I went into this sports pictures souvenir store, if you will, located across the street from the Garden on Causeway Street. I had always been meaning to check that place out to see what they had because I'm always looking for good stuff to add to my Mantown. I browsed the store for about 10 minutes, and when I stepped out, I saw a cab pulling up to the side of the road next door at the Harp. Nothing unusual there, but then Billy Guerin and Eric Godard exited the cab. I immediately yelled "Billy!" since I was a few feet away from him. I didn't want to run over and bombard him; after all, I am 27 and not a young kid. He turned around, saw me, smiled and said, "Hey! What's going on, buddy!" He came over to shake my hand and asked how everything was going. I told him everything was great and that I'm still a huge fan of his, and he thanked me for that. I totally forgot to congratulate him on his Stanley Cup last season, but I wasn't prepared for this to happen. He had to get going, and I wished him luck and told him to get a couple of goals. He smiled and said, "I'll see what I can do," and he and Godard headed to Dunkin Donuts for coffee.
I was on cloud nine over what had just happened, and then my friend and fellow season ticket holder Alison showed up moments later. I excitedly told her what happened, and she took her camera out of her purse and had it ready just as Guerin and Godard were leaving Dunkin Donuts. I asked Guerin if it would be ok for a photo-op, and he was all for it, replying, "Sure thing, buddy. Anything you want!" Alison took a picture of us, and I thanked him and shook his hand again before they left.
Billy Guerin is honestly one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. As I mentioned earlier, I met him on numerous occasions while he was playing in Boston, and he has signed and personalized so many of my pictures of him, jerseys, hats, etc. When he came back to Boston for the first time after signing with Dallas, I was lucky enough to not only meet him, but his parents as well. His parents pulled me aside after the pregame warmup and thanked me for having a sign that said "Welcome Home Billy G." They took a picture of me as proof that not every Bruins fan hates Billy for leaving for more money. I met him after the game and he thanked me for still supporting him and acknowledged me by calling me Nick; I wasn't all that surprised since he had signed so much stuff for me in the past. We talked for about 5 minutes and took a few pictures, and I wished him to win the Cup for Dallas that season since I knew Boston had no chance. I wasn't at all surpised that he didn't remember my name last night since it had been seven years since that encounter and you know he has dealt with millions of fans since then, but he definitely remembered me. He could have just turned and waved, or nodded and said, "How are you?" but he smiled and came right over. It totally made my night, and I didn't really care about the outcome of the game after that.
Once I ran into Guerin, I knew I had to ditch the Bruins for pregame warmup and stand on the blueline in section 3 for warmups to watch Pittsburgh. That's the side of the ice that Billy spends the most time on, but he never made eye contact with me; I do admit that I was hoping for a puck if he saw me. I had one of the biggest losers you will ever meet standing next to me though. There was this huge fat bald guy yelling "YOU SUCK!" at each Penguins player, and he was also sticking his tongue out and putting his thumbs on the sides of his forehead with his fingers spread to make antlers, and he made faces at all of the Penguins. When he yelled "YOU SUCK!" at Guerin, I wanted to waste the second half of my beer and throw it on him. What an immature loser. He started yelling how the NHL gave the Penguins the cup last year and it's fixed, and everyone around him including myself got into an argument with him. He said that Crosby and Malkin aren't that good, and I told him that those two are better than any of his Bruins buddies on the other side of the ice, and he insisted that they weren't and that the NHL gave them all the offsides and icing calls in the Stanley Cup Finals. The guy was a total bonehead and it's a shame he was allowed in the building.
The Bruins received some great news a day earlier when they found that David Krejci was cleared to play and has been cured from H1N1; however, Michael Ryder and Derek Morris were both game-time decisions as they have been battling bouts with the (non-swine) flu, but thankfully they played. The Bruins battled through a scoreless first period with Boston limiting Pittsburgh to only a handful of shots. The Bruins also killed off a very dangerous Pittsburgh powerplay, and I noticed that all Billy Guerin does on the powerplay is stand in front of the net and position himself for a shot. No one on the Bruins does that; Claude Julien has that umbrella style set-up, and as of now, it's not working effectively.
The Bruins broke the ice a minute and a half into the second period as Matt Hunwick jumped up into the play, coasted down the right side and around the net, and backhanded a shot right under the crossbar. The light went on, the goal horn was blaring, and the Bruins were celebrating, but referee Bill McCreary immediately waved it off. When they had their next stoppage in play, the referee called up the 9th floor to review it. They showed the play numerous times on the Jumbotron and it was pretty evident that it was a good goal as the puck clearly made contact with the net right underneath the crossbar. I could tell it was a goal since I sit right over the net. The refs made the easy call that it was a goal and turned back the clock when they resumed play. The Bruins sustained a 1 goal lead going into the room after 2 periods.
The Bruins got a huge insurance goal fairly early in the 3rd period as Mark Recchi sent a beautiful rink wide pass to the streaking Daniel Paille, who bursted in all alone and smoked Marc Andre Fleury top shelf to get his first goal as a Bruin. Moreover, that assist was the 900th of Mark Recchi's career. Paille owed us that one since he had two breakaways in the previous game and choked both times. Pittsburgh nearly got on the board as Billy Guerin fired a puck off the glass that ricocheted off the right post as Tim Thomas was out of the net after he misread the direction of the puck; the refs also reviewed that one, but it was clear that the puck never crossed the line. The Bruins finished off the scoring as Patrice Bergeron fired a turn around slapshot the length of the rink and into the open net for a shorthanded goal. It was a huge goal because Pittsburgh had 6 attackers and 6 of their best players on the ice with Crosby taking the faceoff and Billy Guerin and Jordan Staal parked out in front of the net, but Bergeron won the draw. He passed the puck to Widemank, who in turn got it back to Bergeron, and Bergeron sealed the deal as the Bruins pulled off a 3-0 shutout over the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Pittsburgh had been struggling coming into the game with a 2-3-2 record over their last 7, and last night was Crosby's 5th consecutive scoreless outing. The boys finish off their homestand tomorrow night when the Florida Panthers come to town; I predict that game should be the 3rd consecutive win for the Bruins.
The Line Combinations were as follows...
- Marco Sturm-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
- Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
- Shawn Thornton-Steve Begin-Byron Bitz
- Daniel Paille-Trent Whitfield-Vladimir Sobotka
- Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris
- Dennis Wideman-Matt Hunwick
- Andrew Ference-Mark Stuart
- BOS: Matt Hunwick assisted by Dennis Wideman and Steve Begin
- BOS: Daniel Paille assisted by Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron
- BOS: Patrice Bergeron assisted by Dennis Wideman and Steve Begin (SHG)
- Hunwick: Napoleon Dynamte dancing
- Paille: Carlton Banks dancing
- Bergeron: Dancing Bear
Once again, a horrible set of music. I recognized one song...
- Disturbed - "Into the Fire"
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