I passed on the Pats with family and friends to see the Baby B's with yute, and was not disappointed at all by the game. (the weather and the cost of tickets and the rest of the day didn't excite me either); plus I already promised, so....as for the game-
The Portland Pirates and the Bruins more often than not get into it pretty good. There is a lot of dislike here, and with Kevin Dineen as their coach they are going to play hard and at times on the edge.
This is no after-the-fact opinion. I said to my kid during warmups watching Sobotka that he sure seemed at ease, happy, and different for a guy that did not get called up last night. I even texted Eric (posts here) that 'Sob looks happy and
at peace' (the last part was a joke or so I thought at the time, evidently not)
Then the game started. Sobotka was all over the place. He had 5 points (2G/3A) by the 41 minute mark, and looked to be headed for 6 or more after a Pirates player jumped Machand and started a decent brawl that led to Providence having a two-man advantage for nearly two full minutes, and then another 5 added on after that.
He never did score or assist, but had his chances; he probably left another 3 or 4 points on the ice when he or teammates got stoned on outstanding chances by Enroth.
Sobotka also had three or four solid body checks and skated his arse off on the back check. I was sitting there thinking while watching him back check up ice with a 6-2 lead, 'not sure what Murray is doing to this guy, but he stays here for 80 games he is going to score freakin 120-150 points, this is ridiculous. If he had those guys from Hershey last year he'd get 150 points playing like this.' As it is, he got 8 points in the last two games, and played well all over the ice.
What is ironic about the three players called up is how much Portland hates Marchand, Sobotka, and likely Lefebvre.
Lefebvre got in a fight infront of us with Kostka, a defenseman in the third period. They grappled for a time, but that was really for Lefebvre to get his adversaries helmet off; and then he hit him with a punch that Lucic would be jealous off. It was sick. The poor ******* on Portland went down like he just got hit by Mike Tyson during his reign of terror (for those fight fans, when Tyson was at the top of his game being trained by Kevin Rooney); it was quite a shot.
Marchand got jumped by I believe Portland's Cody McCormick, who has played quite a bit in the NHL as a fourth line energy/tough guy. He played last year with Colorado, and dressed a lot. But he looked like he just jumped and attacked Marchand at center ice on a break in action as Marchand was heading back to the bench for a line change. I have no idea if Marchand said something or gave him a look? but it wouldn't shock me if he did. However, Marchand has been pretty quiet in the yap-o-meter if you ask me in the couple of games I have seen Providence play this year.
Back to Sobotka. He probably was told something was up and they were clearing space for him, and to sit tight, something was going down.
Sobotka can tear up the AHL but at the NHL I will be happy to see him as a third line LW who skates his lane and uses his quickness and speed to create havoc on the forecheck. If he can drop in 10-15 this year and build from that I'll be very happy.
I will miss Kobasew. I like him a lot. From his days at BC to the Flames to his stay at Lowell during the lockout, and of course the Bruins. Bummer.
Hopefully he will help the Wild win many games and put the Leafs father and father in the rear.
