Friday, October 30, 2009

2-1 Devils Over Bruins: B's Play 60 Minutes.

Annnnnnd I didn't get to see it....cause I'm moving....and it's a pain. I'm almost done though! Then updates will be coming regularly.

I'd comment on the game, but as I wasn't able to watch it, I'd just be writing what has already been written on the web. I will say though, that this seemed like a game where a little rough play by Lucic or a slick goal from Savard would have got us closer to those to points. But for now, good job B's! Nice Effort! Let's get two next time!

However, since my last post, Toronto won a game :( but they then followed it up with another OT loss on Wednesday. Lets go to Toronto Watch.

Toronto Watch(10/30/09)
Last Game: Toronto 3 - Dallas 4 - OT
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (1-7-2)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st (With Lottery Win)

I was really hoping for them to be the 15 straight loss record...boooooo. They play again tonight against Buffalo which I'm hoping to see if Comcast can get their act together and successfully get NHL Center Ice through to my cable box...assclowns. Let's go Sabers!

GO B'S!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

4-3 Bruins Over Sens: Are You Kiddin Me!?

Wow...that's all I can say about last night's game. Holy crap. Why can't they just play like the goalie is pulled all the time?!

Thomas...what a monster. The diving save on Alfredson really over shadowed his awesome save on Cheechoo which was almost equally as amazing. Well positioned and never giving up on the play. That's our Timmy!

Wideman however was AWFUL. Sloppy passes, lack of effort all around. The breakaway on Thomas by Alfredson was a perfect manifestation of Wideman's play all night. Let's hope he's just working out the rust after sitting out a few games.

This 3rd period effort stuff is not going to keep us going for long. We need multiple players to step up throughout the game. Not in the last 5 minutes of the third. Morris obvioulsy contriibuted, but Thomas carried the team all night. You're not going to win games with only 16 shots in the first two periods. We need to put some more pucks on net...stop trying to do to much.

B's are off till Thursday and by then I should be all moved in and be able to catch up on the simulations. I'll have to thank my new neighbors for the stolen internet I'm using to make this post!

One last thing....how about those Maple Leafs huh? That Kessel trade is looking better and better every day! And now that they've played, I can put a new Toronto Watch up!

Toronto Watch(10/25/09)
Last Game: Toronto 1 - Vancouver 3
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (0-7-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st (With Lottery Win)

Go B's!!!!

Friday, October 23, 2009

4-3 Flyers Over Bruins In A Shootout: Stealing Those Points!

This is the beginning of the consistency I was hoping to see. Keeping the score close, eventually taking the lead...all we needed was the win. Against a Flyers team that is jammin for the most part, I'll take the 1 point on the road. Especially since we're out Lucic, Savard and Thornton.

B's play Ottowa on Saturday which should be a good game considering we no longer have to deal with the Heatly, Spezza, Alfredson line. They lost to the Preds last night, so lets hope this killed any momentum they had worked up.

Again, no simulation cause I actually packed up NHL 10 for my move. Simulations should be back by Monday.

Go B's!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

3-2 Bruins Over Preds: Bruins Win Despite Tons Of Injuries.

Thomas played a great game tonight. Especially in the last 5 minutes. Defense fell apart with the extra man on the ice in the last minute of the game but Thomas hung in there. Thats by boy!

Marchand is a friggin monster. This guy was tearing it up, fun to watch every time he was on the ice. His feed to Ryder was amazing and his defensive play was great.

Trent Whitfield did not look comfortable. I don't think I hear his name mentioned at all tonight nor did I head anything from his linemates Wheeler and Sobotka. It didn't' seem like this line got a lot of ice time. I wouldn't be surprised to see this line get broken up or moved to the 4th line with Thorntons absence.

Overall, a good game tonight, not to many terrible penalties taken and sloppy play was held to a minimum.

We play the Flyers tomorrow which should prove a bit more of a challenge.

Go B's!

Savard on IR. Bruins Playing Preds.

With Savard on IR...we're in trouble. Should be an interesting 6 weeks without Lucic or Savvy in the line.

I'll post the simulation for tonight's game as soon as I can...busy packing and working, it'll probably be up later tonight or tomorrow.

Lets hope the Providen-Boston Bruins play well tonight!

Go B's!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Looch Out. Thornton The Lone Wolf Tough Guy.

Lucic is out with a broken finger for 4-6 weeks. Total bummer. Looks like Thornton will be pulling double tough guy shifts for a while. Chara can also throw his weight around, but he's needed on the ice more so then the box.

But with Lucic out, it's suprising how much the look of the team can change. Bringing up Marchand, Sobotka and Lefebvre will add some speed rather then toughness to the lineup.

Marchand is tied for first in most goals in the AHL with 6. Which is good news if he can start off where Kobasew should have. Sobotka will hopefully will make up for a bit of Lucic's toughness and provide a bit more of a goal scorers touch. I'm not to familiar with Lefebvre, but I'm excited to see what he can bring to the team.

Maybe the trade of Kobasew and some fresh faces will bring some consistency to the Bruins game.

Go B's!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Kobasew Traded To Minnesota.

Kobasew was just traded to the wild for a 2011 second round pick, Craig Weller and rights to prospect Alexander Fallstrom. You can read the article here. Looks like Weller is currently in the AHL and has dressed for about 100 games total in the NHL.

Interesting move by the Bruins. I'm personally a big fan of Kobasew. He's the kind of guy to put up points here and there when you least expect it. He'll also net a puck occasionally when least expected.

This is either a really dumb move or a move to clear up cap space. It would be dumb if we just got rid of him to bring in this Weller guy as he seems pretty inexperienced where Kobasew is proven and is just in a slump. I'm assuming it was done to clear some space. We'll know by tomorrow I'm sure.

Good luck Chucky! Say hi to Hnidy for us!

Go B's!

4 - 1 Coyotes Over Bruins: The Rollercoaster Ride Continues.

Another awesome then crappy performance by the Bruins. Fortunately, I did not watch to much of it as I was in the middle of a poker game, but I heard that damn horn they have in Phoenix enough times to know that we were losing.

I would have been more accepting of the loss if it was a bit closer. Once the Bruins can get back to those 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 games consistently, that's when they're in the zone.

Coyotes are looking like the real deal...could Gretzky really been THAT BAD of a coach? Naaaah!

But guess what? That's right! Toronto lost AGAIN! They're in rough shape...another big loss too, 4-1. Damn, glad I'm not a Maple Leafs fan.

Toronto Watch(10/18/09)
Last Game: Toronto 1 - NY Rangers 4
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (0-6-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st (With Lottery Win)

Go B's!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Bruins / Coyotes - Simulation Results

The simulator HATES the Bruins.

According to NHL 10, the Bruins lose to the Coyotes 3-1 tonight. It's not being very creative as this is the second 3-1 score in a row...

Before I go into the simulated statistics...let me just tell you that EA Sports did not even TRY to have the correct rosters for each team in this game. I had to manually move at least 4 players onto the Coyotes and some of these players were on teams they hadn't been on in a year or two. I couldn't even find Radim Vrbata who is supposed to be the Coyotes 3rd line right winger. So his part will be played by Viktor Tikhonov.

Setting up the lines for Phoenix took an hour or so, since I had to dig around for so many players. There is no search or sort of any kind when you're trying to move players between free agency and other teams. The free agent list is roughly 100 names long, scrolling to the bottom of that list sucks.

The only way I was able to put together the correct lines for the Coyotes (as I do not follow them at all) was with help from Daily Faceoff. It's a pretty sweet site, it has projected, up to date lines and projected starting goalies which they confirm throughout the day. Good site for Fantasy Hockey players. Anyway..

On with the statistics!

Final Score: Bruins 1 - Coyotes 3

Bruins Powerplay: 0-4
Coyotes Powerplay: 0-9

Bruins Goal Scorers: Mark Recchi (1)
Coyotes Goal Scorers: Zbynek Michalek (1), Vernon Fiddler(2) and Taylor Pyatt(4)

Bruins Total Shots: 38
Coyotes Total Shots: 32

Bruins Simulated Record After Tonight: 2-3-1

Last time the simulation said we lost we won, lets have a repeat!

Go B's!

3-0 Bruins Over Stars: The Simulation Was Wrong! I Hate Baseball Fans.

It's so much easier to write about the Bruins when they win like that. Thomas pulling the shutout on 27 saves, excellent D keeping all the shooters to the outside, we even scored on the Power Play! We even managed to kill a late period BS penalty on Thoronton. I hate Ribeiro.

The only person I had an issue with tonight was Bergy. He made several sloppy passes through the neutral zone which caused a lot of turn overs. But other then that, play was pretty solid.

Now...the reason I hate baseball fans. We went out to watch the game last night and...well...lemme draw a picture here....




Okay...here is the legend...The Redish boxes are the TVs. The Black box is the bar, Orange is the seats around the bar, Green is the tables outside of that. X is a dude watching the TV1 in front of them and Y is his whore of a girlfriend. Z is where we're sitting.

So the waitress comes up and I politiely ask, "Would it be possible to get NESN on this TV (pointing to TV1) or that TV (Pointing to TV2)". After some confusion she offers to put it on TV1. TV1 is the bigger and closer TV so I'm like sweet. Currently on TV1 is Dennis Eckersly talking about the game that is about to take place between the Yankees and Angels...it's just pre-game, no one is playing yet and I've been in the bar for about 15 minutes and have seen the same Dodgers/Phillies highlights 100 times. The volume isn't up on these TVs either and there are no subtitles. So basically, these two are just watching people talk to each other around a table and can't hear anything.

