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)

and then there were 2

if you are like me, you woke up this morning and you just needed to know, how many former bruins are left in the playoffs? anyone? bueller? bueller? its ok i had to look too. yup that's right sammy, we hardly new you, phalson and sean odonnell, both quacking it up in anahaim.

does it mean anything... well it means a lot to me, as there will now not be the pain of seeing some player i once loved - and i mean that in the pure sports sense - not that there is anything wrong with that, hoisting the cup and rubbing it in our faces that they are gone, or worse ray bourqueing us with the, i wish i could have done it there (or is that here).....

so go ducks!

thornton

maybe someday big joe will make me regret he is gone. today is still not that day. on a night his team needed him to take over a game and a series. his line reads:

no shots

no hits

38 percent in the dot

4 minutes in the box for high sticking

and most damning -2 in a 2-0 loss.

happy surfing joe!

Spoked B's Final Flight

(bing)

Good morning and...aw, screw it...who am I kidding? The remaining two passengers left after those snot-nosed kids from Pittsburgh decided to ransack the plane yesterday (especially that horse-toothed kid who did a real number up in first class). At this point, I'm just talking to myself which, frankly, is just fine since my co-pilot hasn't stopped drinking since St. Patrick's Day. Currently he's passed out on the floor muttering nasty things about Montreal and New York.

I'm sad to say that we're not going to make our final destination as we appear to have run out of gas. The bottle of Koba Stew has turned out to be a complete dud (there was an audible POOF and a puff of smoke when we opened it, but the bottle wound up being empty) and our co-pilot wound up drinking the last of the Bochenski Brew. Plus, with damage to our wings we've had difficulty making it off the ground the last five times out.

So we're heading back to Boston on whatever fumes are remaining in the tanks. On a positive note, after decades of budget cuts, we finally have more money to spend on upgrades to the plane so hopefully this time next year we'll have this plane purring like it was 1972 all over again. Thanks again for flying Spoked B Airlines.

(where's my coffee? whaddya mean that horse-toothed kid knocked over the cart??)

(bing)

BAH!!! - I Hate The Habs!!!

Last night In La Belle Province The Bruins fell to The Habs 1-0. This was a two fold hurtful loss in that it makes Boston's quest to the post season more difficult and the 2 extra points help Montreal in their own playoff aspirations.
Both goalies put on a clinic and were superb between the pipes. Just like most of the season Thomas was once again our best player. The only shot to get by him was when a Habs forward La ten undressed Aaron Ward with a beautiful move and got in alone to score.

The Bruins will now host Montreal on Thursday in the second part of this home and home series. Out of all the 79 home and home series between these two teams there has only been 23 sweeps. The last time there was a series sweep was in December of 1981 so a Bruins' victory on Thursday has statistics on their side (but I hate stats. - The Bruins have to play hard and earn their victory). The Bruins also have to stop squeezing their sticks so hard. They need to relax and have fun out there - in last nights game they were way to tense and worried more about making a mistake than creating a chance.

Game hilights:
- Great move for The Habs goal.
- Both goalies were fantastic.
- Bochenski hit the post.
- Tenkrat had a breakaway but got forced outside for a bad angle shot because he had to avoid a hip check from the ref(???).

3 Stars as picked by me:

1 - Latendresse
2 - Halak
3 - Thomas

This loss hurts The Bruins chances of the playoffs but they are still not done yet!
They have 10 games left and if they win 9 or 10 they will be in and if they win 8 they still have a slim chance. Lets not give up on them yet. I encourage all fans to send good vibes and happy thoughts their way and hopefully they can get on the winning streak they so desperately need.

Go Bruins Go!!!

Holiday Blues - What If?

I was pondering The Bruins loss to The Rangers on Saturday and I was thinking about the St. Patrick's Day holiday and I remembered The Bruins also losing on Thanksgiving (actually the day after) and on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas). The B's have a young team and I was thinking that they might lose sight of their priorities and get all caught up in the spirit of these holidays. They have lost all 3 of these holiday games and 2 of these were to Carolina and The Rangers. If The Bruins were a more mature team and could handle the holiday excitement they might have been able to win these 3 games.

