Hub Hockey

Any New Strategies In The Making For Bruins

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Coming off a Stanley Cup, it’s easy to think the Boston Bruins don’t have much to worry about heading into next season. But there’s always work to be done, and that applies to champions, too.

One area where a clear strategy will be needed is with the goaltending situation. This may seem odd given that Tim Thomas carried the team in the playoffs and won the Vezina Trophy, but it really isn’t. Coach Claude Julien has the task of keeping the 37-year-old fresh for the postseason, and also developing his likely successor, Tukka Rask. Getting Rask enough time to develop his game is a key task, and one that will require Julien’s attention.

The team will also need to find a boost of veteran leadership to replace the retired Mark Recchi, and also possibly Marc Savard, whose status remains uncertain due to severe concussions. Julien will need to identify a new Assistant Captain to wear the “A” on his sweater this year that’s been vacated by Recchi. The choice will go along way in determining the team’s future leadership on the ice.

A final piece of strategy to watch is what to do if the team can’t re-sign Brad Marchand.

Will Injured Players Hold Boston Back

admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The Boston Bruins will not be deterred by injuries during the upcoming hockey season. The amazing resiliency of the Boston Bruins is what led them to win the Stanley Cup this past season. Next season shall be no different as the mighty Bruins dominate the NHL with a breed of hockey not seen in many years.

The key behind the Boston Bruins dreams’ lies with Tim Thomas. This spectacular goalie carried the team on his back to win important playoff game after important playoff game. His incredible vision around the net led him to take more risks than the average goalie when it comes to stepping off his line to play pucks. This aggressive style did backfire on occasion, but it mainly led to his team compiling a rush up the ice in a quick manner.

The Boston Bruins will not be stopped by injuries next season. The team is simply too good and too dangerous. The experience they gained from winning the cup will prove insurmountable as they hone their craft and chase that elusive repeat. This Bruins team is a team to be reckoned with for years to come. Injuries or not, the Bruins will be back to defend their title.

Can Bruins Make It To The Stanley Cup

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Coming off their first Stanley Cup championship in nearly 40 years, the Boston Bruins will seek to defend The Cup in 2011-12, and will face the unfamiliar challenge of being the team to beat. Champions always have the proverbial “bulls-eye” on their back, drawing every opponent’s best effort in the year following a win.

Defenseman Brad Marchand was a key player in the Bruins’ playoff run but remains unsigned for next year. Whether to keep him will be an important consideration for Bruins management this offseason. Veteran Marc Savard was a big presence on the team for several years but played only 38 games last year after severe concussions sidelined him. Whether he chooses to come back or retire is another decision that will affect the Bruins next year.

With the team’s core of players like Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, and Patrice Bergeron in place for next year, the major pieces will remain. Of course, the biggest enabler of the Stanley Cup run was the hot hand of goalie Tim Thomas, who set a record for total playoff saves last year. Whether Thomas can get hot again next spring could be the ultimate determinant of whether the Bruins can repeat.

The Stanley Cup: Now You Know!

admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Bruins Fans! You spent the last 6 months watching each and every game on your Directstartv.com satellite and you’re counting down the minutes until the season starts back up. We bet there are a few things you still don’t know about the Stanley Cup, though, since it hasn’t been in Boston since thirty years ago. Here are a few of our favorite facts:
The Stanley Cup was crafter in the hills of Sheffield, England and was first presented in 1893.
This makes the Stanley Cup the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes.
Each player and manager of a winning team gets to take the trophy home for a day to share its glory with family and friends.
The cup weighs over 35 lbs. and stands just under three feet tall.
The cup traveled to Russia for the first time in the summer of 1997 to accompany Russian members of the team.
The cup travels an average of 250 days a year.
There are over a dozen names that have been misspelled on the Stanley Cup throughout history and only one has been corrected.

Who’s Tougher 70′s Bruins or Today’s Bruins

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

It’s hard to look at two different teams from two different eras and determine which team is “tougher”. Comparing the 1970′s Boston Bruins teams with the current Bruins teams in terms of toughness is like comparing the pitching of today’s Philadelphia Phillies to the 1960′s Cardinals teams: it’s just hard to do. One of the reasons for this is how the game has changed. In the 1970′s the game was, at it’s core, tougher. You have more holding, more open ice checking, and more “cheap shots”. Today’s game is a lot more wide open, which means that the players aren’t allowed to be as tough as they once were. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on how you like your hockey, to be honest.

If you are going to go from purely a penalty minute perspective, the classic 70′s Bruins teams are fairly similar to today’s teams, with minute paling in comparison to the 80′s teams which were known for racking up the minutes. With that said, the 1970′s Bruins teams did feature Bobby Orr, who was known as not only one of the best defensemen of all time, but also one of the best scorers as well. He was also one tough SOB as well.

Waiting Patiently For Savard To Return To Ice

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

If you are waiting patiently for Marc Savard to take the ice again for the Boston Bruins, you may just have to keep on waiting. With his second concussion in less then a year, and issues like memory loss effecting him when he’s on the mend, it may be a stretch to say that you’ll see Savard on the ice again this season for the Bruins (or ever again, in fact, as Savard has not made a decision on if he is coming back at all). The thing is, the Bruins have shown that they can succeed even without Savard at the ice. While they may have been streaky in the past few months, they look like they are going to the take the Division title and a third seed into the playoffs.

With Tim Thomas playing out of his mind with a 2.02 GAA, and Milan Lucic crossing the 30 goal mark, the Bruins look like a dangerous team in this seasons Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bruins will be looking to make it past the second round of the playoffs for the third straight season, and trying to erase last years historic loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. With such a wide open season, it’s not a stretch to say that the Bruins could hoist the cup for the first time since 1972, even without Savard.

