On the weekend of January 21-22, the Bruins played back to back overtime games against two of their chief rivals in the Eastern Conference this season in the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. In those games, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara played a combined 64 minutes. We've all heard the legends of Chara's fitness regimen. He's always been counted on to log huge minutes and anchor a Bruins defensive unit that is ordinary without him. But did the pursuit of those two regular season wins come at a greater cost in the long run? Chara hasn't played over 30 minutes in any other game this season. Last year during the regular season, he topped that mark twice and those games were 2 months apart. The first game came before a 4 day layoff, and the second after a 2 day layoff with another night off afterwards. There was a 4 game stretch at the very end of the 09-10 season where Chara logged 30+ minutes 3 times. But none of those games were back to back, that Bruins team was fighting just to make the playoffs, and Chara would get 5 days off before taking the ice for Game 1 of the Buffalo series.

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I was standing at Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, waiting for my bags, and checked my smartphone to see that hey, Johnny Boychuk signed a contract extension. I didn't have a problem with this, per se; Boychuk's been pretty good this year, and is in his prime, so there's nothing wrong with...wait, he signed for how much?

3 years and $10.08 million?!?

I resisted the temptation to heave my smartphone at the wall.

(I should note that this was more out of a desire to avoid getting to know a Homeland Security officer up close and personal than out of any sense that Peter Chiarelli had made a wise move.)

So, is this deal bad, worse, or Rick DiPietro redux? Or was the initial reaction of the Bruins' fan base (which is to say, it seems, overwhelmingly negative) off base? Let's take a look.

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Since defeating the floundering Habs on January 12th, the Bruins have had a rough 12 games. They've gone 5-6-1 over that span, which on the surface doesn't seem awful. Last night's no show to the Sabres not only dropped them under .500 since the Montreal win, it also ran their goal differential during that span to -7 (not counting OT/SO).

Two Bruins have had particularly bad plus/minus numbers during this slide have been involved in the same D pairing, with Dennis Seidenberg (-10) and Joe Corvo (-6). The reason this is worth noting is that with all of the talk surrounding potential trade targets in Ray Whitney, Tuomo Ruutu, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Smyth, and a host of others, the place where the Bruins might be most in need of an upgrade is another legitimate top 4 defenseman, who would split the Corvo-Seidenberg pairing up, and allow the Bruins to better weather injuries, rotate out struggling players, and (where possible) exploit certain matchup opportunities in the playoffs.

If the 2.74 goals allowed average, .913 save percentage, and 5-3-0 record that Tim Thomas produced in January looks familiar to you, it's likely because you've seen something very similar before. Last February Thomas, in 7 starts, compiled a record of 4-3-0, with a 2.74 GAA and .906 save percentage. What happened from March (really the last 2 starts in February) on, as we all know is history. In his last 13 regular season starts, Thomas went 7-3-3 with a 2.09 GAA and a .934 save percentage. He then followed that up with an even more impressive run to a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophy, going 16-9, with a 2.06 GAA and .937 save percentage in the playoffs.

The lesson, as always, is you never want to be too quick to count out Tim Thomas, who has made a career out of proving people wrong. As the 2nd half of the season gets into full gear, it will be really interesting to see if one of the great sports stories of our generation can deliver a repeat performance.

Earlier this year, I made some predictions about the Northeast Division. So, as we near the All-Star Break, let's ask "how are those predictions holding up?" Not so well, but I'm not complaining in the least.

1. Boston Bruins

What's Gone Right?

The Bruins are the one team that's performing to form in this division (maybe the Leafs, too, I suppose). They're getting consistent scoring from three lines, maybe the best goaltending in NHL history, and solid defense. They lead the league in goal differential by a massive margin (+69, the next closest team is +48), and thus, if anything, may be underachieving with their 31-14-2 record. Tyler Seguin has developed faster than anyone dared dream possible, giving Boston the NHL's best #2 line.

What's Gone Wrong?

When you lead the league in goals scored, are 4th in goals against, 7th on the penalty kill and 11th on the power play, there's not a lot to complain about. As I mentioned previously, 2/3 of the first line has underachieved, but they're turning it around. If Nathan Horton's "mild concussion" turns out to be more serious than first thought, that would be a real problem. And a spate of hits that ranged from questionable (Lucic on Ryan Miller) to unquestionably dirty (Brad Marchand on Sami Salo; Andrew Ference on Ryan McDonagh) would seem to have the refs and league office looking more closely at the B's in the second half.

What's Got to Change?

Boston's biggest enemy isn't anyone in this division; barring a collapse of epic proportions, they'll win the division going away, but our old friend regression to the mean. The idea that the Bruins will have two goalies break the record for save percentage in a season is almost as absurd as someone turning down a chance to hang out at the White Hou...okay, bad example. But it's damn unlikely, in any event. The Bruins D is better than last year, but they need to tighten it up a bit more, as they're giving up 31.4 shots per game, 25th in the league. Granted, the Bruins appear content to play more of a fire wagon hockey style than anyone seems to realize, but shots are shots and they can't expect their goaltenders to keep blocking 94% of them. Upgrading a defensive corps that's pretty ordinary after Zdeno Chara should be a priority.

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During the massive free agent spending spree that was July 1st 2011, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Bruins for the most part stood idly by despite having a favorable salary cap situation. The one signing they DID make seemed like a curious one, inking former Hab, Wild, and Jack Edwards punching bag Benoit Pouliot to a 1 year, $1.1m deal. On the surface, it looked like GM Peter Chiarelli taking a flyer on a former high pick, that he could have easily sent through waivers and/or onto Providence if the need arose. But was there more to it than signing a player who always had the size and speed, but hadn't put it all together?

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Once upon a time, the Boston Bruins were looked at as a team that was carried by great goaltending and a stingy defensive system deployed by Claude Julien. When people talked about the personnel at forward, it wouldn't be a surprise to hear things like "no true #1 center" or "they have two 2nd lines". This season, that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, you could make a decent argument that based on Even Strength points per 60 minutes, the Bruins have had the BEST forward line in hockey this season.

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I should start by saying that no one (outside of the angry masses at HFBoards) has killed the Zach Hamill pick more than I have in the past. The Bruins had the 8th pick in the 2007 Draft and took TSN's 16th rated player. Hindsight is always 20/20 with draft picks, but a quick look at the players rated ahead of him that were still on the board (namely Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Shattenkirk) at a position of need, and it's safe to say that pick was an opportunity that went by the boards.

That being said, last night represented an interesting first in Zach Hamill's NHL career. Erik Cole's goal late in the 3rd period, was the first goal that an opposing team had scored while Hamill was on the ice in a Bruins uniform. Which also means last night was the first time in 10 games that Hamill was a minus player. That's not bad for a player whose time in Providence has been mostly underwhelming.

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