The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 69,000 times in 2010. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would have performed about 3 times.
In 2010, there were 35 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 63 posts. There were 232 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 79mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.
Since last Saturday’s pathetic undertaking against the Senators, a 2-0 loss on home ice, the Bruins have rebounded nicely with three consecutive wins. While the entire team has been playing well, this stretch may prove to be the offensive ‘coming-out’ party for B’s power winger Milan Lucic.
“Looch” had an assist in the 3-0 win over New Jersey, then had the B’s first goal in a 3-2 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, then sent the Boston Garden into a frenzy on Thursday night with a natural hat trick in a 4-0 Bruins win over the Florida Panthers.
Bruins 3, Devils 0 – 11/15/10
Tim Thomas was HUUUGE in the opening minutes of this game, and somehow kept New Jersey off the scoreboard:
Mark Stuart had a particularly strong game, and he buriedMattias Tedenby on this play:
Michael Ryder (5), Nathan Horton (8) and “Bad Blake” Wheeler (3) scored to help improve Tim Thomas‘ record to 9-1-0 on the season. The shutout was Thomas’ fourth on the young season, tops in the NHL.
Bruins 3, Rangers 2 – 11/17/10
Broken record alert:Tim Thomas stood on his head, especially in the third period when the Bruins killed off a 5 on 3 Rangers power play for 1:44, and the Bruins held on for a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Milan Lucic (7), Tyler Seguin (4) and Mark Recchi (2) had the Bruins goals, as Thomas’ record went to an impressive 10-1-0, with a 1.37 GAA and a .959 SV%.
Click on the picture below for highlights:
Bruins 4, Panthers 0 – 11/18/2010
Tuukka Rask, at 0-4-1 on the season, was looking for his first win of the season, as ex-Bruin Dennis Wideman and the Florida Panthers came to the Garden on Thursday night. Nathan Horton, Dennis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell were also playing against their old Panthers teammates for the first time since arriving to the Bruins.
Milan Lucic‘s hat trick led the B’s…see video above . Looch scored two goals in 15 seconds in the third period to complete the natural hat trick, and send the hats flying at the Boston Garden.
The highlight of the first two periods was this Shawn Thornton/Darcy Hordichuk heavyweight bout:
So Tuukka finally gets a well-deserved ‘W’ with a shutout, and gets that annoying monkey off his back.
Bruins Notes:
The win over the Rangers was Claude Julien’s 143rd win as Bruins coach, passing Tom Johnson and moving him into 5th place for wins all-time by a Bruins coach.
Mark Recchi had 2 assists in the New Jersey win, the 391st multi-point game of his career.
The Bruins are outscoring their opponents 22-9 in the third period this season.
Tuukka’s shutout against the Panthers was the seventh of his career.
Longtime Clarence confidant BornAgainBruinsFan was at the game against Florida…good work BABF, 1-0-0 so far!
Is it me, or does Panther’s coach Peter DeBoer look like a youngCousin Eddie from “Vacation”?
The 12-6 Los Angeles Kings visit the Boston Garden tonight, and I will make this promise: If Rene Rancourt sings the national anthems, the Bruins WILL win.
And remember one thing: penguins would kill you if they could.
This past Wednesday night, the Bruins entered the third period in Pittsburgh behind 4-2. In a hard-fought first two periods that featured three good fracas:
..as well as Milan Lucicalmost taking the dreaded “opposing bench plunge”:
…the Bruins just could not seem to click, and were being beaten to pucks in all zones. One thing for sure: last season’s Boston Bruins would have folded* like a Circus Tent and lost the game without much of a third period fight.
I’m not sure what happened in the Bruins locker room in between the second and third periods, but the Bruins came out for the third period as a team with a purpose…maybe Claude Julien gave his troops a motivational speech:
Whatever the reason, the Bruins turned a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 runaway victory by throwing a good old-fashioned 5-0 third period on the beaten and stunned Penguins.
The five unanswered third period goals came from Nathan Horton (7), Zdeno Chara (3), Shawn Thornton (3, game winner), “Bad Blake” Wheeler (2) and Milan Lucic (6), as 15 players registered points on the night for the Bruins. Only Mark Stuart, Andrew Ference and Danielle Paille were held off the scoreboard by the Penguins.
Watch and enjoy:
The Penguins peppered Bruins goalie Tim Thomas with 46 shots on the night, but Thomas continued his white-hot (and historic) start to improve to 8-0-0.
Random Bruins Notes:
Toronto has lost seven straight games as of Wednesday. Bruins fans can only hope those struggles continue, as the Bruins hold Toronto’s first round pick in next summer’s draft from the Phil Kessel signing. Another high first-rounder for the Bruins perhaps?
