Blogging the Return of the Big Bad Bruins

I hate going with the chalk because, basically, it’s not challenging and it’s definitely not fun. However, with one exception, the first round of the NHL playoffs looks to be going the way of the favorite in each series.

Power Play’s Ouija board will now do its best to try to predict the long and winding path of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Round 1:

Boston over Montreal in 5
Washington over NY Rangers in 7
New Jersey over Carolina in 6
Pittsburgh over Philadelphia in 7

San Jose over Anaheim in 5
Columbus over Detroit in 7
Vancouver over St. Louis in 6
Chicago over Calgary in 7

Round 2:

Boston over Pittsburgh in 7
Washington over New Jersey in 6

San Jose over Columbus in 5
Chicago over Vancouver in 7

Round 3:

Boston over Washington in 7
San Jose over Chicago in 5

Stanley Cup Finals:

San Jose over Boston in 5

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“Be careful what you wish for.” We’ve all heard it and, without question, many times it turned out to be sage advice.

In what seems to be annual rite of spring (in the years the Bruins qualify for the playoffs), once again it’s an Original Six postseason showdown between Montreal and Boston.

MYTH: In the modern era of hockey the Canadiens completely own the Bruins in the playoffs.

FACT: Not true.

Sure, in the last 40 years the Habs have punched the Bruins’ ticket to their summer vacation on 14 different occasions (’68, ’69, ’71, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’89, ’02, ’04 and ’08). However, it almost seems forgotten that the Bruins knocked out Montreal five times (’88, ’90, ’91, ’92 & ’94) during that same span. Defeating the Canadiens in the playoffs is challenging, yes, but far from “Mission Impossible.”

This series will go to the better team, the Bruins. Ken Dryden, “Too Many Men,” Steve Penny and the 2004 collapse will be distant memories for another spring when all is said and done. Boston has the edge in goaltending this time around, Markov is a key injury loss for Montreal and this spring has a trace of Bruins karma in the air. The Bruins may not have enough to win the Stanley Cup, but they certainly have the ability to dispatch Montreal in this series, probably sooner rather than later.

Game 1: Georges Laraque makes his physical presence known but the Bruins don’t get snookered into taking dumb penalties and win the game handily, 4-1.

Game 2: Saturday night in Boston and Causeway Street is loaded with Canadiens fans. Many of them don’t even make it into the TD Garden because the casual Bruins fans want in on this hockey buzz they’ve heard about. It’s a much tighter game this time with the Bruins winning 2-1 in overtime.

Game 3: Price is out and Halak is in for Montreal. The Canadiens backs are against the wall and they respond with a solid effort, beating the Bruins 4-2.

Game 4: Pivotal game of the series. The hockey world expects a Montreal victory but the Bruins rise to the challenge and eek out a 3-2 win.

Game 5: Not as many Montreal fans on Causeway Street this night as it’s “Dead Men Walking” for the Canadiens and they knew it the moment they didn’t win Game 4. The Bruins cruise, 5-2, and the light at then of the tunnel for the Bruins becomes a bit brighter.

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Okay, less than two weeks remain in the NHL season and Bruins fans, while content with clinching the division, are anxiously waiting to see if they win the conference and who their first round opponent will be.

As of this morning, March 30, the Eastern Conference standings are as follows:

#1) Boston, 106 (TB, OTT, NYR, @ OTT, MTL, @ BUF, @ NYI)
#2) Washington, 99 (NYI, BUF, ATL, @ ATL, @ TB, @ FLA)
#3) New Jersey, 98 (@ NYR, @ PIT, TB, @ BUF, TOR, @ OTT, CAR)
#4) Philadelphia, 92 (@ TOR, TOR, @ OTT, FLA, @ NYR, @ NYI, NYR)
#5) Carolina, 91 (NYR, PIT, NYI, BUF, @ NJ)
#6) Pittsburgh, 90 (NJ, @ CAR, @ FLA, @ TB, NYI, @ MTL)
#7) NY Rangers, 87 (NJ, @ CAR, @ BOS, MTL, PHI, @ PHI)
#8) Montreal, 86 (CHI, @ NYI, @ TOR, OTT, @ NYR, @ BOS, PIT)
#9) Florida, 85 (OTT, ATL, PIT, @ PHI, @ ATL, WAS)
#10) Buffalo, 82 (@ ATL, @ WAS, NJ, DET, @ TOR, @ CAR, BOS)

I have put in bold print the games I think each team will win. If the Power Play Ouija board is accurate, the following will be the final standings in the East. Also, feel free to give each time another point for an overtime loss if you want.

