In The Awkward Timing Department: B's Head Coach Bruce Cassidy Won The Jack Adams Award

 

    Sometimes the way that life works, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Case in point: tonight while he probably was getting ready at his house to watch Game 2 of Lightning-Islanders in the Eastern Conference Finals, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy found out that he had won his first Jack Adams Award. That honor is "given annually to the coach who has contributed the most to his team's success" as voted on by the National Hockey League broadcasters association. So on one hand, Cassidy was out of the Toronto bubble and with his family therefore they could all enjoy the biggest achievement of his coaching career. Truthfully, I'm sure that he would give it all up in a heartbeat just to have his team still competing in the 2020 NHL playoffs after Tampa Bay knocked them out of the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games. 

    This was the second time in just three years (he finished 2nd in 2018) as an NHL head coach that Cassidy was nominated for the biggest award in his profession. He beat out Philadelphia's head coach Alain Vigneault and Columbus' head coach John Tortorella so he has that going for him. Surprisingly with all of Boston's history, Cassidy became only the fourth Bruins head coach to ever win the Jack Adams Award, joining Don Cherry (1976), Pat Burns (1998) and his predecessor-Claude Julien (2009). You had a feeling that this was his time to win it since Boston had a spectacular regular season (44-14-12) to capture the dreaded Presidents' Trophy (most points in the regular season). When the Coronavirus pandemic halted play in mid-March, the Bruins led the league in wins, regulation wins (38) and goals allowed per game (2.39).

    I will never claim that head coaches make a huge difference in the NHL but just from being around Cassidy since Day 1 in Boston, you can clearly see that he's been exactly what the B's needed after Julien got tuned out for his last few seasons here. They've posted 100+ points in each of his campaigns in charge which is nothing to scoff at. Now, he needs a Stanley Cup-the toughest championship to win in American pro sports-to round out his personal trophy case. With Tampa Bay up 2-0 on New York in their series, it feels like the Lightning are going to win the Cup this fall (that sounds so weird to say) although don't count out the Golden Knights if they beat the Stars in the Western Conference Finals. There is no doubt that Boston left one on the table last season by choking in Game 7 at the Garden vs. St. Louis. Regardless of what happens the next few years, Bruins GM Don Sweeney can rest easy knowing that he has the right guy behind the bench as they transition from one era of veterans into the future.   

      

    

In the Biggest Layup During the Pandemic, the B's Signed Jaroslav Halak to a 1-Year Extension

You'll have to excuse the delay on this post since the Bruins decided to randomly drop this sneaky important news last night (what nerve on a Friday during the pandemic!) and I was too busy binge-watching "Waco" on Netflix to notice until it was way past my bedtime. Your bet is as good as mine if the NHL will be able to continue the 2019-20 regular season and postseason or if it will eventually be scrapped because of the Coronavirus. Nevertheless, Boston's GM Don Sweeney took care of some summer free agency housekeeping a few months early by signing "backup" goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a one-year contract extension worth $2.25 million.

Even before this nightmare that's lasted over 50 days now began, I was never someone that got hung up on the salaries of pro athletes. After all, you or I aren't footing the bill so who cares? They have also worked most of their lives to reach the highest level of their chosen sport so good for them. The unemployment rate is through the roof these days in the United States so it sounds silly to call $2.25 million a bargain but the truth is that for a goaltender the caliber of Halak it is a steal. Even if you aren't a B's fan, it would be tough to argue that their goaltender tandem of Tuukka Rask (26-8-6, 2.12 goals against average, .929 save percentage and 5 shutouts this season) and Halak (18-6-6, 2.39 goals against average, .919 save percentage and 3 shutouts this season) isn't one of the best in the entire league if not the top one.

Rask was the favorite for the Vezina Trophy during this incredible campaign and as we saw last season, finally having a quality goalie beside him like Halak was one of the main reasons that Boston was able to reach the Stanley Cup Final vs. St. Louis. As Claude Julien never seemed to figure out during his long tenure behind the Bruins' bench, Rask is not physically or mentally built for the grind of 65+ starts every season (who is?) and he would inevitably fall apart every season right before or during the playoffs. What great timing! Sweeney finally realized this and did his part by signing Halak back on July 1, 2018 as free agency opened. At 34 years old, Halak is actually a year older than Rask and he's been around the league forever (drafted in 2003 by Montreal and debuting with the Canadiens in the 2006-07 season).

Since this is Halak's fifth NHL club (Habs, Blues, Capitals, Islanders and Bruins), you want to label him a journeyman but that's not really the case. His career win-loss record is more than 100 games over .500 (272-167-58) and he even made the 2015 NHL All-Star Game with the Isles. Not bad for a ninth-round pick from Czechoslovakia. He also keeps himself in phenomenal shape which enables him to play nearly a 50/50 time share with Rask (37 starts last season and 29 this season). While Rask ended up playing every game in the playoffs in Boston's run to the Final last season, don't think that having a dependable veteran like Halak with him wasn't also an underrated significant factor. For once in his Bruins career as the No. 1 goaltender, Rask has a teammate that is nearly his equal therefore he doesn't have to shoulder such an unrealistic workload.

