Ok. Might have to break this down into a few different posts, as the last time I posted the Bruins were heading into their first-round matchup against the Canadiens, and now they're two weeks from unveiling their 2009-2010 schedule.
So, I suck. I lapsed, and couldn't bring myself to post anything following the Bruins' gut-wrenching 7 game loss to the Hurricanes, of all teams, in the second round. Then once I'd noticed I hadn't posted for a while it became easier and easier to justify not posting, and here we are. In July. Anyway, here's my Bruins recap and offseason summary, which I'll follow I think with a Sox post, and then possibly even one about something other than sports? We'll see. I should have reviewed Star Trek when it came out, but that ship has sailed.
So. 2008-2009 Bruins Season. They won 53 games, were the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference, and they started things off with a rousing sweep against their ancient rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. Now, as I'm sure you remember, I was certain that it the Bruins were able to have a good showing against the Habs (and a sweep is what I could qualify as a good showing) I thought they would make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, if not the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortuately, it looks like the Bruins thought that meant that they could just waltz into the Finals based on their record, and they took games 2, 3, and 4 off, putting themselves into a 3-1 hole against a scrappy 'Canes team that they couldn't overcome. They made a heck of a series of it, enough I'm hoping to make people excited for hockey in Boston again, but alas, no one seemed to take the ex-Whalers or their fans seriously enough. And that includes me, as I said that the Hurricanes were my "ideal playoff opponent" as the season was winding down. Serves us all right for taking things for granted, I suppose.
I still worry that. given the standards to whicht eams are held in this town, that the Bruins still aren't at the Big Kids table with the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics. I hope that they are, and building on the success of this season would definitely help that. Though, my big worry is that, after building up the ridiculous point total of 116 and then flaming out in the second round, the casual Boston sports fan will claim that you can't trust the Bruins' regular season record, since they'll fold like a cheap suit in the playoffs. And, honestly, there's more than a grain of truth there. But that doesn't mean I'm not excited for this upcoming season, Winter Classic and all.
As a final salute to the season that spawned this blog and even changed its name, here's a recap 5 UP and 5 DOWN for 2008-2009
UP
1. Tim Thomas. Simply an unexpected season by the journeyman-turned-ace. Timmy put up one of the best wire-to-wire performances I can remember in a goalie, and took home the Vezina as the league's best goaltender. His acceptance speech was one of the best and humblest awards speeches I've heard, and I definitely recommend it. He's signed for 4 more years, which will allow him to segue from our go-to backstop to Tukkaa Rask's mentor with relative ease. I'm a little worried that the money will tie the Bruins' hands for a few years, but he earned it and I couldn't be happier for him. The front runner for the player I get on my Third Jersey come October.
2. Zdeno Chara. Not to keep going with award winners here, but Big Z took home the Norris as the league's best defenseman, and he is simply the rock of the team. When I went to Game 1 of the Canadiens series with my Dad, it happened to be shortly after the news about KG came out, and he asked me who i thought was as indispensible to the Bruins as Garnett was to the Celtics. I answered Chara in a heartbeat; he's as shutdown as can be, and though I've never been one to get the team captain or leading scorer on a jersey, Chara is making me rethink that. Put in plain terms, I can't imagine him on another team, and he's so consistent with his TOI and smothering defense, it's easy to overlook him for flashier D men like Mike Green or Nik Lidstrom. And given his toughness, his size, and his skill, I'll reiterate what I said all year when another team went looking to go after him. Don't Fuck with Zdeno Chara. Just Don't Do It.
3. David Krejci. The recently resigned Krejci really made the leap this year; after filling in for the injured Bergeron last season, he came into his own as a pivot and a playmaker. His overall points and his plus-minus were huge indicators of how he fed the team's scorers, and of how good things always seemed to happen when he was on the ice. This was made all the more impressive by the news that he was dealing with hip pain for the entire year, and never really played up to his ability as a result. I look forward to watching the kid mature as he has, and I'm hoping they keep him on Ryder's line, as the two of them had natural (and sometimes jaw-dropping) chemistry all season long. Remember, kids, it's KRAY-Chee.