Well once NESN comes up on this TV...this bitch loses her mind. She starts huffing and puffing. Shes running her fingers through her hair, shaking her head, complaining to her boyfriend etc... She turns around and sees me sitting behind her and that totally sets her off. More huffing and puffing, shaking her head, throwing her hands in the air. Like seriously...is this necessary? First off, it's just pre-game and you know what, that's fine, I'm okay with you wanting to watch that. But do you have to be a complete idiot about it? If she was a normal person and maybe just turned around and said "Hey, I was watching that, would it be okay if we put it back", I totally would have been fine with that. I initially wasn't even concerned with having it on that TV cause I assumed they were watching it (that is where some of the confusion stemmed from with the waitress). But don't be a bitch and complain and throw your hands in the air....be a real person. I even would have offered to change if back if she wasn't being a total bitch.

So after having a fit, they change it back to baseball and shes all smiles. She got her way and shes pumped. She did look like one of those high maintenance chicks. Huge loop earings, raging blond hair, the big puffy red vest. Yeah...

Around this time, the game starts. My first thought is...they better be staying for the whole game... NOPE. THE SECOND INNING they pack their things up and go. THE SECOND INNING!!! Was soundless pregame really THAT important to watch the SECOND INNING AND LEAVE. I don't understand some people... I jsut have one question for them...if the Yankees beat the Angels or Angels beat the Yankees, how does that effect the Red Sox? Oh, that's right, it doesn't. Go watch pointless games at home.

So of course, after they left, they put the Bruins game back on...victory.

Alright, I'm done ranting.

I'll be posting the simulation results for tonight's game up here shortly.

Lets go B's!


Friday, October 16, 2009

Bruins Blow It In The Second...Says NHL 10

I picked up NHL 10 yesterday so I've decided to do some simulations prior to each game and I'll post the results and keep the Bruins simulation records up here too. See how off EA is.

I will be adjusting lineups for both teams to be as close to what will be on the ice for the game. For example, I've removed Wideman from the line up tonight, put Hunwick in a D pair with Boychuck etc...

So, in today's simulation, the Bruins lost 3-1 with all goals from both teams coming in the second period.

Now, silly me thinking that EA would let you go back to the game and check the boxscore after the game is over I ended up missing all the statistics. I'll provide statistics tomorrow for the game against Phoenix. So for now, here is the unofficial format for the Bruins simulated season.

Bruins Real Record: 2-3-0
Bruins Simulated Record: 2-2-1

Tonight's Simulated Game: Bruins 1 - Stars 3

Lets hope the simulation is wrong!

Go B's!

Back In Tiiiiime. Waffles Are Good In The Morning, But Not In The Middle Of The Third Period!

Thanks to YouTube, you we can re-live parts of our 140+ penalty minute game against the Stars last year.

Here is a pretty good compilation of all the events leading to a 6-1 victory for the Bruins. Tons of fights, and Steve Ott being a douche. Enjoy your oblique injury.

Also, Timmy is in net tonight, good to see. While checking out the Dallas v Bruins video, I found the Sean Avery's "accidental" stick to the back of Thomas's head from last year. Hate Avery all over again. My favorite Thomas moment no doubt.

Let's Go B's!!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Georges Laraque, Booze Energy Drinks and Chicks Playing Hockey A-OKAY With Montreal.

So for those who are unaware, Georges Laraque, everyone's favorite toolbag, took part in an ad for Octane 7.0, and energy drink that contains alcohol. You can check out the commercial here. It's suggestive, but PG-13.

Now, I watched it and I agree, that it's not that HUGE of a deal, though the NHL and feminist groups went crazy. Laraque apologized and said that he donated all the money he made from that commercial to an animal-rights group (awww how cute) which I find hard to believe. His apology and donation was enough for the Habs as well. The team will not be punishing him in any way. Now I sorta have an issue with this...

The Habs, being an original six team, one of the oldest and all that should have done SOMETHING to show a little class. Just to send a message. Like I said, it's not a big deal, sit him for a game or something. he still gets paid and you quietly show you disagree with his decision. Who cares if the team was not mentioned in the ad? Everyone who watches hockey knows him and who he plays for. I think the Canadiens can live without some tool skating around picking fights all night. Do something to send the message out that you agree with the NHL that is was against the rules of the NHL (Article 25.1 of the NHL's collective bargaining agreement) and just look a little more legitimate. They had two guys on their team accused of drug trafficing last year and they did nothing, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I know I'm bias in this whole situation, but I'd like to think if Thornton was in a booze commercial they'd scratch him for a game or something. Just keep em in check.

Again, it's not a big deal, but I think there should be some respect shown to the NHL. Not doing booze commercials is one of the many things that make the NHL differnt from the NFL and other sports.

As for the feminist...get over it. Those women had the choice to not do that commercial.

B's back on the ice tomorrow. Lets see some blood!

Go B's!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Toronto Drops Another One. Bruins Home-Stand Reviewed.

Toronto lost again dropping their record to 0-5-1. The only team left in the league without a win. But Burke says it's no time to panic!

Now, normally, I wouldn't be paniced either if I was a Toronto fan...but having watched almost all of Toronto's games this year, they look AWFUL and they're losing by HUGE margins. I think ti's time to panic. 6-4, 5-2, 7-2, 4-1...these are HUGE losses. They're on their third goaltender of the season already! I don't know how you fix it, but with your 1st and 2nd round picks gone and Kessel still at least 3 weeks away, you need to do something. You can't just let October be a wash and start over in November.

Bruins Home Stand (2-3-0): Quite a roller coaster start of the season for the Bruins who are playing on the road for the first time, Thursday. The terrible home game losing 4-1, followed up by a 7-2 domination of the Hurricanes, Ducks destroying us 6-1, dramatic come back against the Islands in the third period to steal 2 points. Can't say I'm a fan, but it is definitely not a concern. Of course, finishing above .500 would have been nice, but it's still early and we're still putting together some team chemistry.

We got our first look at Rask early, which was a bit unexpected. Thomas had one bad game and Rask was thrown in. I think Rask looked okay, but he'll have to improve that glove side. He was beat there to often.

I'm thinking the Bruins are looking forward to getting off home ice to avoid the end of period boos after the first and second periods. May give them some time to build up some chemistry being on the road together. Lets hope that playing Dallas tomorrow will put a little spark back in their game. Lets see a repeat of last years game!

Ultimately, not a terrible home-stand, but not as good as expected. Again, the short road trip will help I think and their next game at home will be much better.

Toronto Watch(10/14/09)
Last Game: Toronto 1 - Avalanche 4
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (0-5-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st

Go B's

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Well...We Could Be Toronto!

Toronto got rolled by the Rangers 7-2 last night. Toskala allowed all 7 goals. This just further builds the pressure on Kessel to perform if Toronto continues this lackluster play.

Guess my advise to you now would be if you feel bad about the Bruins, just watch Toronto. Watch them tonight, they're playing the Avs, should be interesting to see if the Avs can keep a "hungry" team quiet.

Bruins were off today and will be back to practice tomorrow to shape up. Lets hope we can get over our second period woes.

Toronto Watch(10/13/09)
Last Game: Toronto 2 - Rangers 7
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (0-4-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st

Go B's!

Monday, October 12, 2009

4-3 Avalanche Over Bruins: This 3rd Period Effort Is Getting Old. O-Fer On The Power Play AGAIN.

The Bruins had their season's best looking loss today against the Avalanche. Well, at least it looked good in the 3rd. The Bruins were in good shape after the 1st, even though they were down by 2. A Very frustrating period, but the game was not out of reach. Giving up 1 power play goal and a bad rebound control goal allow by Rask.

In the second, the Bruins decided they wanted to take some more penalties after tieing the game at two and allowed a Power Play goal and a shot handed goal. Rask has to work on his rebound control. That is one of the better qualities of Timmy. Any shot from the blueline, Rask just let it hit his chest and then he flopped around for the puck. We want Timmy!

Now I'm not a coach so I wouldn't know how to go about working on special teams play but...we gotta work on our special teams. Yet ANOTHER 0-fer game on the Power Play which burned us again as we had the chance to tie the game on the Power Play late in the game. We're 4 for 29 on the Power Play this season. 4 for 29! That's awful! We're even better on the Penalty Kill! 8 for 26. Are we missing PJ yet? Lets hope Julien can turn this around. In Julien we trust.

I'm currently watching the Leafs/Rangers game (Leafs down 2-0 haha) which has already proved entertaining as the Leafs are getting WORKED. Go Rangers!

With our loss today and Toronto's current play, our first round picks are looking that much better! :P

Go B's!

Julien Went There!

Boychuk is paired with Hunwick! Thats awesome!

Bruins, New Logo and Twitter! Oh My!

Bruins are playing the Avs this afternoon while people in Colorado are having breakfast. I'm glad EST is standard. First off, Craig Anderson scares me. Out of no where this guy is a monster. We need to get a goal early and set the tone in this afternoons game.

Boychuk will be in for Wideman today, he'll be paired up with Stuart. I'm sure Boychuk will do fine, I'm more concerned about Ference and Hunwick. Ference hasn't had the strongest game and despite Hunwick's two goals, I don't really feel that he's had a solid game either.

Tuukka is going again today. Don't know how much I agree with that unless there is something physically wrong with Thomas. Thomas performs better when playing a lot and keeping him on the bench for multiple game is only going to make it harder to get things going.

Note the new logo, I think it's pretty sweet! I have to thank XoMgnNcl33 for providing the sweet Photoshop skills to get it too look much better then anything I could put together.

