Game 77: Toronto @ Boston BRUINS CAN CLINCH TONIGHT

Yup, it's the leafs again. For the last time all year.

It's been quite the run, from one of Seguin's only home goals:

To the acquisition of one Tomas Kaberle, Esq.

And some Waffles:

Not really a whole lot left to say about it all at this point.

Stats!

Everything's in our favor but Powerplay Opportunities and record over the last 10 games.

Trap game, big time.

A win tonight clinches the division. Remember crushing New Jersey's dreams? That ruled.

Make them cry.

GO BRUINS!

Game 7 Preview: I wonder if Dennis Seidenberg and Marco Sturm are offended by "The Kraut Line"?

So yeah the Leafs are coming to town but more importantly it's Milt Schmidt Night. Milt Schmidt started playing for the Bruins in 1936 at the age of 18. Yeah, that was a hell of a long time ago. Pre-WWII. If anyone reading this is that old, congrats. Anyhow, he played 18 regular-season games that year, coming up halfway through the year to play alongside childhood friends Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart. The latest he could have started would have been January 7th, 1937, though if he sat a game or two for injury then maybe it was earlier. Regardless, Howard Hughes was setting speed records for flying across America when Milt stepped in as a rookie. Not too long after that, Milt and friends (including such greats as Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper, and Favorite-of-the-Blog and Pride of Eveleth, MN Frank "Mr. Zero" Brimsek.Got together and won a couple of cups before WWII started and the Bruins dynasty was broken up to fight the Nazis. Kind of a bummer, yes, but a worthy cause. All in all, I hope it's a great little ceremony to celebrate the career of the only person to ever be Captain, Coach, and GM of the Boston Bruins.

Here's some more reading:

Greatest Hockey Legends on Tonight

In 2000, The Hockey News assembled 50 hockey experts to definitively rank the top players of all time. Milt Schmidt came in at number 27, ahead of the likes of Paul Coffey, Henri Richard, Bryan Trottier, Patrick Roy and Boom Boom Geoffrion.

Greatest Hockey Legends on Milt Schmidt

Schmidt was 28 years old by the time he returned [from the war]. Many other NHL players had difficulty starting their careers again, but Schmidt actually seemed a better player after missing more than three seasons.

Hockey Hall of Fame on Milt Schmidt

"He was the one who gave us the name, the 'Kraut Line.' He said, 'All you fellas come from Kitchener/Waterloo. There's a lot of people of German descent from there. We gotta get a name for ya - the Kraut Line!' We didn't mind. It was a name that kinda stuck to us."

Bruins.nhl.com tribute to Milt Schmidt the Veteran

Milt Schmidt, 88, is still a Bruin at heart and watches the B's on television and visits the Garden whenever he can. He has an overwhelming affection for Boston and Bruins fans in particular, and would talk to you for hours about his many fine days playing, coaching and managing the Boston Bruins. Milt remains the only person in Bruins history to play, captain, coach and serve as general manager of the club.

Anyhow there's also a game to be played. We're welcoming the Toronto Maple Leafs, currently sitting second in the division behind Montreal. What? Yup.

(blah blah blah Kessel trade blah blah blah)

Timmy Time

Thomas v. Gustafsson in nets per Left Wing Lock. Thomas has been playing out of his mind this year so far, here's hoping that continues.

Here's a picture saved a little while ago called "LeafFansAreCrazy.jpg"

Yup, they're nuts.

Good folks for the most part, though, what with the hating the Habs. I heartily endorse Pension Plan Puppets for your Toronto Maple Leafs blog needs.

Stats!

Bruins have statistical advantage in a lot of categories except "record." Unfortunately that's the one that decides everything.

GO BRUINS!

Game 80 Preview: Bruins vs. Hurrican'ts I KNOW WHAT I WANT FOR FAN APPRECIATION DAY (HINT IT'S EYEBLEAF'S FAVORITE)

It's kind of fun that the last home game of the Bruins regular season is also the first home game of the Revolution season. Revs play TorontoFC at like 7pm tonight so unless you're watching Habs/Leafs on NHLNetwork (which you totally should be and rooting for Toronto) maybe flip that o-hahahahahaha oh my who watches MLS on TV anyways?

Regardless, the Bruins have a chance to clinch at home with a win today. 3 points today and tomorrow clinches 6th which isn't so bad. But check this out: Montreal might still miss. Here's how:

• Bruins get at least a point today (though they need a win to clinch).
• Toronto beats Montreal in regulation.
• Rangers beat Philly in overtime tomorrow.

Bonus: The Maple Leafs are locked in to 29th place for the season so you don't have to feel bad about them winning and maybe us not getting as good a draft pick. The draft lottery is on Tuesday, but you can check in with the Oilers website for all your lottery simulation fun. Hit reload to re-run the simulation.

Here's the probabilities for Boston's pick from Toronto:

• 1st overall chance: 18.8%
• 2nd overall chance: 42.0%
• 3rd overall chance: 39.2%
• 4th or higher chance: 0.000% ()
  

So things are looking up in Bruins-land. The crazies are giving up and moving on to the Red Sox. Bruins have a 60.8% chance of picking Hall or Seguin, both of whom will likely help a starved Bruins offense next year. And the playoffs are looking like a reality. Brilliant!

As for the season so far, it's been a disappointing one so far. A bunch of players aren't having career years again and we aren't even dominating the habs. However, hope springs eternal for the Bruins as they aren't eliminated from the playoffs. Minnesota is but who didn't expect that. The important part about the Minnesota season this year is Guillaime Latendresse who got traded from the Montreal media asking him why he didn't score a hat trick every night to the hokiest team in hockey and the hard-hitting reporting of the Minnesota media (actually I like Mike Russo a lot but they seem to be friendlier in Minnesota. Minnesota Nice. Nice. The folks over at Hockey Wilderness have taken to calling him BTE (Best Trade Ever). Of course when you're a ten-year-old team that's less difficult.

