Bruins make two deals at the trade deadline

The Bruins are currently 30-28-4 after losing 7-2 against the Florida Panthers on Saturday and losing 3-2 against the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday. The Bruins play the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Tuesday was the NHL trade deadline and the Bruins pulled off two trades. Both of them had me scratching my head trying to figure them out. First the Bruins traded defenseman Paul Mara to the New York Rangers for defenseman Aaron Ward. I know Mara hasn't played well this year but he's been a Bruins that has showed passion and intensity in games. He has also shown us that he will stand up for teammates and for himself. Mara is better offensively but Ward is better defensively. Mara was making a little more than Ward so the Bruins lower their cap a little. Ward is 34 years old, has played 60 games this season, scoring 3 goals, and has 10 assists for 13 points, along with 57 PIMs. Ward does have three Stanley Cup rings, one came last year with the Carolina Hurricanes as the other two came with the Detroit Red Wings. Dave Lewis knows Ward from his days with the Detroit Red Wings so you know Lewis likes this deal.

The second Bruins deadline trade was trading forward Brad Boyes to the St. Louis Blues for young defenseman Dennis Wideman. I know Boyes has struggled this year as well but he's young and he has skills as he showed us last year. I think the Bruins gave up on him too fast. Wideman is 23 years old, and is in his second NHL season this year. This season he has played in 55 games, he has scored 5 goals, and has 17 assists for 22 points, along with 44 PIMs. I have heard that Wideman is not that good defensively, as he is offensively minded. Will Wideman be playing defense for the Bruins? If so who will be sat out, Jason York I'm hoping. Or will Wideman be converted to play forward?

There are two videos below of the new players that the Bruins got. The first is of Aaron Ward fighting Picard of the Flyers. The second video is of Dennis Wideman taking on Canucks' Alex Burrows.

Aaron Ward vs Picard


Dennis Wideman vs Alex Burrows

Bruins beat Lightning impressively

Last night the Bruins played against the Tampa Bay Lightning and won in impressive fashion, 6-2. The scoring started in the first period with Marco Sturm scoring his 20th goal of the season. Brad Boyes add two goals (his 10th and 11th goals), Phil Kessel scored his 8th goal, Bochenski scored his 8th goal, and Chistov scored his 5th goal. Marc Savard had 3 assists, The Bruins got contributions from everyone in this game. Tough guy Jeremy Reich got into a spirited fight off a faceoff with Lightning's Nick Tarnasky. I am told that these guys have fought in the AHL before so these two know each other quite well. Tarnasky got the edge in this fight with the takedown of Reich. For the Lightning Vincent Lecavalier had a bad game being a -4.

The Bruins are 8-2 in their last 10 games. Later today the Bruins finish their road trip playing the Florida Panthers.

Bruins playoffs run update

The Bruins have won their past two games, against the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3, and against the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0. The Bruins are now 29-26-4, are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, and are fighting for a playoff spot. The Bruins currently have 62 points and are 12th place in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. The Carolina Hurricanes are currently the 8th seed right now with 67 points. The Bruins are still behind the Maple Leafs (66 points), the Islanders (66 points), and the Rangers (63 points).

The Bruins play at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday and then play the Florida Panthers on Saturday. The Bruins need to win these games to get closer to the 8th playoff spot.

There was news on Tuesday that the Bruins and Marco Sturm have been talking about a new contract that would keep him here in Boston. Nothing is done yet but I think this is good. I like what Sturm brings the Bruins and hopefully he is resigned soon.

Bruins get some revenge with win over Sabres

The Bruins played hard and physical hockey for most of the game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. They did blow a two goal lead in the second period though. That is something they have to work on fixing. The game went to the shootout and in the 8th round Petr Tenkrat, who hasn't done much at all this season, scored the winner against Ryan Miller. The Bruins got an energy boost early when Jeremy Reich dropped the gloves with Sabres' Adam Mair. Mair, who knocked out Bruins' rookie David Krejci on January 30th with a late hit, exchanged punches with Reich, and Reich got in more punches on Mair to get the decision in that bout.

