2009-2010 Boston Bruins Season Recap

Well, what can I say? Another season of putting food on the Jacobs’ family's table, another year with a disappointing end to a Bruins season. I am going to give you my own personal recap of this 2009-2010 Bruins season as I saw it. For those of you who wear Bruins beer goggles, you may not want to read this because you will probably mistake me for some bitter, grumpy old man, but what I am is a 28 year old diehard Boston Bruins fan since 1990 anxiously awaiting a Stanley Cup for the first time in my lifetime.

This was one of the most anticipated Bruins seasons in recent memory. Last season, the Bruins were one goal away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 until Carolina villain Scott Walker had to crush all of our hearts. Three weeks before this season began, Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli pulled off a very bold move by trading 2008-2009 top scorer Phil Kessel to Toronto for their first round pick in the 2010 Entry Draft and three additional picks. Kessel was very disgruntled in Boston and needed a change a of scenery. Chiarelli initially took some heat for not replacing those 36 goals Kessel would have been expected to score, but he stressed that he was confident in guys such as Marco Sturm, Blake Wheeler, and Michael Ryder to contribute a little more than what they had in the 08-09 season. Yeah, about that...

The Bruins kicked off the 09-10 season with a 5 game homestand. They opened up with a disappointing 4-1 loss to Washington, and followed up that effort with a nice 7-2 win over Carolina with 7 different goal scorers and a season high 4 powerplay goals; definitely a nice way to get back at the team that crushed your Stanley Cup dreams in the previous season. They were then embarrassed 6-1 by Anaheim, squeaked by the shitty Islanders in a shootout, and ended the homestand by not setting their alarm clocks properly as they were beaten by Colorado in a Columbus Day matinee. The Bruins went on the road for the first time and lost two of their most important offensive players as Marc Savard and Milan Lucic were both put on the shelf. Savard had suffered a broken foot in training camp and came clean with it on the road, and Milan Lucic had suffered a broken finger; just 24 hours before finding out this news, Chiarelli traded Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota for two nobodies who had never sniffed the TD Garden ice. It was not a particularly popular move amongst the guys in the room as Kobasew was very well respected and represented what it meant to be a Bruin. Before they returned home for Nashville, Chiarelli acquired Danny Paille from Buffalo to replace PJ Axelsson on the penalty kill, and Paille did an admiral job in that department as their penalty kill quickly rose to the top of the NHL.

The Bruins grinded out the next few weeks with a depleted lineup, and during that stretch it was like attending exhibition games with the lineups that were being thrown out there. Guys like Brad Marchand, Trent Whitfield, and Mikko Lehtonen were taking regular shifts…who? As if the injury bug wasn’t bad enough, David Krejci was diagnosed with the good old H1N1 virus, aka the swine flu, which put him on the shelf for a week. The Bruins suffered another critical injry setback as Tim Thomas was mysteriously the backup goalie for 2.5 weeks. After giving up a game tying goal to Billy Guerin with less than a second remaining in regulation and then singlehandedly giving the game to Pittsburgh in overtime with a costly turnover behind his own net, Thomas allegedly punched a wall in the locker room and injured his hand. That story was reported by multiple reliable Bruins sources and it was something that didn’t take me by surprise given the fact that Thomas can be a hothead. That gave Tuukka Rask the starting job for a few weeks and gave the Bruins and their fans a glimpse as to what they may have in their goaltending future going forward.

During the first week of December, Chiarelli signed top scorer Marc Savard to a 7 year/$28M contract. The contract was front loaded with Savard earning $14M of his $28M in the first two years of the deal. Three days later, Phil Kessel returned to the Garden for the first time since being dealt, and it was arguably one of the most enjoyable nights at the Garden. The Bruins romped Toronto 7-2, Marc Savard recorded a hat trick, and Kessel was -3 on the night, not to mention the fact that sellout crowd of 17,565 chanted KESS-EL and ASS-HOLE at him everytime he stepped foot on the ice. The Bruins had a very strong December leading them up to the much anticipated Winter Classic to be hosted at Fenway. The Winter Classic was absolutely epic! I am so glad that I splurged and dropped $225 on my seat; I was sitting about 35 rows off the field in the corner where the Bruins shot twice. The seats were in section 26, loge box 148, row NN. I was contacted by my rep, Nikki Gullotti, during the last week of October, and since I have a single season ticket, I was able to pick out my seat whereas if I had more than one ticket, Ticketmaster would give me the “best available” seats in my price range. On New Year's Day, I started drinking at 8am at Game On with friends, got myself on the NECN news, and watched the Bruins win an epic overtime victory with a gamewinning goal by everyone's favorite German, Marco Sturm. The day was capped off by gathering for food and beers with friends at a little bar on Boylston Street located behind Fenway.

After the Winter Classic hangover wore off, it was back to the grind. Peter Chiarelli acquired Miroslav Satan who had been sitting at home waiting for a phone call. Satan was apart of the 2008-2009 Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins signed Satan to a pro-rated $350,000 contract and he was forced into the lineup just four days after being signed when initially Claude Julien said he wouldn’t be “game ready” for ten days, but with all of the Bruins' injuries, he was forced into the lineup quicker than expected. On January 7, the Chicago Blackhawks came to town, and during the first shift of the game, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews locked up knees with Marc Savard and put Savvy on the shelf once again for 5 weeks. That marked the start of a horrendous 10 game home losing streak. They fell to Chicago 5-2, the Rangers 3-1, to Ottawa 5-1 in the Martin Luther King massacre, 3-2 to Columbus in the final minute thanks to a mythical Milan Lucic highstick, followed by a 2-1 afternoon loss to Ottawa, and they then lost 3 out of the 4 in shootout form to LA, Montreal, and Vancouver, respectively. During that horrible stretch, they scored just 15 goals in 10 games… What does that tell you? To the average fan, it means that Chiarelli should make a move, right? Hahaha, yeah, about that...

Before the Bruins headed into a much needed Olympic break, they reeled off four straight victories. The Bruins returned to action on March 2 against Montreal and had a 1-0 lead going into the third before Montreal dropped 4 on us, making the fans even angrier and expecting a few moves to be made on the horizon. March 3 started off with a bang as Peter Chiarelli traded Derek Morris to Phoenix and freed up that cap space, indicating that Chiarelli had a plan. He then traded fourth line fan favorite Byron Bitz to Florida for puck moving defenseman Dennis Seidenberg... And that’s all he did! Chiarelli sat on his 8 draft picks over the next two years and couldn’t even muster a Clarke MacArthur or Raffi Torres to at least help out this already depleted offense. I realize those guys aren’t Ilya Kovalchuk, who was traded to NJ a few weeks earlier, but it definitely didn’t send the Bruins and their fans a positive message that they were committed to winning. I was really hoping to see guys like Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler shipped out of Boston since they had been underachieving and weren’t showing any visable signs of life or breaking out anytime soon. I have never been a Peter Chiarelli fan, nor will I be until he brings a Cup to Boston. I think he’s extremely gun-shy when it comes to making a deal, and that doesn’t win championships in my book. You have to be aggressive and take chances; just look at Theo Epstein with the Red Sox in 2004. At any rate, the following night, the Bruins recorded their first win at home in 2010. It came on March 4 against the shitty Maple Leafs in a shootout! Not something to be overly proud of.

