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.
If you read my game story below, you may have noticed that
I left out the Andrew Alberts incident. This was done intentionally, as I think
it deserves its own post. The Flyers need to be disciplined. They aren't
playing gritty hockey, they are playing dangerous and stupid hockey. One bad
his is an incident. Two can be a coincidence. Three? Four? All in the same
season? Something's wrong. The Flyers slogan this year is "Back with a
Vengeance". Back to what? These aren't the Broad Street Bullies, intimidating
teams with clean hits and hockey fights. These are the Broad Street Felons,
laying people out with dirty hit after dirty hit, seemingly without any fear of
retribution. People say that it's not the coach's fault, not the GM's fault,
it's all on the players. ####. You mean to tell me the coach has no impact
on his team's style of play? Bruins fans know to the contrary all too well, as
we suffered through the Dave Lewis Era getting pushed around game after game
because we had a coach who discouraged physical play. Maybe it is on the
players, who knows. But if you fine the coach, you better believe that he's
going to get the message across to his players.
I'm all for physical play and fighting in hockey. I think the sport needs
hitting to bring back old fans jaded by years of clutch and grab play and by
the Lockout. But there's a fine line between Old Time Hockey and straight
goonery.
This one can
be argued as a hit, but Downie shouldn't have left his feet. There's some
argument there.
For those Philly fans who will undoubtedly have a beef with this, I'll admit
that the Jones hit was a collision of bad circumstances, and wasn't a case of
bad intent. Downie, however, could have hit McAmmond pretty well without
leaving his feet. Boulerice's is completely ridiculous, and I'd love to see
anyone try to logically defensible. So is tonight'####. I'd love to hear the
Philly fans blame this one on Alberts. He was on his knees to block a dump in
attempt, and cleared the puck. Hartnell blatantly cheapshotted him, crushing
Alberts head off of the dasher with his hip. What was the point? Alberts didn't
have the puck anymore, and Hartnell made ZERO attempt to let up. He's going to
get suspended, and may finally get Philly the punishment they deserve.
I'm all for Old Time Hockey, but as Butch Stearns just said on Fox25,
"Hockey's a rough sport, but there's no room for cheap shots."
So it was finally here. The long-awaited rematch. The "Win One for Patrice" game. The Bruins and the Flyers, renewing hostilities after the Flyers derailed not only the Bruins season but a young kid's life last time these two teams met. Fans had been anticipating roughhousing, fighting, hitting and all around old time hockey. However, as some may have predicted, the game wasn't as wild as some had hoped. The only fight of the game didn't involve Randy Jones, but Jeremy Reich and Ben Eager. I am a little disappointed that Jones didn't really face any music for what he did to Bergeron, accident or not. However, shutting up 20,000 Philadelphians is sweet enough music for any Bruins fan.
I didn't see the first half of the game, due to a night class, but I saw from about the middle of the second period on. The Bruins played well, and outplayed Philly for most of the night. One of my favorite moments of the game came in the third period, when the Bruins killed any momentum the Flyers had by holding the puck in the Philly end for about 2 minutes, putting constant pressure on Antero Nittymaki. The pressure culminated in a slashing penalty to my least favorite player of all time, Daniel Briere. The B's didn't score, but did squash any attempts at Philly comeback. I was also pleased to see the B's respond quickly to Philly's 2nd goal, scoring a little over a minute later.
Overall, this was a great game for the Bruins. The Flyers are a very good team, and the Bruins beat them in their own building, in front of a sold out crowd. The B's didn't let their emotions from the first game of the season series get the better of them, and managed to play their game and take the Flyers down. Tuukka Rask played a decent game, but wasn't really anything special. He wasn't challenged much, but made the saves when he needed to. The 3rd goal, to Upshall, was pretty soft, and Rask probably should have had it. Overall, however, he looked composed again, a good sign for the Bruins. They'll need him in the upcoming weeks, as they have a pretty full slate coming up.
It's also good to see Glen Murray continue to play well. He had two more goals, raising his season total to 6. Marc Savard had another stellar offensive night with a goal and two assists, and Brandon Bochenski played well again, getting on the scoresheet with an assist on the fifth Boston goal.
Again, overall, this was a great win. The B's travel next to face an extremely inconsistent Florida Panthers team, so let's hope the B's can get another win and get on a bit of a roll here on this road trip.
