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”

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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”

A nice tune-up for the Winter Classic.

That was a nice tuneup to the much anticipated Winter Classic! The Bruins shutout the Atlanta Thrashers Wednesday night at the TD Garden 4-0 behind Tuukka Rask’s second shutout of the season. Going into this game, I was a little worried that the Bruins wouldn’t be totally ready for this game because I figured their heads would be preoccupied on Friday.

I was really shocked to see Atlanta netminder Ondrej Pavelec lead Atlanta onto the ice for the pregame warmup since he was lifted just last Wednesday after allowing 3 goals on 10 shots in the Bruins' 6-4 win. I didn’t think that would happen again. The Bruins jumped on the board first just over six minutes into the contest as Sugar Shawn Thornton fired the puck around the wall, then Matt Hunwick jumped up into the play and fluttered a wristshot which Byron Bitz creatively redirected through his own legs and past Pavelec to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Boston then struck again as rookie phenom Evander Kane was called for a 2 minute minor for highsticking Johnny Boychuk (it should have been 4 minutes since Boychuk was cut); the Bruins converted again as Marco Sturm picked up the garbage on the rebound of a Marc Savard booming slapshot from about eight feet out that rang off the post, and Sturm tucked in it to make it 2-0. They weren’t done as Steve Begin redirected a Derek Morris one timer from the point; the puck went off Stevie B’s leg and in the net. The referees reviewed it, I'm not sure why, but the Bruins took a 3-0 lead, and for the second time in a week, that was the night for Ondrej Pavelec as his career stats versus Boston read as follows: 16 minutes, 6 goals allowed on 20 shots. That is not good. After one period, the B’s had a nice 3-0 lead.

The Bruins kept up the strong play in the second period as they continued to dominate Atlanta, especially sniper and potential future Bruin Ilya Kovalchuk. To be honest, I didn’t even notice him out there on the ice at all. I know I saw him in warmups, but he wasn’t a scoring threat all night as Zdeno Chara did a real nice job shutting him down. I really want Kovalchuk here in Boston; I’ve always loved him, and I believe a tandem of Savard and Kovalchuk would be the best 1-2 combo in Boston since Cam Neely and Adam Oates. The B’s added to their lead just as a powerplay expired when Blake Wheeler made a great individual effort to get the puck to Mark Recchi, who slid a nice pass across the top the crease to Patrice Bergeron, and Bergeron slapped it into the back of the net to make it 4-0. Earlier in the day, Patrice had been named to the Team Canada Olympic team. I was real happy for Bergy, and he’s come such a long way after sustaining a pair of career threatening head injuries over the past two years. In other Winter Olympic news, David Krejci, Zdeno Chara and Marco Sturm will also be representing their countries as Krejci will be playing for the Czech Republic, Chara for Slovakia, and Sturm will captain the Germany team (I believe he’s the only NHL German-born player going to Vancouver). Tim Thomas will find out tomorrow if he will be named to the USA Olympic team; I’d say he’s a lock, and although he definitely won’t start over Ryan Miller, the fact that he should be going is such a good story for Timmy.

The Bruins won the game 4-0, and like I said earlier, it was a really nice tuneup for the Winter Classic which promises to be absolutely epic and unforgettable. I have an amazing seat for this event; I’m about 30 rows off the field on the third base side with the Bruins coming at me twice. I can’t wait for this, and last night I purchased my official Winter Classic program since I wanted to avoid all the chaos at Fenway and not worry about lugging it around with me. My next blog promises to cover every angle of the Classic, from my first beer early in the morning with all my friends, to the pregame ceremonies, to the puck drop, to the last horn. I’ve never been so excited to go to Fenway. Currently, the forecast is calling for cloudy skies, a high of 36 and a few sprinkles…whatever, I think I can handle it!

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…

• BOS: Byron Bitz assisted by Shawn Thornton and Matt Hunwick
• BOS: Marco Sturm assisted by Dennis Wideman and Marc Savard (PPG)
• BOS: Steve Begin assisted by Derek Morris and Marc Savard
• BOS: Patrice Bergeron assisted by Blake Wheeler and Mark Recchi

Bruins Goal Videos…

• Bitz: Batman celebrating after beating up the villains
• Sturm: John Travolta and Uma Thurman dancing in Pulp Fiction
• Begin: Three Stooges dancing
• Bergeron: Champagne popping scene in Wedding Crashers

Warmup Music…

• Jay-Z feat. Lil Wayne - “One Republic”
• Shop Boyz - “Party Like A Rock Star”
• Flo Rida - “Low”
• Rihanna feat. Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Kanye West - “Run This Town”