BOSTON - John Lackeys got a big game to pitch. Hes not much for building a rapport with the massive media throng covering the World Series. Hes not going to indulge the narrative. Hes not interested in reflecting on times passed, both good and bad. Lackey, 35, started and won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series for the Angels. That was four days after his 24th birthday. Hes seen this act before, not that hes drawing anything from the memory. "That was a long time ago, man," said Lackey. "I dont think thats going to play much into (tonight.) I think most of those guys in that game arent even playing anymore." Surely he can empathize with his mound opponent, 22-year-old Michael Wacha, whos in a similar position to Lackey circa 2002 and who, like Lackey, seems to pitch as if he has ice water in his veins. "I cant speak to that, I dont know what kind of guy he is," said Lackey. "But personally, I was more excited about it than anything else as far as nerves, that sort of thing." Its something remarkable that Lackey is starting this game. A guy who made his name in Southern California with the Angels, came to Boston and pitched poorly, missed time with serious injury and developed a negative reputation. Two seasons ago, Lackeys second in Boston, he was dreadful. His 6.41 ERA was baseballs worst amongst pitchers with enough innings to qualify. Lackey gave up a major league-high 114 earned runs. He hit an inordinately high 19 batters. His control was off. Lackey was pitching with pain in his elbow and when he wasnt, he was devouring beer and chicken with his mound buddies as Boston crumbled to a historic September collapse. Lackey missed all of 2012, having undergone Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. In his first start of 2013, in Toronto on April 6, in the fifth inning and on his 77th pitch, his right bicep seized. To this observer, at least, the worst-case scenario was envisioned. The way Lackeys arm was hanging, straight down, one wondered if hed blown out his elbow again. Surely, if he had, Lackeys career was over. At his age, it would be tough to come back. Turned out to be just a bicep strain and Lackey was back on the mound 22 days later. He made 29 starts overall and Lackeys 3.52 ERA was the lowest hes posted since he led the American League with a 3.01 mark in 2007. His record of 10 wins against 13 losses was more a reflection of, at times, poor run support or the Red Soxs bullpen blowing late leads. All of thats in the past. Lackeys looking ahead to an opportunity for the Red Sox to clinch a world championship on home turf for the first time since 1918. The man of few words didnt need many to sum up the feeling of what it would be like to celebrate at Fenway Park. "It would be awesome." Blue Air Max Shop . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. Nike Air Max Clearance Online . Watch the announcement live on TSN.ca at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt. This years honourees will be recognized at the 2014 Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic, scheduled for June 23-24 in Vancouver. http://www.cheapairmax2018.us/. Not Peyton Manning. Hes holding on to the heartache to stoke his competitive fire. Wholesale Black Air Max Store .com) - The Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors are back in the great white north for a brief moment and will host the Dallas Mavericks Friday night from Air Canada Centre. Cheap Air Max Outlet . -- Pelicans coach Monty Williams does not expect guard Eric Gordon to play in any of New Orleans final five games this season.Heading into the second round series between the Boston and Montreal, the favoured Bruins were doing plenty of talking through the media to spur up the hatred. Now with the series tied at one after two exciting games in Boston and headed to what promises to be a raucous Bell Centre, the Canadiens jumped into the fray with some verbal barbs of their own on Monday. After being stonewalled by Canadiens goalie Carey Price in Game 1 - when he made 48 saves to help his team steal one with a 4-3 double overtime win - and then finding themselves down 3-1 halfway through the third period of Game 2, the Bruins scored three goals in 5:32 to take a 4-3 lead en route to a 5-3 win. Following the game, Bruins defenceman Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug told the media they believed theyve solved the Canadiens gold-medal winning netminder. "I think weve definitely noticed that when hes screened, hes looking low," said Hamilton who scored first in the three-goal outburst late in Game 2. "He gets really low, so it seems like we score a lot of goals up high when we have net front presence. I dont know if were really trying [to do that], but weve definitely noticed that. When we can get our shots through their defenceman – especially the ones trying to block it -- we have a really good chance of getting it in." "It seems like almost all of the goals so far have gone to the upper half of the net," added Krug. Following practice on Monday, the Canadiens were quick to brush the Bruins analysis of Price aside, with head coach Michel Therrien claiming it was just another example of his counterpart Claude Julien and the Bruins trying to get under the skin of an opposing goalie. Early in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, the Bruins scored frequently on the glove side of Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford and werent shy about telling the media that they were exposing Crawfords weakness. Ironically, Crawfords goalie coach then was current Montreal goalie coach Stephane Waite and Therrien believes the Bruins are playing the same mind games as the series switches to the Bell Centre. "Well we all remember last year and Stephane Waite remember it more than anyone else that they make the same comments when they went into the playoffs and the Stanley Cup final with the Chicago Blackhawks and talking about about Corey Crawford," Therrien pointed out Monday. "Thats part of their game and their thinking. They try to put pressure on the other team with the media." Price seemed to find Hamiltons and Krugs comments almost comical. He pointed out that shooting high through traffic in front of the net is a common objective of most teams and players. "Ive seen a lot of scouting reports on lots of goalies throughout the league and thats pretty much the scouting report on everybody," Price said. "Its the same for Tuukka [Rask], its the same for Ben Bishop and its the same for Corey Crawford. So its a pretty irrelevant comment I thought.dddddddddddd" Price was then asked if this was just another example of the Bruins trying to wage a verbal war through the media. "Sure. I dont know," Price said laughing. "I guess. But like I said, they can try it but its going to be no different. Like I said, thats essentially how most goals are scored this time of year in this league so thats essentially a generic comment." During Game 2, the Bruins took a bench minor due to Julien expressing his displeasure with some calls against his team and what he felt were a lack of calls against the Canadiens. When asked about his teams ability to rally for the win, the Bruins bench boss took what appeared to be a little jab at the officiating. "I think especially the way it happened - we had that tough second period and at the start of the third, they got that other power play goal, but the way we just battled back through, I felt, a lot of crap that we put up with today, was pretty indicative of what our teams all about," Julien said. "It just shows that if you focus on the things you need to focus on, theres a pretty good team that can accomplish a lot." The crap part didnt go unnoticed by Therrien and on Monday he called his counterpart out. "Its the same thing with Claude. Hes not happy with all that ‘crap," he said. "I thought they got away with a lot of things as far as Im concerned, but they try and influence referees. Thats the way they are. Thats not going to change. Thats the way they like to do their things. But for us, were not paying attention to those things. We all know what theyre trying to do but it doesnt affect us at all." Therrien went on to say his team isnt going to focus on more retaliation through the media but rather to stay focused on their game plan on the ice. "We want to play hard and honestly we all understand the discipline is really crucial," he said. "Whatever comments they make on us, Im not a coach thats going to start making comments the other way. Its never been my philosophy. I dont like that. They can say whatever they want. Its their choice. But we know what we have to do to get success." That may very well be true, but the Canadiens made it clear Monday that they also dont plan to let every verbal jab from the Bruins go unheeded. James Murphy is a freelance reporter who also writes for NHL.com, the Boston Herald and XNsports.com. He covered the Boston Bruins/NHL for last 11 seasons writing for ESPNBoston.com, ESPN.com, NHL.com, NESN.com, the Boston Metro, Insidehockey.com and Le Hockey Magazine. Murphy also currently hosts the radio show "Murphys Hockey Law" heard Saturdays 9-11 AM ET on Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio and 4-6 PM ET on Websportsmedia.com. In addition to that, he is a regular guest TSN 690 in Montreal and Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio as well as a hockey analyst on CTV Montreal. ' ' '