On Sunday, March 7, the Bruins became the ultimate punching bag, not only in Boston but in the country, as their best player, Marc Savard, was deliberately elbowed in the head by Matt Cooke and the Bruins did absolutely NOTHING! Savard lay motionless on the ice before being carried off on a stretcher. For the next ten days, the Bruins were the number one topic on sports radio for the first time in a while, and it wasn’t for a good reason; rather, it was because they were a bunch of cowards who didn’t stand up for their fallen teammate. There was so much anticipation leading up to March 18 as Matt Cooke was coming to the Garden for the first time since the incident. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and disciplinarian Colin Campbell were in attendance to make sure nothing happened since the league failed to suspend Cooke despite the fact that he is a repeat offender. (My own personal opinion on the lack of discipline is that Cooke has naked pictures of Colin Campbell boning a few farm animals.) 7:05 finally came on March 18 and the Garden was soldout! People paid a few hundred bucks to sit at the top of the Garden in anticipation of Cooke getting his ass kicked, and you would think it was an absolute given with all of the Bruins honoring the 1972 team featuring Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, and Derek Sanderson. As soon as Cooke stepped foot onto the ice, Sugar Shawn Thornton grabbed him and challenged him and gave him a pretty good beating; he even got in a few extra licks when Cooke was down and being held by the linesmen. The fight had come and gone and nothing else transpired; not enough, if you ask me. I was hoping for another Marty McSorley/Donald Brashear incident where Cooke would be whacked in the head by a stick or even getting buttended in the mouth by the stick; I know it's dirty and illegal, but so was what Cooke did to Savvy in the first place. The fans booed the Bruins off the ice that night, and rightfully so as they lost 3-0, and season ticket sales began to suffer. The Bruins even called me a few days after the game to make sure I wasn’t dropping my tickets for next season.

The Bruins ended their season with a nice 9-3 run, solidifying the 6^th seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs behind stellar goaltending from Tuukka Rask, who had recently taken the goaltending responsibilities from the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Tim Thomas. The Bruins finished off their regular season home schedule in historic fashion as they scored 3 shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill (bear in mind that the B's had 3 shorthanded goals all season up until that point!). The goal scorers were Danny Paille, Blake Wheeler, and Steve Begin, and the goals came in a span of a minute and 44 seconds. It was probably the loudest the Garden had rocked all season. The Bruins drew the Buffalo Sabres in the first round, which was the ideal matchup since the Bruins were 4-1-1 against Buffalo on the season and goaltender Ryan Miller was burnt out from playing in all of the USA Olympic games. The Bruins split the first two games of the series in Buffalo, but not before Buffalo lost their best offensive player, Thomas Vanek, to a high ankle sprain after he was innocently pushed by Johnny Boychuk, forcing out Vanek for four games. The Bruins returned home for two absolutely epic home playoff games. The Bruins won game 3 by a score of 2-1. Dennis Wideman shocked the Garden blasting a one time slapshot from the top of the circle assisted by Vlad Sobotka; Wideman hadn’t hit the net all season. That goal tied the game at 1. The Bruins won the game just over halfway through the third as Mark Recchi steamrolled Tim Kennedy behind the net and fed Patrice Bergeron in the high slot, and Bergeron one timed it five hole on Ryan Miller! In all of my years of watching hockey, that was the best assist I’ve ever seen. The Bruins followed up game Game 3 by winning Game 4 in double overtime. The Bruins were down 2-0 after two periods but scored 2 quick goals right out of the shoot. David Krejci recorded a powerplay goal, and then Patrice Bergeron tied it up from a bad angle. The game eventually went to double overtime and on the powerplay, Miroslav Satan deaked the defense and went in on Ryan Miller, sliding the puck through defenseman Tyler Myers’ legs and into the net, sending the Garden into a frenzy. The Bruins were up in the series 3-1 and looking to close out the series in Buffalo. The Bruins had a hiccup in Game 5 by losing 4-1, but closed it out at home in Game 6 behind a two goal performance from David Krejci and a huge late goal by Miro the hero Satan, which he followed up with a legendary dance that made highlight reels everywhere.

With all the upets in the first round, the Bruins somehow lucked out and drew the Philadelphia Flyers in Round 2. The Flyers were without a legitimate goaltender and two of their best players in Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter. The Bruins got an emotional lift as Marc Savard made his return to the lineup from his Matt Cooke induced concussion in triumphant fashion by ripping home the game winning goal home in Game 1 in sudden death overtime. The Bruins won the game 5-4 in a back and forth affair. The Bruins squeaked by in Game 2 behind a gamewinning goal from Milan Lucic who scored his first goal at home on a goaltender since Game 7 versus Carolina in 2009. The Bruins easily won Game 3 4-1, but not before David Krejci was taken out in a clean hit by Flyers captain Mike Richards. Krejci suffered a broken wrist and was sent to Baltimore the next day for surgery by one of the best hand surgeons in the country. You would think that even without Krejci, the Bruins had this series wrapped up, right? I thought so too. I had my broom out all day the day of Game 4. The Bruins lost Game 4 in overtime 5-4 as Simon Gagne returned to the lineup much like Savard had done for the Bruins and won the game; I thought that was Philly’s fun in the sun, but boy, was I wrong! The Bruins put forth a really shitty effort in Game 5 as they got embarrassed 4-0. They then were starting to hear whispers of becoming a part of NHL history, and not in a good way; only two other NHL teams have blown a 3-0 series lead, and once the series was 3-2, people were discussing the possibility of it happening to the Bruins.

The Bruins lost a heartbreaker in Game 6 by a score of 2-1, which set up Game 7 at the Garden on Friday, May 14. I was so nervous about going to Game 7 that I had nips on me to take the edge off. I’ve never snuck liquor into a sporting event in my life, but just drinking watered down Bud Light wasn’t going to cut it. I drank the nips before the game started when the lights were down during the intro. The Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the game behind 2 goals from Milan Lucic and a goal from Michael Ryder. That 3-0 lead became 3-1 as James van Riemsdyk made it 3-1 before the first period came to an end. Philadelphia pest Scott Hartnell and Bruins killer Danny Briere tied the game at 3 before the second horn had sounded, setting up a tie game going into the third period. With just over 7 minutes remaining, the Bruins were called for a TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE PENALTY!!! Completely and utterly UNACCEPTABLE! I didn’t know what the initial call was until I saw #22 on the penalty clock, and knowing that Shawn Thornton hadn’t skated in the third period, I knew it was a delay of game penalty for sure. The Bruins, who had the number one penalty killing in the playoffs, failed to kill off that powerplay as Simon Gagne roofed one top shelf glove side on Tuukka Rask. I stood there with my jaw down and in complete disgust. I couldn’t believe this game had become a microcosm of the series. The Bruins had a 3-0 series lead that vanished, and they then had a 3-0 lead in Game 7 that had also vanished. When the game ended, I couldn’t get out of section 325 fast enough, although I did stop to shake hands with my friends, as tough as it was to say goodbye to them for the summer. I wasn’t there to see the fans litter the ice with trash and towels, although quite frankly, I can’t blame them. A lot of us paid damn good money to see that, and the Bruins blew not only a 3-0 series lead but a 3-0 lead in Game 7 at home; just completely unacceptable.

I hope this ending to the season makes Peter Chiarelli think long and hard about next season. In the end, the Bruins were not as tough to play against as Chiarelli had promised; additionaly, Claude Julien did not bench players or cut their ice time when they did shit! The Bruins will forever be the red-headed stepchild in Boston, especially if Chiarelli continues to do nothing; he better use that #2 pick he held on to for either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin, or I'll really lose my mind. For next season, I want Mark Stuart, Johnny Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg back in the fold to solidfy the D core, and I want Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder out of here. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Zdeno Chara hitting the road, or at least having that C stripped from his jersey. He’s not a leader, and definitely not a leader for this team. He came out and said he was nervous before Game 5… Uh, hello? WTF is that? The C would look much better on Mark Stuart or Patrice Bergeron. Finally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Claude Julien get the axe. I mean, what has he won? He pulled this shit in Montreal, then in Jersey, and now in Boston. I don’t want a coach here for the next several years who can’t get by the second round and can’t motivate his team. I’m glad he got his name in the record books for blowing a 3-0 series lead, because you know damn well that he’ll never get his name on the Stanley Cup.

