Game 8 Recap: BRUINS 3 PREDS 2 YESSSSSSSSSSS

There's a saying or general feeling in sports where if you want to perform well you can't get too high or too low. Well as a fan that would be good for one's mental health or whatever but screw it.

THE BRUINS WON YAYYYYY

(ok, it was a little ugly but whatever)

Despite having a very different lineup and roster, the Bruins managed to pull a win out against the Nashville Predators, who...continue their losing streak to 6 games now. Hell, even the islanders won last night. Chuck Kobasew got put out on the starting lineup of overtime with Mikko Koivu last night, and the Wild ended up winning that game too!

Let's review:

Derek Morris takes some crap penalty. The Bruins technically killed it off but a couple seconds later they give up an even strength goal.

0-1

You're all "oh shit" and also "who the hell is Jerrod Smithson" but whatever. The play is pretty back and forth and the Bruins only get 5 shots on goal in the period.

Second Period

We get a faceoff and then they're foolish enough to give Ryder just a little bit of time and space in front of the net. 16 seconds into the period, we're all tied up. Pretty snipe, too.

GOAL!
1-1

Brad Marchand gets his first NHL point, an assist. Way to go, kiddo! Next up we get a Too Many Men penalty - not as bad as the Habs 7-on-5 mishap, but still a penalty. Basically a poorly-timed pass that went right past our bench at the wrong second. Ryder sits in the box for two minutes, but the Bruins remember how to kill penalties today. And good thing, too, because pretty soon after the penalty is up the only guy in the building with a championship banner in the rafters pots one.

1-2

Of course Colin Wilson is going to score in front of his hometown crowd. Jerk.

Well after that things start to get a little rough but eventually Bergeron and Ryder get into the zone and Bergeron tucks in Chara's rebound.

GOAL!
2-2

Then immediately afterwards (like, off the next faceoff pretty much) Mark Stuart gets called for interference. FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THE NIGHT THE BRUINS KILL A PENALTY. Bet it all on black tonight, something good is going on. Some more shoving goes on but whatever.

Third Period.

Early on in the Period the Bruins go on their first powerplay of the night. No SHG against, no SOG. At all. None recorded. Whatever, the Bruins go on another powerplay and the same shit happens.

Seriously, Dan Ellis didn't need to make a Short-handed or powerplay save all night. blergh.

So after all that, Shea Weber checks a ref and loses the puck. Paille scoops it up, centers to Begin. Begin buries it.

GOAL!
3-2

Here's a note on Paille from a Buffalo fan. The Bruins hold on to the lead for the rest of the night. However, things got really tense at about 1:30 left when Ellis headed to the bench. The Preds kept up enough pressure to stop an empty netter, and called a timeout with 30 seconds to go. At this point if you looked up to the upper level you could see Cam Neely standing. Awesome. If the game went on about 5 seconds longer the Preds might have tied it up, but the green light came on before a red one did.

GAME.
WIN!
Record: 4-4-0
Home Record: 3-3-0
Streak: 1 Win
Not too shabby against one of the worst teams in the league right now.
GO BRUINS!

Game 8 Preview: Bruins vs. Nashville INSERT SEXUAL PREDATOR JOKE HERE

Game 8
7 PM ET October 21st
NESN, 98.5 Sports Hub
vs. Nashville Predators (2-4-1)

Well, if you haven't gone over a cliff or into a toaster-laden bathtub or done the hangman's jig by now then I guess it's about time for a hockey game. If you haven't heard, Savard is out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. If you want to go break something, I'll wait. Try not to let it be another Bruin.

...
...
...
...

Anyhow now that you're back there is in fact a game on tonight. The preds kinda suck, but are looking for that breakout game that a shaken-up Bruins squad might give them. Then again, maybe the rookies will pull through. I have no idea.

See you at the game.
Don't jump off the Zakim afterwards.
GO BRUINS!

Savard out 4-6 weeks, Sturm Last Man Standing

Goddamn. Savard out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. I suppose the ray of light in this is that Sturm is still healthy, but it's been a hell of a first couple weeks to the season.

I think we should just throw in the towel and get two lottery picks. (KIDDING I SWEAR)

Get used to Krejci-Bergeron-Sobotka-Begin, folks. It could be worse, I think. 4-6 weeks isn't the whole season by a long shot.

Welp.
GO BRUINS!

Dan Paille trade is for veteran Catwalker, middling forward

Well, my previous method of finding out about new Bruins acquisitions by typing their name into youtube has worked again. Here's the thing: The first video is of him laying out a hab, and the third - THAT'S 1-2-3 THIRD - is of him at a "Charity Catwalk." I think this whole Improper Bostonian thing is rubbing off.

For your review, and because I'm not clever enough to sub in the fashion show scene from Slapshot:

Sheesh.

At least the fourth video is Paille laying out another Hab. If he can do that more often, he'll have a lot of friends in Boston. If he's too busy doing fashion shows where the announcer says it's his "best shot all year" then we might have a problem. We only gave up a 3rd and conditional 4th and his contract expires at the end of the year. Looking good, Chiarelli. Re-sign a couple guys now.

Kobasew shirts will be wicked cheap though, and Wild fans out there want a shirt to go along with the new Savior of the Franchise?

UPDATE

He knocks Chara over, but is worse for wear post-hit.
O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

I think I need more centered text.

Preds up tonight. More on that later.

GO BRUINS!

hu-wah? What happened?

