Bruins Nation

As much as I wanted to see someone take the a stick to Randy Jones' face, I'll settle for this. Tuuka Rask and the Boston Bruins team led a charge that no amount of Flyers cheap shots could stop. The Bruins avenged the loss of Bergeron by absolutely obliterating those jack-asses from Philadelphia.

It took only 2 minutes for things to get heated up. Ben Eager and Jeremy Reich engaged in a very weird fight that ended in Jeremy Reich getting in more punches and getting the take-down. (If I'm not mistaken, Reich is undefeated in his NHL fighting career.) A minute later, Marc Savard set up Glen Murray in front of the net, who put a nice wrist shot past Biron. Three minutes later, Savvy's drive scored and the Bruins took the 2-0 lead to the locker room.

The Bruins came out in the second with the same hunger for goals! Early in the period, Chara made a great transition play to get the puck up to Savard who passed it to Murray, setting up a long shot that gave the Bruins a 3-0 win. In a span of 6 minutes in the middle of the second period, 4 goals were scored. Metropolit's long shot put the Bruins up 4-0 before Mike Knuble trickled one in on the power play. Then Richards put the Flyers within two with a 4 on 3 drive getting by Rask, but the Bruins answer when Peter Schaefer knocks in a rebound from an Alberts drive to put the Bruins back up by 3.

then Philadelphia did what they do best, make illegal hits. Out of nowhere, right after Schaefer's goal, Scott Hartnell slammed Alberts head into the wall. Alberts was on his knees after sending a puck down the ice. Long after the puck was gone, Hartnell put on the very illegal and very dangerous hit. Hartnell was thrown out of the game and later suspended for two games. The penalty should have been twenty games for the blatant attempt to injure. Luckily Alberts would be available for the next game. Kevin Paul Dupont even believed that the penalty should be closer to fifteen games.

Anyhow, the game was 5-2 heading into the third. The Flyers got one past Rask on the power play, but Chuck Kobasew's empty net goal gave the Bruins the 6-3 win.

Tuuka Rask is now officially 2-0-0 in his NHL career. I hope the Flyers learned that bad things will happen if they mess with the Bruins. I hope Lucic, Reich, and Thornton are all healthy enough to play when the Flyers come back to the Garden in March.

The Bruins traveled to New York last Saturday to complete the 2 day home and home series and to play game one of their six game road trip. It was not a strong showing for the Bruins. Claude Julien needs to get it through th heads of these guys that they cannot ride on Tim Thomas's back the entire season. Goals need to be scored. The offense should at least look like they're trying. The Islanders walked all over the Bruins, TT was the only reason it was close.

It was a lot like last season. The Bruins did start off the game strong. Very early in the first period, Axelsson stopped a puck at the opposing blue line and passed up to Savard. Savard, instead of passing it to Murray, dished it back to Axelsson who scored. The Bruins mustered nothing after that. Andy Hilbert scored his first goal of the season late in the second period, and then late in the third, a rebound got by Tim Thomas, who was under heavy pressure. The Bruins couldn't even get a shot off with the goalie pulled and the team went down 2-1.

The Bruins are going to have to play better if they want to get some wins out of this long road trip.

Going to the Garden the day after thanksgiving is so much fun. I love the drunk screaming fans just as much as the next guy, but a family game is fun too, especially when the Bruins win. The Garden was basically full. Since the Red Sox won the world series the Garden attendance has been increasing. If the Celtics weren't so good I think the games would all be sold out. Boston fans though are spending their hard earned money on Celtics and Patriots tickets.

Anyway, the first period of this game did not feature much. It was nice to see Tim Thomas back being the tank as usual. Rick Dipietro (who I learned is signed through the 2021 season!) was in net for the Islanders.

Things really started to heat up in the second period. In the middle of the period, a small push on Thomas led to Jeremy Reich beating up Tim Jackman in a very one-sided fight. The Bruins offense showed up after this. The Bruins recorded 11 second period shots including one, with under three minutes to go in the period, that Glen Murray, from a beautiful feed from Sturm, shot into the net. Bill Guerin happened to be in the box during Glen Murray's power play goal. Apparently the Islanders picked up Guerrin this offseason.

In the third period the Bruins increased their lead when Glen Metropolit shot one right past Dipietro glove side. The former BU star didn't even see it. Sillinger got one back for the Islanders but that's all thomas was willing to let in as the Bruins went on to win 2-1.

