Bruins get by Lightning 5-3

The Bruins beat the Lightning last night to extend their winning streak to 5 games, as they have won 14 of their last 16 games. They had a really good first period, ending it 3-0. Milan Lucic scored a power-play goal, his 7th goal of the season; Phil Kessel scored his 17th goal of the season; and Michael Ryder scored his 7th goal of the season. In the second period, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara scored his 5th goal of the season, a power-play goal to make it 4-1 Bruins. In the third period, the Lightning scored two goals to make it interesting as the Bruins from the second period on didn't play the same as in the first period. Seemed like they sat back a little expecting the Lightning to just give up. P.J. Axelsson closed out the game with an empty net goal, his first goal of the season.

Tim Thomas played in this one and made 26 saves on 29 shots against him. Thomas is now 11-3-3 with a 1.90 GAA and a 94% save percentage. Meanwhile Manny Fernandez is 8-1-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a 92.6% save percentage. Both goalies are playing great and the Bruins defense is playing good as well.

Is it me or does anyone else notice the huge amount of off-sides calls when Blake Wheeler is on the ice? Either when he has the puck or doesn't have it, he goes off-side or causes off-sides a lot. Hopefully he improves in that area. Although he is a surprise to be playing this well with 9 goals, 6 assists for 15 points, with a +15 rating, and he has the highest shooting percentage on the Bruins with a 23.1% percentage.

Bruins explode vs Islanders

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving day. It seemed like the Bruins did as they started slow today against the New York Islanders, but then exploded and dominated the Islanders. The Bruins had a slow first period, which ended 1-0 Islanders. In the second period, Chuck Kobasew scored his 4th goal of the season, a power-play goal to tie the game. Later in the period, Michael Ryder scored on a nice wrist shot, his 4th goal of the season too. In the third period, the Bruins just broke it open. Blake Wheeler scored his7th goal of the season on a one-timer, from a nice pass by David Krejci. Ten seconds later David Krejci fought his way to the net with the puck and roofed it, to get his 6th goal of the season. A little later, on the power-play, Dennis Wideman scored on the power-play, his 6th goal of the season. The Islanders managed to score on a power-play to make it 5-2. But the Bruins didn't let down as Michael Ryder scored his second goal of the game, his 5th goal of the season. Phil Kessel finished the scoring with his 12th goal of the season, from a sweet pass by Milan Lucic.

Kessel, Krejci, Wheeler, Wideman all finished the game with a goal and an assist. Marc Savard finished the game with two assists. Manny Fernandez started and finished this game in net for the Bruins making 22 saves on 24 shots. There were two fights in this one as Milan Lucic and Brendan Witt fought, and Shane Hnidy took on Tim Jackman.

Bruins beat Canadiens, but lose Ference

On Thursday, the Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens soundly, but they lost defenseman Andrew Ference in it. He was injured while blocking a shot and will be out for 6-8 weeks with a broken tibia. So look for young defenseman Matt Hunwick to get to play or the Bruins may even call up defenseman Matt Lashoff.

I will be posting some clips from this game like the Milan Lucic vs Mike Komisarek fight where Lucic handled the Canadiens defenseman well and put him down to the ice. I will also post the goal Milan Lucic scored and some of his hits as well.

Lucic has career game vs Thrashers

Last night Milan Lucic had his best NHL career game scoring 3 goals (his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th goals of the season) and adding an assist for 4 points vs the Atlanta Thrashers. None were pretty goals but hard working goals via tips/deflections and rebounds. Lucic also had 4 hits last night which led the Bruins in that department. You can watch the Thrashers-Bruins game highlights video.

Manny Fernandez started vs the Thrashers and made 28 saves on 32 shots against. Fernandez and Thomas have similar numbers as Claude Julien rotates them to see who plays better. So far this season, in 4 games, Tim Thomas is 1-1, with a 2.65 GAA, and his save percentage is 91.9%. While also in 4 games so far this season, Manny Fernandez is 2-1, with a 2.96 GAA, and his save percentage is 89.2%.

Bruins blow lead to Leafs

Last  night the Bruins had a 2-0 lead against the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs but wound up losing the game 4-2. Patrice Bergeron scored his first goal and Blake Wheeler scored his second goal of the season in the first period. The Leafs tied the game in the second period and then went ahead in the third period. Tim Thomas started for the Bruins, made 33 saves on 36 shots against. Thomas has now started 4 games and is 1-2-2, with a 2.65 GAA, and 91.9% save percentage.