Reich talks about the fight after the game:

"It was just a matter of letting them know that we're going to be playing physical, too. And you want to let other teams know that. Any time there's a fight, it brings a little energy to the building. If that's what I have to do to get things going, then that's fine."

Later in the first period Bruins' defenseman Andrew Ference and Sabres' forward Jochen Hecht were sticking each other and cross-checking each other in front of the Bruins' net. They then dropped the gloves and had a good spirited fight. Ference landed some good shots on Hecht and Hecht landed one big punch, but the win goes to Ference in that fight. You can watch both the Reich-Mair fight and the Ference-Hecht fight on our Bruins Videos page.

Marc Savard did take a bad unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second period. Savard needs to stop taking bad penalties and control himself. He had that reputation with the Atlanta Thrashers as well. He has 68 PIMs this season, most if not all have been two-minute penalties (he might have got a 10 misconduct this season, I can't remember). For a guy who doesn't fight, those PIMs are too high, especially since he's the Bruins' points leader. On BostonHerald.com it said that Savard took the team out to dinner later after the game (probably to make up for that bad penalty).

The Bruins play against the Philadelphia Flyers later tonight. The Flyers are coming off a physical tough game against the New York Rangers. Watch for the Flyers to play physical tonight against the Bruins and there may be a scrap between Jeremy Reich and Todd Fedoruk or Ben Eager.

Bruins fall apart in 3rd period again and lose to Islanders

The Bruins once again fell apart in the third period of a game. This time allowing three goals (one was an empty net goal) to the Islanders in the third period alone. Glen Murray scored his 27th goal of the season. Zdeno Chara finished the game with a -3, with 0 points, 0 shots on net, 0 hits, and 2 giveaways. Does anyone else think that Chara has been a disappointment this year? I do because he hasn't been physical for most of the season, he doesn't give a spark to the team when they need it. He hasn't fought this year once. The only game I can remember him being physical was against the Ottawa Senators when he layed out three Senators consecutively and then Brian McGrattan came over and challenged him and they wrestled each other with the linesmen coming in. He needs to step up and lead this team, play physical, play good defense, and shoot more as he has one of the hardest shots in the league, if not the hardest.

The Bruins are now 26-26-4 and they play the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Remember the last meeting between these two teams had Brad Boyes beating up Toni Lydman. After the game Sabres' coach Lindy Ruff was upset with Boyes beating up Lydman and said that Boyes suckered Lydman into a fight (read Ruff's quotes in a previous blog post). We'll see if the Sabres try and "even things up" on Saturday. I'm assuming that both Jeremy Reich and Andrew Peters will be dressed for this one. I though would like to see Reich pummel Adam Mair, for his hit on David Krejci. It should be a good one.

Bruins honor Bucyk and beat Oilers

On Tuesday the Bruins and their fans honored long-time Bruin, #9 John Bucyk, known as "Chief", for his 50 years in the Boston Bruins' organization. It was good to see John Bucyk and fellow Bruins alumni honoring him, such as #77 Ray Bourque, #8 Cam Neely, #24 Terry O'Reilly, Derek Sanderson, and many more. The Bruins sure played with passion and intensity, maybe caused with the pre-game ceremony. The Bruins beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 in one of their best games of the season. Newcomer Andrew Ference brought some of that intensity with some nice checks and a little rough play which the Bruins need. Also Jeremy Reich dropped the gloves with Oilers' defenseman Matt Greene and sent Greene down to the ice with a flurry of punches. Rookie Brandon Bochenski figured in all three goals, as he had a goal and 2 assists. Marco Sturm scored 2 goals and now has 17 goals this season. Look for Sturm to be shopped around since he is a free agent after this season.

The Bruins led the game in hits 17-13, with 6 of those hits coming from Andrew Ference, and Zdeno Chara only had 1 hit. Tim Thomas recored his second shutout of the season and is now 23-17-3. The Bruins are 26-25-4 and are currently not a playoff team. They need wins if they want to make the playoffs.