If The Bruins did win these 3 games the standings would now look like this:

7th - Bruins - 80 Pts.
8th - Carolina - 78 pts.
9th - Islanders - 78 pts.
10th - Toronto - 78 pts.
11th - Hated Habs - 78 pts.
12th - Rangers - 77 pts.

I might be totally out to lunch on this but there is a pattern to their holiday performances and they are a young team. Maybe if they were a little more focused around the holidays other teams would be chasing them instead of the other way around.

This is just a random thought that came to my head and I thought I would share it with you.

New York, New York - "The City That Never Sleeps" unless you are a member of The Bruins

Last night in New York The Bruins' playoff hopes all but disappeared with a New York 6 goal posting in the second period as they blanked The B's 7-0. Not much to report except that The Rangers played desperate hockey and came away with 2 big points while The Bruins just went through the motions.
I was hoping that The B's would not have anymore of these games this season but in all reality they are still a young team in search of a system and an identity (have actually had quite an entertaining season considering).
They can still make the playoffs but their chances now are very slim and basically need to win out the remainder of the schedule. That chance is still there and until they are mathematically eliminated I will not give up hope (I might be foolish but there is still a slight chance).

Game hilights:
- None for The Bruins (sorry but it was a poor effort).

3 stars as picked by me:
1, 2 and 3 - all Rangers so who cares what their names are!

Next The Bruins have 2 games with The Hated Habs - need to win both of these if a chance is still there. Even if The Bruins do not have a playoff hope I still want these two wins so that they spoil Montreal's chances of the post season.

*** Happy Birthday to Heather - a Bruins fan and friend of this site!

Go Bruins Go!!!

Heavy damage on the wings, but still flying

(bing)

Good mornin' and welcome aboard Spoked B Airlines, the offisal airline of the Boston Bruins' playoff hopes.

(putt) (sputter)

We 'pologize for the quality of the plane right now. We've taken some damage to our wings (which we've affectionately dubbed Murray and Axelsson) and jus' barely made it off the ground in NY.

You may notice a sli' slur in my speech as my co-pilot and I have been drinking since yesterday...being Saint Patriss day and all. You figgur, a team from Bosson should have the luck of the Irish on their side, right? Right?? Wha' the hell happened??

The good news is that we are back in the air...barely...but now face some rough weather going into Montreal. Not that many o' you will notice...I can't help but obsserf that we lost half of our passengers after we took some flak over Philly last week. I ne'er seen people kicking the exit door open like that mid-flight just to get out. Even some crew members were grabbing the flotation devices from people's seats and jumping out themselffs.

But on to Montreal we go. Sorry about the condisson of the plane and the condisson of your pilots. The co-pilot's sobering up now and should be okay in the next hour once the iprupopen...the ifoprogen...the asprin starts kicking in. In the meantime, if you see the stewardess, tell her we need more coffee and ice up here.

Sputtering over Minnesota

(bing)

Good morning and, once again, welcome aboard Spoked B Airlines, the official airline of the Boston Bruins' playoff hopes.

As you may have noticed recently, we appear to be losing some speed. The problem initially started Tuesday in Boston when we had problems getting off the tarmac and then wound up losing one of our engines. We're also still feeling some after effects after flying over St. Paul. In addition to that, our final destination has muddied a bit and we're not quite sure if we're going to ultimately wind up in Manhattan, Raleigh or Toronto. Heck, there's even a chance it could be in Montreal (a despicable place, by the way) or Sunrise, Florida.

The good news is that this plane is still flying and that our destination...wherever that may be...is still very much within reach. The other jet fuel additives are still providing some boost (this Bochenski Blast is something else!) and we've just opened up the Koba Stew to see what additional punch it can provide us. I assure you, as long as we've got fuel, this airline is going to keep flying.

So sit back and enjoy the flight. The ruins of Philadelphia will be coming into view tomorrow. Hopefully we can pick up some speed when we pass over.

Oh, and please pay no mind to Mr. Kessel racing down the aisle on a food cart. He's just happy to be here.