There were two big hits by the Bruins is this game that were noticeable. The first one was Dennis Wideman laying out a Maple Leaf when the Leaf tried cutting into the middle of the defensive zone. It looked like a classic Andrew Alberts or Kyle McLaren type of hit. The next hit was Milan Lucic slamming Leaf defenseman Mike Van Ryn threw the glass. Lucic finished the game with 4 hits, while Zdeno Chara led the team with 5 hits.

You can watch the Leafs-Bruins game highlights, which includes the two big hits.

The Bruins next game is on Saturday at 7pm EST vs the Atlanta Thrashers.

Milan Lucic wins 7th Player Award

Last night before the game vs Toronto, the Bruins 7th Player Award was awarded to none other than rookie forward Milan Lucic. Lucic deserved to win the award and he was my choice as well. Congratulations to Milan Lucic! Some quotes from the rookie after last night's game (source):

"I think [the Bruins] set that certain identity with the players they've had in the organization," said the rookie to the reporters who waited for him after the game -- many of whom had smiles on their faces while listening to Milan. "Back in the day I can name lots of them who played here: Cam [Neely], Ray [Bourque], and Terry O'Reilly. Look up at the rafters and you can see all the guys who've had their numbers retired. It's all guys who have played hardnosed hockey in your face."

"It's a very successful style and I think it's an entertaining style," he said.

"You know, as a player you always want to be a popular player," said Lucic. "You want to be a fan favorite. [But, before tonight] to be perfectly honest, it never really crossed my mind."

"I just went out there and tried to play my game, play hard everyday, and tried to contribute."

"I guess you could say that my style of hockey sort of fits the bill for a Boston Bruin," he said, finally. "So it's probably the best place I could've come out of all thirty teams."

The Bruins beat Toronto last night to finish off Toronto's chances of making the playoffs. The Bruins next game is on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.

Bruins youngsters bring it vs Toronto

Tonight the Bruins won a big game against the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2. With Marc Savard and Andrew Ference already out for this one, Chuck Kobasew got hurt in the first period after taking a puck off one of his feet. But the Bruins youngsters and character players stepped up and helped the Bruins offense score six goals.

David Krejci had a goal and an assist. Matt Lashoff had two assists. Phil Kessel scored the fifth goal of the game which came at a good time. Milan Lucic had two assists, one which was a nice pass to Shawn Thornton where Thornton deked around Vesa Toskala to score his 4th goal of the season. Jeremy Reich scored an empty net goal to end the game, his 2nd of the season. Glen Murray and Marco Sturm added the other two goals in the game for the Bruins. I will try and post the Shawn Thornton goal and the Jeremy Reich goal.

Goals from Bruins tough guys

I enjoy seeing the tough guys score goals and I've been trying to post the goals scored by Milan Lucic, Shawn Thornton, and Jeremy Reich this season. Well below are videos of two more goals, one from Lucic and the other from Thornton.

On February 23rd against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Milan Lucic scored his 7th goal of the season. Watch it below.

On February 26th against the Ottawa Senators, Shawn Thornton scored his 3rd goal of the season. Watch it below.

Milan Lucic's fight vs Jarkko Ruutu

If you missed the Bruins vs Penguins game on February 28th, then you missed a good win by the Bruins and a big long fight between Milan Lucic and Pens agitator Jarkko Ruutu. In the third period Ruutu went after Lucic as Lucic was at the end of a shift and pushed Lucic a few times to get him to drop the gloves. They dropped the gloves and then had one of the longest fights this season. Lucic started with some body shots which you could tell helped later as Lucic landed some big punches on Ruutu. You can watch the fight below. Make sure to pay attention to the replay they show after the fight as Ruutu throws a punch that misses which then Lucic counters that with a huge punch that lands on Ruutu's face and watch the background as you'll see the Bruins bench yell in excitement for Lucic. Also included in the video below is a TSN interview with Milan Lucic after that game.

You can download this clip here.

Action from 2/19 game vs Hurricanes

I know I'm late in posting this but below are some video clips from the game vs the Carolina Hurricanes on February 19th.

Jeremy Reich and Tim Conboy drop the gloves and it's all Reich in this fight. Reich gets the win in this fight. Watch it below.

