Four road games. Four wins. Eight points.  Sure, it took three OT periods and 2 shootouts, but the Bruins prevailed each game and may have finally shaken off the last of the cobwebs  that had impeded their forward progress so far this season.  In defeating St. Louis 4-2 this past Monday, then going into Minnesota on Wednesday and winning 2-1 in a shootout, the Bruins are currently positioned fifth in the conference (12-8-4, 28 pts) and are only a point out of first in the Northeast division.  The only negative was the injury suffered by winger Milan Lucic in the Minnesota game, and as I write this, the Bruins are preparing to hold a press conference to discuss his condition/prognosis.  Fingers crossed, more to come….

Marc Savard, who had not played since October 17th, returned from a broken foot in the  St. Louis game, and for the second straight game Milan Lucic set the tone in the opening moments with a jarring hit on the Blues’ Barret Jackman.  Tuukka Rask was back between the pipes, and made a great save six minutes into the first to keep the game scoreless.  Mark Recchi then gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead when he batted this puck out of mid-air for a power-play goal.  After St. Louis tied the game, Blake Wheeler scored his sixth of the season on a power play early in the second for a 2-1 B’s lead.  Milan Lucic would break another tie and give the Bruins a 3-2 lead when he tipped home a Zdeno Chara shot from the point at 12:10 of the second period.  St. Louis goalie Chris Mason made the save of the game with 3:51 remaining in the second period to keep St. Louis within a goal. Patrice Bergeron made a nifty steal deep in the St. Louis end and set up Marco Sturm for a shorthanded goal in the third period to ensure a 4-2 win for the Bruins, and also the first three-game winning streak of the season for Boston.

The re-emergence of Patrice Bergeron as an elite two-way player is a truly gratifying sight for Bruins fans; in this game, Bergeron assisted on all four Bruins goals.  This 4-assist game comes on the heels of his game-winning shootout goal against Atlanta, then his game-winning OT goal against Buffalo.  Even with Savard back, it is becoming apparent that Bergeron may be just as valuable a piece of the offensive puzzle for this year’s Bruins team.  Anyone who remembers the events of October 27, 2007, when Bergeron was viciously boarded by the Flyers Randy Jones, can attest that Bergeron’s comeback should make him the early frontrunner for this season’s Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Two nights later, the Bruins headed into the Wild  game knowing that in their previous nine meetings with Minnesota, they had escaped with only one win.  Tuukka Rask was again in net  (I love his mask), and the Bruins Byron Bitz gave him a 1-0 lead when he tipped home a Derek Morris shot from the point.  Andrew Ebbett tied the game for Minnesota with a power-play goal in the second, and Rask helped himself with this spectacular save in the third off the Wild’s Cal Clutterbuck….my new favorite hockey name, btw.  It was a typical tightly played, defense-dominated game against the Wild, and regulation ended with the teams knotted at one goal each.  Tuukka Rask was at his best for the Bruins in the waning minutes of regulation and in the five-minute OT period, and at this time (backup?) goalie Tim Thomas is in no danger of being ‘rushed back’ from whatever upper-body injury  currently ails him. In the shootout, Bergeron scored for the Bruins first, and then David Krejci scored the deciding shootout goal as Rask stopped 3-out-of-4 Wild shooters for a 2-1 Bruins shootout victory.

MILAN LUCIC UPDATE: He has a left high-ankle sprain and will be lost up to four weeks.  Bad, but could be worse (check out the video).

The Bruins have their first four-game winning streak of the season, and return home today to face the New Jersey Devils (9-2-1 road record) for their annual day-after-Thanksgiving Black Friday noon matinee.  We’ll see if “Tuukka time” continues, and more importantly, if the Bruins solid overall team play continues.

Bruins C Patrice Bergeron (four assists Monday night) clearly relishes the return of teammate Marc Savard.

Here’s a recap of the three biggest fantasy developments from Monday night’s action:

1. Bruins C Patrice Bergeron tallied four assists (two on the PP, one shorthanded) in the Bruins 4-2 win at St. Louis.  He also led the Bruins with four shots on goal. A big factor behind these stats: the return of Bruins C Marc Savard (16:30 of ice time). Coupled with the recent comeback of LW Milan Lucic — who scored Monday night and now has a goal in two straight games — the Bruins are gradually regaining depth and resembling the team that dominated the 2008-09 regular season. No longer shouldering the scoring load by himself, Bergeron (22.5 percent owned in ESPN, 24 percent owned in Yahoo!) is a must-add if you need help in the assists category.

2. Senators D Filip Kuba notched three assists in the Senators 4-3 OT home win vs. the Capitals. He also led the Senators in ice time, which isn’t directly useful in fantasy but is always helpful to know when evaluating blueliners. It was Kuba’s second consecutive game with three assists. (He also scored a goal Saturday night vs. Buffalo.) And the Senators have now won four games in a row.  Though Kuba was a fantasy force last year — 37 assists, 26 PPPs — he is only 25.4 percent owned in ESPN leagues and 18 percent owned in Yahoo! formats. It’s time to grab him. By Wednesday night you may no longer be able to do so.

