The month of waiting has begun. We're officially 29 days away from the Bruins taking to the ice in their home opener against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, or "Crapitals" as Mike Milbury evidently prefers. To put it lightly, the Bruins are expected to produce huge results in 2009-10 and are favored by many to finish with the top record in the Eastern Conference. In what I'm hoping won't be Montreal Canadiens 2007-08 to Habs circa 2008-09, here are 25 predictions I'm willing to make about this year's Boston Bruins.1. The Bruins will win the Northeast Division in similar fashion to the 2008-09 club.
2. Tuukka Rask will perform up to snuff and will become the premier piece in any trade rumor involving the Boston Bruins on HockeyBuzz, HFBoards or The Fourth Period. (C'sFromTheG5).
3. Bruins fans will fall in love with Steve Begin's physical style of play by the 5th home game of the season.
4. Dennis Wideman will continue to make Bruins fans forget about Brad Boyes as he'll put up 30+ points on the powerplay, but will continue to frustrate them at the same time with his errant slapshots.
5. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas will continue to get better with age and will continue to build on his Disney-movie-like story as he's named starter for Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
6. Byron Bitz will continue to win the hearts of Bruins fans, creating the next Lucic-like craze. Expect a song to the tune of Sweet's song "Ballroom Blitz" to eventually come out by someone. Bitz? Bitz? Byron Bitz?
7. Mark Stuart will now officially take over as the Bruins premier juggernaut on the blue-line when it comes to blocking shots, throwing forearm shivers and chime in offensively time and time again.
8. With P.J Axelsson jetting back to Sweeden to play for his hometown of Frolunda of the SEL, Patrice Bergeron will take over as the Bruin with the most stylish hair-doo.
9. Phil Kessel will be a member of the 2009-10 Boston Bruins when he signs a one year tender at the unfortunate expense of Chuck Kobasew and/or Andrew Ference and we conceivably could do this fun saga (of lack thereof) all again in the Summer of 2010, doesn't that sound fun?
10. Michael Ryder will score 30 goals, regardless of playing on a line with Marc Savard or David Krejci.
11. The Bruins Top 9 forwards will be the elite of the Eastern Conference, perhaps the NHL and are better than any Top 9 you can assemble on MySpace.
12. While Aaron Ward will be cheered for his contributions on the Bruins blueline despite his departure with the club for Carolina, Scott Walker will be booed by the Garden faithful louder than Alex Kovalev, Sidney Crosby or Mike Komisarek ever was when the Hurricanes come to town on October 3rd.
13. The Bruins will continue to make the TD Garden a house of horrors for Habs goaltender Carey Price.
14. Patrice Bergeron will officially have his pre-concussion swagger back. The 24 year old center was showing signs of returning to form during the playoffs against Montreal and Carolina where he and line-mates Mark Recchi and Chuck Kobasew acted as the B's number one shutdown line. Although he may not return to the 70-point level in 2009-10, he simply won't need to considering the Bruins talent at the center position.
15. Bruins new comer Derek Morris will perform well in the Julien system and take the pressure off of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman to carry the powerplay from the blue-line. With his expected ice time along with style of play Morris will also record his highest point total since 2003-04 as he'll put up 32+ points with Boston in 2009-10.
16. The 2010 Winter Classic will not disappoint any of it's viewers as Green Monster seats will sell for 15,000 dollars and/or your first born child on craigslist.com.
17. Vladimir Sobotka will continue to struggle on the NHL roster due to his limited role, creating doubts about his career as an NHLer, or at least within the Bruins system. Sobotka may have had a combined 57 points in 58 regular season/post-season games for the Providence Bruins but his dissatisfying -10 on a very well goaltended Bruins team last season is cause for concern.
18. The Providence Bruins will once again put together a highly competitive product under coach Rob Murray with strong play from their netminders and additions of Jamie Arniel, Yannick Riendeau along with others come later in the season and another season out of Brad Marchand.
19. The buyouts of Petr Schaefer, Patrick Eaves and Glen Murray will continue to hurt the Boston Bruins chances of acquiring a possible puzzle piece at the NHL Trading Deadline.
20. Blake Wheeler will have a breakout season as he fully conditions himself to a full NHL season. The 23 year old added 15 pounds to his 6'5 frame and will be expected to use his size to his advantage even more in '09-10. Even if the point totals only see a slight bump, a change in his style of play will be noticed by both Bruins fans and coaches alike as he continues his progression into a solid NHL winger with supreme offensive skills.
21. Matt Hunwick will make strides as a Byfuglien-like hybrid of sorts for the Bruins with his ability to play forward at an acceptable level along with being a sound defensemen.
22. Andrew Ference will still ride his bike to games when the weather permits, but will also make a statement as to why he should remain in Boston and in the Bruins organization with his strong defense and fearless attitude out on the ice.
23. Captain Zdeno Chara will set a new career high in both goals and powerplay goals in 2009-10 due to the possible downgrades in goaltending within the Eastern Conference. (See: Toronto, Ottawa, Philadelphia and Florida).
24. The B's fourth line of Shawn Thornton, Byron Bitz and Steve Begin will absolutely destruct every player of the opposition when out on the ice this season.
25. Jack Edwards will continue to make absolutely insane remarks during games but Boston fans will continue to love him because well, the man calls an absolutely excellent game. He may be no Fred Cusick, but the excitement and enthusiasm Edwards brings to every game regardless of it being Game 7 or a regular season game against the Phoenix Coyotes is enough to keep us entertained. One thing's for sure, the man is high.
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