Boston Bruins

My Turn as the Bruins’ Armchair-GM: Part One

By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent

“If I were running the Bruins…”

How many times have you uttered that one this season? Countless, I’m sure. There are a lot of aspects of the Bruins that could be fixed via a trade: more goals on offense, better leadership, consistent energy, you name it.

I wouldn’t want to be Peter Chiarelli 90% of the time but for now, that 10% is looking awfully tempting. Below, I’ve listed some trades that I might make if I had that General Manager title engraved onto my business card. Some trades are downright outrageous, while others might make some sense. I’ve listed the pros and cons of each trade as well as how the swap would affect each team’s payroll.

Keep in mind, these trades are in no way, shape or form any type of rumor—just pure speculation on my behalf. Some of these are half-baked ideas while others were given a bit of thought. In the current rumor mill, there are some players who the Bruins should stay far away from (Ray Whitney and Marek Svatos come to mind first and foremost) and therefore I won’t even attempt a trade offer here. I’m thinking of players who MIGHT be able to help the team. Keyword, MIGHT. And as far fetched as an Ilya Kovalchuk swap might be, I certainly gave it a shot. I mean, why not, right? I wouldn’t be a true armchair-GM if I didn’t.

The Running Diary of the 2010 Winter Classic

The Winter Classic is slowly becoming the Super Bowl of the NHL. Problem is, there are no trophies awarded and everyone knows who’s playing more than two weeks prior. But the hype is there, most importantly. We’ll see the same amount of commercials (so it seems) for the same repeated products or the spots for the same TV shows that the network is trying to push, but moreover, the same excitement, especially since hockey is making its mark yet again in America.

Living in Boston, it’s nice to see everyone wearing their Bruins gear and throwback Classic jerseys. This game, as important as it is to the NHL, is also pretty important to the B’s. What a lot of media outlets and fans are forgetting is that the game is still a, well, game. The win counts in the standings despite all of the glitz and glamour as much as any game played in the Garden this season. The Bruins are in the midst of a division race with the Buffalo Sabres leading and the Ottawa Senators close behind the B’s while the Flyers are attempting to inch into the playoff hunt.

With everyone who’s everyone actually being at the game, here’s a running diary of what those 38,112 in attendance at Fenway missed at home.

The Bruins Running Diary: Volume II, the Montreal Canadiens

I’m 1-0 on running diaries for the season when the Bruins are playing an opponent from last season’s playoffs. Or at least I was before Thursday night’s shootout loss against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Bruins celebrated their first goal in 192 minutes and 6 seconds, a baffling amount of time between tallies if you think about it. In that stretch, the Bruins only allowed four regulation goals, a sign that their defensive abilities have strengthened. But the overall game play of the team? Not the best, especially when injuries are becoming more popular with each passing day now that Byron Bitz and David Krejci have been added to that list

Flyers Shipping Up to Boston for 2010 Winter Classic

After months of speculation the Flyers have pulled a dramatic upset to win the away team bid for the 2010 Winter Classic over the Washington Capitals. It couldn’t have happened though without quite a bit of help. In this storyBettman’s plans to have Ovechkin on the biggest hockey stage of the modern NHL outside of the Stanley Cup Finals were foiled by NBC is spectacular deus ex machina fashion. The Flyers on the other hand, who were holding out to host their own Winter Classic in the near future, got to have their cake and eat it too thanks to the push for higher ratings.

The Bruins’ New Public Enemy

The $2,500 sucker punch, we’ll call it: a solid right hook by Scott Walker to the face of Aaron Ward during game 5 in Boston. Ward may have some facial lacerations and a potential broken orbital bone after the scuffle while Walker will be skating in the next game, devoid of any type of suspension. Bruins’ fans are up in arms about the waived suspension, commenting on the incident on Boston.com, ESPN.com and other hockey media outlets. The feeling that the Bruins have been screwed yet again by the NHL front office is back on people’s minds. And as much as I disagree with that ruling, as much as I think that Colin Campbell secretly keeps a Milan Lucic voodoo doll underneath his desk, having Walker in the game tomorrow night will be the absolute best case scenario for the B’s. Simply put, the Bruins have found an enemy to hate.