The Bruins suffered a pretty bad hangover the next night against Montreal at the Garden, as the lost 3-1 with Tuukka Rask in goal for the B’s. Carey Price started in goal for Montreal, and frustrated the B’s at every turn. Tied at one entering the third, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez scored third period goals to help Montreal defeat the Bruins 3-1.
The Montreal loss put Rask at 0-4-1 on the season. This is no indication of how Rask has been playing, but it’ll be nice to get Tuukka that first ‘W’ of the season.
The Bruins play an always dangerous Ottawa Senators team at the Garden tonight…here’s hoping that my old friend Rene Rancourt performs the national anthems before tonight’s game.
If Rene does the honors tonight, Clarence guarantees a win for the Bruins against the Senators.
* Folding:
Bob Mould at the Met in Pawtucket this past Monday performing “Wishing Well”:
The Boston Bruins started November with three games in four nights, and were hoping to build on the momentum of their 6-2 October. Goaltender Tim Thomas was a large part of that momentum, as he took a 6-0-0 record into Buffalo to start the three game stretch. The Sabres, at 3-7-1, were struggling like Snooki at a spelling bee….could this be a ‘trap’ game?
The Bruins let it be known that they would be falling for no traps, as they jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead on the strength of shorthanded goals from Brad Marchand (1) and Patrice Bergeron (2). “Bad Blake” Wheeler added his first of the season, on the strength of a terrific pass from Michael Ryder.
Marchand‘s goal was his first of his career, and the Bruins first shorthanded goal of the season:
Ryder, who seems to have gotten some type of B-12 shot this season, scored in the second to make it 4-0. Ryder’s intensity has been a pleasant surprise this season…but he’s still nauseatingly overpaid at $4 million a season. The Bruins held on for a 5-2 win, as Milan Lucic added an empty netter and Thomas made 33 saves.
Thomas became the first goalie in Boston Bruins franchise history to start the season 7-0-0, and the 2010-11 Boston Bruins team became the first to open the season at 5-0-0 on the road.
Lucic has points in eight of the Bruins’ first nine games, and the comparisons to Cam Neely do not seem as far-fetched as they once did.
Game Notes:
This game was the 1,000th NHL game for local product Mike Grier.
The Bruins are now 4-0-0 in games in which they are outshot. From the “meaningless stats” file.
Word has it that Marco Sturm is making strides in getting back into the Bruins’ lineup. Sources say he should be ready to get back on the ice and re-injure himself in 4-6 weeks.
Clarence had to DVR the Bruins next game against the Washington Capitals, as I was giddily attending the Guided By VoicesClassic Lineup Reunion show at the Paradise. But having already beaten Washington twice already this young season, the Bruins should have expected a very tough game. Tim Thomas was back in net for the B’s, and the Bruins left him out to dry for most of the first two periods. The B’s were behind 3-0 entering the third period, and coach Claude Julien pulled Thomas and put in Tuukka Rask. From the fast-forward DVR review of the game, the Bruins seemed to be turning the puck over in the neutral zone quite a bit. This was something they had not been doing this season, and an instant-offense team like Washington will take advantage of many of these mistakes. And they did. The Bruins mounted an admirable comeback in the third to make it 3-3, but Rask let in a long snapper by John Carlson, then Alex Ovechkin added an empty-netter to make it a 5-3 final and a win for the Capitals.
Since Rask was in net when the Bruins tied the game at three, he became the goalie of record and took the loss….thus keeping Timmy still undefeated (7-0-0) on the season.
Here’s the highlights of this game courtesy NHL.COM:
The St. Louis Blues came to the Garden leading the NHL’s Central Division with a 7-1-2 record, with ex-CanadienJaroslav Halak between the pipes. Ex-Bruin Vladimir Sobotka got the Blues out to a 1-0 lead in the first, as the Bruins struggled to beat the omnipresent Halak. Tuukka was in net for the Bruins, and played well (34 saves). Nathan Horton hit more posts than Patches Kennedy driving to a 2:00 a.m. House vote, and Mark Stuart had a great hit on Jay McClement followed by a good bout against B.J. Crombeen:
…but the Bruins seemed a step behind all night, and when they did get their chances, Halak stoned them.
Gregory Campbell scored his first as a Bruin to tie it at one in the third, and give the Bruins a chance to get the two points. The OT period was scoreless, and although the shootout featured Tyler Seguin‘s first shootout goal (a beauty), the Bruins (again) clanked TWO posts and ended up losing the game:
Obviously not the best of stretches for the Bruins, but they still gathered three out of a possible six points over the four night span…far from a disaster.
