Photo credit: Lorianne DiSabato | NC-ND 2.0

For the entire two weeks prior to the rematch between the Penguins and the Bruins, everyone wanted Cooke's head on a platter. Right off the bat, just two minutes into the first period, here's what happened to Cooke, courtesy of Shawn Thornton.

Although Thornton did give Cooke a beating, that was it for the entire game. Cooke skated around freely for the entire game, minus the first two minutes of the first period. That is a goddamn joke! One of our players is out for the entire season on a dirty hit and all we did was give him a 30 second fight with a couple of punches to the head during and afterward. I admire Shawn Thornton for taking it upon himself to dish out that beating, but for the rest of the team, I am ashamed and embarrassed that we did not lay the wood for all three periods. Not to be forgotten, we also lost the game 3-0.

If it doesn't take one of your best players being blind sided and taken out for the remainder of the season to light a fire under your ass, I don't know if anything is going to get the Bruins back on track to make a post-season run. I wonder just how bad they actually want it.

Thanks to clydeorama for the photo of Matt Cooke.

The Bruins and I aren't the only ones hopping on the Tuukka Rask bandwagon. As much love as I have for Tim Thomas, James Murphy agrees on Rask:

Goaltender Tuukka Rask has been one of the main reasons for the Bruins' recent resurgence. Rask started the last six games and won all four leading into the break. He entered the Olympic hiatus 14-7-4 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .928 save percentage after turning aside 188 of the 200 he faced in the last six games. He seems to have taken over the No. 1 goalie spot, and the Bruins may look to ride him as far as he'll take them in the final 22 games.

Rask has been exceptional. Thomas on the other hand has struggled, but a break could be enough to help him prepare for his next start if Tuukka begins to decline in play. Imagine that. Our back up goaltender is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner. That says a lot for Rask getting the starts this time around.

Thanks to misconmike for the picture of the Boston Bruins 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

Injury Plagued Celtics

It's obvious that Kevin Garnett is not the player he was before his knee injury. Whether or not he has fully recovered or is playing scared, he isn't giving us his maximum effort. Not only is KG hurt, Glen "Big Baby" Davis can't stay healthy either. For a team that decided to trade away all of it's depth to Eastern Conference contenders, I'm pretty pissed that all we got in return was a run down, Rasheed Wallace.

Rajon Rondo has been stealing the spotlight and the fans hearts this season, making his first all-star appearance as a reserve, and Ray Allen has been something of a name from the past as it seems. We signed on for the Big 3 and now have just slightly less than a Big letdown for this season. So much for our 2010 predictions.

A Long Winter

The Bruins haven't done much to impress this season either after their playoff "run" last season. The B's are on a six game skid and have fallen to 12th overall in the Eastern Conference. So much for wanting it just as bad as we do. The off-season trades, injuries and lack of depth and dare I say, heart, is beginning to show for the Bruins.

Our teams need us now more than ever, and I vow to be standing by and supporting them through this time. Although my support comes as ripping them both apart, sometimes you just need some tough love to preform to your potential, just ask Laurence Maroney about that. Good Day!

Thanks to wallyg for the photo of the Boston Garden.

Tom Brady - New England Patriots

Tom Brady has brought three Super Bowl Championships to New England as well as the first 16-0 regular season in franchise history. Brady has won two Super Bowl MVP's as well as one NFL MVP award in 2007. Brady holds multiple single season NFL records for passing yards, touchdowns and completions. For a sixth round draft pick, Brady panned out pretty well for the Patriots.

Larry Bird - Boston Celtics

Larry legend won three NBA MVP awards and two NBA Finals MVP awards in his illustrious career while bringing three NBA Championships to Boston from 1981-1986. Bird was a 12 time all-star and was also named rookie of the year in 1980 as a sixth overall pick in that years draft. When people think of Boston Celtics basketball, Larry Bird is always the first name that comes out of anyones mouth.

Ted Williams - Boston Red Sox

Teddy Ballgame never won a world series in Boston but managed to make 17 all-star appearances and win two AL MVP awards. Ted Williams ended his career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs and 1,839 RBI's. With such impressive numbers, it's hard to remember that Williams missed out on 5 seasons of baseball to serve in the US military during World War II. I can only imagine what those numbers would look like if he played in those five years during his prime.

Bobby Orr - Boston Bruins

Thanks to Willem van Bergen for the photo of Boston.

2. Wicked Pissa Dude - These four dude's cover all sports Boston, similar to someone you may know. They do a great job with keeping the information current and not pulling any punches when it comes to the home team.

