Bruins assign Martins Karsums to Providence

After the Bruins win against the Atlanta Thrashers last night, the Bruins sent forward Martins Karsums back down to Providence (AHL).

The Bruins beat the Thrashers 4-2. Patrice Bergeron did not play due to the flu. Aaron Ward also did not play which seems like he re-injured himself on Friday against the Thrashers. Phil Kessel (19th goal), Michael Ryder (9th and 10th goals), and Dennis Wideman (7th goal) scored the goals for the Bruins. Manny Fernandez played in net and made 20 saves on 22 shots against and is now 9-2-1.

It was good to see Zdeno Chara come in and stick up for teammate Phil Kessel as Thrashers' defenseman Boris Valabik was whacking away at him and pushing him around. Not much of a fight but it sent a message. Kessel extended his point streak to 15 games. The Bruins have won their 11th consecutive game at home. The Bruins next game is on Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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 beat Sabres, play Panthers tonight

Wednesday night the Bruins were down 4-3 after the 1st period to the Sabres. But the 2nd and 3rd periods were owned by the Bruins outplaying the Sabres in every way just like their previous meeting. The Bruins won the game 7-4. Zdeno Chara and Chuck Kobasew each finished the game with 2 goals apiece (Chara now with 4 goals and Kobasew with 3 goals this season). Marc Savard finished the game with a goal (his 7th goal of the season) and 3 assists. David Krejci had a goal (his 4th goal of the season) and an assist. Marco Sturm didn't play because of an upper body injury, so Petteri Nokelainen played. Manny Fernandez started the game not to good, but got better as it went on. He made 25 saves on 29 shots, getting the win and is now 5-1-1 with a 2.55 GAA and a 91% save percentage.

And it's a joke not seeing Tim Thomas on the All-Star ballot, being 7-2 with a 1.78 GAA and a 94.4% save percentage, with 2 shutouts also.

The Bruins host the Florida Panthers tonight at 7pm EST. Expect Sturm to be out tonight and Nokelainen to play again. Saturday the Bruins play at Montreal which should be a good one. On Monday the Bruins are suppose to unveil their new Reebok third jersey. Read more about the new third jersey unveiling.

Bruins news this past week

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was named as a finalist for the Norris Trophy which is awarded "to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position." Red Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom and Flames' Dion Phaneuf were also named as finalists.

On Wednesday, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli signed goaltender Kevin Regan and center Levi Nelson to entry-level contracts.

Regan, "23-year old assistant captain and South Boston native finished the 2007-08 season as UNH's career leader with 70 wins, 3,235 saves and a .928 save percentage in 112 collegiate games. He is the only goaltender in UNH history to capture back-to-back 20-win campaigns." (Source)

Nelson "has played the last four seasons with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League, appearing in 198 games with 65 goals, 87 assists and 340 penalty minutes. During the 2007-08 regular season with Swift Current, Nelson notched 25 goals, 31 assists, a +23 plus/minus and 152 penalty minutes in 67 games. He has recently added seven goals and eight assists in 12 postseason games." (Source)

Phil Kessel, Tim Thomas, and Mark Stuart have been added to the roster of the U.S. Men's National Team that will compete at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.

On Thursday, Chiarelli announced that forwards Vladimir Sobotka and Petteri Nokelainen have been assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Chara and Thornton vs Brashear

Here are the fights from the Bruins awful game on March 3rd when they got blown out by the Washington Capitals. Zdeno Chara first took on Donald Brashear and then later in the game Shawn Thornton fought Brashear. Thornton's fight was more interesting and one of the best of the season. Watch them both below.

Chara vs Brashear


Thornton vs Brashear

Chara named a starter for All-Star game

Today the NHL announced that Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara has been named a starter for the Eastern Conference team in this years NHL All-Star game, which will be on January 27th. So far this season Chara has played in 41 games, has 6 goals and 20 assists, along with 76 PIMs and a +5 rating.

Wild ending last night against the Devils

Last night's game between the Bruins and Devils was a good one. The Bruins played a strong game for the most part as they played physical, played strong defense, and capitalized on some of their offensive chances. Although in the third period the Bruins looked to get away from the way they played in the first two periods, and the Devils got back into the game. At the end of the game their was a big scrum starting with Zdeno Chara and Brian Gionta getting into it, and Dennis Wideman and Devils' captain Jamie Langenbrunner holding onto each other. Watch it below if you missed it.

Bruins-Devils scrum at the end of the game

The Bruins next game is on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins will be playing three big games this week, the Hurricanes on Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, and the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. The Bruins are currently 21-16-4 with 46 points, which puts them in third place in the Northeast Division (Senators with 58 points and Canadiens with 48 points are ahead of them).

Random stat I think is interesting. Last season the Bruins had 29 fighting majors total for the whole season. This season they already have 30 fighting majors.