Boston, 116
Washington, 109
New Jersey, 108
Philadelphia, 104
Carolina, 99
Pittsburgh, 96
Montreal, 96
NY Rangers, 95
Florida, 95
Buffalo, 90

Based on the tie-breaker of most wins, give the sixth seed to Pittsburgh, the seventh to Montreal and the last playoff spot to the Bruins first round opponent, the New York Rangers.

Bruins – Rangers
Capitals – Canadiens
Devils – Penguins
Flyers – Hurricanes

The Bruins and the Rangers facing off in the playoffs for the first time since 1973, almost hard to believe it’s been that long.

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Tim Thomas has an excellent chance of winning the Vezina Trophy this season and would become the first Bruins goaltender to garner that honor since Peter Peeters in 1983. Before Peeters bringing home the hardware, Bruins fans would have look back all the way to Frank Brimsek in 1942 to see the hometown goalie recognized as the league’s best. That’s right, even Gerry Cheevers and Andy Moog don’t have that on their hockey resume.

Thomas, a guy that scrapped his way into the league by playing in North American minor league outposts and roughly 4,000 miles away from Boston in Finland, is undoubtedly a feel-good story. Bruins fans recognize him as one of their own, a long-shot everyman wearing several dozen pounds of equipment, not backing down from 100 mph slap shots and flailing his body across the crease to make seemingly miraculous saves.

Unfortunately, for Thomas (and Bruins fans), he has a chink in his armor that’s relatively benign over the course of the long regular season but could prove to be fatal during the playoffs—inconsistency and soft goals. This is not a knee-jerk reaction to Alexander Semin’s 70-footer in overtime last Saturday. Moments like that will happen from time to time with every goaltender, such as Ted Donato beating the great Patrick Roy in the ’94 playoffs.

Yes, Tim Thomas can win 35 regular season games for the Bruins but can he win 16 playoff games in the spring against top-notch opponents every other night? My hunch is that his tendency to wear down after 10 or so games, leaving gratuitous rebounds and surrendering back-breaking soft goals are a recipe for playoff elimination. It may not be in the first round, but sooner or later Thomas’ negatives will be the root cause of yet another playoff failure. For instance, say the Bruins draw the Rangers in the first round and, because of inadequate goaltending, drop a game or possibly two on home ice. The Rangers and their fans would be primed for the kill, much like the Sabres in ’93 against the Bruins. Sure, this could even happen with Ken Dryden circa 1976 in net, but the odds are more probable to a Thomas hockey hiccup.

There is, however, encouraging news for the Bruins to make a deep playoff run this spring. The organization’s other two top goalies, Manny Fernandez and Tuuka Rask, play in a far more conservative manner which might be more conducive to a long and successful playoff run. They won’t look as acrobatic as Thomas, but they both have proven, Fernandez more so, the ability to win in the NHL.

I’ll even take it one step further and add that the team should seriously consider “selling high” on Thomas, a free agent after this season, at Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline. Perhaps a team with Stanley Cup aspirations this year might be seduced by Thomas’ sexy numbers and consider him the missing piece of their arsenal.

In reality, I don’t think Chiarelli will deal Thomas, but, remember, as much as a feel-good story Tim Thomas rightfully is, winning the Stanley Cup is an even better one.

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Known to many fans as either a NESN studio host or “the guy the Bruins traded for Cam Neely,” Barry Pederson actually had quite a career with the Bruins.

In his rookie season with the Bruins, Pederson was runner up to Dale Hawerchuck for Rookie of the Year honors. In his first three full seasons with the Bruins, Pederson scored 44, 46 and 39 goals. In 1982 – 1983, Pederson finished fifth in the league in scoring. He followed up by finishing sixth in the league in 1983 – 1984. Pederson was also a strong playoff performer, raising his level of play in the big games and leading the Bruins in playoff scoring.