I know I don't shut up about how awesome Steve Stamkos is but I'm signing up for Stammer's Sweethearts, especially after how hilarious this chart of where he's scored his goals from:

If you want to see the same kind of chart for Crosby (king of the tip-in) and Ovechkin (shoots from everywhere, scores from everywhere, Russian machine never break) Check it out on NHL.com. The MLS website could take some queues from them. Stamkos owns and I hope he scores 8 goals this weekend and takes the Rocket Richard.

Wisconsin is playing BC tonight in the NCAA Frozen Four Final.

GO WISCONSIN
GO REVOLUTION
GO LEAFS, GO RANGERS IN OT TOMORROW
GO BRUINS!

Game 62: Bruins vs. Maple Leafs WELCOME TO DUNDERDOME

Welcome to Boston, Dennis!

Game 62
7:00 PM March 4, 2010
NESN, VS (in New York), 98.5 FM
vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (19-32-11)

There are a lot of people angry about Chiarelli not making enough moves, or making too many, or not going for the cup this year, or not blowing the team up completely.

Whatever, this is the team we've got. I'm not the GM and I doubt you are either (If you are, hello Peter! I hope you're enjoying this!) so we can rant and rave and whatever, but really there isn't much you can do about it except cry into your pillow at night.

This ain't the year.

Anyhow, let's look at the new kid:

Crushing a hab? Check.


Sniping from the blue-line? Check.

Really he should hopefully be at least as good as derrick morris, I'm hoping, maybe, please please I want to see a win before the year is out dammit.

Hey, could be worse. Could be Edmonton. Or Calgary. Or Toronto....who we're playing tonight.

News:
Tuukka is out day to day with lower body injury, Bergeron is sitting with a tweaked groin, Matthew "who?" Dalton will be backing up Thomas and Dany Sabourin is on re-entry waivers from Providence.

Welp.
If the Bruins don't win at home tonight, they'll have to wait until March 18th to try again.

Stats!

GO BRUINS!

*** TRANSMISSION INCOMING / TRANSMISSION ENTRANTE***

Hello / Bonjour
I am typing this from behind enemy lines. / Je suis tapant cette derrière les lignes ennemies.
I fear that I will be found out soon. / Je crains que je vais être trouvé prochainement.
Tell my wife I said, "Hello." /Dis à ma femme, je l'ai dit, "Bonjour".
Meet me at Air Canada Center / Rendez-vous au centre Air Canada
7 PM Tonight / 7 h ce soir

GO BRUINS!

Game 30 Preview: Bruins vs. Toronto BLAKE WHEELER IS A SAINT

Game 30
December 10, 2009, 7:00 PM
NESN, 98.5 FM
vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (10-13-7)

Last time we played, we played the leafs at home. The next post down will tell you all about it, or if you don't like reading here's a pretty accurate recap I saw on Down Goes Brown:

Delightful, no?

Anyhow, the Leafs have won the 2 games since then, giving them their first winning streak of the year. In fact, they're 7-2-1 in the last ten, which is also where the Bruins are in those last ten. As this is game 30, I'm of course hoping for a 7-2-1 record in the headline of the next L10 article. I don't know if Savard will be able to pot another three goals but if Bergeron can slice through the defense like a hot knife through butter we'll be in for some good times.

I expect this to be a tougher game than Saturday's and to be honest quite a bit closer.

Stats!

Orange highlights the better stat. It's actually a pretty even split.
On game at a time. Should be a bunch of fights. Blake Wheeler first career fight maybe? Maybe. The Leafs didn't like him dumping Ian White into the boards for some reason...
GO BRUINS!

Game 29 Recap BRUINS 7 LEAFS 2 TAY-LOR-HALL TAY-LOR-HALL

Yeah, so I missed a couple games. Basically, if you're getting all of your bruins news from this blog (hi mom! I'll come up from the basement in a couple months) then I have been remiss. Here's what I missed, in Hockey Blog Adventure headline form:

Game 26 Recap BRUINS 3 SENS 3 SHOOTOUT WIN THAT'S HOW ROUGH RYDER ROLLS
Bruins manage a shootout win, find themselves close to first in the division as a result.
Game 27 Recap BRUINS 4 BOLTS 1 I'M NOT SEEING STAMKOS
James Wright has an okay game, rest of Tampa doesn't. Good defense, some scoring.
Game 28 Recap BRUINS 1 HABS 5 HAPPY FUCKING BIRTHDAY MONTREAL
Don't even bring it up. There was some cool shit, but basically it just has me lusting for 15 years from now when the Bruins get their own version of this:

Look, I'm not a habs fan by any stretch of the imagination, but that right there is pretty awesome. Was the no-voiceover on CBC as well, or was it some internet-stream camera? Either way, sweet video if you appreciate hockey history. Then the Bruins shat all over themselves and lost. Go figure, a habs team that has no business beating the Bruins goes ahead and does it. Whatever. Happy birthday montreal, here's to a 4-1-1 record against them.

Which brings us to the most recent Bruins game, Toronto at Boston.

Now of course Phil Kessel plays for Toronto now, joining other former Bruins luminaries as Joey Macdonald, Colton Orr, and Wayne Primeau. He apparently told Marc Savard not to sign with Boston (and probably come to Toronto, of course) so that's a pretty good reason to not like him if your first couple run out. Either way, lets look back at the game, no? I mean, it was pretty sweet.

