By Chad Finn, Boston.com Staff

So this is how a championship reign ends. A turnover, a shot, a bounce, a backhand, a red light. And then, pandemonium amid a swarm of sweaters you won't find for sale in the home team's gift shop.

That's how it ends. That's how it's over. With Capitals forward Joel Ward, a 31-year-old who collected all of six goals this season, pouncing on a rebound of a Mike Knuble shot and flipping it past helpless Bruins goalie Tim Thomas at 2:47 of overtime. That's how the curtains fell on the Bruins' season with a 2-1 defeat, how they became the seventh defending champion in nine years to bow out in the first round.

Ward did to the Bruins what the dearly missed Nathan Horton did to the Canadiens and Lightning last season en route to the franchise's first Stanley Cup in 39 years: He scored the Game 7 goal that extended his team's season and extinguished an opponent's. With two more first-round Game 7s scheduled for Thursday, such endings are beginning to feel like they're somewhere between inevitable and predestined in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But the Bruins never saw this particular ending coming down the way it did.

"I'm probably in shock," said Thomas in the Bruins' locker room afterward. "I really believed that we were going to win tonight. I thought that. I really had a deep feeling that this wasn't the end of the road for us tonight. That this wasn't going to be the last game of the season."

Added Dennis Seidenberg, the indefatigable defenseman who was the Bruins' best player in the series, "It's just a weird feeling. One minute you're battling to move on to the next round, and the next minute you're standing here talking about being done. You wonder what time practice is tomorrow, but there is no practice."

So this is how a championship reign ends. With Andrew Ference wrapping a consoling arm around Thomas, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner last postseason but just pretty good this time around, along the boards while awaiting the ceremonial postgame handshake.

With the Bruins giving proper acknowledgement to their Capital conquerors, who won three games on Garden ice, limited the Bruins' trio of Tyler Seguin, David Krejci and Milan Lucic to nine points in seven games, all decided by a single goal, got a performance from rookie goalie Braden Holtby that was hardly Drydenesque but certainly reminiscent of Steve Penney, and ultimately prevailed in a taut, tense series that saw one team lead by two goals exactly once, for about three minutes during Game 5.

And it ends with the Bruins and the fans mutually acknowledging each other, the players raising their sticks in salute as they trudged off the ice while the remaining fans roared a thank-you and farewell. There will be no need to get the Duck boats ready, no parade to anticipate on a June afternoon this year, yet the disappointment seemed to come with an appreciation of all the good fortune and hard work that was required to make the best memories happen. The Bruins spoke often in their championship aftermath of understanding what winning the Cup meant to Boston, and to a man they embraced their place as part of the fabric of city. It was as evident in defeat last night as it was in victory last June.

The Bruins sure tried to do it again, and they believed they could do it again, could become the first repeat champions since the Red Wings in 1997 and '98. "I had the picture in my head of holding the Cup again this year,'' Thomas said. The effort was never more evident than on Tyler Seguin's goal at 14:27 of the second period in which he lunged to tip a loose puck past Holtby while fending off Caps defenseman Karl Alzner, who was holding the Bruin's stick and perhaps a couple of limbs. That knotted it at 1-1 after Matt Hendricks gave the Caps a first-period lead.

The way the building was rocking after probably the grittiest goal of Seguin's young career, the tie felt like a Bruins lead. But they couldn't turn the momentum into results, with that anemic power-play (2 for 23 in the series, 0 for 3 Wednesday) again devoid of any signs of cohesion or electricity. An opportunity with the man-advantage in the final minutes of regulation was so ineffective that the Bruins almost appeared to be killing a penalty, not trying to take advantage of one. And while the Bruins outshot the Capitals, 32-27, coach Claude Julien lamented the lack of truly legitimate scoring chances.

One golden opportunity did come around 30 seconds into overtime, and if you could choose any Bruin to score the winner, wouldn't Patrice Bergeron be on your short list? The do-everything forward, playing through an upper-body injury that is ill-defined but limited him to the point that he could not even take faceoffs (he won 59.3 percent during the season; the Bruins won just 27 of 59 last night), nearly won the game and the glory. Bergeron found himself with the puck on his stick near the left post and some open space between Holtby and the back of the net. But his shot flew wide.

"It just exploded, it kind of rolled off my stick,'' Bergeron said. "The puck was bouncing and I just tried to go quick obviously and the puck wouldn't settle.''

We'll find out in the coming days the extent of the injury he suffered in Game 5. And chances are we'll wonder, how did he ever play with that?

"I don't want to use that [as an excuse] tonight,'' Bergeron said. "I'll let you guys know.''

So this is how a reign ends. With Zdeno Chara answering questions in Slovak in the far left corner of the quiet locker room while Bergeron converses softly in French over on the right side. Seidenberg fulfills his duties with the media scrum while standing just to the left of a sign that reads, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.''

While the players offer their hushed postmortems, Bruins president Cam Neely walks in wearing an expression like you just introduced yourself to him as Ulf. He shakes one player's hand, doesn't say a word to anyone, and exits through a black curtain at the other end of the room.

That is how a championship reign ends. With a hard-fought defeat to an opponent that made excellence a habit just a little more often. And with a black curtain failing to camouflage how difficult it is to accept.

@GlobeChadFinn

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

Question, Boston sports fans: How many times did you replay Tyler Seguin's winning goal in Game 6 immediately after it happened? Five? A dozen? Or are you still hitting the rewind/play combo on your DVR this morning, two days after one of the most beautiful big-moment goals you'll ever see and a day before one of the most delicious events in sports, a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

There were so many reasons to watch his game-winner, then watch it again and again and one more time again. The magnitude of it, for starters, for his OT score kept the defending champions' season alive against Alex Ovechkin and the gifted, enigmatic Washington Capitals. Milan Lucic's gorgeous, almost casual, pass that sent Seguin on his way. The roadrunner-on-skates beep-beep speed with which he left the defense in his wake and closed in on Caps goalie Braden Holtby. The shot itself, which was from an angle you didn't need to be a geometrician to appreciate.

For me, and probably a lot of you too, there was one aspect of the play that impressed me more than the rest: Seguin's extraordinary patience.

I mean, for a 20-year-old athlete to have the presence of mind in that situation to wait ... and wait ... and wait to shoot the puck until the goalie all but says, "Will you please *$*@*($@ shoot the puck already, eh?'' before committing and essentially leaving an open net ... well, the poise Seguin showed under those circumstances, when he could have shot sooner, is just an incredible thing. That's why I kept hitting rewind and babbling to my sighing 8-year-old daughter why the play was so special.

