Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy New Year to all of the readers out there!
As you can see if you read this blog, I fell very far behind in these game blogs. I've realized that there are plenty of places to read a game story, and that a FoxSports blog is probably not the first place one would look. I'm still going to comment on most of the games, just in less o####ame report fashion.
Since that last post on the December 20th game against Pittsburgh, the Bruins have fallen on rough times indeed. At that point, the Bruins sat in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, and were within reasonable striking distance of the first place Ottawa Senators. However, since scraping a point out of that Penguins contest, the B's lost to the Blues at home, the Pens in Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes in Raleigh, were destroyed by the Thrashers in Atlanta, and won a good game against those same Thrashers on New Year's Eve. Also, before that OTL on the 20th, the B's had lost at home to the Senators. So what does that all mean? It means that the Bs went from fourth place in the conference to being tied for tenth before Monday afternoon's game by going 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. Currently, the B's are tied for seventh in the conference with 42 points (same as the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders), and have fallen to third place in the Northeast division, 3 points behind second place Montreal and a whopping 12 behind the Senators. To make matters worse, the B's have yet to beat Montreal or Ottawa this season in six tries.
Maybe, but Monday's win certainly was encouraging. After falling behind 2-0 early, the Bruins scored 5 straight goals to avoid another embarrassment at the hands of the Thrashers. The team showed some resiliency after falling behind early, and really dominated the second and third periods of that game. I consider tomorrow a must win against the Caps here at home, simply because the Caps are in 14th place, and this is a game the Bruins should win.
(On a historical note, Dennis Wideman scored the Bruins' franchise's 18,000th goal, the first of the game on Monday. They are the second team to reach that milestone, with Montreal being the first.)
What's the deal with this trade? Hard to say, really. The B's added another defenseman, filling a void after Aaron Ward has been hurt, as has Andrew Ference. The B's defense has been their strong point, and they faltered when their d-men got hurt as of late. Hnidy also brings a physical and intimidating presence to the ice, making the B's a bit tougher of a team overall.
Why did Bochenski have to go? A few different reasons, really. He wasn't fitting in here, and wasn't really playing well (when he was even playing). He didn't seem to fit in Claude Julien's system, and didn't really show many flashes of that offensive firepower he showed towards the end of last year when he came from Chicago in exchange for Kris Versteeg. To put it plainly, he wasn't doing what the B's needed from him, and Anaheim must have expressed an interest in him. Best of luck to Bochenski in Anaheim. Let's hope he's not another former Bruins who goes out West and revives his career. Who could that be?
All in all, this is really meant to be a "get caught up to now" post. Nothing too detailed, nothing too in depth. Right now, the B's find themselves in a tough spot, needing to stick it out through these difficult times, or they risk seeing their great start fall through the cracks.
In the spirit of the New Year, here are some resolutions for some Bruins players:
Chuck Kobasew: Keep up the good work! Kobasew has been the Bruins most consistent offensive player this season, and is making the Brad Stuart trade seem pretty lopsided at this point. Before Milan Lucic added a goal in the closing seconds last time out against Ottawa, Kobasew had been the only Bruin to score this year against the Sens. He has shown toughness, determination, and a great work ethic. Hopefully he can keep it up, as he seems to be on pace for a career year, which the Bruins would certainly appreciate.
Marco Sturm: Wake Up! Sturm has fallen off the map as of late, and at the worst possible time. The B's need offense desperately, and with Glen Murray out for an unknown amount of time, Sturm can't afford to get cold now.
(For evidence of how intense Sturm is, check out this picture...of a table tennis game. And no, this isn't sarcastic at all. Have a look.)
Phil Kessel: Keep on keepin' on! Kessel is a great talent, and cannot get down on himself. After a lackluster effort (in Julien's eyes) against the Penguins, Kessel suffered what may have been the first benching of his entire hockey career. He didn't take it too well, but did seem to respond the next time out. He worked hard on both ends, and scored a goal in the third period. Kessel is the future of the B's, and can't let all of the doubters who cited his bad attitude be proved correct. These past few weeks could prove to be little more than growing pains for Kessel, who should be on his way to becoming an NHL star very soon.
Tim Thomas: Calm down! Any Bruins fan who has watched this team over the past few years knows that Tim Thomas has made some highlightreelsaves. However, an educated fan knows that many of these saves are necessary because Thomas finds himself horribly out of position at times. One of the reasons for his early season success was that he was a lot more sturdy in the net, and didn't find himself flopping around at all. Why is that? Some say it is his increased strength, others say yoga helped him. Either way, he has looked a little flustered out there in recent efforts, and needs to get back to keeping it simple, and stopping one shot at a time.
Peter Chiarelli- Look to the future! Chiarelli is on the hot seat, and is, in all likelihood, done if the B's don't make the playoffs this season. One of the things that bothers me about this is that he is almost like a GM with nothing to lose, willing to sell the farm to make it now. Barring a major Brad Richards/Martin St. Louis/Vincent Lecavalier/Marian Hossa level trade, this Bruins team isn't one that is going to be a Stanley Cup favorite. It is going to take another year or two, and the B's have one of the stronger farm teams in the league. Be patient (and the same goes for the Jacobs family in regards to firing Chiarelli), and the B's youngsters times will come.
That's enough Bruins writing for tonight. Let's hope the B's can get back on the winning track with their second straight tomorrow night against Alexander Ovechkin and Co.
Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to leave comments on this format change or on anything above.
I'm a 20 year old kid from Dorchester, MA, who one day hopes to be a sportswriter for a big time newspaper, and figure this is a good place to start. I'm in college at Suffolk in downtown Boston now, and it's awesome. I love all sports, with the Bruins and Red Sox being my favorite teams, thought I'm also a big Patriots and Celtics fan. I think it's ridiculous how no one in this town cares about the Bruins anymore. I like college sports too, no particular teams, especially any big bowl games and March Madness. I hate fairweather fans, especially everyone who jumped on the Sox bandwagon in 2004. The "pink hats" and "OMG Varitek's so hot!!" drive me crazy, just like anyone else who's a real baseball fan. Pick a team, know the players, stay loyal and be a real fan- in good times and in bad.
