Tim "The Trapper" Thomas celebrates his 1st NHL shutout on Monday nite. The Bruins man-handled Ottawa in a 5-0 victory. Thomas made 44 saves and improves his record to 6-1-2. This is the 3rd time in their last 3 meetings that Boston has beaten Ottawa and in these games have outscored them 11-2. It looks like "The Trapper" will be backstopping The Bruins for a while as Rayzor was sent down to Providence on the weekend - he won his 1st game there 4-3 in a shoot-out.

With Boston's 3-2 win over Washington last night the Bruins are undefeated in their last 7 games and remarkably have climbed back into the playoff race ( 2 points behind 8th place Atlanta). This was Goalie Tim Thomas' 7th straight and amazingly only his 7th NHL game - he has still yet too lose in regulation.
This brings me to my Bruins' goalie reoprt:
Reigning rookie of the year Andrew Raycroft started the season terrible and never did improve so he lost his job to backup Hannu Toivonen (nicked named Tommy Torkelson) who was playing wonderful until an injury sent him to the shelf. Raycroft then got his starting job back but lost his next 2 games 6-0 and 6-2. Cue Providence goalie Timmy Thomas. As stated above he is undefeated and has single-handedly gave The Bruins the boost they needed to try and salvage, what looked like, a lost season. Now Raycroft is backing up Timmy but Hannu should be back in the next week or so - what are the Bruins to do? 1st let's look at the numbers:

Andrew Raycroft: GAA:3.68 SV%: .882 W:7 L:16 T:2
Hannu Toivonen: GAA: 2.63 SV%: .914 W:9 L: 5 T:4
Timmy Thomas: GAA: 1.94 SV%: .930 W:5 L:0 T:2

By the numbers the Bruins should keep Hannu and Timmy but there is more to this equation:
1st off being if Timmy was to be sent back down he would have to clear waivers and with those numbers every team in the league would go for him - he only makes $70,000 when in the AHL and the league minimum when called up.
Next is salary: As shown Timmy's is a non-factor, Hannu makes 500,000/yr. And Rayzor makes 5 times that at 2.5 million /yr.
This is hard for me to say but Raycroft has to go. In terms of money and production he is by far the odd man out. Two years ago I was his biggest supporter and was happy he deservingly won the Calder - However, a goalie's confidence is a strange thing and no matter how much skill he has, a loss of confidence means disaster for a goalie.
The Bruins' goalie situation should be Hannu (when he returns) and Timmy fighting for the starter position. But lets not forget, I do not run the Bruins and with the moves they make it could be 2 Bums like Cloutier and Lalime playing for them when all is said and done.

Stephen Harper's advisers informing him on the war in Iraq: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"Oh no!" exclaims Harper, "that's terrible!"

His staff is stunned at this unprecedented display of emotion, watching as Harper sits, head in hands.

Finally, he looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

Stephen Harper at the Calgary Stampede last August. This is our new Prime Minister. - In other news Mario retired and Bruin's stretch unbeaten streak to 5 games. 

Mario Lemieux, the owner and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins announced his retirement as a player Tuesday afternoon, ending a legendary career that saw him post glittering offensive numbers that thrilled a generation of hockey fans. He is one of the true greats and deserves to be metioned with the same respect as Gretzky, Howe and Neely. Good Luck in your future Mario, we will miss you. 

Wayne Primeau celebrates after scoring last nite in Boston's 3-2 victory over Washington. Boston, since starting Tim Thomas in nets, are undefeated in their last 5 games and in their last 2 have held supposed superstars Ovechkin and Jagr pointless. Thomas has played 5 games for the "B's" and has earned 8 points. I will comment more on the Bruin's goaltending situation later this week - it will replace "The Greeks" spot as there is no NFL this week. 

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates Pittsburgh's 34-17 AFC Championship football game win over the Denver Broncos. As predicted here by "The Greek" Big Ben had a career day and now they are off to Superbowl XL. 

Bryan Berard tested positive for steroids. He said he took the banned steroid in a supplement while trying to get ready for the season. Just once I would like to hear a professional athlete admit that they took steroids knowingly because they made them stronger and faster. Are all athletes that naive that they do not know what they are putting into their bodies - I think not. ... and hockey players are saying that they doubt any more players are taking them because they are of no benefit to the game - I guess a substance that makes you faster and stronger really would not help someone who plays hockey??? I do not agree with the number of players Dick Pound said are on them but there are definately more players taking them than the league would like us to know about.

