or will it be the guy who opted to turn the club?s White House visit into his own political pedestal, then continued to leave everyone else on the team to explain his politics, his sociological beliefs, his views on both freedom of speech and freedom of silence?

If Thomas thinks it?s only the media observing him now with a quizzical eye and a ball of confusion, again he is either profoundly naive or delusional. His teammates and the front office are wondering. Some of them are simmering. So are the fans. What they care most about is the team. Most of them just want to be sure he cares the same.

Schilling?s bloody sock made everyone believe. Ramirez?s parade of horribles made everyone want to forget. What will Thomas?s Facebook page do for him?

Sure, funny, to a point. But it will only get worse if Thomas keeps posting, then keeps invoking his right to remain silent, leaving the media to turn repeatedly to teammates, management, and ownership to ask, ?Hey, what?s with the goalie? Is he right? Is he angry? And, by the way, what do you think of politics, religion, and do you practice contraception???

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Excellent article.

[transjen]

WTF????
what's happening here?
just because i get sick and miss a week around here you are telling me nothing happend in the NHL and there was nothing to post about?
so i guess the NHL shutdown for the week i was in the hostipal
Which i guess would be nice since i wasn't able to follow anything so if anyone can give me a little update i'll be gratefull
A recovering Penguins cheerleader Jen

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Originally Posted by transjen

WTF????
what's happening here?
just because i get sick and miss a week around here you are telling me nothing happend in the NHL and there was nothing to post about?
so i guess the NHL shutdown for the week i was in the hostipal
Which i guess would be nice since i wasn't able to follow anything so if anyone can give me a little update i'll be gratefull
A recovering Penguins cheerleader Jen

Jeez, Jen, I hope everything is okay. The news on the hockey front is that it looks as if your Penguins are doing fine, for the most part, and that my Bruins are not going to catch the Rangers. In fact, I think they will be fighting with Ottawa for the division lead up to the end, unless someone suddenly pulls away. Meanwhile, the debacle in Montreal continues.

All the best for your recovery from whatever ...

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Now that the Trade Deadline is over, maybe the Leafs can wake the fuck up and start playing some decent hockey again!