Krejci Recalled, Sobotka Demoted

David Krejci was recalled from Providence today while Vladimir Sobotka was demoted. Krejci is expected to play tomorrow afternoon against Atlanta. He may be slotted into the 2nd line where Sobotka practiced today, centering Sturm and Kobasew. Krejci adds a potential playmaking centerman for the Bruins. Krejci started the year with the Bruins as their third line center but Julien quickly demoted him to fourth line duty, before eventually being sent back to Providence. After his demotion, he collected 7 goals and 21 assists in 25 games. With the Bruins this season he only collected three assists in 12 games. Sobotka added grit to this team, but is undersized as a checking line center. More playing time in Providence will help him develop better offensively.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I won't be posting anything until around New Years. Christmas then going to the Giants-Pats game.

Bruins - Penguins Preview and Notes from 12/20

The Bruins (18-12-3) host the Pittsburgh Penguins (16-15-2) tonight at the Garden. Pittsburg has recently lost their starting goaltender, Marc Andre-Fleury, to an ankle injury. Dany Sabourin is expected to get the start in goal. Sabourin is 6-6-1 with a .910 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average. The Penguins have an incredible first powerplay unit of Crosby, Malkin, and Sykora with Whitney and Gonchar at the points. Although they are only ranked 10th in the league they are very dangerous. The Bruins must stay out of the box and when skating even strength must shut down the top duo of Crosby and Malkin for them to win this game.

Tim Thomas is expected to start for the first time since pulling his groin. Alex Auld will back him up. Andrew Alberts will miss his second straight game with a headache. Glen Murray and Peter Schaeffer also missed yesterday's practice with minor injuries. Both are expected to be available for tonight's game. The Bruins need a big game from their top defensive pairing, whether it be Ference or Ward paired with Chara. They will be matched up against Crosby's line all night. Here is the expected lineup:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Metropolit-Kobasew
Lucic-Kessel-Schaeffer
Reich-Sobotka-Nokelainen

Ference-Chara
Stuart-Wideman
Allen-Ward

My Prediction
Bruins-3
Pittsburgh-2

Milan Lucic will continue his strong play and add a goal tonight. Wouldn't be suprised to see him have a fight either (dance partner-Laraque. Now that would be a good fight). The Bruins powerplay will take advantage of a poor Pittsburg penalty killing unit and score the game winning on the man advantage. If its Chara and Ference they will have a good game against Crosby. If its Ward and Chara it could get ugly, since both don't match up well in the speed department.

Bergeron Practices

WEEI is reporting that Patrice Bergeron practiced with the team today during their workout. In what capacity, I am unsure. They also stated that he currently has no timetable for his return. However, this is an extremely encouraging sign and completely unexpected that he would be on the ice this soon.

It is still going to be a long time before we see Bergeron suiting back up to play, but with each week comes further signs that he will return before the end of the season. What an addition this will be if he can make it back for a potential playoff run.

Trade Updates

The following from spectorshockey.net

NO PRE-TRADE FREEZE DEALS FOR BRUINS.
BOSTON HERALD: Steve Conroy reports Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli doesn't expect to make any moves prior to the trade freeze starting tonight, but expects could get going quickly after the moratorium is lifted on December 28th as fewer teams could wait for the deadline to make trades.

Spector continues on to discuss how there are plenty of teams still in the thick of the race right now, which would make it difficult to make trades. However, the Bruins are the "sexy" candidate to make something happen given all the cap space they have. I personally want a scoring forward, but Chiarelli will most likely grab a D man.

More on Schneider, and my official I know who Eklund is rant

According to KPD, the Ducks may send Mathieu Schneider to the Bruins clearing some cap space.

Now, I don't like this move on two occasions. One, Schneider is 38, and even though he is still talented, he is on his last legs, and secondly, he has a cap hit of 5.625 next season, and I feel the Bruins would be better off spending that money toward Marian Hossa or something. I don't think we will see any major trades prior to the christmas freeze, but after that I think some deals will be made.

And now to my I know who Eklund is. He is Pelle Eklund! I am now 100% sure. Besides my old evidence of his old email address, the name, swedish background, Philadelphia hometown, I now have this. In his latest blog, he talks about going to Shula's Steakhouse (which is amazing by the way) and eating the 48 oz. porterhouse in Chicago. He gives a link of this. Pelle Eklund is listed as under Chicago. It's official. For those who think I am some crazy person, I am just trying to find out who he is because I have always wondered who he was and where he came onto the rumor mill scene.

