Hey Bruins Fans my name is Adam Benoit and I'm with the Celebrities for Charity Foundation. We are a non profit organization the helps raise money for other non profits. We are currently working with Ray Bourque and Georges Laraque on an onlie raffle at NetRaffle.org. The raffle includes your choice of either 2 tickets to the Bruins vs. Canadiens game in Boston on Feb. 4th or the Bruins at Canadiens game in Montreal on Feb. 7th. The raffle also includes a meet and greet with both players, autogrpahed jersey's from both players, a one night stay in either Boston or Montreal, and dinner at either Tresca (Ray Bourque's restaurant in the Northend) or Ristorant Da Vinci (Ray's favorite restaurant in Montreal)

Tickets are only $2 each (minimum of 5) and the proceeds benefit the Celebrities for Charity Foundation (Ray Bourque) and the Montreal based Children's Charities (Georges Laraque)


For more information or to purchase tickets visit https://www.celebritiesforcharity.org/raffles/bourque_laraque.cfm

The Bruins aren't playing up to the expectations that were set for them, don't get wrong, but luckily we play in a fairly even division. The team is still only 5 points out of first in the division (third in the conference), even while playing some horrible/disappointing games. Lucic and Savard coming back will be huge, not because they can single handedly increase the scoring themselves, but increase the options. Right now the teams scoring is focused around two players who are coming off major injuries (Sturm and Bergeron), a player who season after season starts slow (Ryder), some young guys (Krejci and Wheels), and an old man (Recchi). Teams can easily shut down the Bruins forwards, because they don't have many options. Lucic and Savard returning gives the team more scoring options which will make it harder for teams to shut them down.

Lucic    Savard    Ryder

Sturm   Bergeron   Recchi

Wheeler   Krejci    Paille

Thornton  Begin   Bitz

(Maybe interchange Recchi and Wheeler)

That lineup will potent on three lines for offense meaning second and third line D-Pairs against top-notch offense, The Defense and Goaltenders have been very good (minus the past two games). I feel the D-Men have been playing too cute the past couple of games to try and jump start the O leading to bad plays in the Defensive Zone. The Offense will come around when the team gets it's options back, leading to the Defensemen  settling down and playing smarter, leading to less Defensive Zone breakdowns, which hopefully will lead to more wins.  Pretty much the meaning of this drunken spew of words is I can't wait to see whats on the horizon when the Bruins start playing with a full healthy team.

So news broke earlier today that alleged offensive dynamo and 2008 6th-overall pick Amanda Bynes Nikita Filatov has been amicably gifted to the KHL for the remainder of the season.

Here is Filatov discussing the move with Puck Daddy.

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At the quarter mark of the season, none of the following--complete with nicknames capturing their ineffectiveness--are on pace to crack the 40-point barrier. They'll certainly need to pick it up over the last 3/4 of the season if the Bruins hope to overcome their poor start:

Mark Recchi: He's morphed into the second coming of Glen Murray during his final stages with the B's--an old, tired, and frequently invisible spare part. While Recchi is a highly respected member of the NHL community and an extremely tough cookie--he played Game 7 within 24 hours of kidney stone removal last year, for Christ's sake--one has to believe that he's on his last legs. Mark "Train" Recchi is only appropriate as the former star barrels downhill into the twilight of his career. Mark "Tyrannosaurus" Recchi also received votes for the old-timer, as he appears to be better suited for the set of Jurassic Park than an NHL rink these days.

Michael Ryder: The enigmatic winger was just as ineffective at the beginning of last season as he is now, scoring just 3 goals in his first 22 games. The difference is that Ryder had the "fortune" of struggling while the rest of the B's were gaining steam last November; this season, now that the losses are beginning to pile up a little, he can hardly fly under the radar. While he provides the occasional flash, he usually proceeds to disappear for shifts at a time--earning himself the nickname, Michael "Ghost" Ryder. After all, Bruins fans have recently received him about as well as movie critics received the Nicolas Cage flop back in 2007. Honorable mention Michael "Easy" Ryder also enjoys tokin' it up with Peter Fonda before games, which may explain his sluggish skating on the forecheck.

