2013-14 Boston Bruins Thread (the offseason)

[BDL]

I'm starting to get a little worried now.

I was watching the NHL Network's Eastern Conf preview last night. What scares me, is that both Weekes and McLennon predicted that not only will the B's be the team to represent the East, but that the front runners cor the Conn Smythe will be either Bergeron or Rask.

Weekes has always been partial to the Bruins. But McLennon usually favors the more high profile teams and players. That's why I'm afraid that this could be the kiss of death. Like getting your boyfriend's/girlfriend's name tatoo'ed on your arm, kiss of death

Another thing that has me worried, with Trotz out of work, and if the Preds don't try to get a flashy name to replace him, they may try to poach Houda.

 

[BDL]

Rejoice...!!! My brethren and sisteren...

For tis Good Friday. The day that we hath been waiting for, for so long. The quest for the Lord is nigh. After sacrificing for so long, soon, the Lord will be ascending (at least 6'10" in the air). If you think I am being blasphemous, now, you better stop reading.

And though we have been betrayed (looking at you Iggy), our betrayer decided to follow a path of redemtion rather than hang onto his 30 pieces and stay with his old friends.

During the season, Pontius Shanahan had Thornton suspended. Instead of washing his hands, Shanahan got hs hands even dirtier and is fully accountable for letting Barabas Orpik run rough shot over the league.

And then, the elders at NBC decreed that the 1st game of this series shall not be until 2 days after the post season begins.

At least Tuuk has done a lot of denying:

And Claude said unto Tuukka, "I say to thee, you shall have to deny them 30 times before the clock is all zeroes." Tuukka replied, "Ok. Whatever." And Again, Claude said, "I tell thee, you will have to deny the other team 30 times before the clock is all zeroes." And Tuukka said "Yeah. I heard you the first time. Now give me back my iPod."

OUCH!!!!!!!!

Darned lightning. And not the Tampa kind.

Any hoo... Today is the big day. The Bruins' playoff run begins tonight. So far it looks like the B's will be without both Kelly and Paille tonight. Look to Florek filling in for Kelly on the Swedish line, and Caron on the merlot line. There are 2 incidents that I am waiting for. And, the responses to these incidents will dictate what happens in this game. The 1st incident will be who scores 1st. At what point in the game does this happen and what will the other team in it's wake. The 2nd incident will be the 1st "Kronwall-ing" incident. Who will be the target, and how will the Bruins respond?

The puck drops at 7:30. Look for Jack to be in rare form tonight.

LET'S GO BRUINS!!!!

 

[stevea20]

As has been the case all year, I won't get to see this series until Game 3.
Anyway, you know how I feel about this matchup so I think I will be staying quiet for a while until the time comes to either gratefully accept the criticism for have no faith, or to say, "I told you so".

 

[BDL]

The Wings are in trouble. Claude Julien showed the B's THIS motivational film. How can the Bruins not win?

 

[mommasita]

The Wings are in trouble. Claude Julien showed the B's THIS motivational film. How can the Bruins not win?

I guess they can. lose. It sucks, and I am sure they will be back strong tomorrow.. Lucic however, what does he think..

 

[BDL]

Talk about running hot and cold...

Friday, it seemed that the offensive scheme was "CYA and hope the puck goes in." Very rarely did you see and black sweaters around the net in Game 1. And I can sort of understand it. You are facing 1 of the faster teams in the playoffs and you are down 2 of your top 5 defensive forwards and 2 D-men. There was almost no crash. And, when I saw Datsyuk reach back and pull the puck and weave, I bowed my head and said "He's gonna score." Sure enough... And that was the only score of the night. It was a tough loss. But Meszaros accorded himself in all 3 zones well.