Schneider in Black and Gold?

This from spectorshockey.net:

SCHNEIDER TO BOSTON?
BOSTON GLOBE: Kevin Paul Dupont recently reported of a "generally held belief" Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke could trade Mathieu Schneider to "add some scoring pop and trim payroll" now that Scott Niedermayer has returned to the lineup. Dupont suggests it's possible the Bruins might be able to land Schneider as Manny Fernandez's season-ending injuries have free up his $4.33 million salary from the Bruins books for the rest of the season.
Spector's Note: Burke has hinted he'd make a minor move after the holidays, so dealing Schneider wouldn't qualify in that department. It's possible Burke could still move Schneider but he hasn't given any indication that's his plan, and if he does move him it might be later in the season and closer to the February trade deadline when his salary for this season is more affordable.

My opinion:
The Bruins are clearly going to do something to bolster this team now that they have the cap space from Fenandez's season ending injury. Whether it's a defenseman or forward remains to be seen. Given the fact that the B's are currently 4th in the league, yes league, for least amount of goals against, I'd rather see them land a scoring forward. However, Schneider is a quality player and would certainly improve the club's blueline.

The way it works

Besides not getting any publicity in New England, which is somewhat understandable since they haven't done anything since the 80s, the Bruins are not getting any credibility around the NHL's media period.

They quietly have the 4th best record in the league, and if it keeps up, Claude Julien should win Coach of the Year. But yet no one mentions them. TSN has them ranked 23rd. ESPN has them 6th which is more like it. My point, they are trailing Ottawa by 6 points, and they have the names like Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson.

The Flyers who are the NHL's bad boys (Chris Simon might give the team a run for its money) has been looked upon a true cup contender. They 4 points less than Boston. They have the following firepower...Gagne, Briere, Lupol, Knuble, Hartnell, Upshall, Kapenen, Richards, Timonen, Hatcher, Smith. Most of those names are known around the NHL, not to mention Biron is arguably better than Thomas or Auld.

Can someone explain to me why any of these teams are better. I think the Bruins are a top 5 team in the NHL. Detroit is obviously 1, Ottawa is 2, but I have my doubts. I still think they lack depth and a 1 line team won't get it done in my opinion.

What sexy names do the Bruins have? Aside from Chara and Savard, no one. Bergeron is up and coming but is not yet an ELITE player. The Bruins don't have a ton of talent on the defense aside from Chara, but they are getting it done. Offensively, they lost their 2nd best player, their goal scorer in Glen Murray has struggled until recently, yet they keep chugging along.

I think the Bruins can do a lot of damage, especially when you conider they may get Bergeron back at the end of the season (note cap hit would be minimal since he was on the LTIR. My guess would be around 1.7 million or something). And they could get a deadline player like a Marian Hossa, or a Mike Modano.

My only question is, can Alex Auld and Tim Thomas carry the load?

This is why Brian Burke sucks

Best GM in the game by some. To me, he sucks. He is the most overrated GM along with Kevin Lowe. Let's take a trip down memory lane with with Brian Burke.

The Ducks trade Sergei Federov to the Blue Jackets. Talk about luck. If Federov is not traded, he would have been bought out, and screwed the Ducks. Burke got lucky because Columbus was struggling and they wanted a quick fix, and Federov was a sexy name out there. Good-bye 6.1 million. Burke gets some credit, but I wouldn't call it all him.

The Ducks sign Scott Niedermayer away from the New Jersey Devils. A great move by Burke, no doubt, but how much credit does he deserve? None. The only reason why Nieds signed with the Ducks was because a) they offered a fair deal, and b) his brother Rob played with them and he wanted to play with him.

Ducks sign Teemu Selanne out of good-heart. Look, no one expected Selanne to do anything. The only reason why they signed him was to be nice and give him one last shot with the team he started with. Burke doesn't deserve any credit because Selanne was signed for 1 million, and it wasn't like he was Jeremy Roenick bad. Who wouldn't have taken a shot. Only reason why Selanne picked Anaheim was because Selanne liked it there.

Ducks acquire Chris Pronger. Besides the fact Kevin Lowe is a retard, Burke did make a good move. Pronger and Nieds was one of the top defense duos ever. But still, I still think this is more of Kevin Lowe is a turd than Burke is smart.

Ok, now is where Burke blows it. Ducks win Stanley Cup, yay?

