Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Mild Wings, Bruins Close out Series Against Detroit; Rays the Roof- Lackey Hurls Another Gem Against Tampa Bay; Cano Place Like Home- Cano Returns to Bronx as Visitor; Sterling Clipped- Audio of LA Clippers Owner Making Racist Remarks Results in NBA Ban

BOSTON BRUINS- It was a busy Saturday for Boston sports- besides the Red Sox heading north of the border to take on the Blue Jays for the first time this season, the Bruins had an opportunity to close out the Red Wings in Game 5 at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon.



Boston got on the board first thanks to a power play goal from Loui Eriksson just 3 and a half minutes into the first to make it a 1-0 game. Of course, no lead is as hard to maintain as a one goal lead and at the 14:41 mark of the second period, Pavel Datsyuk notched a power play goal to tie the contest up at 1-1. But with less than 5 seconds remaining in the second and the Bruins on a 4 on 3 power play, Zdeno Chara blasted one past Gustavsson to give Boston the lead back heading into the second intermission.

Just four and a half minutes into the 3rd, the Bruins added to their lead with a goal from Milan Lucic to make it 3-1- but the Red Wings weren't done yet. As the crowd at TD Garden started reserving seats for the Boston/Montreal series, Detroit pulled to within one after Henrik Zetterberg got one past Tukka Rask with 3:52 to go in regulation. Inside of two minutes, the Red Wings pulled Gustavsson for an extra attacker, but with less than a minute to go Jarome Iginla made it a 2-goal game once again when he tallied an empty-netter to make it a 4-2 game. Boston would go on to win by a 4-2 final and take the series 4 games to one. Tukka Rask turned away 31 of 33 shots he faced while the Bruins went 2 for 6 on the power play. For his part, Gutavsson stopped 29 of 32 shots faced while Detroit went one for seven with the man advantage.

This sets up another all Original-6 matchup as the B's will take on the Montreal Canadiens on May 1st. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 ET and the game will be televised on NBC Sports and CBC.


ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- While the Canadiens made quick work of the Lightning, the same can't be said for three other playoff series.

Wednesday night will feature no less than three game 7s to close out the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. At 7:00 ET, the Flyers and Rangers will face off in Madison Square Garden for their decisive Game 7- that game will be televised on NBC Sports while Game 7 of the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche series gets underway at 9:30 ET from Denver- that game will be broadcast on CNBC. Things will wrap up on the West Coast when the Los Angeles Kings- who fell into an early 0-3 hole against the Sharks- will play a decisive Game 7 in San Jose starting at 10:00 ET (7:00 PT)- that game will be televised on the NBC Sports network and the CBC.

No matter who wins that Game 7, the next round in the Western Conference Semifinals will feature an all-California matchup. On Sunday night in Dallas, the Anaheim Ducks came from 2 goals down in the 3rd to tie the game with 24 seconds left in regulation to force OT, where Anaheim's Nick Bonino scored less than 3 minutes into sudden death overtime to give Anaheim the series win.

BOSTON RED SOX- After taking two out of three from the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre [I'm not sure what the bigger surprise was- Clay Buchholz settling down after giving up an early 3-0 lead and getting the win on Saturday or Lester and the bullpen getting lit up on Sunday- NANESB!] the Red Sox returned home to take on yet another AL East opponent in Fenway on Tuesday night.

Amid chilly temperatures and strong winds at Fenway on Tuesday night, the Red Sox faced off against the Tampa Bay Rays for the first time this season. With Lackey facing off against former Red Sox and Oriole starter Eric Bedard, the early innings had the makings of a pitcher's duel with batters struggling to reach base- or score on the few times they did get on base.

However, the Red Sox worked Bedard's pitch count up to over 100 in just five innings, forcing Rays manager Joe Maddon to go to the bullpen early. In the bottom of the 5th, Middlebrooks led off with a walk, followed by a Jackie Bradley Jr double. Pedroia lined out to 3rd thanks to a great play made by Rays 3B Evan Longoria, nearly catching Middlebrooks off-base as well. However, Shane Victorino hit a fly ball deep enough to center for Middlebrooks to come home on for the second out of the inning.