In closing, it was a fun season. I loved the 40 minute rides to and from Boston, the train rides on the Red and Green lines to the Garden, and meeting up with Bruins friends by the gates before the game and talking Bruins. I loved getting my $7.25 beer and a good laugh from my boy Rob, all the talks with friends before warmups in section 13, the actual warmups, and meeting up with my buddies from 325 at the tables between periods. I loved mooching my buddy Mike’s seats in Loge 10 every now and then, and I loved harassing the opposing fans in my section. Win or lose, you can’t go wrong with season tickets to the Bruins. You may not win the Cup, but it’s the friends you make along the way is what makes it memorable.

Time to hit the panic button, Chiarelli!

OK, my patience is really running thin here with the 2009-2010 Boston Bruins. The Bruins went into their Saturday night tilt against the Los Angeles Kings riding a five game home losing streak. They hadn't won a home game since the Winter Classic against Philadelphia, nor had they won a game in the Garden since December 30th against Atlanta. The Bruins blew yet another third period lead and eventually lost in a 7 round shootout 3-2. I'm waiting for Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli to get his head out of his ass and make a trade. There are way too many players on this roster doing nothing, including Dennis Wideman, Michael Ryder, and Blake Wheeler. The time is now for Chiarelli to make a move and get this team headed in the right direction.

The game featured two of the three goaltenders that will representing the United States in this year's Olympics in Vancouver, BC as Tim Thomas went up against Jonathan Quick. The Kings got on the board first on the powerplay after the Bruins had a fairly ineffective powerplay. Jarret Stoll slid the puck over to Anze Kopitar, who fired a shot from the right point, which Dustin Brown then redirected past Tim Thomas. It was very annoying as, yet again, the Bruins squandered on two powerplays before Los Angeles got theirs, and the Kings scored just 12 seconds after the powerplay started. The Bruins couldn't muster anything for the remainder of the period and went into the room down 1-0. The Bruins played a pretty flat period which is what I've come to expect of late. I sometimes question myself as to why I even go to the Garden and torture myself. The way I see it is that the tickets are already paid off, it's only $15 a game, and I get to see a lot of my friends that I wouldn't see if I didn't go to the Bruins.

The Bruins came out with a much improved period of play in the second as they were creating quality scoring chances and getting quality shots on Jonathan Quick while generating traffic in front of the net. Mark Stuart woke up the Garden with a thunderous open ice hit at the blueline as he lined up Kings' top scorer Anze Kopitar. It was a good, clean hit. Kings forward Wayne Simmonds took exception to the hit and dropped the gloves with Stuart. Unfortunately, Stuart is now out for four weeks since he broke his pinky finger punching Simmonds' faceshield on his helmet. There is nothing more annoying than a player fighting with a faceshield. There is no honor in that. Besides, I don't know what Simmonds' problem was; it was a clean hit. That must have sparked the team, because they finally tied the game on the powerplay with just under five minutes to play in the second period. Marc Savard fed Marco Sturm in the slot, and Marco waited for Kings defenseman Drew Doughty to commit and go down before he rifled a shot top shelf to tie the game. It was German's first game since returning from a leg injury and, as usual, the German was all fired up. I thought he was going to jump into the glass as he pumped his fist and skated towards the glass, but Patrice Bergeron went over to hug him; I would have loved to see Sturm pull an Ovechkin. That definetely got some of the energy back in the building as it was setting up for a great third period.

The Bruins came out for the third period on the man advantage and went ahead just before the powerplay was going to expire; Mark Recchi went end to end and finished off a nice give and go with David Krejci to put the Bruins ahead. Krejci slid a pass to the front of the net and Recchi tipped it in. I can't believe that Mark Recchi is 42 years old; he plays like he's 22 on most nights. The Bruins, however, gave the lead right back on the powerplay as Anze Kopitar, who apparently recovered well from his Mark Stuart wakeup call, snapped a deadly wristshot from the off wing over Tim Thomas' glove to tie the game at 2. It was a pretty disturbing shot, and Kopitar is quite the talent. I know the Kings came in last season, but I don't remember seeing him. He really impressed me a lot. He's definetely a can't-miss player for sure. The Bruins and Kings remained tied through the rest of the third period and then overtime. The Bruins had a number of quality scoring chances in the third, but Jonathan Quick stood on his head to keep it tied at 2, forcing a shootout. The shootout started with Zdeno Chara whiffing on a slapshot, which really set me off because I would not have started the shootout with Chara; everyone in the NHL knows that he's going to take a slashot and the goalie has plenty of time to react. After Chara's lovely whiff, my boy Kopitar went in on Tim Thomas and completely faked him out, and he was able to finish off a one-hand backhand around Timmy. Thomas got absolutely owned. After Blake Wheeler and Dustin Brown failed to score, Michael Ryder, with the game on his stick roofed one under the crossbar to keep the game going. After LA failed to score, Marc Savard and Michal Handzus traded goals to make it 2-2. It remained that way for 2 more rounds before Jarret Stoll finally ended the shootout by blowing a wristshot past Thomas. I stormed out of my section in such a mood, and I walked out of the Garden with my head down in disbelief. I can't remember a Bruins team having such a difficult time putting teams away, and this should be a clear message to Peter Chiarelli that something needs to happen, and happen now!

The Line Combinations were as follows...

• Milan Lucic-Marc Savard-Miroslav Satan
• Marco Sturm-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
• Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
• Daniel Paille-Steve Begin-Byron Bitz

• Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris
• Dennis Wideman-Matt Hunwick
• Mark Stuart-Johnny Boychuk

The Scoring Summary...

• LAK: Dustin Brown assisted by Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll (PPG)
• BOS: Marco Sturm assisted by Marc Savard (PPG)
• BOS: Mark Recchi assisted by David Krejci (PPG)
• LAK: Anze Kopitar assistey by Randy Jones and Michal Handzus (PPG)

Bruins Goal Videos...

• Sturm: Carlton Banks dancing
• Recchi: The Dancing Bear

Warmup Music...

• Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
• Disturbed - "Indestructable"
• Foo Fighters - "Monkeywrench"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Snow"

Is that what you call revenge?

The Bruins certainly should have had revenge on their minds when they had a matinee rematch with the Ottawa Senators who had embarrassed them on their home ice just five days before. The Bruins were yet again dazzled by Ottawa netminder Brian Elliott as they dropped their fourth consecutive game with a score of 2-1.

The Bruins wore their Winter Classic jerseys to give the fans who weren't fortunate enough to attend the Winter Classic a good look at them. The change in jersey didn't really do much on the scoresheet. The Bruins were still without Marc Savard, Marco Sturm, Steve Begin, Byron Bitz, and Andrew Ference. Ottawa had reinforcements coming back into the lineup as Milan Michaulak and Jason Spezza made their return to the ice. The Bruins battled through a very tight checking first period, but Ottawa was able to crack the scoreboard first. With just six seconds remaining in the period, Nick Foligno broke into the attacking zone with Daniel Alfredsson, feeding Alfredsson the puck, and he was able to trickle one through Tim Thomas' legs to make it a 1-0 game. That was Alfredsson's fourth goal of the week against the Bruins. It was so discouraging because there is nothing worse than giving up a goal in the final seconds of a period.

