Bruins Will Return Two More Tonight...

The Bruins will have both Phil Kessel and Michael Ryder in the lineup tonight when they take on the New Jersey Devils at the Garden. Kessel, medically cleared yesterday, has missed the last 6 games with mono. He has been deemed medically ready to go but it has been reported that he will be wearing a protective wrap around his midsection to protect his spleen.

Also returning will be Michael Ryder who missed Tuesday's game with the flu. Still on the sidelines for the B's is Manny Fernandez, who has back issues. Tuukka Rask will back up Timmy tonight in net.

Bruins Edge Caps in Overtime

With the emotional return of Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, and Andrew Ference, the rejuvated Boston lineup was able to pull out a big win versus Washington in overtime. After giving up the early goal, the Bruins would play catchup all night. After tieing the game 1-1 in the first, they would only find themselves down a goal again just seconds before the first intermission. Marc Savard would tie the game up 2-2 in the 2nd period with the assist from the returning Bergeron.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation. But a very timely goal by David Krejci secured the 2 points for the Bruins. The extra point for the B's now puts them 11 points ahead of the 2nd place Caps.

Penalty Box: Marc Savard for jumping the gun with his penatly 7 seconds in
Savvy wasn't so Savvy with his High Sticking which basically led to the Caps early goal. Luckily he settled down nicely and turned in another spectacular outing. Solid for the B's all season.

The black and gold will next see action Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. Gametime is 7 and luckily the boys are back on NESN (awesome as I don't get VS at school!)!!!!!!!!!!

Bergeron Cleared to Play!!!

Injured center Patrice Bergeron has been cleared to play and will be in the line-up tonight versus the Washington Capitals. Bergeron (Bergy), has been out since Dec. 20 when he suffered another concussion, his second in 14 months. Much less severe than his first last season, which caused him to miss all but ten games, Bergeron has recovered quickly and will bring back to the team his superior hockey sense. Reports out of Boston news sources speculate that Bergeron's return may not be to his usual center position, but to the wing position. Bergeron has not played wing since his rookie year in Boston. According to the reports, Bergeron's position tonight will be determined by the availability of Michael Ryder, who is sick.

Also returning tonight for the B's will be Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference! Phil Kessel has also been seen working out with the team.

The addition of Bergy, Looch, and Ference should provide a huge boost for the team against the 2nd place Capitals tonight!

Bruins Help East Take All-Star Game

The 2009 All-Star Game lived up to tradition as an offensive explosion. With lead changes throughout the game, the third period (the East anchored in net that period by the spectacular Timmy) ended in a 11-11 tie. Timmy remained strong in the net and the overtime period ended scoreless. The East All-Stars shined in the Shootout and behind Tank Thomas they won the shootout and the game 12-11.

Contributing for the Bruins were Savvy, who tallied 3 assists. Chara recorded one shot on goal and lent his intimidating presence to the Eastern Defense. Timmy gave a tremendous effort and should have won game MVP, which Montreal player Alex Kovalev (home town bias???)

Chara Sets New Record, Timmy and Savvy Make Mockery of the Shootout

Big Z perfected the three-peat in the hardest shot competition and in the process set a new record. Z's shot of 105.4 is the hardest/fastest shot in the history of the Super Skills competition. Even more impressive was Chara's actions before the competition. Chara organized the effort for every player to put up their own money into the pot for the charity of the winners' choice. Also donating were the players' respective clubs. The final total ended up at $24,000. With Z getting the win, the money went to the Right To Play organization. Simply an amazing person on and off the ice.

After the Hardest Shot came the extremley entertaining Elimination Shootout. Timmy was excellent against the All-Stars and provided some very acrobatic saves. Savvy stole the show however, and the self-described 'passer' ended up as the runner-up. A HUGE assist to Timmy however, who gave Savvy a perfect five-hole shot to put him through to the next round. Huge grins on the faces of both players as they high-fived each other after their little bit of trickery.

Also adding to the night was Savvy's very insightful commentary on the Versus channel. Very nice Savvy! Maybe a future career in broadcasting??? Overall a very fun night, highlighted by Alex Ovechkin's outfit during the Breakaway Challenge (he got my vote!)

On to tomorrow with the actual All-Star Game from Montreal. Hopefully our Bruins can provide some fantastic memories like they did last year with Savvy's game winner!

Wheeler Shines in Youngstars Game

Blake Wheeler was named Youngstars game MVP at the Superskills Competition. Wheels contributed 3 goals to the Rookies 9-5 defeat of the sophomores. Wheels gets to take home a nice trophy as well as some nice memories of some gorgeous goals against evil Hab goalie Cary Price. Too bad big Milan Lucic had to bow out of competing on the sophomore team due to injury. It would have been priceless to see Wheels and Looch square off!

Bruins Storm back to Take Shootout vs Leafs

Trailing 3-1 in the third period, two goals by Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara tied up the game at three all. For the second game in a row, the Bruins headed into overtime. After a tense bit of overtime, which saw the Leafs go on a 4-3 man advantage after Martin St. Pierre's (and his gigantic stick's) hooking penalty. The B's were able to hold off Toronto and the Bruins were once again headed to a shootout. After some nice stops by Timmy, and a very nice wrist shot from Michael Ryder, the Bruins found themselves the winners of the game and the two points. A nice way to begin the All-Star Break!