To start off with, the Garden crowd was in rare form last night. Every time Kessel touched the puck, people booed. It was awesome. The other great part was that every time he touched the puck, a Bruin got real close real fast. Kessel got 2 shots on net, was a -3, and had 16:28 of ice time. And with the Leafs' best player by far shut down, the rest was...

A little over 5 minutes in, there's a faceoff in the offensive zone. Bergeron shows up to play, and wins the draw. Back to Sturm, who gives it to Morris. They move it up and down the right side of the zone and Morris one-times it in. The puck bounces off Bergeron and Sturm and the back of the net.

GOAL!

Hell yeah, baby. Goal for Berge-Sturm.

1-0.

The leafs know that they should take the crowd out of the game if they want to do better here. So naturally they goad Shawn Thornton into a fight. It's not like he's a fan-favorite pugilist looking to back up his truculence in the Pride Motor Group commercial. Colton Orr is all, "does it come in red?" Here's the fight, called by Hockey Night In Canada In Punjab:

They both land some good hits, Shawn Thornton gets half a takedown before Orr gets back up and they hug it out.

It works wonders, because the Leafs keep the Bruins off the scoreboard for the next 32 seconds.

The Bruins are working it around in the offensive zone and Wheeler gets it back to Chara. Chara shuffles across the blue line and then wrists it in, ready for a deflection. Bitz deflects it off his body somehow and Marc Savard's bright, beautiful, dreamy blue eyes see the puck. A quick scoop and everyone in the arena sees a red light go on.

GOAL!

Savard. Marc Savard.

2-0.

A couple minutes later Mark "Down for whatever" Stuart and Jamal Mayers try to fight, but the Refs don't give them the satisfaction of fighting majors.

Sturm gets a slashing call to close out the first. So far so good.

Second Period.

About 2 minutes in Chara grabs the puck just inside the zone after Kessel flubs it and then Chara lightly wrists it just over everyone. It's a really slow shot, actually, but if that's how Chara scores then I don't care if his pucks are slower than a Wakefield fastball.

GOAL!

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

3-0.

And it's on. Blake Wheeler is getting all kinds of people after him tonight, and Colton Orr takes a solid 4-minute penalty. That gets killed, then Ian White decides to be a hooker. More powerplay? Why not? Of course the Bruins PP is still pretty crap, so when Derek Morris passes it up and Savard and Ryder enter the zone you expect they won't get much out of it. Savard loops it around the boards to Ryder, who then comes behind the net and does a quick pass to Savard waiting on the doorstep.

GOAL!

JAMES BOND HAT TRICK WATCH ACTIVATED

4-0.

Huge goal. Reminds me of the game against the lightning. I wonder if the Bruins will be able to have a better third in this game? Hrmmmmmmmm....

Third Period.
NEW GOALIE
Vesa (Toskala): He's everywhere you want him to be (if you're a scorer).

Matt Stajan takes a tripping penalty. Yes, I do believe I will have seconds on the powerplay scoring. It was just so delicious. I know it will go straight to my stats, but I JUST DON'T CARE RIGHT NOW.

Neither does Tuukka Rask. Tuukka settles the puck behind his net, leaving it for Patrice. Bergeron skates it up the ice, Recchi by his side. Bergeron and Recchi, and if they're not passing back and forth Bergeron makes it look like they do. Patrice skates through all 4 leafs. Literally through them. Look, here he is:

GOAL!

MARK RECCHI HAS 550 CAREER GOALS! NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN!

5-0.

Oh hell yeah. Tuukka Rask has more points than Phil Kessel in the game.
TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKK

But the game isn't over yet. Through the first half of the period, the bruins scored one. They enter the zone about 12 minutes in and Krejci skates the puck around a little. Boychuk pinches in and one-times it from the top of the circle. They weren't kidding about Boychuk's shot as it was probably the hardest shot of the night. There's a loud crack, followed by a siren. No, you didn't just get shot. Vesa did. But he let it get by him anyhow.

GOAL!

JOHNNY BOYCHUK FIRST NHL GOAL

There are a lot of fangirls on twitter that are VERY happy about this one.

6-0.

Yeah, that's a pretty good score. Off the faceoff, Savard wins it. They get into the zone. Savard to Wheeler, Wheeler gives it back and the leaf defensemen shift over to block savard's notorious point shot. Marc drives his aston-martin up the halfwall and converts it to underwater mode. Walther PPK's a wrist shot right past The Man Who Blew Too Much - Vesa Toskala.

GOAL!

HAT TRICK MARC SAVARD BABY

What kind of hat does james bond even wear?

7-0.

Well this game is over. Jamal Mayers finally gets that fight he's been looking for all game, goading Steve Begin into a little throwdown. In that after Mayers throws a few punches, Steve Begin throws him down. Here's a link why not?

Mayers does manage to swing the momentum away from the Bruins, and the leafs manage to score 2 afterwards. Excellent game. It's a shame Rask doesn't get the shutout against his former team, but you can only ask for so much. In between the 2 Toronto Goals, Ference and Stempniak get double-minors because the refs don't want to hand them each a one-game suspension for a fight. Great job, refs!

7-2.
WIN!

Take us home, Steve. We're too busy celebrating to remember the way.

Hell yeah what now?
GO BRUINS!

L10: First ten games (5-4-1) A LITTLE BETTER ALL THE TIME (Can't get much worse!)

Well, hmmm.