The Bruins came out for the second period sort of flat, which is what I expected since Ottawa sucked all of the air out of them with Alfredsson's last minute tally in the first. It took the Bruins a little while, but they were able to tie the game at 1 as Patrice Bergeron, who was taken out at center ice, was able to get the puck ahead to Dennis Wideman, who then found Daniel Paille coming down the left side, and Paille ripped a booming slapshot top shelf, glove side on Brian Elliott. That goal extended Paille's point scoring streak to three. The Bruins thought they had the go-ahead goal just over three minutes later as it appeared that Mark Recchi gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead, but the puck was redirected off Recchi's foot; Recchi did not make a distinct kicking motion, but his foot moved towards the net when the puck ricocheted off his foot. It was a really difficult call, and it took the referees several minutes to determine the call. It was eventually ruled as "no goal," which disappointed the sold-out crowd at the Garden who have been dying for some offense. Ottawa would eventually go ahead in the game as Alex Kovalev made a nice drop pass to Jason Spezza, and Spezza roofed it top shelf over Tim Thomas. It was Spezza's first goal since returning from his knee injury. The Bruins went into the room down 2-1 after 2 periods of play.

The Bruins came out and dominated the third period, but to no avail; they lost the game 2-1. It was really discouraging. I was really hoping they could score more than just one goal against Ottawa, who is ahead of the Bruins in the standings but is not a superior team by any means. I found it very interesting that with the extra attacker on the ice and with Tim Thomas on the bench, Trent Whitfield was out there instead of David Krejci. It very well could have been a message to Krejci from Claude Julien, considering Whitfield is a career AHL journeyman.

The Line Combinations were as follows...

• Daniel Paille-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
• Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Blake Wheeler
• Miroslav Satan-Trent Whitfield-Michael Ryder
• Shawn Thornton-Vladimir Sobotka-Drew Larman

• Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris
• Dennis Wideman-Matt Hunwick
• Mark Stuart-Johnny Boychuk

The Scoring Summary...

• OTT: Daniel Alfredsson assisted by Matt Carkner and Nick Foligno
• BOS: Daniel Paille assisted by Dennis Wideman and Patrice Bergeron
• OTT: Jason Spezza assisted by Alex Kovalev

Bruins Goal Videos...

• Paille - The Dancing Bear

Warmup Music...

• Disturbed - "Indestructable"
• Metallica - "Cyanide"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Snow"
• Disturbed - "Ten Thousand Fists"

Dennis Wideman sucks, but not as much as the referees do!

I swear, the Bruins keep finding new ways to lose hockey games right now. As if their embarrassing Martin Luther King Day performance against Ottawa wasn’t bad enough, followed by a rigorous practice on Wednesday, you would think that the Bruins would come out the gates flying and bury the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets, a team who is amongst the league leaders in goals against. The Bruins lost a heartbreaker 3-2, but not all blame can be put on the Bruins; sometimes the men who wear the stripes can be held accountable for a loss.

The Bruins came out flying against Columbus and jumped on the board a little more than two minutes into the contest as Miroslav Satan pushed the puck up ahead to Trent Whitfield, who then broke out in a two on one with Michael Ryder, and the snakebitten Ryder roofed one top shelf over 2009 Rookie of the Year winner Steve Mason. It was certainly encouraging to see Ryder get his name back on the scoresheet and in a convincing way, since his last few goals have been fortunate bounces off of his body. The Bruins sustained good pressure on Columbus, but couldn’t seem to put more behind Mason. Columbus was able to tie the game as Dennis Wideman, who is having by far his worst season in the NHL, coughed up the puck coming out of his own end; he misfired on an outlet pass which instead went to Raffi Torres, who was then able to break in on a two on one with newly acquired Chris Clark, and Clark one timed it past Tuukka Rask tying the game at 1. From then on, Wideman heard the boos every time he touched the puck. Claude Julien seriously needs to sit him down for a few games. I can’t recall Hal Gill being this bad. Wideman has completely lost his confidence; I’m sure Julien calling him out to the media didn’t help the cause any, but something needs to be done. Later in the period, Mark Stuart left him the puck behind the net to carry the puck out of the zone, and Wideman proceded to skate forward without the puck. I was ready to jump down from 325 and strangle him. I can’t believe how bad he is and what we gave up to get him (Brad Boyes). Milan Lucic got into his first fight since returning to the lineup as he squared off with Jarrod Boll. Since they're two of the premier fighters in the league, it was a draw; they both got some good punches in, but the linesmen had to jump in to break it up since they were both visibly tired. The game was tied at 1 after 1 period of play, but it should have been a 1-0 Bruins lead if Wideman didn’t have his head up his ass.

The Bruins came out in the second period with not as strong of an effort. They started to sit back instead of attacking the net and getting quality scoring chances. The B’s did take the lead as Patrice Bergeron took the pass from Daniel Paille and fired a wrist shot one step over the blueline and put it glove side on Steve Mason. It was a beautiful wrist shot from Bergeron, and encouraging to see that he can get that kind of shot off even though he’s still playing with a broken left thumb. After that goal, the Bruins just sat back and let Columbus control the tempo of the game. I was starting to see the wheels fall off. Dennis Wideman gave the crowd another reason to boo him as he took a slapshot clearing the puck out of the zone and hit Blake Wheeler on the foot; thankfully, Wheeler was okay after limping off of the ice. I was sitting there shaking my head saying, “This guy just can’t do anything good right now.” The Bruins went into the room up 2-1 after two periods of play.

The Bruins came out for third and nearly put the game away as both David Krejci and Vladimir Sobotka had two glorious chances. Krejci missed an open net, and Sobotka took a slap shot from about 8 feet out and Mason sprawled to make a great save. Columbus dodged those bullets and really pushed the tempo, eventually tying the game as I predicted. Kris Russell came down the left wing boards and threw a pass over to Antoine Vermette who took a shot which was stopped by Rask, but Vermette got his own rebound to put it home to tie the game at 2. I couldn’t believe that one of the worst teams in hockey was giving us this kind of game. Columbus continued to mount the pressure. The referees had the final say in this outcome as referee Tom Kowal called Milan Lucic for a double minor high sticking penalty on Columbus forward Derrick Brassard when it was another Columbus player who accidently highsticked his own teammate. Just sixteen seconds after the penalty, Kristian Huselius fed Anton Stralman, who then fired a slapshot from the left point which RJ Umberger redirected past Rask. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I can’t believe how bad the Bruins are at sealing the deal in the third period. They got off to such a great start and did nothing the rest of the way. I began to think that with this loss, the Bruins brass could have started questioning whether or not Claude Julien is worth keeping behind the bench; granted, he has a very good track record, but what else can he do to motivate these guys? I think if he hadn't just signed a three year extension this past September, and if former head coach Dave Lewis wasn’t still on the books, Julien would definitely be gone. This was one of the most difficult losses I can remember attending in recent memory.

The Line Combinations were as follows…

• Daniel Paille-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
• Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Blake Wheeler
• Miroslav Satan-Trent Whitfield-Michael Ryder
• Shawn Thornton-Vladimir Sobotka-Drew Larman

• Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris
• Matt Hunwick-Johnny Boychuk
• Dennis Wideman-Mark Stuart

The Scoring Summary…

• BOS: Michael Ryder assisted by Trent Whitfield and Miroslav Satan
• CLB: Chris Clark assisted by Raffi Torres
• BOS: Patrice Bergeron assisted by Daniel Paille and Zdeno Chara
• CLB: Antoine Vermette assisted by Kris Russell
• CLB: RJ Umberger assisted by Anton Stralman and Kristian Huselius

Bruins Goal Videos…

• Ryder: Jim Carrey dancing in Dumb and Dumber
• Bergeron: Rodney Dangerfield dancing in Caddyshack

Warmup Music…

• Foo Fighers - “Pretender”
• Disturbed - “Indestructable”
• U2 - “Elevation”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Snow”
• Van Halen - "Panama"

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day massacre, and popping my Wilmington cherry.

If you look up the word “dedication” in the dictionary, you should see a picture of my devotion to the Boston Bruins. I foolishly attended the Martin Luther King matinee disaster against the Ottawa Senators in the midst of a pretty bad snow storm. I was determined to get there somehow, whether it be by commuter rail or just another drive down route 2. Commuter rail it was!

