Earlier this month, THW's Mike Coll…
Pittsburgh PenguinsIt’s amazing how quickly the blissful memories of winning a Stanley Cup can be forgotten. Hockey is a “what have you done for me lately” kind of business, and after earning eight of a possible twenty-two points to start the year, people are wondering what’s wrong with the Bruins. Are they really suffering the from ...
Welcome to our “Halloween Edition” on The Hockey Writers kindly dubbed “Chutes And Ladders”. Riding the fortunes of a fantasy hockey team can be a lot like the original Milton Bradley game. There are enough twists and turns to drive any normal person crazy. So imagine what it is like for the average hockey ...
By Wayne Whittaker, Boston Bruins Correspondent An original six team ends a lengthy Stanley Cup drought, yet embarrassingly stumbles out of the gate the following season. That’s the current state of affairs for the Boston Bruins, just as it was in 1994 for the New York Rangers. In fact, Boston’s 3-7-0 record is the worst ...
A Message from the Surgeon General: Are you a resident of the Boston Metropolitan Area? In recent weeks, have you experienced: Fatigue, Depression, Nausea, Confusion, Decreased Libido, Hallucinations and Hair Loss? Do you watch or attend (or participate in) Boston Bruins games one or more times in a given week? Has your excitement at ...
The world of sports is definitely a place where the “what have you done for me lately” mentality exists. Case in point: the Boston Bruins may have won the Stanley Cup just four months or so ago, but just nine games into the 2011 season, things have changed. As it sits this morning, the Bruins ...
Less than 24 hours ago, the Montreal Canadiens were battling the Philadelphia Flyers away from the friendly confines of the Bell Centre, trying to snap their six-game winless streak. They did, of course, win big by a score of 5-1. Naturally, it was expected that the Habs would seem fatigued and come into Boston at a disadvantage.
That was Montreal’s excuse. Now what was Boston’s?
The Bruins may have out-muscled the Canadiens, excelling in the game with their physical-style of play, but it was Montreal who stayed focused and picked up the 2-1 win over the same team that ousted them from the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
Remember the last time the Montreal Canadiens were in Boston? Sure, you do. It was overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Bruins had come from behind in the series, overcoming a two-game deficit to force a final and deciding game. Of course, it went to overtime.
With just over five minutes played in overtime, Adam McQuaid pinched down-low in the offensive zone, blocking P.K. Subban’s effort to clear the puck. Milan Lucic then left his skates to bat-down the deflected puck onto his stick at the bottom of the circle. He went around Tomas Plekanec and Hal Gill’s poke-check attempt to find a wide-open Nathan Horton who had cycled to the top of the zone. Horton received the pass, shifted further down to the slot and unleashed a rocket of shot that went by four Canadiens–five, if you include Montreal goaltender Carey Price.
The Bruins would advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals while clearing the Canadiens’ schedule for the rest of summer. It was playoff hockey at it’s best. It was the perfect cultivation of a season filled with story lines. It was last season.
Zdeno Chara graces the cover of the 2011-12 NHL Media Guide, hoisting the Stanley Cup at Rogers Arena centre ice with his massive maw stretched wide in a triumphant scream. (Understandably, the Vancouver Canucks were one of the teams that took advantage of the NHL’s policy allowing individual teams to pay for local versions of the ...
Among the usual emails about new sponsorships, roster moves and promotions was an AHL recall notice. This time it was from Winnipeg. Unlike the announcements about some phenom with a deadly arm or netminder with superhuman flexibility getting a seat at the big boys table, this press release reported the return of a familiar face to Manitoba’s professional hockey arena. Mick E. Moose would be stepping up as the Jets’ mascot.
For now, all seems right with the Boston Bruins. The components that were deemed missing and the efforts that were lacking when the team started the season all showed up at once on Thursday night when the Bruins beat the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2.
The game was all Boston, really. The team showed a full-60 minute effort, had success on the power-play and big games for many role players who had seemed be complacent to start the season. Maybe it was Shawn Thornton’s spirited bout early in the first period with Colton Orr that set the tone or perhaps the Bruins first power-play goal of the night that built the B’s confidence back up. Whatever it was, worked.
