Mike Miccoli

Mike Miccoli covers the Boston Bruins for The Hockey Writers and has been a credentialed member of the media for all Bruins' home games for the past five years. As a former player, coach and official, Miccoli has been around the game of hockey since the age of three. Along with his work on THW, Miccoli has also been published in the New England Hockey Journal, Improper Bostonian magazine and on BostInno.

Boston Bruins: 2013 Midseason Grades

We’re a judgmental bunch.

That’s not to say that we think we’re better than anyone or that our opinion matters more, but as a society, we judge. It’s the nature of the beast and a big part of being a sports fan. From the comfort of our couches, seats and press box viewing areas, we have this unfair advantage to tell someone that they’re doing something wrong and be perfectly okay with saying it.

It’s a little much at times, but it’s expected. The players and the coaches get it and put up with it every day when they open up their favorite sports blog or read their favorite column on their iPad or Kindle. God forbid they see what’s being said on Twitter.

So here’s our contribution of guilt-free, good ol’ fashioned judging. The Boston Bruins started out the truncated 2013 NHL season with full marks. They’ve been very good but still have plenty more to show. What follows is a player-by-player midseason report card of the players and coaches, 24 games in.

Tuukka Rask: Blown 3-Goal Leads Now A Distant Memory

There are ghosts in the TD Garden at times.

It’s unspoken, to say the least, but we’re all well aware of them. They come up when we least expect them, sometimes years after their first appearances. They may sift into the heads of the players and the fans, almost subconsciously and without warning. Then sometimes, all at once, we see them and they take over. The only way to get rid of them is to beat them, the way that they once beat you.

Save your narratives about blown leads of three for another time. Tuukka Rask finally got rid of those ghosts.

Bruins Continuing To Find Ways To Win

In the course of their 18 games played, the fewest of any team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins have found numerous ways to win. Saturday afternoon’s matinee against the Tampa Bay Lightning was just another example.

Down 2-0 early in the first period after the Lightning potted two quick power play goals, a rarity against Boston, the Bruins looked like they lacked energy. A quick turnaround in the next 40-minutes bounced the Bruins back with three unanswered goals that included a late Brad Marchand goal on the power play to clinch the B’s sixth straight win and the 3-2 victory.

Boston Bruins: Does Andrew Ference Deserve a Contract Extension?

This all seems too familiar.

It will be three years next month when I originally wrote a column on what a mistake it was extending Andrew Ference. And at the time, it sort of was. Ference finished the 2009-10 season playing in only 51 games, recording eight assists and no goals. He was even worse in the postseason after his contract extension. He never played in a game in which he could be considered a “plus” player and finished those 13 games with a -9.

The stats weren’t pretty, but Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli must have saw something in the oft-injured defenseman that warranted an $850,000 raise that bumped Ference’s annual salary to $2.25 million. Turns out Chiarelli was right all along.

Will the Boston Bruins Ever Fix Their Power Play?

There isn’t much to say about the 2013 Boston Bruins that hasn’t already been said—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Prior to Tuesday night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Rangers, the team was off to its best ten-game start in franchise history (8-1-1) behind a torrid goaltender tandem, contributions from all four lines and shrewd coaching from Claude Julien. For right now, the players are clicking and the Bruins are quickly becoming powerhouses of the Eastern Conference. So why does it feel like something is missing?

Because there is.

Nathan Horton Back to Being Captain Clutch

Nathan Horton knows about being clutch. You’ve heard this narrative before.

Perhaps the most poignant part of any Bruins Stanley Cup montage came when Tim Thomas congratulated Horton after Boston clinched the Eastern Conference Championship.

“You did it again! I can’t believe it,” said Thomas.

Horton did it again on Tuesday night.

In the team’s sixth game of the season against the New Jersey Devils, Horton scored the game-tying goal with less than five minutes remaining in the third period, sending the game to overtime and an eventual 2-1 Bruins win.

Bruins’ Fourth Line Shines in Win Over Islanders

There were several reasons why Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli re-signed Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton to new contracts before his fourth-line trio hit free agency this past season. On Friday night, it seemed like almost each of those reasons were on full display.

The Bruins skated to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night at the TD Garden, largely in part to the effort put forward by the team’s Merlot line.

Bruins’ Defensive Depth Tested in Win Over Winnipeg

It didn’t take long for the Boston Bruins to call upon their seventh defenseman to enter their starting lineup. On Monday’s 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets, the Bruins were forced to dress newly-acquired defenseman Aaron Johnson in place of Dennis Seidenberg, who was ruled out of the second game of the year with a lower-body injury.

Paired with Johhny Boychuk, Johnson made his presence felt early in the first period after connecting with a flattening hit on Dustin Byfuglien against the boards in Boston’s own zone. Johnson saw 15:14 minutes of ice time in his first game as a Bruin while spending time on the penalty-kill.

Setting Realistic Expectations for the 2013 Boston Bruins

It’s possible that in six months, when the 2013 NHL season is said and done, the Boston Bruins will have won their second Stanley Cup in three years.

It’s also possible that the Boston Bruins will fail to win the Northeast Division and will have to face a stacked team such as the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2013 NHL Playoffs.

Realistically though, the expectations for the 2013 Boston Bruins team should be somewhere between legitimate Stanley Cup contenders and strong front-runners for first place in the Northeast Division, making them among the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. If all goes well, then yes—the Boston Bruins have a real shot at playing deep into June for Lord Stanley’s Cup. If injuries begin to surmount and deplete the team’s offensive depth and Tuukka Rask is unable to stay healthy than the Bruins could very well see the latter of the scenarios listed above.

Boston Bruins: Ranking Their 2013 Projected Roster

We love our hockey.

We love our hockey so much that on the first Sunday of 2013, we’re able to forget about almost everything else in our lives and welcome the NHL, and all that comes with it, back into our lives. The NHL lockout is over and while many of us have had our team’s goal song on repeat for most of the morning, others have been carefully plotting their teams’ odds for a Stanley Cup in what will be a shortened season of 48 games or so.

When the NHL Comes Back, So Will You

I err on the side of caution with almost everything so bear with me when I say this.

When the NHL comes back, whenever that might be, you will too. And so will you. And you. And you in the back there…you, too.

It’s been a long 104 days without the NHL in our lives. We’ve missed Opening Night, one of the greatest days of the year for hockey fans. We missed a 2011-12 Stanley Cup Championship banner raising in Los Angeles and the subsequent talks of a championship hangover when the Kings fail to go undefeated in the first month of the season. We missed what could have been the most bizarre 24/7 yet between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, filled with awkward Phil Kessel moments and more insight on why Pavel Datsyuk is utterly peculiar off the ice but a pure magician on the ice.

Most importantly, we missed a lot of hockey at the professional level in North America