Hitting The Links: Back To The Grind Edition

Welcome back to work, y'all. Pretty nice to get to start the year on a four-day week. The Bruins have a bit of a jam-packed month coming up with some tough matchups before the All-Star Break, including three back-to-back sets of games. Those start with the Devils tomorrow night and the Flames on Thursday. Coming off that loss to the Stars and what sounded like a spirited, ridiculous practice yesterday, the Bruins should be on track to keep on winning this month.

The Winter Classic was...interesting. Did anyone watch it all the way through? I was talking with a Blackhawks fan who admitted that he'd never made it all the way through a Winter Classic, he was usually sleeping off a hangover or just napping while the game was on. The only one I've watched all the way through was Boston/Philly.

Oh well.

After the jump, Raffi Torres and Daniel Carcillo are idiots, Mike Rupp is an unlikely hero, surprise! the Leafs' PK is awful, and the Bruins do another holiday hospital visit...

Bruins News

• Tuukka Rask's antics at practice are becoming legen-waitforit-dary. [NESN]
• Alexander Khokhlachev and Dougie Hamilton will face off tonight as Russia takes on Canada in the WJC. [Windsor Star]
• Should Claude have pulled Tim Thomas against Dallas? [Mass Live]
• The fourth line is a pretty good gauge of how well the Bruins perform these days. [Globe]
• The Bruins lead the power rankings again, and here's a little comparison of Chicago and Boston. [ESPN]
• The Bruins still have fond memories of the 2010 Classic. [NESN]
• Johnny Boychuk, Zach Hamill, and Benoit Pouliot visited the Melrose-Wakefield hospital this weekend. [Wicked Local]
• Raffi Torres is a jackwagon, and Andrew Ference has some words to say about him. [Herald]
• Tim Thomas wants to be better in 2012 than he was in 2011. [Herald]
• Nice little piece here -- assessing the Stars' loss in the bigger picture of the Bruins' season. [The Hockey Writers]

NHL News

• LOL, the Maple Leafs' PK is killing at a rate under 70%. That is not good. [TSN]
• Daniel Carcillo injured himself while cheapshotting Tom Gilbert last night, and the Oilers grabbed two goals on the ensuing five minute major. Failcillo. [Edmonton Journal]
• Stevie Y is not used to losing. [Sun]
• Brayden Schenn scored his first NHL goal during the Winter Classic! [Philly Sports Daily]
• But Mike Rupp scored twice on the way to a Rangers win. [Puck Daddy]
• Danny Briere had a chance to tie it on a penalty shot with less than a minute to go! But Lundqvist said no. [Philly Burbs]
• Down Goes Brown is at it again -- an inside look at Gary Bettman's New Years Eve party. [DGB]