Pardon me if this strikes you as a stretch of a connection, but I don't believe it is. See, it hit me like a Zdeno Chara check in the aftermath of the Game 6 victory that there is something all of us can take from Seguin's approach to that moment when it comes to our approach to following professional sports:

The value of patience.

To me, it seems like it's in shorter supply among sports fans and media members nowadays than it has ever been. I'm sure a large part of it is due to the prevalent sports-radio culture, in which every loss and negative play is magnified and dissected beyond recognition, and two losses in a row guarantee that the carcass will be picked bare. Everyone has to have a take, and you're not going to get your 30 seconds on the air with your favorite over-caffeinated host by being reasonable.

I don't like that, but I do get it. What I don't understand is how it rewards you as a fan, or where the satisfaction comes from when patience pays off. What do fans who were yelping for Danny Ainge to "blow it up'' and trade Rajon Rondo just a few weeks ago -- usually without any logical solutions regarding what they could and should get in return -- think now that the Celtics are the team no one wants to play in the Eastern Conference playoffs and Rondo has played his way into All-NBA consideration?

Do they admit that waiting it all out is sometimes the best route? Do they find joy in watching this fascinating team, which bickers like family and has each others' backs like family? Or when the going gets good, do they just move on to the next projected crisis, finding more satisfaction in griping than in success?

I suspect the same people who were piling on Danny Ainge back in February are the same ones who will shriek when Bill Belichick passes up that outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid you just know is the perfect fit for the Belichick scheme, if only he'd see it himself, to take a defensive tackle or a guard in the first round during the upcoming draft.

And yes, of course this is about the Red Sox. They've been awful, no doubt. Hideous. Bobby Valentine has made more curious decisions in 15 games than Terry Francona did in eight years, and that's only a slight exaggeration. The bullpen is a Toby Borland Tribute Band. Proven players such as Kevin Youkilis and Clay Buchholz have been brutal, and it's natural to wonder whether they'll perform up to their expected levels. There are real issues to fret about.

Which is why it puzzles me that some fans and media seem to invent things to worry about on top of the real problems. Barring injury, Adrian Gonzalez is going to hit for power; his second home run last year didn't arrive until May 3. When he gets hot, he will carry them. Barring injury -- again with that caveat -- the starting rotation will be better than a season ago. Jon Lester has actually had a better April than he usually does. There's no reason Josh Beckett will not remain a top-of-the-rotation starter. Buchholz's command isn't there yet, but is that really unexpected for someone who didn't throw a meaningful pitch after mid-June last year?

And the back of the rotation will be better. Between them a season ago, John Lackey and Tim Wakefield gave up 202 earned runs. That's 31 fewer than Clayton Kershaw has allowed in his 738.2 career innings in the major leagues. Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard have both shown the potential to be more than back-end starters, and should Bard be called upon to rescue the bullpen beyond his start Friday, mediocre Aaron Cook and his career 4.53 ERA should still be an upgrade on what they had last year.

I know, you're probably not going to listen to me. Sometimes I'm too patient -- I was with my wife for 12 years before we got married -- and this Red Sox team is legitimate turmoil in some ways. But there's too much talent here for it to stumble for long, and the schedule ahead is favorable, with lots of Kansas City, Baltimore, Cleveland and Oakland in the near future. But you should listen to me, because reason is often proven right, and I'm still all right to smile.

What's that? Why yes, that is a line from a certain Guns 'n' Roses song. "Patience,'' as a matter of fact. Right, the one with the whistling.

And if it's going to prevent you from coming up with cockamamie sports problems to worry about, you bet I hope it's stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

Dale Arnold's contract at WEEI expired today. But he's not going anywhere.

Arnold, who has been on the station's airwaves since it switched to an all-sports format in September 1991, will remain at WEEI in a slightly expanded role.

Under his new deal -- terms have not been confirmed -- he will add some Saturday duties to his current weekend role as the host of the morning "Sports Sunday" program, and he will also be the primary fill-in for morning drive hosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan and afternoon drive personalities Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley.

His decision to remain at WEEI was a mild surprise given the events of February 2011, when Arnold was blindsided by a programming shakeup that left him without a weekday role.

Holley, Arnold's co-host since March 2005 on WEEI's midday show, was paired with Ordway and moved into the more prominent day part.

Arnold, who had worked with such varied co-hosts as Eddie Andelman, Bob Neumeier, and Holley, was demoted to fill-in and weekend duty and occasional play-by-play.

Mike Mutnansky and Lou Merloni took over the the midday program and have struggled in the Arbitron ratings compared to their counterpart at competitor 98.5 The Sports Hub.

There was some backlash against WEEI and parent company Entercom's decision to demote Arnold when the Bruins made their run to the Stanley Cup.

Arnold, formerly the team's play-by-play voice on NESN, discussed hockey (as did Holley) when it was a subject of mockery on other WEEI programs.

He gave up his role calling Bruins games on NESN in 2007 when the network wanted him to call road games. He decided he could not do so because of his commitment as co-host of WEEI’s midday program.

Arnold returned to NESN in September as the studio host for Bruins telecasts. That will remain his primary job.

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for those among us who dare brave the shopping malls today, I hope you get through it with only surface injuries.

Just a quick pre-chat note here to link to today's media column, which leads with NBC's attempt, beginning with today's Red Wings-Bruins matchup (1 p.m.), to make the "Black Friday'' matinee game as national tradition just as it has been in Boston since the early '90s. Mike Milbury, who is in his usual studio analyst role today, said he's extremely impressed with how the Bruins have recovered from their slow start.

"They're playing hard and they're playing with passion, and they've gotten back to playing the way they did during their run to the Cup last year," Milbury said. "And you can't really blame them for starting slow. Last season was so long, with three seventh-game victories, and they had the right to have a great time over the summer, to celebrate what they accomplished. But it was such a short time away -- what did they have, eight or nine weeks off, really? -- so the slow start wasn't unexpected, and the recovery from it has been impressive."

There's also an item on NESN's hunt to replace Heidi Watney as its in-game Red Sox reporter, noting that Molly Sullivan (a Las Vegas native, North Carolina graduate, and self-proclaimed Red Sox fan) is perceived to be the front runner at the moment.

By Chad Finn, Boston.com/Globe Staff

Dale Arnold has long been familiar NESN viewers and Bruins fans -- just not in the role he will have on the network's coverage of the Stanley Cup champions this season.

Arnold, who spent 11 seasons as the Bruins play-by-play voice on the network, will return to NESN this season as the studio host for the team's telecasts, industry sources have confirmed.

