Adam McQuaid

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.

Five free agent forwards that the Boston Bruins should target

The Boston Bruins’ breakup day came approximately six weeks earlier than it did the season before. During the day’s interviews and meetings, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli indicated that while he didn’t foresee any major changes, he would like to “add some pieces.” The Bruins will need bottom-six players with one or two to have the potential to move into the top-six group, if necessary. With the current situation as is for the Bruins, here’s a look at five free agent forwards that the Bruins should target.

Closing the book on the 2011-12 Boston Bruins

Last year, I drove from Boston to Rhode Island to watch both the Eastern Conference Final and the Stanley Cup Final Game 7s. I figured that if I had the chance to watch my favorite team growing up win a championship, I would want to witness it with my dad, the person who influenced me to fall in love with this crazy sport. Of course, the Bruins won both games and I watched it all in with my dad and younger brother right beside me. Somewhere amongst the celebrations, the hugs and the complete shock, I recall my dad telling me to take everything in that’s happening, because there will never be another run quite like the one we had just saw.

Think about it: a total of 25 games including three Game 7 victories, two series of coming back from a 0-2 deficit and a first round victory that was clinched without scoring any power play goals. The 2010-11 Boston Bruins weren’t just good, they were lucky and every single fan who watched any of those games could have told you that. It was magic.

On Wednesday night, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Bruins and the Washington Capitals, that same mentality of thinking that the team was special, perhaps invincible, last year in the postseason ended up becoming the worse possible thing for every Bruins’ fan’s psyche.

The Morning After: Bruins out-muscle, but can’t outplay Canadiens

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.

Bruins look for spark in home-and-home series against the Canadiens

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.