So hey everyone I've been out with sleeping-all-day-and-coughing-when-I'm-not-sleeping-itis for a good part of the weekend and haven't updated (as you can see) in any meaningful way recently. If you haven't heard by now the Bruins beat the Stars 3-0 (WOOOOO) and then lost to the coyotes 1-4 (called it). Then Lucic had surgery on his finger. He's out 4-6 weeks and on LTIR.

On top of all that, we traded Chuck Kobasew for Craig Weller, MIN's 2nd-round pick in 2011, and rights to some kid named Fallstrom. Well let's fire up the old youtube and see if we can't find some clips of the new guy.

Welp. Let's see if he's ever done anything besides crush everything in sight?

Nope.
Well, he'll enjoy playing in the AHL some more I hope.

We've got so many draft picks right now it's ridiculous. Like, seriously.

Oh and the Bruins are very stylish. Ladies, this link's for you.

Do you think if I get a purple tie I can be an NHL centerman like Patrice Bergeron?
GO BRUINS!

Game 7 Preview: Bruins @ Coyotes WHEELER WHEELER WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Mailing it in, I'll probably have to revisionist-historicize my recap of last night's game. Anyhow, I've been saying Phoenix will win tonight for a while. Here's to proving me wrong, Gents.

Oh yeah Wheeler got drafted by the coyotes but would rather play college than be a desert dog. Hilarious. Head over to fiveforhowling.com or stanleycupofchowder.com for game threads etc.

Hoping for more effort than I used on this post in the game.

GO BRUINS!

Game 6 Preview: Bruins @ Dallas EVERYBODY HATES DALLAS

Especially Minnesota fans. Damn you Norm Green.

Got work all day away from a computer, enjoy the video and the game.
I heard Ott was out with Lucic Flu. When Sean Avery is the guy standing up for you...

8:30 pm, NESN
GO BRUINS!

4-3 BRUINS CAN'T STOP THAT RAGING AVALANCHE

The Avs have been looking good this year. They dropped that Joe Sakic loser, and now they're doing better than last year, at least. As for the Bruins? They still haven't gotten back on their feet aside from that one game against those season-ending chumps, and those 8 or so minutes + one shootout against the Islanders. Well, yesterday sure wasn't much of an improvement.

Pregame:

Got to the Gahden early, with about half an hour before the game. Sauntered my way up to Cornelius's seats (Cheers, mate) and sat down. I got antsy, and so went for a beer. 20 minutes or so of random hockey blabbering at my fiance later and the lights dimmed. I thought to myself, "game recap's on me today, better take some pictures!" and whipped out my phone. I took a blurry-as-hell photo of the B's lining up for the anthem, and then forgot about it. But enough about me, let's get to the game.

Part 1:

The Bruins came out hard. They looked great for the first few minutes, getting several nice shots off that Mr. Anderson managed to deflect away safely. The Avs manage to take it into our zone once or twice, but don't start much of anything. Then Matty Hunwick hooks, and the Bruins go on the penalty kill. "Well," I think, "At least it--" and then Hejduk puts in a wrister that Tuukka doesn't do much against.

1-0 Falling Snows

Puck drops, the announcer starts announcing the goal, and all of a sudden Hannan puts another one on the board. Luckily, it was the end of anything interesting in the first. The Bruins played softly while the Avalanche allowed few scoring opportunities.

2-0 Crashing Mountains

At some point, Anderson manages to trip up a Bruin behind the net. Bruins do nothing with the ensuing power play. Then the period ends.

I head for a new set of beers, and get ready for the second period, nervous but hopeful.

Part 2

The Bruins come out mediocre. I can't say they came out like a bat out of hell, or some other strange analogy, as they really didn't. The two teams played some back and forth puck-ball for a while. Finally, getting a good rush on, they manage a hard shot on Anderson from the blue line. Bergeron ends up with the puck behind the net after the rebound and, as he's wont to do, dishes it out to Old Man Recchi in the left circle. Recchi does what he does.

2-1, starting to look up.

More back-and-forth, and a quick pass forward sends Ryder on a rush. He sends it in front of the goal, where Wheeler, who just skated past the two Colorado defenders, is just waiting for it. Anderson thinks the shot's coming from Ryder at the boards, leaving about 22.5 square feet of net for Wheeler to backhand the puck into. Light the lamp, Zombie Nation.

2-2. Back to the beginning.

The game's half over now, and we're right back where we started. Then Chara gets called for interference.

Power play goal, Marek Svatos, 3-2, vomit.

A few minutes later, Svatos is nice enough to get caught tripping, giving us our fourth power play of the game. While the Bruins watch, Galiardi takes the puck out of the Avs' zone and up the boards. Three Blackshirts converge on him, two of them taking him down while Ryder goes for the puck. With the Bruins doing their best imitation of the 08-09 Rangers' power play, Galiardi gets back up, frees himself (and the puck) enough to send the puck over to David Jones, who is already behind the two defenders (kindly hanging out behind Galiardi still). Breakaway, goal, vomit.

4-2 Avalanche.

The second plays out, with a stunned crowd surrounding the ice.

Part 3:

This time the Bruins were a bit fired up. No more stupid penalties, no more stupid mistakes. Too bad we were already down 4-2 and weren't playing the Islanders. 6+ minutes in, a few deflected shots lead to a backhand by Ryder that nobody saw coming, especially Anderson. Hope creeps back in.

4-3, 2/3 of a period left!

Sadly, that was the last interesting thing to happen, short of the Bruins icing the puck while trying to pull Rask, and then Lucic getting a roughing penalty after the final buzzer. Dejected fans stroll out, I head home, plenty of day left, plenty of time to spend the rest of Columbus day growing my larynx back.

