Injury Ward

I just like the clever title, do not let it mislead you. I like yesterdays reported 2.5 million a year deal for Aaron Ward. He does have a tendency to get hurt, hurt giving every inch of his body for his team. This is worth the extra .75 mil (in my opinion) he received. To me he was a stabilizing force on the blue line, seldom noticed for the bad and often laying bodies to the ice. Welcome back Mr Ward.

Follow up

There are now four teams remaining in the Stanley Cup playoffs. For those of you who like to lament the loved lost players of yesteryear, lets review the former Bruins who are still lacing them up.

For your Detroit Red wings, one Brad Stuart.

For your Pittsberg Penguins the towering Hal Gill and the slick Sergie Gonchar.

And for their Philadelphia Flyers the sweet Mike Knuble.

I for one would probably welcome back anyone of these players, but not all of them at once. Its interesting that 3 of 4 are defenseman. It is also interesting that there was no revolt by the fan base when these players were sent packing or slipped away.

There is a fourth team in the playoffs that does not have a former Bruin representative. So lets all start routing for Dallas, so we do not have to see another x player hoist another cup before a present one does.

Lastly I have been largely absent at this space this season. I have another internet/life project that has absorbed much of my time since the fall. My hope is that next season I will be able to balance my time more between the two. I also promised that if the team made the playoffs I would lift my anonymity. Revealing the time sink and my true self are going to be one and the same. Well here goes (curtain lifting). Visit me at www.benshotme.com.

Let the free agent and trade debates begin! I have a feeling that Hossa will be here what about you?

The End Of The Season

On Monday The Bruins season ended with a loss to the hated habs.

I was proud of what the Bruins achieved this season. They fought through all their hardships and made the playoffs when nobody but myself and a few others believed they could. They took the 1st place division winners to 7 games and gave them all they could handle - I actually thought the Bruins outplayed the habs in 5 of the 7 games and should have won the series but they still never came out on top.

I love the heart this team showed this year and how they stuck together and played as a team.

To The Boston Bruins: I personally thank you for a great and most enjoyable season.

Your biggest fan,

Buff

p.s. I can't wait until next season!

Go Bruins Go!!!

game 7!

Win or lose I will be glad to not have to watch another Canadiens player disgrace the game in the garden this season again by belly flopping. The refs are a disgrace for not calling the dive only, especially on the pj play! Does the league fine for this type of behavior, I though they were supposed to?

Win or lose I am proud of this team. Win or lose I do not know how the Canadiens fans can route for that train wreck. I would be dreading monday if my colors were red.

Good luck monday boys! Go get um!

Game 5 Notes

Bruins beat habs 5-1 and now trail in the series 3-2.

The difference in game 5 was Carey Price - how bad he was. His nerves are gone, he looked like "Red Light" Racicot in the hab's net last nite. Young rookie goalie and the pressure of the big stage has gotten to him - they should have kept Huet (worse move at the trade deadline).

The Bruins play again on Saturday and look to even the series and force game 7.

The game's three stars as picked by me:

1 - Timmy Thomas (big saves and nerves of steel).

2- Andrew Ference (great on "D" and 3 assists)

3- Carey Price (would have been hard for the B's to win without his performance last nite:) )

Go Bruins Go!!!

* side note: the littlest defenseman is posting again - check it out, some great insight

Warning!

Do not let them win tonight. This is my warning to the team visiting from Montreal. You do not want to let this team win tonight. In my opinion tonight's game probably decides the series. Now that our boys have finally pulled out a squeaker and broken Montreal's serve what happens next? I see it going one of two ways. Another tight game were Montreal creates a break in the B's armour at the most opportune (inopportune for the B's) moment and the season is sunk. Or my hope is for the blow-out by the boys in black. They are due to get some bounces and have a 5-2 or 4-1 sleeper where the garden is rolling, especially agaisnt this team. Montreal just is not that much better. If this happens look out, this young Bruins team will be difficult to knock off its game. How great have been kids like Lucic, Nokelainen,Krejci and Sobotka (a personal favorite - leads with his chin against men twice his size, with no regard for his well being or better he side steps the devestating check like a jedi).

If you have not read number 4's blog (linked on the side) go do it! I just need to repeat for those of you who stated that Thomas could not steal a playoff game or were calling for f'ing Manny in game 2....are you kidden me! As #4 says go bite him! I got the itit, you got the itit? In Tim I trust.

For our readers. My apologies for not posting much... Life has gotten in the way, I assure you I have been watching and reading and taking notes, the writing will come as well.
Lastly I teased earlier in the season that I would reveal my identity if the club made the playoffs. My name is Ben- to be continued...........(once the playoffs are over)

Thomas IS God!!!!

Bruins win 2-1 in overtime!!! Savard scores winner.

Thomas made at least 3 incredible game saving stops in o.t.

Bruins trail series 2-1 and play again on Tuesday Night (Tim Thomas' birthday). Timmy will be pumped and win this one himself if he has to. The Bruins streak of victories over Montreal has begun - I can see it being a long one!!!