Burke signs over-the-hill stiff Todd Bertuzzi for 2 years and 8 million. This after Bertuzzi has been injured over the past 2 seasons and has done nothing since his 50 goal season to derserve any money. And Bertuzzi is injured this season, surprise! And this led to...

Having to allow Dustin Penner to leave the Ducks and take an offer sheet to go to Edmonton. And then Mr. Burke bitches and moans. Well, Mr. Burke, first off, you overpaid for Bertuzzi which limited your cap space so you could not afford to sign Penner if he was offered a offer sheet. And second, maybe Mr. Lowe realized he didn't get enough for Pronger, and he wanted someone else. You also got some good draft picks, so calm down.

Ducks place Ilya Brzgalov on waivers and lose him for nothing rather than trading him in the offseason. You are telling me there were no takers for Bryzgalov? Tampa Bay? They didn't even get a pick. They then traded a player to Washington so they would not claim him so Phoenix could take him. Why not trade him to Phoenix for a 5th round pick or something?

Instead of telling Niedermayer, look we can't keep waiting, tell me if you are going to play now, Burke let it wait out, and now Nieds decides to come back. Screwing the Ducks over, now they have to trade some players for cap space. So Burke...

Trades Andy McDonald, off 2 70+ point seasons and seems to be up and coming, but he is struggling this season, but so did Brad Boyes..., for veteran Doug Weight. Weight is over the hill like teammate Todd Bertuzzi. He won't put up more than 50 points in a season, most of those assists, and is struggling this season, when he plays with guys like Kariya and Boyes (name sound familiar?) Now, when I thought of what the Ducks needed to do, I thought they would trade a 2 million dollar player for a pick or prospect, but no, Burke traded one of his best players for Weight. Salary difference? Weight makes 3.5 million with a 2.152 cap hit for the Ducks. McDonald? 3.33 million with a cap hit of 2.050 for the Blues. WAIT WHAT THE HELL!?!?! I thought they were trying to dump salary but they picked up salary.

My point.

B's/Jackets Deal?

With the Blue Jackets in town this weekend for a Saturday night showdown, WEEI is reporting that the two teams are negotiating a possible "trade for a forward." What this exactly means remains to be seen. However, the Blue Jackets and Bruins are both very much in the thick of their respective playoff races and it would be difficult to say any one team is a seller or buyer.

In my opinion:
Lets just remember that the rumors that you usually hear swirling around are the ones that don't usually come to fruition. I think the Bruins are plenty happy with the way the team is playing right now and will address any trade possibilities to bolster the lineup around the trade deadline.

Top Trade Candidates

Top candidates for the Bruins to acquire.

1. Marian Hossa (1 year, 6,000,000). Atlanta is looking less of a playoff team and could trade their talented winger in a contract year. Unless they can resign him, which at this point doesn't look good, he will be dealt.

2. Ladislav Nagy (1 year, 3,750,000).
---Brad Stuart (1 year, 3,500,000).
---Jaroslav Modry (1 year, 1,200). Los Angeles is awful this season, and all three of these guys could become valuable rentals for a season. Nagy is a solid offensive player who could bolster a lineup while Modry and Stuart provide insurance in the back and add more depth. Stuart in Boston again? Who knows.

3. Mike Comrie (1 year, 3,375,000)
--Ruslan Fedentenki (1 year, 2,900,000) The Isles are cellar dwellars and they don't seem like they are going to make the playoffs. Both these guys could be valuable assests to bolster the Bruins offense which needs some depth.

5. JP Dumont (1 year, 2,250,000)
--Martin Gelinas (1 year, 2,850,ooo). Nashville is a bubble team and could deal these two players at the deadline. Again, both provide some offensive depth while Gelianas also adds some veteran leadership.

Top 3 "How the hell were you a GM" trades (excluding Gretzky)

1) The Montreal Canadiens trade Patrick Roy and Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky, and Jocelyn Thibault.

Let's see what Montreal got out of this. The Habs got one good season of Kovalenko, 17 g 17a, in 51 games. Next season, he was traded for Scott Thornton. Thornton was there for 3 seasons and was a decent 3rd/4th liner. But, was not better than Kovalenko. Thornton was then traded to the Stars for Juha Lind, who had 3 g and 4 a in his 47 game career as a Hab.