Because of the unfortunate commuter rail schedule, I had no choice but to be at the Garden at 8:54am for a 1:00 faceoff; it was either that, or get there in the second period, and if I’m going to ride in on a very boring hour and 20 minute train ride, I at least want to see the entire game, no matter how bad the Bruins are playing right now. I got my iced coffee and bagel at Dunkin Donuts inside the Garden when I arrived shortly before 9am, and I hung out by the Bruins Executive Office entrance where I tend to see some faces that any true Bruins fan would recognize. Shortly before 10:00, Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli got off the elevator with his arms full and his laptop in hand. I wanted to shake his hand, but didn’t want to make him feel as though he needed to put his stuff down. Instead, I said hi to him, and wished him good luck today. He acknowledged this by saying hi and thanking me. I was hoping to meet Cam Neely so I could thank him for everything that he has done to turn around the Boston Bruins; he walked right by me when I wasn’t looking, and by the time I realized it, he was headed upstairs. I was satisfied with Chiarelli, but I really wanted to meet Neely. Another day, perhaps. For this game, the Bruins were still a wounded bunch as Steve Begin, Byron Bitz, and Marco Sturm were all out of the lineup. Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup after two weeks of being out with a broken thumb, and the Bruins recalled Drew Larman from Providence; I have no idea who he is or where he came from originally.

I wasn’t expecting too much from the Bruins for this game since they had just gotten back the day before from being out in California for a week, and they had to play the next day in the afternoon; not exactly what I call fair, but with the condensed schedule due to the Winter Olympics, they really didn’t have much of a choice. The Bruins came out extremely flat and with no hop in their step. I’m not trying to make excuses for this team, but I honestly feel as though jet lag was a major factor. Ottawa got on the board first as Michael Ryder set up Blake Wheeler for a one timer which missed the net by about ten feet; the puck the ricocheted off of the boards and right to Mike Fisher, who sent an outlet pass ahead to Alex Kovalev who then split the D between Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara and slid a backhand through Tim Thomas’ legs. Kovalev has been a big time underachiever this season for Ottawa, but it seems as though he always manages to score when he sees the spoked B. I couldn’t help but yell at Dennis Wideman since he was pretty much used as a cone on that goal. Ottawa made it a two goal contest as the Daniel Alfredsson show got underway. Mike Fisher once again got in on the fun and fed Alfredsson at the top of the circle for a one time slapshot that went top shelf over Tim Thomas glove side. There was lots of traffic in front of Thomas and Timmy had no chance. That was Ottawa’s second shot of the game and the second goal of the game, and the fans began to get restless again with Thomas; when he made his first save of the afternoon after it was already 2-0, he received a raspberry mock cheer and he swatted the puck with his stick out of clear frustration. The puck went halfway up the glass and nearly in the stands. There is nothing I hate more than Tim Thomas getting mocked by the crowd. I’m quick to question fans around me who want Tuukka in the game so badly, and I usually end up schooling them with my knowledge and they generally have nothing with which to come back at me. I knew the B's were done at that point since they had no energy and Ottawa was clicking. The Bruins went into the dressing room down 2 goals after 1 period.

You’d like to think that Claude Julien would have fired the Bruins up a little bit for the second period… Yeah, nice try. They came out even flatter in the second period than they did in the first. Daniel Alfredsson collected his second goal of the afternoon as Filip Kuba made a beautiful half slap pass to Alfredsson who was on the side of the net all alone; if Dennis Wideman was actually doing his job, Alfredsson wouldn’t have scored. It was a beautiful set up, no doubt, and that was the end of the day for Timmy Thomas who was pulled in favor of Tuukka Rask. I knew the game was done at this point so I wanted Tuukka to get lit up just to shut up the fans in the building. Ottawa didn’t take long getting one by Rask as Alfredsson scored his third consecutive goal of the afternoon on a two man advantage thanks to Mark Recchi receieving a 2 minute minor for elbowing and 2 minute minor for shooting his mouth off to the referee. Alfredsson was playing the point on the powerplay and fired a slapshot from the blueline that found its way past Rask. I grinned and yelled, “Thata boy, Tuukka! You’re making everyone proud today!” People in my section didn’t like it, but I really don’t care. I don’t like sitting with bandwagon Bruins fans who think Tuukka Rask is the next coming of Christ, so deal with it. The Bruins went into the room down 4-0 after 2 periods, and I really started to question myself as to why I went to such great lengths to attend such an awful game.

The Bruins came out and looked somewhat decent in the third period; I mean, nothing spectacular, but definitely better than in the first two periods. Daniel Paille got the Bruins on the board as Milan Lucic fed Johnny Boychuk at the point for a one timer which was knocked down by Jarkko Ruutu, and the puck bounced right to Paille who beat Brian Elliott to make it 4-1. I refused to stand up and cheer or even acknowledge the goal. I hadn’t done that since Marco Sturm scored on his first shift as a Bruin the day after Joe Thornton was traded; I just couldn’t bring myself to cheer for someone who should not have been here in the wake of the Joe Thornton trade. Ottawa put the nail in the coffin as referee Dan O’Rourke got in the way of Dennis Wideman, which turned into Jonathan Cheechoo being able to pick up the puck and walk in on Rask, beating him to make it 5-1. Everyone wants to blame the ref, but let's be honest here. The Bruins weren’t going to win the game, and Dennis Wideman would have found some way to screw the play up. I was asking people in 325 if they thought Wideman was getting to Hal Gill and Glen Wesley level, and most people agreed; some even said he’s worse than those two, which I found hilarious. The Bruins lost the game 5-1, which I was very annoyed with, but I put some of this on the NHL for the awful scheduling. This easily one of the top five worst Bruins games that I have ever attended!

Two days after the Martin Luther King debacle, I did something that I had never done in 20 years of being a Bruins fan… I went to Wilmington to see them practice! I went with my long time Bruins friend, Jaci, because she’s a frequent Ristuccia Arena rink rat and the only reason I went was to get my Milan Lucic jersey signed. I picked Jaci up around 9:30am and off we went. It was really cool to watch all of the drills and see what goes on in practice. Claude Julien beat the hell out of them that day, and rightfully so. I was fortunate enough to be there for a sweet Dennis Wideman tongue lashing, which was almost as cool as saying I was there for the Winter Classic. The Bruins still found ways to get injured even in practice as Matt Hunwick took a puck in the eye, Mark Stuart took a shot off the foot, and Miroslav Satan was highsticked by Tim Thomas. The crazy German, Marco Sturm, left halfway through practice due to his nagging leg injury. When practice was over, Jaci and I waited patiently outside for the players. Milan came out with Mark Stuart and Johnny Boychuk. Lucic got in the backseat of Stuart’s vehicle, and thankfully Stuart stopped. I was already at Milan Lucic’s window holding my jersey. He rolled down the window and I asked him to personalize my jersey. He wrote “To Nick, All the Best” across the top of the 7 and signed his name down the slanted part of the 7. He was very good about it and I shook his hand, which is massive! He has such a firm handshake. That totally made my day. I was glad that I was able to pop my Wilmington cherry and no longer be labeled as a Wilmington virgin.

The Line Combinations were as follows…

• Mark Recchi-Patrice Bergeron-Miroslav Satan
• Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
• Daniel Paille-Trent Whitfield-Milan Lucic
• Shawn Thornton-Vladimir Sobotka-Drew Larman

• Dennis Wideman-Zdeno Chara
• Matt Hunwick-Johnny Boychuk
• Mark Stuart-Derek Morris

The Scoring Summary…

• OTT: Alex Kovalev assisted by Mike Fisher
• OTT: Daniel Alfredsson assisted by Mike Fisher and Chris Phillips
• OTT: Daniel Alfredsson assisted by Mike Fisher and Filip Kuba
• OTT: Daniel Alfredsson assisted by Filip Kuba and Nick Foligno (PPG)
• BOS: Daniel Paille assisted by Milan Lucic and Johnny Boychuk
• OTT: Jonathan Cheechoo unassisted

Bruins Goal Videos…

• Paille: Shrek dancing

Warmup Music…

• Foo Fighers - “Pretender”
• Disturbed - “Indestructable”
• U2 - “Elevation”
• Pearl Jam - “Rearview Mirror”

Did the Bruins even have a game Saturday afternoon?