Also, I got a twitter you can follow now, check it out here. Using twitterfeed.com, every post I make will send an update to Twitter indicating a new post is up. Totally sweet.

Go B's!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Wideman Out, Boychuk In. There Needs To Be More Hockey On Sundays.

I was going to talk more about yesterdays game today, but I've decided not to as the game pretty much speaks for itself. I think putting it behind us and taking the 2 point gift is the best way to go about it, so I'll leave it at that.

After Wideman's terrible defensive move that caused him to injure his shoulder, Boychuk will get a shot to play tomorrow. I'm pretty pumped. I'm wondering who he'll be paired up with. I think a Hunwick/Boychuk pairing would be dangerous, but interesting as they're both young, 'puck moving' defensemen. I'm assuming he'll be paired with Morris. Move Morris to the second pair, and stick Boychuck there with him. I'm pretty sure Morris spent some time with Boychuk on D this pre-season, so I would expect to see the Morris/Boychuk combo. Maybe they'll move Hunwick to the second pair with Ference and put Boychuk with Stuart. Who knows...in Claude we trust.

Another quiet Sunday in hockey today, but at least the Bruins play tomorrow. I'll probably catch the Rangers v Ducks game at 5 today since I have Staal, Dubinsky and Niedermayer going for my fantasy team tonight. I'm just hoping I can come out with a good +/- as the race is tight in that category for me this week.

Go B's!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

4-3 Bruins Over Islanders: Garbage Until The Last 5 Minutes Of The Third. Savard Defies All Laws Of Physics.

So the Bruins have to "STEAL" 2 points from the Islanders. TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE second period form the Bruins in this game. I mean seriously, that is the WORST period I have seen them play in the last 3 years. 2 penalties taken...0 for 2 on the Power Play just in the second...we were given this game, garbage defense, leaving Rask out to dry, no offense, the Bruins were GIVEN this game.

It took an act of Savard to save this game. I have no idea how his shot went in. It was from the worst angle I've ever seen, top left corner over Roloson. Without this goal, the Bruins were heading towards their worst loss of the season so far. The best part of this goal, there was no real celebration afterward. As there shouldn't have been. From the second period until that goal was scored, that was the most pathetic display of hockey the Bruins have put on yet and they had no reason to be celebrating anything. But Savard, he comes through no matter what and if that game has showed us nothing else, it's truly not over, till it's over.

I'm glad we got the win, but still so frustrated at how the whole game was played. It's hard to get truly excited squeaking by a young, inexperienced team like the Islanders. Because of this, I'm going to stop now and try to be a little more constructive tomorrow. We got 2 points, I guess it doesn't matter how we got it.

Toronto Watch(10/10/09)
Last Game: Toronto 2 - Pittsburgh 5
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (0-3-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st


Go B's!

Souray Loses An Edge?

Apparently, Edmonton's coach Pat Quinn was fined $10,000 for his comments regarding a "Hit" on Souray by Iginla. Now the comments, whatever, I don't care. I watched the replay and read the summary of the fine here. Now, it looks to me like Souray lost an edge and Iginla was in a position where he wasn't able to put the breaks on, tried to and slammed into Sourays head. Iginla, was given a tripping penalty. I didn't see a trip there either. I don't really follow Calgary, but I don't recall hearing about Iginla being a dirty hit kind of guy. I dunno, I don't get it, just figured I'd share that as the whole thing seems ridiculous to me, both the fine and everyone freaking out that it was a bad hit.

B's play tonight, lets see a better performance then Thursday night...

Go B's!

Friday, October 9, 2009

6-1 Ducks Over Bruins: Timmy Gets Lit Up. Our PP Sucks Again!

As excited as I was about finally watching a Bruins game, I realized I had other plans made for yesterday that would take place exactly as the Bruins game was starting. My TV, Neighbors and the closest person next to me should be thankful I missed that game. Just reading through and watching the highlights were painfully frustrating. The breakaway save that bounced off the shooter and went back in. Hunwick getting worked again. 0 for 6 on the Power Play... LAME.

Of course, I didn't help my frustration as I decided to glace at the Boston.com forums and read through all of the "JEREMY JACOBS SUCKS! THE BRUINS ARE AWFUL" threads. Why do I do this to myself?

Anyway, on a positive note, Sturm scored, which is nice to see. 2 Goals so far, keep it up Sturmz

Not much going on tonight hockey wise. Florida at Carolina and Dallas at Calgary...yay. If I end up watching any hockey tonight, I'll probably check out the Dallas/Calgary game as I got Ott and Jokinen going for my fantasy team tonight. Not very exciting.

Toronto Watch(10/9/09)
Last Game: Toronto 1 - Ottowa 2
Toronto's League Rank: 30th (0-2-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 1st

Go B's!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Price Gets Worked In Front Of His Father, As Montreal Gets Carolina'd

Montreal got WORKED by Vancouver last night 7-1 getting Vancouver their first win of the season. Our buddy Carey Price, let in all 7 goals on 32 shots. UGLY and I love it. Carey Price's father was in the stands as this was the first time Price had played in his hometown. They kept cutting to his father who looked...well, very disappointed. In Price's defense, Montreal's D was laughable.

While watching, I also noticed that Hal Gill was wearing one of the A's last night for the Canadiens. Are the Canadiens that desperate that they need to put an A on Gill, with Markov gone? That's SAD. Gill also showed off his 6 foot 7 jersey pulling skills in a fight with the 5'11 Rick Rypien and well...I'll let the fight speak for it self.

How do you LOSE to someone that small! The guy was BLOCKING and all Gill did was pull his jersey! Who blocks in a hockey fight!? You're 6'7, more then half a foot taller then the guy and one of the assistant captains on your team, DO SOMETHING! Damn Cupcake. Good way to get the team fired up, fight some short guy and pull on his jersey a bit. That'll get you back in the game. Tool.

Bruins are on tonight! Finally! We get to play the Ducks who are 0-1-1 and one of the least interesting teams in the league this year. Lets just hope the Bruins bring the noise.

Toronto Watch(10/8/09)
Last Game: Toronto 1 - Ottowa 2
Toronto's League Rank: 28th (0-2-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 3rd (1st Pick With Lottery Win)

Lets go B's!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Pittsburgh, The Best Sports City? Sporting News Thinks So.

Yup, Sporting News gave Pittsburgh the number 1 spot in its 16th annual Best Sports Cities rankings. I'm sorry, but 2 of your teams winning championships in the same year doesn't suddenly make your city the best sport city in America.

I found out about this while watching the Pittsburgh v Pheniox game (Pens are losing 2-0 lawlz) . They're playing in Pittsburgh and it is SILENT. No one is standing, no one is cheering and it has been like this the whole game. Even the announcers mentioned it, after they mentioned that Pittsburgh is the best sports city in America! What the hell?

I found the whole list here. We're 3rd behind Pittsburgh (obviously) and Philadelphia. Really? Philadelphia? I mean, I'd put them in the top 10, but over Boston...I dunno about that.

Anyway, I'll be watching the Montreal v Canucks game tonight. I hate Montreal (as we all do) but I really want to see Vancouver go 0-4. It would be the first time in the teams history that they've lost their first 4 games.

Lastly, how about that Lucic signing huh? 3 years, 12.25 mil, should make signing Savard, Wheeler and others very interesting this off-season. I see a Shawn Thornton extension coming soon!

Go B's!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Canucks Highlights. Poor Luongo-NOT

Game summary and highlights from the Canucks v Blue Jackets game are worth checking out.

Go B's!

Luongo Blows It. Canucks Hanging Out In 30th.

That's right. One of the top 5 projected teams is in 30th. Luongo allowed 3 consecutive goals on 3 shots. Way to go big guy. Mason on the other hand was beasting. The highlights for this game will be fun to watch.

The Rangers vs Devils game wasn't to exciting and the addition of Marc Staal and Dubinsky didn't help my fantasy team. So not a lot happening there.

As for games I'll be watching tomorrow (today), I'll be keeping my eye on Toronto of course and the Flyers v Caps game should be good to watch and it'll be on VS. Botht he Flyers and Capitals are 3-0 so someone is getting a loss. Go Flyers!

Also, if you have Comcast or Verizon, NHL Center Ice is doing a free week or two of broadcasting so use it up while you can.

Toronto Watch(10/5/09)
Toronto 4 - Washington 6
Toronto's League Rank: 20 (0-1-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 11th (7th Pick With Lottery Win)
Bruins 2010 2nd Round Pick: 11th

Go B's!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Toronto Watch Update.

Minor update to Toronto Watch as all teams have played at least one game now.

Toronto Watch(10/4/09)
Toronto 4 - Washington 6
Toronto's League Rank: 20 (0-1-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 11th (7th Pick With Lottery Win)
Bruins 2010 2nd Round Pick: 11th

Another Quiet Hockey Day. How Do Football Fans Do It?

I can't imagine having to wait all week for a hockey game, let alone a game my team is participating in. Imagine if there was a bye-week in hockey? That would be terrible.

I experienced complete hockey bliss on Saturday with EVERY TEAM playing starting at noon and ending at 1AM. However, I was hugely disappointed to find that not one team was playing yesterday. I'm slightly less disappointed today as there are two games on tonight, but neither of them sound that appealing. Rangers v Devils will be a snooze fest watching the Devils endlessly dump the puck into the offensive zone and do nothing. Columbus v Vancouver...who cares? Though it may be hilarious to see Vancouver end up being 0-3.

