The short bus arrives for the B's "Special" Teams

Before I start, let me just say... At least we are now officially in the playoff hunt, as the point (should have been two) the B's got last night pushed them into the number 8 spot in the playoff picture.

That said, here is the trip on the short bus.....

The Bruins gave up a short handed goal, and a power play goal with less than thirty seconds left which pretty much sums up their effort last night. Tim Thomas played well in spots, but lacked the effort we have been seeing in the past few games. Thomas made some outstanding saves, but coupled them with the same old Tim Thomas we have seen in the past. Shoot upstairs, as the Blue Jackets did twice in the first period, and you will score. Be patient with the puck and Thomas will go down, now he does every now and then go down and make an amazing stop while on the ice, but it is only a matter of time before the rest of the original 30 figure out that if you shoot high your chances of scoring increase drastically.

This photo says it all, it is of the tying goal. Yes the Blue Jackets had a five on three power play, which was a direct result of Chara being used way to much by Dave Lewis. Chara had been on the ice for three shifts in a row as the B's tried to protect a lead, Brad Stuart is called on a questionable trip (looked like the Colombus player tripped by stepping on Stuart stick in the replay) but none the less it was called so deal with it. The coaching staff did, they thought well we will send Chara back out. The result? Well one tired defenseman, and one crafty forward (Rick Nash) and you get the lazy man's penalty, as Chara is beat going to the net and has no choice but to hook Nash. That gave the Blue Jackets just what they needed, a 5 0n 3 advantage and a scrambling Thomas who finds himself way out of position leaving Federov with a wide open net to shoot at.

The winning goal in OT was a complete lack of control by both the players and he coaches. Teh coashing staff decided to to a complete four man line change with the puck barely over the red line, which resulted in the puck being at the Boston bench, the players coming off, afraid to touch it in fear of a penalty for too many men and the players coming on not being over the boards yet. Colombus recognized this and David Vyborny picked up the puck stepped around the last guy at the Bruins door and walked in alone beating Thomas like a whipped mule. Thomas showed his frustration by shattering his stick on the goal post before storming off the ice. I wouldhave to agree that Thomas should have been mad for being left out in the cold by his fellow Bruins, but to display it publically was a little overboard, after all, how many times have we seen Thomas let in one that he should have saved? Ever see Muzz or Savvy smash their stick and storm off the ice?
Looks like we are still in need of a goalie, I don't think Thomas has what it takes to get through the playoffs, he may get us there, but we will be limping if he does.

The B's play grinch to the Habs

The Bruins pulled out another win over the streaking Habs on Saturday night. Boston Jumped out to an early two goal lead, only to see it disapear by the mid way point. Once again the penalty killing continued to improve, and what seemed like a good night for the power play, after Sturm scored an earlier first period goal, turned ugly early in the second when the B's gave up a shorthanded goal, the Habs 11 shorthanded goal of the season. (sounds like they should take more penalties to me)
Thomas looked solid in net once again, making some saves that he should not have (which is something we have not been used to here in the hubcap of hockey.) Thomas stopped 20 of 22, and should be buying Christmas dinner for the boys, as they held the habs to four second period shots ( Thomas was 3 for 4 in the second, which does not boast well for the GAA, but turned out to be enough to get it done) .
The boys looked as if they had a chip on their shoulder, with Muzz getting into it with Koivu in the first, after the Habs captian took a liberty on the back of Muzz's leg. Murray tried to get the midget muskovite to throw down, which would have been Murray's first fighting majore since 1995, but Koivu was to much of a pussy and he just turtled until help arrived.
This was a big win for the boys, going into the Christmas break, in third place in the Northeast (hardest division in the NHL in my humble opinion) and in 9th place, one point out of a playoff spot in the East.
Now is the time for the big playoff push, deals will be made and we are likely to see at least one of the three free agents (Sturm, Primeau, Stuart) get moved. What they will get in return is yet to be seen, a power forward (someone like Joe Thornton would be great, I know in my dreams) or a solid number one goalie, which despite Thomas's play of late, we are still without. Thomas is getting close to that breaking point, where he completely falls apart due to fatigue. It happened last year just in time for January and I would hate to see it happen now with the team surging.
Time will tell, hopefully history only repeats itself when it comes to the Redsox and Yankees.

