Bruins vs. Penguins: This game had better live up to its billing...

Disclaimer: This post is about sports: hockey in particular. If you are not interested in sports, especially the current events in the National Hockey League, you do not have to read it, but do continue to check out my blog as this is not the only thing I write about.

I for one am totally stoked for the Boston Bruins game tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I am pretty sure I have never been this excited for a single regular season NHL game (with the possible exception of the Winter Classic at Fenway Park back in January). I just hope that the Bruins decide to show up and enforce their way with the defending champs.

When It comes to sports I am a Boston fan through thick and through thin, in sickness (like the injury plagued seasons the Bruins and Celtics have both had) and in health. When I see games without Boston teams in them, I generally root for the underdog unless it involves a team I specifically do not like. I do not like New York teams; especially the Yankees, Jets and Rangers. After that, I am not too big on Philadelphia teams either (except for the Phillies because they have played against the Red Sox's division rivals in the last two World Series), and there are the other rivals like the Los Angelas Lakers in basketball, the Indianapolis Colts in football, and the Montreal Canadiens in hockey. Recently, however, I had to add another team to the naughty list: the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I have never been crazy about the Penguins to begin with. I think that Sidney Crosby is the most overrated star in any sport. He is good, but he also has good teammates and he is not as physical as a star hockey player should be. I also think that it is not very impressive when a team with that many high lottery picks wins a championship (I was not impressed when the Tampa Bay Rays got to the World Series, either. Seriously, if you get the first pick in the draft every year for a decade, you should be in the World Series every year). When I read more into Bruins history I learned about the dirty play of Ulf Samuelsson against Boston great Cam Neely, I bagan to dislike them even more. Last week when Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke delivered a blindside elbow hit to Marc Savard's head, that was the last straw. To me, the Penguins are no better than the cheating, steroid taking, championship purchasing New York Yankees that I have been told to boo since childhood.

This could also be a defining moment in the Bruins season. Finighing first place in the Eastern Conference a year ago, the Bruins have not been the same team since losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Semi-Finals. Last Year, they could outscore, out-defend, and outfight anyone in the league; the "Big Bad Bruins" of old were back. This season, they have been cursed with injuries, inconsistency and their lead scorer refusing to sign and getting traded to a team within the division. Last year, they were competing for the best record in the league, and right now they are clinging to the #8 seed in the East. If the Bruins can show people, what they are really made of in this game, against one of the best teams in the league, they will earn back some of the respect they lost from other teams and from the fans.

Matt Cooke was not suspended for the cheap shot that he took on Savard. Savard is one of the Bruins' best players and their post-season hopes hang in the balance because of an unfair play by Pittsburgh. I would like to see enforcers like Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic really step up in this game. The Bruins have a history of being a team where teammates protect each other and opponents should think twice about messing with. If they can rise to this occasion, then they should be able to take that momentum and ride it the rest of the season and into the playoffs.