MacDonald is a Nova Scotian, nuff said

Who are these guys? Make it two straight wins by the Bruins, with a another 3-1 win, this time over the New Jersey Devils. This is not the same team that lost to Philly, and gave up 55 shots on goal. It's looking like there was a game of adjustment needed for the "new" team to gel. As I mentioned in my last post; since Atlanta beat Carolina today, and the Bruins are now only four points out of 8th place. Our next game is on Tuesday, as we host the Colorado Avalanche, winners of their last three.

Some of the game highlights; amazing defence, great goaltending from Joey MacDonald, and another tremendous game from the 4th line (Kessel, Bochenski, and Chistov). I'm beginning to think we have the most dynamic 4th line in the NHL. Kessel and crew were buzzing all night, and the goal scored by Bochenski off the shot by Kessel was a beauty.

There was a play in the third where one of the Devils players was coming in all alone, with only York in his way. York was going to be beat but he made sure that he took out the player instead of allowing the unmolested breakaway. Yes he took a penalty but in my view it was a good one, almost a turning point. Right after that play, Langenbrunner got a double high sticking penalty and it was smooth sailing for the remainder of the game.

My three stars match the game picks:

1) Joey MacDonald (27 of 28 saved)
2) Brandon Bochenski (1g, 1a)
3) Phil Kessel (2a)

Buckle up!

(bing)

Good afternoon and welcome aboard Spoked B Airlines, the official airline of the Boston Bruins' playoff hopes.

Our current final destination is Raleigh, North Carolina, home of the Carolina Hurricanes and present resting place of the #8 playoff spot. As you may have noticed we've had relatively smooth sailing during our last stopovers in Tampa Bay, Toronto, Philadelphia and Buffalo (sorry about the turbulence in Long Island) and hope to have similar weather today as we arrive in Sunrise, Florida. Of course, it may seem odd that we take these routes to get to Raleigh...especially with all the planned return routes to Boston...but unfortunately, it's the only way to reach our destination.

Fortunately for us, we were able to put in some additives to our jet fuel between stops, most notably Bochenski Blast, The Fourth Reich, and Ferencik Evidence. We also have a bottle of Koba Stew which we hope to open later.

At this time we've reached a comfortable cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and, while most pilots would allow you to unfasten your safety belts, here at SBA we're going to ask you to buckle up. We've received clearance from the Chiarelli Control Tower to open things up, so we're going to really put these new additives to the test.

So have a nice flight and, over on the right, please enjoy the ruins of Tampa Bay which we just laid waste to last night.

Three pieces of good news

1. The Bruins didn't lose any more ground and are still eight points out of the #8 spot (and nine out of the #7).
2. Bergeron will (hopefully) return tonight against Buffalo
3. With 56 games played, this team has the most games remaining on it's schedule. Of the four bubble teams right now who have between 64-65 points, Carolina (65) has 60 games played, the Leafs and Islanders (64) each have 58 games and the Habs (64) have 59. If each one of those extra games can be won, that's about 4-8 free points in the standings right there.

As if they needed more obstacles

Twenty-seven games to go, eight points out of a playoff spot. While things have been looking up recently (four wins in the last five games), things are simultaneously looking a bit dicey for our Beantown heroes.

Next up for the Bruins is a six-game road trip starting in Long Island tonight and culminating against the Panthers on Saturday 2/24 which, by the way, is three days before the 2/27 trade deadline. So whatever momentum the Bruins have had the last two weeks is now going to be tested on the road.

Gulp.

Oh, and did I mention that Patrice Bergeron is day-to-day with an undisclosed "lower body injury"? Talk about a guy the Bruins can't afford to lose for any extended period of time, especially with his recent hot play (six points in their current five-game hot streak, with four points coming in the last two games).

Gulp. Gulp.

So to use a tired cliche, the playoffs may very well be beginning for the Bruins tonight against the Islanders. If they have a successful road trip they might continue to trade for pieces that could help them in the playoff run. If not, there's a possibility that they may offload some talent. Either way, there's a good chance that the team that returns to Boston on 2/26 might be significantly different than the one in NY tonight.

(BTW, yours truly will be at the Flyers game in Philly on the 19th.)