Tonight the Bruins play at the New York Islanders who are 27-22-8. View the game's scouting report on BostonHerald.com.

A few pictures from John Bucyk night:

John Bucyk and Ray Bourque


John Bucyk and Cam Neely


John Bucyk and Zdeno Chara


John Bucyk with Bruins alumni

Bruins trade Stuart and Primeau to Flames for Kobasew and Ference

It has been announced that the Boston Bruins have traded defenseman Brad Stuart and center Wayne Primeau to the Calgary Flames for winger Chuck Kobasew and defenseman Andrew Ference. Stuart and Primeau are set to be unrestricted free agents after this season, while Kobasew and Ference are signed for at least next season. Kobasew is signed for this year and for next year at $1.2 million. Ference is signed for the next three years (next year: $1.235 million, second year: $1.34 million, third year: $1.625 million).

Here is some more information about the newest Bruins. Chuck Kobasew is in his fourth NHL season. He is 24 years old, 6-0, 199 lbs., and he shoots right-handed. Kobasew's best season was last year when he played 77 games, scored 20 goals, had 11 assists, 31 points, and 64 PIMs. This current season Kobasew has played 40 games, has 4 goals, 13 assists, 17 points, and 37 PIMs. Kobasew is currently injured and will not play for the Bruins for a few weeks.

Some Bruins' fans may remember Andrew Ference when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins back from 1999-2002. Ference is in his seventh NHL season. He is 27 years old, 5-10, 189 lbs.,
and he shoots left-handed. Ference's best season was last year when he played 82 games, scored 4 goals, had 27 assists, 31 points, and 85 PIMs.

Andrew Ference vs Stars' Matthew Barnaby in one of the best fights of this season.

Andrew Ference sticks up for a teammate and fights Canucks' Kevin Bieksa.

Chara scores in shootout for Bruins win

Well it came down to another shootout for the Bruins and their Captain won the game for them. It took eight rounds in the shootout by finally Zdeno Chara ended it with a goal on Rick DiPietro. He came down the ice, faked a slap shot, and then shot a quick wrist shot that went five hole and in the net. The final score was 4-3. Phil Kessel's shootout scoring streak ended, and is now 3 for 4. During the actual game Marco Sturm scored two goals, his 14th and 15th goals, and Patrice Bergeron (his 18th goal of the season) scored the other Bruins goal.

A few side notes about the game:

• Zdeno Chara (31 minutes of ice time) and Paul Mara finished the game with a -2 each.
• Jeremy Reich only got 7:35 of ice time (no third period action). He also tried to get Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt to drop his gloves in the first period but Witt would not. I am told that Witt was wearing a brace on one of his wrists and that is why he didn't drop the gloves. I think he would be penalized for fighting with a brace on.

The Bruins next game is on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers, which is the day when the Bruins will be honoring John Bucyk before the game.

No more sweetheart hockey please

If you haven't read the article "Bruins not so Big and Bad anymore: Lack of fight could be part of Black 'n' Gold's struggles" by Karen Guregian on BostonHerald.com yet make sure to read it, especially if you're a Bruins fan. The article is right on in my opinion. The Bruins haven't been standing up for each other and they're not playing hockey the way it's suppose to be played. But is it because of the new rules? I think it somewhat is, but there are other teams that play hockey the way it is suppose to be played, such as the Anaheim Ducks.

From the article a quote from Bruins power forward Hall of Famer Cam Neely:

"Contact is part of hockey. You want emotion. You want guys sticking up for each other. The thing I loved about hockey is something Harry (Sinden) used to say. There's no out of bounds. There are unwritten rules and codes that we all lived by. We'd police ourselves. Now if you touch someone, you're in the box. It's not the game fans grew up watching, especially the ones around here."

Cam Neely is right on and even Chris Nilan had this to say:

"I think a lot has to do with the league and the way it is now. Guys don't want to go out there and do something and then have the league suspend them. Say someone comes to his rescue and does something. Then the league suspends that guy for 10 games. Now the guy has to pay the fine out of his salary. Who wants to lose all that money protecting some kid? Who wants to take that chance, step over the line to protect a teammate, then lose a half-million dollars? Who's going to pay him back? The team? The guy he stuck up for?"

