Brad Marchand had another hit that could have been reviewed by the league, but it won’t be. Did Marchand get away with another dirty hit? Canadiens defenseman Hal Gill had a hit on Rich Peverly where their knees collided. Is the potential loss of Peverly worse than Nathan Horton?

Last night the Bruins beat the Bruins defeated the Canadiens 4-3 in a shoot-out win. Was last night’s win encouraging?

Also, what has happened to Canadiens fans? Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara took a puck off the chin and the Canadiens fans celebrated when they saw Chara bleeding. Is cheering blood a classless move by Canadiens fans?

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Is it time to move on from the “Beer and Chicken Crew” or should players start to be accountable for the way September went? Don’t the fans deserve some answers?

“I’ve yet to hear from one person that said ‘I’m over it.’” said Mazz of Red Sox fans. “What happened was disgraceful, and there’s been no real acknowledgement of it [from the team].”

Wipe The Slate Clean or Demand An Apology? 

“My gripe is with the players, and players exclusively at this point,” he continued. “I don’t feel like the players have [faced the music]. This is not about Lucchino or Henry or Cherington or anyone who is gone. It is soley, 100% about the players on the field. That is what this is about now for me.”

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How do you feel? Should fans move on, or do the Red Sox owe it to them to explain what happened at the end of last season? Let us know in the comments section…

They propose the question of who will step up as the leader in the Red Sox clubhouse going into the 2012 season.

Gresh and Zo give praise to Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz for his comments on the 2011 season.

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“Oh yeah, I’m so excited,” Melancon told reporters on Thursday. “I’ve been on the other side for so long, it’s bickering back and forth and you hear the differences but you always have respect for your competition. Now I’m on the other side of the fence, which is the better side. So I’m looking forward to it.”

Melancon On Sox-Yankees Rivalry 

Melancon was drafted by the Yankees in 2006 made his MLB debut with them in 2009 before being traded to Houston in 2010 in the deal for Lance Berkman. Despite his new allegiance, he did express thanks to his former team. He even said the Yankees aren’t all that different from his new employers.

“I respect those guys. I’m so appreciative that I came up through the Yankees organization. I have a lot of respect for them and they’re first class,” Melancon said. “It’s very similar actually in the way they go about things. Winning is a priority, and that shows.”

When Melancon was traded to the Red Sox in December, he was believed to be a contender for the closer’s position left vacant by Jonathan Papelbon. The acquisition of Andrew Bailey later in the winter changed that, but Melancon said he’ll bring a closer’s mentality to whatever role he’s given in the bullpen.

“Being in that role is kind of what I’ve been striving for my whole career,” Melancon said of his 20 saves for the Astros last year. “Being here now, obviously that might change, but still, anywhere in the back end of the bullpen, you have to treat it like it’s a save situation. I’ll use that experience [from] last year to do that here.”

Bailey has averaged 25 saves per season over the past three years, and Melancon said the former A’s closer deserves that spot in Boston. However, Melancon won’t let that affect the way he approaches the season.

“There’s nothing in concrete … it’s wide open basically,” Melancon said of the bullpen roles this year. “I think competition is good and I think everybody would agree with that.”

Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch reported that it is believed that Nash, who has a no-movement clause in his contract, would accept a trade to the Bruins, Rangers, Kings, Sharks and Maple Leafs.

Nash, 27, has a contract that runs through 2018 with a $7.8 million cap hit per year.

This season, Nash has 18 goals and 21 assists to go with a minus-22 rating for the Blue Jackets, who have by far the fewest points in the NHL. He has averaged 33 goals and 29 assists per season since the 2003-04 season.

While the Bruins may have a need at forward due to Nathan Horton’s uncertain status as he recovers from his second concussion in eight months, the expected cost of Nash is thought to be much more than Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli would be willing to spend.

“I’m definitely starting to feel more comfortable,” Wilcox said after his second straight start for Boston, scoring 17 points and pulling down nine rebounds in a 98-88 loss to the Pistons. “I’m running the floor, just trying to get a few easy ones to get me going, playing defense; that’s all. You just have to go out there and play hard.”

His 4.8 points and 3.7 rebound per game are not eye-popping, but it’s hard not to notice Wilcox  giving it his all. And it’s not just under the basket. Even at 6-10 and 235 lbs he runs down the floor on offense, something his point guard has taken notice of, and rewarding the big man for.