The B’s have a few days off before they face the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, followed by home games against Montreal and Ottawa on Thursday and Saturday nights respectively.
The Boston Bruins’ 2010-2011 NHL season opened in Prague (Czech Republic) on October 9-10 with a pair of games against the Phoenix Coyotes, and neither team earned Prague-ing rights, as they split the games.
In “Prague: Game One”, the Bruins looked lethargic at best in losing the opener, 5-2. Tuukka Rask was in net, but not always at the right times…lone bright spot was newcomer Nathan Horton:
…who potted both Boston goals in the third period to make the final score slightly less one-sided.
Goalie Tim Thomas started and frustrated the Coyotes in “Prague: Game Two”…although the 10:00 a.m. ET Sunday morning local start time did conflict with the Three Stooges:
….and, of course, church:
…but I digress. The Bruins would put forth a solid team effort,winning 3-0. Thomas’ shut-out performance was supported by another goal from Horton, as well as Tyler Seguin‘s first NHL goal…a beauty:
Milan Lucic also scored to account for the 3-0 final, making for a happy Lucic and Thomas.
The Bruins returned to North American soil following their European sojourn, and after 5 days without a game they visited New Jersey for game 3 of the season. Tim Thomas was rewarded for his shutout effort in Prague with the start, and he was at his best in the first period, allowing the B’s to escape the first stanza with a 0-0 tie. In the second period, the Bruins allowed the Devils a goal before scoring four consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead. That would be the final score…the highlight of the night was yet another first NHL goal, this time from the B’s Jordan Caron:
CLICK on the poster below for complete game highlights (I was at this concert, so I didn’t see the game LIVE):
Bruins Re-Sign Bergeron and Chara
Leading up to the season opener, the Bruins signed two players that are keys to the future of the team: forward Patrice Bergeron:
and Defenseman (and Captain) Zdeno Chara:
to long term contracts.
Click on the Bergeron and Chara pictures above for details on their new deals with the Bruins.
“This is Gonna Be Hard on the Beaver…”
Clarence was saddened to hear of the death of America’s Jive-Talking Mom, Barbara Billingsley, at 94.
Finally….The answers to these questions will go a long way to determining the Bruins success this season:
Can Tuukka Rask take the next step and become a No. 1 goaltender?
Will Tyler Seguin step right in and become a regular offensive contributor?
Will Marc Savard even play this season?
Will Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler continue to suck?
How does Jack Edwards keep his job?
Can Milan Lucic get back on track after an injury-riddled 2009-10?
Where the hell is the records room?
Will Nathan Horton become the next Garden crowd favorite?
How improved will the B’s defense be, with the first full season from Dennis Seidenberg and the emergence of Mark Stuart and Johnny Boychuk?
Back to back games against the Washington Capitals starting tomorrow night….Home Opener Thursday night…
Immediate Oscar Front-runner “Rizzo” , all of four years old, delivers the goods in this stirring delivery of Herb Brooks‘ inspirational 1980 speech to his troops at Lake Placid:
Boston Bruins fanscollectively exhaled on Sunday afternoon, as the Bruins beat Montreal 3-0to end their losing streak at 10 games.
Tuukka Rask was in net and made 36 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Marco Sturm scored twice to lead the B’s at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
It was the Bruins first home victory since their New Year’s Day victory in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.
The game also featured the first NHL goal of Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid:
…as well as the first NHL fight for Blake (don’t call me Bob Sweeney) Wheeler:
It looks like that off-season training regimenfinally paid off:
Rask was huge in this game, especially in the second period when the Canadiens outshot the Bruins 15-3, as he earned his third shutout of the season and added fuel to the Bruins goaltender debate. Rumors are also swirling about the Bruins making Tim Thomas available as the March 3rd NHL trade deadline approaches.
The Bruins (24-22-11) stand two points out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the eastern conference as they head into tonight’s game in Buffalo. Road games will follow in Tampa Bay on Thursday, then in Sunrise, FL against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Then, they enter the two-week break for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
After losing 10 games in a row, the Bruins are only two points out of the playoff race? Wow….Bruins fans really should:
Tonight, the red-hotWashington Capitals come to the TD Garden in Boston with Alex Ovechkin in tow.
The Capitals have won 10 straight games and are clickingon all cylinders.
The Bruins have lost 7 straight games and were almost recalled by Toyota for defective offensive components.
It could be a long night for the Bruins – but conversely, an upset win could go a long way toward restoring the confidence of this emotionally fragileBoston Bruins team.