3. While the Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in OT at home to the Islanders, D Ian White registered one assist, five shots on goal and 26:02 of ice time. In terms of defensive pickups, I would rank him behind Kuba, but make no mistake: White is playing like a No. 4 fantasy D-man: He has three goals and six assists in his last 11 games. He also ranks in the top 10 among all defensemen with 54 shots on goal. And he is available in 84.5 percent of ESPN games and 73 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Bruins took a significant step toward righting their heavily listing ship  with road wins against Atlanta and Buffalo on consecutive nights (Nov. 19 – 20).  Was the return of rugged winger Milan Lucic the sole reason?  No.  But his presence in the lineup really does seem to inject this Bruins team with some sort of  B-12 shot.  With Lucic back, Marc Savard’s return imminent (possibly Monday night in St. Louis), and the impressive play of backup(?) goalie Tuukka Rask (started and won in net for both games), there is reason to believe the Bruins team of last season is finally rousing  from an extended summer hibernation.

Against Atlanta, the Bruins came out strong and built a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Marco Sturm and Michael Ryder.  Nik Antropov and Ilya Kovalchuk (power play goal) scored to get Atlanta back tied at 2-2, but the B’s got a power play goal of their own from Michael Ryder, his second of the night, with 3:15 remaining in the second period to give the Bruins the lead again at 3-2.  Ryder appears ready to go on one of his goal-scoring  streaks, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the Bruins recently floundering offense.  Rask was also sharp, and this save during an Atlanta power play in the third period was one of his best.  In the third period, the Bruins took five minor penalties, and the inevitable happened with 41.4 seconds remaining, as the Thrashers pulled their goalie for the extra man and Maxim Afinogenov tied the game at three against an exhausted Bruins team.  But the Bruins prevailed in the shootout, as Rask stopped all three of the Atlanta shooters, and Patrice Bergeron scored on a nifty deke, and the Bruins had the road win.  Bergeron  continues to round back towards his pre-concussion form, and has arguably been the Bruins best player this season on both ends of the ice.

The next night in Buffalo, Rask was back between the pipes for the injured Tim Thomas, and Milan Lucic made sure that the Sabres knew the Bruins meant business with this jarring hit on Henrik Tallinder just 29 seconds into the game. Lucic also got his first goal of the season on a beautifully executed 2-on-1 with Byron Bitz, which tied the game at one in the second period.  Goaltending ruled the third period, and this game would go to overtime.  It was just 47 seconds into OT that Patrice Bergeron deftly tipped in Zdeno Chara’s shot from the blue line to give the Bruins the 2-1 win, and another two points.  It was Bergeron’s second game-winning goal in 24 hours, and the back to back wins vaulted the Bruins into sole possession of 7th place in the Eastern Conference, and only two points behind Buffalo for the Northeast division lead.

Will the Bruins be able to continue their road success in St. Louis on Monday and Minnesota on Wednesday?  With the pieces falling slowly back into place, Clarence  is cautiously optimistic.

Seriously. Winning games in regulation is boring. It’s fascist. It deprives the audience of that little bit of extra time and thrills that they deserve. In tough economic times, everyone wants to make that buck go a little bit further and an extra five minutes plus of hockey every night can do just that.

For two games in a row, on consecutive nights for that matter, the Bruins had to go to overtime to seek that precious second point and for two straight games (on the road, mind you) they did it. Both nights, in the shoot-out Thursday in Atlanta and last night’s overtime win in Buffalo, the man at the forefront was Patrice Bergeron. He scored the winner in Buffalo and had a ridiculously gorgeous shoot-out goal against the Thrashers.

Winning face-offs, playing against other team’s top lines, grinding in all zones, Bergeron has been one of the team’s few consistently reliable contributors all season. Though his face off percentage has him 9th overall in the league, his number of draws won has him 3rd, behind only Sidney Crosby and Paul Stastny. He also leads the team in goals and points with 7-7-14 totals.

In both games the newly returned Milan Lucic, finding chemistry with the ever energetic Byon Bitz, has also been a key factor. Hitting like the Looch we all know and love and, last night, scoring the Bruins first goal on a sweet set up from Bitz. In both games Tukka Rask has been solid filling in for Tim Thomas (still nursing a minor injury that the team deems to sensitive to disclose…). In both games Blake Wheeler, normally embarrassingly mild mannered, has shown some snarl and been a major factor. Even Michael Ryder seems to be waking up.

All good signs considering the imminent return of Marc Savard. Maybe I’m fooling myself and this is just another trip up the rollercoaster and the plummet is just around the corner again but I feel like we’re about to see the complete team and the complete effort that we expected to see when the season began. I feel like good things are imminent and an excellent 4 game road trip is as good a way as any to start it off.

Maybe it’s just the Fan-Boy in me, I don’t know.

What's not to love about the statistical upside of Red Wings LW/RW Todd Bertuzzi?

Every Thursday, the Genius will list three players to monitor for fantasy relevance. As a rule, the players will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

Player: D Andy Greene, Devils.

Ownership: 1 percent Yahoo!, 1.1 percent ESPN.

Tonight: The Devils visit the ice cold Penguins at 7:30 pm EST.

Optimism: With D Paul Martin (broken left arm) and D Johnny Oduya (lower-body injury) on the shelf, Greene has led the Pitchforks blueliners in minutes in the last three games — and he is skating on power plays too. He has one goal and four assists in his last four, including three PPPs (one goal, two assists).