“I love playing with Chris. He is probably one of the fastest bigs in the league. I tell him to get out there and run with me and he does a great job every night,” said Rajon Rondo, who found Wilcox three times Wednesday night, including an alley-oop early in the third quarter. “Chris has been playing great for us.”

Head coach Doc Rivers even took the Rondo-Wilcox connection a little further, comparing it to another New England duo that had a record-setting season together.

“Rondo has trust that he can throw the ball up and he’ll go get it. He made some tough passes I thought and Chris caught them and finished. It’s no different, I guess, than (Tom) Brady and (Rob Gronkowski),” said Rivers. “You get confidence in certain guys.”

Maybe Doc took that one a little too far, but the trust between Rondo and Wilcox has grown a lot, and will likely continue to do so.

“I know at the beginning of the year I was dropping a lot of his passes. So we were practicing things like that [and it] helped me out, being in the right situation at the right time. The passes he is throwing now is nothing surprising to me,” said Wilcox.

The 29-year-old forward will keep getting his chances as long as he continues to show the hustle on the floor. Kevin Garnett missed Wednesday night with a hip flexor injury, and it only makes sense to rest the 35-year-old forward for the time being.

While Wilcox and the C’s missed Garnett on the floor on Wednesday, it was one of those opportunities for a player to step up.

“I definitely miss him a lot. We miss any of our players when they’re out. He’s our energy guy and he’s definitely missed,” Wilcox said of Garnett. “At the end of the day, guys have to step up and have bigger rolls.”

Wilcox will be one of those guys, and right now, the Celtics like what they see.

“He’s given us exactly what we hoped he’d give us when we signed him; energy, athleticism, running the floor, finishing at the basket,” said Rivers. “If he can stay where he is at right now, I’m very happy with that.”

He talked about the win over Montreal last night, gives us his thoughts on the Montreal fans cheering Zdeno Chara’s injury and had some news on Rich Peverly’s injury.

Read: Seguin Gives Bruins Shootout Win Over Canadiens

The Bruins have been struggling lately and almost gave up the game to Montreal Wednesday night. Fortunetly Tim Thomas was able to shut down the Canadiens in the shootout to give the B’s the win.

How did Bergeron feel about the win to start off a six game road trip?

“I think it was a good road win. Monteal played a good game, they played hard, they played physical and so did we. I thought it was a great game to be a part of. Yes we let that lead slip, but I thought we stayed put and we didn’t panic and we found a way to get that extra point.”

Zdeno Chara took a puck to the chin and blood was spilled on the ice. Montreal fans cheered at the injury not knowing if it was serious or not. Luckily for the captain it only took a few stitches to close the gash on his chin. Was Bergeron surprised by the reaction by Montreal fans?

“Yeah, obviously I was surprised especially when a guy gets a puck near the face, around that area. I think he got it in the throat, but still usually you just wait and see if he’s okay and then you do whatever.”

Bruins forward Rich Peverley was injured in the third period after a leg hit from Montreal’s Hal Gill. What does Bergeron know about the forward’s status?

“The only thing that I can say that I know is that he went back home, I think last night or this morning. He’s not going to be with us for the rest of the trip, so hopefully he gets some treatments and he get back with us as soon as possible.”

All this plus why do the New York Rangers matchup so well with the Bruins. The guys also discussed Bergeron’s great goal in Montreal. Find out what was going through his head.

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The B’s winger was penalized for clipping Alexei Emelin in Montreal on Thursday night, a hit similar to Marchand’s clip of Sami Salo in January that earned him a five-game suspension.

Marchand won’t face the same fate this time, though, as Brendan Shanahan explained on Twitter that the offense was not suspendable.

“Like all penalties on the ice, not all ‘clips’ rise to the level of supplemental discipline,” Shanahan said. “This check by Marchand was delivered to the upper thigh/hip and not the knee area. We don’t like it, but not [supplemental discipline].”

A clipping call normally wouldn’t lead to speculation regarding a disciplinary hearing, but given Marchand’s history, it became a question. Marchand’s hit came at the end of the second period.

Fans were on their feet when Chara took a puck off the chin in the first period.

“It’s very disappointing,” Chara said after the game. “You have a guy lying on the ice kind of hurt and they give a standing ovation for that. What can I say? There’s nothing much I can say about that. I can’t control that, and I moved on. I got up, I got stitched up, and I was back in the second.”