Unfortunately, in 1984 he was diagnosed with a benign tumor in his shoulder. Repeat surgeries to remove the tumor also removed much of the surrounding muscle mass. Pederson missed most of the 1984 – 1985 season. In 1985 – 1986, he returned to score 29 goals and total 76 points. After the season, the Bruins made the legendary ‘Cam Neely Trade” in which Pederson was sent to Vancouver for Cam Neely AND a first round draft pick. (The good karma of that trade, however, is challenged by the fact that the draft pick was then used by the Bruins to select legendary open-net-misser Glen Wesley.)

That trade has gone down as one of the most lopsided in NHL history. In fact, though, Pederson had a strong first year with the Canucks, repeating his 76 point effort of his final Bruins season. In the ensuing years, his production began to slip. Pederson was traded to the Penguins in the 1989 – 1990 season. Pederson finished with the Penguins in 1990 – 1991 and was with Hartford at the start of the 1991 – 1992 season. During that year, he was the subject of an extreme rarity – a trade between the Boston Bruins and the team that played in Hartford. Pederson returned to play 32 games for the Bruins in that season, before retiring from hockey for good.

In 1995 – 1996, Pederson was the color analyst for the Bruins radio broadcasts before settling into a role with NESN.

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The Boston Bruins, 2-5-1 in their last 8 games, are undoubtedly in the midst of a February tailspin. Fans of the team can either call sports radio talk shows and cry out the overused and now boring, “I’m heading for the Tobin Bridge,” or, take a step back and look at the broader picture of an entire NHL regular season.

The regular season starts in early October and mercilessly continues on until the following April with any team lucky to catch four days in a row off. That seemingly endless grind will surely lead to ups and down for all teams, even the superior ones.

Let’s take a quick look at three random teams for the seasons following the NHL lockout.

2005 – 2006 Carolina Hurricanes: Peter Laviolette’s squad encountered separate skids of 2-5-1 and 4-5-2 over the course of the regular season.

2006 – 2007 Ottawa Senators: The team got off to a 6-10-1 start and had another downturn of 2-6-0 later in the year.

2007 – 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins: Yes, even Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin played on a team that started the month of November 1-6-0.

Okay, maybe these three examples aren’t so random after all. Yes, they all took some lumps during the regular season but they all went on to win the Eastern Conference and play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Sure, Bruins fans should be concerned about the team’s play as of late, but it is not the time for widespread hockey panic. Even with the team in a mini-funk, they still lead the conference by seven points and have a favorable home schedule down the stretch.

I’m sure team management is cognizant that there are a few holes to fill come the March 4 trading deadline and, when those pieces are in-place, this team will once again play like the one that dominated the Eastern Conference for the first four months of the season.

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Periodically, we’ll look back on past Bruins. Not always the superstars, but more often the niche players, characters or oddballs that made their way through town.

In February of 1974, the Bruins sent Fred O’Donnell, Chris Oddleifson and the NHL rights to Mike Walton to Vancouver for little known winger Bobby Schmautz. Schmautz had become something of an offensive force way out west and was brought in to add some scoring punch to the Bruins’ wing.

From his arrival in late season 1974 until his exit from Boston in mid season 1979 – 1980, Schmautz scored 134 goals.

But, Schmautz was most noticed in Boston for his canon-like, high rising head hunter of a slap shot. Schmautz had an absolute canon. Unfortunately, Schmautz had absolutely no idea where it was headed once it left his stick. Goaltenders and Gallery Gods alike prepared to duck any time Schmautz wound to shoot. I once saw Schmautz take a shot from the offensive blue line which went straight up into the balcony without touching anything in between. The “Len Barker” of slapshots. On another occasion, I saw Tony Esposito duck to avoid an incoming Schmautz missile, which hit the crossbar and went into the stands.

Schmautz had two more physical incidents which added to his legend. His first occurred when he was the recipient of an accidental high stick from “Needham’s Own” Robbie Ftorek. Schmautz bled like a stuck pig. Unfortunately for Ftorek, the incident occurred toward the end of the first game of a home and home between the Nordique and Bruins. “Needham’s Own” Robbie’s return to the Garden was a sell out – all the locals came out in hopes of seeing him beaten bloody by the Broons.

Schmautz other bit of physical infamy came from getting dropped like a bad habit by noted pugilist….Mario Tremblay. The video of that fight is still on You Tube: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kikW4VNS0G0)

Schmautz was a Don Cherry disciple who didn’t take well to Cherry’s departure. A few months later, he was gone and the balcony was again safe for fans
.

