Bruins Sign Marty Turco!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by amazze

This is a smart move by Peter Chiarelli. After losing Tuukka Rask for 4-6 weeks with a lower abdomen/groin strain the Bruins were left with fourth string Providence goaltender Michael Hutchinson to back up Tim Thomas. I like this signing because it gives the Bruins a veteran, with experience, who won’t be rattled in games down the stretch when Timmy needs a break. Turco is 36 years old and has a career 2.35 goals against average .910 save percentage, primarily with the Dallas Stars. He wasn’t great for the Blackhawks in 2010-2011 (Turco has been playing in Austria this year), but he is only going to be needed as a short-term stop-gap as he is not eligible for the Stanley Cup playoffs because he was acquired after the trade deadline. Turco is expected to join the B’s on Wednesday and I would expect Claude to start him within the week to get him into the flow of the team and the NHL game.

Bruins Weekend Recap

Posted on March 5, 2012 by amazze

The Bruins had a tough weekend dropping two games the New York squads, each by one goal. The lost a tough one to the Islanders at the Garden as a result of a blown icing call by the officials. I was at the game and it was a clear-cut, textbook, icing that was waved off for inexplicable reasons. This caused the three B’s forwards to pause for just long enough to create a breakout opportunity going the other way resulting in the GWG for the Islanders. Overall, the team played well, but you have to put more pucks in the back of the net against the Isles, considering they scored 12 goals in their previous two games against them. To add insult to injury, the B’s lost Tuukka Rask and Daniel Paille to injury. Definitely not what we need heading into the stretch run. Paille is great on the energy line and PK, and losing Tuukka will make things more difficult for Timmy moving forward because he will see a heavy workload.

After Saturday’s loss the Bruins made their way to Madison Square Garden to face the conference-leading New York Rangers. Despite a horrific start (falling behind 2-0 in the 1st period) the Bruins outplayed the Rangers for most of the game. They put together about 53 strong minutes and 7 poor minutes but that was enough to cost them the game. Thomas wasn’t his best given his atrocious save percentage but in a 7 game series I am confident he can match or outplay Henrik. In fact, I hope we play these guys in the playoffs because I know the B’s can beat them even though it has not played out as well as we could hope in the regular season. Maybe it will give the Rangers some false confidence.

Bruins Get a Win, Krejci Quiets Critics

Posted on March 2, 2012 by amazze

The Bruins got a huge 4-3 OT victory vs. a solid New Jersey Devils team at the garden last night. David Krejci has three of the four Bruins goals last night after only two goals in his previous thirteen games. The sudden spark might have been a result of a Julien lineup switch that returned Krejci back to his center position and paired with Tyler Seguin. I’d say that worked out well. Krejci comes up with a hat trick on five shots and Seguin buried the other goal with a snipe and also added an assist. If this new pairing can generate some much-needed offense for the Bruins it will be huge as the team gets ready for the stretch run.

Krejci has had an up and down, boom or bust type of year. He has been working hard, but sometimes he just doesn’t play with the confidence that should play with and it affects his performance on the ice. When plays with swag, he makes dazzling passes and his linemates always benefit from that. Krejci does seem to come up big in important moments (like the playoffs) so maybe now that we are starting to approach the end of season he will improve his consistency, which is going to help Seguin’s production (assuming they stay together) and help the Bruin’s skill players put more crooked numbers on the scoreboard.

Brian Rolston Spotlight

Posted on March 1, 2012 by amazze

As questionable as Chiarelli’s “depth” (rather than scoring) moves were I was glad to see Brian Rolston come back to Beantown. Back in the late 90s, early 00s Rolston was one of my favorite Bruins players. He was a great two-way forward, a leader, and was able to stay injury-free. However, my favorite part of his game was his short-handed skills. When he saw significant time on the penalty kill he had a knack for coming up with some shorties. From 2000-2004 (with the B’s) he had 16 short-handed goals, a pretty impressive number which included 9 SHG in the 2000-2001 season. (Enjoy the throwback pic: Rolston with former Bruin Eric Weinrich)

Rolston, 39, began his career with the New Jersey Devils during the 94-95 season where he was a member of that Stanley Cup team. He has also been a part of three U.S. Olympic teams which sort of explains why he was the captain of the Minnesota Wild after he left the Bruins. No doubt Rolston brings hardened veteran experience to the team. Hopefully he is a positive influence in the locker room during these inconsistent times for the Bruins. Given that he was just on the Islanders one of the cellar dwellers of the NHL, he can provide some perspective for these guys.