I love this team!! Habs suck!!!

Tonight's 3 stars as picked by me:
1- Timmy Thomas - he was better than God tonight!!!
2-Lucic - big goal and a physical force!!
3-Savard-Assist on 1st goal and ot winner!

Go Bruins Go!!!

Boston VS Montreal: Game 2 Notes

Are we ever going to beat Montreal again? 5 years from now will Montreal have beaten Boston 53 straight games?

Boston totally outplayed the Habs in this game and deserved to win it big time. However, they played with fire too many times, and it was only a matter of time before the Habs connected on the power play. Boston played the last 6 minutes of the game shorthanded before Montreal scored the winner on a shot Timmy would love to have back.

The Bruins had a great team effort tonite but it was not meant to be - Montreal still has their number. Hopefully they carry the effort from tonites game into tomorrow nite and finally break the losing streak to the Habs and start their own winning streak - 4 in a row would make me happy.

Don't give up yet fans - The Bruins are not going down without a fight - they are only going to get better.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Bos VS Mtl - Game 1 Notes

Everybody has seen last nite's 4-1 loss to The Habs so no need to analyze too much. Here are few observations I have on Game 1:

- Chara and Sturm looked really bad (they would have been bad if this was a pee wee game). Step it up from now on guys!

- Thomas and Murray were the only two Bruins who looked pissed and and seemed like they cared every shift - the team needs to feed off of their passion!

-Everyone other Bruin just looked uninterested - this is the playoffs they need to play with the same passion that was shown during the season - no they need more!

-Ryder was all over the place for the Habs. Although he didn't record a point, he was the best player on the ice for either team in game 1.


The Bruins need to regroup and forget about game 1. It takes 4 games to win a series and I personally still think the Bruins will bounce back and win this this round!

Go Bruins Go!!!

They had it all the way.

Crunch Time!

Two games left. Everything to gain, everything to lose. This is what it is all about, this is what fans love! I live for this excitement. What a regular season so far and the best is still left.

Two games left to decide The Bruins fate - win or lose, in or out, I loved this season!

Come on Bruins do it for your fans - get in, go deep, win the cup!!!!

Man I am hyper about the next couple of days!

I love hockey and I love this season! I love the Bruins!

Go Bruins GO !!!!!

Now That's Hockey!!!

Yesterday afternoon the Bruins dug deep late and pulled off a win over Philly.

Ference tied the game at 2 with 27 seconds left and then he assisted on Ward's winner in the extra frame to give the Bruins a late comeback 3-2 victory.

With the playoff race and position placements so tight, with so few games left, wins and points are more important now than ever. To win a game like they did yesterday in such dramatic fashion is awesome! It is fun to watch and as a fan my excitement went through the roof. It is moments like this that hockey fans live for (I love it!!!).

Today The Bruins play The Capitals in Washington and then they head into a Thursday/Saturday home and home with the hated habs. Three more big games as they push to the post season.

Go Bruins Go!!!

The Thunder Rolls.....

... and The Lightning skrikes! Last night the recently struggling Bruins lost to the celar dwellers of the Eastern Conference. Tampa defeated our Bruins 3-1 in a very tight affair in Beantown.
The Bruins are on a bad slide that has been going on for the last week and a half. They need to get out of it soon and play at least .500 hockey the rest of the way to insure a playoff berth. Their offense has been nonexistent and if it doesn't pick up wins are going to be hard to come by.

I personally am still not really worried (a little concerned but not freaking out yet) as every team goes through these rough patches and The Bruins are too good and showed too much heart all season to tank the rest of it now. They will break out soon and will be ready come the playoffs - yes I am still certain of a playoff appearance.

Good news from last night was that Timmy was very good and those 2 bad games last week are over and done - he will be fine and lead us to a strong finish!

Go Bruins!!!

Tonight's Game

Tonight the Bruins play The Tampa Lightning, the 2nd last team in the league and the last place team in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins have had a bad week of play and playing a crappy team like Tampa might be just what the Bruins need to get back on the winning track (although no games are a given in this league anymore).

Timmy is back in between the pipes after 3 games rest and look for him to be better than great as he is going to prove that a couple of sub-par games hasn't got him down - he is going to want to show the league that he is still "The Man". Chara's finger is still bothering him and he will sit out his 3rd game in a row.

The Bruins need to start scoring more and hopefully this game is the start of great things to come.

My Prediction:
Bruins-6
Tampa-1

Go Bruins Go!!!

Heartbreaker At MSG!

The Bruins played great shutdown hockey this afternoon (without the services of Chara who sat out with a sore pinky). However, they were unable to find the net themselves in this game. The game was scoreless after 65 minutes of play and had to be settled in a penalty shot competition (I still hate shootouts weather we win or lose). The lone scorer in the shootout was Nigel Dawes of The Rangers giving them the extra point and putting them one point ahead of The Bruins for the coveted sixth spot in the East.

