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Welcome to this week's edition of Boston Sports This Week. Here's a look at what's ahead for each sports team in the Hub during the week of November 12th to the 18th.
Have you heard? The Red Sox are preparing to acquire every player in the entire MLB. Well, if you just listen to Twitter trade rumors and sports radio, that's what you'd believe. Over the past two weeks, the Sox have been connected to a large number of players including Shin-Soo Choo, Mike Napoli, Anibal Sanchez, Adam LaRoche and former Boston pitcher Justin Masterson. I'd expect the speculation of a number of acquisitions to continue throughout the next week and into the future as the offseason rolls on.
Unfortunately, the only news to report here is that the dreadful NHL lockout of 2012 continues to roll on. The two sides met for most of last week and there's been conflicting reports as to whether or not they've made any progress. A report from the Star Tribune in Minnesota suggested that player's association head Donald Fehr withheld critical details on the latest NHL offer from the players was quite intriguing. While there's no way for me to tell you how truthful that report may be, I wouldn't put it past a guy like Fehr. The man has been fighting the salary cap for his entire life. He's the reason we didn't have a World Series in 1994, and the blame will fall squarely on his shoulders if we don't have a Stanley Cup fought for this June.
Providence Bruins
The Providence B's have seemingly taken control of the professional hockey spotlight in southern New England during the lockout. On Friday, the P-Bruins took down the Albany Devils 2-1 in a shootout, thanks to a strong effort from Chris Bourque, the son of Boston hockey legend Raymond Bourque. You can read all about the game here, as well as some extra thoughts on Providence's star goaltender Niklas Svedberg and promising young defenseman Zach Trotman here. This weekend, the P-Bruins will play host to the Manchester Monarchs, travel north to Portland to take on the Pirates and return home to take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
The good news for the Celtics is that they've fought back to .500 with a 3-3 record through their first six games of the season. The bad news is that four of those six games have been against the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks, a pair of less-than-stellar basketball clubs. I'd like to tell you that the Celtics need to prove themselves against better competition sooner rather than later. But, honestly, I don't really think that matters. Everyone saw how poor the Celtics played during the first half of last season, even falling below .500. Yet, at the end of the season, they still were just one game away from the NBA Finals. If they can just hover around the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics will be a great spot when they finally decide to "flip the switch" later in the season. It'll be a busy week for the Green Team after beating the Derrick Rose-less Bulls on Monday, Deron Williams and the Brooklyn Nets and (insert notable player's name here) and the Pistons, while playing host to the Utah Jazz and the Toronto Raptors.
After escaping with a 37-31 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon, the Patriots find themselves at 6-3 with firm control over the AFC East division. This week, number one overall draft pick and NFL quarterback prodigy Andrew Luck comes to town with his 6-3 Indianapolis Colts. The good news for New England is that the Colts don't have a strong defense, not by a long shot. But, as we're all quite aware of, neither do the Patriots. I'd expect an absolute shootout this Sunday at Gillette Stadium. 41-38, maybe?
Boston College Football
The Eagles were picked apart by undefeated Notre Dame on Saturday night at Alumni Stadium, falling in the "Holy War" by a 21-6 score. This week, they will play host to NFL quarterback prospect Logan Thomas and his Virginia Tech Hokies in an ACC clash on Chestnut Hill.
Hockey East
This week will feature a scheduling rarity in the Hockey East as there will be no games played in the conference on Saturday. On Friday night, Merrimack will visit Boston College, Northeastern will travel to Providence, and Boston University will head north to Vermont. On Sunday, the Terriers will return home to take on the New Hampshire Wildcats and Northeastern heads to Vermont.
Benjamin Woodward is a Contributor for SB Nation Boston. Twitter: @_BWoodward.