A Farewell to 2008: The 10 Best Games

Well, it was quite a ride. 2008 gave us the beginning of the re-emergence of hockey in Boston. From the 8 game point streak from February to the thrilling 7 game series against the Montreal Canadiens the Bruins left us on the edge of our seats. Given the incredible start the B's are of to this season (Best in the NHL, who saw that coming?) it's time to bid a final farewell to 2008 and say hello to 2009 by counting down the 10 best games of 2008.




10) February 19th 2008 at Carolina Hurricanes
- This was deja-vu for most Bruins fans of the Dave Lewis era. The Bruins were poised to win when Ray Whitney and Eric Staal both scored with less than 2 minutes in the 3rd to tie the game and send it to OT. Following the 5 minute OT Claude Julien took a chance on David Krejci in the shootout and it payed off as Krejci netted a SO goal to win the game for Boston.




9) February 28th 2008 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
- What made this game exciting was the fact that it was Marian Hossa's first game as a Pen. It didn't live up to the Hossa hype as he left the game in the 1st period with an injury. The Bruins went on to a 5-1 rout of the Penguins, including a Lucic beatdown of Jarkko Ruutu.




8) March 8th 2008 vs. Washington Capitals
- A true test of how legitimate this team really was. The B's trailed most of this game but it wasn't until a Donald Brashear 6 minute major for sucker punching Shane Hnidy that put Boston over the top. Zdeno Chara netted the teams first goal to tie it up at 1 a piece. Following a Tom Poti slash the Bruins were on the 5 on 3 powerplay when Marco Sturm put one by Cristobal Huet to give the B's the lead as Sturm did his best Ovechkin impression as he jumped into the glass to the thrill of the crowd.




7) January 19th 2008 vs. New York Rangers
- This was the TD Banknorth Garden's 6th sellout of the season as the stadium was filled with black, gold and bits of red, white and blue as some Ranger fans made the trek from New York to attend the game. The Boston Bruins hosted the Rangers on a Saturday Matinee at the Garden which was also the 50th anniversary of Willie O'Ree breaking the color barrier in the NHL. The game was back and forth throughout as both goalies buckled down, deliving strong performances. The Rangers survived the OT shorthanded as Jaromir Jagr got called for a penalty and it went to the shootout where Phil Kessel and Zdeno Chara netted goals for Boston to get them the win.





6) November 1st vs. Dallas Stars
- Saturday night's alright for fighting after all. The Bruins and Stars met in this fight filled affair which was mainly instigated by Steve Ott and his cowardly low hit on Stephane Yelle. This game showed the heart the Bruins have as play erupted into a 5 on 5 fight after Sean Avery boarded fan favorite Milan Lucic. On top of the fighting majors the Bruins made easy work of Marty Turco and went on to a 5-1 win.




5) November 22nd at Montreal Canadiens
- It was Patrick Roy night at the Bell Centre as the Bruins almost found themselves in a familiar position, about to blow it against the Habs in Montreal. The Habs jumped out a 1-0 lead early in the 1st as Andrei Kostityn put a wrist shot past Tim Thomas. The Bruins responded back ten minutes later on a Bruins goal by none other than Montreal's public enemy number one Milan Lucic who was on the receiving end of heckles and jeers by the Habitants de Quebec for much of the night. As the Bruins netted another goal to go up 2-1 the Habs caught a great break when Tom Kostopoulos scored with just under 4 minutes left in the 3rd. In the end it was Blake Wheeler saving the day for the Bruins in the shootout.




4)March 15th vs. Philadelphia Flyers
- This was Philadelphia and Boston's final meeting of the season. Both were jostling for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference Playoffs and it was the Flyers first game back at the Garden after injuring Bruins star C Patrice Bergeron. The game seemed to belong to Marty Biron and the Flyers as they were clinging on for dear life to their 2-1 lead. With under a minute left to play it was desperation time for the Bruins as they pulled Tim Thomas from net for the extra attacker. Andrew Ference then went on the attack as he put a slapshot by Biron with 30 seconds left in the 3rd to tie it. Then in the OT it was Aaron Ward who came through again as the Bruins won 3-2, proving them as a playoff worthy team.




3) November 29th 2008 vs. Detroit Red Wings
- It was the big test, could the 21st century rendition of the Big Bad Bruins days of yore hang with the leagues best? The answer we were given was a yes as the Bruins beat the defending champs 4-1. The message was loud and clear; the Bruins of old are back.