So what now? Well, the B's got the day off today. Instead of practicing, they got to enjoy a lovely 50 degree rainy day in our fine city of Boston. Next they head out on the road to face Dallas on Friday. Let's hope this homestand has knocked some sense into our Black and Gold friends. They'll need to really find their energy if they want any hope of competing this year.

Think towards the future though. There are plenty of games left, and April is far away. This is only the beginning. And, as always,

GO BRUINS!

Game 5 Preview: Avalanche @ Bruins WOLSKI WOLSKI WOLSKI

(Picture taken last week. No, really, at the 'canes game.)
GAME 5
1 PM ET
Monday, October 12th
vs. Colorado Avalanche (2-1-1)

Notes:

• Dennis Wideman is out with an injured shoulder. Johnny Boychuk should be playing in his first NHL game of the season. Despite seeing Wideman getting turned inside out sometimes, he's an important part of the defense and I'm hoping we don't lose him for a long time.
• We last played Colorado last year on the opening-night-tour road trip last year. We won.
• This is the fifth in the Bruins record 5-game homestand to start the season. They go on the road while the circus comes to town next, though that game against the ducks was pretty clowny.
• Woltek Wolski is up to his usual early-season scoring ways again, leading the avs with 4g 1a through their first four games. In those 4 games, they've beaten the Sharks and Canucks, but lost to the Preds and Blackhawks. Here's to continuing their slide.
  
• The Avs have a new mascot: A St. Bernard. It even has a barrel around it's neck, presumably to help Avs fans black out any memory of last season.
• RAY BOURQUE RAY BOURQUE RAY BOURQUE RAY BOURQUE
• Colorado fans are going to have to wake up early to catch this game: It starts at 11 AM local time for them.
• The last time two boston sports teams played teams from the same area, we lost 6-1 to the ducks and the Sox ended their season. Yesterday the pats lost in overtime (because they forgot how to score in the second half) so, um...shit.
  

Stats:

Every player I've mentioned on the other team so far has scored or otherwise done well, so I figure I'll help my fantasy team with this one:
Woltek Wolski
GO BRUINS!

Game 4 Review: BRUINS 4 ISLANDERS 3 HAHAHAHAHA WHAT

So I missed this game because of a wedding (Congrats to the happy couple!) but I was following along via phoneternet. So right about the time wedding cake was getting served, preseason superstar John Sim was scoring for the Islanders.

Yeah, THAT John Sim. ugggh

John Tavares also baby-faced his way to a goal. Whoop-de-freaking-do.

Seriously, he's playing pretty well so far.

So it looked like the Bruins were going to drop another game and end up going 1-3-0 to start the season, and then the third period started. By all accounts the Bruins stole the game, which is always good. Then they realized that HELLO IT IS THE ISLANDERS WE SHOULD NOT BE LOSING TO THEM PEOPLE LETS GET THIS TOGETHER

Oh, I get it! Score THROUGH the goalie!

Seriously, look at the hole in his chest. Nice going. Now it's time to put some pucks in there.
Ready?

GO!
Savard.
1-3.
Bitz.
2-3.
Hunwick.
3-3.
End of the third.

Shootout city.
4-3
WIN!
GO BRUINS!

Game 4 Preview: Tavares @ Bruins TAVARES TAVARES TAVARES

I'm at a wedding this weekend, so here's your even-more-mailed-in-than-usual preview:

John Tavares was the first overall pick in the last draft.
Roloson and probably Thomas in nets. Boychuk might not be playing. I assume if the Bruins lose to the fucking ISLANDERS we'll be seeing Tuukka and Johnny on Monday.
GO BRUINS!

Game 3 Review: VOMIT

uuuuurrrrggggh

So every goddamn team that I was rooting for last night lost to California. Bruins lost 6-1, Sox lost 5-0 (or something), Wild fell apart at the very end to lose 6-3, and Columbus didn't quite have it against Heatley's hat trick. At least my fantasy team with him doesn't start scoring until next week.

The Bruins powerplay sucked so hard that I was hoping the Bruins would take a penalty just to even the numbers of players on the ice. The PK managed to let old man teemu to bury 2 goals. If Tim Thomas is going to be a sieve every other game maybe the Bruins should look at this promising Rask kid soon. I expect him to play sometime this weekend, but I'm no NHL coach.

Also, the team in front of thomas looked like shit pretty much. I don't know nearly enough about defensive play to really criticize that, but I do know that the Bitz-Begin-Thornton line seemed to be the only ones still working after that beautiful Marco Sturm goal.

I mean goddamn. That one was the way the Bruins are supposed to play. They get the puck out of the zone and before the Ducks can do everything, Savard is dishing the puck to Sturm, who drives it five-hole for a pretty goal.

MARCO THE GERMAN STURMINATOR STURM
1-0

Hell yeah this game rules! WOOOO

Then you watch the kids come out and whoever was 99 in red was either playing below his age or the Hobey Baker winner 2020. Scored two goals, looked great out there.

Then, uh...

shit.

everything sorta goes black for a while, and I remember yelling at the refs a lot. A whole ton, really. 2 quick calls against the Bruins led to two quick goals by the Selanne. Goddamn I hate the Ducks.

Blah blah corey perry is a bitch blah blah

Bobby Ryan, don't you hit Blake like that! I'M TELLING YOUR MOTHER YOUNG MAN!

Anyhow, California sucks.
GO BRUINS!

Game 3 Preview: Anaheim @ Boston FINNS? IN OUR HOUSE?