As boring as the Rangers v Devils game will be, I'll probably be watching that tonight as I have Marc Staal, Wade Redden (woohoo!) and Brandon Dubinsky (picked him up today) going for my fantasy team tonight. I also like to watch Brodeur get lit up when possible. Hopefully the Rangers will be able to provide some entertainment.

Go B's!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

"Boo Boo" Bulin

Such a terrible nickname, but this is hilarious. Check out the highlights from Edmonton's loss to Calgary last night, 4:50 in.

Go B's!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

7-2 Bruins Over Hurricanes: Bruins GIVE It To Hurricanes. Staal Wants It In The Ear.

Wow...what can the nay sayers, say now? We scored 7 goals and kicked the crap out of the Hurricanes without Phil Kessel, Ed Shore, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Cam Neely, Johnny Bucyk, Terry O'Reilly, Ray Bourque or Adam Oats. I think I've named everyone who would be referenced by one who has watched the Bruins once before.

So lets talk about this game...

Savard scored the first goal (on the PP) in the first period and it was pretty. Nice rebound coming out front and Savard smashes it home from between the circles. Nice to see Savard producing early.

This goal was followed up by a goal by Ryder (also on the PP). Again, on a rebound. The shot from the point, pick up the rebound, strat seems to work well for the Bruins. Would have liked to see it more tonight.

Wheeler has one go off his boot and in. Cam Ward is pissed. Begin looking slick with the cross ice feed to Wheeler. I think I actually silenced the bar with my celebration on this goal.

Eric Staal jumps into the puck taking a shot in the EAR from his teammate. I really hate Eric Staal, more-so then any other Staal brother, so I can't help but laugh since he jumped into it hahaha. I really hope they have a replay of that, cause it's hilarious.

Then...

Sturm scores! STURM SCORED! YES! A SICK feed from Savard back in "Gretzky's Office" to Sturm out front. Bye bye Cam Ward.

Another PP goal provided by Wideman from the point. Nice bomb, good to see him hitting the net.

Scott Walker needs to get hit by a bus...

Thornton takes an awesome pass from Begin (his second assist) taps it in past Leighton. I really hope we sign Thornton to an extension...our fourth line will be garbage without him.

At this point in the game, I'm freaking out at the bar. Every person we need to score has scored at this point. Sturm and Ryder, specifically. Then...all hell breaks loose.

Milan Lucic decides it's time to mess up Jay Harrison. Wow...bloodied and beatin. You can check out the fight here. Once that is squared away, Alberts decides to rough up Sturm and shove em down into the boards, Savard doesn't like that, Chara zooms in, Wheeler, Morris, everyone gets into it. Awesome rumble ensues. 4 Players in each box at the end of it.

Staal is back and scores, has the "I'm a tough guy" face on as he skates around after the goal. I hate him so much...

Last goal, Sturm to Hunwick. No one needed something positive more then Hunwick. This guys game has been garbage since pre-season started, hopefully this will help in improving his play.

Alberts gets whats coming to him fighting Thornton. Awesome fight, Thornton roughs em up. Check it out here.

To wrap it up, Widemen hip checks the hell out of Erik Cole's knee. If you watch it in slow motion, you can see Cole's knee buckle...rough.

In the end, the Bruins beat the Hurricanes Defensively, Offensively, Physically, Mentally and I think we may have even called the mothers of each member of the Hurricanes and told them we beat them. Such an awesome game.

The Bruins are off till next Thursday...ugh. So I'll have to find some way to entertain myself till then. One thing I'm going to do is keep an eye on Toronto. My observation of Toronto will be passed on to you through a segment I'd like to call "Toronto Watch". Toronto Watch will be my game by game change in value of our 1st and 2nd round draft picks in 2010 that we got for the Kessel trade. We'll start tonight!

Toronto Watch(10/3/09)
Toronto 4 - Washington 6
Toronto's League Rank: 16 (0-1-1)
Bruins 2010 1st Round Pick: 16th
Bruins 2010 2nd Round Pick: 16th

I'll get the Fan Fest stuff up some time this week. I shook Jack Edward's hand!

Go B's!

Where Is That Team USA Jersey At!?!?!

Nike is supposed to have them, or so I thought. I found out today, that they're not in stock, but they will have em. You can check out the jersey here. Chat transcript with nikestore.com provided below. Ann was very helpful and liked hockey!

Ann: Hi, my name is Ann. How may I help you?
Ann: Hi Mike
Opie: I'm looking for a 2010 USA Olympic team jersey...is Nike not doing them this year?
Ann: Great question!
Opie: Hockey jersey specifically :)
Ann: I can check on that for you. Awesome! Hockey!
Opie: The BEST Sport EVER! :P
Ann: I saw the under 18 Team USA play the other day and they were wearing Nike athletic wear.
Ann: I am checking.
Opie: Cool! No problem.
Ann: Researching Team USA.
Opie: Yeah i did some Google-ing....just found a bunch of articles about the jersey being released.
Ann: Do you have a link?
Opie: Yeah, I'll give you the link from the site that said they'd be here....
Ann: Thank you.
Opie: LINK
Ann: I am checking the link.
Opie: Cool. They mention nikestore.com halfway down. They also mention the vancouver2010.com site has them, but I didn't find them there either.
Ann: It appears that we aren't in stock on them, yet. I would check back often. I am excited about these, too!
Ann: The Team USA is still wearing the old jerseys with the flag when they play.
Opie: Cool. I'll keep checking back. Any idea on what the price would be for an authentic jersey? I'd assume around 250
Opie: Yeah, I think they look pretty good.
Ann: The price would be available as soon as we get the product number for the stock.
Opie: Cool, thanks!

So...they're not released yet...now you know. I'll post here when I find em.

Go B's!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Have Some Losses, Makes Ya Feel Better

Been keeping an eye on some of the other opening game losses since ours yesterday. I know there have only been a few games, but these losses by other teams might ease the pain.

San Jose 2 - Colorado - 5: See, team with the best record in the league last year lost to the projected second worst team in the league, in a big way. Their season is over. They're not making the playoffs...no way.

Montreal 4 - Toronto 3: Toronto's boy Stajan even scored 2 goals and they still lost! In a shootout! Our 2010 picks just got that much better.

Inspired! "Toronto Watch"...more information on that later.

St. Louis 4 - Detroit 3: Third best projected team takes a 3 - 1 lead and Osgood blows it in the second. 4 goals on 23 shots...ugly.

Philadelphia 2 - Carolina 0: Sweeped in the Conference Finals and continuing to impress by being shutout by RAY EMERY. UGH! Rock on Caniacs!

See everyone, it's not that bad...we could have been shut out by Emery...or worked by Colorado...at least we lost to Ovechkin and friends. So dry them tears, drink a beer and lets get ready to give Carolina some payback!

.......

Hopefully... :P

Go B's!

More Constructive (Sober) Recap.

Yes, the Bruins lost the Capitals last night. A very strange loss actually. It seemed that when the Bruins screwed something up, they REALLY screwed up. But there were times that they played extremely well. Keeping the pressure on, passing well, nice defense, then out of no where it'd all fall apart. Honestly, I was just happy to see a goal. I don't think there is anything more disappointing then going to a game and not seeing a goal, just to see everyone go nuts. Even if we did lose, it was a fun game and atmosphere. So happy hockey is back.

I haven't read any articles regarding the game, as I'm sure everyone tore into the Bruins for losing last night. As I mentioned in my last post, there are still 81 more games to go. It is very common for the Bruins to lose the home opener and I'm really not suprised. I managed to find the win/loss information on the last 5 season's home and road season openers. I'm going to keep digging out of my own curiosity to find out how many home openers we have actually lost. But here are the ones I found.

2003-2004: First Home Game (Opener) - FINAL NJD (3) - BOS (3) - OT
2003-2004: First Road Game - FINAL BOS (1) - TBL (5) - L

2005-2006: First Home Game (Opener):
FINAL MTL (2) - BOS (1) - L
2005-2006: First Road Game: FINAL BOS (1) - BUF (4) - L

2006-2007: First Home Game:
FINAL CGY (2) - BOS (3) - W
2006-2007: First Road Game (Opener):
FINAL BOS (3) - FLA (8) - L

2007-2008: First Home Game:
FINAL TBL (1) - BOS (4) - W
2007-2008: First Road Game (Opener): FINAL BOS (1) - DAL (4) - L

2008-2009: First Home Game:
FINAL PIT (2) - BOS (1) - SO L
2008-2009: First Road Game (Opener): FINAL BOS (5) - COL (4) - W

2009-2010: First Home Game (Opener):
FINAL WSH (4) - BOS (1) - L

As you can see, the Bruins are no strangers to losing their first game. Besides, it's not like we lost the Islanders or something. We lost to one of the top 5 teams in the league.

On a positive note, Bergy scored, which is sweeeeet. He also made a few good plays to setup some scoring chances. He's looking sharp for the start of the season, lets hope he stays healthy.

Thomas did not look to bad in net. He was put in a lot of terrible situations. Saved 30 of 34 and I think he managed relatively well with the Bruins only getting 3 shots in the third.

The Thornton fight was cool, but we needed a fight long before that. Would have been better to have it in the second then the 3rd with like 10 minutes left. You can checkout the fight here.

I feel like there were some bad penalties called as well. I know it's easy to just blame things on the refs, but I really feel that the refs are a little rusty to start the season as well. A good example was the hooking call on Begin followed up by the blatant makeup call on the Caps for tripping. Such garbage, I hate seeing that kind of thing, even if it is to our advantage.