...'Cause they didn't show up!

I didn’t think the Bruins could possibly repeat their horrible performance against the New York Rangers this past Saturday, but they did. In fact, they were worse than they were against Chicago. Admittedly, I didn’t expect much going into the game; I actually predicted a 2-1 loss. I wasn’t too far off since the final was 3-1 Rangers.

The Bruins received some bad news early in the day as General Manager Peter Chiarelli addressed the media to publicly announce that their #1 center, Marc Savard, would miss 3-4 weeks with a partially torn MCL. I can handle that news because I realize it could have been a lot worse; just ask Cam Neely about knee injuries. The Bruins recalled Trent Whitfield from Providence for his second tour of duty this season with the parent club. I really wish they Bruins would call up either Jamie Arniel or Zach Hamill. I realize they aren’t as developed as what the Bruins would like them to be, but I’m sick of these career AHL journeyman like Shitfield being recalled and not alleged young studs like Arniel and Hamill.

The Bruins came out and played a real decent first period, all things considered. New York, however, got on the board first as rookie defenseman Michael del Zotto made a beautiful rush through the neutral zone and then into the offensive zone, split between Zdeno Chara and Derek Morris, and slid a backhand through Tim Thomas’ legs. I was so disgusted that a defenseman pulled that off against the reigning Norris Trophy award winner. I know del Zotto is going to be a stud, but come on now. It was enough to make my stomach turn. The Bruins had their chance to tie the game as Marco Sturm had a breakaway while killing a penalty, was tripped up in the process, and was rewarded with a penalty shot. Sturm dosen’t have the best career numbers with regard to penalty shots, so I wasn’t getting my hopes up since he was going up against one of the best goalies in the business in Henrik Lundqvist. Sturm tried going five hole and Lundqvist squeezed the pads to deny him. It was made even more annoying since literally all of 325 must have taken a bus from Manhattan. I had to listen to the “Let's Go Rangers” chant. I was one of only a few donning a Bruins jersey. The score remained 1-0 after 1 period of play.

The Bruins came out for the second period and played what was probably one of their worst periods in years. They were outshot 21-3 (yes, 21-3), and they didn’t get their first shot on goal of the period until Danny Paille shot a weak wrister from the off wing with about 4 minutes and change to go. I was shocked there wasn’t a mock cheer for it; then again, who am I kidding, since the Garden is loaded with bandwagoners who probably didn’t even notice. The Rangers doubled their lead as Brandon Dubinsky took the feed from Erik Christenson and was able to put home his own rebound and tuck it by Thomas. It was tough to put the blame on Thomas for that one since Johnny Boychuk was supposed be covering Dubinsky, but Boychuk fell down in the corner and by the time he got up and into position, it was too late. I was so disgusted and even thought about leaving at that point, but I had made plans with a fellow season ticket holder to go out afterwards, and I didn’t want to make him feel as though he had to leave. I was really disgusted in the Bruins play; there was just no energy whatsoever. In my opinion, the only one who was working hard was Tim Thomas. The only time I got remotely excited was when Steve Begin grabbed Sean Avery by the neck and threw him to the ice for being behind Tim Thomas in the crease, and that was honestly the first time I even noticed Avery on the ice. The boys went into the room down 2-0, and I knew they had zero chance of even tying this one up, nevermind winning.

The Bruins came out flat in the third and the Rangers padded the lead to 3 as Erik Christenson took the feed from Brandon Dubinsky and ripped it top shelf. I was so disgusted. It didn’t help the cause because, as I had mentioned earlier, my section was full of obnoxious Ranger fans, but I had this one huge guy sitting next to me who was literally on top of me the whole game eating his huge tub of popcorn and downing his souvenir soda. He also had horrible body odor. He asked me how I got my tickets and I said that I'm a season ticket holder, so that must have made him feel as though he needed to one up me or something because he busted out his cell phone and showed me pictures of him at the all the Patriots and Red Sox games he has been at either in Massachusetts or on the road. I know the game sucked, but I think I’d rather watch the Bruins then look through this loser's cell phone pictures of his fat ass standing in a stadium. As I was walking down the stairs to say bye and shake hands with my fellow section 325 friend Matt, Dennis Wideman broke up the shutout to make it 3-1. I didn’t see it, nor did I care. I kept going toward the exits. I could not have cared less. I had already seen my fair share of bad hockey. I had to laugh that by the third period, Claude Julien’s $4M boyfriend, Michael Ryder, had been demoted to the fourth line; you know things are bad when your team is having a difficult time burying the puck and you demote one of your more talented goal scorers to the fourth line in Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton land. I’m glad I have a week and a half break from the Garden. What a disgrace!

The Line Combinations were as follows…

• Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Miroslav Satan
• Marco Sturm-Vladimir Sobotka-Mark Recchi
• Milan Lucic-Steve Begin-Michael Ryder
• Daniel Paille-Trent Whitfield-Shawn Thornton

• Dennis Wideman-Zdeno Chara
• Matt Hunwick-Derek Morris
• Adam McQuaid-Johnny Boychuk

Scoring Summary…

• NYR: Michael del Zotto assisted by Brandon Dubinsky and Daniel Girardi
• NYR: Brandon Dubinsky assisted by Erik Christenson
• NYR: Erik Christenson assisted by Marion Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky
• BOS: Dennis Wideman assisted by Zdeno Chara and David Krejci

Bruins Goal Videos…

• Wideman: Champagne popping scene in Wedding Crashers

Warmup music…

• Foo Fighters - “Pretender”
• Disturbed - “Indestructable”
• Pearl Jam - “Rearview Mirror”
• U2: - “Elevation”

---

Chicago is really good, and the Bruins really need help

Let me make this clear: I’m a diehard Boston Bruins fan, but I'm also a realist. I knew going in to the Garden on January 7 that the Bruins had no chance of beating the Chicago Blackhawks. The Bruins were blown out 5-2, and unfortunately, I dragged my Dad to the game only for him to suffer for two and half hours. I felt really bad because it was part of his Christmas present and I wished they had put forth a better effort.

The game started out on a good note as Milan Lucic was in the warmup; allegedly, he was scheduled to return on Saturday against the Rangers. Lucic participated in all of the line drills, so he was officially returning to the lineup and the warmup wasn’t just a test to see how his ankle responded. The game did not start off well at all. Just 25 seconds into the contest, the Bruins were down yet another man as Marc Savard collided with Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews with a knee-on-knee hit along the boards. At first I had thought that Savard was highsticked, but he wasn’t getting up and remained on his knees. The trainer came out to look at him and he was helped off the ice by Mark Recchi and Marco Sturm. This was the last thing the Bruins needed with Patrice Bergeron out for two weeks with a broken thumb, Andy Ference out for six weeks with a groin problem, and Mark Stuart still two weeks away with a sternum injury.