Martin Rucinsky played for the Habs for 8 seasons. He was an alright player, but his career high was only 60 points and 25 goals. Rucinsky was traded to the Stars with Benoit Brunet for Donald Audette and Shaun Van Allen. Audette played part of 3 seasons with the Habs, scoring 11 goals as a high. Audette left the team as a free agent to sign with the Panthers. Van Allen played 1 seasons with the Habs netting 11 points. He left the team as a UFA.

Thibault was okay in his early years with the Habs, but was traded with Brad Brown and Dave Manson to the Blackhawks for Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, and Alain Nasreddine. Hackett was decent with the Habs, but was traded to San Jose for Nicklas Sundstrom. He sucked, playing parts of 3 seasons and left to Europe. Weinrich was decent as well, but was traded to the Bruins for Patrick Traverse, who sucked and is now in the AHL. Nasreddine sucked, played in the AHL and was traded with Igor Ulvanov to the Oilers for Christian Laflamme, and Matheiu Descoteaux. Decoteaux and Laflamme sucked, and both played in the AHL.

As for Colorado, Roy lead them to 2 Cup titles, and he retired a Ave. Because of his success, they were able to acquire guys like Bourque, Blake, Fluery, Kariya, Selanne. and others. Keane was a decent player, but left to sign with the Rangers two seasons later.

Foiled out deal: Patrick Roy, Mike Keane, Brad Brown, Dave Manson, Benoit Brunet, and Igor Ulanov for Juha Lind, Patrick Traverse, Christian Laflamme, Matheiu Descoteaux, Nicklas Sundstrom, Shaun Van Allen and Donald Audette.

2) The Boston Bruins trade Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart.

Thornton is now considered the 2nd best player in the league and San Jose continues to get better, while the Bruins haven't made the playoff's in 2 years and counting. Thornton signed and extension with the Sharks for 3 more seasons.

Primeau sucked and played 3rd line duties, while Stuart was decent, but both were dealt to the Flames, along with a 4th round pick if Stuart did not resign, which he didn't, that was acquired for Milan Jurcina, for Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ference. Kobasew is a decent winger with some 20 goal potential while Ference is an average defender.

Foiled out deal: Joe Thornton and Milan Jurcina for Chuck Kobasew, Marco Sturm and Andrew Ference.

3) The Philadelphia Flyers trade Chris Simon, Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Steve Duschesne, Kerry Huffman, cash, and 2 1st round picks to the Quebec Nordiques (Colorado Avalanche) for Eric Lindros.

Forsberg was regarded as the best player in the NHL for years, and had he not been injury plagued would likely go into the HOF. He helped lead the Aves to 2 Cup titles. He left the team as a UFA to sign with the Flyers ironically.

Mike Ricci was a beast in his first 2 of 6 seasons with the Nordiques/Avs. He recorded 78 and 51 points, but his production dipped and was traded with Jaroslav Kristek to the San Jose Sharks for Shean Donovan and Alex Tanguay. Tanguay was a beast with the Avs, becoming one of the top goal scorers in the league. Tanguay was then traded to the Avalanche for Jordan Leopold and Codey Burki. Donovan sucked in Colorado and was traded to the Thrashers for Rick Tabaracci. He played 2 games with the Avs before retiring.

Chris Simon sucked with the Nordiques, and was traded to the Washington Caps along with Curtis Leschyshyn for Keith Jones and draft picks. Jones sucked in Colorado and was traded to the Flyers for Shjon Podein, where he was a decent 10-15 goal scorer for a few seaons before leaving as a UFA to the Blues.

Huffman was awful with the Nordiques netting 28 points in two seasons and left as a UFA to the Ottawa Senators.

Hextall was not great in his one season with the Nordiques, and was traded with Todd Bertuzzi for Mark Fitzpatrick and Adam Deadmarsh. Fitzpatrick did not make it to the NHL with the Avs, and left as a UFA to the Isles. Deadmarsh was very good with the Avs, scoring 18 or more goals in 5 of his 6 seasons there, where he was then traded with Aaron Miller, Jared Aulin, and Dave Steckel to the Kings for Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht. Blake was great with the Avs, help solidifying their blueline. Blake then left as a UFA to sign with the Kings. Reinprecht was decent with the Avs, but was traded to the Sabres for Keith Ballard. Ballard never cracked the NHL, and was traded Derek Morris to the Coyotes for Ossi Vaananen. Vaananen was pretty bad with the Avs, and he is now playing in Eurpoe.

Duschense had a great season with the Nordiques, scoring 20 goals and 82 points. He left as a UFA to the Blues.