GOALS
Boston- Glen Murray (5,6), Marc Savard (5), Glen Metropolit (5), Peter Schaefer (4), Chuck Kobasew (10)
Philadelphia- Mike Knuble (7), Mike Richards (14), Scottie Upshall (5)
SAVES
Boston- Tuukka Rask, 20 saves on 23 shots
Philadelphia- Martin Biron, 11 saves on 14 shots::Antero Nittymaki, 15 saves on 17 shots
NEXT GAME: Thursday, November 29 @ Florida Panthers, 7:30 PM EST
*****For anyone who hasn't seen the hit yet, you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xAEetam6HQ
I didn't see this game at all, and am almost glad I didn't. I got calls and text messages telling me that the Bruins best young player, and my personal favorite player, was taken off of the ice on a stretcher, and may have had a broken neck or worse. In Washington DC, I couldn't get any updates on Patrice Bergeron's condition, as ESPNNews wasn't reporting much, just that he was taken from the ice on a stretcher. Thankfully, Bergeron suffered only a concussion and a broken nose. Yes, that's how severe this hit was, only a broken nose and only a Grade 3 concussion. I finally saw the highlights, and it was hard to watch. Bergeron was prone when Randy Jones hit him, and his head went directly into the dasher on the boards. Bergeron crumpled to the ice, and wasn't moving much. He did twitch a few times, which I suppose could have been taken for good news, meaning he may not have been paralyzed. It still makes me sick to my stomach to see those pictures of Bergeron lying on the ice not moving, or being strapped onto a backboard and taken off of the ice on a stretcher. It doesn't matter what player for what team, a hockey fan or human being in general never wants to see an injury like that.
My friend told me on the phone that Bergeron was "hurt bad", and seemed to be fearing the worst, as was my brother. It turns out that Bergeron emerged in the best possible condition, having had no neck injuries or brain damage. Hopefully, he'll be back on the ice soon, though it remains to see how this injury will affect his play. It'll be hard to blame Patrice if he's somewhat skittish about going into corners after loose pucks now. Also, concussions aren't an easy thing to come back from for a hockey player, due to all of the bumping and jostling that occurs during a normal hockey game. Keith Primeau, Eric Lindros and Peter Forsberg are all proof of this, and that's just in recent years. Right now, the Bruins need to play their game on their own, but thoughts of their teammate certainly won't be far from their minds.
As far as the hit itself, my first thought upon seeing the highlights was that it was a dirty hit, and Randy Jones should be suspended for 20+ games. However, after seeing it a few more times, it seems like it was just a collision of bad, bad circumstances. Bergeron was in a horribly vulnerable position when he went into the corner by no fault of his own. Jones shouldn't have hit Bergeron from behind. That's an unwritten (and perhaps even written) rule in the NHL, that if you can see the numbers, it's time to pull up and put on the breaks. Jones' hit wasn't malicious, it wasn't meant to injure, it was just ill-advised.
Should he have stopped? Yes, but it's hard to not make a check when your job is to get the puck.
Was it a dirty hit? Yes it was, but I don't believe Jones had dirty intentions when he made the play?
Should he have been suspended? Honestly, I went back and forth on this one. Yes, it was a bad hit, and he deserves to be punished. However, similar hits have occurred in the NHL and no suspensions were dished out. I think it may have simply been the terrifying way Bergeron fell and was carted off the ice that cemented the suspension. Anytime a player is hurt like that, a suspension is going to be given out. I really think the best punishment for Jones would have been to have his game misconduct taken away, and to have had to go back out on the ice after that hit. Trust me, he would have had his hit settled the "old time hockey" way, and that would have been the end of it. At this point, there is going to be more bad blood next time these two teams play, and one can only hope no one else gets hurt.
On YouTube, there are other videos, including one from the Flyers broadcast of the game. Don't watch that one, unless you want commentary from complete idiots. One of them actually suggests that Bergeron put himself in a vulnerable position on purpose, and that they do it all of the time. Another suggested that the hit didn't even look like it deserved a penalty, that it wasn't boring. Please. Watch the video, it was a hit from behind, and shut up. I can't stand when announcers can't find fault with their own team.
As you may have guessed, I didn't really care who won or lost this game, and still don't. What matters from this game is that Patrice Bergeron was seriously injured. It doesn't even matter that the Bruins will be without one of their best players for at least a month, because a 23 year old man was almost paralyzed or worse. Hopefully the B's can bounce back and win some for their teammate, as their upcoming schedule is a tough one.
GOALS:
Boston- Marco Sturm (4)
Philadelphia- Mike Richards (6), Joffrey Lupul (4)
SAVES:
Boston- Tim Thomas, 26 saves on 28 shots
Philadelphia- Martin Biron, 38 saves on 39 shots
NEXT GAME: Thursday, November 1 vs. Buffalo Sabres @ 7:00 PM EST
[NOTE: Some of the pictures in this post are getting deleted. I'm not sure why, possibly because I didn't have permission to use them? They were found at the site at the end of the post, if anyone wants to go have a look.]