Look! Finns!

GAME 3
OCTOBER 8, 2009
7:00 PM ET
vs. ANAHEIM (0-1-0)

Here's some random thoughts since I can't piece together a coherent sentence right now:

• Corey Perry is a little bitch. Getzlaf is a beast. And this team just let the Minnesota Wild score 3 goals in the third period for their first 3-goal 3rd-period comeback ever.
• Anaheim is one of my least favorite teams in the league. Screw 'em.
• I hope Hiller is as much of a sieve as Giguere was last night.
• Goddamn I have been mailing these in. One of these days...
• Gameday threads at SCoC and BoC.
• Oh and there's a baseball game on right after, also Anaheim vs. Boston.
  

GO SOX!
GO BRUINS!

LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Milan Lucic signed a 3-year deal with the Bruins today. How does that make you feel?

I'LL TELL YOU HOW THAT MAKES YOU FEEL

LIKE PUTTING A GUY THROUGH THE GLASS

OR HANGING THREE ON ATLANTA

OR CRUSHING SUCKAS

BEEN DOING THIS SINCE HE STARTED

YOU WANT TO STEP TO THIS?

12.25 million/3 years = 4ish/year. Take away his current cap hit (850k) and glen murray's buyout (1.38m) and it's like he signed for less than 2million over his current cap hit. Of course, that doesn't help much considering we're already up against the cap. Hrmmmm.

(p.s. how much was it for? I'm a little scared...)
GO BRUINS!

GAME 2 RECAP: BRUINS 7 CANES 2 WHERE WAS THIS IN MAY

This was a pretty huge game. Bruins came out attacking, and you're not getting a very complete recap as a result of too many goals.

First of all, the Fred Cusick tribute video:

Package marked: "c/o dafoomie"

Here's your first:

Savard.

Ryder.

Wheeler.

Savard's was a third chance on a powerplay that Cam Ward had no chance at.

Ryder one-timed a rebound from the slot. On the nhl.tv clip, the carolina announcer was just talking about him when he scoops it in.

Wheeler got his on a 2-on-1 rush.

3 goals in 21 shots. So that was the first period. What a game!

Then your second period:

Begin dumps Aaron Ward on his ass. Conflicting moment, there. Aaron Ward is awesome but so is seeing a hurricane get knocked over. More on that later.

DON'T MIND ME, I'M JUST STURMFACING OVER HERE. Savard picks off a pass around the boards and throws it to Sturm right in front of the net. Sturm puts it in. Delightfully done. Welcome back, Marco!

Caaaaaaaaaam Waaaaaaaaaaaard sits down for the night.

Michael Leighton lets in a powerplay goal from Wideman at the point. Chara has been sneaking in down low recently.

Scott Walker. 5-1.

Begin forechecks the shit out of Andrew Alberts, puts it in front of Leighton and Thornton taps it in.

Not only did they annihilate the Hurricanes on the scoreboard, they also did it on the ice.

At 4:30 of that clip, you watch Thornton casually skate over to Alberts, not even watching the play. A man with purpose, with poise. Then Jack Edwards (bless that man's homer voice) goes off on the fight. Shades of Dallas. And a killer win to boot.

Oh yeah Matt Hunwick scored one too.

Game.

WIN!

7-2

There are 5 Bruins who haven't scored a point (must have played). They are: Krejci, Bitz, Kobasew, Ference, Thomas.

Shawn Thornton still has twice as many fights than goals.

That's more like it.

GO BRUINS!

GAME 2: Bruins vs. Hurricanes: Revenge?

Let's get 2 point out of this one, boys. If you don't know what this game means, you just started following the Bruins. Welcome! The Carolina Hurricanes knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs last year in overtime of game 7 of the Conference Semifinals. Here's the picture everybody's going to lead with, may as well get it out of the way:Here's what to really remember about May 14th, 2009:Byron Bitz started the scoring from Krejci and Ryder, having taken Blake Wheeler's spot in the playoffs. Local promising new rookie gets the "we want bitz" treatment and now he's just put the bruins ahead in game 7 at home. This was a good day, truly.

Then Rod the Bod put one in, followed by former Bruins Sergei Samsonov. There's a feeling of dread that comes into play here. That "oh shit, please let the bruins score. Pretty please.

Milan Lucic tied it up in the third, as the refs put away their whistles. There's hope. Third period ends, and I just get this awful feeling. You know this could easily not end well. You've seen the Bruins lose in OT before. Usually off some fluke shit goal. Your fears are answered:

Overtime. Game 7. Scott Walker.Fin.

Game is at 7pm on NESN. Tonight, they will be honoring the Memory of Fred Cusick, who passed away recently at the age of 90. He's going to get a silver microphone hung next to Johnny Most's, and the NESN Broadcasting booth will be re-named the Fred Cusick broadcasting booth. If you don't know why, look up some highlights on youtube. Or check out his book.

SCORE! BOBBY ORR!

Hurricanes also dropped their first game, to the Flyers, 2-0. They had like 800 powerplays. If Ray Emery can shut them out, hmm.

Here's to some real live Saturday night hockey.
GO BRUINS!

GAME 1 RECAP: <3 Patrice <3

BONJOUR! Je m'appelle Patrice Bergeron! J'ai marqué un but!

Thanks, Alix!

Aside from Patrice Bergeron being the man, we now know that Derrick Morris doesn't like Ovechkin...probably because of this:

You can't see it, but the puck goes BETWEEN Morris's legs. He threw some good hits tonight, most against the Gr8 one. (excuse me, I need to vomit about that.)