This was a big extra point for The Rangers because it did move them into to 6th place and a chance to play The 3rd seed in the playoffs. The 3rd seed will be the winner of the very weak South East division (looks more and more like it will be Carolina) and whoever finishes 6th in the conference will have an easy 1st round in comparison to the rest of the conference (nothing is a given but this would be a good senerio to be in). The Bruins now have to regroup and get some much needed points to overtake The Rangers again to gain that 6th seed.

Todays 3 stars as picked by me:

1. Auld - 35 save today!!
2. Lundqvist - 29 saves for the win.
3. Dawes - game winner in penalty shot competition.

The Bruins play their next game in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Bruins Bounce Back!!!

After one of their worst weeks in team history Boston rebounded with a 2-1 victory over Washington this afternoon. Yes, this is the same Capitals team that beat them 10-2 on Monday.
Boston came out of the gates and showed it's toughness with both Lucic and Thornton fighting early in the game. However, they still had problems finding the net until late in the game where they scored just enough to win (2 goals in final 6 minutes). All the goals in this game came via the powerplay.

Auld made 23 saves to get the win - unlike other sites I have been reading this week I am saying that Timmy will be fine and he has great mental toughness and those 2 bad games this week are in the past. This is a guy who doesn't give up remember - he played 50 or so years in the AHL and Europe to get his NHL break. As long as he doesn't try to break in new pads anymore during a drive at the end of the year with a playoff spot on the line he will be as good as ever:)

Todays 3 stars as picked by me are:

1 - Savard (assisted on both goals)
2 - Auld (is proving he was a great pick up to relieve Timmy when needed)
3 - Lucic (his fight 5 seconds into the game sent a message to Washington that today was not going to be as easy as Monday)

The Bruins play a BIG game against The Rangers tomorrow,a team they had recent success over - lets hope this trend continues!

Go Bruins!!!

WTF IS GOING ON !!!!

8-2 to the Leafs! Garbage!

I haven't posting lately because The B's were on a role and I didn't want to jinx them.

God Damn they not only lost but lost 8-2 to The Skinkin' Leafs of all teams!!!

Savard Is Even More Amazing This Season!!!

Last season I wrote on who the hell was getting all the goals that Savard was setting up because no one on the team had a true sniper's season.

This year the distance is even more noticeable. Going into tonites game against The Whalers, Savard is 1st in the league with 51 assists. This is even more amazing when you notice that no one on Boston is in the top 55 in goal scoring and they only have 2 players with over 15 goals (Sturm and Kobasew) and not one 20 goal scorer so far.

Savard can set up anyone and everyone and that is just what he does. He makes anyone on his line a threat to score at any given time. He is the premier set up man in the league. All other assist leadrers in the league play constantly with a true sniper on their line and yet they all trail Savy who doesn't even have a true marksman on his team.

Just imagine if Savard did play with a natural goal scorer - he would easily have 80+ assists by now and would be leading the points race also.

Savy for MVP!!!! He deserves the Hart Trophy but because he is not one of the leagues chosen "poster boys" he will probably not even be considered in the top ten. As Bruins fans and knowing what is true I say: Screw the league and their "chosen ones" Savy is the best talent in the NHL!!!

League News

Forsberg has decided not to return to the NHL this season.
Who really cares - he probably would have only ended up in Vancouver anyways - just adding to their heartless Swedish problem that already exists there.

Quick Hits Friday

- On Tuesday The Bruins lost to Montreal AGAIN!!! This was the 1,000,000,000,000th time in a row the habs bested our Bruins - they have got to break this mental barrier soon - I hate the Canadiens!

- Last night Lucic and company easily disposed of the Islanders 4-1.

- This is allstar weekend - does anybody actually care or watch this waste of time - the skills competition is even a bigger farce - the league should scrap the allstar game for good - nobody gives a damn about it!

- At the break: Bruins are in 7th place in the conference, Savard 2nd in league in assists (1 behind Thornton who plays in the weaker, less defensive conference), Timmy is #1 in the league in save percentage (arguably the best goalie in the NHL - Luongo a very close 2nd) and Chara has finally been playing like a top defenceman - putting up good offensive numbers and a monster on "D".

I hope everyone finds something usefull to do from now until Tuesday when hockey resumes.
You can check back here for a bit of reading on the Bruins as I have alot of posts in my head that I will be putting up - even my hockey blogging has to be better than the allstar game. I will post everyday from now until Tuesday.

Bruins Sweep Rangers/Bruins Playing As A Team

The Boston Bruins won both encounters against their original six rivals, The New York Rangers, this weekend. It was a much needed sweep because of the tight race for the playoffs. The sweep was especially gratifying for me because of how they accomplished it - with teamwork! The defence played great, forwards were very good (offensively and in getting back - defensively responsible), goaltending was greater than great and team toughness over the two days took its toll on the not so tough Rangers. Their work effort was amazing and everone seemed to be having fun and they really looked like they cared about winning. They cared!!! With Bergy, PJ, Alberts and Muzz out they could have folded but did the opposite and developed great team character and decided that they are going to win in spite of these injuries!