Skepticism: A breakout year at age 27? In his three previous campaigns, Greene has never played more than 59 games or tallied more than 10 points.

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Player: LW/RW Todd Bertuzzi, Red Wings.

Ownership: 13 percent Yahoo!, 7.0 percent ESPN.

Tonight: The Wings host the Canucks at 7:30 pm EST.

Optimism: We all remember the Bertuzzi of 2002-03: 46 goals, 51 assists, 144 penalty minutes, 42 PPPs (25 goals, 17 assists) and, as if all that weren’t enough, 243 shots on goal. In last night’s 9-1 romp over the Blow Jackets, Bertuzzi tallied one goal and one assist (PP) and led the Wings with six shots on goal. It was the third straight game in which he’s taken at least five shots. With 50 shots on the season, Bertuzzi, 34, is on pace for a career high 250 shots. At bottom, he can help fantasy owners in that category. His track record suggests he can help in a few others. As a bonus, in Yahoo! formats he is eligible at RW and LW. (He’s only an LW in ESPN.)

Skepticism: Can he stay healthy? The last time he lasted more than 70 games was 2005-06, when he had 71 points (25 goals, 46 assists), 32 PPPs (12 goals, 20 assists), 200 shots and 120 PIMs.

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Player: C Patrice Bergeron, Bruins.

Ownership: 24 percent Yahoo!, 19.9 percent ESPN.

Tonight: The Bruins host the Panthers at 7:00 pm EST.

Optimism: With 12 points (six goals, six assists) and 45 shots in 17 games, Bergeron is showing shades of the breakout star he appeared to be in 2005-06, when he launched 310 shots on goal and totaled 73 points (31 goals, 42 assists) in 81 games. He is the team’s leading scorer and play-maker with C Marc Savard (foot) still mending and C David Krejci (swine flu) having just returned to action Tuesday.

Skepticism: He has only one point on the power play. If Savard and Krejci return to form, he may not get a big special-teams opportunity in the second half of the season.

photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Is it just me, or did this decade seem to fly by?  I mean, with all the political intrigue, wars due to terrorism and/or questionable reason, you’d think it felt like it took forever. Well, maybe it’s just me, but we also had nearly 10 years of hockey. I wish we could say we DID have a full ten years of hockey, but this past ten years has been a struggle for Gary Bettman and the NHL.  In keeping with that theme, this current season has been a struggle for a lot of teams due to a major injury bug that’s gone around the elite players of the game. That’s interesting in and of itself, but since we’re closing in on the end of a decade, let’s do some top ten lists shall we?

10. Jiri Fischer – 2005 – Yes, I am aware that this isn’t your traditional hockey injury; no stick to the head, knee on knee or boarding. For that simple reason I won’t rank it as high as I’d like, but back in November of 2005, Fischer was playing in a game against the Nashville Predators when he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the bench. CPR and a defibrillator were required to revive him, and the game was ultimately postponed due to the injury.

9. Kevin Bieksa - 2007 – Wouldn’t you know it, again in November, the Bieksa and the Canucks were playing the Predators when he was cut on the calf by the skate of Vernon Fidler. At the time, there was concern that his career would be done, but he only missed 47 games.

8. Donald Audette – 2001 – Thankfully, this injury waited until December 1st, but again, an inadvertant skate nearly cost a player his career, and life.  Audette was playing for the Canadiens at the time, when Radek Dvorak nearly sawed his arm off skating by. Audette’s quickness in leaving the rink possibly saved his life, as the medical staff was able to staunch the bleeding enough before surgery.

7. Jeremy Roenick - 2004 – Normally it’s the Flyers handing out the injuries, but on this fateful day in February 2004, Boris Mironov caught Roenick in the face with a slapshot that shattered his jaw and left him with a severe concussion.  After the event, with his mouth wired shut, Roenick considered retirement due to the severe nature of the injury. Players block shots every day, but this one nearly ended a great career.

6. Steve Yzerman - 2004 – As Yzerman’s Red Wings took on the Calagary flames in the playoffs of that year, a shot off the stick of teammate Mathieu Schnieder was deflected and hit him square in the eye.  Watching that play you can certainly see the pain Steve was in as he struggled to make his way out from behind the net.  It took 4 hours of surgery to repair his damaged retina and orbital bone, but it only cost him the remainder of the playoffs.

5. Bryan Berard – 2000 – In an eye injury a little more severe, Berard was clipped by then Senator winger Marian Hossa.  The stick caught Berard square in the eye causing a severe retina tear and detached retina. Although doctors warned Berard that he may lose the eye, Berard underwent a series of operations that allowed him to salvage not only the eye, but it’s sight. I read somewhere that he has 20/600 vision in it.

4. Patrice Bergeron – 2007 – Being as big a Bruins fan as I am, I will never forget the sinking feeling when Randy Jones caught Patrice from behind. In a game against the physical Flyers team, Bergeron made an ill-fated move to turn his  back on a pursuing defender, and was sent face first into the boards.  Immediately struck unconscious, Bergeron’s season was ended. It required months of rehabilitation, and there’s still questions about whether or not he’ll ever be the same.

3. Steve Moore – Back in 2004, we probably all remember the cheap shot heard round the world when Todd Bertuzzi lost his cool and sucker punched Moore, then driving him face first into the ice.  The incident sparked raged debate on the violence level in hockey, but more importantly, it effectively ended Moore’s career. Facial Lacerations, concussion, and broken vertebrae seem a steep price to pay for a questionable hit on Markus Naslund, but this was a truly horrific scene.