Patrice Bergeron is also looking absolutely great. No really, fantastic. Oh look, here he is scoring the Bruins only goal, basically short-handed but .00001 seconds too late to be counted as such (lame):

(apologies to Evan for NHL video clip and sentence fragments :))

Oh game recap? Sure: Ovechkin, Ovechkin, Ovechkin, Ovechkin, Bergeron.

4-1.

Fin.

The Bruins looked like they were trying a bunch of passes that just barely missed. A lot. It's frustrating to watch.

They'll be better on Saturday, right? RIGHT?

GO BRUINS!

GAME 1: Capitals @ Bruins HOME OPENER

THRREEEEEEE ORRRR MOOOORRRREE

GOOD MORNING BOSTON (and possible readers elsewhere). It's a beautiful morning here, perfect weather to cram into an arena or bar or living room to watch THE BEGINNING OF HOCKEY SEASON!!! There are few words to describe how excited I am at this point, and if you're reading this you probably don't need to hear them again and again and again.

The offseason has been a wild one, what with the court cases and offseason moves and kessel fucking off to Toronto, but that's all over for now. Tonight, we see the beginning of what could be another magical season or a disappointment. I'm not one for predictions, you can find those elsewhere. I suggest Two Line Pass's hockey haiku predictions (east | west) for a fun brain teaser.

Ovechkin hurt, January 2009

But enough about silly predictions. Let's get down to brass tacks. The Caps are a good team, and almost (ALMOST!) brought Chris Bourque to play in Boston's home opener. He was excited to make the team and interviewed about it, only to be put on waivers. Pittsburgh picked him up. Sobotka was assigned to providence, and the opening night Bruins roster is set, likely involving one David Krejci at center.

Game starts at 7pm, and will show on Versus tonight. If you have DirectTV, you might not be able to see the game so feel free to call and complain before heading over to a buddy's house to watch. People should be celebrating the start of the season anyhow, this is as good a reason as any to get together!

Holy crap I just rambled a bunch and I have no idea how coherent it is but I don't care because TONIGHT IS WHEN IT STARTS!

GO BRUINS!

VERSUS WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT OPENING NIGHT IS COMING

Puck the Media posted this:

(if you're one of the 5 people reading this in an email, click through for the youtube.)
lovin' me some center alignment...

GO BRUINS!

Couple of game recaps; Numbas

and Savard makes three...

Well, the Saturday game kinda sucked from a caring-about-the-bruins-winning perspective. However, Savard got a good goal and had a couple breakaways that he turned into drop-passes.

5-2, Arniel was the other Boston scorer. Whatever. The Bruins vets looked good, Thomas needs to shake off some rest, and Chara is an important part of our defense. Other than that, not much was going on.

The Bruins also beat the Habs in Quebec City in front of 40 of Patrice Bergeron's closest friends on Sunday (and they didn't even have to wear those puke-green shirts!).

And then Chemmy over on PensionPlanPuppets pointed out to me that Phil Kessel scored 13% of the Bruins' goals last year, and hahaha how did I feel about that, chump?

So here's my response:

Kessel was the highest-goal-scorer for the Bruins, yes. However, the second through twelfth player in goals scored are still there. Sorting the table by points, he’s the only one in the top ten missing.

We’ve lost 0 Short-handed goals, and 8 powerplay goals. Ryder, Savard, Wideman, and Chara all had more powerplay goals than Kessel.

Leaving him with 28 ESG last year. 6 other bruins had more than half that: Wheeler, Kobasew, Krejci, Lucic, Savard, Ryder. All of them are staying. Of course, none of them have over 10 percent of the Bruins even-strength scoring.

However, I think Ryder-Savard will be a good matchup, and if Sturm can stay healthy (every finger and toe on my body is crossed on this one) then we won’t be missing out too much.
Plus we’ll have Tuukka to push Thomas to be as good a goalie as possible, that will help on the other end of things. I think that puts the Bruins in contention for another Jennings trophy, which was a huge help last year.

Even without 36 goals, the Bruins would be 238-196, or up 42 goals over the season. The only teams with 42 more goals for than goals against last year were Detroit, San Jose, and Chicago. 42 is still good enough for best GF-GA in the whole Eastern Conference.

One more thing to look at: Assuming Kessel (whose production drops 40% when he's not with Savard) scores 36 goals again this year, that leaves Toronto with a -7 goal differential, still nearly 50 less than the Bruins'.

Eat it, Toronto.
GO BRUINS!

THE GERMAN RETURNS TO THE GARDEN

Having precisely removed the locker room cancer that is phil kessel (la la la I can't hear you, 36 goals, la la la) the Bruins are moving on with the season, and today is the first home preseason game. I'm super pumped. It's against the Rangers. Here's the lineup according to the Bruins Blog:

Goaltenders: Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask
Defensemen: Johnny Boychuk, Drew Fata, Derek Morris, Jeff Penner, Mark Stuart and Dennis Wideman.
Forwards: Jamie Arniel, Steve Begin, Zach Hamill, Jeff LoVecchio, Milan Lucic, Kirk MacDonald, Michael Ryder, Max Sauve, Marc Savard, Marco Sturm, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield.

So....Basically we're going to get to see some good players. And now you know to pick your Thomas jersey over your Chara one.

There might be a Game Day Thread over at Stanley Cup of Chowder, but tickets should be cheap enough you may as well just go.

oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!!!

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!