Are Montreal fans a disgrace? Zolak thinks so…

“They are scum north of the border. That’s what they are; bad people,” said Zolak. ”Any time there has been physical altercations we have all, especially me, we want to win the fights. I like seeing it, I like seeing blood on the ice. I’m not rooting when another player gets hit in the face with a puck. I’m not rooting if some guy gets his eye gouged out with a stick or his face carved up.”

“We’ve never said take out a Canadien on the ice. We’ve circled the dates, and we’ve wanted to see Shawn Thornton pound somebody, or Looch drop the gloves and finish the checks, Marchand cut anyone.”

What do you think of the Montreal fans’ reaction to Chara’s injury? Let us know in the comments…

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“I think it’s going to be this type of year. I keep saying it; it’s going to be up and down,” head coach Doc Rivers said after the 98-88 loss to the Pistons in which the Celtics were outscored 25-16 in the fourth quarter. “Every time it looks like we’re about to take off and play well, we do this. I’m hoping at some point, we’ll keep doing this and then we’ll take off. But we haven’t done that.”

“We’re all in this together. There are going to be games we lose to teams like this, but at the end of the day we have to stick together we’ll pull through,” said forward Chris Wilcox, who started for the injured Kevin Garnett and put in 17 points and nine rebounds. “Right now it’s tough for all of us, we have to find a way to grind it out.”

The Celtics have played well recently, winning nine of 10 before dropping three of their last four. But 11-8 at home, to go with 15-13 overall, is not a good record for a team holding on to a lower playoff seed.

The only bright spot is, besides the loss to the Pistons and one to the Cavaliers, the L’s at home have come against playoff-caliber teams, and most as the Celtics were figuring themselves out early in the season. The Celtics dropped four straight at the Garden against Pacers, Mavericks, Bulls and Thunder after taking their first three games at the Garden.

The problem is, now they have two long trips ahead: the five gamer they are about to go on, and an epic eight-game road trip in the middle of March. The Celtics are going to have to get used to staying in hotels, as they play 11 of their 17 games in March on the road, five on the West coast. Eight of their 15 games in April are on the road.

But some say hitting the road won’t be the worst thing for the team.

“We want to look forward now,” said point guard Rajon Rondo, who had a career-high 35 points in Wednesday’s loss. “Hopefully this will bring us closer together, not that we’re a distant team, but the road seems to bring guys together and hopefully we’ll string some wins together.”

“The road-home schedule hasn’t [bothered me]; never did,” said Rivers. “I think we’re really good on the road. So far, we’ve proven we can beat anyone and lose to anyone. That’s the maddening part. What we haven’t proven is we can be a consistent basketball team.”

Really good on the road is a bit of a stretch, with losses in New Orleans and Toronto, and two of their four road wins coming against the Washington Wizards. Some of the better, and even mediocre, college teams could beat the Wizards this season.

Not taking advantage of their early contests at home will come back to haunt Boston as the playoffs draw closer.  But getting their act straightened out while on this upcoming road trip could be what the Celtics need to turn things around.

They have a chance to avenge their early season home losses to the Mavericks and Thunder, and the most recent one to the Pistons, over the next week. Now is their chance to take advantage and prove the doubters wrong.

If not, there is always the lottery…. right?

Roche spoke with Toucher & Rich about his recent sit down with former Sox manager Terry Francona, the Sox pitching rotation, shortstop and Carl Crawford.

After the epic collapse of the Red Sox in September the Red Sox let Terry Francona go. Roche recently sat down with the former manager and talked about the team.

Is he bitter about getting let go and how is he handling things?

“He kind of seems a bit lost right now. He’s 52 years old and he sat their and said this will be my first time i haven’t gone to a Spring Training in 32 years in baseball.”

“I think right now it’s tough for him, but I think in the long run he definitely will feel better about everything.”

Everyone had hoped that the Sox would try to improve their pitching, which was a big reason for the September collapse. Unfortunately the Sox were quiet this offseason not making any big moves.

What will the pitching rotation look like?

“You start with Lester, Beckett, Buchholz and you hope that everything’s fine as far as the health especially of Beckett and Buchholz. Then they’re going to give it a shot with Daniel Bard at least through Spring Training unless he comes to them and says I can’t do this a la Papelbon a few years ago. Then you’re going to have to sneak somebody into that five hole, now granted you may start the season in April and kind of maybe skip over that spot, but can it be an Alfredo Aceves, can it be Vicente Padilla, can it be someone like that and then they’ll continue the search. I think this is going to be a work in progress this year with this roster.”