In the top of the 6th, the Rays would get on the board thanks to a 1-out Longoria sac fly to center to bring home Desmond Jennings and make it a 1-1 game After Napoli and Gomes walked to lead off the bottom of the 6th, Xander Bogaerts popped out to shallow left for the first out of the bottom half of the inning. With one away, AJ Pierzynski brought Napoli across home plate with an RBI single while Gomes came home on a Middlebrooks double. Jackie Bradley Jr then brought Middlebrooks and Pierzynski home on a 2-RBI double off of Rays reliever Juan Oviedo and advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. Although Oviedo got Pedroia to ground out to short for out number two, Victorino came to the plate and his a ground-rule double to bring JBJ home and make it a 6-1 Red Sox lead. The Rays got a run back in the top of the 7th to make it 6-2 but Big Papi would hit a 1-out RBI single with runners on 1st and 2nd to make it 7-2 Boston.

However, after Mujica took the mound in the top of the 9th and Tampa got two more runs, John Farrell sent for Koji Uehara to close out the game, striking out Ben Zorbist to end the ballgame and give Boston the 7-4 win.

The two teams will go back at it tomorrow (weather permitting) with Chris Archer [2-1; 4.11 ERA] going up against Felix Doubront [1-3; 6.00 ERA] with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 on ESPN.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL EAST- Amid completely self-unaware chants of "You sold out!", former Yankees 2B Robinson Cano returned to the Bronx for the first time since leaving for Seattle after signing a 10 year, $240 million deal with the Mariners.

Cano went 1 for 5 with an RBI, two strikeouts and a stolen base in Tuesday night's game as the Seattle Mariners rallied from a 2-0 deficit to go on and win by a 6-3 final.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS- Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is expected to be out until July after tearing a ligament in his last week. Harper was batting .289 with a homer and 9 RBI so far this season. Harper underwent surgery on Tuesday and even tweeted a picture of himself from the hospital room.

On the road to recovery..Everything went great and I'll be back soon! Thank you to all the fans for the support! pic.twitter.com/66Wn7sxHQ9

— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) April 29, 2014

Harper made his MLB debut in 2012 at age 19 and has a career .273 batting average with 43 homers and 126 RBI in just under two whole seasons. Last week, manager Matt Williams benched Harper because he didn't run out a groundball to first.

NBA- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has received a lifetime ban from the NBA and a $2.5 million fine from NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday. Sterling was recorded by his mistress asking her not to bring black people to Clipper's home games and upset that she posted an instagram photo of herself and NBA hall of famer Magic Johnson. The recordings were made public by gossip website TMZ and have been replayed over multiple networks all weekend, sparking outrage and planned protests.

Former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers had reportedly declined a meeting with Sterling and was reportedly looking for ways out of his contract with the organization before Silver's press conference on Tuesday. Sterling, a California real-estate mogul, reportedly lost a civil rights lawsuit a few years ago in which the plaintiffs allege he discriminated against black and Hispanic tenants. Up until fairly recently, Sterling ran the Clippers on a shoestring budget frequently resulting in last place finishes, but savvy draft picks like Blake Griffin and key free agent signings like Chris Paul had reversed the Clippers fortunes in recent years.

On the hardwood, the Clippers returned to the Staples Center for the first time since the recordings of Sterling was made public, beating the Golden State Warriors by a 113-103 final on Tuesday night. Earlier in the series, Clippers players had worn their practice jerseys inside-out and donned black wristbands a s a means of protests when the recordings first came out.

Currently, the Clippers hold a 3-2 series lead over Golden State in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Sports Chowdah Update- Former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez Arrested, Charged With Murder; Red Sox Kick Wang Around; What's Up Doc? Blockbuster Trades By C's Wipe Away Any Trace of Big 3 Era as Rivers Flows West

PATRIOTS- Former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez was arrested on charges of murder this week after the body of an acquaintance was found less than a mile away from his N. Attleboro, MA home. I say 'former' because the Patriots cut him within two hours of his arrest on Wednesday afternoon.

The prosecution alleges that Hernandez orchestrated the murder of 27 year old Odin Lloyd during the overnight hours of June 16th and June 17th. Lloyd, a semipro linebacker with the Boston Bandits, had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée at the time of the murder.