This extension is also insurance in case Rask gets hurt or his play dips (which happens to every goalie from time to time). Like pitching in baseball, you can never have enough good goaltending on your team and while Boston has some decent prospects coming up (most notably University of Maine's Jeremy Swayman who they recently signed to a pro deal), it's best to go with the known commodity at the moment. Any way that you look at it, Halak is probably the best backup goaltender in the NHL and that is something that is priceless for a Cup contender like the Black and Gold. Now let's please find a feasible way for the Bruins to get back on the ice in the near future since they had a really good chance to go far once again in the playoffs.

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Nearly A Year Later, The B's Are One of the Top Teams in the NHL & The Habs are One of the Worst

Remember when it felt like the Bruins (25-10-8) could never quite seem to catch up with the Canadiens (18-21-6) both in terms of overall team speed up and down the ice and more importantly on the scoreboard? My oh my how things have changed recently as now Boston has won four straight games against lowly Montreal following tonight's easy 4-1 victory at TD Garden. Of course for Bruins fans, they'll never grow tired of seeing the Habs become a complete dumpster fire like this. After beating them 4-3 in a wild shootout at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, the B's let the Canadiens score the first goal before they slowly made them submit to another defeat. Even better, Boston can beat these jokers three times in eight days since they meet this Saturday night (7, NESN) in Montreal as well. Thanks, NHL schedule makers!

Faster than you could say Handsome Ralph, the Canadiens were up 1-0 as rookie defenseman Jakub Jerabek threw the puck at the net and it deflected in off Zdeno Chara just 31 seconds into regulation. Jerabek's first career NHL goal was assisted by Charles Hudon and Paul Byron. Montreal led the entire game for a grand total of 6:19 as Boston tied it up on a sweet passing play from Brad Marchand to Patrice Bergeron to David Pastrnak for the goal. Marchand was actually on his knees when he flung the puck to Bergeron who quickly dished it to Pastrnak (get it?!) for his 18th goal of the season. Against Isaiah Thomas and Paul Pierce's wishes, the Bruins showed a nice tribute video for Claude Julien that drew a huge ovation from the Garden crowd. See NBA, these things can be done with minimal drama and whining.

In soccer terms, both clubs enjoyed the benefit of an own goal as Ryan Spooner put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at 2:37 of the second period when his attempted pass went off the enigma known as Jonathan Drouin, by Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (28 saves; 13-15-4) and into the net. Spooner's sixth goal of the season was assisted by David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. Not only is Montreal a terrible team but they are also boring to watch (unless you hate yourself) which is about the worst combination that you can be in sports. They were only down a goal going into the third period but once Marchand bagged a power play goal at 3:40 of the third period, it was basically over. His 19th goal of the season was assisted by Bergeron and Torey Krug. The final score actually could have been way more lopsided as three Bruins hit the crossbar or post (Noel Acciari, David Backes and Krejci) over the course of 60 minutes. Julien pulled Price for an extra attacker with a few minutes left since what the hell right? It predictably backfired immediately as Krejci (8th goal of the season) scored an empty-netter at 16:46 from Backes.

All in all it was a great day for the Black and Gold as they honored former Bruin Willie O'Ree on the 60th anniversary of his first NHL game (he broke the league's color barrier). PS how is he not already in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Boston mayor Marty Walsh declared tomorrow "Willie O'Ree Day" and the city is opening a street hockey rink in his honor which will be completed by this summer in Allston. The B's extended their point streak to 14 games (10-0-4) which is the longest in 2017-18 in the NHL and goaltender Tuukka Rask's (21 saves; 16-8-4) personal point streak reached 15 games (13-0-2) as well. Finally, after missing 36 games recovering from the broken leg that he suffered vs. Vancouver on October 19, veteran defenseman Adam McQuaid returned to action subbing in for Kevan Miller who has the bird flu or something.

The B's are right back at it tomorrow night (7, NESN) against the Islanders (23-19-4) at Barclays Center. New York is one point out of both Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference so unlike the Canadiens, they have plenty to play for. That figures to be another start for Anton Khudobin (9-2-4) with Rask getting the Canadiens once more on Saturday. If it ain't broke, don't fix it right? So while we chuckle at Julien circling the drain in Montreal (again), realize that these Bruins under head coach Bruce Cassidy are a real force in the East. This is probably looking too far ahead (but what else do you want to hear in mid-January?) but with a few breaks going their way, the Bruins could make this spring a real memorable one for Boston sports teams and I'm not just talking about the Celtics.

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With Everything to Play For, Rask Sits Out (Illness) & B's Predictably Fall Flat on Their Face

Before the all-important game against the Senators (38-35-9) had even started this afternoon, you knew that something was up when the Bruins (42-31-9) called up goaltender Jeremy Smith from Providence on an emergency basis. Apparently Tuukka Rask was very sick and after taking a few shots during warm-ups, he simply couldn't continue. He left for the dressing room, never to be seen again today (and possibly much longer this off-season). If you can believe it, things only got worse from that ominous beginning as Ottawa blasted Boston 6-1 in the regular season finale at TD Garden.

