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Flickr images, credit Dinur.
It might be an understatement to say that I’m a bit nervous about the Bruins’ season for the next, oh, we’ll say four to six weeks; the said amount of time that both Milan Lucic and Marc Savard will be shelved. Take into account, too, Shawn Thornton missing Wednesday & Thursday night’s game with an undisclosed injury, Chuck Kobasew being shipped to the Minnesota Wild, and Tim Thomas playing like it was 2006 again. Factor in everything together and you have the makings of an NHL team that resembles a jumbled, minor league roster with little chemistry and a different lineup each night–only eight games into the season.
But right now, the Bruins are 4-4-1; technically, right at .500. Not a terrible record, but nowhere near the expectations set for the club at the beginning of the season. The doom and drab that most hockey scribes put on paper can be disappointing and pessimistic to read, but fear not! There’s plenty to look forward to still, only nine games into the season.
1) Claude Julien’s positivity
Coach Claude doesn’t seem too worried about his team’s rough start, a sigh of relief to fans otherwise panicking that the Bruins are heading in the wrong direction. “I don’t think there’s a need for us to feel sorry for ourselves,” said Julien. “It’s more about rolling up your sleeves and then getting read to take that challenge head on.” If there’s any coach you want in a situation like this, it’s Julien; the same guy who turned this bottom dwelling team two years ago into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. If he doesn’t think there’s a problem, or even a sign to worry, I won’t think there is either. In Claude we trust, right? Last season’s Jack Adams winner must find a way for the lines to work so chemistry can build.
2) Michael Ryder, Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm just might be able to carry this team. Might.
Anyone who watched Wednesday night’s game against Nashville can attest that Ryder and Bergeron, ironically two of the three goal scorers on the night, stuck out for their fine offensive plays. Julien was recently quoted saying that Bergeron has been one of the most consistent players this season, returning to what many fans refer to as the ‘pre-concussion’ Patrice Bergeron. And that’s great to see, considering that before that Randy Jones hit, fans considered Bergeron the Bruins’ savior center. Ryder has been strong and has seen his play upgraded while on the right side of the Brad Marchand, Bergeron line, consistently getting his name and number listed on the scoresheet. Throw Sturm in the mix, who’s last two full seasons resulted in 27 goals a piece, and take a deep breath. These three Bruins could be the ones looked upon to carry the load left by the injuries of Savard and Lucic and to fill the original void left by Phil Kessel. And they just might do it.
3) The insane amount of prospects in Providence
Zach Hamill, for one, was someone whom many thought would be up in Boston on the fourth line to begin the season. Instead, he joined the ranks of the Providence Bruins, the minor league affiliate of Boston just after the B’s last preseason game. He’s in good company though, with Vladmir Sobotka, Brad Marchand and Andrew Bodnarchuk, all young studs who have a chance to compete in Boston this season. With Sobotka and Marchand already up (and making a good impression in their two games thus far), Hamill can’t be too far behind if another injury haunts the Bruins.
4) The Bitz-Begin-Thornton line
If anything has been consistent early on this season, it’s been the superb play from Byron Bitz, Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton on the fourth line. Begin has been a welcomed edition to the team, with two goals and four assists in nine games while spending a considerable amount of time on the Bruins’ penalty kill as well. Bitz and Thornton, too, have been apart of multiple scoring opportunities (they each have a goal) and habitual backchecking. The line is made up the unsung heroes of the Bruins, the essential character players who may not see their name in the box score too often. Not many teams can feel this comfortable with their fourth line on the ice; the Bruins however, can.
5) Watching the development of Johnny Boychuk, Matt Hunwick, David Krejci, Tuukka Rask, Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler
The future of the Boston Bruins. Well, the future if restricted free agents Stuart, Wheeler and Rask re-sign at the end of this season. (We won’t include Lucic in this group because though young, he’s possibly the most popular skater on the Bruins roster and already well-established.) This season, we’ll continue to see the emergence of these seven players, and the development from the sophomore group of Wheeler and Hunwick, into prime-time players. The Bruins depth is dependent on the youth in the system. These guys are already in Boston and making strides towards turning the B’s into a successful hockey team. Almost each has had their ‘wow’ moment this season, with potentially plenty more to come.
6) Abundance of draft picks for a big acquisition come March
Ready for this? The Bruins have their first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh round picks along with Toronto’s (0-6-1, as of Oct. 22) first and second round picks, and Tampa Bay’s (3-3-2, again, as of 10/22) second round pick. For those keep scoring, the Bruins potentially have nine draft selections for June’s annual event; five in the first two rounds. Boston is in an incredibly good place, cap restrictions pending, to make quite a splash come the trade deadline for a lethal goal scorer or a shutdown defenseman, whichever the team needs most at the time. Lots of big names could be available too, including Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk, who put up great numbers (52 goals in 2005-06) when on a line with Marc Savard centering. Wishful thinking, but how sweet would it be for one of the NHL’s best playmakers to be paired again with one of the league’s best scorers on a playoff-contending team? The B’s draft picks acquired through trades could be the difference maker.
Follow Mike at twitter.com/bruinsmike for more updates as well as live tweets during Boston Bruins home games.
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