There has been a bit of a delay since the first part of this post, but I've decided it's time to finish it up. There wasn't much left that I needed to say, but first I'll touch on the new uniforms and logos for the Bruins and some other teams around the NHL.
Here is the Bruins' new main logo, along with the logo that it appears to be based on:
Bruins logo (2007)
Bruins logo (1935)
The Bruins appear to have gone a little old school for their new logo, incorporating the blacker "B" from the 30's while adding the famed spokes. I have to say this logo is pretty nice in my opinion. It makes a change, but a slight one, and keeps the recognizable logo of an Original Six franchise pretty close to what it used to be. I was fairly skeptical about these "uniform modifications", but the Bruins got this one right.
However, my favorite part of the new jerseys has to be the new shoulder crest. Again, the B's went with a blast from the past, adding an edge to a logo from the very beginnings of the team. Again, the newer logo is on the top, with what I believe it must have been based on beneath it:
New shoulder crest (2007)
Bruins logo (1927)
I like the dark touch that was added to the 1920's bear. The bear on the bottom looks a little too happy to intimidate a hockey player, much like the ridiculed "Pooh Bear" alternates of the past years, which looked sedated and almost sleepy (for the record, I actually like those jerseys...I've never really understood why people were so upset by them).
To put it all together, here's what the final jerseys look like, first home then away, both taken directly from the NHL.com Shop's website:
2007-2008 Boston Bruins Home Jersey
2007-2008 Boston Bruins Road Jersey
Again, overall I have to say that I'm really happy with this new look. The logo and jersey have been changed enough that it's noticeably different, but remain true enough to the B's roots that even older fans shouldn't be turned off by them. Kudos to whoever came up with this newer, edgier look.
Next, I'm going to write about and comment on a few of the many Bruins and NHL news items and trade/free agency rumors below, as well as anything else that may come to mind.
-Much of the rest of the buzz around the Bruins at the draft was the trade that was supposedly close to being finalized between Boston and the Minnesota Wild. There were many variations of the deal, but the main piece for the Bruins was G Manny Fernandez (below right) donning the black and gold. One of the more credible rumors had it being RW Glen Murray for Fernandez straight up, but there were others, including one's way out of left field that included Patrice Bergeron and Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Derek Boogaard, but these weren't taken seriously. Personally, I had little interest in this trade. I don't think Manny Fernandez would be much of an upgrade over Thomas, and I think that Thomas would be as good as Fernandez if he had a sturdier defense in front of him. Plus, the numbers don't add up for the Bruins. This team was starved for offense last year, so why trade a 30+ goal scorer in Murray? The only reason the B's would want to move Muzz is to dump salary, to free up cap space and go free agent shopping on July 1st. Fernandez has 2 years left on his contract, at $4.5 million this coming year and $4.75 million in 2008-2009. Murray's contract is also for the next 2 years, but at a hit of "only" $4.15 million in each year. Why make a trade that will only decrease cap space, and really won't improve the goaltending situation all that much? Of course, one of either Toivonen or Thomas would probably be dealt if Fernandez is acquired, which would even out the numbers a little more, but I say don't bother. If Murray's going to go (which I hope he doesn't), he should go for a cheaper player, a prospect or even a draft pick. This would clear space for the B's to go into July 1st as "serious shoppers".
-File in the "Taking Joy Out of Opponent's Misfortunes" Department: A report on TSN.ca (link: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212234&hubna me=) paints a picture of bad news for Buffalo, which, of course, is good news for the Bruins. Two of the Sabres' best players, the shifty, skilled Daniel Briere (one of my least favorite players in the NHL, for many reasons), and the heart and soul of the Sabres, captain Chris Drury. Even though I dislike Briere, he is a good player and will command a lot of money in the open market, as will the clutch goal scorer and leader Drury. Apparently, both received offers from the Sabres for multi-year deals (Briere's, I read, was 5 years, $25 million), and both have opted to test the waters come Sunday. If the Sabres lose both of these players, they will have a very hard time making it back to the Eastern Conference finals. It is nearly impossible to re-sign both of these players, as the combination of their skill level (and thus their large contracts) and the salary cap will almost certainly prove too difficult to maneuver around. I feel as though one of them will re-sign, and my gut tells me if anyone does, it'd be Drury. I'd love to see him come to the Bruins, but I feel like there is a pretty good chance he returns to the Sabres. Comments from any Buffalo fans are welcome, as well as any news he or she may have heard, being closer to the team up north.