Arnold replaces Kathryn Tappen, who departed NESN for the NHL Network in July. Tappen had hosted NESN's pregame, in-game, and postgame coverage since arriving at the network in 2006.

Arnold called Bruins home games on the network from 1995-2007 (the 2004-05 season was lost to a lockout), but gave up the job before the 2007-08 season when the network asked him to call road games as well.

At the time, he said he could not make the commitment because of his role as the cohost of WEEI's midday program. Jack Edwards, who had been calling road games in the 2005-06 season, then took over as the full-time play-by-play voice.

Arnold's role at WEEI was significantly reduced in February. In an unexpected lineup shakeup, co-host Michael Holley was moved to afternoon drive while Mike Mutnansky and Lou Merloni took over the midday program. Arnold was reassigned as the primary fill-in host. He said in retrospect he lamented his decision to leave the Bruins broadcasts.

Arnold, who will remain at WEEI, also co-hosts a weekend program with Steve Buckley and joins Joe Castiglione in the Red Sox booth on Wednesdays when Dave O'Brien has an ESPN commitment.

By Chad Finn, Boston.com/Globe Staff

One last thought on the Stanley Cup champs while marveling at how enjoyable it can be when a bandwagon turns into a fleet of duck boats . . .

It won't linger as the most memorable plot twist in the Bruins' storybook run. The peaks and valleys of the postseason journey, the rolling rally that was the most sheer fun of the seven (seven!) we have been fortunate enough savor the past decade, and the realization that the players, to a man, absolutely get what this means to the city and delight in sharing the accomplishment . . . those will be the nostalgic details we'll share and share again with our children as we help lace up their skates on a cold December morning.

But it is a pleasant effect to achieving a feat that satisfies generations of Bruins fans: Our perceptions of so many of these players have changed permanently, and for the better. Zdeno Chara is no longer the emotionless defensemanbot, but a Captain, capital C, whose cathartic howl after hoisting the Cup will live on in sports-radio sound-board clips long after he retires. It was Chara who literally brought the Cup to the people during the parade; who knew he was so good in front of a crowd?

Tim Thomas is no longer the unorthodox goalie who wasn't quite good enough to steal a series; he's the unorthodox goalie who is forever a Boston sports icon in the manner of Adam Vinatieri or David Ortiz, a man who rose to meet the big moment, at least when he wasn't sprawling spectacularly to prevent it.

It would be easy to turn a few lines of praise into a few paragraphs with just about everyone on and associated with the team. There couldn't have been a better Game 7 goal-scoring hero than Patrice Bergeron, who has overcome so much and at 25 carries the respect of a 10-year veteran. Claude Julien gets his just reward for staying true to himself, and it couldn't happen to a more grounded guy. Brad Marchand, Nose Face Killah himself, the 2011 Bruins' version of 2007 Dustin Pedroia. Nathan Horton, tagged with the "no heartbeat" label with hapless, hopeless Florida, proving to be not only clutch but a popular teammate who can't stop smiling about his good fortune in finally playing where and when it matters. The tireless Dennis Seidenberg. Nails-tough Milan Lucic. The relentless fourth line of Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille, and Gregory Campbell. Everyone.

And everyone has gotten his due in the delirious aftermath, but there's one person involved with this who is probably worthy of a few more shifts of appreciation. (No, not you, Mr. Jacobs. And why is Cam looking at you like your name is Ulf?)

David Krejci, the unassuming first-line center, finished as the postseason leader in goals (12), points (23), and winning goals (four). He had a hat trick in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals and beautifully set up Horton's winner in Game 7 against the Lightning. His deft and subtle passing skills sent teammates in on Roberto Luongo probably a half-dozen times in the Finals. His knack for bringing out the best in his linemates helped Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder fit seamlessly on the first line after Horton's injury. He wasn't as pesky as Marchand or resilient as Bergeron, but when he was on the ice, he was often the best offensive player, and better in the Finals than all of the Sedins added together, parents included.

I'm sure most Bruins fans have been quick to salute Krejci. You guys have been quick to salute everyone, and it's been a blast to watch. But given how well he played -- and how much fun it is to remember all of the superb performances in this series -- what's one more tip of that brand-new championship hat to another player who did his part to make it all possible?

By Chad Finn, Boston.com/Globe Staff

So . . . not a bad parade, huh? Just wish Mayor Menino had attempted "Zdeno."

Wouldn't call these three stars, exactly, but here are a couple of quick links to my Bruins stuff that was elsewhere on the site this week, including today's story on the celebration and the Bruins players' reciprocation of the fans' admiration.

Also, here's a brief story on Marc Savard joining his teammates in the rolling rally, and if you missed it, Friday's media column on Dave Goucher getting his chance to call a championship moment, just as Gil, Castig, and Grande have in recent seasons. Got a nice e-mail from Gil today saying how much he enjoyed Goucher's call.

TATB will be back to its regularly scheduled programming this week. (In other words: it's baseball season. It is mid-June, you know. Where did May go?) As for the Bruins: I'll always appreciate the chance to skate a lane and help cover this team the past few weeks. The three cross-continent trips and 12 plane rides in 15 days were exhausting and looting and rioting is way more tiring than I thought.

But watching this genuine, admirable group of players win and seeing the beloved, stoic Cam Neely tearing up on the ice after Game 7 was worth every dull moment stuck in a terminal choking down another $4.29 bag of peanuts from Hudson News. Was it ever.

During our always parade-ready Friday chat, we discussed your 2010-11 Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, with a sprinkling of some Red Sox and media matters as well. Click the replay button below to join the fun.

By Chad Finn, Boston.com/Globe Staff

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Live from the bowels of Rogers Arena, here is a hat trick's worth of thoughts on Arguably The Coolest Event in Sports, a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final . . .

1. I think we all agree on this, so let's get it out of the way immediately: The key tonight for the Bruins is to score on Roberto Luongo early, to get that out of the way immediately. Remind him that they can turn him into a puddle here just as they did during the three games in Boston. Turn those "Looooooooooos" from the Vancouver crowd into boos. Deflate his tires. Then, ideally, deflate 'em again, to the point that Alain Vigneault has to have Cory Schneider warming up in the bullpen before the first period is halfway complete. The script worked so well in Game 6, right?