Sunday was a completely different story. 3 of the 4 goals were scored by aggressive play. The 4th was because Chara can eclipse the Sun and has the reach of Elasti-Girl. Speaking of Chara... What the Hell was Reilly Smith's brother thinking? Not only did he risk waking up to the sound of an EKG machine beeping, but he was just embarrassed. It was the typical big brother holding off the little brother past the little brother's reach. punches were swung and connecting with nothing. Then Chara gave Smith some love taps until the linesman seperated them. Seen HERE . Now, I know that Brendan Smith is a professional athlete and I am not. But I have been a bouncer for 1/2 my life. I have run head long into brawls and had fights turn ugly. But I don't think any of that is as scary as if Big Z was smiling at me with his crazy eyes in full affect .

The series moves to Detroit for Game 3. It is now a best of 5 series and the B's have lost the home ice advantage. Let's see if the Bruins can keep up the hitting. And I think Kevan Miller's return yesterday helped a ton with that. I still can't believe the pro shop doesn't carry his shirt (I want the 86 so I can be on the Discover commercial).

 

[BDL]

Tonight is game 3. It is the 1st game in Detroit's barn. And with such a fevered fan base, I think there will be a rarity of Black & Gold in the stands. Luckily, Jack will be there to provide the energy. I was glad to see on the preview guide on my cable box that the game was on NESN.

The game itself, I think will be a complete mystery. I think the whole 1st period will be spent with the teams feeling each other out. I picture a scene similar to watching 2 Russian chess players going for the world championship without a clock. And the 2nd period will be a complete momentum period.

The B's can't go into tonight's game thinking it will be like game 2. Howard contributed to 2 of the Bruins' goals and you know Babcock is not going to let his players try to engage the B's. Look for the Wings to be running all "9's" routes with the turbo button pressed tonight.

Another big game tonight, involves the only Canadian representative for the playoffs. The Habs can advance to the next round with a win tonight. So keep an eye on the ticker ribbon at the bottom of the screen.

Finally, I was just listening to Gresh & Zo on 98.5 and they came up with an idea to give the Bruins and advantage. Bring Typhoid Bartkowski with them to the Joe and have him lick all the doorknobs before the Wings get in. Interest idea, indeed.

Face-off is at 7:30

Let's Go Bruins!!!!!!!

 

[BDL]

"2 U's, 2 K's, 2 goals allowed in 3 games."

It was another great team effort last night. Tuukka turned away all 23 shots he faced. The D in front of him only allowed 23 shots to get through. The hitting was non-stop. Also, no Bruin was < 50% on the face-off last night.

As for the scoring, Dougie squeezed the game winning shot in an area barely bigger than the puck. THEN...... The Devil had to put on his long-johns and mittens. Caron scored a goal (and the twitter-verse blew up and rejoiced). And then Patrice "Rafters" Bergeron nailed 1 from behind the arch to ice the game.

On the defensive end, the B's have been great the past 2 games. Limiting the odd man rushes and break-aways (but for some reason they seem incredibly slow to respond to potential wrap arounds). And it looks like there are some great schemes in place. I particularly liked when Detroit would use the last change advantage to match their 1st line against the Bruins' 3rd line. Shhhhh ... Don't tell the Wings, but Claude has that shift form up the same way the Tampa 1-3-1 did against the B's in 2011.

Now for a couple of personal notes. Conspiracy theories were aplenty last night following Marchand's knee to knee collision with Brendan Smith. And the person holding the standard at the forefront is the world's biggest Marshmont fan, Mike Felger. If you have seen the video, you know that Marchand was hit in his left knee before he went to the ice, but is seen reaching for his right knee, while down there. And on the surface, I admit, it looks suspicious. But then you look at the video again, and you see that when Marchand was hit, his body twisted, but his skate stayed on the ice at the same tragectory. When his skate did give way, it was whiplashed in the spin. Either of these could lead to a twisted knee or hyper-extension, and after a few minutes of checking everything, he was back on the ice. I had something similar happen to me just playing a little pick up basketball and led to a torn miniscus surgery. So I, personally, do not blame him for being tentative. And I like the Felger & Maz show and enjoy seeing the fear in his and Amonte's eyes as the crowds exit the Garden, post-game, but Felgie need to stick to commenting on the stories, instead of trying to creat them.