Milan Lucic hits Scott Walker from behind and Walker doesn't like it as they shove and talk to each other. Watch it below.

Milan Lucic comes out of the penalty box from his hitting from behind penalty, and he gets a scoring chance. Former Bruin Wade Brookbank follows Lucic around the ice challenging him to a fight. Lucic and Brookbank do drop the gloves and have a good fight. I would give this fight a draw. Watch it below.

Tim Gleason hits Marc Savard with a big hit and Milan Lucic challenges Gleason to a fight. They drop the gloves and have a good squareoff. Looks like Gleason lands a left on Lucic's already broken nose and Lucic loses his balance and goes down to the ice. Decision to Gleason in this one. Watch it below.

Chatting with Milan Lucic

Milan Lucic had a rinkside chat with fans on February 27th and BostonBruins.com has the chat transcript. Lucic seems to be a funny, easy-going kid and has become my favorite Bruin this season. Make sure to check out the transcript. Here are some interesting questions by fans and answers by Lucic (taken from various spots throughout the chat):

Jessie: Any reason for the number 17?

Milan Lucic: Well I was born on June 7, so I like to have the #7 in my number. Growing up in Junior I wore 27 but obviously it is taken by Glen Murray and 37 was taken by Patrice...7 and 77 weren't available either!

Kapler_Fan: Who has been your idol for hockey?

Milan Lucic: Growing up my uncle Dan Kesa played pro hockey and also played 130 games in the NHL for Van, Pit, Dal and Tampa.

MarcoSturm16: Are you done fighting for the year after you re-broke your nose?

Milan Lucic: That's a good question haha. I'm going to let the bone heal and we will see what happens... about six weeks left in the reg season so somewhere in the last few games there may be an altercation.

blackngold: Keep up the great work Milan! Have you received any fighting pointers and help from Thorts and/or Reich?

Milan Lucic: Not really, but they give me good scouting reports... Thorts get out of my chat you can ask me these questions tomorrow. Haha.

mdrew: Do you hate the Montreal Canadiens as much as I do?

Milan Lucic: What do you think?

Vote for Bruins 7th Player Award

It's that time again Bruins fans, it's time to vote for your pick of who should win the Bruins 7th Player Award. You can vote on BostonBruins.com here. The top choices I think are: Milan Lucic, Chuck Kobasew, and Tim Thomas. My choice for the Bruins 7th Player Award is Milan Lucic. He has no doubt surprised everyone with how good he has played being a rookie at 19 years old and has passed everyone's expectations. So far this season Lucic has played in 57 games, has 7 goals (4 game winners) with 13 assists for 20 points. Lucic has 71 PIMs and a team leading 11 fighting majors.

Last few Milan Lucic goals

I'm a big fan of Bruins' rookie Milan Lucic so I thought I would post clips of the goals he scores this year. Here are two more. The first video below is of Lucic' goal in the 2007-08 NHL Young Stars game on January 26th. The second video below is Lucic scoring against the Ottawa Senators on January 31st, which was his 6th goal of the season.

Bruins beat Senators in nice win

The Bruins played great against the Ottawa Senators last night and got the 4-1 win. Tim Thomas really saved the Bruins with some spectacular saves and rookie Milan Lucic continues to show improvement with a goal, an assist, was +2, had 2 shots, and led the Bruins with 4 hits.

The Bruins better be ready for tomorrow night as they play the Detroit Red Wings.

Milan Lucic highlights vs Canadiens

I didn't get a chance to post the Milan Lucic highlights vs the Montreal Canadiens from January 10th so I will now. Lucic had some big hits on Mike Komisarek and he also received a few. Also Lucic scored his fourth goal of the season. Watch the YouTube video below.

Also in that game Shawn Thornton roughed up Roman Hamrlik which I liked seeing. Watch it below.

You can download video clips of these videos here.

Savard and Lucic named to 'Stars' games

First, Bruins' center Marc Savard was named to the Eastern Conference All-Stars team. From BostonBruins.com:

This marks Savard's first appearance in an NHL All-Star Game in his 10-year-career. Savard leads the Bruins with 47 points this season, having posted 11 goals, a team-best 36 assists, and a +5 plus/minus rating in 43 games.

On Tuesday, Bruins' rookie power forward Milan Lucic was named to the Eastern Conference YoungStars team. From BostonBruins.com:

This year, in his first NHL season, Lucic has tallied four goals and five assists, while registering 59 penalty minutes in 39 games.