I can't wait until Tuuka Rask makes his Garden debut. I can just hear the "Tuuka, Tuuka, Tuuka" chants. Tuuka Rask made his NHL debut against the Toronto back up Toskala and won. The entire team, especially the defense picked up their game, and Tim Thomas was able to take a well deserved and much needed rest.

Late in the first period, Brian Mccabe on the power play took a shot that went in because of a wierd bounce. Then late in the second period, Mats Sundin's drive hit the post and went in. For both goals, Rask did not play the puck as agressively as he should. It is true that TT is a little too agressive sometimes, but Rask played VERY conservatively in net. I can't blame him, though, he was very nervous.

So the Bruins were down 2-0. Late in the second, however, on the power play, Chuck Koobasew found Phil Kessel in front of the net and the Bruins had the momentum going into the locker room. Momentum is everything in this game. In the third period, Savard, skating towards the net, passed backwards to Axelsson, who shot the puck into an open goal. Late in the third, the Bruins took the lead when Chuck Kobasew made a great move before zipping a shot by Toskala. Kobasew added an empty net goal and the Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in Toronto 4-2.

Everyone congratulated Tuuka Rask on his first NHL win. Even sweeter was that it was against the team that drafted him.

Although I hate losing to Montreal, and going down 3-0 in the season series, I wasn't too angry about losing this one. If you're going to go down, winning four fights in the meantime is the way to go. Alberts, Chara, and Stuart were the winning fighters for the Bruins (Mark Stuart winning twice). The habs looked to have figured out the Bruins neutral zone trap and were really able to penetrate the Bruins defense, registering 52 shots. Tim Thomas, who had 45 saves and playing in his tenth consecutive game, did not have his usual NHL's-top-goalie performance either. The Habs showed that they were the dominant team, and that should never happen.

In the first period, Saku Koivu started the scoring when he put in a rebound on the Power Play. Glen Murray quickly answered when his really nice snap shot went in, tying the game.

Early in the second period, Tom Kostopoulos, killing a Bruins power play, stole the puck and scored on Tim Thomas short handed. Zdeno Chara's one-timer, slapped very hard, went in to tie it up at 2. Very quickly, however, Andrei Kostitsyn on the power play retook the lead. The Bruins once again tied it up in the middle of the period. Glen Murray found Sturm in front of the net who scored a great goal. Latendresse put in a rebound though to give the Habs the lead going into the third.

Four minutes into the third period playing 4 on 4, Hamrlik on the ground put in his own rebound to give the Habs a two goal lead. Down 5-3, Alberts decided to try to spark the Bruins midway through the final period. He beat up Tom Kostopoulos, however the spark did not catch. On the next faceoff, Komisarek took the puck and shot it by TT, giving the Habs a 6-3 lead. This time it was Mark Stuart who tried to spark the Bruins. He beat up Kostitsyn, and this time it worked. Glen Murray's rocket from the faceoff circle went in. Zdeno Chara beat up Latendresse (who didn't even get in a punch) but that didn't do anything as Ryder found Kovalev across the ice on a power play to seal the three goal lead for the Habs, 7-4. With under thirty second left, Tom kostopoulos instigated a fight with mark Stuart. Stuart easily beat him up, while Tom K. was suspended for one game for instigating a fight late in the third (new rule).

Game 689 of the biggest rivalry in the NHL is on Thursday December 6th, 2007 at the TD Banknorth Garden. I've already got my tickets and seats are still available. Too many Quebecois crowd the Garden during these games. We need more Bruins fans to help drown out the "go Habs go". The Bruins-Canadiens games are always fun to go to so please come if you can!

Tonight the Boston bruins will take on the Montreal Canadiens for the 688th time. The game in Montreal will be on NESN and RDS (for those B's fans over the border).

Tim Thomas will start in net tongiht for the 10th straight time. Matt Hunwick has been recalled from Providence to replace Andrew Ference, who looks to have re-aggravated his injury. Aaron Ward is back after taking a couple nights off to help heal his brain. The lines should be the same as they were against Toronto:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Kessel-Kobasew
Schaefer-Metropolit-Bochenski
Lucic-Nokelainen-Reich

Chara-Ward
Alberts-Wideman
Stuart-Allen (maybe Hunwick)

Thomas
Rask

Jordan Sigalet in Providence collapsed the other day. Apparently he has MS type symptoms and the construction there triggered some sort of attack. It sounds like he's okay but if anyone knows anymore about it please comment. I'll update if I here something new.

