DHL Dan CCXXIX - Riding The Pine

The Bruins' David Pastrnak got benched earlier in the week, and Shank recalls another Bruins benching:

David Pastrnak’s benching recalls an earlier event that didn’t sit well with Cam Neely, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while calmly reciting Lou Gorman’s mantra: “The sun will rise, the sun will set, and I’ll have lunch” …

▪ Bruins coach Jim Montgomery benched his best player, David Pastrnak, for the third period of a win over the Kraken at the Garden last weekend.

And it was no big deal. After taking responsibility for a bad turnover in the game, Pasta said, “I don’t want to be any distraction to our team,” then two days later led all Bruins forwards with 22:18 of ice time in Toronto.

I don’t remember Manny Ramirez, Tom Brady, or Larry Bird getting benched very often. It’s a hockey thing. And it’s usually not a big deal.

Except for once around here when it was.

In January of 1996, 34-year-old rookie Bruins coach Steve Kasper sat Cam Neely and Kevin Stevens for a game in Toronto that ended in a 4-4 tie. Neely, a nine-year Bruins veteran and alternate captain who was playing in the final year of his career, did not take it well, and neither did Bruins fans.

Admitting The Obvious

Shank occasionally engages in self-reflection:

TORONTO — Some of the stuff I write on these pages doesn’t age particularly well.

Watching free agent-to-be Pablo Sandoval at the 2014 World Series, it was easy to urge the Red Sox to sign the Panda immediately. It was a perfect fit. No doubt. After all these years, you know the goods when you see it.

More recently, I anointed the Patriots Super Bowl champs a few days before the game was actually played. There was, after all, no way that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were going to lose to a team coached by Doug Pederson and quarterbacked by Nick Foles. The Eagles simply had no chance.

In this spirit, I approached Bruins president Cam Neely at the Air Canada Centre during practice Wednesday to give him a chance to mock me in the wake of my preseason September column about the Bruins’ fourth-place ranking in our local sports market.

Read on if you like how Shank's bad column ideas come to the fore.

Dan Shaughnessy, Attention Whore

Poor Danny Boy - someone's mad at him!

On now until noon with @ZolakandBertrand. I think Cam Neely is mad at me. Love Cam. I'm blaming Montgomery Burns in Buffalo

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) February 10, 2017

A few people commented on Shank's arrogance:

@Dan_Shaughnessy It's not like you ever stir the pot or anything. #tomatacans

— Johnny Fontane (@JohnnyFontane1) February 10, 2017

@Dan_Shaughnessy @IanMBrowne Do you blame Burns for giving the ok on the Seguin trade?ForThe Hamilton trade?Neely/Sweeney have no idea.

— RRyan(@alicat2662) February 10, 2017

@Dan_Shaughnessy kick his ass Seabass!

— Richard Anastas(@richa701) February 10, 2017

For what it's worth, I met Cam at a comedy club on Warrenton Street many moons ago, just after he retired. I shook his hand; he damn near crushed it. Human vise-grip! If I was Shank, I'd be avoiding the Garden for a while.