This isn't to say that backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (30 saves) is solely to blame for the loss. In fact, I don't think the outcome wouldn't have been any different with Rask in goal since Boston's terrible defense had to remind everyone once more just how hopeless they were for most of this campaign. Plus the B's finished under .500 at home this season (17-18-6; only other Eastern Conference teams to do that were Buffalo and Toronto). Still, if it was just an illness (bad sushi?) for Rask-the franchise goaltender-you can understand why he'll be hammered on the radio and TV for months if not years to come around here.

The Bruins actually scored first as David Pastrnak made it 1-0 at 5:04 (the second straight game that he'd opening the scoring) on a goal that looked offside but it was reviewed and held up for once. Brad Marchand and Max Talbot assisted on Pastrnak's 15th goal of the season as he got behind Ottawa's defense and then beat Andrew Hammond (39 saves) upstairs. Boston led 1-0 after the first period but they were outshot 17-10 so you knew that eventually the roof would cave in if they kept allowing that many quality chances.

Sure enough, the mighty Senators (who had nothing to play for but pride) hit the B's with a flurry of four goals in a span of 8:18 in the second period to put it way out of reach already. It was a microcosm of Boston's disappointing season as goon Chris Neil outhustled them to jam in the tying goal at 1:42, Nick Paul and Ryan Dzingel assisted on his fifth goal of the season. After that, Ottawa scored three virtually identical goals all on re-directed shots. Zach Smith tipped in Erik Karlsson's shot at 5:54 for his 24th goal of the season and Karlsson's NHL-leading 66th helper with Fredrik Claesson picking up the second assist. Less than three minutes later, Puempel re-directed a pass from Phil Varone with Buddy Robinson (are those real people?) for his second goal of the season. Mika Zibanejad put the final nail in Boston's coffin by tipping in a pass from Mike Hoffman at 10:00 for his 21st goal of the season. Bruins head coach Claude Julien took his timeout but by then, it was long over and you have to feel the same way about his storied tenure in Boston (remember he is the team's all-time winningest coach).

Other than rookie defenseman Colin Miller's fight with Mike Kostka, the Black and Gold showed barely a pulse or any semblance of heart in the third period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Smith both added empty-netters as Julien tried to coax a goal out of his power play unit but nothing worked in this miserable performance for his club. Ironically, Detroit (41-30-11) lost 3-2 at the Rangers (46-27-9) this afternoon which meant that a Bruins win would have gifted them third-place in the Atlantic Division. Instead the Red Wings clinched a playoff spot for the 25th straight season (extending their American pro sports record). Now the B's are down to their last hope: they need the Flyers (currently tied 1-1 at Pittsburgh in the second period) to lose today and also tomorrow night at the Islanders (45-26-9). If Philly is able to scratch together two points between those two tilts, they will get the second Wild Card in the Eastern Conference and the rough prize of the Capitals (55-17-8) in the first-round of the playoffs.

If Boston doesn't get that aforementioned miracle and they miss the postseason for the second year in a row, there is no chance that Julien keeps his job here again, right? Clearly, it is not all his fault that the front office made some terrible moves (trading for Jimmy Hayes, not having more NHL-ready defensemen, etc) and many of his players underperformed but he tapped dance past the firing line last summer and I don't think that he could make that magic happen again, especially so soon thereafter. This franchise has so many issues at the moment but unfortunately for Cladue, getting rid of him would be the easy first move for GM Don Sweeney.

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Bruins Lose Their Fifth Straight Game, 4-1 to the Panthers, Leaving Their Playoff Hopes in Jeopardy

Even in a marathon 82-game regular season, there is never a good time to have a five-game losing streak (all in regulation, their longest such streak in over 6 years) but I'd say that during crunch time of a playoff push is just about the worst possible occasion to completely fall apart. Boston (39-28-8) lost all three of its games in California last week, fell 5-2 to the Rangers (42-24-8) last night at Madison Square Garden and this evening they came home to TD Garden and promptly lost 4-1 to Florida (41-24-9) in another must-win game.

The wonderful pregame ceremony for B's head coach Claude Julien (now the franchise's all-time leader in wins) was one of the only things for Bruins fans to feel good about after Boston failed to gain the all-important season sweep (3-1) of Florida who with the victory went five points ahead of them with a game in hand. As usual this season, a replay didn't go in Boston's favor (same story as the Rangers game) as a possible tying goal by Patrice Bergeron midway through the third period was wiped away and the B's proceeded to disintegrate.