Rk	Team	GP	W	L	OL	PTS	PTS%	GF	GA	SRS	TG/G	PPG	PPO	PP%	PPGA	PPOA	PK%	SHG	SHGA
17	Boston Bruins	10	5	4	1	11	.550	30	32	-0.42	6.20	6	40	15.00	10	41	75.61	0	3

The Bruins have had an interesting start to their season. They started off losing, we lost Lucic and Savard to LTIR for a broken finger and broken foot. We traded Kobasew to Minnesota and picked up Daniel Paille from Buffalo, marking the first time Boston and Buffalo had ever made a trade that wasn't for ufa bargaining rights. On top of that, we're about 1/8th through the season and the Bruins have just put together their first consecutive, uh...point-getting games. Going by point percentage, the Bruins are 9th in the east. They have the 4th-worst powerplay in the league right now, converting 6 out of 40 chances or at a 15% clip.

That's terrible. So is letting in 10 powerplay goals over 41 chances, or a 75.61% success rate. This pretty much sucks too. Oh look, another fun fact: The Bruins tie the Tampa Bay Lightning for the league lead in short-handed goals against with three. Not too surprising, since the Bruins powerplay managed to get an icing call against it once recently. Basically that needs to get a lot better.

However, last years Bruins had a bit of rust too and I remember watching the PK and PP numbers continuously get better last year. Here's to that happening again, especially after Savard and Lucic come back. Last year around this time the Bruins were 30th in PK with 70%, and ended up 12th with 82.35%. Last year's powerplay was only bested by San Jose, Washington, and Detroit over the regular season.

Bergeron now has his chance to live up to his 5 million dollar contract. You can do it, Patrice!

How's our draft pick doing? (Toronto update)
Current Status: TAYLOR HALL
Toronto hasn't yet won a game, and only forced overtime once. They're 0-7-1, and have spent more time this season down by 5 than up by anything. Combined.

I think the next 10 games are going to be better than the last as people get more used to playing with the new folks. I think the Kobasew trade shook them up a bit. Lucic and Savard are still out, and that will make things...interesting. Let's hope the rookies play well. They've done okay so far. And the Revolution just made the playoffs! Awesome!

GO BRUINS!

Bill Simmons is an idiot

"Sportsguy33" on twitter is Bill Simmons, noted disney sportswriter and Boston Bandwagonner extraordinaire. Now, I'm not one to dislike bandwagon fans. Hell, pre-lockout I couldn't name 5 guys in the NHL on the first try. But enough about me. I've learned. Bill Simmons is stuck in the pre-salary-cap era.

Here's what a salary cap is, Bill, and I'll try to use monosyllabic words so you don't get lost: A cap is how much a team can spend on all of the folks on the team each year. You can not pay more than that to all of the folks on the team. If one guy wants too much, they must trade and get good stuff back.

Oh by the way, Kessel was traded to the leafs for 2010's first and second and 2011's first pick. He signed there for 5.4 per for 5 years. Kid got PAID. Now lets see how that torn labrum is doing.

Can't wait for the first Bruins/Leafs game of the year. Odd.

GO BRUINS!

Game 74 Recap: BRUINS 7 LEAFS 5 A WIN IS A WIN IS A WIN IS A WIN

Brian Burke looks on as the Leafs manage to lose one to the Bruins even though they scored 5 goals.

Hahahaha, what a game. Thanks to the folks of Pension Plan Puppets for letting me crash their live thread. Funny folks, there. I'm happy to jump on the Toronto spoiler bandwagon when they're not playing the bruins. Ok, we've got a lot of goals to hazily remember and link to videos, so let's get to it.

First of all, you hear that Manny is in net, but that Pogge is as well. Toronto's 4th goalie against Manny, who is definitely playing injured at this point. He was saying he might be forced into retirement at the end of this year. So, let's see...yeah, lots of goals. Toronto starts the goal scoring off about 4 minutes in.

Kulemin.

0-1. Uh oh, manny didn't look very good on that one. Hopefully the Bruins will score soon and tie it up.

Luckily, that's their job. So they go to work (I kinda hate that turn of phrase, it's so overused, especially in football commentating.) Chuck Kobasew gets the puck at the half-boards, and then grinds around Ian White and flips a backhand up. It likely gets deflected off of one of the 3 leafs sticks in front, but ends up sitting on the top shelf. Where grandma hides the cookies.

GOAL!

1-1. Chuck Kobasew might be one of the best third-liners in the NHL.

Not wanting to get left out, the rest of the Bruins want in on the action. Krejci passes to wideman, wideman shoots wide, Ryder grinds the puck out, comes around the side, and it's like he's playing horse with Kobasew.

GOAL!

2-1. RYDERMANIA RUNNING WILD ALL OVER YOU!
Also, it's not even 9 minutes into the game.

Leafs get on a PP. John "F'in" Mitchell.

2-2. At 4 goals in 12 minutes, this could end up being a 20-goal game. They already had an 8-5 one in boston earlier...hmmmm.....

Ponikarovsky.

2-3. Manny tries to save it in slow motion.

But the 1st period isn't quite over yet, folks. Jeff Finger gets himself a tripping call and the Bruins PP sets up. They pass it around and through, until Hunwick Hunwick? Hunwick... HUNWICK! No wait RECCHING BALL!

GOAL!

3-3. Nice tip-in by Recchi. he's getting close to his 16th 20-goal season, they say.

Second Period.

Bruins have the first successful penalty kill of the night.

Then 6 minutes in: Ponikarovsky.
3-4. Again with the ponies.

Bruins get another Powerplay, though. This one is courtest of Jeff Hamilton. As the CBC is putting Tonight's powerplay: 1/1 on the screen, Savard is shooting at Recchi's stick blade. The RECCHING BALL is in full effect.

GOAL!

4-4. Tied up at 4, about halfway into the game...wow. If you took the over, you're all set.

If you bet on Shawn Thornton scoring, you have more faith than I do. But you're some kind of genius, because, well.... Awesomeness happens. Shot, rebound. Yelle picks it up, up to Stuart. Stuart across to Hunwick. Hunwick forward for Thornton. Thornton's mustache shoots from the high slot. Montador doesn't touch it, Thornton has half-agained his previous career-high season title for goals.