3. 4 Sport Boston - Craigga covers all four major sports in Boston, keeping current with the Red Sox and Patriots right now and waiting for the Celtics and Bruins to get started again. I'm not sure where he got the influence of his site name, but it looks pretty familiar to me.

4. A Sports Scribe - Jason Clinkscales is a New Yorker that attended college in Boston. Jason takes a unique approach and isn't quite the game by game covering writer. I encourage you to check out Jason's style and give him your feedback. Although Jason isn't completely devoted to Boston Sports in his blog, he's worth the read.

Thanks to Craig Stevens for the picture of the Zakim Bridge in Boston.

By trading Ward the Bruins clear his $2.5 million salary, but weaken themselves on defense. So this is the first move, with the second being one of several possibilities:

1. Signing a UFA defenseman (Mathieu Schneider and Sergei Zubov are still available) to provide a puck-moving element.
2. Extending Phil Kessel with part of the money saved by trading Ward.
3. Trading Kessel for an impact defenseman.

My thought is going with option #2. Re-signing Phil Kessel in order to preserve the first line and make another run at the playoffs next season.

Make Way For Adam

After arriving at work, the Boston Globe Newsletter alerted me that the Boston Red Sox placed Mark Kotsay on waivers in order to make room for newly acquired Adam LaRoche. Kotsay hasn't produced much for the Sox this year other than helping out when needed on the defensive side of the field. I'm still excited to see what LaRoche can do for us, or if we're even going to keep him beyond the trade deadline.

Thanks to rubyswoon for the photo of Phil Kessel and Zdeno Chara.

But what about those people who are die-hard hockey fans all day, every day?

Helicopter Hockey Parents

There are parents who wake their children up at 3 AM on a Sunday to bring them out on the pond for suicides and sprints. Some kids don't even want to play hockey, yet they persist because they're afraid to disappoint their mothers and fathers who expect them to be the next Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe.

Children playing youth hockey are driven by their parents every single day for the entire year to eat, sleep and breathe hockey. At first, the kid may be excited by the new sport, but these helicopter hockey parents overwork their kids to the point of burnout. Hovering parents often cause careers to end far too early. Hockey burnout is not only when you are tired of skating and need a rest, but also when you have reached complete burnout for the sport itself.

There have been players in recent years who were expected to go to the NHL and make immediate impacts but they never got any ice time because of hockey burnout. Players who have been driven too hard by their over-exhausting hockey parents lose the passion to play the game. Burnout makes the game feel like a chore rather than a sport to enjoy and have fun with.

More to Life Than Hockey

Unsuspecting hockey parents fail to realize that their child could be the next Stefan Legein or Dan Ryder. Stefan Legein was a 2nd round pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets (37th overall) in the 2007 NHL Draft. Legein was expected to be the next big thing in the NHL. A 19 year old Right Wing, Stefan played for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championships and skated away with a gold medal. Stefan suffered a seperated shoulder in that gold medal game.

The injury added to Legein's hockey burnout and he never made it to the Blue Jackets rookie camp. Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette wrote about Legein and his encounters with burnout:

Legein, who had 43 goals, 32 assists and 115 penalty minutes in 64 games with the Ontario Hockey League's Mississauga IceDogs in 2006-07 before being drafted by Columbus, suffered a separated shoulder in the gold-medal game at last season's world junior championship. The word out of Columbus is that while recovering from shoulder surgery, the Oakville, Ont., native had time to get reacquainted with his childhood friends and realized there is more life than hockey.

Simply put, Legein lost his desire to play the game. Children are starting to play in youth league hockey as early as 9 years old and their parents push them harder and harder to develop better skating and stick handling skills each passing year. The parents who push their child to be the next Sidney Crosby are just the ones who are sending their youngsters into early retirement.

How to Spot a Burnt Out Kid

The Columbus Blue Jackets released an article about burnout and some signs to recognize if your son or daughter has reached his/her peak:

Moodiness or irritability
Fatigue or difficulty waking up in the morning
Poor performance in sports, school, or other activities
Loss of interest
Lack of emotion after a win or a loss
Loss of appetite
Sadness
Unusual focus on aches and pains
Problems with friends

With everything else a teen has to encounter in life such as school, social skills and fraternization with the opposite sex, they have enough pressure already. To all you helicopter hockey parents out there pushing your kid over the limit to live your dream, think about your child and their future before you are the cause of their burnout.

Thanks to DVS Photographer for the skates and helmet picture.

Here's a video about the new rules the NHL will be introducing.

What do you think of these new rules? Will they make the game better? Let us know!