Bruins Blank the Canuck, Canucks blank the Bruins..... Huh?

Tim Thomas recorded his first shut out of the season, completing a 2-0 blanking of the Vancouver Canucks. Thomas made 39 saves, including a 14 save third period. The Bruins where badly outplayed for the majority of the second and all of the third period where they failed to muster even a single shot on goal. 13 of Boston’s measly 19 shots came in the first period which saw the Bruins Jump out to a two goal lead, both coming on the power play which continues to improve. Glen Murray scored on a 5-3 just 19 seconds into the first penalty, with an absolute laser beam which found its way just under the cross bar from the left point position, Vancouver goalie Dany Sabourin (0-7 in his NHL career) did not stand a chance, as the puck was in and out of the net before he had time to react.
The Bruins Penalty killing was superb last night, killing off all six Vancouver power plays, including three in the final fifteen minutes of the last frame.
The team showed some resilience, being able to hold onto a third period lead is something that has punished the Bruins this season, and last night looked like it was going to be simply a matter of time before the puck went in the net (of course Boston was the benefactor of two quick whistles that eliminated two Vancouver goals, including one with less than a second left.). At least we can say that the Bruins will keep you on the edge of your seat, that is not always a good thing, but it sure is entertaining when they come out on top.
The fruit salad lines continued last night, with Kermit… I mean Dave Lewis, juggling as if we where still in October, and Barnum and Bailey where still ruling Causeway street. Not sure what has sparked the act of juggling, although it work in Ottawa, last nights lack of offense in the second and third periods should be more than enough reason to stop the juggling act. This is just one more thing to throw into the column labeled “Lewis what the hell are you doing?” which I am sure has been the subject of at least one email from Peter C.
Next game, Saturday against the HABS, This time somebody better cover that Samsinov guy, WHY CAN’T WE GET PLAYERS LIKE THAT?

I'm Baaaaaaack and so is the OFFENSE

Sorry for the long delay in posting, things have been a little hectic around here for the past few weeks. Went back to MA for a couple of days at Thanksgiving, then started my new job with the Inspector General, which has sent me to Florida, Colorado, Southern VA and back again over the past three weeks. I know I can’t complain, Florida was warm, Colorado was snowy but cool (I am going back at the end of January and I plan to hit the slopes then if I get a free afternoon.) Virginia is Virginia and I could have done without that trip, but that is life. Anyway, that is my excuse and I am sticking with it.

Now on to the B’s

We have had a good number of games since my last post. In fact they went 2-3 since my last post which SUCKS! But we will give them a little reprieve on bashing, as they played one hell of a game last night in Ottawa. Sturm got his goal production back on track with his second career hat trick, Bergeron had five assists, Savvy had a pair and Muzz netted one for good measure.
Thomas looked solid, his goals against is now 3.09 which is supposedly not bad for the new and improved NHL, even though the league average is only 2.82 (don’t forget this includes all those back up slouches with GAA’s in the high three low four range (aka Dan Cloutier (3.82), and the league leader is resting comfortably at 1.96 goals against (Hasek). The top five goalies all have GAA’s between 1.96 and 2.15 What should stand out is his save percentage which hovering at .904 which at one time was great (puts Timmy at #14 in the league but at least it is above .900, which the Bruins have not seen in a long time.)
Now on to what I did not like about last night. First, I did not like the fact that the Sens goon squad took a two runs at one player (Primeau) and no one stepped in until Primeau gathered himself and tackled the offender himself. The result was matching penalties for the most part, with the Ottawa player getting an extra two for the first hit from behind. (Should have gotten the gate for the elbow to the head, but oh well that is hockey) What the Bruins lacked though was someone to throw out there who can stand up for the spoked B and pound some fists against the oppositions face.
The second thing I did not like was the exact same thing as the first. Near the end of the game Ottawa once again tossed out a cheap shot with an elbow to Marc Savard’s head. Paul Mara did grab the offender as soon as it happened, but he failed to throw even a slight jab to the face, instead he just tossed him on the ground (I know some of you hate Neely, but you have to admit, if that was Neely and not Mara the Ottawa player would have left the ice in need of medical attention, not just because the zebra gave him five minutes and a game for a cheap shot.) (For those of you who feel the need you may insert Terry O’Reilly in Neely’s place, either way same result.)
The third thing all relates to the first two. OK so they showed composure and did not pound the hell out of anyone and they got two power plays out of the deal, not bad right? WRONG, they got pussy hooking and slashing penalties to eliminate both the ensuing power plays, now if your going to go out and do that, at least slash the hell out of the guy who was responsible for the cheap shot, what the hell are the coaches teaching these kids today? What happened to the good old rule of thumb in hockey, an eye for an eye, or tooth if you prefer? What is this basketball……. No never mind they actually fight in that sport, well sort of… good effort on the scoreboard boys.. Now just stick up for yourselves.