2. Trent McCleary – In a testament to the injuries we’ve seen, this one could probably top many of your lists out there.  In a game back in 2000, McCleary, who was with the Canadiens at the time, went to the ice to block Flyer’s Chris Theirin’s shot.  The puck caught him in the throat, collapsing his throat, fracturing his larynx, and resulted in a collapsed lung.  An emergency tracheotomy after leaving the arena saved his life.

1. Richard Zednik - 2008 – In one of the most gruesome injuries ever sustained on an NHL rink, Richard Zednik was fighting for a puck in the corner when then teammate Oli Jokenin was tripped, causing his skate to slice through Zednik’s carotid artery. Thankfully, Zednik was able to stand and quickly skate off the rink, an action that probably saved the mans life.  Emergency surgery was needed to close the wound, and despite the horrific nature of the injury, Zednik was able to get back to skating and returned to the Panthers the following year.

Before I conclude, I’d like to mention what I consider to be the worst injury of the 2000’s, the tragic death of Alexi Cherapanov.  On October 13th 2008, skating in the KHL along side NHL great Jaromire Jagr, Alexi collapsed on the Avangard Omsk bench.  After being revived briefly in the locker room, officials realized the ambulance had left the arena and needed to be called back. Whether or not this could be the major cause for his death, it’s a sad day when the hockey world loses one of its brightest prospects. RIP Alexi

I know there are a ton of injuries that happen, and many of them probably more deserving for a top ten list. Marco Sturm’s dislocated ankle back in 2004 I believe stands out to me. But let this list serve as a diving board, and lets hear what you guys think should be on here.

Oh. And another thing… 2000’s means Lindros’ hit on Dackel, Clint Malachuk’s neck injury, Lemeuix’s hit on Draper don’t qualify. I just figured I’d save you the trouble of posting “what about Clint Malachuk!?”

Good morning, Hockey nuts.

Viddy this highlight from last night’s Thrashers-Blue Jackets game. The CBJ’s Marc Methot sends Atlanta’s Evander Kane head over heels.

Otherwise, a relatively sloppy game by the Blue Jackets who took seven straight penalties to end the game. That they won 4-3 is a miracle within itself — thank the maker for Raffi Torres.

Meanwhile, in Beantown, the Bruins avoided setting an ignominiously historic mark of being shutout three consecutive games when Patrice Bergeron scored with :52 in the third period. That tied their match with the Canadiens at one apiece. And though the B’s would eventually fall in the shootout, fans can take heart that the last Bruins team to be shutout three consecutive games was the 1928-29 Stanley Cup team.

I’m certain Ken will weigh in his thoughts the Bruins’ scoring woes a little later..

Lastly, the Sharks had their six-game winning streak end in a shootout loss to the Red Wings.

And now, here’s Chet with the weather.

Wow. Habbies had it until a minute left in the third when Bergeron tied it up after a shot from the point ended up on this stick. This one went to shootout where Cammalleri had the only goal and boy was it nice. I’m pretty sure he got me pregnant with that snipe.

Ryan White and Tom Pyatt played their first games in the NHL and both had an O.K. game. White even managed an assist on the goal by Metropolit late in the first.

I’m VERY pleased with Mathieu Carle. He is really fighting for a spot on this team. I can tell you that I would much rather have Carle on the ice in any situation then I would Hal Gill.

I think the really story of the night was Carey “I’m Fucking Crazy” Price. Pricey really deserved the shutout, but after the goal by Bergeron he was absolutely possessed. I couldn’t believe the intensity in the shootout, it was almost scary. I don’t think I have ever seen Price show THAT much intensity. He threw those pucks away like they weren’t worth his time.

If Price can continue playing like that then he absolutely deserves to be the legitimate starter.

NEWS ITEM: Offseason moves make the Celtics much better

Someone asked me the other day how many games I thought the Celtics would win this season.

The number that came to mind? 70.

That was the number I thought they’d get to last year, when the injury to Kevin Garnett put a stop to all the talk. This year? It really is hard to imagine this team losing more than 12 and here’s why: the 2009-10 version is better than the one that won the championship two years ago.

Sure, James Posey is gone, and everyone loved James Posey. Sure, Leon Powe has moved on. But look what Danny Ainge did during the offseason.

Rasheed Wallace? Marquis Daniels? Shelden Williams? C’mon, that’s just not fair.

San Antonio made big, maybe even better moves (Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess) in the West. The Lakers brought in Ron Artest, and don’t worry about the talk of how it might not work out with Kobe. It will. Those teams are in the West and the feeling here is one of those two teams will win the title. But they’ll do it against the Celtics.

The East? Shaq to Cleveland? Did you happen to see the opening game between Boston and the Cavs? Not even close, and it won’t be in the playoffs. Orlando? Perhaps. But not Cleveland. I love Shaq but his days are well behind him. That will all continue to be about LeBron, and James just doesn’t kill the Celtics.

Simply put, Ainge has assembled a bench that could more than hold its own against some starting fives in the league. The three names mentioned above–Wallace, Daniels and Williams– joining Eddie House and the currently injured Big Baby Davis. And don’t forget the ever-useful Brian Scalabrine.