Overall, I had a blast last night. Nothing better then Boo-ing the other team, drinking a bunch and talking trash. Hockey is back...good times...

I'll have some pictures from Fan Fest and the game up a little later.

Go B's!!!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

4-1 Caps Over Bruins. The World Ends.

Apparently losing the opener means you've lost a shot at the playoffs. The world ends. Granted, they played like crap...but I mean come on. 81 more games people. Just because you lived in the days of Bobby Orr and such, doesn't mean you have to give up on the team after one loss. The Bruins have lost a lot of home openers, A LOT, I'll prove it to you tomorrow. Don't give up on your team. Again, terrible play, awful passing, defense was all over the place, couldn't hit the net to save a small child, but it's one game. Have FAITH.

More tomorrow including pictures and some video. I'll pull some home opener loss stats for ya.

Go Bruins!

Player Analysis: Wrap Up. Home Opener! Lets Go BRU-INS!

(final) Player Analysis:

Steve Begin (GP 2, G 1, A 0, Minus 1): I'm not too familiar with Begin, but I know he is here to replace Yelle. I personally liked Yelle and think it would have been a better idea to keep him around for another season, but from what I've heard Begin will be an upgrade. We didn't take a huge cap hit picking him up at $850,000 for this year, which was nice. I'm not sure what Yelle was asking for, but I can't image it was much more then what we paid Begin. Begin, was minus 6 last year with Montreal, if nothing else, I'd like to see him turn that into a plus 6. Should be interesting with him being on the same line as Thornton seeing as they're both pretty willing to throw down.

Marc Savard (GP 4, G 2, A 3, Even +/-): Easily the best performer in the pre-season. But who would expect anything less? Savard was denied an opportunity to play on Team Canada this year, which will only drive him to be more of a beast this year. If he can feed Sturm like he fed Kessel last year, we'll be saying "Kessel Who?!" by the All-Star break. This is just a fun guy to watch, the no look passes, the shots from ridiculous angles, what a monster. It's also fun to watch him run his mouth, he's not afraid to get up in anyone's face. He'll be in the top 5 assist leaders this year no doubt.

Johnny Boychuk (GP 5. G 1, A 1, Even +/-): The "future" of the Bruins defense. I wasn't able to watch him play much this pre-season, but I've heard good things. A goal and an assist as a defensemen in the pre-season isn't to shabby either. He's a healthy scratch for tonight's game, but I'm sure we'll be seeing him sooner then later with Hunwick's weak play as of late.

Tim Thomas (GP 3, W 2, L 1, GAA 2.27, SV% .921): Timmy Beast. Oh how far we have come. It's like watching your kid grow up. From a questionable backup, to a backup, to a he should be the number 1 guy, to the number one guy, to FINALLY HE'S THE NUMBER ONE GUY! So much doubt the entire time. I have been a fan Timmy since the Raycroft backup days. And now look at him, all grown up, winning trophies, potentially playing on Olympic teams. Awesome. Some call him unorthodox, I say that's the "no quit" attitude throwing him around the net. Bottom line is this, he makes the stops, who the hell cares how he does it. His job is to keep the puck out of the net and he does just that. We should expect to see an even better season from Thomas this year with the addition of Morris and I'm sure he'll be a candidate for the Vezina again this year as his play only improves every year.

Summary: The Bruins will be the dominate team in the east this year. Strong up front despite the goal scoring efforts of Phil Kessel being missed. Excellent defense provided by Chara and others. A one-two goalie combo to kill for. Insane depth at every position. With Julien's "Defense First" approach the Bruins, even if they do not take first place, will be an incredibly difficult team to play against and will make the playoffs without a doubt. They should dominate the SouthEast division again this year and I'm sure with the improvements made within Toronto, Montreal and Ottowa, there will be no shortage of drama with inter-division play.

All I have to say is this. If you've been an idle Bruins fan and have been thinking about getting back into the Bruins, now is the time to start. This team has so much depth and young, up and coming talent, you can't help but get excited. If you can't make it to the games, watch them on TV. No TV? Listen to them on the radio at 98.5 FM The HUB. It's time to get excited about hockey again!!!!

Bruins open tonight against the Caps. I'll be at Fan Fest in a few hours and at the game tonight, keeping any eye out for the Kanye poster and being as loud and obnoxious as possible. I'll try to get some pictures or something, though expensive cameras and large amounts of alcohol, typically do not go well together. So I can't make any promises.

This is the first time in 5 years that the Bruins have opened at home, so lets hope they put on a good show.

LETS GO BRU-INS!

Hilarious Sign! Analysis To Follow Later.

Just got linked a hilarious sign that will be at tonight's game. Check it out. The poster will be in section 317, last row.

I'll be posting the rest of my player analysis later if I can get some free time at work.

OMFG Hockey is finally here!!!!

Go B's!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Fan Fest Tomorrow!

Bruins are doing Fan Fest again tomorrow! Woot!

Free T-Shirts, pictures with the Vezina, Norris and Jack Adams trophies!

Go B's!

Almost Done! My "Predix".

Player Analysis

Zdeno Chara (GP 4, G 1, A 0, Plus 1): Despite not attending much of training camp, he's looked well in pre-season games. Still showcasing a nasty shot from the blue line and as we saw against Columbus, Chara sneaking in off the blueline or the "Patented Chara" as I like to call it, is still working perfectly. Next time you see Chara out there on the Power Play, watch him sneak in, it's pretty funny how well a 7 foot 200+ pound guy can "sneak". I was kinda bummed that Chara wasn't running any Captains Practice while I was there. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's basically a half rink 4 on 4 or 5 on 5 pick up game. Really fun to watch. I can't imagine Chara having a bad year this year, though, to be honest, it took me quite a long time to come around and like how he plays. Though for the first 2 years he was with us, I felt like he was making bad decisions with the puck. But it looks like that is no longer the case.

David Krejci (GP 0, G 0, A 0, Even +/-): Not much to say about our boy Krejci. I've seen him practice and his play looks solid, but it's hard to say how well he'll do until we see him in game. Of course, the Bruins nay sayers are all saying Krejci's last season was a fluke and we should have spent more money on Kessel. I disagree. I've always been a Krejci fan and I feel like he's always been pretty consistent and has a good defensive game. Thinking about it now, I can't think of any blatantly bad penalties he took last year. Which is very important as I know others on the team have taken some really dumb penalties. For the definition of a dumb penalty, find any penalty that Montador took last year. But anyway, Krejci should be in the lineup tomorrow to start the season as mentioned in the Boston Globe today. I just hope they're not rushing things. I'd rather go a couple more weeks without him, use Sobatka or bring up Hamil till Krejci is 100%. If he does come back healthy, I think we'll see a 30 goal season from him easily.

Andrew Ference (GP 3, G 1, A 1, Minus 1): Ference has been doing pretty well this pre-seaon, minus the drama surrounding him and the firing of Paul Kelly. There has also been mention of him and Recchi not getting along, but I can't image Recchi or Ference would be the kind of person to hold a grudge. I think once the season starts, all these things will be put on the back burner as the media will have something else to talk about. I'm hoping we can get the same performance out of Ference that we did the start of last season. Ference was a machine until he was injured about a quarter of the way into the season. If we can get that performance again for an extended period of time, especially since we start at home this year, that will be a HUGE help towards getting started ont he right foot.

Matt Hunwick (GP 5, G 0, A 0, Minus 1): AWFUL pre-season for Hunwick. He is all over the place defensively. No assists, only 7 shots in 5 games, terrible. My guess is if he continues to play this way into the season, he'll be replaced by Boychuk in the first couple of weeks. If he does turn it around, I could see him putting in 5 or 6 goals as he's one of the more aggressive defensemen on the team.

Blake Wheeler (GP 6, G 0, A 2, Plus 2): A lot of pressure on Wheeler this season with Kessel gone as he is expected to fill the void. I don't really think I'm a fan of setting Wheeler up like this. I'd rather have him play another "ok" season then start focusing on making him the leading goal scorer of the team. The situation just seems rushed. He's done ok so far this pre-season, but no goals despite playing the second most pre-season games on the team (Sobotka leads with 7). Wheeler has also put on 15 pounds of muscle which I hope will help, not lead to what is now know as "Bochenski" syndrome. If he has an okay season, he'll be a 20 goal scorer.

Dennis Wideman (GP 5, G 0, A 2, Plus 2): Honestly, I've heard the least about Wideman. I suppose that's not a bad thing as I have seen him take some bad penalties in the past and his game be a little sloppy. Maybe not hearing anything about him is better! Looks like he's going to be paired with Ference in 5 on 5 and on the Power Play. Pulling for him to hit the net this year and take a little more time when deciding what to do with the puck. Statistically speaking, he'll probably remain the same as he did last year, maybe a few more Power Play goals.

More tomorrow before the game...

Fluto and KPD posted their season ranking predictions today. I can't say I agree with their predictions completely. So I'll post mine...

East

1. Bruins
2. Capitals
3. Penguins
4. Hurricanes
5. Flyers
6. Devils
7. Rangers
8. Canadiens
9. Panthers
10. Senators
11. Maple Leafs
12. Islanders
13. Sabers
14 Thrashers
15. Lighting

East Division Winner:

Bruins

West

1. Sharks
2. Red Wings
3. Flames
4. Canucks
5. Blackhawks
6. Blue Jackets
7. Ducks
8. Blues
9. Predators
10. Oilers
11. Kings
12. Wild
13. Stars
14. Avalanche
15. Coyotes

West Division Winner:

Blackhawks

Stanley Cup Winners:

Bruins vs Blackhawks: Bruins Win

There it is...We'll see how accurate this is at the end of the season.