-A great article about one of the newer Bruins, defenseman Andrew Ference. He does a lot of charity work the Right to Play charity, a group made up of pro athletes that exports sporting equipment and knowledge to poorer nations around the world (the picture to the left is o####roup of kids in Tanzania during a Right to Play event), while teaching them the importance of such things as teamwork, leadership, confidence and hard work among other things. It's a great charity, and NHL.com had a piece on it on their site. Here's a link to it if anyone wants to check it out:
I've heard that Ference is a great guy, both on and off the ice. A friend who waited after a B's home game this year to get autographs said that Ference came out of the players parking lot riding a bicycle (yes, that kind of "bike", not a motorcycle), and stopped and signed autographs for just about every fan who was there waiting. Ference is a stand up guy and a class act, and it is a treat to have him in the Bruins organization.
-In league-wide news, the NHL announced the long suspected increase of the salary cap today. This past season, the cap was at $44 million, and there had long been speculation that the cap would go up. Today it did, all the way up to $50.3 million, as announced by the NHLPA. The minimum team salary, which I honestly never knew existed, is reported to be at $34 million. This should have a lot of different effects on the league as a whole. It should start effecting things on Sunday, as a player who was seeking a $6 million deal at a $44 million cap will probably be looking at around $8 million or so at a $50.3 million cap. Also, it should give the Bruins a little bit of wiggle room and ability to sign at least one or two mid- to low-level free agents after July 1st. The Bruins' current cap hit is approximately $40 million for next season. This may change as some RFA's are signed or as bonuses or incentives are reached, but this basically means that they should have at least $9 million to work with. I don't expect the Bruins to make nearly as big of a free agent splash as they did last season, signing both Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard, but they will have at least a little cash to deal with to try to plug some of their roster holes, so...let the shopping begin!
-There were some rumbling on HFBoards.com that the Bruins' play-by-play man for all home games, Dale Arnold, who also co-hosts a radio show with Michael Holley every weekday on WEEI, may not be coming back to the broadcast booth this coming season. Nothing official has been announced, and as far as I know Dale has yet to comment on it. In my opinion, this would be a big loss. Personally, I like Dale's play-by-play, and think that he and color man Andy Brickley make a great commentary team. At times, Dale is a bit of a "homer", as he can favor the Bruins. However, if he is working for the Bruins' network on a telecast in the Boston area, why does he have to be impartial? This may just be my opinion, but I like to hear him call penalties "questionable", and other things of that nature. Also, he isn't a complete Bruins "homer", as he will also call out the refs if he thinks a call in the Bruins' favor was incorrect, and will frequently criticize the B's in the rare occasion that they get airtime on loud-talk, "football is God" radio, WEEI. Also, as my boss pointed out earlier, the way Dale gets depressed during bad games is something I can always count on if the game is getting out of hand. I'm sure any Bruins fan reading this who watches games on NESN knows exactly what I'm talking about, as it goes something to the effect of "pass back to Gonchar, shot............score", with the score being in a voice that would be best used to tell someone his wife is cheating on him or he's being fired from his job effective immediately. I like Dale a lot, and hope this is nothing more than rumor and speculation.
That's all for tonight, I'll probably be writing again soon, either on the NHL's free agency period, the Celtics draft/trade, or the Red Sox, and hopefully all 3 before the 4th of July.
Please feel free to leave comments, especially any free agency or trade rumors from other NHL markets that may not be making news here in Boston. As always, thanks for stopping by.
**The logos I used here were found at www.sportslogos.net, and I found most of the salary info at a great site, www.nhlnumbers.com. I have to give credit where credit is due, and these two sites, along with Google image search, contributed a lot to this post.**
Any Bruins fan can vouch for the fact that this season has been far from quiet, far from easy and far from predictable. This team has looked like they could take on the World All-Stars and shut them out, them come out on the following night and looked like they were a Pee-Wee team that took a wrong turn on the way to the rink. The inconsistency has been, in my opinion, the most frustrating part of the season. Last year, the B's were out of it early. Now it's March 13, and they are still remotely in contention for a playoff berth, as unlikely as it may be. With all of the problems, this team is still only 5 points out of 8th place in the conference with 13 games to play. Their "games in hand" secret weapon is really no longer a factor. They squandered each of those games completely, failing to make up any ground at all. The 5 points seems like nothing, but they also need to leap over 4 teams to claim the 8th spot. Impossible? Of course not, but definitely unlikely.