Next, if you haven't heard the interview between T&R and Derek Sanderson, you need to find it. It is really good. He tells some great stories. And he had a great quote. "Hockey is a violent game, played by violent people. You don't like it, watch golf."

In closing, Cooke's meeting will be at 10:30 this morning. So far, no reports of accusation of persecution from his wife.

 

[declansdad]

Nice win but take your time, the Habs will wait for you.

 

[mommasita]

Nice win but take your time, the Habs will wait for you.

 

[BDL]

Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

EMT: We're losing him. We're losing him!

Jack Edwards (on TV in background): SCORE!!!!!!!

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Sorry. I think I must've blacked out there for a second.

Oh my God. What a game. Granted, in the 1st period, the Bruins either reverted to the style they used in Game 1 or didn't even show up. I haven't decided which. Detroit started the game by throwing 3 curveballs at the Bruins. Zetterberg and Bertuzzi took the ice for the 1st time and Babcock put Gustavson in net due to flu-like symptoms for Howard. The veteran presence definitely added some gumption for the Wings. As was evidenced by the early 2-0 lead that Detroit had. And X-file fans have already started to pry whether Howard actually had the flu or not. Whether he did or didn't, it was a smart move by the Wings. Monster has ALWAYS played his best against the B's.

The outcome of the game looked grim indeed. Until everyone laughed at the fact that the Bruins had a 6 sec power play. It was funny. Krug only needed 4. Well, not everyone thought it was funny. When I yelled at the goal, I appernetly did it in BDLsgal's ear, so loud that it scared her to the point of jumping. Sorry hon. But, back to the game. Detroit may have had a monster on the ice, but we had a Yeti. How incredible was Soderberg last night? He was carrying red sweaters on his back, all over the ice. And he fed Looch for the game tying goal. The Yeti should've had about 4 or 5 assists last night; But we'll talk about Marchand later. When we get to OT, the first 5-7 minutes was like a relay race. Both teams took turns racing up and down the ice. Both teams getting clenched-jaw-inducing chances. Then Iggy gets his 1st goal of the night. Looch and Krejci dig the puck out of the corner, they set up Beaker for the slap shot. Iggy deflects the puck 1st which causes the puck to bank off of Dekeyser for the win. And the Bruins now have a 3-1 lead coming back to the Garden, tomorrow at 3pm.

Now... For the horror show that was the game of Brad Marchand last night. I don't know if he was thinking too much or what. But missing 2 WIDE OPEN nets and running into his own players was just ridiculous. In the post game interviews, it was good to see him humble and thankful for his teammates for bailing him out. When they land at Logan, Marshmont better take his whole team to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and pick up the tab. And sending a couple of bottles of Johnny Blue to Dekeyser wouldn't be too bad either.

A couple of personal notes from last night. I had no idea how big and mean looking Florek was. I'd seen him play before, but seeing him finish his shift, hitting everyone in a different shirt WHILE not wearing a helmet, kicks up his level a notch. And the quote of the night from Jack Edwards came shortly after the crowd at the Joe felt the Bruins deserved a penalty. "Organic farm material being referred to by the Detroit crowd."

Nice win but take your time, the Habs will wait for you.

Don't worry guys. I'm sure the Habs will be well rested and rusty for the 2nd rd.

Bruins face-off tomorrow at 3pm.

 

[stevea20]

OK. I'm glad to say it. I know nothing. I got it completely wrong.

Never did I think the B's would take out the Wings so easily. Everything I believed the Wings would do, the Bruins did to them.

Now I can start enjoying the playoffs. Bring on the Habs.

 

[BDL]

Good morning everyone. What a great day. The Sun is shining. The birds are singing. The Bruins are facing the Habs in the next round. And Twitter is blowing up with both fanbases slamming the other. What really makes me laugh is that you can see the same pic doctored by both sides to convey the same message.