Now, for the purposes of this argument, we acknowledge Wallace is no long a 40-minute-plus guy and there really isn’t a true backup point guards. But you also have to remember this group would also have replacements for Garnett and the gang.

It’s just one of those sports arguments – my bench is better than your starters. Hear that, New Jersey? The LA Clippers? Do I put my Knicks in that group? Minnesota? Charlotte?

OK, I could be stretching a point. But this bench is good, scary good, which makes you think the Celts can withstand just about anything.

Well, a long-term injury to Rajon Rondo would be a major problem, which is why the club gave him a five-year/$55 million contract extension this week. Rondo has his flaws, mostly in his spotty maturity, and there are those out there who insist much of his offense comes from the opposition having to pay so much attention to the Big Three, but this guy’s an athlete, and he’s also the future.

The Larry Bird Celtics grew old together, and you have to remember the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis had as much to do with the collapse of the bridge to the future as anything, but Rondo is a bridge to this future. He will now, barring unforeseen circumstances, be around when Garnett, Ray Allen and perhaps even Paul Pierce are gone. Not a bad piece to a bridge.

NEWS ITEM: Bruins struggling for identity

As this was being written, the local hockey team was still in the midst of a rather amazing streak, one that could only be ended by a Tuesday night loss in Detroit.

Through the first 13 games of the season, the B’s had yet to win or lose two games in a row.

They started with a home loss to Washington and have alternated wins and losses ever since, ending up at 6-6-1. They lost to the Rangers in New York Sunday by 1-0 and were hoping to keep the early trend going for one more night with a win in Detroit, in a busy week that has Montreal coming in Thursday night and Buffalo Saturday.

The Bruins aren’t scoring. Tim Thomas, coming off a Vezina Trophy season, was 4-5, and his teammates had scored four goals in the five losses.

Marc Savard and Milan Lucic, both out 4-6 weeks with injuries, are missed. So were the 36 goals Phil Kessel scored last season, even though he wouldn’t be playing, anyway, because of offseason shoulder surgery. That was the team’s top line last year. But the problem has been the lack of production by the guys left behind.

No one is scoring, including defensemen Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman, who combined for 32 goals last year and had one through 13 games, none by Chara. He had 19 last year.

The power play was 2-for-36 over the last 11 games.

Claude Julien shook up his lines heading into Detroit, putting Patrice Bergeron, his best player since the opening faceoff this season (yes, he’s back), between Marco Sturm and Mark Recchi and David Krejci between Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler. Things got so tough that Julien was forced to break up the energy unit of Wheeler, Vladimir Sobotka and Daniel Paille, the group that produced a win over Edmonton last Saturday.

NEWS ITEM: World Series heads back to New York

Dust off that Pedro stuff, Red Sox fans, it’s not over yet.

Is it me, or does Joe Buck sound a little more excited when the Phillies do well? And he’s not even an ex-Phillie.

I was at my nephew’s wedding, and I still remember the look on my brother’s face as he watched his iPhone and signaled me to come over and see this hit on Patrice Bergeron by the Flyers’ Randy Jones:

Two years later, Bergeron is still rounding back into his old form.  Jones got a mere two-game suspension.

The Boston Bruins faced their toughest test of the season this past week. With Milan Lucic and Marc Savard sidelined for the next month, and Chuck Kobasew gone to Minnesota via trade, the Bruins relied on some new faces, and saw the resurgence of an old one.

Being forced to face adversity this early in the season can only serve to help Boston down the road…provided they can win these games.

Over the past three games, the Bruins have shown a great deal of heart and determination — although they have had their share of mistakes, perhaps caused by all the new faces, the boys in black collected 5 out of a possible 6 points, including an improbable shootout victory Saturday night in Ottawa.

This win comes on the tail end of a win in Nashville and a shootout loss to Philadelphia, continuing Boston’s win,loss,win start to the 2009/10 season.

Last season, the Bruins cruised to a comfortable 116 point showing, never having to face serious adversity. Now, with Kessel in Toronto and Lucic and Savard injured, last year’s top line is gone, forcing the remainder of the squad to elevate their game.

One member of the Black and Gold who has picked up his play is Patrice Bergeron. His T.O.I has increased from less than 16 minutes against Phoenix (Lucic’s last game) to 21:01 on Saturday night. He has an unimpressive 2 points over that span, but the effort, intensity and confidence that Bruins scouts saw in him is finally back. Bergeron knows that they spotlight is now on him, and he is not shrinking.

For all of the criticism that the Bruins have been taking (I’ve been giving my fair share) thus far this season, they are only 2 points shy of where they were at this time last year. That’s not to say that these are the same old Bruins:  To date, the biggest concern for this team continues to be special teams, which not only failed to score a power play goal, but allowed its 3^rd shorthanded goal of the season. Sheesh!

They simply need to get better in this department. First of all, STOP DUMPING THE PUCK IN! Carry it into the zone with speed, please.

Never fear, Claude Julien is here. Boston’s special teams will improve.

I always find myself getting to end of my articles without mentioning Tim Thomas. How dare I!?

He was simply stellar this week. Making a number of key saves and giving the Bruins not just a chance to win games, but giving them the confidence to do so.  After the Bruins came back to take the lead against Nashville, Thomas shut out the Predators and after a day off on Friday, came out with his most complete effort thus far. He was in true Vezina form when he robbed Daniel Alfredsson.