In Sunday's game Timmy got really upset about losing his shutout with 40 seconds left. It's too bad he never got it because of how well he played but when interveiwed after the game he knows that the team winning was more important. I hope Sturm bought him a big steak dinner after the game because he let his man sneak in to score the goal - easy to do with 40 seconds left in a 3-0 game but for all the times Timmy has bailed out team mistakes over the last few years you have to feel bad for him losing his shutout this way.

And what about Chara! Has this guy been going to hockey schools and camps on days off? This is not the same player lately that I watched last year and the first few games this season. Man did he ever improve - very deserving of his all-star start. I will be doing a post solely on Chara later this week.

Up next, The Montreal Canadiens (they don't even spell Canadians right - losers!). For the first time in two years I am actually confident going into a game against these bozos. Bruins will win this one!!!

Go Bruins Go!!!

'Cause The Eyes Of The Rangers Are Upon Us

At 2:00 PM today The Bruins and Rangers faceoff to see who will be sitting in the final playoff spot at days end. Both teams are deadlocked in 8th place with 49 points. This is gut check time because New York, much like Montreal, are in The Bruins heads and seam to always beat them. Boston won the 1st game this season between the two clubs in a shootout after a 0 - 0 tie. Before that, however, the Rangers had beaten The Bruins 8 straight times and hasn't lost in regulation to the Bruins since March 4, 2004.

Both teams matchup evenly with Boston being a little stronger because of Timmy's dominance in between the pipes. We need Timmy to steal this game for us today - a win here could give the team the confidence it needs heading into the final stretch.

My prediction is 4-0 Boston. They finally get the Rangers monkey off their back with Savard gathering 3 assists and Timmy getting the Goose Egg.

This win will give them confidence and they will complete the home and home sweep tomorrow in Madison Square Garden before heading to Montreal on Tuesday and getting another monkey off their back.

Non-Bruins note - Sid the Kid down with high ankle sprain - could be gone for a while.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Embarassed

I was away from posting for the last couple months and was going to explain why I wasn't here lately and what I thought of The Bruins while I was away, however, that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Today I wish to quickly touch on my embarassment from last nites game. Last nite The Bruins lost to the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs (from top to bottom) have the weakest roster in the NHL - they have Mats Sundin and a couple of decent (not great) goalies and after that they are filled with players belonging in the AHL or 4th liners at best. There are only 2 teams (Tampa and L.A.) in the league with less points than Toronto and both contain more talent in their lineup. The Leafs beat Boston 3-2 in a game that went to a shootout.

With the loss Boston fell into a tie for 8th place and the final playoff spot. The loss also had the Bruins fall below .500 for the season so far. As a general rule teams under .500 do not make the post season (The Islanders last year were the exception as they finished one game under and squeeked in).

With The Bruins playing hurt and in a battle for the playoffs, games against Toronto are must wins and losing to inferior teams is unexceptable!

On a non-Bruin note - last nite Rick Nash scored the season's nicest goal so far in Columbus' win over The Coyotes.

Total Scam

The Bochenski deal has reminded me of something that has irked me for a while. This deal looks like Brian Burke clearing a D man and his salary to make room for Niedermayer. Anyone else ever buy the "retirement" baloney! This was giving vet a vacation to save cap room while assuring him more help for the play off run by acquiring Matt Schneider in the off season. A shrewd calculated move that wreaks of messing with the intention of the cap. When will this become common place that a player "retires" for half a season to allow his team to restock in the off season? Total scam but an effective scam, congratulations go to the Bruins too, got you a number 5-6 dman and guilt by association to this act.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year could you please bring down the chute a 5o goal scorer.  Santa, if you do not mind, perhaps you could try sprinkling some polar dust on the remaining players that will help prevent them from being hurt.   Perhaps, if the previous is too much, you can arrange for just a single win, please Santa!

Cookies will be held until results are seen

neb

Watered down

I keep hearing and/or reading someone say something along these lines-  The NHL is watered down with too many teams and not enought talent.  They go on to lament how there was much more talent spread to the smaller amount of teams "back in the day".   I do not agree.  I think the talent level has come up, not been watered down.  The staggering number of kids playing with the highest quality equipment from the time they can speak has got to improve the play of the average player.  Watch the "classic" games and compare the speed to todays game.  Speed and coaching ingrained hockey sense in your everyday player have come a long way since the 14 team 1970 NHL.   The men who play the game no longer need  a summer job or smoke I imagine.  Todays average player is just a much better "product".  Now that said when you take these better average players and fill teams up with them it does water down the upper echelon players.  Back in the day your upper echelon player skated around a guy who smoked and flipped burgers in the summer.  Today your upper echelon player gets driven to the outside or crushed to the boards by a well coached machine who is 185 pounds of muscle.  While I do not want to see more teams, I would not want to take any away.  I would consider trimming the roster down by 3-4 players that can be "active".   Keep the same number of guys dressed but when one of your reserves enters the game you need to permantly remove one of your starters.....