"The Greek" checks in with the divisional final picks. So far in the playoffs he is a perfect 8 for 8.
Just scroll down to check the last two weeks picks if you want to double check. Will "The Greek" go 100% in the playoffs this year:

- Seattle over Carolina. Teammates this week asked Jake Delhomme to open a bottle of pickles. He tried and he tried, but his arm just wasn't strong enough. Seattle gets respect from "The Greek" this week but don't expect any on Superbowl Sunday.

- And now playing in Superbowl XL we have The Steelers and The Broncos. With no offense to the other game this week but neither of those teams would have made the playoffs in the AFC.
This is "The Greek's" toughest pick of the year because the outcome of who I pick decides ultimately who will be the champs. The winner is .... Pittsburgh!!! Pittsburgh wins this game and as such Superbowl XL. Someone asked me the other day if I ever thought about going to Denver. After some thought, I said no. I just can not pick The Broncos to win - mainly because of their annoying fans. JJ should have been a Broncos fan - he is to annoying to cheer for The Jets but would fit in perfect with Denver fans.
-"Big Ben" will have a career day!!!!

Is it just me, or if you were to paint Vallis' car black, it would look like a hease? Chris "The Undertaker" Vallis.

Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron celebrates with teammates Brad Stuart and Milan Jurcina after Bergeron's game winning goal in overtime to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Mighty Ducks on Monday afternoon.

Big Ben on Sunday as they defeated Indy in playoff action. Peyton and Eli are both looking for their first big game victory. Both are good regular season players but choke in the big one - much like the Ottawa Senators in hockey. 

Jake "the snake" was to much for New England on Saturday(as predicted by "The Greek"). This offically ends The Patriots dynasty and brings them back to a middle of the pack team. The Bruins losing ways must be rubbing off on them.

The Greeks picks for this weeks playoff action. Last week the Greek was a perfect 4 for 4.
-Seattle over Washington: What do you call a Redskins fan who went to college? A Cowboys fan. Seahawks 20, Redskins 9.
- Denver over the Patriots. The Pats. dynasty ends in Denver. Jake "the snake" rules!!! Broncos 27, Pats 13.
- Steelers over Indy. I saw a grown man walking around the other day with a Peyton Manning hat on his head. I really hope it was a gift because there have to be better ways to spend your money. Steelers 23, Indy 20.
-Carolina over Chicago: The last time the Bears had such a big game, Chris Farley was alive and well and doing Ditka jokes on Saturday Night Live. Panthers 24, Bears 13.

San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton leaves the ice after a dirty check from behind on Boston Bruins' Hal Gill during first-period NHL hockey action in Boston Tuesday. Gill left the ice with an injury and Thornton was ejected with a game misconduct for the cheap shot. 

Bill Parcells signs on for two more years as coach of The Cowboys. Rumor has it that Bledsoe will remain the quarterback. Bledsoe stated that he wants to remain a Cowboy until he is able to beat Parcells in a 40 yard race.  

The Greek checks in with his 1st round NFL playoff picks:

Washington over Tampa Bay. Skins Key to Victory: Make Simms Throw the Ball. Here's a secret that everyone in the NFL knows: Chris Simms isn't that great a quarterback.

New England over Jacksonville. Jags Key to Victory: Play Another Team in Another Stadium on Another Day. Let's see here: The Jags are playing the two-time defending champs who are on a hot streak. The Jags have no playoff experience, and they are a warm weather team playing in the frigid north of New England. Plus New England has Doug Fluttie.

Carolina Panthers over New York Giants. Panthers Key to Victory: Stop Tiki. And should it really be that hard? His name is Tiki after all.

Pittsburgh over Cincinnati. Steelers Key to Victory: keep the ball on the ground. The Steelers are going to have a serious case of runs in this game. They are going to take Carson and Co. out of this game by keeping them on the sidelines. On the bright side, that will hopefully give Chad Johnson plenty of time to find his lame-assed touchdown celebration props.

Canada wins 2006 World Junior title.
Canada destroyed Russia in the final on Thursday night and took home the GOLD with a 5-0 victrory. The win solidifies Canada's dominance as the greatest country in the greatest game on earth.

Boston Bruins goalie Andrew Raycroft is congratulated by teammates Patrick Leahy and Brad Boyes after beating the Ottawa Senators 4-2.

Congrats. to QB Vince Young and his Texas Longhorns in capturing the NCAA National Championship. They beat #1 ranked USC in The Rose Bowl 41-38. Like I always say - all the great football teams are in Texas. 

Team Canada advances to World Junior Hockey final with 4-0 win over Finland on Tues. nite. They will play Russia who defeated the U.S.A. 5-1 in other semi-final action.  

Drew Bledsoe leaves the field as the NFL is finished for another year. The league starts up again in September and should be another exciting season.