The next month will be a true test of character for the Boston Bruins. They’re being forced to play tough, grinding hockey, which will only benefit them come April.

HOT: Daniel Paille – You have to love his tenacity and hockey sense. He’s very creative with the puck and never gives up. A definite upgrade over Kobasew.

NOT: Dennis Wideman – Boy, when he’s bad, he’s REALLY BAD. A number of turnovers tonight (well, every night really) and just looked lost. To Providence, perhaps?

Not long ago (2005-06), Bruins C Patrice Bergeron scored 31 goals and fired 310 shots on goal.

Every Thursday, the Genius will list three players to monitor for fantasy relevance. As a rule, the players will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

Player: C Patrice Bergeron, Bruins

Ownership: 20 percent Yahoo!, 9.4 percent ESPN.

Tonight: The Bruins play in Philadelphia at 7:00 pm EST, the second of back-to-back games for them.

Optimism: Bergeron, 24, has two goals and two assists in his last four games. In last night’s 3-2 victory vs. Nashville, Bergeron scored the game-tying goal and logged 18:35 of ice time — his second highest total of the season. He is in line for more ice time — and power play chances — with C Marc Savard (foot) on the shelf for four-to-six weeks. It is easy to forget that in 2005-06, Bergeron amassed 73 points in 81 games (31 goals, 42 assists), including 29 power play points (12 goals, 17 assists). He also fired 310 shots on goal.

Skepticism: Bergeron has not been a fantasy factor in his last three seasons. Blame injuries, blame dirty hits, the bottom line is he hasn’t racked up numbers worthy of a fantasy roster spot. His teammate, C David Krejci, is a better player and a more viable candidate to inherit Savard’s ice time and numbers.

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Player: D Jason Demers, Sharks

Ownership: 12 percent Yahoo!, 5.6 percent ESPN.

Tonight: The Sharks have flown across the country to battle the Lightning in Tampa at 7:30 pm EST.

Optimism: The object of ESPN.com’s Victoria Matiash’s fantasy affection, Demers has posted two assists in each of has least two games, three of which came on the power play as the Sharks devoured the New York metro area. (A 4-1 win at the Islanders last Saturday, followed by a 7-3 demolition of the Rangers on Monday.) All told, Demers has seven assists in seven games — tying him with Flyers D Matt Carle for the lead among blueliners.

Skepticism: Demers averages fewer than 18:00 per game in ice time. He has only launched six shots on goal this season. That’s right: just six. Finally, let’s not forget: He is a 21-year-old rookie. There’s no fantasy track record here. As hot as Demers is, you cannot rule out a severe slump in the second half. Whether he is even NHL-ready is still an open question.

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Player: LW Matt Moulson, Islanders

Ownership: 33 percent Yahoo!, 35.1 percent ESPN.

Tonight: The Islanders visit Montreal for a 7:00 pm showdown.

Optimism: With goals in four straight, including one in last night’s 4-3 shootout win vs. Carolina, Moulson is flying out of free agent pools. He now has eight points in seven games (five goals, three assists), not to mention six PIMs and 29 shots. Did we mention he skates with C John Tavares?

Skepticism: The Islanders are 1-3-3. So Moulson’s impressive +2 may not last. Also, the kid turns 26 on November 1 — certainly not too old to burst onto the NHL scene, but perhaps old enough for us to pose the question of whether he has the germ of point-per-game greatness in him. A ninth-round pick back in 2003, Moulson has never played a full NHL season.

photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Bruins C Marc Savard (foot) is out four-to-six weeks, but fantasy owners should wait a few games before dropping his teammates.

Matt Kalman of ESPNBoston and The Bruins Blog reports that Bruins C Marc Savard has been placed on Long Term Injured reserve with a broken left foot.

According to the Bruins, Savard is expected to miss four-to-six weeks.

Do not even think about dropping him; he is the rare fantasy center worth holding onto for a prolonged absence.

The players you should downgrade are RW Michael Ryder and LW Marco Sturm, who are the biggest beneficiaries of Savard’s passing magic.

But do not drop Ryder or Sturm just yet. Wait to see how the Bruins play tonight at 7pm, hosting the Predators, who will be without C Jason Arnott (arm). If the Bruins are deep at any position, it is center. And it is possible Ryder and Sturm will produce if they find themselves flanking C David Krejci or C Patrice Bergeron in the weeks to come.

photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Beckett’s outing was okay.  Not bad, not great.  He allowed two runs in the first and two in the second before settling down to pitch three shutout frames.  He allowed seven hits over those five innings with three walks and five strikeouts, and he threw 98 pitches.  So his runs, hits, and walks were up while his strikeout count was down and his pitch count showed inefficiency.  But I still don’t worry about him.  This whole situation with these last few games is very strange.  We win the Wild Card on someone else’s loss, we give the starters all sorts of rest, and we wait.  I feel like that has to take some sort of toll on the psyche of a competitive workhorse like Beckett.  Not to mention the fact that his timing was out of whack because of the extended rest.  But putting that aside, the reason why I’m thrilled with his performance is his health.  The fact that he settled down and got through it means he’ll be in good shape by the time postseason play begins.