The rediculous

I have bit my tongue about somethings that were said last year and were continued to be said this year. Its time to set the record straight about some of the ridiculous opinions that are put out on into the internet

Axelsson is a very good player and he does fit well on the first line. True despite what you might read around the internet.

Murray should be traded. False! This is a player who can bury the puck and plays responsible.

Oh where are the play Lashoff guys! The defense is no good? Include those fools with the Thomas is a back up, guys, who now have to shut up. The ability of the defense was not a problem last year it was the the ability of 6 guys on the ice to play team defense.

All the lamenters of lost players care to step forward for a second? As of this posting name the players who have been on the Bruins recently who are currently ahead of the Bruins in the standings on their new teams? Shean Donovan. Say it to yourself again - the only x-bruin currently ahead of any current Bruin in the entire NHL, Shean Donovan. OK OK. You want to know who is tied too? David Tanabe and Brad Isbister. Boy people sure were upset when these three left town!

The Man Called Muzz Creating a Buzz!

Bruins' right winger and one true sniper, Glen Murray, started this season with one goal in his first 17 games. This is not a good stat for the only true natural goal scorer on a team that at times has had trouble finding the other teams net. The good thing about this is that, even though Muzz is getting old (in hockey standards), hands are the last thing to go - Murray was blessed with great hands - very soft for a big man. What seemed to be wrong with him earlier this year, in my opinion, was not a loss of these hands but rather a loss of confidence. All he needed was a couple bounces to go in the back of the net and his confidence and goals would start to soar.

Soar they did! Murray has scored 8 goals in his last 9 games and is playing with more confidence than Tom Brady at a supermodel convention. He will once again net us 25 - 30 important goals in this years race to the playoffs.

Tonite The Bruins play Les Habitants and if there ever was a game fans want Murray to shine in it is this one. The B's are currently 5th in the conference but are just one point ahead of Montreal and a big game from Muzz will help put some space between these two rivals in the standings.

Letter 3

Dear Internet,

I have been posting anonymously to you about Bruins hockey for sometime. However I want you to know, I am a real person and, Internet, I make you this promise: If my Bruins make the playoffs and win one round, I will de-cloak. I will no longer change in a phone booth from my Clark Kent to Nebpusman. I will let all cyberspace into the nebcave and show you around. I will throw away these letters that I hide behind and show you the real Neb behind the keys. My tangled web will be revealed to the intermingled web. So that you live up to your end of the bargain and propel my Bruins into the second round, because as we all know you THE INTERNET are all powerful I will slowly start pulling away the layers behind which I hide. So, Internet here is your first hint to my real identity. I am 37.

Yours forever,

neb

Letter 2

Dear Boston Bruins Management team and coaching staff,

I have been watching the performance of your team on my locale hockey provider NESN and sometimes that other channel Vs. I enjoy watching these games when the team wins and sometimes when they lose too. I have not seen any commentary about how the Bruins hitting coach is faring. This lead me to believe that your team may not have a hitting coach. This conclusion has been cemented in my mind by the following stats: Phil Kessel 23 games, 2 hits. Peter Schaefer, "a wall guy", 23 games 11 hits. As a matter of fact of your everyday players only 4 are regularly dishing out more than a hit a game.

Well I am not a hockey hitting coach (yet), but I believe each and every hockey player should be able to deliver at least a hit or two a game. With this said let me offer my services. I will join your staff immediately as the hitting coach. Mr Kessel and I will start with two-a-days. We will review film of players turning when hits are there for the taking. We will perhaps have to start with pillow fights and move to wrestling to convince some that they can be physical and not be intimidated. We will play dodge ball, because if you can stare that little ball down from 15 feet, you can take and give an NHL hit while in full pads. So in closing I can start on Monday, references can be provided and look out NHL because I see a Phil Kessel barreling into a rink corner near you AND making contact (with the opposing team).

Best regards,

neb

Letter 1

Dear Ghosts readers,

Sincere apologies for the lack of posting here lately. I will try to do better. Thanks for continuing to come by in the absence of regular postings.

Yours,

neb

Lucic Learning Quickly

In an earlier game (exhibition I think) this season Milan Lucic fought Matthew Spiller and continued to pound on him after he hit the ice (a big no-no with NHL players) with about 4-5 late punches. On Thursday Lucic fought Mark Bell of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a spirited bout and near the end Lucic landed a large right that had Bell turn away indicating he had enough - Lucic had an opening then to pound a few more in but showed great judgement in stopping himself. This shows a respect for your opponent and will go along way in getting respect back - I was glad to see him stop when Bell was finished as opposed to his earlier fight with Spiller - the kid is learning:)

By the way the Bruins won the game Thursday 5-2 and take on The Hated Habs tonite in another original six matchup.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Clappa

Me and the wife and the camera went to the Bruins game on Saturday. Sorry not much for words but they say a picture is worth a 1000 of them and they also say that the eskimos have a 1000 words for snow, therefor a picture is worth snow.