GOAL!

5-4. Yes, a lead. Awesome.

After Thornton scores, Ron Wilson takes a minute to say a few words to his young goalie.

Schenn takes a shot. Bruins block it. Krejci gives it up to Lucic. Lucic puts it on Krejci's stick as he's entering the zone. Grabovski hanging of his back, Krejci makes us remember the good times by triple-deking and putting it past Pogge.

GOAL!

6-4. Only up by two, but this feels a lot better than it did an hour ago. Quote from the Star article I just linked to:

"Boston's David Krejci scored on that, jamming in a backhand with Pogge essentially in a praying position sliding backward over his goal line, not quite the way it's written up in the goaltending manuals."

The dogs start howling as CuJo comes in to play relief. Lucic fights Oreskevic, likely because of frustration and the maybe-clean, maybe-not hit on Grabovski earlier. HockeyFights.com has Lucic winning. (and the video)

It certainly does work the momentum a little, though I don't know why the Bruins need even more momentum. They shoot, rebound. Leafs start to take it up ice, but Montador or Ference tips it back up ice. Savard taps it to Axelsson, who drives hard to the net. He gets to the side, and prefectly puts it to Wheeler in the slot. Wheeler does his thing.

GOAL!

7-4. Every time they say Wheeler, I still think of captain planet.

Third Period.

Not all that much happens in the third. Montador gets whooped by Luke Schenn: HockeyFights.com

Manny gets back into a rhythm (please let this continue) even though Hagman does manage to score:
Hagman
7-5. 5 minutes left.

Game over, man. Game over.

WIN!

Huzzah! The leafs will score a ton of goals on you on saturday night, but they are beatable.

vs. TOR: 5-1-0
Record: 47-17-10 (W 2)
Away: 22-11-4 (W 1)
L10: 5-4-1
March: 5-5-1
GO BRUINS!

Game 74 Preview: Bruins @ Toronto THEY'RE BACK THEY'RE BACK THEY'RE BACK

Mar 28, 2009 7:00 PM ET

TV: NESN, NHLN-US, CBC

Radio: WBZ 1030

@ Toronto Maple Leafs (31-31-13)

Notes:

• Aaaaaaaah, it's time for some Bruins hockey again. I bought a domain name to celebrate.
  
• Kessel isn't traveling with the team this weekend. Rumor says it's his shoulder, but I think he's just watching his little brother play with UNH.
• Open threads at SCoC and PPP tonight.
• Scott Cullen looks at how teams do with and without key players. Kessel isn't mentioned.
• Last night in NCAA Hockey, the only non-upset was thanks to an amazing, last minute, 2-goal comeback to tie it up in the UMD/Princeton game. Here's that last minute of regulation:

Previous Games:
http://www.hockeyblogadventure.com/search/label/Toronto%20Maple%20Leafs

Other Previews:
There are many. Numbered for fun:

1. Caveman Strong: "Watch Wideman tonight, though, as his groin injury from 07-08 is supposedly flaring again and his health is crucial to our success on even strength play, as evidenced by the +32 rating (not to mention his 23 PP points)."
2. Cameron Frye: "The B's have been off this week, both Ward & Ference welcomed new bundles of joy( hopefully they've nottoo tired from late night diaper changes) - so the team should be well rested for these last few games."
   
3. Kynch's Korner: "The Leafs are led offensively by the pesky Jason Blake. It seems hard to believe he "only" has 25 goals."
4. Stanley Cup of Chowder: If you do nothing else, watch that kiss cam video to the end. Solid gold.
5. Pension Plan Puppets: "The Bruins are the talk of the Eastern Conference, but the Leafs haven't played them since January. Let's hope the new look Leafs do their usual Saturday night awesome job and send the Bruins home without two points tonight."
6. The Bear Cave: "The Boston Bruins still have the lead, but suddenly, they are the ones with the games in hand."
7. Matt Kalman: "The way this last week went, you’d think they’d already be playing in the Super Bowl."
8. Bruins Blog: "Matt Hunwick, who has dressed for only six of the club's last 12 games, has averaged a point per game (3 goals, 3 assists) in those six starts."
9. NESN First Shift: "Justin Pogge is 1-3-1 with a 3.95 goals-against average and .855 save-percentage"
10. boston.com thumbnails
    
11. bruins.nhl.com: Preview | Game Notes
    

Stats:

GO BRUINS!

Game 47 Recap: BRUINS 4 LEAFS 4 SO WIN HOLY CRAP HARD ROCK CAFE IS NOT CHEAP

If anyone reading this was at the ROAR event, I hope you had a good time. Much high-fiving all around.

The pre-game show proved that the NESN crew are ready for the break, as Mike Milbury and Gord Kluzak showed pictures of each other in brown sweaters, followed by clips from their careers. If anyone has the clip of Mike Milbury yelling, "Just another day at the #%$#%^& office! Just pick up your %&^%&^%& paycheck and $^%$& go home," please post it in the comments or email me or something. Hilarious stuff.

But nobody really REALLY cares about what sweater Milbury's wearing. They're here for the game. Or on the couch for the game. Whatever.

The first 14 minutes or so are pretty nerve-wracking. Then Jason Blake manages to get one past Thomas.
0-1. Please don't let us lose 3 in a row when the second two are the Blues and Leafs.

But then Mr. "It was all my fault we lost the last game" decides that he's going to do something about it this time. With 5 minutes to go in the first, and about a minute since the Leafs goal, Blake Wheeler helps move it around the zone, then heads for the front of the net. Luckily, he's 6'5" so he screens Toskala. More importantly, he deflects the puck between his legs and then Ryder shows up behind him just in case it doesn't go in. Ryder doesn't even get to touch the puck.