4. Mark Savard. I knew I made a good investment when I made Marc-y Marc the player on my Bruins road jersey. He was the team's quiet, consistent performer, leading them in overall scoring and never missing siginificant time. It's telling that any natural scoring forwards he's been paired with, namely Ilya Kovalchuk and Phil Kessel, have had breakout goal totals shortly thereafter. He's an expensive but worth it player, who thinks of the team before himself, even though he can be a pretty nifty scorer himself. With the cap issues the Bruins have been facing there's been talk of trading him 9and his contract) but I hope he sticks around. Really the kind of guy you'd want to build a team around.
5. Michael Ryder. When the Bruins signed Ryder, I had the reaction that I think a lot of hockey fans in the Hub had: Who? he played for the Canadiens? Why don't I remember him from the playoff series then? A cast-off from Guy Carbonneau's doghouse, Ryder came to Boston hoping to reclaim his 30-goal form that he'd had in Montreal his rookie and sophomore years. While he didn't *quite* get there (he had 27), he found a place on the second (or third?) line and was a consistent performer with a knack for finishing. He's another contract that might get dumped, but I like the guy, and hope that he can continue to stick it to Montreal for a couple more years.
DOWN
1. Steve Montador. A trade deadline pickup, I was encouraged to see that he'd led the Ducks in Penalty Minutes, thinking that he might give the B's a spark on Defense. However, during the rest of the season and especially in the playoffs, everything he touched (mainly the puck) seemed to turn to crap. I have firm memories of his turnovers leading to Carolina goals, and I'm really not sad to see him go. At all.
2. Marco Sturm. Now, this isn't quite fair to Marco, as he was injured pretty early and he missed the rest of the season. But from a guy Cam Neely thought might score 40, we need more staying power. He's not exactly a tough guy, and though I'm glad he's on the team and I like what he brings when he's healthy, we need him to stay on the ice. With Mark Recchi re-upping on the cheap for another year and providing the all-important left hand shot on the power play, it's possible they'll try to unload Marco to save the cap hit. I'd miss him, as the last remaining piece of the Joe Thornton trade, but wouldn't really cry any tears.
3. Manny Fernandez. Again, not really his fault. Was shades of brilliant when he tandemed with Thomas for the first half of the year, but was never quite right after coming back from injury, and became almost an automatic loss. This forced Timmy to shoulder more of the load, and wore the goalies down to end the year. I'm looking forward to what Tukkaa can do.
4. Blake Wheeler. I'm starting to grasp at straws here, as Blake was a Calder Trophy contender for much of the year, and his short-handed goal against the Blues, where he skated through basically the whole team, remains one of my favorite season highlights. But Blake hit a wall in the second half of the season, and should have been benched in favor of Byron Bitz much earlier in the playoffs than he was. I hope he can up his play to justify the team keeping him beyond next year, as when he's on, he's exciting to watch.
5. Phil Kessel. Tough to put the team's leading goal scorer in the DOWN column, but even with his 36 goals, I was left feeling like he could have contributed more. He took longer to come back from mono than expected (stay away from the floozies, Phil!), and while that cost him a shot at 50, I was more upset with his regression to end the season, where I saw flashes of the kid who didn't want to battle for the puck or take a hit. He's shown me he can be pretty one-dimensional at times, and that's really, I think, the reason the team made Krejci their priority this offseason. I hope he's in Black and Gold next year, obviously, but can understand why the team might not sign him. So we'll see.
All in all, a hell of a season, and a good one to have season tickets, if I do say so myself. Still disappointed by the bitter end, but that's one of the great things about sports. Renewal is always right around the corner, and Boston has realized that it has a hockey team again.
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