Byrd allowed two runs on three hits in the next three innings, which is why he’s not on the postseason roster.  Richardson did fine.

Aside from Beckett, pitching is so not the point here, though.  The offense is the point, and with a final score of 11-6, there was a lot of it.  But before we talk about that, some words on the lineup.  This is one of the most interesting and creative lineups I’ve seen this season.  Pedroia led off, followed by Bay, followed by V-Mart and Youk, and then Ortiz, Lowrie, Kotchman, Anderson, and Gathright.  Ellsbury got the day off, Lowell has a sore right thumb, and Drew has a left shoulder issue.

So, without further ado.  With a full count, Pedroia led off the ballgame with a home run.  High inside fastball, meet the head of the bat, and the ball clears the Monster completely.  And then came the monumental second inning.

When I say monumental, I mean monumental.  There’s really no other way to describe scoring seven runs in a single frame in the manner in which we scored them.  It all started when Anderson singled in Ortiz, which moved Kotchman to second and Lowrie to third.  Aaron Laffey balked, so Lowrie scored, Anderson moved to second, and Kotchman moved to third.  Pedroia was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Then Bay singled in Kotchman, and everyone moved up to load the bases again.

Then Victor Martinez stepped into the batter’s box.  He worked a three and one count, perfect for hitting.  He hit a ball over center field that looked like it might have just enough to get it out.  And it did.  Into the bullpen.  Four runs with one swing of the bat, and all of a sudden we were leading 8-4 on the back of Victor Martinez’s first-ever Major League career grand slam! Against his former team! And all because Andy Marte couldn’t catch that popup in front of our dugout.  That’s what I call making him pay.

Anderson hit a towering home run to Lansdowne Street in the third to score himself and Kotchman, and Dusty Brown hit a home run of his own in the bottom of the eighth to tack on the final run.  Almost cleared the Monster.  The ball made it into the last row and was barely contained inside the park.  Not bad for a first career long ball.

Gonzalez’s x-rays came back negative.  Baldelli will have an MRI tomorrow.  John Farrell officially requested to be removed from consideration for Cleveland’s managerial position.  Speaking of open managerial positions, JP Ricciardi was fired yesterday.  And Manny Delcarmen, after enduring a car accident yesterday, is fine.  He was driving in the left lane and the driver in the middle lost control and swerved into Delcarmen’s car, which veered to the left and hit the wall.  He was taken to Mass General, but other than a sore back, he’s good to go.

Well, the end is in sight.  This afternoon, we play our last game of the regular season.  I have to say, it’s been one interesting run.  Lots of ups, lots of downs, lots of ins and outs and heres and theres, but we’ve come to a good place, I think.  Buchholz gets the nod against Tomo Ohka, so this’ll be his final tune-up before the playoffs.  But I still can’t believe the regular season is already over.  It seems like Opening Day was rained out just yesterday, doesn’t it? Time flies when you’re having fun though, and the fun continues even after we put this one away.

In other news, the Bruins played an absolutely fantastic game last night.  Last night’s game was everything we wanted Opening Night to be and more.  The final score was 7-2, and it was most definitely a team effort.  It was the first time we had seven different goal scorers since the lockout.  And there were plenty of fights to go around as well.  An all-around well-played game.  Lots of tape-to-tape passing (Patrice Bergeron’s picture is next to the definition of “stick position” in the hockey dictionary), obviously lots of scoring (two of the goals were netted just seconds apart) and fighting (Sean Thornton threw at least ten punches before the referees got involved), and of course lots of saving (I have come to the conclusion that Tim Thomas is an acrobat).  We play next on Thursday in Anaheim.

AP Photo

S. 40  10/2/09

Hooray! Hockey season has begun! And the Caps won their first game of the season (in Boston) 4-1. Not only did they win, but the only people to score during the game (Alex Ovechkin twice, Brooks Laich twice and Patrice Bergeron) are some of my favorite players in the whole league!

Let’s celebrate with these:

 1:48 is the best part

(check out this site for the lyrics)

And check out this link from last night:

The NY Rangers on Letterman’s Top 10

I was at the Bruins-Blue Jackets game on Saturday night, debuting my new Wideman home jersey. It was my first experience in one of the premium suites, and let me tell you, those things are pretty damn cool. Having the ability to watch Seinfeld while watching the Bruins was definitely a plus. The seats are also nice and comfortable, and the people in the surrounding area were all passionate fans.

It was also nice to see a generally full stadium, even for a preseason game. It’s proof that hockey matters in Boston again.

Watching the team, however, there were definite issues on the ice that led to the third-period collapse. The team went from up 2-1 to down 4-2, and it wasn’t all Tuukka Rask’s fault; he played superbly at times. The defense in front of him, however, wasn’t always stellar, allowing Columbus to set up and score some textbook goals.

Columbus played dirty at times, however, with Tim Sestito sitting on Chuck Kobasew for an extended period at one point. Eventually, a scrum erupted, with Columbus’ Jared Boll taking on “Sugar” Shawn Thornton. Thornton got in some solid punches, but Boll eventually took him down. So it goes.