Penalty Box: After much deliberation, Martin St. Pierre's penalty for stupidly taking a penalty with 1:40 left in overtime has been revoked for his nice Shootout goal to keep it goin' for the Bruins. A quick turn around from zero to hero for Mr. St. Pierre.

The Bruins are off for the All-Star Break! With Timmy (Tim Thomas), Savvy (Marc Savard), Big Z (Zdeno Chara), Wheels (Blake Wheeler), and Coach Julien off to Montreal for the festivities, the rest of the Bruins will enjoy a much deserved break. The team will re-group Monday Jan. 26 in preparation of their game Tuesday versus this season's nemesis, the Washington Caps and Alex Ovechkin. Another BIG game for the B's.

On to the All-Star game starting this Saturday with the skills competition! Big Z will look to defend his title of NHL's Hardest shot and Blake Wheeler will take place in the Young Stars game. Can't wait!

Early Updates from Toronto...

From the Boston Globe's Bruins Blog:
Some early updates from Toronto and the Air Canada Centre. Tonights starting goalie is still a toss-up between Manny and Timmy. Hopefully Manny gets the nod so Timmy can get some rest before his big game in Montreal! Ward is a game-time decision as well...

Blue Time in Boston: Bruins Lose in Shootout

After a dramatic comeback in the third period, the team saw their lead disappear in the final few seconds against the St. Louis Blues. A controversial goal, and a very long review, the goal stood and the game headed to overtime. A scoreless overtime lead to a shootout. St. Louis took the shootout against Tim Thomas and won the game 5-4.

With the point that they were able to earn, the Bruins now stand at 71, still tied with the San Jose Sharks for the top spot in the league. More positive news for the Bruins included Head Coach Claude Julien hinting that many of the Bruins' injured might be well enough to make a return to their line-up after this weekend's All-Star game. Lucic also will not participate in the Youngstars game during this weekend's All-Star festivities. The return on Bergeron, Lucic, and even possible Ference would be a major boost for the club during their "slump."

More good news on the injury front with Dennis Wideman showing no ill-effects of the knee check from Alex Ovechkin. Wideman earned a point on an assist on PJ Axelsson's goal during his 26:27 of ice time.

Penalty Box: A double minor of 4 minutes to the Bruins offense for lacking energy
The Bruins offense seemed flat for not only the first two periods, but also in the Overtime. Blake Wheeler also missed an empty net to secure the Bruins the win.

The Bruins will see one more game Wednesday before breaking for the All-Star break. The Bruins will be in Toronto to face division rival the Toronto Maple Leafs. Always a good match up between these two Original Six members.

Caps Outplay Bruins

'Crazy Eight' and co. have struck again. The Capitals 2-1 win over the Bruins have put the season series at Caps 2, Bruins 0. Not a good situation for the B's with the Caps slowly creeping up and challenging for the #1 spot in the conference.

A hard fought game on the Bruins part, it just seemed that they could not escape the devastating injuries that just seem to keep piling up. Missing in action for the Bruins were forwards Milan Lucic (upper body), Patrice Bergeron (concussion), defensemen Aaron Ward (charley horse- seriously, on and injury report!?!), and Andrew Ference (broken leg.) And the long-term injured: forwards Phil Kessel (mono) and Marco Sturm, out for the season with knee surgery. After the nasty knee-check that Dennis Wideman took from Alex Ovechkin last night, it wouldn't be suprising if he joined the Bruins corps. of the walking wounded.

Goaltender Tim Thomas played well, put found himself outplayed by Caps goalie Jose Theadore. The Bruins were able to get some good shots off, such as Marc Savard's (Savvy) goal in the second period. But Washington's offense was able to come away with two goals from Thomas by Mike Green and a hard shot by Alexander Semin that shot right over Timmy's head.

And now for my special game report feature: the Penalty Box. After every game I hope to assign a 'penalty' for bad or stupid play (both on and off the field).

Penalty Box: 2 minutes on the Injury Bug for just plain unfairness.
After all the injuries the Bruins have had to face this year, they continue to pile up. First Ward the game before re-aggravating his 'Charley Horse' to Wides almost getting his leg taken off by Ovie.

Some good news before the game --- both Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron were both removed from the injury report. Good to see Ference progressing nicely from his fractured tibia. Even more nice to see Patrice Bergeron (my favorite player) working his way back from his second devastating concussion in 14 months.

Next game for the Bruins: This Monday, Jan. 19. An afternoon matinee at 1:00 versus the St. Louis Blues. Looking forward to seeing ex-Bruin Brad Boyes!

Somethin's Bruin in Boston

Welcome to my Bruins Blog! This blog will be dedicated to chronicling the amazing Boston Bruins '08-'09 season from the season's midway point. Preseason picks had the Bruins virtually last, but this talented group has shocked the league with their position of 1st place in the league.

A native New Englander, I am a huge Boston Bruins fan. In the last few seasons, this 'Band of Bruins' have captured my interest and I now proudly call myself a die-hard Bruins fan after years of single-minded devotion to only to the Red Sox and Patriots. Despite being an out of town fan, I try to catch each and every Bruins game (thanks Directv and NESN!)

Throughout the rest of the season, I hope to provide game reports, news, and my general thoughts and opinions on the Bruins.