For Philly, Lindros was great, but he never won a cup. He was traded to the Rangers for Jan Hlavac, Pavel Brendl, and Kim Johnsson.

Hlavac was not good in Philly, and was traded to the Canucks with Brett Skinner for Donald Brashear and Jaroslav Balastik. Brashear was a good enforcer, and was traded to the Canucks for Jassen Cullimore. Cullimore never made it to the NHL with the Flyers and left as a UFA. Balastik was in Europe while with the Flyers and was traded to the Blue Jackets for Steven Goertzen, who plays in the NHL now.

Brendl was a bust draft pick who did nothing with the Flyers. He was traded with Bruno St. Jacques to the Carolina Hurricanes for Sami Kapanen and Ryan Bast. Kapanen was decent with the Flyers, but not the same player he was in Carolina. Kapanen is still in Philly. Bast was and still is a career AHLer, but left as a UFA to sign with the Harftord Wolf Pack.

Kim Johnsson was a stellar defender for the Flyers for the better part of 4 seasons. He left to sign a mega-deal with the Minnesota Wild where is has been a bust so far statistically.
Foiled out deal for Nordiques/Avs: Eric Lindros, Todd Bertuzzi, Jaroslav Kristek, Curtis Leschyshyn, Adam Deadmarsh, Derek Morris, Aaron Miller, Jared Aulin, and Dave Steckel, for Rob Blake, Ossi Vaananen, Mark Fitzpatrick, Kerry Huffman, Jordan Leopold, Cody Burki, Steve Duschense, Rick Tabaracci, and Shjon Podein.

Foiled out deal for Flyers: Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duschense, Brett Skinner, Bruno St. Jacques for Jassen Cullimore, Steven Goertzen, Sami Kapanen, Ryan Bast and Kim Johnsson.

More on Fernandez

Manny Fernandez is done for the season after undergoing knee surgery. So the insurance will pay the 4.333 million owed to Fernandez and he won't have a cap hit this seaon except for a few grand in the few games he played.

A 4th rounder and Kalus for fewer than 10 games. I don't blame Chiarelli for acquiring him in the 1st place. 1) They were tight under the cap, so they couldn't acquire a guy like Vokoun, and Florida did offer a lot for him. 2) We needed goaltending and Fernandez was one of the top goalies available. 3) At the time, it seemed like a fair deal as Kalus wasn't projected to do much for a few years.

Now, I do blame Chiarelli and the medical staff for not fully reviewing Fernandez's knee. When you make a trade for a player who was injured, you need to make sure he will be a 100%. Now, if he hurt his knee so bad it needed surgery from slipping on a puck, that is another story.

Alex Auld looks very good though in the mean time, and Tim Thomas once again is a top goaltender in the NHL. I still don't view Thomas as a "top goalie" like Kipprosuff or Luongo, but I do see him as a legit starter now. Tuukka Rask will return to Providence after Thomas returns, which should be in a week or so.

Now with Fernandez and Bergeron out for the season, the Bruins can acquire numerous players to help them. For once, they seem like they won't be sellers, but buyers. And with the most cap space than any contender in the NHL, it looks like many teams will come calling.

Fernandez Done for Season

It's official. Fernandez is done for the rest of the year as he went under the knife yesterday to repair the same knee he hurt last season. The B's now have a chunk of cash that they can play with come the mid-season trading deadline.

Here's the ESPN story to confirm:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3152818

Top 10 worst signings; Where do they stand now?

Ok, anyone remember that article from July? (You may have to scroll down a little). Let's see where they are at. Think I am right?

1. Scott Gomez, NYR, 7 years, 51.5 million. 5 goals, 18 assists, 23 points. PROJECTED: 14 goals, 49 assists, 63 points. Gomez has not been as great as some hoped, once again an overpaid player because of his name. He has been a 60 point man for his career and will continue at that pace. CASE: Correct, overpaid.

2. Roman Hamrlik, MON, 4 years, 22 million. 2 goals, 12 assists, 14 points. PROJECTED: 5 goals, 33 assists, 38 points. Not bad, a typical defender with some offense, carreer averages. He is on pace for a +19 (currently +7). I still don't think he is worth the 5.5 million per for a 33 year old. Dennis Wideman has 11 points and is a +5, so, I rest my case. CASE: Correct, overpaid.

