The Boston Bruins-Buffalo Sabres rivalry was reignited last Nov. 12 when Bruins winger Milan Lucic raced in for cheap jersey wholesale a loose puck and barreled over Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, which led Miller to take a swing at Lucic but stirred little response from Miller's teammates.
The Bruins went on to pummel the Sabres 6-2.
Following the game, Miller had some choice words for Lucic.
“I’m not going to really get into that,” Miller said. “I just stuck around because I just want to say what a piece of [expletive] I think Lucic is. Fifty pounds on me, and he runs me like that. It’s unbelievable. Everyone in this city sees him as a big, tough, solid player. I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless. Gutless, piece of [expletive].”
After almost two weeks of build-up for cheap NFL Nike Elite Jersey the "revenge game" -- during which time the Sabres' guts and team chemistry were questioned -- Paul Gaustad dropped the gloves with Lucic 1:23 into the game, and was disposed of with ease by the burly Bruins winger. The Sabres ended up losing again, 4-3 in a shootout.
The Bruins went on to win the season series with their old Adams Division rivals 4-1-1, and Buffalo general manager Darcy Regier focused his offseason on improving the Sabres' toughness. Pesky players such as Gaustad and Patrick Kaleta were not going to be enough, so Regier signed 6-foot-8, 270-pound enforcer John Scott as well as another pest, but one who can fight, in Steve Ott.
The Sabres realized that the only way to hang with what Bruins coach Claude Julien calls "heavy" teams such as the Bruins, Flyers, Rangers and Devils is to get bigger and play more physical hockey. When Scott signed with Buffalo, he referenced the Lucic-Miller incident Cheap Jerseys and promised there would be no lack of response this season should something similar occur.
"Hopefully, with me next year, that doesn't happen," Scott told the Buffalo News. "If it does happen, there's a different outcome."
The Bruins went on to pummel the Sabres 6-2.
Following the game, Miller had some choice words for Lucic.
“I’m not going to really get into that,” Miller said. “I just stuck around because I just want to say what a piece of [expletive] I think Lucic is. Fifty pounds on me, and he runs me like that. It’s unbelievable. Everyone in this city sees him as a big, tough, solid player. I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless. Gutless, piece of [expletive].”
After almost two weeks of build-up for cheap NFL Nike Elite Jersey the "revenge game" -- during which time the Sabres' guts and team chemistry were questioned -- Paul Gaustad dropped the gloves with Lucic 1:23 into the game, and was disposed of with ease by the burly Bruins winger. The Sabres ended up losing again, 4-3 in a shootout.
The Bruins went on to win the season series with their old Adams Division rivals 4-1-1, and Buffalo general manager Darcy Regier focused his offseason on improving the Sabres' toughness. Pesky players such as Gaustad and Patrick Kaleta were not going to be enough, so Regier signed 6-foot-8, 270-pound enforcer John Scott as well as another pest, but one who can fight, in Steve Ott.
The Sabres realized that the only way to hang with what Bruins coach Claude Julien calls "heavy" teams such as the Bruins, Flyers, Rangers and Devils is to get bigger and play more physical hockey. When Scott signed with Buffalo, he referenced the Lucic-Miller incident Cheap Jerseys and promised there would be no lack of response this season should something similar occur.
"Hopefully, with me next year, that doesn't happen," Scott told the Buffalo News. "If it does happen, there's a different outcome."
They streamed out into this surprisingly warm December night, more than 80,000 intensely loyal fans of a franchise that hasn't mattered in December for quite some time. They grinned. They hooted. They pumped fists, slapped five and chanted the same three thumping syllables: "R-G-3! R-G-3!"
They are the fired-up fans of the Washington Redskins, winners of three straight games, including this "17-16 Monday Night Football" slugfest over the first-place, defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Their team sits a game out of first place and on the edge of the NFC wild-card race with four games left in the season. And the syllables stand for the 22-year-old quarterback who has made it all possible.
"There's a lot of excitement around this team right now," Robert Griffin III said. "And I think everybody's feeling it."
This is unquestionably the case, outside the Redskins' locker room and in, and Griffin is the centrifugal reason. He is the franchise player for whom the Redskins happily traded three first-round picks and a second-round pick, because they knew that the process of building a core group around your quarterback is far less stressful when you're no longer worried about your quarterback. And Griffin has delivered, repeatedly. But what's happening over these past three weeks is the emergence of the young group he's got around him on offense. And Monday night's victory managed to do something few have been able to do this year -- slide Griffin into something less than the starring role.
They are the fired-up fans of the Washington Redskins, winners of three straight games, including this "17-16 Monday Night Football" slugfest over the first-place, defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Their team sits a game out of first place and on the edge of the NFC wild-card race with four games left in the season. And the syllables stand for the 22-year-old quarterback who has made it all possible.
"There's a lot of excitement around this team right now," Robert Griffin III said. "And I think everybody's feeling it."
This is unquestionably the case, outside the Redskins' locker room and in, and Griffin is the centrifugal reason. He is the franchise player for whom the Redskins happily traded three first-round picks and a second-round pick, because they knew that the process of building a core group around your quarterback is far less stressful when you're no longer worried about your quarterback. And Griffin has delivered, repeatedly. But what's happening over these past three weeks is the emergence of the young group he's got around him on offense. And Monday night's victory managed to do something few have been able to do this year -- slide Griffin into something less than the starring role.