Stanley Cup Final Game 3 Report

The Bruins were the better team in their 2-0 victory over the Blackhawks in Game 3 at TD Garden. You could tell from the jerseys how hard they worked ... the Black Final Set 1 jerseys were drenched.

After authenticating the jerseys following Boston's victory, I can report that five Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Nathan Horton and Dennis Seidenberg) wore more than one jersey in the game:

-Chara switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 for the third.

-Seidenberg alternated period by period, wearing Set 1 in the first and third periods. He wore Set 2 in the second period.

-Boychuk alternated period by period, wearing Set 1 in the first and third periods. He wore Set 2 in the second period.

-Horton switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 in the third period. His Set 1 jersey had some nice marks on the right shoulder, which hopefully will outfight the washing machine tonight.

-Bergeron switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 in the third period.

Daniel Paille, who has been a force in this series, had a sweet board burn on his left arm after the game.  So did Chris Kelly and David Krejci.

As they did in Games 1 and 2, the Bruins dressed 22 players for warmup, including defenseman Matt Bartkowski and forward Carl Soderberg, who did not play.

See you Wednesday from the Garden.

From Boston's TD Garden, Welcome to Game 3

Welcome to Game 3 from rainy Boston, where the Bruins and Blackhawks will probably go into overtime again.

For the second consecutive Stanley Cup Final, Games 1 and 2 both were decided in OT. Unlike a year ago, when the LA Kings won both games in OT at New Jersey, the teams split the pair of overtimes in Chicago.

I spent the morning pre-authenticating the two sets of Black Final jerseys the Bruins will be wearing. Black Set 1 will be worn tonight, and until either team reaches three victories.

As has been their custom, five or six Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Nathan Horton, Dennis Seidenberg, and Shawn Thornton) are expected to wear two jerseys in this game, switching at some points between periods

Update: As they did in Game 2, Boychuk and Seidenberg switched after the first period.

Update: As they did in Game 2, Boychuk and Seidenberg switched back to their Final Set 1s for period three ... Chara, Boychuk and Horton switched into their Final Set 2s after wearing their Final Set 1s for the first two periods.

An additional black Final jersey has been prepared for David Krejci. He is expected to wear it for one period tonight so that Boston-MGG can donate it to the Hockey Hall of Fame's annual Stanley Cup Final exhibit.

Update: Krejci did not change jerseys in the third period, sticking with Final Set 1.

From the pregame warmup: For the third straight game, 22 Bruins took warmup. As they did before Games 1 and 2, defenseman Matt Bartkowski and forward Carl Soderberg skated during the pre-game warmup. Neither was in the lineup for Games 1 and 2, and neither dressed for Game 3.

Could this Stanley Cup Final Be Any More Even?

The Blackhawks and Bruins played OT again. And it was fitting that Daniel Paille evened the series at a game apiece because these two teams are equally worthy Finalists playing fabulous hockey.

So we head to Boston for Game 3 tied 1-1, which assures the Bruins' Black Set 1 of getting two games of use.

After authenticating the saturated with sweat white jerseys following Boston's 2-1 victory in Overtime, I can report that the same five Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Nathan Horton and Dennis Seidenberg) wore more than one jersey in the game:

-Chara switched after the third period ... and wore his Set 2 in OT.

-Seidenberg alternated period by period, wearing Set 1 in the first period, third period, and second overtime. He wore Set 2 in the second period, first OT and third OT.

-Boychuk alternated period by period, wearing Set 1 in the first period, third period, and second overtime. He wore Set 2 in the second period, first OT and third OT.

-Horton switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 in the third period and OT.

-Bergeron switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 in the third period and OT.

For the second straight game, the Bruins dressed 22 player for warmup, including defenseman Matt Bartkowski and forward Carl Soderberg, who did not play.

On to Boston. See you Monday from TD Garden.

A Few Questions During Game 2

Two questions asked during the game:

Why do the Bruins dress two extra for warmups?

It's not unusual for a team to dress an extra player or two when a player in the lineup might not be 100% and the team wants to keep alive the possibility of making a late change due to the health of a player.

It also serves to keep the opposition guessing about injuries, lineup, etc.