Opening game tomorrow, I'll be there! w00t!

Go B's!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Bruins Acquire Scott Thornton...Apparently...

Just wanted to quickly share that TSN has placed the Bruins 2nd in their Power Rankings. Which is good news...but you have to contribute this to the acquisition of Scott Thornton!

"And if they don't beat you on the scoreboard, they can do it in the alley as Chara and Milan Lucic are amongst the most feared hitters in the league. Fourth line grinders Scott Thornton and Steve Begin add some sandpaper to the lineup."

Claude Julien lost a year with the Bruins somewhere too...

"Head Coach: Claude Julien (2nd Season)"

Check out the full article here before they change it!

Note: Scott Thornton retired July '08.

Go B's!

Lets Get Right Back Into It....

Player Analysis:

Michael Ryder (GP 5, G 1, A 2, Minus 1): A pretty good pre-season for Ryder. Much better then last years. Last year, Ryder spent 2 months trying to find the net with Savard before he was moved to a new line and was able to produce. We're going to need Ryder to be a 30+ goal scorer this year which shouldn't be an issue, especially if the Wheeler, Krejci, Ryder line is clicking. Ryder's, shot is there, I've seen him hitting his mark in practice consistently, he'll just needs to start the season off with a goal or two right off the bat to get him going.

Byron Bitz (GP 5, G 0, A 0, Minus 1): VERY quiet pre-season for Bitz. Seems to be suffering from the sophomore blues. I wouldn't be suprised if he spent some time down in Providence getting his game together and bringing him up later. I can't remember a single time in either a blog, radio or television broadcast of a pre-season game this year when I heard Bitz's name. He's a big guy who plays well on the dump in. He needs to go back to the dump and chase and get behind the net in the offensive zone and work from there. Once he's there, he'll be a solid 4th line guy again.

Derek Morris (GP 5, G 0, A 3, Even +/-): Oh Derek Morris... This has to be the guy with the most to prove. Morris landed here after a trade to put Ward in Carolina. Now, the thought was that Derek Morris would provide a more defensively sound game then Ward. So far, I'm not seeing that. Morris came from a crappy team and I'm sure he has to make some adjustments, but already in the pre-season he was described as Wideman from a year ago. All over the place and making bad decisions with the puck. He has played well in the past couple of games when paired with Chara, and he does have a monster of a shot, so he and Chara shooting together will be painful and entertaining. But the Bruins are always defense first, Morris, more then anyone, has to prove he is able to think that way.

Marco Sturm (GP 2, G 0, A 2, Even +/-): Please stay healthy, please stay healthy, please stay healthy... That is what every Bruins fan is saying right now. And right now, it's not looking very promising. Marco has missed several pre-season games with various minor injuries so he has been pretty quiet. I also saw Sturm leave practice after skating around the rink twice. Turned out the be his current groin injury that caused him to leave. We NEED Sturm this year. Even if he is not producing immediately, we need that threat on the ice during the 5 on 5 and especially the Power Play. If Sturm stays healthy, that will completely make up for all of Kessel's goals and then some. Please stay healthy......

Milan Lucic (GP 5, G 0, A 4, Plus 2): Loooooooooooooooch! What more do I need to say. Lucic is a MONSTER. He's looked very sharp this pre-season as apposed to last. He was shaky out the gate last year and was questionable for the start of the regular season. But he has picked up right where he left off in the playoffs last year. If Julien decides to keep him on the first line with Savard and Sturm...wow. Savard the play maker, Sturm the goal scorer, Lucic bringing the muscle, the perfect line. I wouldn't be surprised to see a contract renewal for Lucic this year before the All-Star break, as they will want to avoid losing the current face of the Bruins franchise. Looch will easily put up 20 or so goals and a good 150 penalty minutes.

Mark Stuart (GP 5, G 1, A 0, Minus 2): Mark Stuart is a "Bruin". Now people outside of the circle of average to diehard Bruins fan will not know what that means. Well I'll tell ya. Stuart is the guy who is quiet on the ice but is giving 110% effort the whole night, no matter the score. He's contributing on every part of the ice whether that be burying the occasional puck in the net or dropping the gloves to stick up for a teammate. Mark Stuart is a low risk, high reward grinder that every team wishes they had. He'll put up his typical numbers this year, 4-5 goals, 10-15 assists, but you won't hear anything bad about him. Solid 3rd D-pair guy.

Tuukka Rask (GP 3, W 2, L 1, GAA 2.0, SV% .938): Let me start by saying...what an improvement over Fernandez. I'm glad the Bruins took their time in bringing this kid up despite his displeasure with the desision last year. We didn't want to ruin this kid like we did with Hannu, who is still in and out of the NHL/AHL with St. Louis.

I think his biggest advantage over goalies in the past 10 years in Boston is that he has a solid number 1 goalie in front of him. This is a goaltender who has been taken care of and is living out the perfect scenario. Let me breakdown my perfect goalie scenario..

You stay in the AHL your first year. You get called up and get lit up and truely understand what it means to be in the NHL and get sent back down. Around this time, Thomas becomes the number 1 guy in Boston. The next season, you do well in training camp in the bigs, but are told you need to hone in your game a bit more. This builds up that frustration, that need to prove yourself. Because of this, you churn out a good year in the AHL and get called up once or twice to the NHL. And you dominate. Now this season, you're coming into a team and you know your role. There has never been any doubt that Tuukka will no more then a backup for Thomas. This will be a time for Tuukka to learn and take notes. He'll have his time to play as I'm sure Thomas will not play more then 50 or so games, especially with the Olympics coming up. So Rask, will have his time then.

In the coming years, he'll be given more and more time until he is eventually the number 1 guy in Boston and will be for a while. That's how you do it! You don't just bring someone up and hope they'll be your number one guy like they did with Thomas. It worked out for Thomas, but that is not how you "grow" a number 1 guy. Tuukka is in a well estabilished system and will do very well this year bringing in 5-10 wins.

More tomorrow! Check out the poll on the right side of the page!

Go B's!

Monday, September 28, 2009

One Fantasy Team To Rule Them All. 4 Players, How They Got There.

We eventually got the fantasy draft underway last night after a couple of ridiculous restrictions on ESPN caused us to have to create the league again. The scoring settings are here and the rules for Head to Head are here. You can also start your own league here. It's free...get the draft time right the first time...

Anyway, on with the team...the round each player was picked is shown in parentheses. I had 5th pick out of 10.

Forwards:

Olli Jokinen (2)
Alexander Semin (4)
David Booth (5)
Michael Cammalleri (7)
Simon Gagne (8)
Shane Doan (10)
Martin Havlat (13)
Milan Michalek (14)
Patrice Bergeron (19)

Defense:

Mike Green (1)
Scott Niedermayer (6)
Brian Campbell (15)
Christian Ehrhoff (16)
Andrew Ference (22)

Utility:

Alex Tanquay (17)

Bench:

Steve Ott (11)
Anton Babchuk (12)
Chuck Kobasew (20)
Wade Redden (21)

Goalies:

Niklas Backstrom (3)
Chris Mason (9)

Bench Goalie:

Mike Smith (18)

Judgment immediately ensued when I picked Mike Green in the first round. I may have been able to grab him in the second, but I planned on focusing on forwards most of the draft and defensemen later in the game, so getting that out of the way first left me available to pick up 30+ goal scorers while others were picking up defensemen.

As for goalies, Backstrom should have a solid/consistent year over in Minnesota and Mason should improve over last year. Smith was just a random pickup and I'll probably end up dropping him before the season starts.

I feel like Tanquay was a steal in the 17th round as my utility guy. He'll have a terrible +/- on Tampa, but he'll have 30 goal season this year with a team that's looking for someone else to score other then Martin St. Louis.

Now moving on from fantasy into reality... The Bruins pre-season ended Saturday with a loss to Columbus and the roster has now been cut down to 22. I'm going to do my best to breakdown the pre-season efforts for each of the 22 players left on the roster.

The practice roster posted by Boston.com today is what I think the final roster will be for the start of the season. It is as follows:

First Line: Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Marco Sturm
Second Line: Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder
Third Line: Mark Recchi - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew
Fourth Line: Shawn Thornton - Begin/Sobatka - Byron Bitz

D Pairings:

Zdeno Chara - Derek Morris
Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Hunwick Boychuk

Goalies:

Tim Thomas
Tukka Rask

Player Analysis:

Shawn Thornton ( GP 5, G 1, A 2, Plus 1): Thornton came back into training camp all smiles as usual. Joking around at practice, but serious in game. In the past, he's been questionable for making the roster, but at this point, he's a leader on the 4th line. He's best known for his scraps while sticking up for his teammates, but as we saw in the first game against Columbus, he's got some hands too. Ultimately, you can expect a lot of the same from Thornton. He'll be in the corners fighting for the puck or people. As his contract is up this year, I'm sure we can expect a resigning long before the season is over.

Below is some more information regarding Shawn Thornton and some video of his pre-season fights this year.

Articles:

Thornton Has Been A Nice Fit

Fights:

Shawn Thornton vs Matt Carkner


Shawn Thornton vs Jared Boll


Patrice Bergeron (GP 5, G 0, A 3, Minus 3): Despite the minus 3 for the pre-season, Bergeron has looked good. Bergy isn't known for his goal scoring abilities, but as a play maker, and he's looked sharp dishing the puck. He's also been doing well in the face off circle. During practice, he has been taking up the 'captain' role during Chara's absence this training camp, leading drills and stretches. If Bergeron can get away from the Backhanded Shootout Shot, Bergeron could be a huge assets in overtime as it is (unfortunately) shootouts are becoming a larger part of the game.