The mood of Canucks fans here today is overwhelmingly optimistic. Perhaps it's a New Englander's cynicism at work here, but I'm taken aback at their complete (blind? delusional?) faith in their goalie. Luongo is such an enigma, even by the generally goofy standards by those who play the position. He's calm in the net, but often frazzled in front of the cameras, an engaging, friendly guy -- no, really -- whose out-of-character shots at Tim Thomas revealed . . . well, insecurity for sure, and perhaps jealousy, too.

The Bruins must take advantage of this, and must take advantage of it early. Luongo depends on those comforts of home. If they can make him feel like he's on an island, that everyone has turned against him, that will go a long way to assuring that the Stanley Cup will be a hood ornament on a duck boat in a few days.

2. I adore this city -- seriously, if you're young, single, and willing to roam, move here and thank me later -- and the people are beyond friendly. But when it comes to their Canucks, they're so irrational that it makes you long for the relative sanity of Canadiens fans.

The latest example of seeing everything through green-and-blue colored glasses is the venom directed at Johnny Boychuk for his hit in Game 6 that left Canucks forward Mason Raymond with a compressed vertebrae in his back. Sample reader comment from the Vancouver newspaper The Province this morning: "At least they didn't call Raymond for embellishing. We got off easy there." Well-said, Ron from Kamloops.

It's awful what happened to Raymond, and Bruins fans who remember how concerned they were for Nathan Horton after he was leveled by Aaron Rome should be ashamed for cheering while he was down. But the plays were not close in terms of violence or intent: Rome took two clean strides before belting an unsuspecting Horton in the head. Raymond appeared to have lost an edge as he went into the corner with Boychuk, and it was not the hit itself but the terribly awkward angle that led to the injury. The real question is not whether Boychuk should have been suspended, but what the hell the Canucks trainers and medical staff were thinking in not bringing out the stretcher for Raymond, instead helping him off the ice while he was hunched over at an odd angle like a broken scarecrow.

Raymond is a gregarious kid -- upon the conclusion of a media session earlier in the series in which he wasn't asked a single question, he laughed, saluted the assembled reporters, and joked, "Thanks for coming! Glad to help!" More relevantly, he's one of the Canucks' more skilled and honorable forwards, and while he hasn't had a productive series, he's created his own chances with his speed, particularly in Game 2. He leaves a void on the second line, and while the capable Jannik Hansen will fill in for him, that weakens the Canucks' pesky third line. His absence is frustrating to Canucks fans. But the reason for his absence should not be. What happened to him was not evil, dirty, or devious. It was an awful reminder of the dangers of playing this wonderful sport.

3. Prediction? Score-wise, I can't get a feel for how it might go, or maybe I just don't dare. But considering how perpetually thrilling this series has been -- and how tight the previous three games have been in this barn -- doesn't overtime seem inevitable? You have to figure the hockey gods aren't going to let this one go without a few minutes of extra drama.

But I can tell you how I would like it to end. Patrice Bergeron beating Alex Burrows -- or Maxim Lapierre if you prefer -- to a loose puck, then beating Luongo, who for some reason has strayed, perhaps in a subconscious tribute to Tim Thomas, from the security of his usual perch between the two pipes. Why Bergeron? Because he embodies the all-around effort and discipline of Claude Julien's team. Because a Canuck nearly forced him to get a rabies shot. And because an overtime winner from a teammate who has endured what Nathan Horton is going through now would seem so appropriate.

And if it isn't Bergeron? Well, let it be Mark Recchi. I was blown away by his grace in disappointment last year in the immediate aftermath of the Game 7 loss to the Flyers when he answered every question with candor, and his class and leadership are the genuine articles by all accounts. Plus, anyone who was playing in the NHL when I was a senior in high school is cool in my book. It's pretty obvious that this is the final game of his decorated NHL career, and if anyone is deserving of a satisfying final scene, it's the admirable old man in front of the net.

By Chad Finn, Boston.com/Globe Staff

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Checking in from auxiliary box 517 high above the ice here at Rogers Arena, where the Bruins will try to secure a split with with the Canucks in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight, and I'll continue to wonder why Vancouver fans refuse to acknowledge that Colin Campbell played for their team. (Yep, still bludgeoning that angle.)

While the Zamboni does it's thing on the ice and Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" blares over the P.A. system, here's a hat trick's worth of pregame thoughts.

1. Alain Vigneault is a riot in a Belichick-like way, and I know that makes no sense whatsoever. The attempted explanation: When it comes to injury information, such as the status of Manny Malhotra and Dan Hamhuis entering tonight's game, he makes it pretty clear he'd rather loan Ryan Kesler to the Bruins for the rest of the series than give away any information that may benefit the opponent.

Which, of course, makes all the sense in the world, just as it does for Belichick and the Pats. The difference is that Vigneault is upfront about his stonewalling, and he does it in a pretty amusing way.

This morning, after the Canucks' skate, Vigneault came to the media room, sat down at the podium, laughed, and said, "Go ahead, ask the question."

Reporter, knowing exactly how it was going to go: "Guess it's my turn. Will Manny play tonight?

Vigneault: "Game-time decision."

Reporter: "And Dan?"

Vigneault, smiling: "Game-time decision."

Later in the press conference, Vigneault, who also admitted it took him three years to tell the Sedins apart, explained why he puts up his roadblock on the information highway:

"At the end of the day, at this time of the year, when there's this much at stake, you don't want the opposition to know something, to be able to exploit something," Vigneault said. "It's as simple as that. During the season, we share everything, try to be as open as we can. But we don't play the same team two nights in a row."

As frustrating as it can be for the media -- whether here or back at Gillette Stadium, where every one of the 16 games on the schedule matters -- Vigneault's approach makes sense.

2. The Bruins' inept power play -- they've converted 7.5 percent of their man-advantages this postseason -- has been a punch line in the papers here in Vancouver, where the Canucks (25 percent conversion) make it look so easy that there's suspicion of telepathy. The low point for the Bruins may have come during yesterday's practice, when observers couldn't recall afterward seeing the Bruins score once during their power-play drills. (No doubt Claude Julien would look at this as a tribute to his penalty kill.) So here's a foolish fearless prediction: The Bruins score not once, but twice on the power play tonight. Zdeno Chara gets one on a rebound that lands on his stick, and Mark Recchi nets the other, because while he looks two strides slow these days, he's built up a reservoir of good karma with the hockey gods during his 23 NHL seasons, and it's only appropriate that his scoring drought ends at the same time that the power play comes to live.

3. If you wish, consider this fearless prediction No. 2: Bruins 4, Canucks 2. Roberto Luongo, who comes across as far more relaxed and confident now than he did during the Olympics, reverts to his occasionally jittery ways, Tim Thomas stands on his head, flops on his stomach, and uses every other trick in his unorthodox repertoire to stone the Canucks, and we have ourselves the proverbial pivotal Game 3 come Monday.