1-1. I never blamed Wheeler for the loss, but I do like his determination.

The second period led to a Lee Stempniak goal, former player for the Blues (ugh) and then...

Brad May. Of all the people to score against the Bruins, why's it gotta be Brad May?
1-3. End of the second. You've eaten your wings and gone through some beers, so the rest of the game is a little hazy. For a while, someone was calling me "Versus Boy" because they are old and I prefer Versus to JOKESPN.

3 minutes into the 3rd, that reunited Ryder-Wheeler-Krejci line gets set up in the zone. They move it around a bunch and Wheeler sets up in front again after passing it back to Wideman. Wideman tees up, and Wheeler tries to deflect. Wheeler misses, but luckily there's a Leaf standing there and it goes off his skate.

2-3. Could this be the beginning of a comeback?

6 minutes left, now. Bruins on the powerplay. Wideman gets the puck, and the Bruins start moving it around on the right hand side. The D moves a little bit, then a little more, then a little more, then all of a sudden, the biggest player in the league is behind them on the doorstep, and Savard gets a clear pass to Chara, and, well...

3-3. Ok, 6 minutes to go. It's all tied up. Holy crap, that was a nice play by Chara. Look at him, all 6'9" of him, just sneaking in behind the Leafs. Some days he's a Velociraptor, some days he's a giant, but today... Today, Zdeno Chara is a ninja.

Then Ponikarovsky flips it out with less than 4 minutes to go and gets a delay of game. Sweet, another Powerplay, the Bruins have been doing well on-

Crap. Michael Ryder gets hooking called on him. Looks like we're in for some 4-on-4 hockey.

4-on-4 is exciting, and the Bruins are good at it, but they don't score.

This time a high stick doesn't score with .8 seconds to go and we're headed to Overtime. I guess they just don't want to go on break.

The big story about overtime is Martin "I'm generously listed as 5'9" and have a 63" stick" St. Pierre getting called for tripping on what was an obvious dive (through my goggles, at least, but what do I know? I'm watching on a big screen in the Hard Rock Cafe lounge.)

There's 1:40 left, and the Bruins play every second 3-on-4. Looks like this one is going to a shootout.

Shootout results:
Lee Stempniak Scores.
Blake Wheeler answers. Basically uses the same move, but better.
1-1
Tim Thomas stops Hagman.
Krejci misses completely.
1-1
Jason Blake scores.
Martin St. Pierre gets a story written about him.
2-2. Looks like the shootout's going to overtime (vomit)
Toronto sends out Nikolai Kulemin, who's scored 7 goals all year for the leaf. Thomas comes up big.
Commisioner Julien puts out the Ryd-signal.
Oh yeah, I went there. And here it is, just a goal-scorers goal. That's what the commentators would say, right?

3-2. Bruins win the Skills competition, and away they go.

Game.

SO WIN!

vs. TOR: 4-1-0
Record: 34-8-5 (W1)
Away: 17-5-3 (W1)
L10: 6-3-1
January: 6-3-1
I'm so relieved they got that out.
Steve Dangle will review this game eventually, but hasn't yet.
GO BRUINS!

Game 47 Preview: Bruins@Toronto ROAR

Jan 21, 2009 7:30 PM ET
ET TV: NESN
Radio: WBZ 1030AM
@ Toronto Maple Leafs (17-22-7)
Notes:

• While no-one was looking, the Bruins worked their way up to having the league's 7th-best PK, after starting out the season with the worst.
• The Bruins are hosting a game-watching event at the Hard Rock Cafe at Faniuel Hall, starting at 6:30.  I'll be there, because I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff.
  
• In a recent Maple Leafs practice, the NHL put in nets with different-shaped crossbar and posts.  It's supposed to make more pucks deflect in.
• This is the last game until Tuesday.  There's an exhibition game going on in Canada somewhere, and I guess some of the players on the team will be there for that.  Congrats to them.
• The big news is that Aaron Ward could play tonight.  At least when he does get injured, he comes back quickly.
• Basically, either the Bruins will have lost to two non-playoff teams in a row heading into the break, or we'll all get to call monday's game a fluke on a bad call at the end and move on.  Either way, the reactions will last until they have the skills competition on Saturday night.
• Montreal and Washington both lost last night, so a Win tonight would give the Bruins a 10-point cushion atop the East.

Previous Games:

• Game 7: Bruins 2 TOR 4: Bruins scored twice, then Lucic put Mike Van Ryn through the glass. Then the leafs scored 4 unanswered goals.
  
• Game 13: Bruins 5 TOR 2: Blake Wheeler got a hat trick and some girl threw a bra on the ice.
  
• Game 18: Bruins 3 TOR 2: Tim Thomas saves the day, and the Bruins manage to get a win out of the game.
  
• Game 31: Bruins 8 TOR 5: Tim, Manny, CuJo, and Toskala all took a turn in net in this ridiculous shootout. Sturm set off the scoring 36 seconds in, and now he's out for the season. Dammit.
  

Other Previews:

• Joe Pelletier: Gives us a taste of what game ads looked like in the 1930s.
  