Bruins Get Blanked

Posted on February 29, 2012 by amazze

Senators goaltender Robin Lehner (20 years old) made himself known to the Bruins faithful last night when he registered 32 saves and his first career shutout. Young defenseman (21 days younger than me, hard to believe) Erik Karlsson tallied the only goal for Ottawa on a gift powerplay. Tyler Seguin was called for a phantom interference penalty which ended up costing the B’s the game. Although, the Bruins did not exactly play their best in the first two periods (more like terrible) they came out strong in the third, but playing catch-up hockey is not this team’s strength. They are dominant when they score first, so these sluggish starts are killing them. Not to take anything away from Lehner, but the Bruins should have buried the puck on a couple of chances. Even though Lehner was great in net, guys like Bergeron and Marchand need to finish strong. After posting five goals on these guys a couple of nights ago on the road, it’s kind of unacceptable to come home and get shut-out considering Ottawa has sneakily crept up to within one point of the Northeast division leading Bruins. Ottawa has won six of seven and the B’s have lost four of six. The Bruins have a game tomorrow vs. the Devils and Saturday vs. the Islanders before a big showdown with the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. I would like to see this team get a little momentum heading into a potential Eastern Conference finals matchup, by winning these next two by reestablishing their checking game, outskating their opponents, and causing turnovers. When they stick to this formula, its plain and simple, they win games.

Double Dip: Match Play & Bruins

Posted on February 28, 2012 by amazze

Over the weekend, the annual Accenture Match Play Tournament took place in Arizona. Different from stroke play, match play pits two golfers head-to-head in a bracket style tournament, similar to the March Madness tourney (with maybe just a little less excitement). The American and goat of the Ryder Cup two years back, Hunter Mahan edged out rising star Rory McIlroy for arguably his best career victory. Mahan was solid throughout the event, but it was McIlroy who really impressed me. If you don’t already know, this kid is damn good. After falling 3 holes behind Lee Westwood in the semi-final match, McIlroy rallied back to take the next 3 out of 4 holes and square the match. I don’t know if there will ever be another Tiger Woods, but McIlroy is going to be great, if he isn’t already. Look for him to take over the World Number 1 ranking after the tournament this weekend.

Now on to the Bruins…

I don’t know about you but I am excited for the Bruins vs. Senators tonight. Up in Ottawa a couple of nights ago there were a few mix-ups and a lot of unfinished business left on the table. Both Boychuck and Corvo took some heavy shots late in the game from Senators Chris Neil and Kyle Turris respectively. Neil’s shot on Boychuck was clean, but unneccessary. It was a huge hit that if the roles were reversed we would be going crazy. However, since it was our guy Boychuck getting steamrolled I was a little pissed and Zdeno Chara also wasn’t too happy because with 7:00 minutes left in the third he duked it out with Neil. I’m not too sure if that will be the end of that, but look for guys to really “finish” their checks on him tonight. The hit on Corvo was not so clean. Turris received a 2 minute minor for boarding, but the hit to the head left Jack Edwards up in arms so I expect to see some retaliation on Turris tonight by either McQuaid, Thornton, or even Corvo. Regardless, it should be a good, physical game which suits the B’s well. Also look for new additions Brian Rolston (right) and Mike Mottau.

Bruins Virtually Stagnet at Deadline

Posted on February 27, 2012 by amazze

The Bruins did pretty much nothing at the trade deadline. They acquired former Bruin Brian Rolston and former BC standout defenseman Mike Mottau from the New York Islanders. They also landed defenseman Greg Zanon from the Minnesota Wild. These are all virtually zero-impact moves so it looks like Chiarelli is confident with this team moving forward. Perhaps Horton will be ready for the playoffs.

Bruins vs. Blues Recap

Posted on February 23, 2012 by amazze

Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch the game last night but the Bruins did pull out a solid 4-2 victory against one of the better home teams in the NHL. Marchand got on the board with two goals in the game scoring 2:29 into the first. It’s good to see this team have some success on the scoreboard because as of late they have been weak in the goal-scoring department. It doesn’t look like Nathan Horton is coming back any time soon. The Rick Nash trade rumors are starting to swirl and I would love to see the big goal-scorer in a Bruins sweater, but at what cost? He is a special player and an elite goal scorer (and only 27 years old) but he will command at least Tuukka Rask and top D prospect Dougie Hamilton. The Bruins play the Sabres tomorrow night.

I’m Throwing Another Name Into the Toughest Bruin Race

Posted on February 22, 2012 by amazze

So I saw Jimmy’s post yesterday about the toughest Bruin on the team, Lucic or Thornton. It’s definitely a toss-up between those two but I’m probably taking Looch because he has the size advantage. However, I honestly believe both of these guys are not the toughest on the team. Two words Adam McQuaid. He is an animal. A throwback hockey player who is tough as nails and will beat the tar out of anyone who messes with his teammates in a manner he does not find appropriate. Sure, Chara would probably beat any of them in a fight but that’s because he is 6’9” 260 lbs. Check out the video below to see a McQuaid beatdown.

Milan Lucic vs. Shawn Thornton

Posted on February 21, 2012 by jtulz07

Having cooled off lately, the Bruins can at least be satisfied to have the NHL’s Toughest Man on their team, Milan Lucic. But what about Shawn Thornton? Does that mean they have the TWO toughest players in the NHL? I mean I wouldn’t want to go up against either but if you had to choose one, who would you rather drop the gloves with? Lucic or Thornton?