OK, not exactly. But I am headed to Vancouver Tuesday morning to be the blog dude as the guy to the left here tries to lead the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup title since 1972.

I like Claude's chances, by the way. No matter what Stan Fischler says.

Anyway, I have a few baseball posts queued up and ready to go that will be posted over the course of the week. The chat on Friday is probable, and I'll also chime in from time to time here with a hockey thought or two (bandwagon, meet feet).

But most of the next six days will be spent over here at the Boston.com Bruins Blog. Think of me as the Chris Hayes to Fluto's Orr.

And while I've got hockey on the mind, here's last week's media column on the coverage of the Bruins so far.

See you in Vancouver. Bruins in 6.

If you're into royalty, the Revolutionary War, and can't hide your disdain for the Canadiens, you'll take this as wonderful news.

If you host a Saturday morning show on WEEI, well, probably not so much.

Jack Edwards, who has developed a persona both popular and polarizing with his enthusiastic calls of Bruins games on NESN, has agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the network. [Terms were not disclosed. I have a call out to Jack and will update here if I hear back.]

The 54-year-old Edwards began calling road games alongside analyst Andy Brickley in 2005, and took over the full schedule of games on NESN in 2007 when Dale Arnold departed.

In recent seasons, Edwards, a former ESPN ‘‘SportsCenter’’ anchor and NHL play-by-play voice at the network, gained notoriety -- and become a favorite sports-radio topic, sometimes at the expense of discussing the Bruins' success -- by becoming more subjective and over-the-top during Bruins broadcasts.

During Game 3 of the Bruins’ first-round series victory over Montreal, Edwards yelled, ‘Get up!’’ after Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik fell to the ice in a perceived attempt to draw a penalty.

And Edwards's scripted attempts to wrap-up the night's events during the postgame often turn into soliloquies that reference pop culture and history and are abstract enough that they've gone viral with the aid of such websites as Deadspin.

What's your take, Bruins fans? Happy Jack's back? Do you still miss Dale?

Or like me, do you still long for Fred and Turk?

Let's hear it in the comments . . .

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

Dave Goucher and Bob Beers, who have called Bruins games on the radio for 11 years, including the last two on 98.5 The Sports Hub, are the most underrated broadcast tandem in Boston sports. And they very well might be the best, though I'm partial to Mike and Tommy.

Goucher is a polished, no-nonsense play-by-play voice who has that knack, just like Bob Wilson and Fred Cusick, of telling you a scoring chance might be coming up just by a slight change of inflection in his voice. And maybe it's a result of having called nearly 1,000 games together, but he and Beers rarely fail to be in sync, with the analyst dotting the call of the game with quick, insightful observations that are technical yet understandable to casual (or bandwagon-hopping) fans.

I had intended to write about them for today's media column as sort of a contrast to last week's column on Jack Edwards, but the NFL Network's decision to hire Brad Nessler alongside Mike Mayock on its game telecasts took precedence. (Don't forget to unclip those microphones on your way out, Theismann and Millen!)

I never did catch up with Beers, the former Bruins defenseman and UMaine Black Bear. But despite his lack of a hockey card to use here, I did talk to Goucher, who as usual was candid and reasonable about the state of the Bruins.

Here's a transcript of that conversation to help whet your appetite for Game 4.

So, a 3-0 lead over the Flyers. Does this seem familiar at all? I imagine we're in agreement that this is an entirely different circumstance from what happened a year ago, with the Flyers being worse than they were and the Bruins considerably better

Goucher: [laughs] "The similarity is they had a 3-0 lead last year over Philly. But this year feels different, and it is different. Just the way they've played these first three games. The Bruins blew them out in Philadelphia the first game, in Game 3 they won handily as well, and they were able to come back from a deficit early on in Game 2 and then got great goaltending from Tim Thomas. So, to me, the 3-0 lead this year feels much, much different than the 3-0 lead last year. It's just a coincidence of opponent and round more than anything else."

Last year, the turning point in that series was easy to pinpoint. David Krejci, who was playing brilliantly, got hurt in Game 3. And Simon Gagne came back. The Flyers became the better team.

Goucher: "Yeah, and I thing there was even more to it than that beyond Krejci getting hurt. Marco Sturm, who led them with 22 goals last year, got hurt in the first game against Philly and never did return, [Dennis] Seidenberg didn't play in the playoffs last year, Andrew Ference was coming off an injury, Tim Thomas wasn't even part of the equation. So you factor all that into it, it feels so much different now than it was a year ago. I know people keep drawing parallels and it's understandable. But the Bruins have also had a lot of turnover from last year to this year. They've got, I would say, a half-dozen key players this year who weren't part of that series last year. So that's benefited them as well."

How has the feedback been from Bruins fans? Do you get the sense that there is real optimism about this team, or does the cynical mindset that the "same old Bruins" will let them down in the end still exist?

Goucher: "Well, I understand that. I know people maybe have a mindset like they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. And that's understandable. They've been disappointed like the Bruins have the last three years in the playoffs, especially the last two. But I also think this team has grown from losing in heartbreaking fashion last year, those who were here, and the turnover with the people they brought in, be it Nathan Horton, Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley, Brad Marchand wasn't a part of it last year, you can understand maybe a cynical outlook overall from some fans, but I must say the feeling so far is one of optimism. And I think part of that is that they were able to get over that hurdle in the first round, winning Game 7 against the Canadiens. To do it overtime against their most hated rival seemed to get them over the hump and now here they are on the verse of trying to sweep the team that caused all the disappointment last year."

It seemed like the relief was almost palpable after beating Montreal in Game 7. Now, it feels like what's happening is the definition of momentum.

Goucher: "Yeah, and the other part of it is, they were down 0-2 to Montreal, and I can remember sitting at the morning skate prior to Game 3 in Montreal and wondering, you know, where's this going to go from here? They're down 0-2, there's been so much discussion about potential changes, and is that something that's in the very near future. And the next thing you know, they win two games in Montreal, they win three overtime games in the series, and now they're on the verge of hopefully advancing to the next round. It's amazing, and they learned this from last year, how quickly things can change. You start to take a turn for the better in that Montreal series, and especially after Game 7, they really seemed to be riding it since then."

The Sports Hub has been using your call of David Krejci's overtime winner in Game 2 in its promos, and it's really fascinating to hear how you and Bob handled the uncertainty when it appeared the puck was in the net but play never stopped. As a play by play guy, how do you avoid sounding confused when it's uncertain what just happened?