Before joining Boston this season, Lucic's previous two campaigns were spent with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Last season, Lucic led the Giants in regular season scoring with 30 goals and 38 assists and 147 penalty minutes in 70 regular season games. During the Giants run towards the 2007 Memorial Cup Championship, Lucic added 19 points and 26 penalty minutes in 22 games and was named the Giants Most Valuable Player, the team’s Humanitarian and Service award winner and the 2007 Memorial Cup MVP.

It's good to see Savard and Lucic awarded for their good play so far this season.

Lucic with a nice pass to Kessel

Even though the Bruins lost against the Hurricanes on Friday there was one play I wanted to show anyone who didn't get to see it. Bruins' rookie Milan Lucic made a beautiful pass to Phil Kessel, who scored his 10th goal of the season. I included the video of the pass and goal below. Lucic has made some nice passes in the past few games. He also made a sweet pass in the game against the Thrashers yesterday. I think Lucic going to be a special kind of player that the Bruins need to keep and get more players like him.

Phil Kessel scores assisted by Milan Lucic

You can download video of this goal here.

Lucic mailbag on The Hockey News

The Hockey News site has a Milan Lucic mailbag which I think is cool and interesting to read what Lucic has to say. Read all the questions and answers here. Below I quoted two questions and answers from the mailbag.

I'm always interested in how players pick their jersey number. How did you pick your No. 17?
J Purvis

The number I like and used the last three years in junior was No. 27. Obviously 27 was taken by Glen Murray, so I wanted to stay with the No. 7 because I was born on the seventh. So that’s why I use the No. 17.

Enjoy watching you play Milan, you bring a much-needed dynamic to this team. Which of your NHL fights was the toughest so far?
Peter S.

I’d say Raitis Ivanans of Los Angeles because he was the strongest of them all.

Milan Lucic TKOs David Clarkson

Well I mentioned it last night in my blog post, but what a fight Milan Lucic had last night. He dropped the gloves with New Jersey Devils' David Clarkson and at the start of it they were trading punches. Clarkson looked to land more. But then Lucic landed a big right hand to Clarkson's face that stunned him. The refs then came in to save Clarkson from more of Lucic's punches. Watch the YouTube video of the fight below.

Milan Lucic vs David Clarkson

Bruins injury update and game update

Earlier today Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announced that goalie Manny Fernandez had successful surgery on his left knee and is likely out for the season. Quoted from a BostonHerald.com article, Chiarelli said:

"It's a relief, because we know he's going to be in shape for next year," B's general manager Peter Chiarelli said last night before his team's 4-3 win over the Thrashers. "It's likely that he'll be gone the whole year, maybe not, but he'll be ready for next year.

"It’s been a chronic thing all year and Manny felt he couldn't perform at 100 percent. He had to alter his style. I'm not ruling out him coming back this year, but we're under the assumption that with proper rehab, it's going to take the rest of the year."

Defenseman Andrew Ference came back the last game against the Atlanta Thrashers. It's good to have him back in the lineup. Marco Sturm is playing tonight against the New Jersey Devils. I have heard that Patrice Bergeron is slowly improving. Defenseman Bobby Allen is day-to-day with back spasms.

If I had to pick someone as best Bruin player playing in the past few games, I would pick either Marc Savard or Milan Lucic. Lucic may not have the numbers but he's definitely shown some good signs. Did you see the pass he made to Glen Murray in the Thrashers game? It was a sweet pass that I didn't expect from Lucic. Tonight he dropped the gloves with Devils' agitator David Clarkson and landed a punch that stunned Clarkson. The refs had to come in and save him. On the BostonHerald.com article page (link above) there is a poll that asked who was the Bruins player of the game on Wednesday night, and guess who leads the poll? Milan Lucic does, which is who I voted for.

Hopefully the Bruins can come back as they are losing 2-1 with 4 minutes left in the third period.

Update at 9:30 PM
The Bruins lost 3-1 against the Devils tonight. The Bruins next game is on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bruins defeat Sabres, lose Sturm

Nice 4-1 win last night by the Bruins against the Sabres. The Bruins took advantage of the Sabres' mistakes and capitalized on them. Rookie Milan Lucic picked up two assists in this game. His first assist, he stole the puck on a bad clear and made a sweet pass to Peter Schaefer and Schaefer scored his fifth goal of the season. Lucic had 15:35 of ice time, getting 2 assists, was a +2, was credited with 3 hits, and had 4 shots on goal. Bruins' goalie Alex Auld played great and surprised me. I didn't think he would play this well but he shut me up. Auld is playing awesome right now and so is the Bruins defense.