Another position where the Sox are lacking is at shortstop. Jose Iglesias could be an option they go with right now, but what of the argument that he can’t hit major league pitching?

“That’s one of those questions where they might throw him into the fire. If he has a great spring they might throw him in and say let’s see if he can hit major league pitching.”

Carl Crawford underwent wrist surgery in the offseason and reports are that he will miss the first few weeks of the season. Once he returns will he ever return to the player he once was?

“I think this story has been really downplayed in this market. I think this is a major story is to how good he’ll ever be again, but also how good he’ll be in 2012 in being able to help the Red Sox.”

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Well Wednesday made it three days in a row, but this time he had a little skit. He told all watching that he had a brother named Jacob.

When we get to meet Jacob it’s just Moss with glasses on doing what sounded like and old man voice. If this is what he’s going to start doing we want more. Enjoy!

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First up was a man that has no filter and would have probably been fired long ago if he wasn’t Charles Barkley. That right it’s “The Round Mound of Rebound” and ever since he’s been added to the TNT broadcasts of the NBA they have gotten a lot better.

Listen: Previous Clash Of The Golden Throat Segments

No one ever knows what “Sir Charles” will say next whether it’s a bad word or some great conversation while he thinks the microphones are off. The guys took a listen to some great Barkley sound.

Next up is was the voice of Bryant University Bulldogs basketball, yes our own Jon Wallach. We still just think he sits in the stands and does play-by-play into a tape recorder, but he assures us that it’s for real. Enjoy some of his great calls of the game. Count it!

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Winger Rich Peverley suffered an apparent knee injury early in the third period after absorbing a knee-to-knee hit from Canadiens defenseman Hal Gil. Peverley did not return after the hit, and he was sent back to Boston for examinations and will not be with Boston for the rest of the road trip, Patrice Bergeron told Gresh & Zo on Thursday.

With Nathan Horton still out of the lineup as he recovers from a concussion, the Bruins can ill afford to lose any more forwards.

“It’s adversity. It’s something we have to make sure we’re aware of and battle through,” Bergeron, who scored the Bruins’ third goal, said after the game. “No one is going to feel sorry for us. Obviously Pevs is a great player for us and hopefully he’s back. For us that are in the lineup, we have to do our jobs.”

Peverley has nine goals and 29 assists in 49 games this season.

With Peverley unable to play Friday in Winnipeg, Massachusetts native Josh Hennessy will likely get his chance to make his Bruins debut.

The Boston Herald reported Thursday that the Celtics twice tried to acquire Lin when he was on waivers, but in both instances, another team beat them to it.

Lin, 23, was waived by his hometown Golden State Warriors in December after averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 assists in just under 10 minutes per game last season.

That’s when, according to the Herald, the Celtics put in a claim, only to be beaten by the Rockets, who were ahead of the Celtics in the waiver order. Lin didn’t last long with the Rockets, though, and was again let go, giving the C’s another chance to claim him. Injuries in the Knicks’ backcourt, however, led to New York adding him first.

With Lin as a starter, the Knicks are 7-0, with Lin averaging 24.4 points, 9.1 assists and four rebounds.

Cheevers was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

Cheevers will be part The Legends Lunch on Thursday, March 1st at 11:30am at Morton’s The Steakhouse at The Seaport. Click here to find out more about The Legends Lunch and for information on how to buy tickets.

As a player who got to raise the banner twice as a member of the Bruins how did he feel watching the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup run culminating in a Game 7 triumph?

“I thought it was great, I really enjoyed it and even when they came out of Vancouver two down I kinda thought they would win it.”

Tim Thomas’ performance had a lot to do with why the Bruins won it all last season. Cheevers knows what it takes to play goal at that point in the season. What were his thoughts watching Thomas play in the Finals?

“I sort of described it as I think one of the best goaltending series I’ve ever seen.”

“I think Timmy’s performance in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals was as brilliant as I can ever remember a goaltender playing in the Finals.”

The Bruins are trying to repeat this year, but are not playing great hockey right now. What type of toll does that deep playoff run take the following year?

“It’s not easy to win the Stanley Cup it’s the most trying, demanding championship to win in all of sports as far as I’m concerned. That takes a lot out of you and when it finishes in June you go back to work in September.”