Goucher: "I think you have to hedge it a little bit. It looked like he scored, and Milan Lucic standing right in front of the net raised his arms as if he'd scored and he had the best view of anybody. He was pretty certain it was in. The problem that we had was, neither referee signaled that it was a goal, the goal light never came on, and those three people were much closer than we are. So you start to think, well maybe it did hit the crossbar, because we're a lot further away than them. You have to hedge it because what if it was crossbar and out of the net? So you just try to convey that. I yelled 'Score!' and then we said, well, wait a minute, maybe that hit the crossbar. Then we said something along the lines of, 'Milan Lucic is sure acting like it's in,' and as we said that we got a look at a replay and it was clearly evident it was in so we said immediately, 'he's right." You know, I always hope that with overtime goals they're just clean goals, like Horton's goals in the first round and Michael Ryder's goal in the first round. This one looked obvious, then it was as obvious, and then it turned out to be an obvious goal after all."

The Bruins were essentially a punch line on sports radio in Boston for years. The Sports Hub emphasized treating them as an equal to the other three major pro teams here from the get-go, obviously in part because they held the radio rights. But the response has been remarkable, and it's become clear the interest in a real outlet to talk about them has always been there. Has the switch to 98.5 and the increased discussion of the Bruins had any effect on your broadcast?

Goucher: "It's increased dramatically for all of us from an exposure standpoint. The one big thing we had on the [WBZ-1030] was obviously a powerhouse signal at night that stretched into 38 states. But what we gain from being on an all-sports FM is not only 24/7 sports talk, but a lot of that revolving around the Bruins. Now we have the weekly one-hour hockey show, and overwhelmingly the feedback has been positive. It's really increased the profile of what we do because people are talking about the Bruins now most of the day and they keep it right in the same spot on the dial to hear the games at night. It's broadened the spectrum of what we do over the last two years. There's no question we've benefited from the team being good. There's not any doubt about that. But we've also benefited from that sports talk all day long, and so much of it being about the Bruins. That's been a huge, huge positive for us.

"Bruins fans are incredibly passionate and incredibly loyal over all these years, and now I think they feel like they have a forum to express their opinions, good or bad. They've been so loyal for so many years, and now I think there's a the thought that they have a team that is ready to take the next step, and they are waiting for them to hopefully go on to do bigger and better things. They have a place to talk about it now, every day, throughout the day, which I think is great."

You guys have one significant advantage over the TV guys, other than your refusal to work royalty and the Revolutionary War into your broadcasts: You get to call every game through the playoffs, while NESN is done after this round, ceding the games to the network.

Goucher: "That’s what I like about doing radio the most, to be there however far they go. If the Bruins are fortunate enough to go on and do some really good things, where else would you want to be but in the booth calling it? I love that aspect of it. It's irreplaceable. Radio allows us to do that. And that will be more pronounced next year when none of the local outlets will have games in the second round because of the national networks claiming them in the new television deal. I'm sympathetic to that, and NESN does a terrific job. But for what I do, that's the part that I like the most, that we're there until the end no matter how far they go."

And so opening day of 2011 concludes with me plunked on the couch, watching the Winter Classic/Slush Hockey Spectacular with the sound down (no offense, Mike Emrick) while simultaneously playing NHL 2K11 on the iTouch in season mode.

The Bruins are my chosen organ-eye-zation, and thus far, the trades for TATB post-Olympic favorites Jonathan Toews and Ryan Kesler are working out spectacularly, as is the savvy free agent signing of one-hipped multi-concussed mighty Black Bear Paul Kariya. I don't know, Chiarelli, this GM thing looks pretty easy to me. Hey, I wonder if the Sabres would take Tim Thomas straight up for Ryan Miller . . .

As you can tell, the New Year is off to a rousing start by my standards. But there is a point here amid the nonsense: All of this hockey action served to remind me that I neglected to post Friday's column, which looks at the synergy between NBC's preparation for the Winter Classic and HBO's spectacular four-part "24/7" series leading up to the game with a rollicking behind-the-scenes look at the Penguins and Capitals. I can comfortably say that I've enjoyed "24/7" more than any season of "Hard Knocks," and I love "Hard Knocks."

So that link to the media column is here. One last hockey thought: Give him a month to find his lungs, and I'm pretty sure Mario Lemieux, who is allegedly 45 years old but looks 10 years younger, could outscore any Bruin this season. Check out the embedded video above from "24/7." Damned if he doesn't still have the magic.

Hmm, wonder if he's available on 2K11 . . .

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Also, just as a bit of housekeeping, I'll be blogging all day from the Brian Hoyer Extravaganza at Gillette tomorrow. Be sure to check out Extra Points for all the updates. The Patriots might not play their starters, but ours will be there all day.

Ten free minutes for me, 10 free throwaway lines for you . . .

1. OK, suckers, answer me this: Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Florida for Hanley Ramirez -- who blinks, Marlins or Red Sox?

(Yes, this is a test. If you're pondering the question seriously, I'm going to assume you're probably on hold with Ordway.)

We all heard the stories about Hanley's maturity issues when he was in the Sox system, but you'd think, at age 26, he'd be past the point where teammates want to beat him up every other day.

Yet there he was, dogging it so blatantly last night that even Manny Ramirez is probably insulted by his lack of respect for the game, then showing an utter lack of accountability and class afterward in undermining his manager and enraging his teammates.

At least there was usually a goofy charm to Manny when he was driving us crazy with his antics. Hanley's petulant insubordination seems a little more foreboding, and it's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out, because humility and contrition clearly aren't among his many tools.

2. To those of you who have wondered why I've always been steadily but vaguely skeptical of the alleged leadership virtues of Mike Lowell, today's passive/aggressive statement in which he says he might consider asking for his release -- coming a day after an absolutely devastating loss in which the club really doesn't need petty distractions -- goes on the board as a point in my favor.

3. I've always thought signing Lowell was the only truly sentimental move the Sox have made in Theo's reign. Fans desperately wanted him back, he'd just been named the World Series MVP. . . ah, hell, Jed, why not, we'll give him the three years.

I suspect today isn't the first day they've had some level of buyer's remorse, even with his decent production when healthy.

To Lowell's credit -- and this must be acknowledged -- he did turn down four years and $50 million from the Phillies to remain with the Sox. That home-team discount isn't ending well for either side.

4. NESN has been showing so many Taylor Hall highlights lately that you'd think the Bruins have the first pick rather than the second. Yet from what I've read outside of this market, it's very far from a sure thing that Edmonton will pick Tyler Seguin just because they need centers.