Another Flyers cheapshot against the Bruins

As I'm typing this it's 5-3 Bruins with the lead. But the big story is that there was another cheapshot on another Bruins' player by a Flyers' player. This time it was Flyers' Scott Hartnell who elbowed Andrew Alberts in the head, while Alberts was on his knees against the boards. What the hell is wrong with some of these players? Alberts was on his knees against the boards and Hartnell sees this and still hits Alberts. Luckily Alberts was able to get up and go to the dressing room mostly on his own. Hartnell got a 5-minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Hopefully Hartnell gets suspended for this hit to make a statement that these head shots and hits from behind need to stop. But I'm expecting the league office to not do anything since Alberts was not carried off in a stretcher.

Before this cheapshot there was a hit by Ben Eager on Zdeno Chara which could also be seen as dirty. Eager hit Chara as Chara had his back to Eager and was passing or shooting the puck into the Flyers' zone. Aaron Ward didn't like it and went after Eager and challenged him to a fight but rather than dropping his gloves Eager elbowed Ward in the head. So Ward tackled and wrestled him down onto the ice and wouldn't let him up. Earlier in the game Eager fought Jeremy Reich and Reich got the decision in that one. Eager turtled in the end of that fight as he looked like he didn't want anything to do with Reich.

Update at 9:42PM
The game has just finished and the Bruins won 6-3.

Scott Hartnell elbowing Andrew Alberts' head into the boards

(Picture courtesy of Getty images)

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.

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 display just how bad they really are

Today's 5-0 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins showed just how bad the Bruins really are. This team has a lot to work on during the rest of the season and during the off-season. Not much emotion was shown during and after the second period. Jeremy Reich was the only one who showed something but he alone couldn't bring the Bruins back against the Penguins. I'm so disgusted that I'm not even going to go through the game and write what happened. It was just awful. That third period reminded me of what we saw last season. No heart, no intensity, giving so many chances to the opposition, just awful hockey being played by the Bruins.

And what about Zdeno Chara? In my mind he has been somewhat of a disappointment this season. In an article on Telegram.com, in Bud Barth's NHL notes he makes some good points about Chara. A few interesting parts from the article:

If you want to talk numbers, they’re OK for a defenseman — 10 goals and 30 assists in 72 games after yesterday’s clash with the New York Rangers.

Chara’s minus-14 rating isn’t exactly worthy of a parade down Causeway Street, especially given that he was a plus-33 with Ottawa three years ago, but there are two Bruins with worse numbers, plus a couple of mitigating factors to consider.

On the other side, Chara is distressingly casual about puck possession, which may explain him being the runaway team leader in giveaways (82), or unforced turnovers of the puck.

Chara leads the Bruins in hits with 179, but he hasn’t dropped the gloves once in anger all season, either to defend a teammate or to turn the tide of a game. Not one fight all season.

Admittedly, you want your top defenseman on the ice instead of in the penalty box, but there comes a time when you have to do what you have to do — and Chara hasn’t done it, which may be the most alarming statistic of all. It conveys a lack of passion.

What do other Bruins fans think? Has Chara lived up to what you thought he would bring to the Bruins or has he not lived up to your expectations? I know that if he had better teammates like he did in Ottawa then his numbers would probably be better, but I still think he hasn't lived up to his contract.

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.

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.

Chara nets two in All-Star game

Zdeno Chara represented the Boston Bruins in the All-Star game last night and scored two goals. He did not win the All-Star MVP award, Daniel Briere did. I actually watched the All-Star game on VS, probably one of the few that did, but did anyone else notice how quiet it was during the game, even when the players scored? And half-way through the third period I thought I saw empty seats in the arena. The NHL definitely has problems and they need to fix it to bring back real long-time fans. The Bruins get back on the ice on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. The last game between these two teams was a physical one and I'm expecting it to be just as physical on Saturday.

Bruins win with Kessel's two goals

On Thursday the Bruins beat the Penguins in a shootout with Phil Kessel getting the game-winning goal. Phil Kessel has been playing great, with two goals on Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres also. You can watch the Penguins-Bruins game highlights on ESPN.com. Hannu Toivonen got the start against the Penguins and he had a new goalie mask, which he dedicated to the Boston sports scene with pictures of Ray Bourque, Larry Bird, Tedy Bruschi, and David Ortiz, see a picture below. It was a good game with the scoring going back and forth, and a few scrums with Zdeno Chara and Ryan Malone as well. The Bruins are now 22-19-4 and play the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Hannu Toivonen with his new goalie mask


Ryan Malone and Zdeno Chara roughing

Bruins vs Senators preview

Tonight the Bruins play the Ottawa Senators and it looks like the Bruins will be without captain Zdeno Chara and maybe Brad Stuart tonight. Chara because of injury and Stuart because of a newborn baby. The last time these two teams met you'll remember the incident with Brian McGrattan and Wayne Primeau, with McGrattan's high hit attempt on Primeau which started a semi-line brawl. We'll see what happens tonight with the Bruins not having any enforcers on their roster.