The Habs got spanked last night by Buffalo and are going to get crushed by the Bruins tonight

Everyone came up big last night in the Bruins win over the Leafs. Tim Thomas had 34 saves, the defense did a great job rebounding the Maple Leafs shots, The Bruins offense came out firing, and the Metropolit line (Bochenski-metropolit-Schaefer) scored three goals. Peter Chiarelli described the team well on the pre-game show. He said that the Bruins defense has done a great job bending but not breaking. They have given up a lot of shots, but very few quality shots. Chiarelli also said he was proud of how the team is playing 60 minutes. Besides for the first game of the season, and the one horrible loss to Montreal, the Bruins have stayed in every game score-wise.

The Bruins started off the game on a roll. The Savard Line started shooting the puck like crazy. 19 seconds into the game it paid off when Savard's one-timer from Murray got by Raycroft. Two minutes later, Milan Lucic made sure the Bruins kept the momentum by beating up Mark Bell. While killing a penalty ten minutes in, however, the Bruins got very unlucky. A leaf's shot deflected to the side of the net, and then bounced over the net, hit off the net, and landed right in front of the goal. It was an easy backhand for Kyle Wellwood. This didn't phase the bruins though. 30 seconds later, Denis Wideman's drive bounced off Raycroft resulting in a somewhat long rebound. Luckily the puck went straight to Marco Sturm, who snapped it into the net, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

In the middle of the second period, Peter Schaefer and Glen Metropolit won a great battle in the Leafs zone. Metro then had the puck behind the net. He skated around to the front of the net and scored. The Bruins, not used to a 3-1 lead, got lazy. Mats Sundin found Ponikarovski next to the net, who then squeezed the puck by Thomas to cut the lead. TT didn't locate it in time and the Bruins Defense should have been more aggressive. So period two ended 3-2 Bruins.

Period three was all Bruins. Two minutes in, Peter Schaefer took Glen Metropolit's pass all the way to the net and scored. Then another two minutes later, Schaefer scored on Bochenski's rebound, who was also setting a screen. The Bruins took the 5-2 lead right up 'till the end.

The Bruins are now 9-6-2, one game ahead of where they were after 17 games last season (they were 8-7-2). Next game is Saturday night in Montreal. It's always a big game when Boston's best hockey players take on those from Montreal!

The Baseball Writers Association of America is a group comprised of incompetent morons. Josh Beckett had a much better year then CC Sabathia! Their ERA's were just about the same (3.27 for Beckett, 3.21 for Sabathia) and Sabathia had way more strikeouts. Meanwhile, beckett led the league in wins, had a better opponent batting average, and basically carried the Red Sox starting rotation. CC Sabathia didn't carry the Indians, he had Fasto Carmona, another 19 game winner, to help him out. The writers had to submit their ballots at the end of the season, and now they all look like idiots. In the ALCS, Beckett beat Sabathia twice!

Here are some Stats to help bridge the gap between Saturday and Thursday's Bruins games:

The Bruins are 3rd in goals allowed
The Bruins are dead last in goals scored
Tim Thomas is 5th in the NHL with a 1.65 Goals Against Average
Tim Thomas is 2nd in the NHL with a 95% save percentage
Chuck Kobasew is tied for 15th in the NHL with a +8
Marc Savard is tied for 21st in the NHL with 12 assists
Marco Sturm and Chuck Kobasew are tied for 25th in the NHL with 7 goals
Marc Savard is tied for 42nd in the NHL with 15 points

Also, I found this in the Bear Essentials (John Bishop's new blog-type thing) archives:

The Fan sitting behind me said it best: "How do you take 50 shots and still lose?"

The answer to that question is simple. All you need is a goalie, like say Tim Thomas for example, to save all but one. Tim Thomas was incredible last night. He saved 45 of 46 Buffalo shots, allowing a team with an injured defense, and a so far very mediocre offense, to win the game. The Bruins were outshot 46-22, they were without Bergeron, Thornton, Ward, Allen, and Ference, and struggled with the neutral zone trap, but Tim Thomas still pulled out a win.

Very late in the second period the Bruins pulled out ahead. Some 4 on 4 action led to Savard and Sturm skating down the ice on a breakway after Savard got a hold of the puck. Marc Savard sent a beautiful pass across the ice to Sturm who easily tiped in the puck. For the next minute and a half the Bruins looked excellent. The end of the second period, however, halted the momentum.

