Shaaaahp

(photo from Boston.com)

HANNNNNUUUUUU!!!!!

That is all.

Actually, you know what? That's not all. When an article starts out thusly: "In a game between last-place teams, the Boston Bruins had the better sense of desperation," you know the team's in trouble.

Yikes.

The problem is not, as one might previously have thought, the Thornton trade gone bad. Rather the opposite, actually as the new guys (Marco Sturm in particular) have played incredibly well. The problem appears, as always, to be harder to pinpoint. At first glance, you'd blame the defense. First they lost Leetch. Now they've lost Boynton. Sing it with me now, second verse, same as the first. But then when you consider that the the Capitals were only able to scratch out a measly 18 shots on goal last night, you wonder if perhaps the defense is doing their job after all. I mean yes, the Capitals are abysmal, but 18 shots on goal? The overweight, middle-aged guys who win the "Get a Puck Near The Net, Win a Year's Supply of Penzoil!" contest can get more than 18 shots on goal. And they're usually blindfolded.

So maybe it's the offense after all. The Bruins outshot Washington by a margin of 43-18 for the game. That's a ridiculously one-sided number. The B's had more than twice as many shots on goal as the Capitals and they still only managed to score one more goal. And it didn't happen until overtime. Granted, Olaf Kolzig (Olie the Goalie!), Washington's netminder is one of the best in the game, but come on. 43-18? That's not a shots on goal count, that's the score when the Colts play the Texans. That's insane.

Of course, all credit still goes to Hannu Toivonen (Holla!) despite the fact that he managed to stop only 15 shots all game. But he still got the win. Somewhere, Raycroft has broken an Easton goalie stick over a locker room attendant's head.

And while we're on goalies, is there any other position in any other sport that has so many cool nicknames? Off the top of my head you've got the aforementioned Olie the Goalie, Rayzor, Felix the Cat, Eddie the Eagle, Jiggy, The Dominator, Cujo, and, my personal favorite The Bulin Wall. I move we come up with one for Hannu. The Finnish Fury? Suggestions? Favorite nicknames? It's a slow work week, people.

Also, I'm linking to the site that The Rick works on for New Hampshire high school hockey. It's comprehensive and well done and, so far as we know, the only site in New Hampshire dedicated specifically to high school sports. Take a look and see if you can figure out who the next wave of NHL players will be. You'll find it permanently entrenched in the sidebar under Sports Links.