3. Sheldon Souray, EDM, 5 years, 27 million. 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 points. PROJECTED: 5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points. He is injured, but hell, he still sucks. He is a bust, had 1 decent season and one great season. Sucked, sucks, and will suck. CASE: Overpaid, bust, sucks, sucks, sucks, and sucks.

4. Jason Blake, TOR, 5 years, 20 million. 5 goals, 16 assists, 21 points. PROJECTED: 13 goals, 42 assists, 55 points. He does have cancer, but for 4 million, 55 points is decent. I wouldn't say it was a HORRIBLE signing, but in years 2, 3, 4, it will be a bad signing. CASE: Decent singing, long run not so much.

5. Chris Drury, NYR, 5 years, 35.25 million. 7 goals, 13 assists, 20 points. PROJECTED: 19 goals, 36 assists, 55 points. Once again, a decent player but not worth the money. He is what he is, a 50-60 point guy. Worth the 7 million a season? No. CASE: Overpaid, decent player.

6. Todd Bertuzzi, ANA, 2 years, 8 million. 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points. PROJECTED: 5 goals, 13 assists, 18 points. Like I said, was supposed to get 1 year incentive laden deal. Now with Nieds coming back, Burke has to deal a good player for cap space. He sucks, he has been crap for 3 seasons. CASE: Sucks, overpaid.

7. Daniel Briere, PHI, 8 years, 52 million. I was wrong, he has been very good with the Flyers, on pace for 94 points. Still think he is a pussy though. He has been blessed with a lot of talent around him though.

8. Kimmo Timonen, PHI, 6 years, 38 million. Again, he has been good for the Flyers, on pace for 48 points. Good defenseman, but in the ladder years of the contract, could become a liability.

9. Dainius Zubrus, NJD, 6 years, 20.4 million. He is on pace for 46 points, and for his salary, is good. I was wrong again, but hey no one is perfect. I still don't like the length though.

10. Michael Nylander, WAS, 4 years, 19.4 million. Wrong again, on pace for 68 points. Washington still sucks though.

So overall, I got the top 7 right. But as you can see, big money free agents usually don't work out.

B's-Thrashers

B's take on the Thrashers tonight. The Thrash always give the B's issues. Hossa is a real Bruin killer and Kovalchuk has had his share of success. If the Bruins can get off to a hot start and score early, they will have a much easier time trying to win. The B's don't match up well with Atl's firepower. Newly acquired Mark Recchi, Ilya Kovalcuk, Marian Hossa, Bobby Holik and others. Lehtonen is a good young goalie as well.

Keys to winning:
-Shut down Hossa and Kovalchuk
-Score first
-Clear the puck, everytime they fail to do so the opponent scores.

Prediction:
Bruins-4
Trashers-2

Torres and Stoll targets

According to KPD of the Globe, the Oilers have discussed dealing underachieving winger Raffi Torres to the Bruins. He makes 2.2 million. He has been a dissappointment the last two seasons, but was a 27 goal scorer two seasons ago. Jarret Stoll has been decent, but like the last two seasons, has been dissapointing.

I wouldn't mind either guy as more offense does not hurt, but I would rather see a better player acquired like a Hossa, which may be wishful thinking.

Bruins-Sabres Preview and 12/10 Notes

The Bruins take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight in Buffalo. After struggling early, they have been playing a lot better recently.Buffalo is 13-13-1 on the season(last place in the Northeast Division) but are 7-3 in their last 10 games. Buffalo has the 6th ranked powerplay in the league, where as the Bruins have the 2nd worst penalty kill. For the Bruins to win they must be disciplined and stay out of the box (Glen Murray). Ryan Miller will oppose Alex Auld, who played well in his win Saturday night. Defenseman Andrew Ference has been skating but will not play until Wedsnesday night against Atlanta. Tough guy Shawn Thornton has also been skating, look for him to get some action in this week as well. Vladimir Sabotka is almost 100 percent, look for him to return to Providence some time soon, especially with the expected return of Thornton. Defenseman Bobby Allen was the lone Bruin not to skate due to back spasms. There is no timetable on his return.

Here is the rest of the lineup:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Metropolit-Kobasew
Lucic-Kessel-Schaefer
Reich-Nokelainen-Bochenski

Stuart-Chara
Alberts-Wideman
Hunwick-Ward

Lineup Notes:

Schaefer will skate on the 3rd line with Kessel and Lucic for the second straight game. Schaefer, usually a left wing will skate on Kessel's right wing after playing on his left wing for the majority of the season. Mark Stuart's play of late has been solid and may have jumped ahead of Aaron Ward on the depth chart. Ward, although injured and a veteran with a ton of experience, may be better suited playing less minutes. Bochenski continues to be in Coach Julien's doghouse. He is on the fourth line again, something that he has seen a lot of in recent time.