Even Kevin Stevens had these comments:

"It's an unwritten rule. You don't sit there and tell someone they have to do it or don't have to do it. It just happens. You don't think about it. You even have guys who don't fight, do it to stick up for a teammate. I've seen a lot of guys who don't fight that often jump in there. They'll take a beating, but they'll do it for the team. I think you have to do it."

And the best quotes came from everyone's favorite Don Cherry. I agree 100% with Don Cherry. We need hockey back to the way it once was. A few Don Cherry quotes from the article:

"I know the new NHL is a kinder NHL, but you still have to have someone protecting your star players in the lineup. Teams that are pushed around aren't going to win the Stanley Cup. Look at Anaheim. They lead the league in fights. Brian Burke has put together a terrific team. They have balance. They're smoking everyone. I just know this. There was a time when everyone was terrified of the black uniform. Sometimes, we'd lose a game, but because we'd win five fights, we'd get a standing ovation walking out of the building. Fans loved us because we were the toughest team out there. Sweetheart hockey is not the Bruins. In Boston, they've got to be the toughest. When you put that black sweater on, you can't play sweetheart hockey. If you don't stick up for each other, you're not going anywhere."

Those were some great quotes from Don Cherry. I wish Don Cherry was the Bruins coach once again or even the Bruins GM. Current Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli doesn't quite get it. A quote from Chiarelli:

"Do we need to get tougher? Yes, we do. We need more team toughness, but we have to be smart about it. Do we need an enforcer? No. We just have to play mentally tougher and physically tougher."

And two more great quotes from legendary Don Cherry:

"There's an awful lot of college GMs in the game now who were not part of the game then. They don't appreciate that game. I don't think we're talking about having guys who just sit on the bench and you only put them out on the ice to fight like an animal. That's not hockey. When I coached those Bruins teams with John Wensink and Stan Jonathan and Wayne Cashman, we had 11 guys who had 20 or more goals. They could play and fight. The league is saying no more, but the bottom line is, the fans love it. Who is it that doesn't like it?"

I think we all know that Gary Bettman doesn't like fighting. He's one of the problems with the NHL and it's not just about fighting in hockey, it's more of marketing hockey with him and the bad job he has done. Anyone remember the NHL was once on ESPN. Not anymore though as the NHL has VS. That's a whole other story though for another time.

Scott Walker vs Andrew Alberts video

Here's the video of the hockey fight between Carolina Hurricanes' Scott Walker and Boston Bruins' Andrew Alberts. Watch and listen to the replay because Andrew Alberts was wearing a microphone and you'll hear Walker say, "Let's go" to Alberts. Good stuff, it's not quite the Georges Laraque-Raitis Ivanans mic'd up fight they had earlier this season, but hearing fighters talk is always interesting.

Bruins start good but fall apart

With Glen Murray and Marco Sturm back in the lineup, that made Stanislav Chistov and Petr Tenkrat as the healthy scratches. Chistov and Tenkrat haven't done much at all the past few weeks so I would also scratch them. Jeremy Reich kept his place in the lineup as he played well against the Capitals. I hope Reich stays in the lineup as he brings a physical presence that the Bruins need.

The Bruins played well in the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes but after that it all fell apart. After the first period the Bruins led 1-0. Brandon Bochenski scored his second goal in his second game as a Bruin. The Bruins had a lot of chances but couldn't capitalize on them.

In the second period the Canes weren't playing well and somebody needed to do something, so feisty right-winger Scott Walker no doubt instigated a fight with Andrew Alberts in front of the Bruins net after Tim Thomas had the puck. Walker came in dropped the gloves and started throwing punches at Alberts before Alberts knew what was going on. Alberts then dropped his gloves and gave some punches back to Walker. Walker threw more punches and looked to control most of the fight, but Alberts did throw some punches that might have landed. After the fight Walker went to the dressing room. I would give the edge though to Walker in this fight. What was strange though was that Walker didn't get the instigator as he should have. I don't know why the refs didn't give him one because he clearly instigated that fight.