State of the Bruins was Hokey as usual

The state of the bruins happened last night, and it was very similar to last year. The players on display were Lucic, Bergeron, and Morris, with special guest Krejci showing off the jersey. The winter classic Jersey looked pretty slick, I'd gotta say.

Here's a picture of Shawn Thornton in one. Look at this smug motherfucker:
He's all "damn, I look good in yellow" and I'm all "shit, you're totally right" and right about then is when I ordered mine. It was tough picking between Krejci and Bergeron, but that's life I suppose.

The hokiest part of the whole event was when they were prepping Krejci coming out to show off the jersey and the lights dimmed and they put a video on. Then soap-bubble machines in the rafters started going off like crazy. LIKE CRAZY I SAY. It created the illusion of snow, and I have to say it's the nicest stage effect I've seen in a hockey arena.

I'm so pumped for Saturday night. It'll be home game -1. (Home game 0 is next saturday, home game 1 is Oct 1st...I'm trying to be clever here dammit)

GO BRUINS!

Bruins 3 Leafs 2 I SAW HOCKEY TONIGHT WOOOOOO

HOCKEY WAS ON TV TONIGHT

Sorry I didn't put up a preview for everyone that relies on this blog to hear about when games are. I'm sure you'll live.

The Bruins were 3-2 on the scoreboard but 1-5 in fights. They should really stick to playing more than fighting.

Good job all. I'm not going to recap it all, but basically...

Bozak is wicked fast, he got a shortie to start the scoring.

0-1

A hundred people fought like it was a preseason game.

Steve Begin scored for the Bruins. I think if he keeps that up, especially against goalies other than Toskala, it will be good times.

1-1

Brad Marchand also scored for the bruins, then Stalberg tied it up.

2-2

ANDY WOZNIEWSKI scored the Game-winner, just because he doesn't like Toronto. LISTEN TO HIM, PHIL!

3-2

Overall, I liked the effort of some of the players tonight. Hunwick looked a little rusty, especially early, but he seemed to pick it up eventually. I disliked Begin to start the game, especially when he lost a fight. However, he scored so I'm not against it. Then again it is preseason, so it's time for prospects to shine in an attempt to get themselves signed.

Patrice Bergeron looked really really pretty tonight, and I liked that part a lot. A whole heck of a lot. Sobotka also was playing his heart out as usual. I'd like to see him up with the big club soon this year if there's room. However, we're pretty stacked at center right now so I'm not sure if that's likely.

R.I.P. Fred Cusick.
GO BRUINS!

Tuukka Rask would also pitch well against the Texas Rangers

The Preseason has begun, and the Bruins have shown that they're ready. Coming into Madison Square Garden, they brought out a few new guys and a few old hats, including Chara and Looch, among others. Young'uns Zach Hamill and Max Sauve put the rubber past Rag goalies Zaba and Valiquette. As mentioned above, Tuukka Rask played a great game stopping 31 of 32 shots for the final score of

2-1 BRUINS!

Tuukka played the whole game in net, uncommon for a preseason game, and showed up about as well as he did the last time he played wearing a B on his chest. If you recall, back on January 31 of this year, Mr. Rask played net at home against the Rags, pulling off a 35 save shutout 1-0 victory. Rask's thoughts? "After I got a couple of shots, I felt normal and felt pretty good, It was kind of hot out there, but otherwise I felt good." (Thanks, bruins.nhl.com)

Zach Hamill scored the first of Boston's two goals. The 20-year-old 2007 draft pick has played for the Pruins the past two years and clearly wants a chance to move up. He lead the game in shots (6, tied with a scoreless Callahan) and started the scoring in the first period. Sauve scored what would become the game winning goal in the third on a power play. Higgins of the Rangers ended up scoring an unassisted goal later on in the third, but that was all that they could muster.

So how about the competition?

We didn't get to see some of the more, shall we say, talked-about players on the Rangers. Avery sat the game with a limp wrist, and Lord Marion Groindemort sat out with, shockingly, groin pain. Princess Henrik rested for his big game against the Devils tonight and let the backups fight it out for that number two spot.

Noteable players:
Zach Hamill: 6 shots, 1 goal
Max Sauve: 4 shots, 1 goal
Milan Lucic: 1 assist
Blake Wheeler: 1 assist
Johnny Boychuk: 1 assist
Tukka Rask: 31/32 saves

Coming up next: Bruins are playing tonight at Toronto (7pm, NHLNetwork-US). In response to Tuukka's 59:51 played on the ice, Dany Sabourin will be playing tonight's game. Instead of this "split them in one game" bidness, Claude has chosen to give them full-game experience, and a full-game chance to prove why THEY should be on the Big Bears. Good morning Boston, and as always

GO BRUINS!

Adventures in Poetry

I wrote this back in august in the comments section over at Pension Plan Puppets, a Toronto Maple Leafs blog but the post got pseudo-deleted before I could share it with all of you. Luckily, one of the stunningly handsome and charming gents who runs Pension Plan Puppets, a Toronto Maple Leafs blog was able to drag it out of the hidden archives, and now I get to share it with you. I hope you like it.

p.j.
    axelsson
beloved winger
defensive specialist
penalty killer
a man you can depend on for
 terrible hair
     excellent vision
        loyalty to a fault
truly
you will be missed

Yes this is the second Axelsson item on the blog today. Deal with it.

GO BRUINS!

Pebben about Boston: "I'm not bitter"

From sometimes commenter and fellow Axelsson fan sleza comes another translated Swedish article, this time from hockeyexpressen, which ran the interview on Friday.

