JIM LANG ON SPORTS

By: Jim Lang

NHL Playoffs


The Big Bad Bruins

Following their game two victory over the Red Wings reporters asked Bruins coach Claude Julien about his team’s style of play. “We’re physical; it’s the way we built our team. We shouldn’t apologize for it because Bruins fans and the city of Boston love us for that.”

I agree with Julien, why should they apologize for a formula that has worked so well for them? A Stanley Cup title in 2011 and an appearance in the Cup Final last year is all the proof that Julien needs that the Bruins style of hockey works for them.

Now the Bruins style of hockey isn’t for all teams. But General Manager Peter Chiarelli has made sure that Julien has the kind of players necessary to play that style.

The Bruins are further proof that done the right way, intimidation is still an effective tool in the NHL. Being on the receiving end of this kind of hockey can take its toll on a team over the course of a seven game series. Unless you are ready, willing and able to deal with the Bruins onslaught, they are going to keep pounding on you. Now history has shown their way of playing hockey doesn’t always work. But when it does, the Bruins are capable of physically and mentally grinding down an opposing team over the course of a series.

The Bruins are also deeper and more talented than they are given credit for.

The Habs

This is difficult to admit, but damn, the Habs are playing some good hockey right now. Those of us who live in the heart of the Leafs Nation are being clobbered from all sides. I have a 12 year old Penguins loving daughter who takes great delight in reminding me every day that the Leafs missed the playoffs, again. To make matters worse, the Leafs Nation have been forced to grudgingly admire what the Canadiens did in the first round against the Lightning. I don’t know how anyone could not be impressed with what they’ve seen from the Canadiens so far in the post-season.

Now the Habs will sit and wait to see who they will play in the next round. With the NHL’s new playoff seeding system there is the potential for a Bruins versus the Canadiens Eastern Conference Semi-Final. A Habs/Bruins playoff series? Sign me up for that one.

The Sharks

We all knew the Sharks were a good team, but did you think they were this good? What the Sharks did to Kings in game two of their series was a real shocker. Down 2-0 in the second period the Sharks proceeded to score seven unanswered goals. Seven! The Kings are still a good team. It is just a case of the Sharks are better right now and maybe, just maybe, after all these years they will finally be able to put it all together with a run to the Cup. Once they get past the Kings, they will play wither the Ducks or the Stars. And neither one of those teams look capable of beating the Sharks four times over the course of a seven game series.

Matt Cooke

There are a few guarantees in life; death, taxes and Matt Cooke will eventually do something stupid. For the most part Cooke had been a good boy the last few seasons. Then in Monday night’s win over the Avs Matt Cooke took out Tyson Barrie with a nasty knee-on-knee hit. This was vintage Cooke, dirty and cheap to the core. Now Cooke is being called to New York City to stand before the man. Considering his previous track record Cooke is about to get hammered with a lengthy suspension.

I like physical hockey. But I like it when it is done the right way. Sticking your leg out to take out another guy’s knee is a direct violation of the “code’. You never purposely take out another guy’s knees. Not that Cooke would care, once a rat, always a rat.

In the end the NHL can suspend him all they want, deep down he will never change.

The NBA

Much has been written and said in and around Toronto in the wake of the Raptors loss to the Brooklyn Nets in game one of their series. With-out getting hysterical it should be noted that the Nets were only called for one foul in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game. One foul in an entire quarter in the NBA is next to impossible. Or so we all thought. TSN’s Jack Armstrong (Love the guy) was losing his mind late in the fourth quarter over the lack of calls against the Nets.

Making matters worse the Nets leaned on their old playoff warriors, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, to put the Raptors away. And the old guys managed to do that with relative ease. The bottom line is that if the Raptors want to win this series complaining about the officials isn’t going to help them. It is what is. They have to go out and over-come the bad officiating and, most important, not let Garnett and Pierce dictate the pace of the game.

As far as General Manager Masai Ujiri is concerned, meh. So he said a bad word a rally for fans outside the Air Canada Centre before game one. If you want to hear some serious profanity, go and buy a court-side seat at any NBA game. You will hear more f-bombs than the Wolf of Wall Street.

Tuesday night the Raptors didn’t have to worry about the officials because they flat out beat the Nets. On top of that, Pierce had an open look at a three point shot late in the game, and then threw up a brick.

The best part of the Raptors victory in game two was the reaction from the fans. As wild as the crowd looked inside the ACC, it was an even wilder scene as thousands of fans stood outside to watch the game on the big screen at Maple Leafs Square.

The NFL Draft

We are still a few weeks away from the first round of the NFL Draft.  Because of a change in the league’s calendar the first round of the NFL draft won’t be held until Thursday, May 8th. Next week we will take a look at some of the great drafts in NFL history. Including the great Steelers draft of 1974 where they selected four hall of famers in the same draft class.

(Follow Jim on Twitter at @JimLangSports)