After the Alberts-Walker fight it seemed to spark the Canes as they scored four unanswered goals in the second period. Ray Whitney scored three goals in a row to get the hat trick in less than two minutes. In the third period Bochenski scored another goal, his third in two games with the Bruins. Rod Brind'Amour scored for the Canes to make it 5-2, which was the final score.

The hits totals for the game had the Bruins with 19 and the Hurricanes with 16. The Bruins are now 24-25-4, and they play the New York Islanders (26-22-7) on Saturday.

Kessel scores in shootout, Bruins win

The Bruins were able to shut down Washington Capitals All-Star Alexander Ovechkin (0 points and only 2 shots on goal) and go to the shootout where Phil Kessel scored the game-winner. Kessel is now 3 for 3 on shootout attempts in his short NHL career. Marc Savard had 2 assists in the game. Newcomer Brandon Bochenski played on the second line and scored a goal. Jeremy Reich played on the third line and had 8 minutes of ice time. He got into a fight with Capitals' Ben Clymer in the first period and was totaled with only 1 hit in the game, but I saw him make three hits. The final score of the game was 3-2.

The Bruins are now 24-24-4 and play the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Bruins at Capitals, first intermission

The first period of the Bruins-Capitals game is now over and the score is 0-0. Jeremy Reich actually started the game on a line with Wayne Primeau and Shean Donovan. Reich had two hits on his first shift. There was some rough stuff as Bobby Allen and Ben Clymer got roughing penalties. Clymer actually got four minutes and Allen got two minutes. A little later in the period Reich and Clymer dropped the gloves and went at it. It started because Reich hit Clymer and it was all Reich in the fight. Decision goes to Reich in that fight. Good to see some rough play by the Bruins. I hope Reich gets more ice time as the game goes on.

Reich recalled, Murray out tonight

Tough guy Jeremy Reich has been recalled by the Boston Bruins on an emergency basis because forward Glen Murray will be out for tonight's game against the Washington Capitals. I have not heard yet why Murray will be out. Could it be that Murray is being shopped and Chiarelli has a possible deal? So Reich and newly-acquired Brandon Bochenski are expected to play tonight against the tough Washington Capitals. Look for Reich to make a statement, that's if he gets any ice time, and take on Capitals' tough guy Donald Brashear. This will be Milan Jurcina's first game against the Bruins as a Capital. He's been playing good defensively for the Caps and averaging 20 minutes of ice time.

Update at 6:33PM
Reports say that Glen Murray has a groin injury and that is why he is out tonight.

Jeremy Reich sent back down to Providence

Well Jeremy Reich's call up to the Boston Bruins lasted one game in which Reich got 26 seconds of ice time. On Sunday he was sent back down to the Providence Bruins. The Bruins will probably call up newly acquired forward Brandon Bochenski to take his place. So now the Bruins are again without an energy player and/or enforcer. In my last post I posted comments from Bruins Wayne Primeau and Brad Boyes talking about the need of an enforcer and how they would like one on this current Bruins team, but I guess Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli doesn't give a rats ass about what the team wants and needs, he wants to show everyone the player he got in his latest trade that he made. It won't surprise me if more and more teams take cheap shots at Bruins players because no one on the Bruins roster will stand up to them.

Bruins beat Hurricanes in overtime

The Bruins won last night's game 4-3 in overtime against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, with a goal by Zdeno Chara (he scored on a wicked slapper). But what irritates me is that the same stuff happened that Bruins' coach Dave Lewis said needs to be corrected, such as standing up for a teammate.

