Stories written by mmiccoli
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins Correspondent
Here we are–less than 50 days from the beginning of the Boston Bruins’ season opening game in Prague. It’s been somewhat of a crazy offseason for the B’s ever since nabbing Tyler Seguin second overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Yes, Marc Savard is still in black and gold, as is Blake Wheeler and Mark Recchi. Daniel Paille, Johnny Boychuk and Mark Stuart are all back too. And how about that salary cap situation? Feel free to thank Marco Sturm for his stint on LTIR saving the Bruins approximately $3.5 million in space until he laces his skates in Boston again.
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent
The Boston Bruins are in quite the precarious spot.
On one hand, it’s easy to say that the Bruins have had a successful offseason thus far. Boston’s biggest headache on ice, Dennis Wideman, was traded away along with the 15h overall pick to the Florida Panthers for Nathan Horton, an instant upgrade on offense, and Gregory Campbell. Then, the Bruins re-signed soon-to-be free agents, Johnny Boychuk and Mark Recchi, to contracts rewarding both for their stellar play during the 2009-10 season. Finally, the Taylor versus Tyler debate was settled once the Edmonton Oilers drafted Taylor Hall first, leaving the Bruins to select centerman Tyler Seguin second overall.
Now, it gets complicated.
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent
In a perfect world, the Edmonton Oilers select Tyler Seguin with their number one pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft. That leaves the Boston Bruins to select Taylor Hall number two. Hall goes on to sign a multi-year deal with the Bruins, wear number 14, and slide right into the winger position on line with either skilled playmaker, Marc Savard or David Krejci. Hall scores 30+ goals in his first year, wins the Calder Trophy and leads Boston to their first Stanley Cup since 1972 causing all Bostonians to have a memory lapse on whether a player named Phil Kessel actually ever played here.
As you might be able to tell, I’ve been playing this scenario out now for the past few weeks.
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent
The Bruins won’t be remembered for upsetting the Sabres in the first round nor for their inspired play through the first three games against the Flyers. Instead, until Boston wins a Stanley Cup or another team pulls off this horrible feat, the Bruins will be associated with being the latest NHL team to choke (epically) in the playoffs. This is what we get to hear about all throughout the offseason and whenever the Bruins next hold a comfortable lead in a playoffs series. Being up three games? That’s just not enough anymore.
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent
One would have thought that a three-game lead against the Philadelphia Flyers sounded too good. Almost as a good as a sweep, or even a series win in five games. But here we are, the Tuesday morning after the Boston Bruins’ worst performance of the postseason, a 4-0 loss as the Flyers force a game 6 in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. Suddenly, the Bruins’ chances don’t look as great as they once did.
Two other NHL teams have lost a playoff series after holding a three-game lead: the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders. Is it too soon to start talking about this stat? Probably not, since it’s been well-publicized since the end of game 3 in Philadelphia. The Bruins have a long road ahead for only one win to wrap up the series. As strange as this may seem, it is now the B’s who have their backs against the wall.
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent
Feel free to go ahead and use this one: the Boston Bruins are playing with house money.
For those devoid of casino references, allow me to explain. Playing with house money means that you’ve already won but yet you’re still taking chances and gambling with money that isn’t yours. Few expected the Bruins to advance past the first round, let alone make the playoffs as March came to a close. Boston clinched, moved past Buffalo in the first round and are in the midst of a second round battle, yes, battle against the Philadelphia Flyers–another team playing with house money.
So what do you get when two teams are already up and still going?
6:30 pm: Four hours later…we now know that Marc Savard will not dress for tonight’s game since Boston is still waiting for medical clearance from his latest neuropsych test. Bummer for Bruins fans hopeful that the center made his debut in a critical game but really, best to sit Savard until he’s fully back at 100%. The Bruins and Sabres have taken the ice for warmups–on the ice for Buffalo, who else but Thomas Vanek?
Let’s rewind time for a moment.
It’s March 3, 2010, around 5 pm. The NHL’s trade deadline is now two hours passed and Bruins’ fans and writers (yours truly, included) are ready to write off the black and gold for missing out on adding more offense to the team therefore significantly damaging the remainder of the season. In other words: “Playoffs?! You wanna talk about playoffs?!”
Press play here to proceed.
Don’t look now, but the Boston Bruins are on a hot streak. Such a hot streak in fact, that Boston’s nine points in their last ten games were just enough to propel them into the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference–three points ahead of the 7th seed Philadelphia Flyers.
Try to shield your eyes, too, from the fact that the Boston Bruins officially hold the number two pick in the NHL Entry Draft and will be selecting whichever prospect Edmonton doesn’t claw up first: Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin. Not only did the Bruins make the playoffs after a season of injuries and a dull offense, they finally have some sort of closure from the Phil Kessel saga.
Is this for real?
By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent Funny how every time Dennis Wideman touched the puck, the Bruins fans let out a chorus of boos usually reserved for guys like Mike Komisarek, Phil Kessel and even Matt Cooke. Funny, too, how it was Wideman who would score the goal on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres [...]
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