Where do players not in the lineup watch the game?

Players not in the lineup watch games from a variety of places: The press box, an auxiliary locker room, or an empty suite.

What happens when a team can win the Cup?

When the Bruins won the Cup in 2011, the extra players started getting into their uniforms late in the third period, so that they could skate with the Cup although they did not play. Their equipment is with the team, of course, because they are practicing with the club.

Welcome to Game 2

Welcome to Game 2, where the Bruins and Blackhawks will try to avoid playing five hours tonight.

Game 1 ended at the stroke of midnight, Central time, so it was quite beneficial for the NHL to have scheduled two games off between Games 1 and 2.

We go to Boston after this one, so another three OTs will certainly not help ... unless you're thinking about game use.

I will be authenticating the Bruins' Set 1 Final jerseys again tonight, and 6 periods in Game 1 certainly helped game use.

From the pregame warmup: Nathan Horton is in the lineup, despite the shoulder injury that knocked him out during OT No. 1 on Wednesday.

As they did before Game 1, defenseman Matt Bartkowski and forward Carl Soderberg took warmup. Neither was in the lineup before Game 1 and neither will be in the lineup for Game 2.

Having spent 16 years in NHL dressing rooms authenticating jerseys, I have learned that the equipment managers can be as superstitious as the players they assist. In virtually every locker room, jerseys must be hung and rehung a certain way: With the jerseys centered on hangers, and the jersey facing crest out.

Hangers are precious, too: Most equipment managers make sure their hangers are thick, plastic, and color-coordinated, as in team colors. Rarely do you see a wire hanger in an NHL locker room.

After the game, different story. I am usually handed a laundry cart to be taken to a quiet, spare room. Surgical gloves on my hands, I sift through every jersey logging authentication numbers while the washing machine awaits. Depending upon how quickly things must move after the game, I have several seconds to one second per jersey to read the tag number, log the tag number, and move on to the next jersey.

Occasionally I can examine a jersey for rips, tears and game use. And when a player uses multiple jerseys in a game, I get time to differentiate the period-by-period use, working with the Bruins' equipment team and watching the between-periods machinations when a few players have their jerseys taken to the dryer.

More later, once Game 2's jerseys take the ice for Game 2.

Stanley Cup Final Game 1 Report ... Enough Game Use for Ya?

The Blackhawks and Bruins played almost two full games ... and the Bruins' Final Set 1 jerseys were soaked with perspiration from nearly six periods of hockey.

Goalie Tuukka Rask's gamer weighed a ton ... and was littered with a few puck marks. That figured, considering he made 59 saves on 63 shots.

After authenticating the jerseys following Chicago's 4-3 victory in Triple Overtime, I can report that five Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Nathan Horton and Dennis Deidenberg) wore more than one jersey in the game:

-Chara switched after the third period ... and wore his Set 2 for all three overtimes.

-Seidenberg alternated period by period, wearing Set 1 in the first period, third period, and second overtime. He wore Set 2 in the second period, first OT and third OT.

-Boychuk alternated period by period, wearing Set 1 in the first period, third period, and second overtime. He wore Set 2 in the second period, first OT and third OT.

-Horton switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 in the third period and first overtime, before getting injured early in the first OT. He did not play in the second and third OTs.

-Bergeron switched after the second period ... and wore his Set 2 in the third period and all three OTs.

MeiGray will be authenticating the Bruins' Final jerseys throughout the series, and will be issuing reports from each game. Due to the lateness of the hour and the frenzy in the postgame dressing room I was unable to get a good look at game use on many of the jerseys ... but obviously after a game like this one, the jerseys got their money's worth.

The Bruins dressed 22 player for warmup, including defenseman Matt Bartkowski and forward Carl Soderberg, who did not play.

If Horton is unable to play in Saturday's Game 2, another Bruins forward will be in the lineup, and so another game-worn jersey will be available.

See you Saturday from the Madhouse on Madison.

Game 1, after period 2

Noticed a few nice marks on Rask's jersey as he stood for the Anthem, so undoubtedly came from warmup ... Lucic had stick mark on his back after second period, on the lower right of his jersey ... Will know after the game which Bruins wore two different jerseys in game. At least a few did ...