In a related note, this is the first time in my life I've been more interested in the NHL Draft than the NBA Draft, including the year the Bruins snapped up Joe Thornton first overall. You might recall that just four days after Jumbo Joe was drafted, Tim Duncan went to the Spurs, and Rick Pitino assured us that Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer were the future.

5. Ideal offseason for the Bruins: re-sign Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk, convince Methuselah Recchi to stick around one more year, swap Tim Thomas for a forward with a nose for the net, let Shaun Thornton depart, bring in a cheaper character fourth-liner or two, send maddening softy Blake Wheeler on his way to become someone else's enigma, tell Milan Lucic he was right to be frustrated that they went into the equivalent of a prevent defense in Game 7, send subliminal messages to Oilers GM Steve Tambellini to take Seguin, and hope David Krejci hands haven't lost any magic because of his devastating injury.

Voila . . . 2010-11 Eastern Conference champions, no?

(Don't you love how I'm suddenly Mr. Puckhead after covering two playoff games? OK, smart guys and girls, you tell me what the Bruins should do.)

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Don't mind me. Just wanted to move my game story from the Winter Classic over to the blog, since it's probably my favorite event I've ever covered, including other memorable moments in that particular ballpark. Sorry, Trot.

I'm not thrilled with the story, but I am thrilled to have written proof that I was there when, amid a joyously nostalgic New England winter scene, the Bruins delivered an ending appropriate of the vibe and venue. If you're a lapsed hockey fan -- go ahead, call me a Gold Hat if you must -- it was a reminder that the Bruins once owned this town, and could again. The sweet sentiments from this one will linger. Three days later, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Damn, that was some fun.

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(Jim Davis/Globe staff)

(Yoon. S. Byun/Globe staff)

Today's much-anticipated Winter Classic matchup between the Bruins and Flyers at Fenway Park was not supposed to be about a game, but the game, an annual showcase for the sport of hockey itself.

But with a glance at the unfamiliar standings posted on the Green Monster, where the likes of Buffalo and Montreal and Ottawa replaced the familiar summer residents New York, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore, the reminder came that the outcome mattered, that a meaningful National Hockey League game would be played.

With a flick of the wrist, Bruins forward Marco Sturm turned the Winter Classic into an instant classic, ensuring that the fortunate 38,112 in attendance -- not to mention the giddy grown men on the bench -- would savor victory as much as the event itself.

Sturm took a pass from Patrice Bergeron and quickly flipped the puck past Flyers goalie Michael Leighton at 1:57 of overtime, helping the Bruins cap a pitch- and picture-perfect day at Fenway Park with a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

"When Bergy had the puck, I saw two guys go at him a little bit, and I just tried to go to the net," Sturm said. "I think he had Z [Zdeno Chara] open a little bit, too, but he made a nice play for a tip in."

With the victory, the Bruins became the first home team ever to win the Winter Classic, the NHL's fledgling but already wildly popular New Year's Day tradition that aired for the third straight year on NBC. The meaning of the moment to the players became as clear as the Fenway ice when, after Sturm's walk-off goal, they spilled onto the ice in a celebration reminiscent of a Game 7 victory.

"Marco scored that winner, and it was one of the most incredible feelings I can remember," said Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who stopped 25 shots.

Sturm's team-best 14th goal capped a Bruins' rally that for the majority of the game seemed unlikely to develop, their offense stuck in neutral despite relatively ideal conditions for outdoor hockey. The temperatures hovered near 40 degrees -- the highest for any of the Winter Classics so far. And while players such as the Bruins' Chara wore eye-black in anticipation of glare, the steel-gray sky rendered such preparations unnecessary.

The Bruins struggled to create legitimate scoring opportunities for much of the afternoon -- they managed 15 mostly uninspiring shots through the first two periods -- but finally broke through at the 17:42 mark of the third period when former Flyer Mark Recchi tipped a Derek Morris shot past Leighton for a power-play score, tying it at 1.

The score ended Leighton's shutout streak at 1:54:07. It was the 41-year-old Recchi's ninth goal of the season and 553d of his career. A retrospective of Recchi's career highlights might reveal that roughly 500 of them have come in a similar manner.

''We really wanted to accomplish something here, we wanted to have a big win," said Recchi when asked where the goal ranks among the highlights of his 22-season career. "Derek made a heck of a play there. I was in my spot, and fortunate to bank it in. It's a pretty cool experience today, and definitely something I'll never forget."

The Flyers' goal came on an inexcusable mental lapse by Thomas in the second period. Thomas, distracted by Philadelphia forward Scott Hartnell, took an ill-timed opportunity to get in a shot on the Flyers' pest, cross-checking him just as Philadelphia defenseman Danny Syvret launched a long-distance shot. As Thomas lunged at Hartnell, the puck zipped past the unknowing goalie and found the back of the net. Syvret's goal, which came at the 4:42 mark, was the first of his 43-game NHL career.

After the game, Thomas was quick to admit his emotions got the best of him, explaining that Hartnell ran him over while he was making a save and left him in a dangerous position moments earlier.

"I ended up in a vulnerable position where the guy ended up taking a slap shot and I'm laying flat on the ice," Thomas said. "Thank goodness it was down toward my pads, because if it was up toward my head or neck area, I have no way to protect myself. That made me mad when he came that close. I retaliated but I just happened to be retaliating at the same time someone else was shooting. Obviously, I didn't realize that at the time and that's what happened."

Naturally, he was appreciative when Recchi -- and eventually, Sturm -- took him off the hook, helping the Bruins (21-12-7, 49 points) pick up two points to pull to within three of division-leading Buffalo.

"You could feel the energy when we tied it up with two minutes left," said Thomas, whose eventful day included confirmation that he has been named to the US Olympic hockey team. "And at that point, I was very grateful to tie the game, because the goal was basically because I lost my cool and wasn't following the puck. So when we tied it up, it was very exciting. But I wanted to take it that one step further, I think everybody on our bench wanted it so bad."

Until Recchi's timely tally, it appeared Syvret's goal would stand up. The most eventful action otherwise in the first two periods came when the Bruins' Shawn Thornton and the Flyers' Dan Carcillo squared off at the 12:01 mark of the first. The affable Thornton, who hinted this week that he was intrigued by the chance to be involved in the first fight in Winter Classic history, didn't have the bout go the way he'd hoped. He wound up on the receiving end of a vicious uppercut by Carcillo, who wears a mustache in homage to the famed "Broad Street Bullies" Philadelphia squads of the '70s and did the likes of Dave Schultz proud this time around.