Ference Ready To Go

According to Fluto Shinzawa of the Globe and coach Claude Julien, Andrew Ference is ready to return back to the lineup after missing 11 games with a sprained knee.

The Bruins (15-10-3 33pts.) travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabers (13-13-1 27pts.) tonight. The game will be on VS.

Bruins could start wheeling and dealing

Bruins won last night over Toronto 2-1, with some solid goaltending from newcomer Alex Auld. I thought he had some great saves in the 3rd which saved the team. Chuck Kobasew continues to be a beast, scoring his 12th goal of the season. He has really surprised me this year. As I wrote a few months back, I thought he was a huge wildcard, and he has beaten my expectations.

Interesting stat from Jack Edwards last night, the Bruins are the only team in the NHL to have not loss consecutive games without a point.

Now, according to today's Globe, Peter Chiarelli said that the trade talks are extremely busy, with a lot of attention going to the B's due to the fact that they have almost 10 million in cap space to replace.

Manny Fernandez could need knee surgery according to Chiarelli if his health does not improve. That may end his season. (Raef LaFrentz, the xrays!)

Patrice Bergeron is lifting weights, but has been told not to do anything to increase his heart-rate. Looks like he is all but gone for the season.

When Thomas returns, Tuukka Rask will be sent back to Providence with Auld being the backup.

Back to the trade rumors, it is believed teams with high priced players underachieving could be sent over. Not that they are over the hill, but having bad seasons and have 1 year left on their deals. Some players include Rob Blake, Pavol Demitra, Miroslav Satan, Wade Redden, Mats Sundin, and Marian Hossa.

State of the Bruins

If I were to tell you, the Bruins would lose Patrice Bergeron for the season, Manny Fernandez would play 5 game before having his body blow up, Tim Thomas would be out indefinately, Glen Murray would suck until 6 or so games ago, and Tuukka Rask would be your starter, AND they are only 6 points back of Ottawa and in the middle of the Eastern Conference, would you believe me? No. But that is the state of the Bruins.




The Bruins today acquired goaltender Alex Auld from the Phoenix Coyotes for Nate DiCasmirro and a 5th rounder, meaning Thomas will likely be out the near future.

I am not going to lie, I find the Bruins boring to watch, not because I don't like hockey, but their style of play is lame. They dump the puck in and chase. They don't bring the puck in the offensive zone to create chances.

On a good note, the defense has been a plus, which all credit goes to Claude Julien, who has the same d-corp as last season. The goaltending by Thomas has been great, but I was hoping Fernandez would make an impact, now he is just dead cap space.

I am glad to see Rask play. He seems like the real deal so far. I hope he doesn't turn into Hannu Toivonen.

Glen Murray has been on fire lately, for those who wanted him traded.

The Bruins offense hasn't been great, if you look at the stats, Chuck Kobasew of all players is the leader in goals at 11. Savard once again has been a beast. Best free agent signing of the new NHL. A bargain in today's market.

For those who want to deal Murray. The Bruins aren't sellers right now, so why would they deal him? If anything, they wait until the deadline, and unlike most teams, since Bergeron is out, they have millions in cap space to acquire a impact player at the deadline. (Hossa?).

It has been a weird season so far, no luck gone the Bruins way.

P.S. Did anyone call NJ's 3rd goal when they tossed it on net and redirected it in? When the Bruins failed to clear it, I called goal. I don't know why, but every time the Bruins do that, about 50% of the time I call goal, the other team scored. Is it just me or does anyone else get that feeling during a game when you just know the other team is going to score?

Movin' and Shakin'

It didn't take long for the Bruins to show that Tim Thomas' injury sustained in the waining minutes of last night's game is serious. The Bruins have swung a trade for yet another goalie by sending Nate DiCasmirro and a 5th round draft pick to Phoenix in exchange for Alex Auld. Auld is just about a career .500 goaltender who has compiled a 49-50-2-11 record and a career 2.94 GAA.

My impressions:
Thomas is going to be out for awhile here folks, this sounds serious. It looked completely innocent last night when he got hurt but all reports say it's a groin injury. These injuries are particularly nagging, especially for hockey players. For a goalie, it means a serious lack of movement east-west in the net.