After a scoreless first period, the Bruins broke the deadlock as Ryan Spooner beat Roberto Luongo (34 saves) at 7:42. Frank Vatrano and Loui Eriksson assisted on Spooner's 13th goal of the season (his 1st since March 3 vs. Chicago). Former Bruins great Reilly Smith tied it one at 13:51 as Tuukka Rask (32 saves) couldn't corral a rebound. Victor Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen assisted on Smith's 24th goal of the season (tying him with Jaromir Jagr for the team lead). I know everyone was in favor of it at the time but trading Smith straight up for Jimmy Hayes (13 goals, 16 assists) has been nothing short of a disaster in Year 1. Boston's suddenly useless power play went 0 for 4 and they compounded that by giving up a shorthanded goal to Trocheck at 18:46. Torey Krug got caught up ice and Trocheck was able to roof a shot over Rask's glove. Alex Petrovic had the lone assist on Trocheck's 24th goal of the season.

It has reached the point where I can honestly say after watching so many Bruins goals get called off for various reasons in 2015-16 (offside, goalie interference, no conclusive evidence the puck crossed the line, etc.) that I find it impossible to say what is or isn't a goal anymore in the NHL. Bergeron jammed in a loose puck that clearly was in the net before Luongo fished it out and yet after a lengthy review, the men in stripes deemed it still not worthy (it was ruled no goal initially). Julien has lost his mind over those type of incidents countless times this campaign and the normally unflappable Bergeron was understandably upset.

As you would expect, the momentum flipped and the Panthers quickly put it out of reach as Jokinen tipped in Dmitry Kulikov's shot at 10:56 for a 3-1 advantage (2nd assist to former Bruin Steven Kampfer) and Jonathan Huberdeau's empty-netter at 19:39 ended it. Boston only has seven games left (4 on the road and 3 at home) beginning on Saturday (7, NESN) at Toronto (27-35-11). Yes the Maple Leafs are one of the worst teams in the league but they beat Anaheim (40-23-10) tonight in overtime so it's not like they are a pushover that has given up. The Bruins are at New Jersey (36-31-7) on Tuesday (7, NESN) before a brutal one-two punch of at St. Louis (43-22-9) on Friday (8, NESN) followed by their final road game of the regular season-at Chicago (42-25-7) on Sunday afternoon (12:30, NBC).

If they can survive that gauntlet, their last three favorable tilts are all at the Garden: vs. Carolina (32-28-14) on April 5 (7, NESN), vs. Detroit (37-26-11) on April 7 (7, NESN) and vs. Ottawa (34-33-8) on April 9 (12:30, NESN). The top Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference-the Islanders (39-24-9) have one more point than the Bruins but that's not nearly as relevant as the Red Wings since they are also in the Atlantic Division. Boston is a point ahead of Detroit but the Red Wings have a game in hand which is why that meeting on April 7 seems like it'll be enormously important for both clubs. All that the B's can do is focus on their next game and hope that they can break this killer losing streak otherwise they are going to narrowly miss the playoffs for the second year in a row (which would surely cost Julien his job).

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Just As We All Predicted, The Bruins Picked Up Their Best Win of the Season vs. Blackhawks (4-2)

Just when you think that you have the 2015-16 Bruins (36-23-6) figured out (well sort of), they pull a really impressive 4-2 victory against the Blackhawks (40-21-5) out of thin New England air. Chicago (bandwagon) fans will undoubtedly use the excuse that they were playing in the second game of a back-to-back (after winning 3-2 last night in Detroit) and their average backup goaltender Scott Darling (21 saves) got the start but such are the breaks in a laborious 82-game regular season.

Boston picked up consecutive home wins for the first time since December 18 and 20 while head coach Claude Julien tied Art Ross for the most regular season wins in franchise history (387). Finally, Patrice Bergeron's assist was the 606th point of his Bruins career, tying him with Boston legend Terry O'Reilly for eighth-place on the team's all-time points list. The B's led basically from start to finish as the defending Stanley Cup champs lacked their usual jump and could only knot it at one before Boston put it out of reach with three goals in a row.

It has only been two games but Lee Stempniak's Bruins career has begun on a high note as he had two assists tonight. He adds the veteran experience and all-around game to the excellent Bergeron-Brad Marchand line that was lacking when they had to carry the useless Brett Connolly for much of the season. Bergeron opened the scoring only 1:18 into the contest as he wrapped around Chicago's net and roofed a shot past Darling. Marchand and Stempniak assisted on Bergeron's 25th goal of the season.

Rookie Noel Acciari was called for two bogus hooking calls in his second NHL game (Welcome to the Show!) and the Blackhawks took advantage of the first one when captain Jonathan Toews popped in a rebound at 14:14 of the first period on the power play. Some of Chicago's newest players-Andrew Ladd and Christian Ehrhoff-had the assists on Toews' 23rd goal of the season. Like a good team, Boston closed the opening frame with an important goal by Marchand. His snipe from some distance beat Darling with 22 seconds left; Torey Krug and Stempniak had the helpers on Marchand's team-leading 33rd goal of the season.