The Bruins’ power play, however, had its moments. The Zdeno Chara goal that put the team up 2-1 in the second was also a textbook power play setup: New power play quarterback Derek Morris passed to Marc Savard in the right faceoff circle. Savard passed to Milan Lucic toward the front of the net. Meanwhile, Chara crashed the net from his position at the left point, and Looch found him for the goal. I’ve seen Alexander Ovechkin score on that play more than once. Executing it is key to having a successful power play, and if they can keep it up, we’ll be dangerous with the man advantage.

As for Denny, he had some poor moments on defense, at one point bumping asses with new defensive partner Andrew Ference and taking them both down on a Columbus rush in the first period. It happened again not long after. I understand that adjusting to a new defensive partner is difficult, especially when you’re going from a 6′9″ monster/Norris Trophy winner to a 5′10″ defensive specialist, but Denny was simply trying to do too much. It was also embarrassing to see him take a penalty to open the second period while I was wearing his jersey.

On the bright side, and again going back to the power play, Denny was a solid number two power play quarterback, making all the right passes while he was out on the ice. I don’t know how having three offensive-minded defensemen is going to work out for the Bruins, but our power play should be incredibly dangerous this year.

The Bruins’ even strength lines for Saturday night were:

Milan Lucic-Marc Savard-Michael Ryder

Chuck Kobasew-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi

Brad Marchand-Zach Hamill-Blake Wheeler

Byron Bitz-Vladimir Sobotka-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris

Andrew Ference-Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart-Matt Hunwick

Tuukka Rask (backup: Tim Thomas)

As you may now know, I like the Minnesota Vikings football team. The other day I read a magazine that said that the Vikings would go into the Super Bowl and when I read that article, the writers did not even know that Brett Favre would come over to the Vikings, now they said they would lose the super bowl but really I think they might win it, now that they have Brett Favre, I think Adrian Peterson has done really well so far, there has only been one game in the whole season, but still he got my fantasy football team 53 points, (don’t worry if he did not get your team that many points that is just because I edited the point settings so every 25 yards rushing you get 1 point and stuff like that) so I think they have a good season ahead of them. I was watching Monday Night Football on Monday of course and I saw the ending of the Patriots, Bills game and I just thought that it was amazing, if you saw it you would probably agree with me. For those of you who did not see it what happened was the Patriots were down 24-13 with about 4 minutes to go, they scored a touchdown with about 3 minutes to go, then they tried for the 2 point conversion and missed, so now the score is 24-19. I was thinking they were going to do an onside kick but no they just kick a regular kick, the guy ccatches it, he decides not to kneel it and guess what at the 30 yard line he fumbles and the patriots get the ball. Then I bet you know what happens, they score. Again they try for the 2 point conversion and miss, then the bills do not score in the last 30 seconds and the Patriots win 25-24. It was just incredible. Now I used to love the Patriots, then I figured out that the Boston teams have something going on, they are all all-star teams pretty much, for the Patriots they have Tom Brady, and Randy Moss, and Wes Welker, for the Boston Celtics Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, (but Rajon Rondo is my 2nd favorite player) for the Red Sox David Ortiz, (Cheated) Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett, for the Boston Bruins, Blake Wheeler, Marco Strum, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron. And take note all of those teams have one good player that came from the Minnesota teams, the Red Sox have David Ortiz who used to play for the twins, the Patriots have Randy Moss who used to play for the Vikings, the Celtics have Kevin Garnett who used to play for the T-Wolves, the Bruins have Blake Wheeler, who played for the Minnesota Gophers. (a good hockey college) So pretty much each Boston team is an all-star team and it kind of is annoying after a while win-win-win, oh and the Patriots go undefeated. I mean okay it’s really cool but every year, always the best, never the underdog. It just kind of gets old, we need the Minnesota Teams to win something this year. Sorry that I have not been writing a lot for a while, I will start writing some more from now on, thankyou for going to this website, PLEASE come back, there is stuff on Sports, Books, Funny stuff, Music, there is polls that you can vote on, Tournaments that I make that you can be in. So please come back, and thankyou.

I’ll be doing a series of season previews for each of the Bruins players.  I’ll start with center Patrice Bergeron.

Patrice Bergeron returned last season after suffering a career threatening concussion.  Bergeron was just regaining his previous form, when he suffered another concussion versus the Carolina Hurricanes.  It seemed as though Bergeron’s career could be over.  He returned, and even dropped the gloves to show everyone he was back.  He really showed his pre-injury form during the playoffs, and we saw the glimpses during the regular season, even though the numbers were not there.

Bergeron still put up respectable numbers, posting 8 goals and 31 assists in 64 games, which is similar to his rookie season when he posted 16 goals and 23 assists in 71 games.  Last season was almost Bergeron’s second rookie season.  

Bergeron carries a 4.75 million dollar cap hit, which means the Bruins are expecting around 70 points like he was producing three seasons ago.  With the emergence of David Krejci, and the the depth of the forward core, it seems unlikely Bergeron could pot 70+ points in the Bruins lineup.

For this season, Bergeron will remain one of the top penalty killers, as he is arguably the Bruins best all zone player.  Bergeron will likely get between 2nd and 3rd line minutes, and will start the season as the second line center while David Krejci recovers from his hip injury.  

All the Bruins want from Bergeron this season is his defensive play that he has always had, and to regain his scoring touch.  If he can pot 15-25 goals, and have between 40-60 assists, the Bruins and their fans will be happy.

Projection:  22 g, 44 a, 66 pts.