• Here Come the Bruins: "What pre-2004 Red Sox fans were to baseball, Leafs fans are to hockey."
• Double A Hockey: "Blake Wheeler is my new favorite Bruin - I still love Lucic, but after I saw 500 teenage girls with Lucic shirts, and the two annoying ones in front of me couldn't figure out what icing meant, I had enough. Somehow the teenage population hasn't fully caught on to Wheels yet, but I can always go back to PJAX when they do."
• Cameron Frye: "Blake Wheeler, who died and made you Hal Gill?"
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: "My guess is that all the injured guys will stay out of the lineup until after the break and Manny Fernandez will get the start tonight."
• The Bear Cave: "17 members of the Maple Leafs and 16 of the Bruins have all picked up at least one point, meaning 33 players have figured into the scoring."
• Matt Kalman: "it doesn’t take Toe Blake to look at the Bruins’ current line-up and realize that the time for beautiful goals and dazzling odd-man rushes are over until the team returns to some semblance of full health. "
• Local Papers: boston.com | Herald | 
• NESN First Shift: "With the Bruins coming off a shootout loss that they easily could have taken two points from, this is once again a good chance for them to get back on the winning track and gain momentum heading into the All-Star break. "
  
• bruins.nhl.com: Preview | Game Notes (pdf)

Stats:

In the top picture, Thornton scored that goal.

GO BRUINS!

L10: Games 31-40: 8-2-0

Well, the Bruins got all the way to 10 wins in a row only to drop the last 2 games. They haven't looked as good as before and they're definitely playing better teams than before. I have a feeling it might get worse before it gets better. Here's what happened in the last 10 games:

• Game 31: Bruins 8, TOR 5: David Krejci gets his first NHL Hat Trick, Wideman cracks glass, Toskala is pulled and then replaced. Each Toronto goalie gives up 4 goals. Kessel Streak: 16 games.
• Game 32: Bruins 4 CAR 2: Bruins look like crap the whole night, still double-up on the Canes thanks to an empty netter. Patrice Bergeron gets another concussion, this time while hitting a guy. Terrible. Kessel Streak: 17 games
• Game 33: Bruins 6 STL 3: It's a battle of the Mannys, but Wheeler steals the show in the first 5 minutes, scoring a short-handed goal for a possible goal of the year. In the first period, 2 penalties each have a SHG and a PPG. Martin St. Pierre gets an assist in his first game with the Bs. Kessel Streak: 18 games.
• Game 34: Bruins 2 NJD 0: Kessel's streak ends but Thomas makes a BEAUTIFUL save on Elias to get a shutout and Lucic scores in his 8th game. Krejci pots the empty netter. This is the first time the Bruins have won more than 5 in a row all season.
• Game 35: Bruins 3 CAR 2: Blake Wheeler scored 2 goals in less than 5 minuts for the millionth time. A Savard pass leads to the game-winner.
  
• Game 36: Bruins 2 ATL 1: The Bruins finish a season sweep of the Thrashers. This time it's krejci passing to Ryder that causes the game-winner.
  
• Game 37: Bruins 5 PIT 2: The highlight of this game is a 4-on-3 Bruins powerplay with Savard and Krecji up front. They get into the offensive zone, and prove the Greater Crisp Passing Theory of hockey.
  
• Game 38: Bruins 4 PIT 2: 10 in a row. The Bruins continue to beat the slumping pens, scoring an empty netter to finish this one off. Vladimir Sobotka stands up Jordan Staal at the blue line.
  
• Game 39: Bruins 2 BUF 4: The winning streak ends. The Buffalo defense was fantastic, the Bruins couldn't get anything going, except a Shawn Thornton goal.
  
• Game 40: Bruins 0 MIN 1: Minnesota grinds out a 1-0 win on the strength of a Marek Zidlicky power play slap shot. The Wild are undefeated in Boston over 5 games here. Dammit.
  

5 Questions with the enemy Review:

Game 34: Puck Daddy

Bonus question: Is your job the best ever?

Since leering at Scarlett Johansson while she sleeps can’t really be considered a profession, yes.
Game 40: Wild Road Tripper from Hitting the Post

3) You travel to many Wild away games, and have home season tickets. Is that awesome or totally awesome?

WRT: With the number of Wild games I see in person (50 this season alone) I have somewhat of a feeling of how players and the rest of the teams' travelling party feels like. For them, it's a real grind. Thank God, they get to fly charter. The rest of us are stuck with commercial flights, a lot of which are late and/or cancelled. Say what you will, but the NHL really needs to rethink how it schedules games. To ask anyone to play hockey in Southern California (or Florida) one night and in sub-zero Minnesota (or, Ottawa) 48 hours later is asking a lot. It's good and it's bad for me (and my wife) as our schedule is set so far in advance we normally get cheap air fares (cheaper after Southwest begins serving Minneapolis-St. Paul, March 6) but then we have very little flexibility to change our minds after we commit to a game. I know the B's don't have that much of a problem with it, but out here we are really screwed.

Game 40: Greg Nation, friend of the Blog.

Which Boston-area mascot is the best?

I hate mascots. In fact, everyone above the age of 5 does. They're stupid, cartoonish creations that detract from the seriousness of the sport. But, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Boston Massacre Roller Derby's mascot, which appears to be a drunk guy in a lobster suit with a rifle.

Watch your back, Minnesota.

Best Goal:

Blake Wheeler, 4:59 into Game 33 vs. St. Louis. This is shorthanded, mind:

Best Save:

Tim Thomas, second period of Game 34 in New Jersey. Elias has a wide open net and Thomas is sprawled out from a save on Parise. SAVE. So huge.

Best Hit:
Vladimir Sobotka on Jordan Staal. Sobotka is tiny, Staal is huge.

Record: 29-7-4
L10: 8-2-0
GO BRUINS!

Game 31 Recap: BRUINS 8 MAPLE LEAFS 5 THE NIGHT OF 4 GOALIES

Well, that was a heck of a game.  Let's see, Sturm was in the lineup to start the game.  On that first shift, they- GOAL!

1-0.  You're checking the time.  Oh, it's 36 seconds in.  Marco Sturm's first shift back.  And he scored.  Huge.