Marco Sturm: Sturmy--normally dependable for 25 goals and 40-50 points over a full slate--deserves a bit of a break after coming back from a completely lost season, but I can't say I expected him to struggle this much. He went a month between goals, with his second goal of the season coming on October 8th, his third on November 7th. And, after scoring 25 combined goals on the man-advantage in his first three seasons in Boston, he still hasn't scored on the power play this season. The bottom line is that Marco "Infertile" Sturm just seems unable to produce anything these days. Marco "The Perfect" Sturm also received votes because, much like George Clooney's crew in the movie, he vanished long ago and still hasn't returned. Then again, the same can be said for the rest of the Bruins at this point. 

Over on ESPN.com, Pierre LeBrun's NHL blog cited that a number of GMs inquired with Forsberg's agent Don Baizley about the availability of the 36-year-old forward.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4642932&name=lebrun_pierre

"I've had some discussions with Don Baizley on him and we had people scouting him last week," Chiarelli told ESPN.com, confirming his interest in Forsberg. "It's something that we certainly would look at exploring."

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I'm sorry...but I'm a massive fan of PattyB's new biker mustache. He needs to keep that straight thru May. I can almost swear to God on the last minute goal against the Habs, it was sheer willpower of the 'stache that put the puck in the back of the net. If his mustache was given the opportunity to a shootout, it would've lit the lamp behind Price. Speaking of shootouts, drunk idea led to this: Which coach will be the first to call upon a goalie to skate in on a shootout....must be the most confusing thing to ever see. If Boston ever gets to a point where we're confirmed for playoff contention, or eliminated...if the opportunity arises, Rask needs to be put down on the bill for a shootout.

Who to look for?

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Even though we haven't gotten past the first 10% of the season, looking at how Toronto is playing, Peter Chiarelli looks like a damn genius.  Toronto is the only team with less then 2 points, and they are playing like poop.  I don't know about you, but I wasn't worried about Phil Kessel going to a divisonal "rival", and now it appears to be paying off dividends.  Bad goaltending, pitiful offense, and now Kessel gets the label of  "savior" when he returns.  I dont think he can handle that pressure and his play will suffer more then it did against good teams when he was here. If this keeps up we're looking at a top 5 and maybe even the #1 pick in the draft next year.  I'll take that over Kessel any day.

The start of the season has certainly been plagued by unexpected concerns--inconsistent scoring, sloppy puck control, inability to win physical battles, shaky goaltending and downright abysmal special teams play. I haven't seen much of the intensity and mental toughness that carried the Bruins to their best record in decades last year.

That being said, it would be ludicrous to say that the Bruins are screwed at this juncture of the season. True, they mustered just two wins out of a season-opening homestand in which they surrendered 19 goals in five games. True, one of those wins came against the Islanders in the shootout after erasing a three-goal, third-period deficit--one of the Bruins' few exhibitions of intensity and desperation this season, and all that stands between them and a 1-4 record.

But we must remember, as the season is in its infant stages, that there is plenty of time for the kinks to be worked out. In the long run, the first five games mean virtually nothing. There are too many experienced members of the organization--from the players on up--to allow mediocrity to set in for any length of time. Lest we forget, the Bruins have last season’s coach, goaltender, and defenseman of the year, and those honors were not unjustly awarded. But there's plenty of work to be done.

The power play is clicking at an anemic 4-for-29 rate so far. In fact, if you throw out the 7-2 romping of Carolina in their second game (which is a stupid concept but I still find the resulting fact interesting), the Bruins have actually allowed more goals while on the man advantage than they’ve scored, as the power play has gone 0-for-21 in the other four games while giving up two shorthanded goals. The penalty kill has sucked too, allowing 8 goals in 26 attempts--leaving me with a shocking feeling that I actually miss PJ.

The ineffectiveness on special teams is definitely an accurate reflection of the Bruins' struggles as a whole. Their power play has sputtered because of their inability to create traffic and get the puck to the net, something that has plagued them in their failed attempts to play a cohesive, 60-minute game. When I was at today's game, I was pulling my hair because the Bruins seemed unable to penetrate the shooting lanes, dancing around the perimeter until they either lost possession of the puck or took shots from the blueline that were blocked with ease and either cleared the zone or sailed out of play.