According to investigators, after seeing Odin talking to a some people at a Boston nightclub who earlier had a falling out with Hernandez, the tight end summoned two friends from Connecticut. After texting Lloyd, Hernandez and two accomplices arrive at Lloyd's house around 2:30 AM. Lloyd's sister sees him get into a silver Altima and receives a final text message from him at 3:23 AM- around the same time a silver Altima that Hernandez had rented is seen on a security camera driving into a secluded area of an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez's home. Shortly before 3:30 workers at a nearby business report hearing the sound of gunshots.

The following day, Hernandez returns the Altima to the rental agency and asks for another vehicle, after the driver's side mirror is damaged. Hernandez claims he doesn't know how it happened while getting another vehicle. After Hernandez leaves, the attendant finds a spent shell casing from a .45 pistol. Later that day, Odin's body is discovered at an area where sand and gravel are stockpiled at the North Attleboro industrial park.

A subsequent search of the Hernandez's apartment turned up a clip from a .45 semiautomatic. Investigators also learned that Hernandez's cell phone and home security system were destroyed (likely deliberately) shortly after Lloyd's slaying and the tight end hired housekeepers to scrub his mansion after the slaying.

In addition to Hernandez, police have arrested three suspected accomplices in Florida and Hernandez's hometown of Bristol, CT this week. All of them are facing extradition to Massachusetts to stand trial for their role in Lloyd's murder and Hernandez was denied bail after being deemed a flight risk.

The Bristol County Sheriff also said that police are looking into Hernandez's alleged involvement in a 2012 double slaying in South Boston and that Lloyd may have been killed because Hernandez thought he knew too much.

A civil-suit alleging that Aaron Hernandez shot a man in the face outside a Miami nightclub was filed in a Florida federal court last week as well. Meanwhile, the Patriots announced that they would offer a free jersey exchange to fans who had purchased a Hernandez #81 jersey at the team's shop in Gillette Stadium or through the team's website.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

RED SOX- After completing a sweep of the brief two game series against Colorado- including Tuesday night's outing where the Red Sox notched 20 hits in their 11-4 win- the Red Sox had a chance to add to their lead in the AL East and cool off the torrid Blue Jays, who had won 17 of their last 22 games in June to put them within striking distance of the AL East lead [although still dead last- NANESB!]. The last time Toronto starter Chen-Ming Wang faced the Red Sox was four years ago while wearing pinstripes, and he lost to knuckleballer Time Wakefield in the Bronx.

Although Wang would get through the first inning without allowing a hit, the wheels came off in the second inning when he allowed 7 runs in just ⅔ of an inning. Dustin Pedroia's two out, two run homer knocked Wang out of the game. With plenty of run support early on, Lester seemed to be cruising along- although he gave up a 2-RBI double to Maicer Izturis in the top of the 5th and allowed two singles to lead off the top of the 8th where the runners eventually came home when Jinuchi Tazawa gave up a sac-fly to Jose Reyes and an RBI groundout to Jose Bautista to make it 7-4. That would be the final, though, as Koji Uehara came in for his second straight save- and like Wednesday's afternoon game against the Rockies, he got all three batters he faced out in order.

Lester went seven complete innings and improves to 8-4 after struggling mightily while Toronto falls back to .500 with the loss. The 7-run second inning was enough for Boston and Dustin Pedroia led the scoring by going 1-2 with a homer and 2 RBI. Lester threw a total of 94 pitches and the seven innings was his longest outing of the season so far. Game two of the four game weekend series will get underway from Fenway Friday night at 7:10 ET. The pitching matchup will feature Allen Webster [0-2; 11.25 ERA] against Toronto's Josh Johnson [1-2; 4.60 ERA] and the game will be televised by NESN.

OTHER SOX NEWS- The Red Sox selected New Castle, IN high school pitcher Trey Ball as their first overall draft pick in the 2013 MLB draft. The 6'6" left from the Hoosier State is the highest selection for Boston since the 1993 pick of outfielder Trot Nixon.