For once at home, the Bruins took some momentum and seemingly carried it over to the following period as Ryan Spooner scored a power play goal at 2:31. His screened shot (nice job by Eriksson) beat Darling for his 12th goal of the season. Krug and Bergeron picked up multiple points with those particular assists. Loui put it out of reach with a gorgeous goal at 15:24 of the second. The other new Bruin John-Michael Liles tossed a beautiful saucer pass that Eriksson redirected with his backhand. David Krejci had the second assist on Eriksson's 24th goal of the season.

Chicago's final tally came from former Canadien Tomas Fleischmann who shot a rocket over Tuukka Rask's (25 saves) shoulder at 19:10 of the second. Teuvo Teravainen and Niklas Hjalmarsson had the assists on Fleischmann's 11th goal of the season (1st point as a Blackhawk). The Blackhawks put plenty of pressure on the Bruins in the third, outshooting them 11-2 but Boston blocked 17 shots and Rask did the rest. It was nice to see them show that they can still put together a successful defensive game-plan from time to time that mostly shut down one of the league's truly elite teams.

Speaking of top-notch clubs, the one with the most points-Washington (47-12-4)-will be here on Saturday (7, NESN) to serve as another playoff-like test for the Black and Gold. It will be the third straight time that a visiting team comes to TD Garden in the second night of a back-to-back. The Capitals host the Rangers tomorrow before getting into the Hub late night on Friday, perhaps hitting last call at The Harp before they tuck themselves in? Alex Ovechkin is having an MVP-type campaign and Braden Holtby has been the best goaltender in the NHL so it's well worth your time to tune in to see Washington. Boston will bid for that elusive .500 mark at the Garden (15-16-3), something simple which they stil haven't tasted so far in 2015-16.

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Bruins Sign Head Coach Claude Julien to a Multi-Year (3?) Contract Extension

It was reported on Saturday night that Bruins head coach Claude Julien had agreed to a multi-year contract extension (CBC said 3 years) but neither he nor the Bruins would confirm that after their 4-2 win over Ottawa. You knew it was just a matter of time though and as it turned out, we didn't have to wait for too long as the B's announced that old news this afternoon.

I never played or coached hockey so I can't really tell you from first-hand experience how much coaching matters but my general view is that in the NHL, it's mostly about having players respect you and also being able to implement a system that works if you give it the proper time to develop. By those standards, Julien is an outstanding coach. Boston has been in the playoffs the past seven seasons including winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 and reaching the Stanley Cup Final two years later.

He started here in 2007-08 so he's the second longest tenured head coach currently in the NHL behind Detroit's Mike Babcock (10 years). The team's record during that pivotal time in club history is 317-171-65 (.632 winning percentage). It never seemed like Claude was thinking about going elsewhere, I'd say he's settled here for a long time and that new deal only solidifies it.

The Bruins are lucky to have a guy like him that is respectful of the players but also capable of kicking them in the ass when they need it. One of the reasons that nobody has panicked during this slow start is because Julien's teams usually play better as the season wears on. When they aren't scoring, it's easy to make fun of Julien's system but overall the results speak for themselves.

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Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli Extended 4 More Years, Through 2017-2018

It was talked about plenty of times last season as the Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three years but it's worth saying again: the B's have become one of the model franchises in the NHL after many dark years earlier this decade. Today, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli received a four-year contract extension through 2017-2018 (he had one more year left on his current deal).

When Boston repeatedly folded in the playoffs, it was easy to make fun of Chiarelli and his well-established penchant to hand out contracts to mediocre players left and right. Now, the story is completely different. He's proven to be a winner and the Bruins have made the playoffs the last six seasons in a row including at least one series win in four of the last five years.

During the regular season, Chiarelli's roster has gone 291-187-62 (.596 winning percentage) with five 90-point seasons and three 100-point seasons. Boston has made the postseason in six of his seven seasons on the job and they've gone 50-35 during that span. In 2011, he became only the third Bruins GM to win a Cup joining legends Art Ross (1929, 1939, 1941) and Milt Schmidt (1970 and 1972).

A product of Harvard University and established player on the Crimson's hockey team, Chiarelli is a very smart guy that even has a law degree. If you're a Bruins fan, you have to like the position that the team is in going into the 2013-2014 regular season (which starts October 3). There is stability on the ice with Tuukka Rask, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Co. while Claude Julien has become one of the top head coaches in the NHL and the same could be said for Chiarelli and president Cam Neely.

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5 Bruins Named To Summer Orientation Camps For Their Countries Ahead of Sochi 2014

Last week's great news that the NHL will allow its players to compete for their home countries at Sochi 2014 (Winter Olympics) took on a local angle this afternoon as five current Bruins along with head coach Claude Julien and GM Peter Chiarelli could all be involved in the proceedings.

Olympic hockey is the best and obviously we'll all be rooting for Team USA but as a heads up, three Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand) were among the 47 players that Canada will have at its orientation camp August 25-28 at Calgary in August. From that group, 23 players will make the Olympic team. Of those three, only Bergeron has played in the Olympics (sparingly in 2010 with the gold medal team). Lucic went to their tryout camp in Vancouver that time around but didn't make it and Marchand has never played for Team Canada at this level.

