Bruins update

The Bruins next game is on Friday at the Buffalo Sabres who are in first place in the Northeast division with 67 points. The Bruins (23-20-8) are currently in fourth place in the Northeast division with 54 points, only ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs. There has been word that Marc Savard is trying to come back into the lineup on Friday against the Sabres. Hopefully he does as the Bruins need some scoring. Savard and Byron Bitz were at practice Monday morning. Marco Sturm and Steve Begin are day-to-day and likely out on Friday.

Here are some interesting stats of the Bruins so far this season. The Bruins have only scored 127 goals this season, which is last in the league and have allowed 131 goals. They are13-11-3 at home and 10-9-5 on the road. In their last ten games, they are 2-7-1.

Tim Thomas is 13-14-6 with a 2.53 GAA, and a 91.5% save percentage this season. Tuukka Rask is 10-6-2 with a 2.14 GAA, and a 92.5% save percentage this season.

On Monday the Bruins sent forward Drew Larman back to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Bruins trade Kobasew, make roster moves

First the big news as forward Chuck Kobasew has been traded to the Minnesota Wild. In return the Bruins get a second round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the rights to unsigned draft choice Alexander Fallstrom, and forward Craig Weller.

Some info about Fallstrom and Weller:

Fallstrom, selected in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, began his freshman year at Harvard University in September, 2009. A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, he played for Brinken, Lindigo and Djurgarden in Sweden before moving to Minnesota where he attended Shattuck St. Mary's School from 2007-2009. A senior captain at Shattuck St. Mary's in 2008-09, Fallstrom led his team with 40 goals and 87 points (40-47=87) in 52 games. In his first season with Shattuck he had 67 points (20-47=67) in 62 games.

Weller, a fifth round selection of the St. Louis Blues in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (167th overall), has played in 95 NHL games with the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild and has 4-10=14 totals with 127 penalty minutes. This season, Weller has played five games for the Houston Aeros (AHL) and has one assist and seven penalty minutes. Last season, Weller played in 36 games for the Wild and earned 1-2=3 totals and 47 PIM's.
Source

I've seen Weller in some games when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild and he's more of a fourth line player, somewhat like Byron Bitz but not with the offensive upside of Bitz. But Weller will fight more and is a more experienced fighter than Bitz.

The Bruins earlier today loaned forward Guillaume Lefebvre to the Providence Bruins (AHL) for a game today. But later tonight they recalled Lefebvre and also called up forwards Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka. Also Milan Lucic was placed on the long term injured reserve with a broken finger. Hopefully Lucic's finger heals quickly and he can come back and play.

Bruins player moves

Here is the latest on player moves by the Bruins and some players they have already lost to free agency by signing with other teams.

On June 30th, the Bruins bought out the contract of forward Peter Schaefer.

On July 1st, the Bruins re-signed forward Byron Bitz to a multi-year contract. The Bruins signed ex-Montreal/Dallas forward pest Steve Begin to a one-year contract. If you remember Begin was the one with that cheapshot on Marc Savard which broke a bone in Savard's back. Hopefully Begin can be that same kind of pest for the Bruins against Montreal and everyone else. He's also known for dishing out some big hits. The Bruins re-signed defenseman Johnny Boychuk to a one-year contract. Martin St. Pierre signed with the Ottawa Senators.

On July 2nd, the Bruins re-signed veteran Mark Recchi to a one-year contract. This will be Recchi's last season playing hockey. Forward Jeremy Reich signed with the New York Islanders. Defenseman Steve Montador signed with the Buffalo Sabres. Defenseman Shane Hnidy signed with the Minnesota Wild.

Looking at some Bruins opponents in the Eastern Conference, Montreal and Toronto have changed their team much. Montreal has added forwards Brian Gionta, Mike Cammalleri, and Scott Gomez (through a trade with New York), and defensemen Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill so far. Toronto has added a lot more toughness with defensemen Mike Komisarek, Garnet Exelby (through a trade with Atlanta), and enforcer Colton Orr. So now we'll be watching those Toronto games more closer with Lucic and Komisarek going at each other again.

Bruins vs Hurricanes game 7 summary

The Bruins have lossed game 7 in overtime by the score of 3-2 and are now out of the playoffs as the Hurricanes will move onto the Conference Finals to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. And guess who scored the series winner... none other than sucker puncher Scott Walker. I can only imagine what would have been if the league actually did their job and suspended Walker for 2 or more games. It hurts to see the Bruins lose, but seeing Walker score the series clincher just makes it more painful. The scoring summary for game 7 is below.

In the first period, at 7:42, Byron Bitz scored his first ever NHL playoff goal, assisted by David Krejci and Michael Ryder making it 1-0 Bruins. At 13:59, Rod Brind'Amour scored to tie the game 1-1.