In the first period Bruins' defenseman Bobby Allen was drilled from behind into the boards behind the Bruins' net by Hurricanes forward Craig Adams, who is a tough energy player for the Canes. Jason York and Petr Tenkrat just stood there, York gave a few pushes to Adams but that was because Adams had the puck, and not in retaliation for the dirty hit. Then out of no where Marc Savard comes charging in trying to get at Adams but the linesmen come in quick to make sure nothing progresses. So the Bruins best player right now has to also stand up for teammates by himself? I was shocked and disgusted that nobody else did a dam thing. Adams and Savard got two-minute penalties. So I was thinking that Dave Lewis might want to make a statement now and put out newly brought up from Providence tough guy Jeremy Reich on the next faceoff. But no he doesn't put out Reich and that says it all. It tells not only the Canes but other teams that they can run all over the Bruins and take cheap shots because the Bruins won't fight back.

Another thing that upset me about last night's game is that Reich finished the game with a total of 26 seconds of ice time on 2 shifts. That is two shifts for 26 seconds! How is a player suppose to do his job and provide energy for the team when he can't even get on the ice for more than a minute. That 26 seconds was all in the first period as well. While I was watching the game I didn't see Reich on the ice at all so I must have missed those memorable 26 seconds.

The Bruins should get a tape of last night's game between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues. Both teams dress tough players and they are both teams that stand up for each other. Go to HockeyFights.com and download the fight videos of Krys Barch vs Matt Walker and Krys Barch vs Ryan Johnson. What you'll see is Krys Barch doing his job and checking people, which sometimes cause fights as you'll see. Barch layed out Ryan Johnson with a big hit and Walker came right over and they dropped the gloves and had a go. Later in that game, Barch layed out Blues' Captain Dallas Drake with a huge hit and Ryan Johnson, who is not a fighter by any means, came over and fought Barch. Now that is a team standing up for each other. Bruins need to get a tape of that game and watch it a few times.

In an article named "On Hockey: Where's the fight in the Bruins?" by Douglas Flynn/Daily News Staff on MetroWestDailyNews.com, there are some revealing quotes from Wayne Primeau and Brad Boyes basically saying that the Bruins need a tough guy/enforcer.

"It always helps to have a guy like that. There are times when you need a guy to drop the mitts and spark the team like that. Those guys definitely serve a purpose."
-Brad Boyes on having an enforcer

"It's not something I think about all the time. If it's there, I'm going to stick up for myself or stick up for my teammates. It's not something I look for, but in that situation it was something I felt obligated to do."
-Wayne Primeau on fighting and on the fight he had with Sabres' Adam Mair

"Sure, I'd like to have someone. Every team has one. Except maybe Carolina and... Atlanta? They have (Eric) Boulton. So, yeah, every team has one, so if they need to dress him they can. Maybe that would make a difference. That makes guys (play) bigger for sure. No doubt about it. I don't know. That stuff is out of our reach (as players). We can't worry about that kind of thing. That's why you have a general manager."
-Wayne Primeau on the Bruins not having an enforcer

"I'm trying to think, in Pittsburgh Mario (Lemieux) had all those guys, Buffalo always had a bunch of guys like Rayzor (Rob Ray), (Brad) May, Paul Kruse, (Matthew) Barnaby. So, no, I've always been on teams that have been pretty physical and had guys for that."
-Wayne Primeau talking about some of the tough guy teammates he has played with

Bruins trade prospect Kris Versteeg

The Boston Bruins have traded prospect right wing Kris Versteeg (view profile) and a conditional draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for right wing Brandon Bochenski (view profile). Bochenski is 6-0, 193 lbs and had 2 goals in 10 games with the Blackhawks. With Norfolk in the AHL this year, in 35 games Bochenski has 33 goals, and 33 assists for 66 points, with 31 PIMs. Bochenski is 24 years old, while Versteeg is only 20 years old. Hopefully this deal works out for the Bruins.

Bruins recall tough guy Jeremy Reich

The Boston Bruins have finally called up an energy player/tough guy that most Bruins fans have been wanting since they got rid of Wade Brookbank earlier this season. The Boston Bruins have recalled forward Jeremy Reich from the Providence Bruins, who has played 45 games there and has 4 goals, and 7 assists for 11 points. He also has 105 PIMs (13 fighting majors).