In the third period, after a tripping penalty sent Jason Pominville to the penalty box, the Bruins went on a power play. Like a lot of power plays the Bruins have had, the other team started putting on the pressure. Toni Lydman found Daniel Paille across the ice who snaped a one-timer past Thomas to tie the game. One would think that the Bruins would have lost all their momentum, just like their previous game against Buffalo and their last game against Ottawa. But no! Just 30 seconds later (still on the PP) Zdeno Chara's drive was backhanded into the net by Chuck Kobasew. The tank took it from there and the Bruins won their 8th game of the season.

The Bruins are aching right now:


• Patrice Bergeron was put on the IR with a grade 3 concussion. The earliest, by rule, that he could play is November 24th (but he probably won't be ready)
• Shawn Thornton was placed on IR with a broken foot.
• Manny Fernandez was placed on IR with a hurt knee.
• Aaron Ward is out with a concussion/
• Andrew Ference is out with a core injury (whatever that means)
• Bobby Allen has an arm injury

It is unclear when Allen and Ference will be back. Matt Hunwick and Matt Lashoff have been called up from Providence as emergency fill-in guys. The lines tonight should look something like this:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Kessel-Kobasew
Schaefer-Metropolit-Bochenski
Lucic-Nokelainen-Reich

Chara-Stuart
Alberts-Wideman
Lashoff-Hunwick

Rask or Thomas

I'll be at the game tonight. Go Bruins!!

I hate Montreal, I hate seeing those jack-ass Habs fans going home happy. The Garden had way to many Quebecois in it and I hate seeing them cheer.

Anyway, the forwards really struggled to capitalize on opportunities. The defense played great. Montreal's two goals were late in the first and early in the second. In the first period, a light shot trickled past Thomas to give the Habs the lead. Then in the second period, Plekanic skated right past the Bruins D and then put a nice fake on Thomas before easing the puck in. Marco Sturm after slapping at the pouck a couple times in front of the net, managed to get a rebound in and the Bruins had one on the board. The Bruins couldn't even capitalize when they had a full two minutes of 5 on 3! It was awful.

To make things worse: in the third period, Aaron Ward was knocked uncontious and lay flat on the ice (just like Bergeron did). The Garden was very quiet. Ward did wake up though and didn't need the stretcher.

Only one good thing came of this game, and that was Jeremy Reich's first fight of the season. He beat up Steve Begin (though Reich looked a little rusty).

Tim Thomas, who had some great saves, should have been able to save the Habs two goals. He played 4 games in 6 days. It would not surprise me if Tuuka Rask got the nod tonight against Buffalo.

oh no. Not again. The Bruins came out early, got a lead, then blew it.

Early in the third period, Marc Savard scored an amazing goal right in front of Ryan Miller. That is all he would give up. In the second period, Ales Kotalik got one by Thomas, and then in overtime acarthur scored his first NHL goal to give Buffalo the win.

This game was not lost by the defense, it was not lost by TT, but rather it was lost by the offense. 13 third period shots and not one went in. Two goals in two games is unacceptable.

Dammit! The Bruins should have had this one. One little mistake and out the door goes a win against the best team the east has to offer. The Bruins played so well too. They killed penalty after penalty; Tim Thomas should have had a shutout. Just like the Bruins of a year ago, this team found a way to lose.

At the start, the Bruins looked great. Four minutes into the game Chuck Kobasew scored blocker side to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Phil Kessel did a great job finding a wide open Kobasew. That was completely erased in the third period. On a Bruins Power Play Antione Vermette put a rebound from a wide open drive past Thomas. They tied the game on a a shorthanded goal. A complete collapse by the Power Play unit. (Would it have been different had Bergeron been there? I think so.)

So the game went into a shootout. Alfredson got a quick surprise shot against Thomas, and then Vermette scored as well. Meanwhile Chuck Kobasew completely missed, and Phil Kessel succesfully deked out Martin Gerber, but instead of wristing the pouck upwards like he did against NYR, he just shoved the puck into the leg pad.

The Bruins really lost the momentum in the second period (4 shots) and they weren't able to regain it.

Usually I would be upset at a loss like this one, but for some reason I'm not. The Bruins gave up three power play goals and they were all from dumb penalties, yet I'm not too disappointed. The Bruins last night showed that they can play, and almost beat, the best team the Eastern Conference has to offer. The Bruins get their rematch tonight at the Garden.

