CHS Roundup
CHS football team
to meet Matignon
on Thanksgiving Day
The Chelsea High football team will meet Matignon High Thanksgiving Day at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville at 10:00 a.m. Although both teams have experienced a certain degree of frustration thus far this year — Chelsea comes into the contest with a 2-7 mark and Matignon (which has merged its football program with St. Joseph’s Prep) stands at 1-8 — their battle on Thanksgiving Day brings the promise of a second season for both teams.
“Thanksgiving Day football is a Massachusetts tradition and we’re very happy to be able to play Matignon on Thanksgiving,” said CHS head coach Jack Halas.
The Red Devils have been a banged-up bunch in recent weeks. In Chelsea’s last encounter with Latin Academy, there were only 17 healthy Red Devils ready to play.
“The injury bug hit us pretty hard,” said Halas. “We are lucky to have had 12 days in between games to allow us to get some guys healthy again. We scaled it back a lot in practice and spent more time in the classroom watching film and on the whiteboard. I expect us to be back to full strength by Thursday for Thanksgiving.”
For a quintet of seniors, the Turkey Day tilt will be their last in a CHS uniform: Captain Dennys Hernandez, Christian Caceres, Mike Rowan, Petherson Braga, and Henry Lemus.
“Most of these guys I’ve coached for four years and they are all great kids,” said Halas. “Hopefully, we can have a good last week of practice and send them off on a winning note on Thanksgiving.
“We have always told our kids that football is a special game and not like other sports,” added the coach. ”You cannot go out and play pick-up football. It’s not basketball. Football comes to an end, so you should cherish it while it’s around and go out and make a memory for yourself.”
Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins thankful for turnaround
With the Thanksgiving holiday on the horizon, the Bruins can take a moment to reflect on their recent successes. With not very many highlights in the first 20 games of their 2015-16 NHL season, the recent play by the current Boston lineup has offered their loyal fans a glimmer of hope. With a renewed effort lately, the Bruins have put together a stretch of four wins in their last five contests, their last two coming against Atlantic Division rival Toronto Maple Leafs in two hotly contested games.
Their 4-3 shootout win Tuesday night saw Boston squandering a couple of leads to allow the Leafs to get back into the game, but ultimately took it to a shootout, with the game winner scored by Bruins leading scorer David Krejci. Tuukka Rask had a busy night in net making several outstanding acrobatic saves while facing 42 shots – the most he has faced in a while. Nonetheless, he survived a puck off the side of the helmet that shook him up, but stood his ground and stayed solid in net.
Brad Marchand scored two Boston goals, one shorthanded, to run his team-leading total to ten. Zac Rinaldo notched his first goal as a Bruin, scoring in the second period, with assists going to Dennis Seidenberg and Rask, to give Boston a 2-0 margin. The victory moved the Bruins up to just 2 points shy of the second place Ottawa Senators in the Atlantic Division. In the Eastern Conference, Boston is presently tied for 7th place in the standings.
Tonight (Wednesday), the Bruins will be hosted by the Detroit Red Wings (7:30pm), in a division game that could greatly improve their current standing. Boston will return to Garden ice for a Friday matchup with the extremely hot New York Rangers who currently lead the Metropolitan Division with a 16-3-2 record. December has the Bs back on the road for a three-game trip facing the Edmonton Oilers (Wednesday, 12/2 at 9:30pm), continuing in Canada with a Friday night game with the Calgary Flames (12/4 at 9:00pm), and finishing up with the Vancouver Canucks in a Saturday night special (12/5 at 10:00pm).
With the team playing better, a solid power-play unit, and effective penalty killing, this could be a Thanksgiving that Boston fans can be very thankful for.
The Sports Museum’s 14th Annual Tradition – Wednesday, December 2nd
The Sports Museum has put the finishing touches on their 2015 lineup, announcing the presenters to the outstanding honoree class. Among the honorees is popular Bruins goaltender, Gerry Cheevers, who will receive his award from former, longtime Bruins President, Harry Sinden. Cheevers is a two-time Stanley Cup winner as a member of the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup winning teams. Known as a “money player,” he had the ability to come up big in important games.
His career with the B’s included two five season stretches from 1967-1972, and a second stint 1975-1980, wrapped around his departure in 1972, to join the upstart World Hockey Association for 191 games. His impressive NHL stats include 418 games played, with 230 wins, 102 losses, and 74 ties. He earned 26 shutouts while posting a 2.89 goals-against-average, and a .901 save percentage.
The Boston Celtics’ current General Manager Danny Ainge will get his award from former Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst. Additional honorees will have Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of a Gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Bill Rodgers, winner of four Boston Marathons, will present Samuelson her award. Former Red Sox pitcher, Roger “The Rocket” Clemens,’ a seven-time Cy Young winner, will get his award presented by long time Red Sox broadcaster, Joe Castiglione.
Popular New England Patriots tackle Richard Seymour will have the honor presented to him by another former Patriot, Ty Law. Don Rodman, the sponsor of ‘Rodman Ride for Kids,’ since 1991, is an accomplished Boston sportsman who has raised more than $100 million for the organization, and his presenter will be current New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski.
The Tradition will take place in the TD Garden on Wednesday, December 2nd at 6:00pm, hosted by Tom Caron and Michael Holley. Reserved seat tickets: $300, General Admission: $200 – all tickets include food and beverage. To purchase tickets or sponsorship packages, contact Renee Quinn at [email protected], or call (617) 624-1231.