Since my last post, there have been 7 games played, and, surprisingly enough, this stretch has been a microcosm of their season. Here's a game by game mini-breakdown, mainly with how big of a win or loss each was:
3/1: OT Loss to Philly- I was at this game, and it was pretty frustrating. Tim Thomas made more than 50 saves, and the Bruins had a 2-0 lead after less than 5 minutes. If it's any consolation, Scottie Upshall made a great play to end the game, and they did take at least 1 point out of it. Ugly Loss.
3/3: Win versus Montreal- Great game, full house, action packed. Coming off the Philly game, this was an important one. Big Win.
3/4: Win versus New Jersey- With Joey MacDonald in net, this was probably the best effort of the season. The Devils are challenging the Sabres for 1st in the East, and the Bruins essentially shut them down. Coming off the big Montreal win, this game should have done wonders for this team's confidence. Should have. Another Big Win.
3/6: Loss against Colorado- I was at this game, and boy, was it ugly. No offense, no rhythm, no tempo, nothing remotely threatening against the Avalanche. Bad game following a great effort against the Devils. Bad Loss.
3/8: Loss versus the Wild- I was at this game too, and saw my second straight home stinker. This game showed a little more offense from the Bruins, and they made it interesting at the end, but it was still a terrible game. Even worse loss.
3/10: Loss at Philadelphia- Awful is the one word that can sum up this game. Sure, Philly has been playing better since the Forsberg and Biron trades, but come on boys. Have some pride. Terrible, Terrible, Terrible Loss.
3/11: Win versus the Red Wings- Again, similar to the Devils game, the Bruins seemed to play up to their opponents, beating the second best team in the NHL 6-3 at home in front of the entire nation on NBC. Great Win.
So there you have it. Up and down this team continues to go. Where it stops? Hopefully the playoffs, but who knows? With 2 more games against the Rangers, whom they haven't played well against all year, and 3 against Montreal, anything is possible. A consistent and strong effort versus the Caps on Thursday would be a good place to start. I'm not ready to shift my focus to just Daisuke, Beckett, Manny and the bullpen just yet.
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.
Bruins logo (2007)
Bruins logo (1935)
New shoulder crest (2007)
Bruins logo (1927)
2007-2008 Boston Bruins Home Jersey
2007-2008 Boston Bruins Road Jersey
for Fernandez straight up, but there were others, including one's way out of left field that included Patrice Bergeron and Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Derek Boogaard, but these weren't taken seriously. Personally, I had little interest in this trade. I don't think Manny Fernandez would be much of an upgrade over Thomas, and I think that Thomas would be as good as Fernandez if he had a sturdier defense in front of him. Plus, the numbers don't add up for the Bruins. This team was starved for offense last year, so why trade a 30+ goal scorer in Murray? The only reason the B's would want to move Muzz is to dump salary, to free up cap space and go free agent shopping on July 1st. Fernandez has 2 years left on his contract, at $4.5 million this coming year and $4.75 million in 2008-2009. Murray's contract is also for the next 2 years, but at a hit of "only" $4.15 million in each year. Why make a trade that will only decrease cap space, and really won't improve the goaltending situation all that much? Of course, one of either Toivonen or Thomas would probably be dealt if Fernandez is acquired, which would even out the numbers a little more, but I say don't bother. If Murray's going to go (which I hope he doesn't), he should go for a cheaper player, a prospect or even a draft pick. This would clear space for the B's to go into July 1st as "serious shoppers".
about one of the newer Bruins, defenseman Andrew Ference. He does a lot of charity work the Right to Play charity, a group made up of pro athletes that exports sporting equipment and knowledge to poorer nations around the world (the picture to the left is o
Personally, I like Dale's play-by-play, and think that he and color man Andy Brickley make a great commentary team. At times, Dale is a bit of a "homer", as he can favor the Bruins. However, if he is working for the Bruins' network on a telecast in the Boston area, why does he have to be impartial? This may just be my opinion, but I like to hear him call penalties "questionable", and other things of that nature. Also, he isn't a complete Bruins "homer", as he will also call out the refs if he thinks a call in the Bruins' favor was incorrect, and will frequently criticize the B's in the rare occasion that they get airtime on loud-talk, "football is God" radio, WEEI. Also, as my boss pointed out earlier, the way Dale gets depressed during bad games is something I can always count on if the game is getting out of hand. I'm sure any Bruins fan reading this who watches games on NESN knows exactly what I'm talking about, as it goes something to the effect of "pass back to Gonchar, shot............score", with the score being in a voice that would be best used to tell someone his wife is cheating on him or he's being fired from his job effective immediately. I like Dale a lot, and hope this is nothing more than rumor and speculation. 