To start the game, Shawn Thornton and Brian McGratten got into an unprovoked fight. McGratten beat up Thronton, it was hard to watch. Two minutes later, with Axelsson in the penalty box, Mike Fisher put the Senators up 1-0. He managed to get in behind the Bruins defense and jab at a puck until it went in. It was a play that evolved out of the new NHL rules.

Under two minutes into the second period, Chara dumped the puck into Ottawa's zone, and then decided to go retrieve it behind the net. He got it and then passed it to Chuck Kobasew, who tipped in the puck to tie the game. Three minutes later, Alberts made a nice pass to Sturm, who wins a battle in front of the net and shoots the puck. The bouncing rebound was knocked in by Chuck Kobasew for his second goal of the game. A little later in the period, however, Wade Redden found Dany Heatley on the power play setting up a great one-timer. The puck went in and the game was tied at the end of the second.

Tim Thomas carried the Bruins through the third period, until Mike Fisher's power play goal gave the Ottawa the 3-2 lead. 13:49 into the period, Fisher stationed in front of the net shoved in the puck, his second goal and the team's third on the power play. Ottawa maintained the 3-2 lead, but at the very end Andrej Mezsaros took a swipe at Marc savard with his stick. Dennis Wideman was to have none of that and got in Mezsaros's face and the two teams started pushing and shoving. A great way to end the game, the itensity should be high tonight.

Now we know how this team will respond without Bergeron, and I like it. On Thursday night the Bruins played the entire game, and played much better then Buffalo. Sometimes momentum was with the Bruins, sometimes it wasn't. No matter what the situation the Bruins played hard. It paid off.

The first period went by scoreless, and basically hitless. The only highlight prior to 8PM was both Red Sox World Series trophies from this millenium being on the ice. I can't speak for everyone else in Bruins Nation, but I was thrown back by the fact that I was in the same room as the World Series trophy. John henry then did the honorary opening face-off. It must have been embarrassing for Jeremy Jacobs when John Henry looked around and saw only 13,000 or so fans in the Garden.

The game got far more intense very early in the second period. On the power play, Glen Metropolit scored when his beautiful slap shot went past Ryan Miller. Then five minutes later, Phil Kessel's shot trickled through Miller and into the net. The Bruins had a 2-0 lead. Buffalo cut the lead in half at the end of the period, however, when Maxim Afinogenov took advantage of a screen and shot the puck by Thomas. Timmy couldn't see it, and the period ended 2-1.

Boston came out of the locker room pretty cold. Brian Campbell of the Sabres tied the game with his drive from the point on the power play. The Bruins, however, did not give up! 59 seconds later, the Bruins had a 2 on 1 in the offensive zone. Marc Savard had the puck, faked out the defensemen by looking to the left while holding onto the puck, and then released a shot right past Ryan Miller. Buffalo tied it up at 3 just a few minutes later, taking away all the cheers the Garden crowd was giving the Bruins. On the power play, good passing by the Sabres led to a very close shot by Gaustad that went in.

The third period ended with the game tied at 3. Overtime was incredible, and ended with 52.7 seconds left. Aaron Ward's drive was chipped into the net by Marco Sturm and the Bruins defeated the reigning Northeast division champions.

Although they won the president's trophy last year, Buffalo is a very different team. The real test is tonight in Ottawa, and Sunday in Boston against Ottawa.

• First, congratulations to the 2007 Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series. That World Series trophy will be at the Garden tonight. Hopefully in June the Stanley cup will be at Fenway.

• After his hit on Patrice Bergeron, Randy Jones was suspended for two games. That's bull shit. The Flyers are a dirty team and this hit was for the sole purpose of injuring Bergeron. Jones should have been punished just like Boulerice and Downey. On top of that, the NHL should have manned up and punished the Flyers organization (Boulerice, Downey, and Jones are on the Flyers). A hefty fine, or draft penalty, or something is in order. The NHL needs to grow a pair, the Philadelphia flyers are a disgrace to the National Hockey League and an embarrassment to anybody who enjoys watching hockey.

• Manny Fernandez sustained a minor injury during practice and Jordan sigalet of providence has been called up. Tim Thomas will start tonight.

The lines, without Bergeron, have changed drastically. Here they are, courtesy of John Bishop:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Kessel-Kobasew
Schaefer-Metropolit-Bochenski
Lucic, Krejci, Thornton

Chara-Ward
Alberts-Ference
Stuart-Wideman

Thomas

I'm off to the game...Go Bruins!!!