Who doesn't like the new NHL scheduling

That's right kiddies, if your a Bruins fan, you have to love this new NHL scheduling. Hell if we could play Toronto every other game, the Bruins may have one of the best record in the NHL. After lastnights win, the Bruins now have beaten the Leafs in four straight. Not only did they beat the leafs, the shook that third period implosion we have seen by scoring three unanswered third period goals.
The team looked good last night, the lone Toronto goal coming on a bad bounce off the boards that was coupled with a lost edge by Thomas. Other than that public enemy (Ok my enemy) number one was on. Thomas in his 20th consecutive start, made some solid stops keeping his team in the 1-0 game going into the third period, setting them up for the comeback.
Brad Stuart continued his hot streak, scoring the tying goal with a rocket of a wrister midway through the third period, continuing his quest for a big free agency pay day in July 9Unless of course management tosses him up as trade bait late in the season, stay tuned...)
The rookie line of Kessel, Chistov,(ok not really a rookie) and Hogan got more ice time than usual last night and we even got to see Phil the thrill nock Hal Gill on his ass in the third with a decent hit.
The penalty kill was on lastnight, killing off all three Toronto power plays, including a four minute high sticking penalty.
Unfortunately the power play continued its slide, going 0-3. What was once our strong suit, we are now seeing that the power play has become a dump and chase, meaning we dump it in, they ice it and we chase it.
Overall good game, showed the ability to play hard even when loosing and make a solid come back to win a tough division game.

Can't be explained??? YES IT CAN!

I start with a quote from the bench boss. "Can you guys explain this one to me?" This was his answer to the Boston Globes Fluto Shinzawa when asked how the Bruins where able to win with the way they got man handled in the first and then blew a 4-1 lead and a 5-4 lead.

I hope Fluto's answer was something like this, "No Asshole that's your J-O-B"

Lewus didn't know why, despite a first period pounding where the Canadiens had14 shots, his team held a one-goal lead. Simple answer there Davey, the other teams goalie was having a terrible night. The first goal was a decent goal and there was not much that Huet could do. The second goal however should have been a sure sign to our stellar coach that things where not right with Huet letting a puck in from behind the net, playing his angle to far of the post and Muzz made him pay. "I just threw it at him, seeing that he was out of position and it went off the back of his leg an in"
Hmmm the players could see he was off, why not the expert eyes of our coach.
One reason the Bruins blew the first lead was the play of Chara. I did not start to count his misplayed pucks until the second period, where he had 6 misplayed pucks that lead to scoring chances. Not to mention his two penalties. Now if that was any other player on the roster, Lewis would have had them on the bench for at least a shift asking them what was wrong. Not Chara though, he does not have to answer to Lewis the mortal.
I give Lewis credit for noting that in the first period the kid line was flying, unlike the rest of the team, so they earned a regular shift..... Regular shift? Lewis should have put them out there on extra duty and passed the smelling salts around to the other lines.
The first period was the worst period I have seen the Bruins play all year. Yup ALL year, even worse than opening night when Florida slapped us around the woodshed.