Despite the setback with Savard's injury, the Bruins drew first blood on the powerplay. Blake Wheeler redirected a Derek Morris slapshot from the blueline for his fourth goal in his last 3 games. The Bruins need him to step it up in order to be more productive offensively. The Bruins struck again just four minutes later as the newest Bruin, Miroslav Satan, took the feed from Blake Wheeler, who had intercepted a Duncan Keith clearing; Wheeler found Satan in the slot and Miro the hero wasted no time snapping it top shelf glove side on Chicago goaltender Antti Niemi. Personally, I love the Satan signing. He was always a Bruins killer and still is in great shape. The game started to shift in Chicago’s favor right after Satan’s goal when Patrick Sharp dropped Zdeno Chara, something not too many NHL players can say they did. The two of them had been jawing and throwing checks on each other, but Sharp got the last laugh and things started to change. The two goal lead was shortlived as Duncan Keith got Chicago on the board with a bomb from the point, the puck rang off the middle pipe in the net and straight out, making it a 2-1 game. Chicago would then tie it with under two minutes to play in the period as Dennis Wideman failed the clear the puck again and coughed it up to Ben Eager who found Colin Fraser, who then slid a pass across the goal mouth to Tomas Kopecky, and Kopecky slapped a one timer past Thomas. I have had it with Wideman; I don’t know what the Bruins see in him, and he has become the resident Bruins punching bag since Hal Gill left. I was so disgusted with how quickly the Bruins gave up another 2 goal lead, but it’s something that I have come to expect as well. They are not a playoff-caliber team right now, and until Peter Chiarelli gets his head out of his ass and realizes that, they won’t be winning too many hockey games with Vladimir Sobotka as the #2 center. With both Bergeron and Savard out, this team will remain to be in a lot of trouble. The score was deadlocked at 2 after one period, and it could have been a lot worse.

Chicago took an early second period lead just as Zdeno Chara had stepped out of the box; Andrew Ladd was standing out in front of Tim Thomas (I know, what a concept, huh?) and picked up the rebound off of a Brent Seabrook rebound which the defensemen and Thomas failed to handle. Just like that, Chicago had the lead. The Duncan Keith show continued just a few minutes later as he floated a 65 foot wrist shot from the blueline over Tim Thomas’ glove and under the crossbar. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I immediately looked over at the Boston bench and saw Claude Julien yell to Tuukka Rask, and Rask responded by getting up and getting his mask and stick. I think the move of yanking Thomas was more to get the team going. I mean, Keith’s second goal of the game was weak, but the other three goals were tough to blame on Thomas. The Bruins showed no energy and failed to generate any offensive rush through the neutral zone. The scored was 4-2 after 2, but it really could have been more like 8-2. Chicago is such a force. They don’t stop at Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane; they have so many other weapons such as Marion Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, and the list goes on and on.

The third period wasn’t much to write home about. The Bruins continued to struggle when it came to generating any scoring chances. Johnny Boychuk tried to spark his team by getting into a pretty good fight with Colin Fraser; Boychuk waved his arms in the air skating to the penalty box trying to get the fans going, but to no avail. Chicago sealed the deal when Patrick Kane made it a 5-2 game. Kane one-timed a pass from Troy Brouwer past Tuukka Rask, and that was our cue to leave. My Dad made it clear going down the escalator that he was done for the season, and I really can’t blame him. It was a pretty pathetic effort put forth by the black and gold.

The Line Combinations were as follows…

• Marco Sturm-Marc Savard-Mark Recchi
• Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Miroslav Satan
• Daniel Paille-Vladimir Sobotka-Michael Ryder
• Milan Lucic-Steve Begin-Shawn Thornton

• Dennis Wideman-Zdeno Chara
• Matt Hunwick-Derek Morris
• Adam McQuaid-Johnny Boychuk

Scoring Summary…

• BOS: Blake Wheeler assisted by Derek Morris and Johnny Boychuk (PPG)
• BOS: Miroslav Satan assisted by Blake Wheeler
• CHI: Duncan Keith assisted by Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglin
• CHI: Tomas Kopecky assisted by Colin Fraser and Ben Eager
• CHI: Andrew Ladd assisted by Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook
• CHI: Duncan Keith assisted by Colin Fraser and Ben Eager
• CHI: Patrick Kane assisted by Troy Brouwer

Bruins Goal Videos…

• Wheeler: Jim Carrey dancing in Dumb and Dumber
• Satan: Polka dancing scene in European Vacation

Warmup music…

• Jay-Z feat. Lil Wayne - “One Republic”
• Kanye West - “Stronger”
• 50 Cent - “Buy You A Drink”
• Eminem - “Lose Yourself”

The Winter Classic.

I can’t believe the day finally came! The Winter Classic has come and gone and it was one of the greatest days of my life! The anticipation began back on April 2; I remember driving down Route 2 to a Senators/Bruins game when WEEI leaked that the Winter Classic would be coming to Boston in 2010, and the opponent had not yet been determined. The official announcement took place on July 15 when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the historic announcement at Fenway Park with Bruins brass and players Patrice Bergeron, Marco Sturm, Aaron Ward, David Krejci, and Shawn Thornton. Finally on October 29 at 3:15pm, my season ticket holder rep, Nikki, called me, stating that it was my turn to purchase tickets and I had my choice of seating since I am a single ticket season ticket holder. Having already reviewed the pricing options online, I told her that I wanted the $225 price range on the third base side. I was given a seat in Section 26, Loge Box 150, Row NN, and with my single game credit, the total came to $210; not a bad deal if you ask me.

There was so much anticipation leading up to this historic event. I, for one, did not want to look at the Farmer's Almanac months or weeks in advance in fear that I would see projected rain or heavy snow. On this past Monday, December 28, all the news stations were calling for heavy, steady rain on New Year's Day and a big blizzard on January 2, which would have been the potential makeup date; the Flyers would have had to leave by Saturday night at the latest due to their Sunday tilt vs Ottawa. I wasn’t getting too worried that early in the week since I know how weather in New England changes by the hour, but I wasn’t overly excited. As the week went on, the forecast progressed in the right direction, and by New Year's Eve, every meteorologist called for cloudy skies and 40 degrees with no precipation for New Year's Day! Game on, baby!

My alarm went off at 5am on New Year's Day, and I flew out of bed as fast as I can ever remember doing, due in part to my excitement and partly so that my girlfriend Rebecca wouldn’t be completely woken up. I was showered, dressed, and out of the house by 5:30, at Alewife by 6:20, and at Fenway by 7am, which was a ghost town; not exactly what I expected. I had made plans with a few friends to meet at Fenway between 7 and 7:30… Only one friend was able to get there on time. I walked around Yawkey Way and took many pictures. I was asked for an interview by NECN but declined. They still filmed me holding my ticket and asked me off camera how I got my ticket, how much it cost, and how long I have been a season ticket holder. Many people have told me that they saw me on TV. My friend Alison showed up at 7:45, and we headed to Game On, which opened at 8. I cracked my first beer by 8:05 and hung in there until 11:15. My buddy Matt and his wife Laura, also residents of section 325 at the Garden, joined us shortly thereafter. Game On was a blast; there was a good mix of Flyers and Bruins fans in there, going back and forth with chants and taunts. All the Flyers fans that I talked to seemed decent enough. We closed our tab around 11:00 and headed into Fenway.

I couldn’t remember being this excited to go to Fenway, probably not since going to Game 7 of the ALCS in 2007. I walked into Fenway and couldn’t wait to see the rink in person for the first time. I made a point to go find my other Bruins season ticket holder buddies such as Ed, Nancy, Jaci and Tracy to see the views from their seats and to get a photo-op to commemorate the day. I was very pleased with my seat, as I should have been since I paid pretty much 1/3 of what my season tickets cost; they even gave everyone Winter Classic souvenir seat covers and towels, which was a nice touch by the league. I was in the corner where the Bruins shoot twice so it was comparable to sitting in Loge 4 if I were in the Garden. I took time to walk around Fenway, and I have to admit, they did a great job putting this event on; the park looked great and I was really impressed. When I got back to my seat from visiting friends, I found out that someone in our box was willing to switch seats with me so I was able to sit next to Alison, whose seat was 4 seats down from mine. Although I wouldn't have minded sitting by myself in my seat, it was nice to be able to see such a special game with a friend.