The Bruins are underperforming in their own zone as well. They've appeared overmatched in one-on-one battles, either getting outmuscled or losing races to the puck. The defensive corps has been burned multiple times by the speed of opponents’ top lines, particularly in the blowout losses to Washington and Anaheim. Neither Thomas nor Tuukka Rask has been overly impressive in net; then again, neither netminder has received great support from the five guys in front of him.

Despite all of these issues, the Bruins have the coaching and the talent to overcome their slow start. The fact that the offense has shown improved chemistry--at least in 5-on-5 situations--in the past few games is encouraging. The fourth line continues to be a silver lining with its gritty play, and Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm have shown that they are ready to make a difference this year.

For the rest of the team, much of the struggle seems to be mental. Thomas has been fighting the puck, looking oddly uncomfortable, and many of the skaters have been far too hesitant to get physical in the corners and take offensive risks. It's almost as if there's a hangover from last season--as if the players expect the success of 2008-09 to just present itself on a silver platter alongside a free playoff berth. Simply put, the Bruins need to prove that they are hungry, because they aren’t sneaking up on anyone this year.

So, my general advice is not to panic, but to exercise some patience--a rarity for Boston sports fans, myself included, who live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately type of world. Look for the Bruins’ upcoming road trip to serve as a wakeup call--a chance to return home with a fresh look next week--and expect a strong performance from an angry Thomas in net on Friday night in Dallas. This team is too good to fumble away its high expectations, and we all know that, once they string together a few wins, the good vibrations will return to the TD Garden. It's just a matter of translating skill into effort, intensity and focus.

1) Fri, Jan 1 vs Philadelphia: The Winter Classic

The Winter Classic is the marquee event of the NHL regular season, and Fenway Park is the perfect venue for its continued success. The traditional appeal of the old ballpark will combine with the blustery winter weather to create a dynamic recipe for old-time hockey, and Chris Pronger and Zdeno Chara will be relied upon for some equally chilling physical play. Just like last year’s Classic at Wrigley, the buzz of the crowd and intensity of the game will further indicate the rebirth of an Original Six city that had recently struggled to keep professional hockey on its radar. 

2) Sat, Dec 5 vs Toronto

Obviously, the focal point of this matchup will be Phil Kessel’s return to Boston, assuming he has fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. It will be interesting to see how the exiled sniper is received by the hometown faithful, as his departure was less than amicable, and it will be even more intriguing to see how he plays against his former teammates. Considering his tendency to avoid body contact, he probably won’t like the idea of going one-on-one in the corners against Chara’s 6-9, 255-pound frame.

3) Thu, Jan 14 @ San Jose

Through two periods of Joe Thornton’s much-anticipated return last season, the game was shaping up to be everything we expected--the B's led 2-1 in a tight defensive battle between the league's top teams. Then they suffered a most uncharacteristic collapse: San Jose came out firing in the third, and Boston surrendered four more goals in a frustrating exposure of defensive weaknesses that catapulted the Bruins into their worst slump of the season. The Bruins head to the Shark Tank for a redo this January, and the matchup should again serve as a clash of elite teams. Hopefully, the boys are better prepared this time. 

4) Thu, Nov 5 vs Montreal

While I endorse any Bruins-Canadiens contest as entertaining television for even the most clueless of sports fans, this one will be particularly important in setting the tone for the season series. In the first of six games between the division rivals, Montreal will be seeking payback after its embarrassing playoff performance, and its revamped offense appears ready to create problems for the Bruins. The game should feature plenty of scoring, and it should also contain plenty of the post-whistle scrums and chatter that make this rivalry one of the best in sports.

5) Thu, Oct 1 vs Washington

Thursday’s season opener in Boston features two hungry, powerful Eastern Conference teams left unsatisfied by shortened playoff runs last spring. The Bruins and Capitals face heightened pressure and expectations heading into the new campaign, and the atmosphere in the Garden will be booming come game time. What better way to kick off the new season than a clash between Ovechkin, the league’s most electric player, and Chara, its most prominent shutdown defender?