In the second period, at 7:45, Sergei Samsonov scored to make it 2-1 Hurricanes.

In the third period, at 6:19, Milan Lucic scored (3) assisted by Marc Savard and Phil Kessel to tie the game 2-2.

In overtime, at 18:46, Scott Walker scored to win the game and end the series.

Tim Thomas made 34 saves on 37 shots against him. Cam Ward made 34 saves on 36 shots against him.

You can watch post-game interviews with Bruins players and coach Julien on bostonbruinsTV.

Bruins players line up to shake hands with Hurricanes players
Photo courtesy of Getty.

Bruins vs Canadiens game 3 summary

The Boston Bruins won 4-2 in game 3 against the Montreal Canadiens. Game 4 will be on Wednesday. I will be doing a live game post update as well for that game. The stats for game 3 are below.

In the first period, at 11:52, Christopher Higgins scored. At 18:35, Phil Kessel scored (3) to tie the game 1-1, assisted by Dennis Wideman.

In the second period, at 3:36, Shawn Thornton scored his first goal in the playoffs, assisted by Byron Bitz and Stephane Yelle. At 5:16, Yannick Weber scored to tie the game 2-2. At 17:21, Michael Ryder scored (2) assisted by Dennis Wideman and Mark Stuart.

In the third period, at 19:23, Chuck Kobasew scored (2) an empty net goal, assisted by David Krejci and Zdeno Chara.

Game 4 is tomorrow night. Get ready Bruins fans!

Montreal's GM and coach Bob Gainey tells Montreal fans to not boo the American National Anthem.

"I feel like there's a confusion there with our fans," Gainey said Tuesday. They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the anthem represents the Boston team."

"And I think if they could separate those two things, then we could respect the anthem of the United States of America and they could still participate loudly in whatever way they want to disrupt the Bruins."
Source

I thought this was only the second time that this has happened recently but I was wrong.

When told of Gainey’s statement, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas said "that sounds like a very classy thing he did." Thomas, of Flint, Mich., was not put off by the booing.

"The same thing happened last year and it happened just about every time I've played here," he said. "I was prepared for it. I knew what was going to happen and I just ignored it."
Source

Bruins vs Canadiens game 3 live update

Game 3 between the Bruins and Canadiens will be starting soon. Stay tuned to this post as I'll be updating it as the game goes along. Here are the lineups for game 3:

Bruins lines:
Axelsson-Savard-Kessel
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder
Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew
Bitz-Yelle-Thornton
Chara-Ward
Montrador-Wideman
Stuart-Hnidy
Thomas

Scratches: Ference, Hunwick, Lucic


Canadiens lines:
Kostitsyn-Koivu-Kovalev
Stewart-Plekanec-D'Agostini
Latendresse-Lapierre-Kostopoulos
Higgins-Metropolit-Laraque
Hamrlik-Komisarek
Gorges-Dandenault
O'Byrne-Weber
Price

Scratches: Schneider, Tanguay

Classless Montreal fans boo and chant "Go Habs Go" during the American National Anthem. What a suprise, eh?

1st period
[11:52] Higgins scores and Montreal gets their first lead of the series. 1-0 Montreal

[18:35] Phil Kessel scores assisted by Dennis Wideman. Game is tied 1-1.

2nd period
[3:36] Shawn Thornton scores on a nice wrist shot. Nice pass by Byron Bitz. Bruins lead 2-1. That is Thornton's first NHL playoff goal.

[5:16] Weber scores and it is tied 2-2.

[8:57] Laraque, Stewart, Bergeron, Stuart all get 2 minutes each for a big scrum.

[13:20] Montreal to go on the power-play with Bitz getting two minutes for tripping.

[17:21] Michael Ryder scores and it is 3-2 Bruins.

[18:28] Mark Recchi gets two minutes for holding.

3rd period

[19:23] Chuck Kobasew scores an empty net goal to make it 4-2 Bruins.

The Bruins win game 3 with the score 4-2 and now lead the series 3-0. Game 4 is on Wednesday.

Milan Lucic suspended for game 3

It was announced that Bruins' Milan Lucic will be suspended for one game and will miss game 3 in Montreal vs the Canadiens, for the cross-check incident on Maxim Lapierre.

"While it is unclear whether Lucic's glove or stick makes contact with Lapierre, what is clear is that he delivered a reckless and forceful blow to the head of his opponent," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.
Source

So let's see, Lucic gets suspended for a high hit on Lapierre which was, using Colin Campbell's words, "unclear" that it was his glove or stick. But we see Mike Cammalleri hitting Martin Havlat in the head and no suspension there. We see Tom Kostopoulos throw an elbow at Matt Hunwick's head, and no suspension. It's "unclear" that Mike Komisarek eye gouged Matt Hunwick or not but no suspension there. Good job NHL, looks like you're really setting a standard here. What a joke.