The Bruins and Flyers came out for warmups at 1:00, and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t stand down by the glass for warmup. The Flyers warmed up at my end, but that was OK because that meant that the Bruins would be shooting at my end twice. I could still see all the drills in the Bruins' end, just not up close. When warmup came to an end, the Zamboni, which was smaller and lighter than those used for indoor rinks, came out to do the ice. The Zamboni came out of the centerfield bleachers, which was kind of cool.

The Dropkick Murphys performed before the festivities began, and thankfully, they performed only one song, “Shipping up to Boston.” They couldn’t get off the field fast enough if you ask me. The Bruins and Flyers then took the ice, followed by the teams' honorary captains, Bobby Orr and Bobby Clarke, to take part in the ceremonial puck drop. The crowd booed Bobby Clarke and erupted for Bobby Orr. It takes a lot to get Bobby Orr at any Bruins event since he’s an agent now. The ceremonial puck drop was followed by both the Canadian and American national anthems. Daniel Powter performed “Oh Canada” and James Taylor did our anthem, much to the dismay of many Bruins fans who all wanted Rene Rancourt, but NBC had to have their way and have a recognizable person singing the anthem. Shortly after the anthems, there was a flyover by a USS fighter jet that came from Missouri; the jet soared over the left field light towers. It was 1:40 and it was game time!

Much like going to a Patriots game, nobody sat in their seats; everybody stood which was really cool. The Flyers and Bruins battled through a scoreless first period which is what I sort of saw coming. I didn’t see either team coming out flying just with the adrenaline pumping and all of the hype. Just over halfway through the period, the first fight in NHL Winter Classic history took place! Daniel Carcillo and Sugar Shawn Thornton squared off, and both got some good punches in to the point where I would have called it a draw until Thornton lost his balance. Carcillo made ridiculous hand gestures to the crowd as only he can. The two were yapping at each other from the penalty boxes; I was hoping to see them square off again, and I know if Milan Lucic were playing, he would have sent Carcillo to Mass General for those antics. After a scoreless period of play, I purchased a hot chocolate for $7 that came in a really nice commemorative Winter Classic thermos, and a nearly identical version sells for $25 in the Proshop. Also, there were three Flyer fans seated in front of me who paid a lot of money, though they wouldn’t say how much, to attend the Winter Classic, and they left after the second period. I don’t get it; we didn’t even harass them. I couldn’t believe how many Flyers fans were there, and they all must have paid through the nose to be there. I know Philadelphia has some of the most hardcore fans in US sports. There was constant back and forth chanting going on, like, “LET'S GO, FLYERS” and “LET'S GO, BRUINS,” and even a “YANKEES SUCK” chant was busted out, which I actually found hilarious, and it was something that both Philadelphia and Boston fans can agree on.

The second period started and Philadelphia absolutely dominated play. Aaron Asham nearly broke the scoreless deadlock as he was sent in on a breakaway by Claude Giroux, but Timmy Thomas stood tall and made a great save. Thomas, however, then made one of the biggest bonehead mistakes that I can ever recall. Philadelphia pest Scott Hartnell, who is a very good player but knows how to rattle opponents, used his knowledge that Tim Thomas is a very competitive hot-head in the rink to his advantage. Hartnell backed into Thomas and knocked him down, and then skated near Thomas again moments later; an irate Thomas came out of his crease to cross check Hartnell, and in the process, Flyers rookie Danny Syvret fired a puck from just inside the blueline through Thomas’ legs while Thomas was out of the crease, resulting in the first goal of the game and Syvret's first NHL goal. I was so upset with Thomas; he should have known better and let the players in front of him deal with Hartnell. All of the fans around me were frustrated and venting about how stupid that was and wanted to know where Tuukka Rask was. Thomas redeemed himself by stopping Claude Giroux on a breakaway as Zdeno Chara made a silly behind-the-back pass which was intercepted by Giroux. The score remained 1-0 after two periods of play, and I was getting very frustrated.

The Bruins came out for the third and looked a little better than they did in the second, but still couldn’t really generate any quality scoring chances. With about five minutes to play, Boston comedic icons Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke stood atop the home plate stage with two Boston firefighters and two Worcester firefighters, and they all led the crowd in singing along to “Sweet Caroline,” which has been an 8^th inning Fenway Park tradition since May of 2000. All of the Bruins players were looking around in shock, but that must have sparked them as Kimmo Timonen tripped up Marc Savard, giving us our second powerplay of the game, and the Bruins converted as 41 year old Mark Recchi, who had done everything you can imagine in the NHL except for play in an outdoor game, beautifully redirected a Derek Morris half slapper from the top of the faceoff dot with just over 2 minutes to play in the period. The crowd erupted and I was jumping up and down and highfiving every fan I could possibly reach. I yelled to every fan how going to the net and scoring a goal is an amazing concept since the Bruins have lacked to do much of that this season. Shortly after, Flyers center Danny Briere was given a penalty which would carry into overtime if the Bruins didn’t score before regulation ended. They failed to score again, and the game was sent to overtime in which Boston started off on a 4 on 3. They failed to convert during the man advantage, and Danny Briere came flying out of the penalty box, took a pass, and went in all alone on Tim Thomas. I honestly couldn’t watch because I CANNOT STAND BRIERE! He’s always been on my shit list for badmouthing the Bruins back in the day and he does the same ridiculous pump after every goal he scores. All of the Flyers fans with whom I spoke hate him as well. After Thomas denied him, the Bruins pulled off the unimaginable! Patrice Bergeron made a gorgeous pass through a pair of Flyers players, and Marco Sturm tipped the puck through goaltender Michael Leighton’s legs to win the game! Sturm raised his arms, skated to the boards, and highfived somebody standing up against the glass. Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron jumped on him, and the rest of the team skated over and mauled him. The Bruins definitely did not deserve to win that game based on their play and lack of shots on goal, but it was such a magical, storybook ending to an epic day in Boston. I was so excited (as you can imagine) as I was jumping up and down; I even picked up and hugged my friend Alison. It was almost like seeing them win the Cup in person, it had that feeling to it. I also find it coincidental that Marco Sturm was the hero in the two most epic Bruins games of the last ten years, the other of course being Game 6 against Montreal.

Alison and I quickly departed Fenway and headed over to Boylston Street for a postgame dinner with Matt, Laura, Jaci, and Tracy. We had stayed for the three star selections and the postgame handshakes, but we missed Tim Thomas being selected to the USA Olympic team, but we were okay with that since I know how much of a nightmare it can be getting out of Fenway, and I was all Fenway-ed out. We ate and had a few postgame beers at the Chicken Bone on Boylston Street, and my day was done. I had spent over 12 hours in Boston and I wanted to get home. The 8 month wait, the $225 charge to my Visa Gold Card, and the potential bad weather leading up to the event was all worth it once Marco Sturm sent everybody home happy. It was a day that I will NEVER forget!

The Line Combinations were as follows…

• Steve Begin-Marc Savard-Marco Sturm
• Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
• Daniel Paille-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
• Shawn Thornton-Vladimir Sobotka-Byron Bitz

• Dennis Wideman-Zdeno Chara
• Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
• Matt Hunwick-Derek Morris

Scoring Summary…

• PHI: Danny Syvret assisted by Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell
• BOS: Mark Recchi assisted by David Krejci and Derek Morris (PPG)
• BOS: Marco Sturm assisted by Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron

Warmup music…

• Jay-Z feat. Lil Wayne and Kanye West - “One Republic”
• Dropkick Murphys - “Time To Go”
• Linkin Park - “Bleed It Out”
• Saliva - “Click Click Boom”
• Foo Fighters - “Pretender”