Mark Recchi (GP 4, G 0, A 2, Minus 1): Recchi, has been pretty quiet this pre-season. But that is to be expected due to his style of play. Recchi is a crash the net, create a screen, get the tip in, kinda guy. In other words, he's in harms way most of the time. It wouldn't be a good idea to be putting Recchi in that kind of situation before the season even starts. Recchi, combined with Wheeler are expected to fill the "30 goal gap" left by Kessel. Recchi is expected to score +20 goals this year which is not hard to imagine as he had 23 goals total last year, 10 goals with the Bruins in only 18 games.

Chuck Kobasew (GP 5, G 2, A 0, Even +/-): Nice to see that Kobasew survived the Kessel drama. He would have been one of the first to go to make space for Kessel on the roster. He has 2 goals in the 5 pre-seaon games he played in and his two-way game looked great. I can see him getting in 25 goals this year if he stays healthy. He'll be on the same line as Bergy and Recchi and with Recchi's down-low style, it should open up Kobasew to make some big plays.

That's all for now, as this post is getting a little long. I'll have more tomorrow!

Go B's!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

No Time To Post Tonight.

Don't have enough time to post anything tonight as the draft took longer then expected. I'll be posting the team here tomorrow and my analysis as promised to all zero readers.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

4-2 Columbus Over Bruins: Bruins "Work" On Their Penalty Kill

Bruins received 6 penalties in their lost tonight against Columbus.

WAY to many penalties taken tonight. Zach Hamil was responsible for 2 of them. Just bad penalties you can be taking. You're not going to win games giving that many PP opportunities.

Rask looked pretty sharp despite the score. As I've already mentioned, to many PPs and to many odd man rushes against the Bruins. The D (mainly Ference) left Rask out to dry several times. Columbus was all over the front of our net free to do whatever they'd like. Hunwick looked off his game again, he'll probably be replaced by Boychuk for at least the first couple of month while he finds his game in Providence.

Lucic played an awesome game tonight on his line with Ryder and Savard. Made a few good passes, playing the boards well, defensively sound, overall excellent game.

Thorton got in a rumble Jarad Boll
and Chuck Kobasew mixed it up with Michael Bluden, after a collision with Rask. The collision with Rask deffenitly wasn't intentional, but it's nice to see the team keeping an eye on their goaltender.

This raps up the pre-season for the Bruins, giving us 4 days of rest till opening game. Which I will be at. I'll be posting my Fantasy Team Lineup and the first day of my player analysis tomorrow.

In the mean time...

Go B's!

2-1 Bruins Over Ottowa: All About The Rookies. Last Pre-Season Game Tonight!

The Bruins beat Ottowa 2-1 last night. You can check out the highlights and game summary here.

Marchand and Fata scored to put the Bruins past the nearly full NHL roster of Ottowa. I'm not a fan of Fata, simply from seeing him in practice, but he let go a bomb to score from the point last night. center of the blueline, through a screen, awesome shot. Nice to see our defensemen hitting the net.

Marchand, also scored with a nice feed from Morris. Marchand, former AHL Providence Rookie Of The Year, is definitely keeping pressure on Sobatka and Hamil for the extra spot on the roster. I actually wouldn't mind seeing him on the team this year if Hamil is going to miss the first week of the regular season.

Lucic, sticking up for Savard after a dirty hit, got in a sick fight with Chris Neil and I gotta say, Neil was on the losing end of this one. You can check out a good picture from the fight here on NESN.com, you can also see part of the fight in the highlights provided above and the whole fight here from hockeyfights.com. Lucic is a scary, scary man...

Thomas made 35 saves and was a monster as usual. You can checkout a couple of his saves in the highlights provided above. You can see what appears to be Thomas's best save during the post game interviews.

The B's are playing their last pre-season game tonight which will actually be on TV! NESN will be picking up coverage starting at 7. Might have pre-game coverage, but I wasn't able to find anything on NESN.com about it or in my cable 'TV Guide'.

As there will be 4 days of no hockey, I'm going to put together a personal breakdown of each player's performance during the pre-season. I'll do 5 or 6 players a day. My Fantasy Draft will also be taking place Sunday, so I'll post my team up here once the draft is complete. Both, should help distract me from the lack of hockey. Pre-season is such a tease...

Go B's!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

2-1 Bruins Over Montreal: Timmy In Vezina Form. Practice Pics and Vids!

We're not worthy! We're not worthy! Go Timmy! Excellent game by Thomas tonight. He started out shaky int he 1st but played much better in the second and third. I only wish I could have seen it, radio just doesn't cut it. From what I heard, excellent rebound control, coming far out of net to challenge and making 33 of 34 saves. That is the Thomas we know and love. Going to be a good boost of confidence for him after that terrible game against New York. Add Thomas's big game tonight with Rask's recent success, we got our selves a nice two hit combo in net going intot he season.

I can't image they'll go with Thomas again tomorrow night as he was at the bottom of, what was described as a 'pile up', in front of his net. According to Bob Beers, he got up pretty slow. He managed to finish the game, so I can't image that it was anything to bad. I'm going to vote Rask for next game and Thomas for the last.

Heard from Zach Hamil quite a bit this game. Didn't score any goals, but definitely helped put and keep the pressure on Montreal. Unfortunately, near the end of the game, took a shot off the leg and was slow to get off the ice. He would later return, but was clearly in pain. I'm personally tired of Zach Hamil and his injuries. If it's bad enough, I think Sobatka will take the extra spot which was Hamil's to lose.

Mark Stuart, scored tonight. Nice to hear from him and get him seom well deserved praise. Quiet guy, but is totally sound on the ice. He's "A Bruin" for sure.

Bergy, Bergy, Bergy...why can't you score in a shootout in the REGULAR season!

Overall, nice to see Montreal go down again this pre-season, lets hope we can carry this into the regular season.

As for practice yesterday. Wow! Check out the pictures and videos we got yesterday. Lots of straight forward, but challenging drills. 3 on 0s, 3 on 2s, 1 on 1s, breakaways, they did it all yesterday. Julien was all over both the rookies and the vets. No Chara though, kind of a disappointment as it's always cool to see him run a Captains practice since they're basically pick-up, half rink, 5 on 5s.

Another cool part about yesterdays practice was that all the veterens were wearing differnt colored jersey to signify their lines. For example, Thorton, Sobatka and Bitz were wearing red and are the expected 4th line(You can obviously replace Sobatka with Zach Hamil if Zach makes the team).

The not so awesome part of practice is the fact they didn't wear names on their jerseys. I hate that. I can recognize the faces of the usual guys, Ference, Wideman, Ryder etc... but it's hard to tell the rookies apart. I can't image it'd be hard to print a name on a back of practice jersey. So lame. What they did last year (during rookie camp) was provide a roster of who was on the ice. I think they should do that at the very least.

A pretty entertaining practice regardless of nameless jerseys I suppose.

Go B's!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Paul Kelly + Ference = Brad Park? Practice Pre-Blog Post.

The ever growing Paul Kelly saga continues to become more ridiculous as Brad Park (former defensemen for the Red Wing, Bruins and Rangers) provided this comment regarding Ference...

''Let me tell Andrew Ference, one defenseman to another, he should spend more time worrying about going to back to get the puck than to worry about Paul Kelly's ability to do the job as head of the PA, said Park, who turned 61 years old in July. ''When [Ference] was in junior, I assume he wasn't going to college...so I ask, what makes him so [expletive] smart?! They had a guy like Chris Chelios in that room [in Chicago] who disagreed, told them to wait and think.

''Maybe guys like Ference should take time to listen to guys who are older and smarter.''

You can read the whole article here, but this just furthers the fact that players who are NO LONGER IN the NHL are the main supporters for Paul Kelly. I pose this question to Mister Park...what puck will Ference have to get without a job in 2011-12 if Kelly, was doing that bad of a job?

The article also mentions that the decision to remove Paul Kelly came at 3:30 AM as if the time itself was proof the decision was hastily made. A 3:30AM firing to me says exactly the opposite, this wasn't a quick decision. If it was a quick decision it would have happened in the middle of the day or early morning. You have to figure if they were voting till 3:30 in the morning, they had to deliberate a lot to come to decision.

To be honest, other then reading the articles in major headlines on Boston.com and TSN, I haven't really followed anything regarding the NHLPA. But in my opinion, who would know whats best for the players better then the players currently in the game? Don't get me wrong, I respect players like Brad Park, but he hasn't played since 85, things have changed.

If the decision was made quickly, I can see why. I think that a decision had to be made as quickly as possible to find someone to fill Paul Kelly's position with ample time to avoid a lockout during the 2010 - 2011 season when the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement ends.

Overall, I think this has created unnecessary, negative publicity for the NHL which it can't afford to have right now. The league already has a mess on it's hand with this Phoenix ownership nonsense, they don't retired players bad mouthing players in today's game. Comments like Brad Park's are a joke and the media should step up and keep that kind of trash out of the public eye.

On an unrelated note, I went to Bruins practice this morning. Very spirited practice to say the least. I'll have some photos and videos up as soon as possible along with my take on practice.

Go B's!


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

6-5 Columbus Over Bruins: Bruins Come Back 5 Times To Lose In A Shootout

Bruins came back 5 times, twice in the third period, but ended up losing in the shootout. Total bummer. But it is nice to see them keep going at it and keeping is close. From the sounds of things and the blog updates provided by Bish, the Bruins were all over the road defensively. The Penalty Kill was atrocious as well. 2 goals allowed on 5 attempts and never looked to be on the same page.