Byron Bitz will be inserted into the lineup in the fourth line where Blake Wheeler was playing. Wheeler will move up and take Lucic's spot on the second line.

Bruins-Habs what a game last night

Well if you missed last night's game between the Bruins and Canadiens, you missed one hell of a game. It looks like these two teams may meet in the first round of the playoffs and this game sure had playoff intensity. The first period was wild, but not as wild as the second period. In the first period, rivals Milan Lucic and Mike Komisarek had a little scrum after the whistle, with both guys falling down to the ice wrestling around with the linesmen trying to break them up.

The next incident was right after Patrice Bergeron scores a goal, Josh Gorges hits him from behind sending Bergeron into the net. So all the Bruins came in and a little scrum ensued. At the end of the first period Mike Komisarek took some cheap shots at David Krejci so Zdeno Chara came right after Komisarek and they exchanged gloved punches, before Chara dropped his gloves and threw two big uppercuts with Komisarek trying to duck for his life. Watch the replay of that incident, and watch Komisarek's face when Chara is roughing with him, it's hilarious.

Now in the second period things got heated between Shawn Thornton and Ryan 'I score on my own team' O'Byrne as between line changes O'Byrne skates into Thornton and pushes him. Thornton doesn't like it, it looks like Thornton says 'you wanna go?' and then drops the gloves and O'Byrne turtles and goes straight down to the ice. Maybe O'Byrne should stick to taking women's purses instead of playing hockey.

The next scrum was more like a line brawl which started because Byron Bitz hit goalie Carey Price, nothing major but you would expect a reaction to it either team you're on. Everybody got in on this scrum as Lucic was trying to get at Maxim Lapierre because Lapierre did something that I can't remember right now when the scrum started. Shane Hnidy and Josh Gorges paired off as Gorges pulled Hnidy away from everyone but once they got to the boards he wanted nothing to do with Hnidy. Not sure how they got fighting majors as no punches were thrown, just a lot of wrestling and Hnidy trying to get Gorges to actually fight, but Gorges just wanted to hold him.

Next was Komisarek hitting Lucic in the numbers (from behind) near the boards. Thornton came right after Komisarek dropping his gloves ready to fire a punch at Komisarek's face, but of course Komisarek didn't do anything. Lucic, being upset about the dirty hit no doubt, went after Komisarek and tackled him from behind which then a big scrum ensued.

And that was it for the rough stuff as the third period went on with back and forth scoring chances. The game went into overtime, which gave Montreal a point which backed them into the playoffs. In overtime Mark Recchi scored on a nice pass from Bergeron.

Wow what a game that was. It will be interesting if these two teams meet in the playoffs. Last year it was reversed with Montreal as first place and Bruins at eighth place meeting in the playoffs. Get ready for playoff hockey. Some pictures are below from the game. Source: AP

Mark Recchi scoring the game winning goal



Two pictures of the scrum in the second period after Byron Bitz hit goalie Carey Price.






Update on 4/13 @ 1:14 AM
Well I saw this article about the Habs-Bruins game on a Canadien News site and wanted to point out some things that they were wrong about. Go figure a Canadien News site embellishing about a Habs-Bruins game.

One part in the article says:

And as the horn blew to end the first, a scrum saw colossus defenceman Zdeno Chara raining blows on a hapless Komisarek - who clearly featured as the top target in the Bruins gameplan.

Though Chara sought out Komisarek, who was exchanging angry words with another Bruin, he received only a double-minor for roughing.

Umm, did this writer actually watch the game? Mike Komisarek tried to rough up and intimidate David Krejci while Krejci was down on the ice. So Zdeno Chara saw this and came in to protect his teammate and proceeded to rough up Komisarek. Komisarek being the 'man'? he is, hid behind linesmen and wanted nothing to do with Chara, but if it was Krejci I bet he would go right at him. Chara threw two uppercuts at the turtling Komisarek who then went down to the ice to hide.

Next the article says:

And on another occasion, Montreal defenceman Ryan O'Byrne took a double-minor and a 10-minute misconduct after bumping Thornton during a stop in play and dropping to the ice to protect himself as the Bruins player dropped his gloves and began punching him. Thornton got two minutes for roughing.

Again, did this writer watch the game? Shawn Thornton did not throw punches, he cocked his fist and was ready to pound away but Ryan O'Byrne turtled like the chicken he is. Remember O'Byrne was the one who elbowed Chuck Kobasew in the head at the end of the game, in the last game at Montreal this season. It takes a real man to do that eh? Or real purse stealer to do that?