Can Boston Keep Lead Over Montreal

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

While it may not exactly as insane as the crazy Western Conference race where 7 teams are separated by 6 points, the Eastern Conference has it’s own race going on. In one of the hottest races, the Boston Bruins lead the Montreal Canadians by only one point in the Northeast Division. The question is, though, can the Bruins keep the lead up through the final couple of weeks of the season. When you check out a hockey merchandise, http://www.hockeyshot.com/ you notice that the teams are two of the most popular in the league and as parts of the Original Six, it is always a good thing when they are in the playoffs.

So can the Canadians overtake the Bruins? Well, it’s not going to be easy since the Bruins have two games in hand over the Canadians, which means that for all intents and purposes, the Bruins could be as many as five points over the Canadians. Boston also has more home games then the Canadians, though they both have as the same number of games against quality teams. With that said, the Canadians have five of their last six games against teams outside of the playoffs, so if the Bruins begin to struggle then watch out.

Division Title Bru-ing?

hubhockey.com — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:44:02 +0000

With well over half the regular season games under the Bruins collective belt, it seems it’s only a matter of time before Canadiens fall by the wayside, despite a valiant first half effort. Already the frontrunners in the Northeast Division, Buffalo, Toronto and Ottawa all sit over 10 points back in the standings. Though Montreal is well within striking distance at the moment, further statistical analysis implies their record is indicative of good fortune more so than staying power. Looking around the league at the upper echelon of talented teams, goal differential appears to be a de facto dividing line between contenders and pretenders thus far in 2010-2011.The Flyers, Penguins, Bruins, Canucks and very nearly Red Wings all sit at the 30 threshold or better. Among legitimate division hopefuls, the Tampa Bay Lighting are the only squad in the NHL to sit in stark contrast to this trend, double digits deep in the red as they battle it out with the Washington Capitals atop the Southeast. Still, it could be argued that the 5 aforementioned leaders in goal differential are the top 5 teams in the league at this point, and missing among the short list is a Northeast divisional opponent.Though the Canadiens have compiled an admirable effort to date, Montreal simply lacks the offensive firepower to sustain their current level of play. Roughly averaging just 2.5 goals per game to 2.4 goals against, those ranks currently sit at 27^th in the league and 4^th in the league, respectively. The play of Cary Price should hold up to an extent, but as his GAA rises closer to his (very admirable, mind you) career average, as is logically inevitable, the team lacks the scorers to keep wins coming.The Bruins, on the other hand, pace the league in goaltending, behind the re-birth of Tim Thomas as the NHL’s premier netminder, while regularly scoring at a 3 goals per game clip. In the long run, this balanced attack gives the Bruins a much better chance of surviving the length of the season, a safe bet in this opinion, even at this early juncture, to regain the top spot in the Northeast Division, after finishing 3^rd in 2009-10.

Rask or Thomas?

hubhockey.com — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:04:54 +0000

Heading into the season it looked as if Rask would be the primary goaltender between the Boston pipes. Now, only 13 games into the season, it appears as if a controversy may be on our hands. No surprise is it to see Tim Thomas perform well. After all, he’s a Vezina trophy award winner and one of the best goalies to ever grace a Bruins uniform. What’s more surprising is Rask’s struggles this season relative to past performances.On a team that is 9-5-1, with only two goaltenders appearing in games this season, Rask has jumped out to an early 0-4-1 performance. For mathematically challenged fans out there, that puts Thomas’ stellar start to the season at 9-1, winning 8 straight before notching his first loss against Ottawa on Saturday, then rebounding with a 28 save shutout against the Devils on Monday. This was supposed to be the year in which the 23-year old Rask wrestled away the lead goalie reigns from the 36-year old Thomas, however, considering the records thus far in the season, it’s tough to sit Thomas.Wins and losses aside, statistically speaking, Rask isn’t playing that bad. In fact, Rask is currently ranked 10^th in Save Percentage at .923 (for the record, Thomas is 1^st at .960). However, Rask’s Goal’s Against Average is higher than league average at 2.75 (22^nd), Thomas is second in the league with a phenomenal 1.32 GAA. All in all, the Bruins face a fairly nice quandary, to start the young goalie with endless potential or let one of the best in the league produce for another year. Either ride through Rask’s mini-slump or put Thomas in net and play for today. Though the team is built to win now, it still may be best to keep sending Rask out on the ice with some regularity, as at 36 the course of a full NHL season can be grinding on older legs, and the Bruins may need Thomas fresh for a playoff push in a few months.

Quick 2010-11 Projections

hubhockey.com — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:34:00 +0000

Northeast Division Finish:

Boston Bruins Call it home cookin’, optimistic, whatever what-have-you, but we honestly believe Horton will come into his own and add a little sizzle to last year’s fairly stagnant offensive scheme, not to mention continued dominance on the defensive end.
Buffalo Sabres The Bruins boast arguably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL, but the Sabres still have G Ryan Miller, best in the league until proven otherwise, which will keep them competitive until season’s end.
Ottawa Senators – Undoubtedly the most proven offensive squad in the division, unmatched in terms of top to bottom firepower, the Sens will certainly make the Northeast a 3 team race.
Toronto Maple Leaves Toronto has some nice pieces, but overall the Leafs can’t compete with the division’s top 3 teams over the course of a full season.
Montreal Canadiens Cary Price is nice in net, but letting G Jaroslav Halak slip away to the St. Louis Blues may be a move the Habs live to regret.

Stanley Cup:San Jose Sharks over Washington CapitalsNHL MVP:Alexander Ovechkin, Washington CapitalsRookie of the Year:Tyler Seguin, talent playing time trophy. Plus, the Bruins will need him to step up big if the top prediction is to come true.