But let's get back to Saturday's game. Before face-off, I was telling a guy at my Elks, that I think this would be a game where Babcock would outsmart himself. That he would split his D-pairs to evenly defend the Bruins' top 3 lines, because he loses the last change. Unfortunately, my theory could be neither proven nor disproven. 2 of the B's first 3 goals were scored on the PP. And it was getting kind of silly when the first 3 goals of the game were scored on the PP.

The scoring started when, in the 1st per, Dougie continued to show his growth as a player. Brings the puck coast to coast to feed it in front of Det's net where it eventually found Eriksson's stick and then the back of the net. Datsyuk tied it up in the 2nd, when a juicy rebound came right to him. I swear he must have a puck magnet in his blade. But the period would not end tied. With 4 sec to go, Big Z snapped 1 past Monster. The B's extended the lead in the 3rd when Looch took a perfect feed and deflected it into the net. Things get a little scary when Zetterberg cuts the lead to 1 with 4 min left. But all fears fade when Iggy netted the empty netter. At the end of the game came the traditional hand shakes and salute to the fans.

In closing, I have started a seperate Bruins vs. Habs thread HERE . There is also a poll included with it. I love seeing Leafs, Sens and Canes fans slam the Habs and the Sabres, Flyers and 'Nucks fans slam the Bruins. I will still be posting here as well as there. I just wanted to provide a forum for some *ahem* intellectual dialog between the fans.

 

[BDL]

If you remember from the B's/'Nucks Stanley Cup, along the boards was the prominent sponsor Boston Pizza, but with a little alteration. The Boston was crossed out. Looks like Boston Pizza is gonna do it again. See HERE .

In response, the 99 Restaurants will stop refering to the rub they use as "Montreal steak seasoning" and refer to it as 2014 Stanley Cup Champions Boston Bruins seasoning.

 

[BDL]

In a short 32.5 hrs, the puck will drop for Game 1. Paille is wearing his merlot sweater. Marshmont is back to practice on the Bergeron line. And they are forcing Miller to watch Braveheart, 300, Enter the Dragon and Crank, non-stop.

Can't wait.

 

[BDL]

Someone really needs to start giving the Bruins their "5 hr Energy" bottles BEFORE the game. Not 1/2 way through the 3rd period. This is getting ridiculous. Now, I loved the final result of the last game. But I just started going grey recently, and now the Bruins are expediting the process.

Despite the Bruins getting the 1st goal of the game, when Vanek netted his 2nd goal, I started to get that sinking feeling. But then, the most unlikeliest of things happened to help spur the Bruins to victory. No, not the bench minor that Handsome Ralph incurred. No, not Thornton going down the tunnel, and then coming back onto the bench. Nope. A simple changing of a hat is what I am talking about. I was watching the game from my Elks, with my family. All the women had already donned their bonnets for the Kentucky Derby. At about the 10 minute mark in the 3rd period, a lady that I had grown up with side by side, had taken off her hat, and tried on a different 1. Less than 60 seconds later THIS happened. For the next couple of minutes, it was all up and back with the puck skidding aimlessly across the ice at points. Then someone at made the observation "SHE'S GOTTA CHANGE HER HAT!!!!!" We scrambled to get her another hat. And guess what happened less than a minute later...? Yep, THIS happened again. High 5's were flying freely. And before we could even "Woooooo!", I think we all, in unison shouted "SHE'S GOTTA CHANGE HER HAT!!!!!" It took a bit to find another hat. Ohhh... about 1 minute. Then, THIS happened again. Looch then banged in an empty netter to give the B's a 5-3 win and tie the series at 1-1, heading up to Montreal.

Now, I will go on a 98.5 Sports Hub praise/rant.

Praise: I love how they have taken Dougie's nickname and ran with it. Playing THIS AUDIO when describing Dougie's goal.

Rant: Felger... Yes, that Felger... He said on MULTIPLE times on Friday, that if the Bruins played the same way they did on Thursday night, there was no way they would win on Saturday. This was in response to a Fluto article. The game on Saturday looked pretty similar to the game on Thursday. Just with more seeing eye pucks.