Then a couple minutes later, Krejci passes it up to the point, it's kept in.  Over to Lucic.  Lucic sends it right down the middle onto Krejci's stick, Krejci embarasses Vesa Toskala.  GOAL!

2-0.  You're wondering just what kind of world this is, with all this early scoring.

So is Ron Wilson.  He pulls Vesa "I let in a goal from the other goal line" Toskala in favor of the 41-year-old CuJo.  You've gotta change your taunting chant.

Kubina comes in and scores one, to get the end of period score to

2-1.

The second period starts, and the Bruins get on the powerplay.

Chara gets it at the point, Slaps it in.  Savard tips it up and in.

3-1.  Your legs are getting tired from all of this standing and cheering.

Then Wheeler picks it up at the faceoff circle in his own zone, and skates it up into the offensive zone.  He goes left, then gives it to a streaking David Krejci.  Krejci skates all the way in, then goes around CuJo and puts it in.  It's not even really a shot.  He just skates it all the way to the goal line.

4-1.  You're thinking that Krejci's got two now...interesting.

Kessel picks it up in the offensive zone, gives it to savard for safekeeping through the neutral zone.  Kessel gets it back from Savard, and rockets one in from the top of the circle.

5-1.  If you picked the over, you're happy right now.

Then with 12 minutes to go in the second, Thomas lets in 3 Toronto Goals in a row. In less than 10 minutes, it's

5-4.

But the second period isn't over yet. 

Savard gets it behind the night, he gives it to Kessel.  Kessel fakes, then wrists one home.

6-4.  You're wondering if the Bruins will score again with 2 minutes left, and whether they're going to have to put Toskala in.  Thomas has let a few in, but at least the Bruins are winning the perio-  awwwwww.

Toronto goes on the powerplay, Jason Blake sits at the corner with the puck.  Mark Stuart stares at him for a few seconds, then he rips one high short side.

6-5.

The second period ends.  When the third begins, both goalies have been switched out and we're seeing the battle of the 35s - Manny vs. Toskala.  Manny makes a bunch of solid saves.  Toskala has a solid first 10 minutes of the period.

Then Chara picks it up in the Bruins corner.  He passes across the zone to Ryder.  Ryder skates it in.  There are three defenders around him and he has Axelsson out to the right.  So of course he skates it to the goal and wrists one behind Toskala.  GOAL!

7-5.  This is starting to get a little ridiculous, but the Bruins are only up by two.  You're telling yourself "Toronto could come back..."

5 minutes later, The Bruins go back on the powerplay.  Oh wait, that's a 1:30 5-on-3.  Wideman passes from the left point to the right corner, Savard gets it.  Savard wails on it, sending it right in front of Toskala.  Krejci holds his stick down, it bounces in (Ok, there was a little shot-motion in there, too, but you get the idea)

8-5.  The Bruins manage to keep things under wraps for the last 4+ minutes.

Game.

WIN!

Record: 22-5-4 (W3)

Home Record: 12-1-1 (W12)

Kessel Scoring Streak: 16 games.

L10: 8-2-0

vs. TOR: 3-1-0

December: 6-1-0

GO BRUINS!

Game 31: Toronto @ Bruins 11 WIN HOME STREAK ON THE LINE

Dec 18, 2008 7:00 PM ET

TV: NESN

Radio: WBZ

vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (12-12-6)

Notes:

• This is the last time the Maple Leafs are scheduled to play in Boston this season, and the 4th meeting so far.
• The Maple leafs are the last team to beat the Bruins at home, on October 23rd.
• Marco Sturm is off LTIR and is a game-time decision for tonight's game.
• Thomas in net.
• The Bruins PP is up to a full 25%.  That's one out of every 4 PPs, the Bruins score.  The Maple Leafs have the 3rd-worst PK in the league right now.
• In case you forgot, there's an 11-game home winning streak for the Bruins.
• Phil Kessel is on a 15-game point streak.
• The Maple Leafs can be sneaky good, and are on a bit of a tear, here.  The Bruins would do well not to let them sneak up, again.

Previous Games:

• Game 7: Oct 23, @Bruins 2, TOR 4: Milan Lucic put Mike Van Ryn through the glass, but the Bruins let in 4 unanswered goals after the first period to lose the game.  This was the Bruins most recent home loss.
• Game 13: Nov 6, @Bruins 5, TOR 2: Blake Wheeler scores his first career hat trick, and it was party-time in recap-land.
• Game 18: Nov 17, Bruins 3, @TOR 2: Savard's indirect pass to Kessel on the first goal of this game was very pretty.  Versus is interviewing Peter Chiarelli when Ryder scores.  C'mon, Versus, you can do better.  Thomas absolutely STOLE this game, and rightfully had every save highlight 

Other Previews:

• Here Come the Bruins!: "The Bruins have consistently jumped out to large leads this season, only to let off the gas later in the game. If that happens again against Toronto, it might be costly."
• Bruins Hockey Blog
• Double A Hockey
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: "Can NESN trade Jack Edwards for Joe Bowen, the Leafs announcer? That guy is awesome, no bones aboot it!"
• HubHockey.com: "Toronto has been hot lately winning their last three games and killing off 24 of 26 penalty kills in their last eight."
• The Bear Cave: "Thanks to his hat trick on November 6th, Blake Wheeler is the leading scorer in the season series with four goals in three games." 
• NESN First Shift: "Tim Thomas (12-3-3, 2.08) vs. Vesa Toskala (12-9-5, 3.01)"
• boston.com: thumbnails
• BruinsBlog: Morning Briefing (refs) | Lines
  
• bruins.nhl.com: Preview | GameDay | Game Notes (pdf)
  

Stats:

GO BRUINS!