Bergeron has the best chance to make it out of the Bruins from Canada although I wouldn't be shocked to see Lucic or Marchand also playing in Russia this February depending on the type of player they are looking for. There will be some familiar faces around the team with Julien named an associate coach (under Detroit's Mike Babcock) and Chiarelli on the management team.

Besides the U.S. and Canada, the other teams to name their camp rosters today included Sweden, Russia and Finland. For our purposes, Sweden and Finland are the ones to keep a close eye on. The newest Bruin Loui Eriksson is on Sweden while Tuukka Rask was named for Finland.

For what it's worth, neither Tyler Seguin not Jarome Iginla were named by Canada although that could change with injuries between now and February.

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Tyler Seguin & Zdeno Chara Named To The 2012 NHL All-Star Roster In Ottawa

A week after Tim Thomas was named as the fan selection for starting goaltender, the NHL announced today that Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin will join the Bruins netminder in Ottawa for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game on January 29th.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien and his assistants were also named to the All-Star Game last week as well so this year's festivities will have a distinct Black & Gold taste.

Seguin was inexplicably missing from this year's ballot despite starting the season on a scoring tear including posting his first career hat trick against the Maple Leafs on November 5th. Who can forget his amazing goal in that same game? And if you forgot about it, here it is.



Seguin has really turned a corner this season, as his 17 goals in just 38 games so far absolutely dwarfs his 11 goals in 74 games last season and leads the team. The speedy winger leads the league in Plus/Minus with a plus 33 and is third in the NHL in game-winning goals with five. Seguin was a write-in candidate in this year's All-Star balloting and his strong performance coupled with his all-world play has catapulted him into the forefront of All-Star discussion.

Chara is obviously one of, if not the best defenseman in the NHL and he is a perennial All-Star. Even if Chara played like garbage this year, he would still be invited off the strength of his record breaking slap shot in the hardest shot contest last season.

Chara has had a fantastic year once again as his +27 is good for second in the NHL (behind Seguin). His plus/minus is doubly impressive because Chara is always paired up against the opposition's top players such as Phil Kessel, Alex Ovechkin, the Sedins and Steven Stamkos.

I can't really make the argument for many other Bruins, as their team oriented style of play doesn't lend itself to individual accolades but one player that I thought would make the team is Patrice Bergeron. Selke Smooth is having his best season and has really shown his value to this team since Boston's second forward line has been its best thus far. He has never made an All-Star Game which boggles my mind, so for him to miss out on this year's contest is a little shocking but I'm sure he wouldn't complain about having a few extra days off.

The All-Star rosters will follow the same format as last year with both teams being decided by a draft on Friday night. Haha who can forget Kessel being Mr. Irrelevant last season? One of the all-time classic awkward moments in a sports broadcast-"Hey Phil!".

UPDATE 1/12: Jordan Caron was called up from Providence since Brad Marchand is still serving his five-game suspension. Caron is playing on a line with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, meaning that Zach Hamill is a healthy scratch.

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Claude Julien Named 2012 All-Star Coach

Yesterday it was revealed that Bruins goalie Tim Thomas will be starting goaltender for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa. Today, head coach Claude Julien will join him as on the All-Star roster along with his assistants Doug Houda and Geoff Ward. Julien hails from Ottawa and will surely cherish the opportunity.

"The fact that you get an opportunity to coach the elite players of the league and the guys that get voted on, you see a different side of players," said Julien. "So the whole experience is a good one. The fact that it's in my hometown is great. It's an added bonus, and you've got your family and friends around. So, it'll be a lot of fun."

Julien has led the Bruins to an impressive season after a 3-7 start, putting them near the top of the Eastern Conference. Julien's squad has dominated every facet of the game as of late, as their 23 wins in their last 27 contests has proven. Offensively, the Bruins are approaching historic levels.

In games decided by 3 or more goals, the B's are 15-1. Scoring more than 3 goals a game hasn't been a problem for the B's, recording a league leading 138 goals so far this season. The Bruins have also scored twice within a minute 13 times this year, which leads the league.

Defensively, the Bruins are as stingy as ever thanks to the efforts of Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas. Rask and Thomas are number one and two in the NHL in goals against average and save percentage. Suffocating defense has always been a hallmark of a Claude Julien coached team and this year is no different since they've allowed an NHL-low 69 goals so far.

It is amazing how far Julien and this team have come in the last few years. Going into the playoffs last season, most Bruins fans were calling for his head and now he is beloved throughout New England. Nothing like winning a championship, I guess.

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Boston Shake Things Up For Tonight's Game vs. Toronto

With more than enough of a sample size and losers of three of their last four games, Bruins head coach Claude Julien has made a few moves in an attempt to spark the underachieving Bruins offense.

The Bruins inserted Tyler Seguin into the first line when center David Krejci went down with a core injury in practice and the results have been lukewarm. The second year playmaker has looked much more comfortable with the puck amd is also skating better without it. He is clearly progressing as an all-around player and his increased role has given Bruins fans a reason to be optimistic.

