I don’t know if I have enough for a real blog post, so here are some casual observations and thoughts on game five:

– Jonathan Toews or Patrice Bergeron: who would you miss more? While I think it’s mostly a wash, I think the Bruins will miss Bergeron a little more.  They need his speed and skill while everyone else is beating the crap out of the Blackhawks.  There is other talent on the Bruins, but not enough that they won’t miss him.  Toews has been lost on the ice before and Chicago charged on.  Mostly a wash, but I go with the Bruins on this one.

– That said, the Bruins came back hard without him.  I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Boston tie it up.  That there was a missed tripping call that led to the empty net goal by Bolland, which was a little fitting.  The Bruins didn’t’ get any power plays, and aside from a lot of coincidental minors, I didn’t’ see a lot to send the ‘Hawks to the box for.  But that trip should have been called.  If the puck had been played first, then it would have been fine.  See below.

– Chara was basically called softer than LeBron James before this game, and he was out to prove that he wasn’t.  He hit and jabbed and poked and shoved anything wearing a red jersey tonight, and it wasn’t the smartest thing he could have done.  He sent his message in the first period, and he could have gone back to playing his game.  Playing hard isn’t a bad thing.  Good hits aren’t a bad thing.  But someone needed to calm him down at some point, to tell him he made his case and go back to playing defense.  It didn’t hurt him as much as I thought it would.  I thought he was going to take himself out of the play more often than he did.  But he was mad, played like it, and I wasn’t as impressed as I think I was supposed to be.

– Jen, aka @NHLHistoryGirl sent these tweets tonight:

“I don’t get the prejudice towards “bandwagon” fans. Ever think that it’s maybe the gateway fandom?”

“They’re watching hockey and enjoying it. Let’s embrace that.”

“Someftimes, people act like they know more than they do because they’re insecure and want to be accepted. Applies to bandwagon fans too.”

“All I’m asking is treat other fans (no matter how new, or where they come from) with a little respect. To quote @wilw: don’t be a dick.”

I wrote about ‘bandwagon fans five years ago, and I still agree.  Along the way, I have become a bigger hockey fan, lost a little interest in a few parts of the game, and at times been more than a little burned out.  But I’m a hockey fan, and at some point, I was a bandwagon fan as well.  I cheered for the 1996 Stanley Cup without being immersed in the game yet.  I didn’t go to my first NHL game until 2002.

So if you are a ‘bandwagon’ fan, welcome.  I’m happy you are here.  Enjoy the sport and ask questions if you want.  And if someone treats you like crap because they don’t think you are fan enough, tell them to shove it.  Hockey is too awesome to ignore.