Bruins Season Preview
Thirty-seven years after the Boston Bruins last took laps with the Stanley Cup on the sheet at MSG, Boston’s 21st century title virgins take to the ice Thursday night with the highest expectations on their shoulder pads since the salad days of Neely, Oates, and Bourque. Simply put, anything short of a Cup Finals appearance by the Bs this season will be considered a disappointment. 53 wins, 116 points, and a bitter 2nd round playoff exit to an inferior team will do that. The lingering sting of said defeat can only serve to motivate a squad, to remind them of the price required to pay come springtime.
And really, there’s no reason to think the team won’t be in roughly the same position come playoff-time. Despite some roster turnover, former Montreal antagonist Steve Begin and the formerly lost-in-the-desert Derek Morris are the only two new additions to the Bruin family. Gone are Phil Kessel (and his easily replaceable 36 goals), P.J. Axelsson, Stephane Yelle, Manny “We Hardly Knew, Ye” Fernandez, tough-as-nails D-man Aaron Ward, and the defensive depth duo of Shane Hnidy and Steve Montador.
Up front, the Bs will once again showcase one of the league’s most solid rolling of four lines. Playing in a contract year (and, frankly, the best bargain in the NHL for the last three seasons), Marc Savard will anchor the top line with Milan Lucic on the left side and an as-yet-to be determined right-winger filling out the line (Mike Ryder, sophomore Blake Wheeler, and Marco Sturm will all get looks). The next line will be the future All-Star David Krejci centering the two guys not playing with Savard. Mark Recchi-Patrice Bergeron-Chuck Kobasew (which gelled almost immediately after Recchi’s arrival from Tampa Bay at the deadline) will make up the so-called 3rd line, though I wouldn’t necessarily consider the 2nd or 3rd better than the other. On one of the best fourth lines in the league, the Bs will trot out tough guy Shawn Thornton (who achieved career highs in goals and points last year), the hustling agitator the Bs have lacked in Begin, and last season’s late revelation, the game and grinding Byron Bitz. The lone early scratch, depending on Krejci’s speedier than expected recovery, will be the plays-bigger-than-he-is Vladimir Sobotka.
Really though, this squad’s top nine forwards are interchangeable---almost any combination should produce equal results though some will mesh better than others. Look for a much-improved Patty Bergeron to at least triple last year’s concussion-induced eight goal campaign. He’s looked sharp in the pre-season, showing both the jump and hockey sense that just released Randy Jones helped (temporarily?) rob him of. Still just 24, the “A”-wearing Bergeron will be entering his sixth season with the Bs. His contributions will also help fill the scoring void left by Kessel’s money-chasing departure. A full season of Recchi and Sturm pretty much ensure that the league’s 2nd best scoring won’t tail off. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it increased if Wheeler and Lucic progress accordingly.
On the back end, the Bs once again will be led by the reigning Norris Trophy winning-captain Zdeno Chara. No reason to expect anything different from his last two monster seasons. Morris, who is younger and more offensive than the man he replaced (fan fave Aaron Ward), will likely be playing with something to prove after wasting away in the Arizona desert for the last several years (save for a cup of coffee with the Rangers last year where he began to rediscover his game), while also playing for next year’s contract. Expect him to regain the form he showed in Calgary and Colorado, if only because of his return to a place where people know there’s a hockey team in town.
Dennis Wideman showed himself to be a top #2 defenseman last year with a season worthy of his contract. Andrew Ference is an important cog to this unit, provided he can stay in the line-up---something he had trouble doing last year. His presence, along with that of Matt Hunwick, was sorely missed in the Carolina series, as the Bs had to rely on the more stay-at-home style of Montador and Hnidy in more offensive-minded situations.
Hunwick was another surprise last year. The 7th rounder (2004) started hot, spent a few games in Providence, but then became a relied upon contributor going into the playoffs before he was felled, then shelved, by a ruptured spleen. Any further progression by the speedy defenseman just makes this diamond in the rough that much shinier. Steady rock Mark Stuart, the true ‘defensive defenseman’ of the backline, rounds out a top six that has nice blend of toughness, offensive ability, mobility, and experience. Waiting in the wings for the first inevitable injury is Johnny Boychuk, who led the ‘A’ in points by a defenseman last year.
Though last year’s Jennings Trophy-winning tandem of Fernandez and Vezina winner Tim Thomas has been broken up (Fernandez remains unemployed), it’s not a stretch to think the goaltending will be even better this year. Tuukka Rask has finally broken camp with the big club after showing he belongs with a stellar preseason. Should Thomas start slow or get hurt, having a guy who just might be better than him waiting in the wings is a hell of a back-up plan.
Many successful teams learn to lose before they learn to win. Last spring, the Bruins got the losing part stuffed down their throats. This year, they need to apply the lessons learned to take the next step, which is learning what it takes for win (for that alone, Recchi was worth the money spent). All the parts are there for success, the team just needs to add the hard work and Coach Julien just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. Yes, this just might be the year.
A few more buds for your season opening bowl…
*One of the more entertaining aspects of the increased local media exposure surrounding the Bruins this year will be the increase in cluelessness on behalf of said local media. From mispronunciations to misinformation, it’s funny to watch some of these sudden ‘experts’ expound on the state of team they all but ignore. The average O/U on games watched by most of these bandwagoners last season was 11.5 (including playoffs). But perhaps one of the goofiest overreactions was this “tweet” from a wildly popular national writer who actually gets paid to pen the occasional/token Bruins column (only if they’re winning though):
Now I remember why I quit the Bruins. The Kessel trade is a disgrace. Jeremy Jacobs, you are a thief of souls. Just sell already. Eff you.7:19 PM Sep 18thfrom UberTwitter
Talk about cluelessness.
*The Winter Classic at Fenway on New Year’s Day vs. the Flyers will be the hottest ticket on the ’09-’10 sports calendar.
*If you have DirecTv, you won’t be able to watch the home opener unless you have tickets. DirecTv and Versus are having an NFL/Time Warner-style pissing match with just the fans losing out. Before some jamoke shits on the NHL for this, remember that there were NFL games that couldn’t be seen in Manhattan for the same type of slap fight.
*Nice to see that the Bs are going to honor Fred Cusick, even if it’s a no-brainer to do so. But he gave them 45 years. And they’re giving him…a TV timeout? Seriously guys? That’s all you could come up with? Couldn’t get a pre-game ceremony? Maybe even between periods? Jesus Christ. I can only hope that NESN is going to stay live during this quickie event. Because that would really suck to have, you know, the TV audience miss out on a tribute to the longtime, beloved TV play-by-play guy. That would be ironically stupid.
*Is Jeremy Jacobs some sort of bizarro Michael Corleone (circa Part III)? “Just when I thought they were in…I push them back out!” After finally winning back scores of fans with a style reminiscent of Bruins teams of old that, more importantly, led to victories, Jacobs goes ahead and prices blue collar fans, the team’s bread-and-butter, right back out of the building in a gouging so bold and blatant it would make Apu Nahasapeemapetilon proud. $76 for the last row of the balcony after roughly $30 last year? That’s just shameful. Even for Jacobs.