The One Man Team

Since Bergy went out with injury at the end of October the Bruins have played 6 games. Since Patrice couldn't play it seems that all the rest of the Bruins decided not to play either - all that is except for goalkeeper Tim "The Trapper" Thomas.

In the 6 games played so far in November the offense has managed 142 shots which translates to a pathetic 23.7 per game. The defense has been even worse allowing 219 shots or 36.5 per game. With stats like this you would think that The Bruins wouldn't have gained a single point but that is where the brilliance of Timmy comes in. Despite being totally outplayed in these games the B's were only outscored 13 - 11 and managed to go .500 in this stretch gaining 6 points in 6 games.

Timmy has single handedly kept The Bruins respectable and for the 3rd straight season is our most valuable player. If one person on the whole team can keep the team's season alive we should be in good shape when either the "D" or "O" or both wake up and start playing. This team is loaded with talent and sooner or later will start to play like they are capable of. Until then the team as well as all Bruin's fans need to tip their hats and thank "The Trapper" for keeping our season positive in this slump from the rest of the team.

Bergeron and Fernandez Updates

It was just announced by the team that Patrice Bergeron will be out the better part of a month, after sustaining a broken nose and concussion. Randy Jones was suspended two games by the league for applying the careless hit from behind. I expect Brandon Bochenski to fill in on the 3rd line while Bergeron is out.

In other news, Manny Fernandez suffered a slight strain of his left knee in practice yesterday. With Fernandez injured the Bruins have recalled Providence goaltender Jordan Sigalet. While highly unlikely he will see any action, it's great for Jordan to get a bigger pay cheque, even if it's only a couple games. I think it is in the teams best interest to play Thomas for the next three games to give Fernandez time to heal. That and the Bruins will be taking on the Ottawa Senators for a home at home series and Thomas has played rather well against them in the last two seasons.

Ugly Game Against Philly

On Saturday The Bruins lost 2-1 to The Flyers in a game marked with alot of ugliness. The Bruins' actually outplayed Philly and deserved a better result if not for some ugly incidents.

Ugly #1 - Bruins only managed to get 1 goal on 39 of their shots - they need to find the net more.

Ugly #2 - Boston was on a powerplay and Chara bobbles the puck at the blueline which allows Richards to go in on a breakaway and score the tying goal.

Ugly #3 - Winning goal for Philly scored on a powerplay they recieved for Boston having too many men on the ice (didn't we learn anything from Don Cherry's mistakes?).

Ugly #4 - Kessel misses on penalty shot.

Ugliest of the ugly - Jones' cheap dirty hit on Bergy. Patrice was knocked out and carried off on a stretcher. This is Philly's 3rd such dirty play already this season. Someone in the league is going to have to retaliate - I don't mean going after the idiots who have taken cheap shots but someone has to take a dirty shot to one of their star players (maybe a 2 hander to Gagnes' head). This might make the Philly staff take notice and get control over their boneheaded players. (edit: this is just an exageration to make a point that the Flyers staff have to get control over their player's actions - I mean no ill will to Gagne or any other players in the league).


This game did have some good points as Boston totally controlled the flow and Thomas was once again amazing between the pipes.

Bostons' next game is Thursday against Buffalo - The Sabers are a shell of a team they were last season and The Bruins should easily defeat them to go 7-4 0n the season.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Best wishes Patrice, get well.

Upcoming schedule

I was just looking at the upcoming schedule because I wanted to pick a game to attend and soon. The schedulers are not doing the Bruins any favors with the next real test for the Young B's coming upon us quickly. Beginning on November 1st the guys will have 5 games in 8 days or if you want to include the first 10 days of the month 6 games in 10 days. This is a lot! Included in this stretch is a home and home series with the conference leading Senators who presently stand at 8-1, only four points ahead of the Bruins. So Halloween night lets hope the spoked in black in gold are not spooked by the black and blue this schedule will surely leave. Oh and I am thinking you should look for me at the Senators game on the 4h or the holiday noon start against the Island on the 23rd. Which would you choose?

Bruins Lay A Beating On The Hawks!!!

All I heard about The Blackhawks so far this season is how they now have a great young team. A young team is what they looked like last nite in Boston as the Bruins looked like men playing against boys. Boston humiliated this supposed good team that Chicago now has as they defeated them easily 3-1.

The 1st period was highlighted with the fight of the year so far as Chara laid the smackdown on The Hawk's enforcer, Koci. As former WWF wrestling star (and the greatest intercontinental champion of all time) The Honky Tonk Man would say, "the blood was flowing like Tennessee wine".

In the 2nd period Kessel scored 2 beautiful individual goals that will make every highlight reel today. This kid certainly has dramatically improved from last season.

Game Hilites:

- Chara being the monster he should be!!!
- Kessel scoring 2 great goals.
- Great defensive coverage by The Bruins.

3 Stars as picked by me:

1 - Chara
2 - Phil "The Innovator of Offense" Kessel
3 - Timmy "The Trapper" Thomas

The Bruins are now 6-3 on the season and are on pace for 110 points with a 55-27 record. It is an amazing turn around from last year so far but I think that they can play even better - a 120 point season is even possible this year.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Bruins Keep Lucic?