Bruins winger Marco Sturm was hit near the eye with a puck in the first period and did not return to the game. I must have missed this on television.

From Yahoo! Sports:

After the game, Boston coach Claude Julien said Sturm's eye was at first completely swollen shut, but shortly after was able to open it. Julien said he didn't believe Sturm would miss the Bruins' next game at Atlanta on Wednesday night.

"We didn't want to take a chance at putting him out there," Julien said.

Milan Lucic now wears #17

Just a random update on one of the players who is a fan favorite. Rookie Milan Lucic has changed his number from #62 to #17. I can't remember who was the last player to wear #17 for the Bruins. If you know leave us a comment and let us know.

Thornton vs Cote and Lucic vs Eager

Ok I said I would post the two fights from the Bruins-Flyers game on Saturday so here they are. The Shawn Thornton vs Riley Cote fight was awesome. This is fight of the year so far I would say. Both guys kept throwing punch after punch with no one going down. I would give a slight edge to Thornton in this fight. After Thornton vs Cote, Milan Lucic dropped the gloves with Flyers' Ben Eager and they had an ok fight. Lucic looked to land some punches on Eager, but after the fight it was Lucic with a cut on his cheek under his left eye. I would give this fight a draw. Watch both fights below. You can download video clips of these two fights here.

Shawn Thornton vs Riley Cote


Milan Lucic vs Ben Eager

Milan Lucic is staying

If you haven't heard by now, Bruins' rookie Milan Lucic is staying with the Bruins and will not be returned to his Junior team as of right now. He still can be sent back to his Junior team at any time during the season.

After hearing he will be staying with the Bruins, Milan Lucic said (source):

"As a kid growing up it had always been my goal to play in the NHL, and now it's finally a reality. I have to do whatever it takes to stay around. It's a learning process and I'm trying to get better every day. That's the best way for me to stay here."

Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli on Lucic staying with the Bruins said (source):

"I told him he still has some things to work on and he agreed. But we like what he's brought so far, he's progressed and he's something the Bruins have been looking for, so we are happy to have him. He had some stretches along the way where he wasn't good and he recognizes that. He's improved as each day has gone by and we decided to keep him."

It should be fun watching Lucic play in all or most of the games this season.

(Above image is courtesy of Getty images. Image hosted by ImageShack.us.)

Bruins lose to Flyers and lose Bergeron

The Bruins lost 2-1 against the Flyers yesterday but that wasn't the big or important news as far as I'm concerned. Patrice Bergeron was hit from behind by Flyers' defenseman Randy Jones and Bergeron went headfirst into the boards. Bergeron layed on the ice motionless and injured. It appears that Bergeron only has a concussion and a broken nose from the cheap hit. The Bruins released a statement regarding Bergeron, saying:

"After initially losing consciousness on the ice, Patrice has regained consciousness and has been taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he is undergoing a series of tests.

Patrice has sustained a concussion and a broken nose. The initial x-rays and CT scan have not shown any other serious injury to his head or neck, and he has full feeling and motion in all of his extremities.

We will continue to monitor Patrice and await the final results of his medical studies."

The game was getting physical before the cheapshot on Bergeron. Shawn Thornton had a great fight with Flyers' Riley Cote. It reminded me of the P.J. Stock vs Stephen Peat slugfest. They went toe to toe and after the fight it looked like Thornton had a black and blue right eye. I didn't see a close-up shot of Cote to see if he got tagged good. After that fight, rookie Milan Lucic and Flyers' Ben Eager dropped the gloves and had an ok fight, with Eager going down to the ice. After the fight you could see Lucic had a cut under his left eye I think. I will post these fights on this blog when I can.

Let's all send our best wishes and prayers to Patrice Bergeron and his family. We all hope he fully recovers and is able to play hockey again.