I will give credit to the players, and of course Thomas (Yes he let in a couple of soft five hole goals, but he made up for those in the first period by keeping his team in the contest. (Nice work Timmy, just remember, we don't have the offense to get 6 goals every night.)

I hope the boys don't get today off, I hope the coaching staff stresses that this was one of the teams worst performances even though they won. They came out flat in the first, blew two leads, one 3 goal lead and another one goal lead in the third, not sure wich of those is worse.
If this was my team they would be skating their balls off for the first twenty minutes of practice to make up for the no show in lastnights first period. Then we ask the Captain to explain to us why he looked like a rookie who had never played in the Bell Centre before, looking around missing the puck. Hell we pay your a zillion dollars a season, which to me spells out that YOU DON'T GET TO HAVE A BAD SHIFT for get about the whole game.

Bottom line is WE SUCKED Montreal must be pissed and we stole one from them at home.... As a Bruins fan nothing is better than THAT!

ICE time at a Premium

OK now I know there are those people out there who believe that Defense is the way to a Stanley Cup. I can say that I do somewhat agree, however think about this, a 0-0 game does NOT win you a Cup now does it.
What you need is a balanced effort from the whole team, you should have a line that goes out there and produces a scoring chance just about every shift. They may give up one or two but the will certainly score at some point.
Case in point is the Bruins line of Kessel, Tenkrat and Chistov. Dave Lewis is scared to play these guys or so he says because of lack luster defense. Well if you plop them down in front of a Chara and Stuart pairing on D you may turn out ok. Give these kids a chance and we may be surprised at the result. Continue to hold them back cutting ice time from 17 to 9 to less than 5 (against Carolina) and you will get exactly what we have now. Three young kids who wonder if they have what it takes. If Kessels habits are that bad, send him to Providence for the rest of the year, let him tear up the AHL focus on D and then bring him back with confidence next season. Sitting him on the bench is only going to fuck with his head and we all know where that will get us.
Bottom line play him or send him packing. But don't play head games with him, sitting on the bech does little for anyone except make them think to much.
For the record Phil "the Thrill" has more points now than Joe did his entire rookie season, and we all know how he turned out.
My dislike of Dave 'I won in Detroit, and was still asked to leave" Lewis is growing. Now we know why they tossed him from behind the bench in Detroit. Can you really see this guy giving a motovational speach? Not me....

We shall see how the boys respond to the Carolina blow out tonight. Hopefully they snap out of it.

Rally Caps Come thru again

Once again the B's put on their rally caps for a shootout win over Tampa lastnight. Looking back at last season, seems the boys in black have actually figured out how to score on a breakaway.
Phil the Thrill got the game winner in the shootout, even though it took four shootouts and 6 other skaters in this one before Dave "Muppet" Lewis let Kessel have a go at it. Lewis keeps harping on the kids defense, which we all know is his weakness, but hell put the kid out there for every shootout, we also all know he can shoot and has some incredible moves.

The defense looked sloppy in the first period lastnight, making me wonder why we like Stuart so much, I counted no less than three give aways in the first period alone. The paring of Stuart and York was lack luster at best and hopefully Paul Mara will not be out long.

Thomas played a good second period and an all-star third, the first period was marred by a five hole goal, and from where I stand, anytime a goalie is beat five hole and it is not due to a deke on a breakaway, means only one thing YOU SUCK!
Thomas completely redeemed himself with the save of the year, give him an ESPY now. Even though ESPN did not show it in their top ten (they opted for another nice save Thomas made of Lecavier in the third). Not sure why they did not show the diving, twisting save on the goal line but I can not recall a more amazing save than that one. Kudos Timmy, (even though your still not starting goalie material.)

We will see when they decide to give Hannu another shot. Thomas is set to go Saturday in Carolina and after that we have Montreal which is a must win if we want to climb out of the North East Division cellar .