Word on the street over at TSN is that the Bruins management has decided to keep Milan Lucic past the 9 game try-out. This means that although Chiarelli has the option of sending Lucic back to the Vancouver Giants, the Bruins will lose a year off his three year entry level contract. The TSN article is contrary to a report in today's Boston Globe which says that no decision has been made on whether or not to keep him in Boston.

General manager Peter Chiarelli said there's been no decision on whether to keep
Lucic beyond nine games. "If he stays past nine, I am not ruling out returning
him," Chiarelli wrote in an e-mail.

It is my opinion that Lucic should stay with the team, as he has shown he can handle the big leagues. As long as he is not overused and put in too many situations where he is left vulnerable his development shouldn't be stunted. It would also be great to see the team release him to play in the upcoming World Juniors tournament at Christmas. This should be a tournament where he will dominate the opposition, and give him another opportunity to gain experience as captain.

Facts and Stats

I didn't see the game last night due to reasons of the woman kind, but I've decided to throw some facts at you. I know it is only 6 games in but I’m bored!

Boston Bruins - 1st in league with a 28.6 power play %
15th in league with a 81.8 penalty kill %
Tied for 3rd in the league for team fights with 5
Tied for 8th place in the league with 8 points
11th in league with 3.17 goals per game
18th in league with 2.50 goals against per game
29th in league with 43.7 face-off %
Dead last in shots per game

Tim Thomas - 1st in league save% 1st in league goals against average

Milan Lucic - tied for the league lead in fights with 3
4th of the rookies in hits with 11
4th of the rookies in penalty minutes with 15

Zdeno Chara - 11th in league in total ice time per game
2nd in the league with 3.8 hits per game (5th overall)

Andre Ference - 26th in league in total ice time per game

Marc Savard - 25th in league points with 1-7-8
Tied for 5th in the league with 7 take aways

Patrice Bergeron - Tied for 4th in the league with 8 take aways

Andrew Alberts - Tied for 7th in the league with 16 blocked shots

**The start time for tomorrow’s game against the Rangers has been changed to 4 pm so as to not interfere with the Red Sox game.

Flying in under the radar

Last night in the bottom of the 11th as most New Englanders suffered and wondered about their teams World series chances, a group of Boston Bruins prepared to catch a flight home. They would be flying home under the radar as most of the region worried about the teams that play with their respective balls. These puck heads could hold their heads high as they debarked for their own New England homes, they had finally also played with some balls.

The seasons first real milestone has passed and unlike previous seasons where milestones were also marked with disappointment, with this milestone these brewing Bruins could mark the seasons first and only west coast road trip as a positive, the proverbial something to grow upon, not the learning experience to take to heart in hopes of better results next time.

A 3-2 start to the season while most were expecting a 0-5 or 1-4 with the optimists amongst us predicting 2-3, well 3-2 this is more than acceptable after last year. Especially when you see how they lost last year and how they won the last two in this road swing. Giving up late leads is something we had become accustom to. Rallying back and winning these games, well this, this is something good teams do (somebody hit me I just used good and team in reference to the Bruins in the same post!).

Where the team goes from here will depend on how well management and the coaching staff can fix or mediate the issues revealed by these first 5 games. In no particular order.

Face offs, face offs, face offs, they are not winning enough of them.

Offense. If you throw away the LA game as the obvious anomaly that it was, they are scoring at 1.75 goals per game clip- not enough. Struggling to score in part stems from playing some pretty good teams, but is also something that will need to be addressed. The team looks like it can generate chances when it needs to but in the early going seems to stop generating chances once a lead has been garnered. Good teams learn to keep the foot on the pedal while also playing responsibly with the lead.

Manny being Manny, we will need Manny to be a reliable back up to Thomas, especially with his salary hit. How well he adjusts to be being a back-up (or split duty) will be one of the biggest keys to the season.

The Lucic decision, make it before the home opener. No more needs to be seen to decide. Reich and Bochenski are not better options and none are coming up route 95. Give the kid a stall, sign him up long term now, have him sleep at Cam's house, maybe they can bunk together, welcome to Boston Milan. Can you win a face off too?

Nice work boys, keep it up. Tampa Bay Thursday will be a tough game as Tampa has started out hot and has had good performances from their centers Prospal, Lecavalier and Richards with 6, 6, and 4 points respectively in four games.

The good news?

There are countless articles that will tell you who scored the 8 goals for the Bruins last night against the defensivly challanged and Rookie netminding Kings. These same stories may also tell of the many LA strikes, 6. What I have not read yet today is the only good news I can find from such a dissapointing win. The last two seasons your Bruins would have pitched the tents and lost a game tied up 5-5 in the third, such as last nights. You see things were looking good, the boys were up 4-1 and should have cruised to a 4-1 or 5-2 victory, but the tires came off and there we were all tied up at 5 in the third period. How many of you were remembering the "here we go again" of the last two years? Well the good news is this year, once, they pulled this train wreck into the win column.