BOSTON CELTICS- Shortly after the NBA approved of an unorthodox trade that sent head coach Doc Rivers to the LA Clippers for a first round pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Celtics GM Danny Ainge orchestrated a blockbuster deal that sent two-thirds of the Big Three to Brooklyn in exchange for Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, Reggie Evans, Kris Joseph, a signed-and-traded Keith Bogans and first round picks in the 2014, 2016 and 2018 draft- plus the right to trade up if the Nets' pick is higher than Boston's in 2017. The Nets will be getting Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce- the longest tenured member of the Celtics. Garnett apparently had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through and have the Nets agree to take on his entire salary through the 2014-2015 season.

The trade was foreshadowed by weeks of on-again/off-again talks between the Celtics and Clippers over Doc's exit from Beantown and landing on the west coast. The Celtics are still on the hook for the final three years and $21 million of his contract. In addition to head coach, Doc was also named vice-president of basketball operations- a position that would give him a greater say in the front office.

2nd Helping of West Coast Sports Chowdah: C's Clip LA's Other Team, 'Lucic! I'm Home'- B's Triumph in Vancouver; Hall of Famer Snider Passes Away

NHL- As far as the Bruins are concerned, I'm liking the road trip out west.

The B's came into Vancouver on Saturday night winners of 3 in a row. Of course, two of those wins were tallied against dysfunctional team like the NY Islanders or Ottawa Senators. Calgary was a much better test which they managed to pass, but on Saturday they were up against the league-leading Canucks.

The night before, Vancouver native Milan Lucic was honored by a local junior hockey club. The following night, he ends up scoring the game-winning goal for the B's against the NHL team with the best record.

Vancouver got on the board first with a tally from C Manny Malhotra in the 1st period before Boston would get the equalizer off the stick of Nathan Horton midway through the 2nd.

With dozens of friends and relatives watching in the stands, Lucic scored the go-ahead goal with 4:38 remaining in regulation and with just under two minutes remaining, Patrice Bergeron gave the B's some insurance with an empty netter after the Canucks pulled Roberto Luongo for the extra attacker.

This makes it four wins in a row and the 2nd consecutive game where Boston has won 3-1. Tim Thomas stopped 27 of 28 shots faced while Roberto Luongo faced 24 shots, stopping 22.

The Bruins next game is on Sunday night at Edmonton- puck drops at 5PM Pacific, 8PM Eastern.

NBA- After Thursday's 85-79 loss to a Carmello Anthony-less Denver Nuggets, the western road trip hasn't been as kind to the Celtics as it has the Bruins, but the C's managed to wrap up all of Saturday's NBA action with a win at staples Center against the Clippers.

Kendrick Perkins was sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for F Jeff Green and C Nenad Ksrtic and the Clipper's 1st round pick in the 2012 NBA draft. Saturday night would mark the Boston debut of the two new acquisitions. Despite the sluggish and lethargic 1st half where Boston was trailing 47-40, the C's would come right back and make a game of it.

Paul Pierce led the scoring for Boston with 24 points while Ray Allen had 22, Kevin Garnett had 16 and Glen 'Big Baby' Davis came off the bench for 10. Krstic started with 9 points and 6 rebounds while Green came off the bench for 7 points and one rebound in Saturday's 99-92 win over the Clippers- G Randy Foye had a 32-point night in the losing effort for the Clippers.

The C's next game will be on Monday night against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City at 9PM Eastern- 7PM Mountain time.

MLB: Hall of Fame Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Duke Snider passed away at a Southern California Convalescent hospital, according to a statement from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which released a statement on behalf of Snider's family. According to Snider's family, he had been ill for several months and was being cared for at an Escondido, CA convalescent hospital.

Snider batted a career .295 and hit 407 homeruns in a career that started in 1947 with the Brookly Dodgers and saw him win an elusive World Series Title with 'dem bums' and play his home games in Los Angeles when the Dodgers moved across the country. He finished his career in 1964 with the San Francisco Giants.

Snider retired to an avocado farm in Fallbrook, CA after his playing career. In the 1990s, he faced legal troubles because he failed to report revenue from signing autographs, appearances and memorabilia sales to the IRS.

The Dodgers retired Snider's number in 1980, the same year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

ELSEWHERE: The Red Sox will kick off Spring Training with a 'home and away' series against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday (while, curiously enough, never leaving the city of Ft. Meyers, FL). Opening pitch is 7PM Eastern Time.