I'm pretty disappointed in Dany Sabourin's performance in the shootout. All three shots got past him (1 hit the post) 2 of which were five-hole goals.

As for our goals, Bergy went to the faithful backhanded shootout shot that he does EVERY TIME and failed to tie it up.

Didn't hear much from Morris, this game, hoping once he's paired with Chara he'll be able to open up his game a bit more and contribute.

Lucic, was pretty quiet as well, not to much of a concern as he had a pretty quiet pre-season last year.

Thorton, finally got on the board with (from what I've heard and read) a sick backhand goal to beat Garon. He'll be the anchor on the 4th line again this year.

Fata, was playing tonight paired with Morris. I'm not a fan of Fata, I don't think he's a fan of himself either. Got into a fight for seemingly no reason, Bish wasn't impressed, 98.5 wasn't impressed, I wasn't impressed. Maybe it's his fault Morris was quiet tonight.

Johnny Boychuk, scored to keep the heat on Sobotka for the 7th spot on the roster. I haven't been overly impressed with Sobotka's game in the past, I think it's time we give the extra spot to another this season.

The Recchi, Bergy, Wheeler line put up some points tonight. As Wheeler/Recchi are expected to fill Kessel's 30+ goals, it's nice to see that line producing all ready. With Bergy healthy, this will be an awesome second line.

Didn't hear Zach Hamil's name at all tonight. He's been pretty consistent in the past couple of games, so that comes as a surprise that he was quiet tonight. Can't be the center of attention all the time I suppose.

I'll be in Wilmington tomorrow for practice. Pictures and (longer) video will be provided. I may go rough up the Pac-Man machine again to assert my total dominance upon it.

Go B's!

Live Blog And Radio Broadcast For Tonight's Game Versus Columbus

Bish, writer for bostonbruins.com is providing a live blog of tonight's game.

Radio broadcast can be found here on 98.5.

Go Bs!

Head Bangin' With Tootoo!

While looking through TSN today I came across an article regarding a fight Jordin Tootoo had with Tom Sestito of the Columbus Blue Jackets. As we're playing the Blue Jacks tonight, I figured it'd be appropriate to read. You can read the article here, but the article inspired me to find other fights that Tootoo has been involved in, in an attempt to further my hatred for him and see him get dominated. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find many fights where he lost.

As Fluto would say "with an assist from hockeyfights.com", I put together a list of pretty good fights involving Tootoo from pre-season this year and regular season last year.

Jordin Tootoo vs Tom Sestito (This is the video of the incident mentioned in the article above. Ouch)

Jordin Tootoo vs Brad Staubitz (It's like a Rocky movie)

Jordin Tootoo vs Alexandre Burrows (Yeah the head fake really worked Alex)

Jordin Tootoo vs Steve Begin
(Begin lost cause he's wearing that uniform...)

Those are the 4 videos I found most amusing, but there are tons of them up there. Check out hockeyfights.com if you're looking to kill some time. Excellent site.

Lets Go Bs!

Monday, September 21, 2009

2-1 Bruins Over Montreal: Rask Beasts It. Suave Heads Back To Juniors.

The Bruins beat Montreal last night despite the lack of news coverage from Boston.com. Not a single line was written regarding the 2-1 victory over Montreal. You would think they would at least post a pre-game roster. It's not like they're in our division or our rivals or anything. It doesn't help that it wasn't televised either. From the sounds of things, Rask tore it up stopping 25 of 26. Nice to know there is a solid backup for Timmy Beast this year. TSN did provide some highlights, you can check them out and the breakdown of the game here.

Max Suave got sent back to his Junior team, Val-d'Or . Pretty surprising to see that the Bruins didn't even let him finish training camp. Also surprising that he is only in Juniors. He showed some real skill, hope they assign him to Providence to give him a chance at the NHL.

Roster is up for tomorrows game. No Thomas or Chara in the lineup. I feel like we're getting a little close to crunch time and we should start getting the starters in shape. Especially the defense. Drew Feta and Andy Wozniewski? Come on. Neither of them will make the team.

Speaking of Wozniewski, here is a pretty funny clip involving him.

Also, check out "Break In Bear". Hilarious!

Go Bruins!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

5-2 Rangers Over Bruins: Thomas Will Have "The Anisimov" With The Works.

Rough preseason game for the Bruins. I didn't get to watch it, but from what I read, Thomas wasn't looking to sharp. 5 goals on 19 shots, ugh. But this Artem Anisimov, is a MONSTER. Check out him working the Bs defense to score on Thomas. Nasty. Hope he doesn't make the team!

On the upside of things, Savard and Hamil scored. Nice to see Savard getting right back into things and seeing some consistency in Hamil's game. Max Suave also came away with an assist, really pulling for him to make an appearance with the club this year.

Montreal got WORKED by Ottowa last night which makes our loss a little less painful. Mike Fisher for Ottowa came out with a Hat Trick and Carey Price let up 4 goals on 16 shots in 2 periods...nice. We play Montreal tonight, at 7 and lets hope that Price's stellar play carries over from last night. Boston.com hasn't posted a roster for tonight, but I can only assume that Thomas will get another start so he can get back in the swing of things. I'd like to see Suave and Hamil in the line up again. From what I've read/seen our defense needs some work. I think it's time to start putting the usual D pairings in, start getting some chemistry going, especially with Morris.

Kessel, had his press conference in Toronto yesterday. Check out the video here. Kessel saying "Toronto is the best hockey city in the world." pffft. Traitor. Could you please provide some more generic answers Phil? Thanks. Can't wait for his first game against Boston. We'll see how his outside-inside move down the wing works when you got Chara there to rough em up.

Anyway...

Go Bs! Beat them Habs!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Who Wants To Watch Highlights From A 6-2 Vancouver Victory?!

TSN provided us with a spectacular highlight reel for the 6-2 Vancouver v Sharks game. Lets see how we got there, check out this sick highlight reel!

Yeah, I didn't want to see 8 goals either. How do you have 25 seconds of highlights for an 8 goal game?

Bruins play tonight, doesn't look like it's going to be televised...lame.

Go Bruins!

Friday, September 18, 2009

クマは日本製アニメ行く (The Bruins Go Anime). Toronto Hands The Bruins The Division...For The Next 2 Years.

Lets start with the Winter Classic Jersey. I guess they called in Satoshi Tajiri for design ideas. Yeah you Google that name right now. Don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate the history, but it just looks terrible. I think they should have done the classic look with a modern twist. I like everything but the B. The B is symbolic, without the B it's just not a Bruins jersey. It's the one thing they HAD to get right and they didn't. At least it's better then the Flyers jersey which looks like...well...the Flyers jersey. Check em both out here.

The Kessel "Saga" is "over". I put over in quotes because we all know this isn't really over, especially since we don't play Toronto until Kessel is ready to play again. Now I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't refreshing TSN every 10 minutes for updates once I read the announcement that the trade was nearly finalized, but I like to think I was interested for different reason. I wasn't hoping for it to be over so we can be done with it, I was excited to see what we were going to get in exchange. The end result...

Toronto gets Kessel at 5 Years, 27 million.

Bruins get Toronto's natural 1st and 2nd round picks in 2010 and Toronto's 1st round pick in the 2011 draft.

Now a lot of people are probably saying, "But where are we going to get the 30+ goals Kessel got for us?!". Well, the obvious answer is Sturm. If he can stay healthy, there are your 30 goals right there. Next, we got Reechi. People seem to forget that Reechi was only with us for less than half the year and scored 10 goals in 18 games. Give him a whole season, at that pace, you're looking at his 8th 30 goal season. Next, you got Wheeler. If the 15 pounds Wheeler has put on doesn't slow him down or effect his play, he's good for at least 20 goals. I could go on and on, but I think it is safe to say if we can stay healthy (specifically Sturm) we'll have no problem making up for Kessel's goal contribution.

What you need to keep in mind is there is a huge benefit to not trading for a player and just getting draft picks. We are going into the season with 1.7 million of cap space. Come trade deadline we have PLENTY of room to move a player and/or pick someone up.

As for Kessel + Toronto - It should be interesting to see how Kessel does with no one to feed him the no look pass like Savard. Also, Kessel's two-way game will be tested with Toronto's weaker defense. I'm sure Burke will be expecting a lot from from Kessel with his 5 million+ a year and it will be interesting to see what lengths he'll go to if Kessel doesn't produce. Lastly, Toronto is a heavy media town and Kessel HATES the media. I wonder if that will effect his play?

Bruins playing the Rangers tomorrow at 4pm. Don't think it's televised, but I'll be posting my thoughts post game as best I can.

Go Bruins!

With Hits Like This Who Needs Pre-Season? Will The Real Fleury Please Stand Up?!

Ouch...is all I've got to say. Check out the highlights from the Calgary vs Islanders game, specifically 16 seconds in then 37 seconds in. I'll give you time to look...

...

DEAD! Did you see that!? It's pre-season and he nearly killed the guy! So awesome!

Theoren Fleury, the 41 year old toolbag was also quoted as saying

"I don't miss those chances ever," the five-foot-six Fleury declared. "Not in the big moments. Never have, never will."

In regards to his game winning shootout goal.

Earth To Fleury: It's not a big moment, it's pre-season.

I gotta say, it's been a pretty intense pre-season so far, looking forward to the real stuff.

Go Bs!