Bruins and Chara beat up Blackhawks

Last night the Bruins got another win at home. This time beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. Phil Kessel and Tim Thomas had big games. Kessel scored two goals, and now has 5 goals for the season and is leading the Bruins in goals. Thomas made 26 saves on 27 shots against. Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara also had a good game, he played physical and he had a good fight against Blackhawks' enforcer David Koci. Koci had an injury to his nose from a fight against Maple Leafs' Wade Belak, but now his nose is really messed up as Chara bloodied him badly. After the fight Koci's face looked to be covered with blood, as did the ice surface where they fought. Watch the fight below.

Zdeno Chara bloodies David Koci

After the game Chara didn't say much about the fight. From BostonHerald.com, Chara said:

"It was just part of the game. It's something that... it's part of the game. He was doing his job, going hard at the net. I was doing my job, protecting the crease and the goalie. Things like that happen."

Aaron Ward also had some comments about the Chara fight (source):

"You know what? I'm really excited for him. I was here for seven weeks last year and I know the pressure he is under to perform, and that includes being a presence on the ice. It's tough to get a dance partner out there. When you get an opportunity like that, it's very apparent that he plays that role. That's months, if not a year or more, of tension and frustration there. Unfortunately that young man bore the brunt of the emotion Z had pent up there. That's the first time I've actually clapped on the ice. I had lost my stick when we all paired off. The fight got done, and I looked up and I clapped."

Some news on Milan Lucic, it looks like he may be getting tired. Remember he was playing even before the pre-season and before rookie camp. A part from the same article (link above):

"Lucic said his confidence has been growing game by game, although he admitted he is feeling fatigue after a very busy few months.

"Fatigue is starting to kick in," he said. "I've been going at it for a few months already. But that's just something you've got to battle through. I'm just going to sure I get rest and I'm prepared to go when it's time to go."

Don't be surprised if Lucic is scratched in one of the upcoming games to give him a rest and maybe Jeremy Reich or Brandon Bochenski will get to play their first game of the season. The Bruins play the Philadelphia Flyers on tomorrow at 4pm. Expect a physical game between these two teams. I'm expecting a Shawn Thornton vs Riley Cote match-up. Maybe even a Milan Lucic vs Ben Eager match-up.

Habs blow out Fernandez and B's

On Monday the Bruins got blown out 6-1 by the hated Montreal Canadiens. Manny Fernandez looked to have a bad game, even though some of the goals he allowed could have been blamed on bad defense and losing faceoffs in the defensive zone. So far this season it's looking like Tim Thomas should be the Bruins' starting goalie and Fernandez backing him up.

Later tonight the Bruins play at home against the Chicago Blackhawks who are 5-4-0. The Bruins are 5-3-0 and are currently tied for 4th place in the Eastern Conference with 10 points. The Bruins are second place in the Northeast division behind the Ottawa Senators, who are 8-1-0 and have 16 points. Look for this game to be physical as they have one of the top enforcers in the league with David Koci. Last season Koci joined the Blackhawks late and had a wild first game with two good fights against Josh Gratton. Also Koci beat Derek Boogaard in a fight in the pre-season this year so he is someone to watch out for.

Good news for other Milan Lucic fans out there, it looks like he may be staying with the Bruins for longer than the 9-10 games. From a BostonHerald.com article:

The B's, in effect, have Lucic on a nine-game tryout, before having to decide if he will stay with the team or be sent back to juniors. The organization already has decided Lucic will be sticking around.

Lucic's junior coach, Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants, said in Sunday's edition of the Vancouver Province that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli gave him the news recently.

"What (Chiarelli) told me is that the nine-game rule doesn't mean anything to them," Hay said. "To them, how he is playing is what will dictate whether he'll stay. He said that it doesn't mean he isn't going to come back at some time, but just don't expect it after nine games."

"I'm living a dream," Lucic said. "I'm having a lot of fun. I just want to do everything in my power to keep this going. (The Bruins) haven't really said anything to me. I'll know after the ninth game. I'm not looking too far ahead.... I'm just going to try and play like I have the past ones."

Bruins give a show in home opener

Before yesterday's game, the Bruins were 19-2-6-0 all-time against the Lightning on home ice. They improved that record to 20 wins with yesterday's 4-1 win over the Lightning. The game started out with a lot of energy and we saw some physical play. The home crowd got to see Bruins' rookie Milan Lucic for the first time and he didn't disappoint as he dropped the gloves with Lightning tough guy Nick Tarnasky and pounded away on Tarnasky's face with rights. Watch the video below. Bruins' Marco Sturm scored two goals, including the game winner, while Tim Thomas made 35 saves to get the win. Thomas is now 3-1 with a 1.26 GAA and 96.2% save percentage. He looks like he should be the starter over Fernandez right now in the season.