However, the problem lies with his linemates Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton. Both players have been struggling to put the puck in the net and have not been much of a factor early on in the season. Both have been frustrated with their play so far and that was apparent against the Hurricanes. Both players racked up the penalty minutes against Carolina and have been non-factors in most of their games so far.

Knowing this, Claude has made a switch, dropping Nathan Horton to the second line with presumably Bergeron and Marchand, while sending Chris Kelly up to the first line center position. Seguin will shift back to right wing for the time being.

Julien has been criticized in the past for being too stubborn with his lines in the past and clearly Krejci's injury forced his hand. However, this move should be a wake-up call for Horton, who has more than enough skill to be on the second line. With regards to Kelly, I'm not sure what to expect from him on the first line, as he has shown flashes at times. He's hardly the typical first line center. Still, the Bruins need a surge from their scoring, as they are currently dead last in the NHL in scoring with just 11 goals in six games. This has to improve.

The Bruins will unveil their new lines tonight against the resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs, who lead the division and feature the NHL's leading scorer-Phil Kessel.

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Bruins Overcome Toughest Opponent, Themselves

After Saturday nights's exhausting 2-1 OT win over the Canadiens, the Bruins are in prime position to advance to their second straight Eastern Conference Semifinals. One more win in Montreal is all it takes.

Sounds easy right?

Not if you have been following this team for the last 20 years.

Dropping the first two games on home ice, the Bruins looked dead in the water, another underachieving team that would be sent home early, vanquished by the hated Canadiens. But then something strange happened.

They responded to adversity like never before, taking games 3 and 4 in Montreal, including the game 4 overtime thriller that saw the often criticized Michael Ryder become the hero, at least for the night. When losing the first two games of a seven game series, the Bruins are 0 for 26 alltime. With history working against them, the B's outskated and outhustled Montreal in both away games, ignoring the white noise that came with the Chara-Pacioretty fallout, and creatig some of their own when Andrew Ference's "accidental bird" was seen flying proudly on Canadian television.

Tuning out all of the off-ice drama, Claude Julien's team was able to take two crucial games in a hostile environment, squaring up the series at 2 games a piece headed into Saturday's game 5.

An emotionally drained Bruins team was able to keep the momentum in their favor before a jam-packed TD Garden, leaving with a 2-1 double OT victory and taking full control of the series.

Each game has featured a hero, and game 5 was no exception. Michael Ryder continued to endear himself to Bruins fans, making a picture perfect glove save early in the first period, turning a guaranteed goal into a higlight that will be a part of Bruins lore forever.

The dimunitive Brad Marchand continued his stellar play, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the third period, only a few minutes after Max Pacioretty's hilarious tweet about his giant nose. Marchand's non-stop effort throughout this first round series has given the Bruins an edge, and also has made his line the most consistent thus far.

Tim Thomas had probably his best postseason game as a Bruin, limiting his rebounds and making timely saves again and again, outdeuling Montreal's Carey Price both in regulation and in both overtimes. This was the game that Bruins fans were waiting for from the veteran Goalie and certain Vezina winner.

Regardless of how rosy things look at the moment, Bruins fans are trained to always anticipate the worst possible outcome in any situation. In the past, the Bruins' playoff woes have largely been self-inflicted. A choke job against Montreal in 2002. A game 7 loss to Montreal 3 years ago. Losing in 7 to the Hurricanes as a 1 seed. Last year's debacle versus the Flyers.

Will this year be different?

The first step in the healing process will be a win in Montreal tomorrow night. A loss would force a deciding game 7, in Boston, where the Bruins have not had the best of luck in recent years. In order to continue their success, the Bruins will have to defeat their toughest opponents, themselves

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Why do we even bother?

Before Game 2 had even started, the Boston Bruins were already cooked. Zdeno Chara spent Friday night in a hospital due to dehydration and he was a last-minute scratch for last night's pivotal game at TD Garden.

Some teams might use their Captain's absence as motivation but oh no, not our Bruins. The most fragile team in the NHL and maybe all of sports completely folded under the pressure (as always) and fell flat on their face in a depressing as hell 3-1 loss.

Montreal now leads the series 2-0 as it shifts to the Bell Centre for Game 3 tomorrow night.

All five goals that the Canadiens have scored so far in the first two games are direct results of egregious turnovers by the Bruins in their own end.

To make matters worse, Boston spotted Montreal two goals last night in the first 2:20 of the first period. After Game 1's debacle, I said Game 2 would be all about the first goal.

Well 43 seconds in and Mike Cammalleri scored from James Wisniewski. At 2:20, Montreal was on a power play when Mathieu Darche scored from Cammalleri.

You couldn't possibly script a worse beginning and just like that, the Bruins were done in the game and probably the series. They've never won a series (in 26 tries) after being down 0-2.

Carey Price is a good goaltender but the Bruins are making him look the second coming of Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek. Price stopped 34 shots but once again, Boston failed to get bodies in front of him or capitalize on the few rebounds he allowed.

He made one spectacular save as he robbed Milan Lucic with his glove after Looch was set up right in front of the net.