Though the play was not unexpectedly uneven on the outdoor surface, the event lived up to the hype long before the outcome was determined. The nostalgic tone was obvious but not overbearing, the warm sentiments for the cool game elegantly presented. It was the ideal scene and tone to jostle those pond-hockey memories. A dusting of snow would have completed the picture-perfect winter postcard, but the week-long fears of rain or heavy snow were unfounded. It was logical to conclude that Mother Nature must be a hockey fan.

Helping to complete the scene, the head coaches each wore a varsity jacket and Fedora; Claude Julien's made him look like he just stepped out of the team photo of the 1935 Montreal Maroons. Bobby Orr, who received a raucous and heartfelt ovation rivaling that given to Dave Roberts during the Red Sox' Opening Day 2005 ring ceremony, offered every Bruin a pat on the back on the bench before he met Flyers honorary captain Bobby Clarke at center ice for the ceremonial dropping of the puck. It would have surprised few in attendance if some old familiar chippiness ensued between the '70s rivals.

The early arriving crowd, with a remarkable number of them adorned in brand-new commemorative jerseys, found their seats early. Those fans in the ritzy baseball seats near the dugouts stood for much of the game to see the action; for this sport, the grandstand provided a better view. Meanwhile, on Yawkey Way, the sights and smells were familiar. Anyone up for a sausage (onions and peppers optional) at 9:30 a.m. had some options. Certainly not the most appealing breakfast for many of us on New Year's Day.

Another sight was a bit surreal, even if you expected it was coming: the red and white jerseys and t-shirts of summer have given way to the black and gold sweaters more commonly seen around Causeway Street this time of year. It was a pleasant reminder that the Bruins have perhaps the most loyal core of fans in the city.

And at the end of the day, just as the NHL had hoped, the day at Fenway would prove as fulfilling and memorable for all involved as a childhood skate on the neighborhood pond.

"Just this whole day, overall, this will go down as one of the most memorable days of my life, of my career," said Thomas. "Between winning, and the way that we won, and being named to the US Olympic team, I mean, it's my oldest goal, I've been waiting 30 years for this."

Terry O'Reilly, my favorite hockey player as a kid -- as if it could be anyone else for an Irish boy in New England. And that's my favorite hockey card from my childhood, though if I recall correctly my copy was considerably more mangled than this one. Looked like it had been through a couple of heavyweight bouts with Clark Gillies.

Anyway, no chat today, but I've got an excuse that I'm downright thrilled about -- I'll be skating the Winter Classic Blog Boy shift over at Fenway alongside Fluto, Dupey and our usual Bruins-coverage first-liners. Getting to cover this . . . well, it sure is some kind of good way to begin the new year.

The plan is to write about the pregame scene over at our Bruins Blog, post a quick game story, and add various morsels of color and commentary in the postgame. Yes, we'll probably even shoehorn in a "Slapshot" quote or two. So get your hot chocolate ready, turn on the telecast, fire up the laptop, and join us for the fun.

Took a night off from sports last night. (Well, to be precise, the "night off" began after Tim Wakefield's game-altering pitch to Mike Napoli, but before it cleared the wall in center field for a game-changing three-run homer. Totally saw that one coming.)

Finally watched "Gone Baby Gone" instead. A masterpiece for Ben Affleck (did I just write that?), wholly superior to the "The Departed" . . . and absolutely crushing if you are a parent or Morgan Freeman. Pretty sure I'll never watch it again. And I especially wished I'd stuck with the Sox after realizing I'd missed Daniel Bard's debut.

Oh, well. I'm not missing a sporting thing tonight, what with yet another Bruins/Celtics simultaneous postseason doubleheader. As a matter of fact, I've already drawn up a short list of things I'm hoping to see. Such as . . .

. . . J.J. Redick continuing to shoot like he's still at Duke and a Final Four berth is on the line.

. . . Dwight Howard getting his wish and getting the ball in the clutch. I'm all for a 57 percent free-throw shooter with no offensive game to speak of outside of six feet demanding the rock.

. . . Perk, doing his usual dirty work. Gotta write a full column about him one of those days. He's beast, you know.

. . . Dick Bavetta forgetting which team is playing at home.

. . . Stan Van Gundy's shrill, cliche-ridden, completely uninspired instructions during a timeout.

. . . The "We just have to listen to this guy for two more games, tops" looks on the faces of the Magic players.

. . . More of that dipstick Skip To My Lou. Less of Courtney Lee, who could be the Rodney Stuckey of this series if Van Hedgehog would let him.

. . . Rajon Rondo shaking off his strange recent lethargy and making the Magic pay for daring him to shoot.

. . . The Truth and Shuttlesworth on fire in the same game for once.

. . . Big Baby driving up his price even more with a 20/10 performance. You can bet the Magic fans on the sidelines will be aware of his whereabouts at all times tonight.

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If you missed it while enjoying your holiday festivities, this week's OT column is right here. As a bonus, I'm posting here a few of my Boston sports predictions for 2009 that didn't make the cut.

(Yep. I wrote too long. Again. But by only 500 words this time. That's what you call a craftsman's discipline, baby.)

Anyway, I'll be back with an original column Monday -- at last, one in which the names "Teixeira" and "Boras" will not be mentioned. Until then, here are few deleted scenes that left out of the OT original . . .

Feb. 10: With “Justice” written on one fist and “For Cam” on the other, the Bruins’ Milan Lucic pummels 43-year-old Sharks forward Claude Lemieux so brutally that the longtime villain attempts to announce his re-retirement while cowering on the ice. Neely proudly nods his approval from management’s box, while NESN’s Mike Milbury chucks a shoe in Lemieux’s direction for old time’s sake.

May 23: Assuming it’s no different than taking a mid-game leak inside the Green Monster, Manny Ramirez urinates on the sacred monuments beyond the left field wall at Yankee Stadium during the seventh inning of a 21-3 loss to the Phillies. The entire city of New York is aghast. The ghost of Babe Ruth, however, finds it hilarious.

June 10: The Celtics deliver the ultimate indignity to the Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals when Eddie House’s grade-school-aged son, Jalen, blows past Sasha Vujacic for a reverse layup and a foul with 1:22 remaining, giving the Celtics a 133-82 lead. Vujacic retreats to the LA bench, slaps a folding chair, shakes his hand in agony, and immediately bursts into tears. Little House chest bumps his proud pop, then says: “Dad, you told me there was no crying in basketball.”

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