2) April 13th 2008 vs. Montreal Canadiens
- Less than a day after Alex Kovalev crushed the hopes of tying the series with his OT winner the Bruins took to their home ice to try and get on the board with a win to make the series 1-2. Milan Lucic got the Bruins on the board first as the Bruins headed into the locker room with a 1-0 lead after 1. In the 2nd the Canadiens tied it right back up with a Kostopoulos wrist shot. It stayed at 1-1 all the way into the overtime as both Carey Price and Tim Thomas made beautiful save after save. In the OT the Bruins found themselves in Montreal's zone with a delayed penalty coming against the Habs when Dennis Wideman delivered a great pass to a wide open Marc Savard who snapped a shot right by Price to give the B's their first win over Montreal and avoid going down 0-3 in the series.




1) April 19th vs. Montreal Canadiens
- This was it. Either win and force a Game 7 in Montreal or get beat on home ice and watch as your bitter rivals go on to the next round. The B's were coming off a 5-1 win in Montreal. It was classic, old fashioned back and forth action as the Bruins and Canadiens literally went back and forth between scoring goals. Phil Kessel who played with an extra fire in his heart scored two absolutely brilliant goals for the Bruins but it was Marco Sturm's goal in the 3rd that put the Bruins over the top for the win.

Here's to '08, hopefully 2009 can bring the Bruins more good fortune and a parade in June if you get what I'm saying.

Big Update

Bruins Win Again; Extend Home Win Streak to 12

As one Boston band put it; "Let the Good Times Roll". That's been the case for the Boston Bruins all-season long as they skated and deked their way to an 8-5 win over their Original Six rival Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the 4th meeting between the Northeast Divisional foes, the 3rd and final of the season at the Garden. The now officially Sundin-less Maple Leafs gave the Bruins a valiant fight yet again but in the end the Black and Gold prevailed to improve their record to 22-5-4 on the year. It was as if Vesa Toskala and Curtis Joseph didn't have a chance right from the get-go of this one as the Bruins lit them up for 8 goals in all. Toskala, was pulled after giving up 2 goals in just over 4 and half minutes. Goal 1 of 8 was scored by Marco Sturm who was held to just over 2 minutes of time on ice due to what appeared to be a lower body injury in his return from the IR. The 2nd was scored by none other than the red hot David Krejci, which closed the door on Toskala's night...for now.

As Toronto coach Ron Wilson made the call for 41 year old Curtis Joesph, the Garden faithful sang Vesa a chorus of sarcastic cheers as his night appeared finished. This was just the beginning on CuJo proved to be no relief as he gave up 4 goals on 16 shots; giving up goals to Savard, Krejci and Phil Kessel. Giving up was never in Toronto's mindset that night as after goals by Alexei Ponikarovsky, Nik Antropov and Mikhali Grabovski the Leafs found themselves trailing by only 2. One Phil Kessel goal later the Bruins were back ahead by 2 before an apparent "holding" call on Tim Thomas lead to a Jason Blake powerplay goal. As the horn sounded the 2nd period concluded with the Bruins clinging on for dear life with a 6-5 lead.

The 3rd period opened with 2 goalie changes. Fernandez was in net for Boston and Toskala was back in net for the Leafs. Following a Michael Ryder powerplay goal the Bruins were back on top by 2. And the proverbial icing on the cake was the powerplay goal late in the 3rd by Czech Republic native David Krejci. Krejci netted his 11th of the season and notably 3rd of the night after banging the puck past Toskala off a great cross-ice pass by Savard. This was the 3rd Bruins hat-trick of the season and their 2nd against the Maple Leafs.

The absolute dominance this team is displaying over their opponents at home is giving the Garden an electric feel every time the Black and Gold take the ice. The Bruins improved to 12-1-1 at home after last night and are now 17-2-1 in their last 20. Their consistent play and new high powered offense are giving the entire city of Boston and NHL fans around the world something to talk about. Most notably have been the play of David Krejci and Phil Kessel (yes the same Phil Kessel that was almost traded at last years deadline) as they are both on pace for 80+ points. They along with the rest of the Bruins players and the 17,000+ screaming Bruins fans are making the Garden a truly undesirable place to play for visiting teams.

Sundin Makes Decision; Picks....The Canucks?