Can't wait for Game 3.

 

[BDL]

Just a little more than 2 hrs til face-off. There are always so many "I wonder if they will...?"s when it comes to the fans in the Bell Centre. 1 thing that is a given, "I wonder if they will have a direct result in how the refs call the game?" The answer is YES. I've been having a respectful debate (via twitter) with a Canadiens fan, today, and I already made a prediction. With the crowd and the "zebras" that are assigned to the game, I believe that 4 of the first 5 PP will go the Habs way. There are some that think the B's should skate away, when being chirped and chipped at. Unn uhh. Bring the pain. Bring the hate. Skate away...? Don't engage physically...? That is the worst idea EVER. If you are gonna get slapped with a 2 anyway...

BRING THE PAIN!!!!!!

BRING THE HATE!!!!!

Sorry. It's been a long day.

7pm puck drop. Hopefully, no one name Alberts will be anywhere near the broadcast booth.

 

[mommasita]

Interesting game, hardly any calls.. What Julien seemed to want..Refs were all Irish, nobody can call foul

What the fans didn't do was toss any garbage at any player, glad to see that.. Very loud, from before the amazing Reno all the way to the end, deservingly so..

Place was insane..

Thursday should be Insanity gone wild... This is FAR from over..

 

[BDL]

Ok... My time of mourning is over. As I said in the playoff thread, congrats to the Habs for playing a hard fought series. They showed that they wanted it more than the B's.

As for the Bruins, they have already had clean out day and their exit interviews. Cam and Peter have also begun their "turn the page" press conferences. With that, I am expecting at least a 2-4 player turnover in rosters. Nothing has been concrete yet, but I wouldn't drag your feet if you've been meaning to get a Thornton sweater. I'd hate to see him go (more so than Ference), but I'd understand the not offering him a contract. The others could be lost to trade or being out bid.

I have a couple of scenarios kicking around in my head, but I do have a question, that maybe 1 of you can help me with. We all know that the B's can free up $4million at any time by putting Savy on the LIR. But after the last lockout, 1 of the things negotiated was that each team was allowed 1 buyout of a player's contract for a %. I know the Bruins haven't used theirs yet, but was their an expiration date that the buyout had to be enacted by?

I will keep this thread open through the draft, free agency and training camp. And will start a fresh thread in Oct. Feel free to pop by and add anything you might have heard, any trade rumors or opinions. Not just for the Bruins, but for the NHL and hockey world alike. I know I will.

Thank you for following along.

 

[BDL]

Congrats to the Kings on their 2nd Stanley Cup Championship.

As for the Bruins, the rumor mills have already started churning. Jim Murphy had reported (which has since been shot down by PC) of a possible trade between the B's and Sharks. Marshmont for Patrick Marleau. I wasn't a fan of this rumor. Not just because I am a huge Marchand fan (sometimes bordering on apologist), but because it didn't make sense.

Now... If in future, the B's made this deal, traded Krejci away to free up space and used that space to pick up Stastny... I will drive both Marchand and Krejci to Logan and carry their bags for them. In my opinion, this would be the closest the Bruins would come to reclaiming the fire power they had with the Looch-Savs-Kessel line. Stastny to draw attention and feed the puck. Marleau to finish. And Looch to keep everything nice and level. Plus, with those line mates, Looch will have to keep the skates moving.

Then if you can sign Iggy for the same money, you have Smith-Bergy-Iggy. Not a bad line. Fill it out with Eriksson-Soderberg-??? (I think Kelly may be traded). The 4th line is completely in flux this off-season. Not sure which direction the Bruins will head. Just in case, I made sure I bought BDLsgal the sweater of her favorite player, Shawn Thornton, before the NHL calendar year ended. Once he is no longer an official player for the B's, you cannot have a B's sweater with his name on it.

NHL awards, NHL draft and free-agent period are on the horizon.