Get ready folks, here's your chance to experience the beginning of Tuukka Rask as the #1 guy here. No one saw this one coming, but now that Fernandez is out with 16 different injuries, Thomas sidelined with the groin, and Jordan Sigalet unfortunately out due to seizures, Rask is the only place to turn. The acquisition of Auld is a desperation move that had to be done by Chiarelli. Starting tonight, we're going to begin seeing if Rask will really be that #1 guy between the pipes. I must say I'm cautiously optimistic for the next few weeks of Bruins hockey. The Canadiens at home should be a big test tonight (see more below).

Quick Notes

• You can't blame Rask for the OT goal he let in last night. Coming into the game with just a little over a minute left is impossible to get loose
• Marc Savard, currently riding an NHL best 11 game point streak, and Glen Murray, 8G 3A in the past 10 games, could be the hottest tandem in hockey right now. What a turnaround for Muzz
• Brandon Bochenski (14 GP 0G 4A +2), where have you gone? A guy who I thought would be a breakout talent this year looks like he's in the Claude Julien doghouse.
• Huge game tonight against the Habs. The Bruins have a chance to put some distance between themselves and that team we all hate. Right now the B's have 31 points and are in 2nd place in the division while the Habs have 30. On the flip side, if the Habs win, the two teams exchange spots in the standings. Furthermore, B's win and they're only four points from tying the slumping Senators.

Bruins-Isles Preview

Tonight will be a bounce back night. I'll hopefully get to watch most of the game, but don't lie, most people will be watching MNF Pats-Ravens.

The Bruins lost 4-1 to the Lightning last weekend, but they need to bounce back. They are only a few points from being in the top of the conference. They need to get as many points as possible before the trading deadline so we will be buyers not sellers for once.

I think the Isles are a decent team with Satan, DiPietro, Bergeron, and Berard, but they are nothing great. I see the B's coming out strong in this one.

Keys to winning:
-Shut down the offense. Don't let them generate offense in the nuetral zone.
-Carry the puck in, stop the dump and run crap.
-Solid defense and goaltending.
-Capitalize on oppurtunities.
-When in the lead, don't let up.

Prediction:
Bruins-4
Isles-2

NOTE: THE SIDEBAR, I PROMISE, WILL BE UPDATED BY THIS FRIDAY DECEMBER 7th.

Bruins-Lightning Preview

Here's the lineup for tonight. Tim Thomas in goal again. Milan Lucic is out for the fourth straight game. Hunwick is a healthy scratch with Bobby Allen taking his place on the blueline.

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Metropolit-Kobasew
Schaefer-Kessel-Bochenski
Reich-Sobotka-Nokelainen

Chara-Ward
Alberts-Wideman
Allen-Stuart

This season Tampa Bay has a 10-13-2 record. They have lost 6 straight games, 3 of them by one goal. Late in the last game Phil Kessel and Brandon Bochenski skated on the fourth line. Both haven't produced much on the scoreboard lately but they have been getting chances. Look for one of them to pot a goal tonight. Should be a pretty even matchup, but Tampa Bay has more talent up front. If the Bruins can get a big game from Chara and Ward defensively, then the Bruins have a great chance of winning. The top defensive pairing will match up for the majority of the night againt Vinny Lecavalier(16 goals, 22 assists).

Prediction
Bruins-3 Lightning-2

Some interesting Bruins Stats

I haven't really noticed because of the crappiness I am used to, but the Bruins are one of the best teams in the NHL right now.

Overall, they are the 12th best team in the league, with fewer games played that anyteam in the NHL (23).

They are 6th in the Eastern Conference (but 1 point away from MTL who has 2 more games played than Boston.

They have allowed the 3rd fewest goals, behind St. Louis (52) and (54), but San Jose has played 1 more game.

The offense which we think has been slow, has forced 62 goals, that is 6th worst in the league, BUT, most teams are within 60-70 goals, so the difference is minor. And Ottawa, arguably the league's best offense, has scored 78 goals, only 16 more than the Bruins.

The Bruins have the 3rd least amount of losses in the league at 8.

They also have the 3rd least amount of SOL/OTL (2).

Marc Savard leads the league in assists with names like Lecalvier, St. Louis, Thornton, Crosby.

And the Bruins have done all this without Patrice Bergeron.

Tim Thomas leads the league in SV % (.940) and is 5th in the league with GAA (2.05).