All I can say is, finally. This saga reminded me of Brett Favre, it was long, uneventful and unnecesary. After days, no, weeks, no, months of hearing "Sundin to Montreal, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Hartford etc etc" he finally chose to go to Vancouver. Vancouver got their center, but did Sundin get what he wanted? After all, he said he wants a Stanley Cup Championship, does he really think it's going to be in Vancouver? No, Sundin's like every other athlete in the world; he went where there was the most money. When it became apparent that both the salary cap crippled Rangers and Canadiens wouldn't be able to give Mats a multi-million deal he moved on. It's not this that I'm upset, it's more about the continuing trend of athletes taking off half a season like it's normal.

It's truly an alarming trend. NHL players taking almost half a season off and joining a team mid-way through for the "Cup Run" (how'd that go for you Peter Forsberg?). After this stunt was made popular by the boys in Anaheim named Teemu and Niedermayer it's now officially become a trend for veterans. This fan says no, it's time for the NHL to step in and create a deadline. Think about it from the "little guys perspective", you're from Slovakia, you fight in your country with the dream of getting to the NHL and you actually make it! You fight through the grueling training camps, work-outs and drills with the coach and you make the team only to be sent outright to your AHL team because some thirty-something year old decided retirement wasn't for him.

It's simply not fair. An idea I have is to make it so the players who want to play find a team exactly one month from the NHL's first game of the season. This way the NHL can avoid some of their once elite veterans joining on with teams just before the playoffs for that added bonus. If Claude Lemieux is willing to fight for another shot by playing for the Shanghai Sharks (The San Jose Sharks Chinese affiliate, no lie) then Sundin, Forsberg, Selanne and others can make their decision in less than a month if they really want to play in the NHL.

The Comment Heard 'Round The World: Sean Avery's "Sloppy Seconds"

When I say Sean Avery, what do you think? Most people would say you think of an agitator, an elite agitator at that. He's been dubbed "The Most Hated Man in the NHL" and for good reason. He's insulted French-Canadians, commentators, fellow players and even the commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman. He's been through it before but the 28 year old Ontario native found himself in a little more than 'hot water' when he made this now famous comment on December 2nd following a morning skate in Calgary. "I am going to say one thing. I am really happy to be back in Calgary. I love Canada. I just want to comment on how, it has become a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I do not know what that is about, but enjoy the game.". This comment was clearly directed towards Avery's ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert being with Calgary Flames defensemen and NHL09 coverman Dion Phanuef. Within hours Avery found himself suspended indefinitely.

"Indefinitely" was a rather light way to put what followed. Following a meeting with Commisioner Bettman, Avery was slapped with a 6 game suspension which would become the least of his worries. After serving this suspension it was announced that "Avery and the Dallas Stars are parting ways" after just 23 games which in my opinion was a move made by GM Brett Hull to save his own hide. After all, it was Hull's decision to let Niklas Hagman go and replace him with Avery. Although this move may be best for the cellar-dwelling Stars, it's not sending the right message for the NHL.

In a country where athletes have gone into the crowd and fought fans, been caught drunk and with hookers by police, shot themselves in the leg, shot one another, complained to the media about having to practice, accused teammates of being gay and injected needles into one anothers buttcheeks the NHL is attempting to make an example of Sean Avery for essentially being a smart-ass. Was his comment uncalled for? Yes. Was it malicious? No. He was being Sean Avery, mouthy and honest.

In no way do I think Avery's career should be done for just because of this, there's been much worse things that have gone virtually unpunished. An example that hits home with me is the fact that Randy Jones got a 2 game suspension for almost killing Patrice Bergeron. Not only this, but later in the year the Flyers pulled another boarding, this time on Andrew Alberts and Hartnell (the guy who drove the kneeling Alberts head into the dasher) was only hit with a 2 game suspension. You're honestly going to try and tell me that Avery's comments were 3 times as bad as almost ending a players career? I don't buy it.

Some Off Day Humor

The boys take on the Lightning tomorrow in St. Pete's and it should be a pretty good game. The Lightning have struggled mightily while the Bruins are coming off a red hot month of November. It'll probably be Thomas vs. Smith in net and I'm predicting a 4-2 B's win with the Krejci line getting some work done for the 3rd straight game.

Tim Thomas back with B's

In the mean time, I stumbled upon this from a friend a few days back and figured I'd share for entertainments sake.