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Approximately two months from now the Bruins will have just started their 2009 playoff journey with a hopeful final destination of the Stanley Cup being handed into the massive hands of Zdeno Chara from Commissioner Bettman.

With the team in a minor tailspin at the moment, General Manager Peter Chiarelli must decide how much tweaking of the roster is needed between now and the March 4 trade deadline. The Bruins roster you see on March 5 will be the one all fans are pinning their Cup dreams on.

With that thought in mind and to kill time waiting for the trade deadline, I decided to assemble my own Bruins playoff roster constructed to win the 2009 Stanley Cup. To make my job easier (and harder), all Boston Bruins from 1970-present are eligible to be included on the roster, as long as they played two full seasons with the team. Keep in my mind that each player must have had decent production while with the Bruins—nobody makes it on their NHL name alone.

Ask 100 Bruins fans to do the same exercise and you’ll get 100 different answers. My goal is to keep the “new NHL” in mind, but not forget the skill sets of players from a different era. The coach, Harry Sinden (I’ll take his one Stanley Cup over Don Cherry’s goose egg), can roll out the lines and defensive pairings as he sees fit as there’s no “first line,” per se. I’m confident he’ll be astute enough to play one anonymous defenseman more than the others.

Forward Lines (LW, C, RW):

John Bucyk, Marc Savard, Cam Neely

The thought of Neely being fed for a one-timer by Savard excites even the most downtrodden Bruins fan. Bucyk, a wide body, would help give Savard additional space to operate and knock in his fair share of loose pucks down low on the left side of the crease.

Marco Sturm, Joe Thornton, Glen Murray

Please look beyond your last images of Murray and try to recall the guy that terrorized NHL goalies earlier this decade. He works well with Jumbo Joe and both have a spot on this squad. I’ll freely admit that Sturm is an unconventional selection, but his speed, finishing ability and hockey determination secure him a spot.

Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito, Rick Middleton

Espo and Cashman worked well together and won their fair share of big games– even though a few more in 1971 would have been nice. Cashman might be one of the most underrated fighters of all-time and he’s allegedly bat crazy, not the worst traits for a hockey player. Middleton gives the line some speed and a player who can create his own offense.

Don Marcotte, Derek Sanderson, John McKenzie

Every team needs a line that specializes in the undesirable, dirty jobs and these three guys take pride in doing so. Sanderson is one of the best face-off men to ever play, Marcotte always shadowed the opposition’s best right winger and McKenzie was one tough bastard. These guys could even find the back of the opposition’s net. Trying to protect a one goal lead with 30 seconds remaining, I have a hunch that Sinden would have this line out on the ice.

Defensive Pairings:

Bobby Orr, Brad Park

The handful of games they played together in 1975-’76 left every Bruins fan wanting more.

Ray Bourque, Gord Kluzak

Bourque’s is a no-brainer, obviously. Before the knee injuries did him in, Kluzak had a nice four year run as a good NHL blueliner.

Zdeno Chara, Dallas Smith

Chara will be a Norris finalist again and Smith, always in the shadow of Orr and Park, was as solid as they come defensively.

Goalies:

Gerry Cheevers, Andy Moog

Cheevers gets the start because he lived for the spotlight of the big game and had the ability to help keep the locker room loose. Moog cut his teeth in Edmonton and was actually in goal for the injured Fuhr when the Oilers won their first Cup. He earned plenty of Bruins credibility with his playoff performances while in Boston.

I’m confident with the assembled roster and only fear one thing in the playoffs—sooner or later we’ll run into Ken Dryden.

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Hockey mavens will tell you that a hot goalie can carry a team to a championship. The right goalie, in the right place, at the right time, can make history. If any team knows the power of a hot goalie in the playoffs, it is the Boston Bruins. Unfortunately, the hot goalies known to the Bruins all too frequently played for their opponents. Ken Dryden. Steve Penney. Bill Ranford. These are just a few of the goalies who stoned a powerful Bruins team when the games meant the most. Just some of the many who have sent the Bruins home short of their goal.

Do the Bruins have a hot goalie of their own waiting to take center stage? It’s a question often discussed. Can Thomas carry the team? Will Fernandez get a chance to make a run? Is this Tuukka’s year? One thing is for certain, the Bruins have spent the better part of fifteen years trying to find the answer, searching for the man who can carry them to the top.