After the 1972 Cup win Cheever left the NHL for the World Hockey Association. How difficult a decisions was it at the time to make the jump?

Listen to find out the answer to that question and so much more.

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Alison the Continuity Director visited the studio again and we tracked the creepiness that followed.

Finally, the Jeremy Lin talk gave Mazz a head rush.

“It was devastating the way it went down,” Gonzalez told ESPN of Boston’s 7-20 September, causing the team to miss the playoffs. “It’s something that we’ll keep in mind throughout the season. It’s not going to go away once the season starts. We’re going to keep that as a focus and move forward from it, try to grow from it.

“It’s something that will not be forgotten. We owe it to the fans to give them a better ending,” he said.

While Gonzalez put up good numbers, batting a career best .338 with 27 home runs and 117 RBI in his first season in Boston, he said it is time for him to take on a much bigger role with the team’s leadership.

“Last year I came in to a team that had leaders in place and didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” Gonzalez said. ”There were things that I saw and noticed that I’m not going to leave unaddressed if they need to be.”

Felger & Mazz: Does Adrian Gonzalez Get It? 

For one, there was the story of players drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse during games. Gonzalez brushed that off though, saying the Sox just didn’t play good baseball over the final month of the season.

“People have to eat, whether it’s chicken or steak,” Gonzalez said in a SportsCenter interview. ”More than anything, it was just the fact we didn’t play good baseball. We didn’t play good defense for our pitchers, we didn’t get those timely hits that we needed to bring in that extra run. We didn’t prevent enough runs. It was a team as a whole that failed. We look forward to erasing that and getting back into the playoffs.”

What can we expect from the Bruins team come April? How can this Rangers team be compared to last years Bruins championship team?

What’s the concern level with the Bruins? How big was last night’s loss?

What has happened to players like Tyler Seguin, David Krejci, and Bergeron? How can the Bruins reignite their offense?

Now, the right-hander slated to be Boston’s No. 3 starter is even more eager. He missed the last three and a half months of the 2011 season with a stress fracture in his lower back, but says all is good as he gets ready to start spring training.

“I feel pretty good. I’ve started a little bit earlier than I usually do just for the simple fact I wanted to make sure everything came together OK,” Buchholz told WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Jonny Miller in Fort Myers on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m probably about eight, nine bullpens in and I haven’t had a problem.”

The 27-year-old was ready to go if the Red Sox needed him the final game of last season, and would have been able to pitch out of the bullpen had they made the playoffs. Instead, he started getting ready for the 2012 season.

“I worked out in Arizona with [Dustin] Pedroia for the most part. It was a good rehab session. It’s come together. I haven’t had any issues and it’s been good so far,” he said.

Buchholz also had a chance to catch up with his new manager in the offseason, as Bobby Valentine paid a visit to a few of his players in Arizona.

“He came out and it was Pedroia, [Jacoby Ellsbury], [Darnell] McDonald, and myself. We sat down and had dinner with him, talked to him about an hour and a half,” said Buchholz.  “It was good. His previous job, being a commentator and having to critique, I think everybody sort of looks at that a little too rough.

“He’s a good dude; he’s upbeat and ready to take on the challenge of managing the Boston Red Sox. I think everybody knows how tough that can be at times. I think it’s going to be good for us,” he said of the new man in charge.

And as for the September collapse, even though he wasn’t around for most of it, Buchholz knows he and the rest of the team will be asked questions about it this spring.

“It is what it is. I think that stuff is over and done with now,” Buchholz said, adding he stayed away from all the stories written about it this offseason. “I know we’ll have to answer questions early, but for the most part we didn’t hit or didn’t pitch. If you don’t do either one of those things in a single month, it’s not going to turn out well. I think everybody knows that. I think a lot of the guys have come here with a chip on their shoulder.

“It happened more than that in previous years, but we did well and it wasn’t to be spoken of,” he added. “The main issue was we didn’t make the playoffs and that was just something for people to talk about.”

As for what exactly happened in September that led to the Sox missing the playoffs for the second straight season, Buchholz isn’t sure what happened, but is sure his teammates are motivated by it.

“Every night we were playing and it seemed to start unraveling, I think everyone was asking that question,” he said. “It was a little disturbing for a little bit, but I think everybody sort of let go of it. We have a new group of guys, new manager, a lot of new faces here this year. We’re here to take on the battle we have to fight.”