PS
Let the "oh we miss you Joe, what a mistake" garbage fill the internets now, but be quick then be done with for the year (please!).

A style is developing

Last night against the Cup champs the team looked pretty darn good; for 7 minutes. For 30 minutes they looked liked they belonged on the same ice as the champs. and for 23 minutes and two costly and or unfortunate mistakes they looked like a work in process. These are a few of the things I took away from the 1-2 loss. Here are some other statements based on last nights performance.

Thomas played well and could not be faulted on the two duck strickes.

What and why is the message of no ice time being delivered to Bochenski and is it good that he looked perturbed on the bench?

When will Muzz get a point, as one of our top forwards we should be seeing more production!

Savards health is going to be critical to the above.

Face off specialist, will one emerge?

Outshot again, not a good trend.

Bergeron looks like he is on the verge of breaking out, but needs to find chemistry with someone in this line up. Same can be said for Kessel.

Lastly if they can take one of the two upcoming games to go 2-3 on the road trip, I think they have done as well as could be expected. If they take the next 2 well then we have set some potential for actually becoming excited. If they lose both, well perhaps we are looking at another long year. My prediction is they will take the game from the Kings and lose to Big Jose. So far I like what I see but for a succesful season some of these peices will need to really start clicking.

A clear shot taken

I just read that Timmy will get the start tonight against the Cup champs. This is a clear statement to the team that if you perform well, you will get ice time. The Thomas haters will be complaining if he loses tonight. They will clamor for Manny. Those of us who support him (Tim) will see it as a minor set back. This clear shot at Manny's play and attitude and backing of Timmy's, this is the coaches first bold and correct move. Congrats to you Claude, your first feather in the credibility cap.

Good luck tonight boys

Ps those of you expecting to see the game at 10:00 will see a half hour of Cup celebration.

Phoenix Post-Game

The day after the embarrassing 4-1 loss to Dallas the Bruins are taking on Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes. In the Dallas game, new tender Manny Fernandez let in 4 goals on only 18 shots and Marc Savard lost 10 of 13 face-offs. Fernandez admitted that he was not mentally prepared for the game and that there was nothing physically wrong with him. Twenty minutes before the game, it was announced that Tim Thomas would get the start.

The game began well with Zdeno Chara laying out Shane Doan with a good hit as he entered the Bruins offensive zone. There were a lot of giveaways by Phoenix in the first period and Derek Morris had to hook Bergeron to stop him from scoring. On the ensuing PP, Bergeron quickly got even on a great pass by Chara setting up a Bergeron's second goal in as many games. Less than a minute later Chuck Kobasew stole the puke on the penalty kill and he and Axelsson went in 2 on 1 with Kobasew scoring shorthanded.

Great chance for Phoenix right away in the second period when the puck was shot at Thomas and it squirted under him. Fortunately for the Bruins the referee blew the whistle while it sat on the goal line. There have been a lot of shots on goal this period for Phoenix, but Timmy has been making easy saves thanks to his players clearing the lanes. Timmy's only flaw was on Phoenix's only goal of the game on a shot that was put in off of Niko Kapanen's skate. Not too much rough stuff in the game just good control by the Bruins. the game was capped off in the third by the Bruins second power play goal of the game. This one scored by Marco Sturm on the second PP unit, and assisted by David Krejci and Phil Kessel.

- Chara finished with a team high 4 hits and lead the team in time on ice with 23:51.

- Marc Savard left the ice after Phoenix's goal and did not return. Said to be precautionary and was walking without a limp after the game.

- Tim Thomas was stellar stopping 36/37 shots and would have had the shutout if not for the "kick" in.

Rosters set; here comes the bear or barely?

Now that the roster is set at 23 players we have our team. I suspect Milan might get the 9 game look and then get demoted to his junior club, if not Jeremy Riech or The New Thornton (TNT) might have had thier ticket punched (get it!) out of town by the youngster.

1-4-1, is this a concerning preseason record? There is a part of my head that says this is a major problem. I have to calm this part of the mind with the following: I have not seen any games yet. Thanks NESN! The team is 1-0 with thier captain in the line up. Timmy Thomas continues to out play the guys who are "supposed" to be in front of him on the depth chart. see his 1-1-1 record againts the 0-3 of Manny being Manny. The third coach in 3 years is trying to install the third system in three years, there will be a learing curve. Plus a 5 game road trip to start the season will bring these guys together as a team.

The part of head screaming to be heard, fearing another awful season retorts: Bergeron -3 in the last preseason game! Chara only one preseason game! I have not seen any games yet (Thanks NESN)! Manny already has thrown his teammates under the bus for the most recent loss.

Well boys Texas awaits. A seasoon looms. This season like everyone before I have high hopes for, please do not dash them! Skate hard, hit hard, shoot hard, backcheck, cover your guy (or Cam will squash you)! Cam you make sure they do this and everything will be ok (wont it)?