Montreal Canadiens Rap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyI-kY5SMII

The sad part is that this is serious to them. I personally prefer NESN's "Cap-tain Zah-Day-No" commercials over this.

Word On Ward

“He’s not going to make the trip to Florida, so (he’s) definitely out for this week” Coach Claude Julien said on Monday morning, speaking on Aaron Ward's injury suffered in Saturday's 4-1 rout of Detroit. This is the 2nd significant injury the Bruins have suffered on defense already and yet again they're going to have to rely on a Providence call-up to fill the role of a veteran. With Ward not making the trip to Florida the Bruins will need to make a call but it is still unknown if the Bruins will go with Matt Lashoff again or give new comer Johnny Boychuk a chance with the big club.

Boychuk, a 6'2 defensemen from Edmonton, Alberta is currently leading AHL defensemen in points, scoring 4 goals and adding 19 assists. He's also 3 points away from matching his point total from all of last season (26) in a little more than 1/3 of the time. Although it'd appear he's the clear candidate for the call-up one can't rule out Matt Lashoff, who only trails Boychuk by 7 points and has played in 4 less games. One thing hurting Boychuk's chances is his lack of NHL experience, playing in only 4 games while Lashoff's played in 30 career NHL games, all with Bruins posting a -7 and scoring 1 goal and 6 assists.

In my opinion I believe the call-up should go to Johnny for this road trip. This would be his first legitimate test with the Bruins as opposed to giving the opportunity to Lashoff again who's struggled when actually given the call. Especially with the team playing at the rate they are along with the rather soft road trip it wouldn't be a terrible time to try and mix it up.

Johnny Boychuk is currently the leading scorer in the AHL for defensemen.

Bruins Keep Rolling; Beat Wings 4-1

Come Sunday morning, North Station was a quiet, desolate place. Not many would have known just 12 hours before the Boston Bruins, playing in front of yet another sold out crowd dominated Detroit for the last 50 minutes of play. To many, this was the test of this team. Could the red hot Boston Bruins, coming off a 7-2 rout of the DiPietro-less New York Islanders take down the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings? Well, the answer we were given by guys like Kessel, Kobasew and Fernandez is a very loud yes.

The 1st period started slow as the Bruins didn't get their first shot on goal until almost 12 minutes into the period but for the B's the first shot was the charm as Ryder connected with Blake Wheeler for a one timer on the fly. The goal was Wheeler's 8th of the season, tying him for 2nd among NHL rookies. Just over 4 minutes later into the period Phil Kessel netted his 13th off a pass from defensemen Shane Hnidy during 4 on 4 play. After the 1st, it was the good guys 2, the bad guys 0.

After another Bruins goal scored by Chucky Kobasew 8 minutes into the 2nd the night was finished for Detroit G Ty Conklin who struggled mightily, stopping only 9 of the 12 shots against him. The sell-out Garden faithful joined in the chants of "Conk-lin, Conk-lin, Conk-lin" as the frustrated Alaska native stormed off the ice, visibly yelling at himself as he made his way down to the Wings locker room. After a call on Blake Wheeler for a fairly obvious hook Detroit scored their only goal of the night due to a deflection off Marc Savard's skate in front of Fernandez. Following a David Krejci goal near the 13 minute marker the Bruins held on defensively to beat Marian Hossa and the rest of the Red Wings 4-1.

The big thing Bruins fans should take from this game was the play of Manny Fernandez. Fernandez made 29 saves on 30 shots and nearly had a shut-out. This was the 2nd consecutive start for Fernandez, who improved his record to 7-1-1 and has become a capable "back-up" to red hot Timmy Thomas who missed last nights start due to a cold. Manny's 6-0-1 in his last 7 starts and has looked better in just about every start except in the 7-4 win over the Sabres. If Manny can continue to play solid between the pipes the Bruins could have a legitimate duo going forward into this season.

All I have to say from last nights game from my own point of view is Hossa who? This same guy fans were begging for the Bruins to offer a max contract this past summer was held to nothing during his 16+ minutes on the ice and often looked invisible out there. Compare that to Ryder's 2 assists and+2 in 6 less minutes on the ice. This obviously isn't saying that Ryder's better than Hossa but one player such as a Hossa wouldn't have made the Bruins dramatically better. This team is built off the team image.

4 days off, what are we to do? NHL09, many, many hours of NHL09.