Since the departure of Andy Moog at the end of the 1992 – 1993 season, the Bruins have had 26 different goaltenders man the cage. Some started hot, like Blaine Lacher, only to flame out quickly. Others showed long term promise, only to lose their game, like Andrew Raycroft. Some were retreads who never regained their form, like Felix Potvin or Jim Carey. Still others were journeymen at best, like Craig Billingon, Joey MacDonald or Tim Cheveldae. Some had questionable nicknames, like “My Cousin Vinnie” Riendeiu or John Casey “and his Technicolor Five Hole.” The one thing they all had in common: none of them were the answer between the pipes.

While each new Bruins season seemed to bring a new starting goalie to the big club, each new Bruins draft attempted to provide the hope of a new franchise goaltender. In the past 20 years, the Bruins have drafted 19 goalies. While some were taken with low picks intended to fill out minor league roster spots, others were taken with very high very valuable picks. The Bruins have long been criticized for not developing their own talent. At no position is this shortcoming more evident than goaltender.

The Bruins’ number one pick in 1994? Evgeni Ryabchicov. A young Russian goalie with a stand up style who the Bruins felt would be their goalie for years. Taken with the twenty-first pick over all, Ryabchicov was a complete bust who never played a game in the NHL. Goaltenders available that year and drafted after Boston’s pick included Jose Theodore, Marty Turco, Johan Hedberg, Evgeni Nabokov, Thomas Vokoun and John Grahame, who Boston did take with the number 229 pick in the draft. Oh, and the player selected at number 217? Some guy named Tim Thomas.

The Bruins thought so highly of their 1994 pick of Ryabchicov that in the 1995 draft, they used their second round pick to select Paxton Schaefer – another goaltender. Schaefer did make it to the Bruins for a few cups of coffee. He didn’t play in the NHL as much as the goaltenders selected after him – Brent Johnson, Vesa Toskala, Miikka Kiprusoff, Chris Mason and JS Aubin.

Between 1996 and 2001, the Bruins followed up the Schaefer pick by using three fifth round picks, a fourth round pick, a sixth round pick and a seventh round pick to draft goalies. Of the lot, Andrew Raycroft, selected in the fifth round of the 1998 draft, was the best.

In 2002, the Bruins again took a high draft shot at a long term solution in net. With their first round pick, number 29 overall, the Bruins selected Hannu Toivonen. 2002 hasn’t yet proven to be a strong year for goaltenders, with Cam Ward and Kari Lehtonen being the best of the goalies drafted in that year. Toivonen played a little for the Bruins and the Blues before heading back to Finland.

After drafting two more goalies in 2003 (Mike Brown in round 5 and Kevin Regan in round 9) the Bruins would not draft another goalie until selecting Michael Hutchinson in the third round of the 2008 draft. Perhaps the Bruins realized drafting goalies was not their strength and they decided to take some time off. (It should be noted that in those years when no goalie was selected, players such as Krejci, Karsums, Hunwick, Lashoff , Kessel, and Lucic were drafted by the Bruins. Perhaps there was method to their madness)

A review of the Bruins ability to asses goaltending does not provide a lot of encouragement for those looking for the next franchise goalie to emerge. Even the goaltender most frequently identified as their best chance in net, Tim Thomas, was repeatedly pushed aside by the Bruins. The team tried virtually any other option they could find before giving the job to Thomas.

Bruins fans now find themselves on the verge of the 2008 – 2009 playoffs. The team enters the homestretch with a troika of Thomas, Manny Fernandez and possibly Tuukka Rask as options for the playoffs. Thomas and Fernandez are unsigned unrestricted free agents following this season. Rask has had limited NHL exposure, but has shown some promise. Can he stand up to the level of play in the NHL for more than a handful of games? No one yet knows. In a very short period of time, the Bruins must decide who they will ride in the playoffs , who they will re-sign in the offseason and who their goalie will be for the next few years. After review of the Bruins’ track record in goaltending in the post-Moog era, is there any reason for confidence that the team will choose correctly?

Bruins fans have to hope. Hope that one of the current goalies can get hot for the playoffs. Hope that the team is ready to make the right choice for the future. Above all, hope that Michael Hutchinson will be ready by 2011.

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