Per-Johan Axelsson had invested everything in for one more NHL year. But after 11 seasons in Boston he didn't fit (be good enough) anymore.
- I'm not bitter. One knows that it's business what it's about, says Frölunda forward, who still hopes to land in North America during this season.

When August turns into September and autumn unmercifully presses itself, Per-Johan Axelsson use to leave Göteborg for Boston. But instead of another season in North America, has hockey life taken him to Karlovy Vary and the Czech countryside to play with Tre Kronors (Swedish national team) in Czech Hockey Games.
Everything but flashy NHL life can be said, but instead Pebben says:
- I've always liked to play in the national team, so it's only cool and exciting. It's been awhile since the last time.
National team tournament, which started well with a shootout win over Russia (4-3), is his first after Olympic gold in Turin 2006.

When the end became clear with Boston, was Frölunda a obvious choice for 34 year old. Axelsson, who won SM gold (Championship in the Elitserien a.k.a. Swedish Elite League) with the club during the lockout season, has signed a 4 yeal deal.
During his 11 season in classic Bruins, he was the player who was there the longest. After last season he was told that Boston was interested in to continue the contract with him, but in the end it came nothing.
- I don't want to stay for just any kind of price, says Axelsson who wasn't specially interested in to change a club.
Now stays the Axelsson family in Göteborg, daughter Wilma has started preschool and will get a sibling.

How has the first time been?
- Lots of training. But it's nice to work and accustom a bit. It's a very big ice coverage. it's a big difference. It's going to take a bit time but it gets better.
Against Russia he played in the first line with "radar pair" (two players that play well together) Tony Mårtensson and Mattias Weinhandl.
- It's the first time I played with then but I know what it's for players. A passing player and a sniper. So I'll try to stay away, says Axelsson and laughs.

Even if there'll be no continue in NHL, is the goal for him to go to North America anyway. Head coach (national team) Bengt-Åke Gustafsson values Axelsson's qualities and Olympics in Vancouver in February is the great goal.
- Yes, it's obvious. It has been extremely cool. I've been with two times earlier, says he.
The move to home hasn't killed his Olympic hope. Just made the road there a bit longer.

Thanks again for sleza for translating this for us. Yes, there haven't been many updates recently on here but nothing's been going on and I got a new job and apartment, so here we are.

Go Indians and
GO BRUINS!

Are you shitting me

Wosneiwski?

GO BRUINS!

A few matters of business:

This video gets the high score for most hilarious video I've seen today:

Warning: don't watch it where people won't appreciate laughing hysterically to "I will always love you."

Second order of business: I need an assistant GM (or a replacement GM, but do you really want to take the heat for my previous picks? I didn't think so) for the Cycle Like the Sedins re-draft. We're at the 10th of 11th round now, Boston picks 25th and its serpentine.

If you'd like in, please email me or reply in the comments.

GO BRUINS!

P.J. Axelsson interview in HockeyBladet

This is a Swedish interview with P.J. "Pebben" Axelsson. It was translated by my new favorite Finn, sleza. I cleaned up the translation a little bit. I think it captures the spirit of the thing, which is basically a smear article against the Bruins. Whether P.J. was taken out of context or not, I do not know. It comes from the Swedish hockey news site, hockeybladet.se. Let's read together:

Thought he could stay in NHL: "I think it was poor of Boston."

Yesterday Per-Johan Axelsson made a comeback in Frölunda. After 11 years in NHL he felt rejected and fooled by Boston. "It was bad. They said they were interested in but it wasn't so," says Per-Johan Axelsson, 34.

In Boston Per-Johan Axelsson was one of the great profiles and during latter years he was a veteran of the team and club. In spring his deal with Boston ended but fans and Per-Johan Axelsson himself were hoping he'd play in Boston another year. But Pebben became a pawn in political game where money plays the main role. He also was fooled by team management. "When the season was over in Boston, I went to team management and said that I want to stay. I could play for a lower price too," says Per-Johan Axelsson.

Pebben and Boston talked during the whole summer and he thought he would stay in the club. But such a contract offer didn't came. "I think it was bad from Boston. They said they were interested but it wasn't so. But everything is relative there," says Axelsson. When Pebben decided to continue his career in Frölunda, he got 2 calls from Boston. "Both Don Sweeney and Cam Neely called and thanked me for the time in Boston."

Yesterday Pebben played his first game in Frölunda (4-3 against LHC). He was tired and rested most of the third period in the game against Linköping (LHC). "There's lot of ice in Sweden. It is actually a huge difference from NHL. But my game will come. I will train extra," says Pebben. He also thinks that the game is different in Sweden compared with NHL: "In NHL it's more puck in the stick and go."

Even though Pebben didn't have a perfect game, Frölunda won 4-3. There was also a first taste about the 1st line, in which Riku Hahl will center Joel Lundqvist - injures yesterday - and Per-Johan Axelsson.
Editor's note: You read that right, folks: P.J. is back on the top line. He already has at least an assist in preseason play. Thanks again to sleza for translating this for us.

GO INDIANS!
Holy crap I can't wait for the season to start.
GO BRUINS!

Fake NHL Re-Draft UPDATE!

So I've been drafting away over at the Cycle Like the Sedins Fake NHL Re-Draft, and I'm sure I've been doing a middling job, but here's the team as it looks now. I keep end up picking defensemen for some reason, but there we are. Here's the team as it stands now:

Smyth, Ryan - Thornton, Joe - Martin Havlat

Dennis Wideman Oduya, Johnny
Jackman, Barrett Hunwick, Matt

Nabokov, Evgeni

Bruins have the 25th pick in a serpentine draft. I haven't been doing any trading. Here's the picks board. I'm open to suggestions.

