So, the Bruins have been off for a couple of days since they beat the Thrashers in back to back games on Friday and Saturday, and instead of trying to recap a specific game, I thought I would boil the season down into a couple of points, and maybe do a 3 UP and 3 DOWN for the year thus far. If I was smarter I would have done this at a regular interval, after the quarter or third mark of the season, but whatever, I'm thinking of doing it now.
With all due respect to the New England Patriots and the place they hold in the renaissance of New England Sports relevance, I'm having a hard time caring as much about what happens along Route 1 as I do about what's unfolding on Causeway Street. The Patriots got the ball rolling with Super Bowl XXXVI, and I will never forget the contributions that Troy Brown, Tom Brady, Willie McGinest and Adam Vinatieri had to my sports fandom, but after the kick in the balls that was Super Bowl XLII, I've had a tough time coming back to football. This is not to say that i haven't followed the Patriots, or that I don't respect and admire what Wes Welker, Matt Cassel, or Jerod Mayo have done for the team this year. But the Pats are currently not in control of their own playoff destiny. While an 11-5 mark is nothing to be ashamed of, I look at what's happening at the Garden and I'm really not that impressed.
Currently, the Bruins and Celtics have lost a combined 7 games in regulation. Seven. At home, they have lost a combined two games in regulation, thee overall. I mean, how is that not insane? The Bruins are off to their third best start in history, which is overshadowed mainly because the Sharks are off to one of the best starts in NHL history, and the Celtics are off to their best start in franchise history. Which, given the franchise, is saying something. The Garden is rocking again, less than two years from a season where the Celtics and Bruins were both mired in last place. Now both teams have the best record in their respective conferences. And I couldn't bew happier, given the time of year.
The Bruins are 11-1-1 at the Garden. I had the early misfortune to be at both the regulation and the overtime loss, though they quickly rectified that with Lucic's hat trick, and have not lost at home since. Claude Julien is running a tight ship, and I have much to be pleased with, as well as a little to be displeased with. Now, my season to date Three UP and Three DOWN:
UP:
1. Phil Kessel. As I've said before, benching his ass in the playoffs seams to have been the best idea Julien ever had. Here's a kid who had (and has) enormous potential, but had a reputation as a one-dimensional player up until last year. After Julien benched him in the playoffs to show that he wasn't needed in the system, Phil the Thrill has been a model citizen and a great player in all three zones, even spending some time ON THE PENALTY KILL. Through today, 12/16, he has 19 goals, which is a career high, equalling as many goals as he had all of last season. He is on a 15-game point streak, and is asserting himself as a scoring threat and one of the premier talents in the league. And coming from a home-grown, American player who survived a cancer scare, I couldn't be happier for the kid.
2. Defense. This goes to the whole group, from Zdeno "I will defend Kessel no matter what" Chara, to Dennis Wideman, Andrew Ferrence and Matt Hunwick. Ferrence was having a career year when he went down last month with a broken leg, and Wideman is so far earning the raise the team gave him in the offseason. Upon Ferrence's IR departure Matt Hunwick was called up from Providence and immediately played like he'd always been here. A high-profile puck moving defenseman is still on my Christmas wish list, but the way the blue line corps has been filling in, I am exicted and amazed that the Bruins are where they are. Julien's system is defensively-oriented, and it's been paying off so far.
3. Goaltending. To be brief, the Bruins have the best goalie tandem in the NHL. It's a rare problem to have two hot goalies to choose between, and Timmy and Manny have been just that. When the team can throw out either or on a given night and know they have a better than good chance to win, that's gotta be a confidence booster for the entire squad.
DOWN:
1. Late Game Defense. If there's a major flaw I've seen in this team, it's the tendency for them to allow the opposing team back in the game late, when they start to get desperate. Whether it;s blowing a 2-0 third period lead to the Rangers or allowing the Lightning to creep within one goal last week. When the going gets tough, the Bruins have a tough time getting the puck the hell out of their own zone. Somewhat distressing.
2. PJ Axelsson. Now, I love PJ. He's a long-tenured team player, and a Swede to boot. But he's not had the same kind of impact I was hoping he would, and wouldn't even have a goal without a garbage time empty-netter last week against Tampa. At this point, I really don't think he should be on the 2nd line, or even the third really. Maybe limited to PK and 4th line duties. Nothing against the guy, but we need to assess his strengths and weaknesses at this point.
3. Media. The mainstream Boston media is JUST getting the idea that the Bruins are good, and they've been in first place for going on a month now. Of course, the Celtics being historically good probably has something to do with it, but honestly I feel the B's should be a bigger deal. Maybe once the Patriots season ends in January or February, then the papers will start to realize what's going on. But the B's deserve better than this, they really do.
Anyway, that's about it until they play the Leafs on Thursday. Hopefully they'll play a bit better than they did against the leafs in the last Thursday night game I saw them in, but we'll see about that. Until then, a busy but hopefully fun week, and almost Christmas!
-M
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