Nick Tarnasky vs Milan Lucic

You can download video clips of this fight and the Andre Roy vs Shawn Thornton fight here.

A little more on Milan Lucic. The below quotes were found on this BostonBruins.com page.

"I've had to talk about this guy every day, so he is obviously doing something right," said Julien on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, when asked if Milan will be sticking with the Bruins Julien said that no decision has been made as of yet.

"I can't declare anything because I am not the guy who has the last say on that," said Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "So it will be a matter of Peter (Chiarelli) and everyone else involved, (making) the decision.

"But I can stand here as a coach and tell you I like what I see," he said.

What's not to like?

The kid has asserted himself, and the rumor around the room yesterday amongst his teammates was that Milan was the quickest ever to have notched the coveted "Gordie Howe Hat trick" (a goal, an assist and a fight) on Friday, October 12th against the Kings.

I'm hoping Lucic stays with the Bruins but I know they have a similar player in Jeremy Reich, who hasn't played yet and yesterday found out he is injured. Also the Bruins don't like carrying around players that don't play, as like last season. So we'll see what happens.

The Bruins will play the New York Rangers tomorrow at 4pm. Should be a good physical game. I'm thinking Shawn Thornton and ex-Bruin Colton Orr will meet up at some time during the game.

A night of firsts for a few Bruins

Last night's game was a wild scoring-fest with the Bruins and Kings going back and forth in the third period with goals. It's a good thing that Marc Savard played in this game as he played well and picked up 5 points, 1 goal and 4 assists. It was definitely a night of firsts for some Bruins' players. Rookie Milan Lucic picked up his first NHL goal, and had a Gordie Howe hat trick in this game. You can see Lucic's fight with Kings' enforcer Raitis Ivanans and Lucic's first career NHL goal down below. Phil Kessel recorded his first NHL hat trick. B's goalie Manny Fernandez picked up his first win as a member of the Bruins, even though the Bruins' defense did not play well. Later tonight the Bruins play at the San Jose Sharks, against former Bruins Joe Thornton and Kyle McLaren.

Milan Lucic vs Raitis Ivanans


Milan Lucic scores his 1st NHL goal


Lucic scoring his first NHL goal, image courtesy of Getty Images

You can download clips of Lucic's fight and goal on my hockey forum.

Bruins make final roster cuts

On Monday the Bruins announced that defenseman Matt Hunwick, center Petteri Nokelainen, and center Nate Thompson have been assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL). Also left wing Jeff Hoggan has been placed on waivers and if he clears waivers he will be assigned to Providence.

It's good to see prospect rugged winger Milan Lucic will be on the Bruins roster at the start of this season. He's probably going to play in the first 9 games and then be sent back to his Junior team. But Bruins fans will get to see one of the future players for the Bruins. Here's what Chiarelli had to say about Lucic from BostonBruins.com:

"I think Milan started very strongly," said the GM. "He is a big, strong player, strong along the boards -- you've seen him fight. "He has a little finish and that has been improving. "He's tailed off a little bit in the last couple of games and practices, (but) we attribute that to fatigue... he's been, pretty much, going non-stop since the beginning of July," Chiarelli said. Furthermore, Lucic embodies the "harder to play against" mold that the club has been coveting. "He's got a lot of what we are looking for," said Chiarelli. "And we are going to look at him a little bit further -- we have the luxury of those nine games (pertaining to his contract status) and I think at this point we are going to take advantage of some of those games... (but) he's a big strong kid that we like."

Preseason: Bruins beat Islanders

Yesterday the Bruins beat the Islanders 3-1. Jeff Hoggan scored two goals while Chuck Kobasew scored the other goal. The game was feisty with four fights. New Bruins Shawn Thornton got the decision against Kip Brennan, captain Zdeno Chara vs Kip Brennan (watch the video below), Andrew Ference vs Josef Vasicek, and Milan Lucic pounded Matthew Spiller (watch the video below). The Bruins played a good team game and won, hopefully this continues.

Zdeno Chara vs Kip Brennan


Milan Lucic vs Matthew Spiller

Bruins sign prospect Milan Lucic

The Boston Bruins have signed Milan Lucic to an entry-level contract. On Bruins.NHL.com,