Even if it's a fake lineup
GO BRUINS!

P.J. Axelsson Swedish play and interview

Howdy y'all. Here's a video of P.J. "Pebben" Axelsson practicing with the Indians and talking in Swedish!

Good stuff, pointed out to me by the ever-helpful and wicked clutch sleza, who has her own blog over here.

Apparently he got a puck in the face recently and had to sit out for a preseason game or two.

And Tom Brady is back and that owns. Go Pats.

Go Indians!
GO BRUINS!

Hockey Movie Month: Miracle (2004)

USA! USA! USA!USA! USA! USA!

USA! USA! USA!

Hey Rizzo!

Nice goal!
USA! USA! USA!

Photos of the real thing aside, the movie Miracle is a Disney Sports Drama. It will make you laugh, make you think you have something in your eye, root for the good guys, and repeatedly mention that the CCCP "shows no emotion." Disney's been in the business of clearly delineating the Good Guys and Bad Guys for a long time, and they excel at it. In this case instead of plucky young team The Mighty Ducks, it's the Historic 1980 US Men's Olympic team, coached by Herb Brooks (played fantastically by Kurt Russell).

If you're an American hockey fan, still hate the USSR, are looking to get psyched for the Vancouver 2010 games, or are just plain looking for a triumphant flick to pass the time, I highly suggest picking up this particular one.

USA! USA! USA!

Of course, the hilarious thing is that the US didn't play CCCP in the gold medal game, though you'd only know it in the film if you listen very closely after they beat the soviets.

The on-ice action is pretty well done, the acting is good enough, and there are enough quotable moments. It was a great moment in US Hockey history, and a fun film to boot. Get it now from your local library/movie rental/netflix/whatever and watch it!

USA! USA! USA!

I'd also like to take this time to point out that the US olympic team has the potential to surprise some people. Although jerks like Ryan Kesler have already guaranteed a win and a victory over Canada, I'm cautiously optimistic about the USA team's chances to at least medal. I see Canada, Sweden, and USA duking it out for who gets to lose to Russia in the Final.

This blog will be covering the olympics from our parents basements just like we do for the Bruins.

Here's to Timmy and Phil making it happen 30 years later.

GO BRUINS!

Jordan Caron meets Colton Teubert

Sad news out of the Canada World Junior tryout last week via Fluto

First round pick Jordan Caron got smashed by '08 first rounder Colton Teubert and broke his collarbone. In '08 I was rooting for Colton to drop to the B's against all odds but luck was not on my side. Kid is a Chris Pronger clone. Gist of Fluto's story is that Caron will be out for about 4-6 weeks.

ANALYSIS-Caron was going to be returned to Rimouski for '09-'10 anyways so it doesn't affect this season really at all. Caron won't play for the B's rookies in Kitchener this fall which is too bad because I was excited to see play since he's supposedly Blake Wheeler only with an edge. Should be ready for training camp with the big boys, good experience for him although his chances of making the big club are very close to zero.

Good indication of the kind of competition that can be seen at these tryouts. Obviously another example for Paul Kelly to point to when telling NHL players to not participate slash insure themselves when they are heading to Olympic camps.

Since you asked. Yes I think Kaner should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law if this story about him and the cabby is true. What a dumbass.

Hockey Movie Month: Slap Shot (1977)

Well of course I'm going to start with this.

If you haven't seen this movie, go get it now. Rent it, stream it, whatever. Just watch it.

Hilarious flick with a killer soundtrack and Paul Newman as Reggie Dunlop.

One of my favorite lines in all of film, as well:
"Is the answer Jesus?"

For those that have watched, what's your favorite line?

p.s. GO BRUINS!

August is Hockey Movie Month!

Howdy, y'all. It's been a while for me to write here, I know. (a full week, maybe? I can't be bothered to check.)

Today I am announcing that August is now officially Hockey Movie Month, because I am in withdrawal. Here's a list of movies I'll be starting with:

• Slapshot
• Miracle
• Mystery, Alaska
• Youngblood
• The Rocket
  
• 85th Anniversary History of the Bruins
• Best of Bobby Orr
• Youtube videos of Derrick Morris getting turned inside out.
  

Once watched, I'll be reviewing the film on here. So stay tuned, folks. We've got some movies to watch!

Go Chiefs, USA! USA! USA!, Mystery Alaska Men's Hockey Club, and especially

GO BRUINS!

It's About Time--See Ya JR

Finally time to bid adieu to this outspoken gascon(props to thesaurus.com). I wonder how long it will take for Versus to step up and make him an analyst. Actually, strike that, they'll probably screw the pooch and JR will end up doing color for the Kings or something.

Entertaining idea-NESN should put him on with Milbury, that would make for some quality television.

I leave you with this image which will probably give me nightmares for the foreseeable future.

Editor's note: Image removed for gross.

Is it October yet?

I just really want to see some new Savard passes through an entire roster for the perfect one-timer, some new Kessel breakaways (assuming he's still in Black and Gold), some new Lucic hits, some new Chara slapshots, and Timmy Tornado Tank Thomas saves.

And it's only August. Dammit. Here are a couple of Chara checks from a Bruins/habs game this past year.

You didn't really think there was any news, did you?

Here's Cabbie's journey to the cup in 25 minutes, worth a watch:

Cabbie's Journey To The Cup from cabbie richards on Vimeo.

GO BRUINS!