Tonight the Bruins play the Carolina Hurricanes who don't really have an enforcer, but they have a few tough players (Mike Commodore, Scott Walker, Craig Adams, Tim Gleason) who may find Reich as a dance partner.

Sturm won't play tonight, a call-up is inevitable

News is that Marco Sturm won't make the trip to play against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. So with him out and David Krejci out with a concussion, the Bruins will probably call up someone from the Providence Bruins. I'm hoping that they call up Jeremy Reich, who is an energy player and a tough guy, something that the Bruins have been lacking ever since they gave away Colton Orr last season to the New York Rangers.

Brad Boyes responds to Lindy Ruff''s comments

On BostonHerald.com, Brad Boyes had some comments in responding to what Lindy Ruff said after Thursday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, about Boyes suckering Lydman into fighting.

Brad Boyes said, "He's defending his player, I'm sure, but I wasn't checking out the clock to see how long he'd been on the ice. It was just something that was right there. But (Lydman) is a hard-nosed guy who I thought would be willing to go. I don't think I jumped him. If he had walked away, I probably would have done that, too. I wasn't going to sucker him or anything like that. I don't consider myself a dirty player and I don't want to be a guy like that."

Brad Boyes' comment about the Sabres maybe coming after him in their next game against each other, "If they do (come after me), they do. I can't think about that."

The Bruins and Sabres next play each other on February 17th and it should be interesting if anything will happen in that game as a result from their last game. We'll wait and see.

Bruins and Sabres get reacquainted with each other

Well after Tuesday's game against the Sabres a lot of Bruins fans (such as myself) wanted to see how the Bruins would respond in this game since the last game they did not stand up or even attempt to stand up to the Sabres and for each other. Tonight they came out hitting and played with intensity. The most intense part of the game was in the second period when Bruins Brad Boyes and Sabres Toni Lydman got into a good spirited fight. Boyes and Lydman went toe-to-toe for a second and then it was all Boyes. After the fight Boyes went to his dressing room for a cut on his hand and Lydman went to his dressing room for repairs as he was a bloody mess (look at the image below). Even though the Bruins played hard and showed intensity the same result occurred, they lost. They lost 3-1 to the Sabres, and they'll be playing the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

Some quotes from players and Dave Lewis after the game (courtesy of BostonHerald.com):

Dave Lewis on Brad Boyes' fight with Toni Lydman:
"It certainly got everybody's attention in the building. It got everybody's attention on our bench and it takes a lot of courage to do that. And he did a very good job at it. And I thought his game picked up after that, too. Sometimes, that has to happen. Sometimes you have to stick up for yourself, sometimes you have to stick up for your teammates, sometimes you get pushed to the edge, and we're at the edge now.... There are two things that happen: Fight or flee, and I don't mean fight in the literal sense. But some guys have stepped up and fought. Other guys have not yet."

Brad Boyes' comments about the fight:
"I'm not a tough guy, but I tried to help out however I can. I haven't been producing offensively, so I was just trying to lift the team however I could. I hope I provided some spark."

Zdeno Chara talking about Brad Boyes:
"He's not one of those guys who usually (fights), but tonight he stepped up and got everyone into the game. He answered the bell."

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff on the Boyes-Lydman fight:
"Toni was on the ice for well over a minute. He was getting tired. Boyes suckered him to start the fight and Toni held his own. We have time to even that one up."

These two teams play again on February 17th so look for another physical game hopefully. The next meeting between these two teams should be interesting, and hopefully we have more agressive players that play with intensity by then. I was hoping for more aggressive rough play, but tonight's game was a building step, and now the Bruins need to continue this kind of play from game to game. I'm hoping that the Bruins call up Jeremy Reich and Jay Leach from the Providence Bruins to add some toughness to the team. I would send down Petr Tenkrat and Jason York to make room for Reich and Leach.

Sabres Toni Lydman vs Bruins Brad Boyes


A bloody Toni Lydman after the beating he took from Brad Boyes