On the flip side, can we agree that Tim Thomas is simply a regular season monster? Much like Claude Julien is a regular season coach? Up to this point, how can we say that either does anything but pee down their leg in the playoffs?

The Bruins finally got on the board with their first goal of the series at 7:38 of the second period as Brad Marchand fed a perfect tip in to Patrice Bergeron. Mark Recchi also assisted.

Unfortunately, all that hard work was nullified by Thomas (23 saves) who gave up a juicy rebound right to Yannick Weber. He scored at 17:21 of the second period from Lars Eller and Roman Hamrlik. That was it, you knew the Bruins had absolutely no chance to recover from that.

Honestly, they are done. Short of Julien being fired today and Tuukka Rask getting the surprise start in Game 3, I don't see how this team can overcome all their playoff shortcomings. The Canadiens are playing with more desperation and heart while the Bruins continue to add new head-scratching chapters to their pathetic legacy.

All I want for Christmas is a new head coach for the Boston Bruins

It's a good thing most people were stuck in traffic last night during this winter's first snowfall (haha only two or three inches) or simply forgot the Boston Bruins had a home game against the Anaheim Ducks (on Versus).

Hopefully you missed the latest horrorshow in a season that is totally resembling last season in terms of its lack of consistency. The Ducks blanked the Bruins 3-0 at the TD Garden in front of a lifeless crowd, Boston's (17-11-4) fourth loss in its last five games.

I brought it up last Thursday when they lost to the Canadiens but it's time to really examine whether Bruins head coach Claude Julien is the right man for this job anymore. The team appears lost and there's no excuse because they have too much talent (especially in goal) to be this average.

Anaheim (18-15-4) scored a goal in the first period and two in the second period but the real hero was goaltender Jonas Hiller (45 saves), who played the best game by an opposing goalie so far this season.

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas made 22 saves in one of his most invisible performances of his epic season thus far.

Something named a Brandon McMillan gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead off a rebound at 5:57 of the first period. Luca Sbisa and Teemu Selanne assisted on that tally.

Gregory Campbell fought Kyle Chipchura early in the second period but it didn't get the Black and Yellow fired up or anything.

Anaheim defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky made it 2-0 (from Saku Koivu and Selanne) while Corey Perry ended it with a short-handed goal from McMillan and Andy Sutton.

Short sidenote: the Ducks top line of Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan is the NHL's best. Just three young studs that can do it all.

We shall see if the Bs will bounce back on Thursday night when they host the red-hot Atlanta Thrashers (who kicked their ass in Atlanta a few weeks ago). Another no-show by his team and Julien is one step closer to a long vacation.

Does anybody even care anymore?

First off, let me say that I love hockey. I never played it competitively but I enjoy skating around with friends in the winter, watching college hockey and occasionally the NHL. I respect it; living in Massachusetts its all around me, its probably only bigger in Minnesota as far as the US goes. Canada still obviously sweats hockey big time, its pretty much all they have. The Raptors and Blue Jays plus the CFL barely count. Anyways, I haven't written anything about the Bruins and I felt like now was as good a time as ever.

Yesterday, the Bruins named Claude Julien as their new head coach. They had a new coach last year-Dave Lewis-who lasted just one season as the Bruins failed to make the playoffs once again. Julien has a good resume although he got dropped by the Devils last season-even though they made the playoffs. Kinda strange. Anyways, I'm not interested in his hiring so much as hockey in Boston and the NHL as a whole. After the lockout of two years ago, the NHL has pretty much been on permanent life support. The fans by and large haven't come back or simply don't care anymore. The NHL is relegated to the Versus network-a backwater station nobody knew. The Stanley Cup playoffs had abysmal ratings and yet nobody talks about hockey being dead. It's like the public has already had the funeral for it and moved on.

It's tough to say how to improve the game without getting too gimmicky or just making it something that its not. The Bruins have been pretty awful the last few seasons and it doesn't help that it traded the franchise's best player two seasons ago-Joe Thornton-to the Sharks where he went on to become the NHL MVP. Think about that. Imagine in Brady or Ortiz was traded in their prime, to a good team and continued to get better. Obviously there's different dynamics in hockey (and those guys would never be traded) but still it is pretty crazy especially considering the bums (Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau) the Bruins got in return for Jumbo Joe. So maybe that was the last straw. Or maybe people realized that the games are so dull in person and even worse on TV. The NHL is in trouble, there's no doubt about that.

Winning cures all, that's a truism in all sports and walks of life really. Hypothetically, even if the Bruins are better-like make the playoffs-but don't make it to the Stanley Cup finals, will the crowds and interest likewise return? I'm not so sure. To paraphrase Rick Pitino during his forgettable stint as Celtics coach, "Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely aren't walking through that door folks." I hear about the glory days of the 70's when the Bruins were supposedly the most popular team in town. Unfortunately, like most things that I have no recollection of, its hard to picture. I want to see professional hockey be relevant again in Boston but I lose a little more hope every day.