The expectations coming into this season for the Boston Bruins were fairly high. In a sense, it was going to be a season of redemption. After their enormous collapse in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year against the Philadelphia Flyers, Claude Julien and his crew could not wait to restore dignity to a team that was so dramatically and painfully eliminated from the playoffs last spring.
With the acquisition of rookie sensation Tyler Seguin, and a healthy roster from top to bottom, the B’s were primed to return to the hard-hitting, tenacious form we saw in the 2008 season. At this point, I think it’s fair to say that we are starting to see flashes of a team that once held the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Despite a slow start to the season, the Bruins have found their stride. Having posted a 31-18-7 record with 69 points thus far, they find themselves atop the Northeast division and third overall in the Eastern Conference with 25 games remaining. As the stretch run approaches, the Bruins will look to lock up the No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs.
The main ingredient in the Bruins’ success this season has been 36-year-old netminder, Tim Thomas. Thomas is boasting an incredible (and NHL-leading).940 save percentage along with a microscopic 1.97 goals against average (His GAA is also tops in the league.) The top candidate for the Vezina trophy is tied for the NHL lead in shutouts with seven, and even has three assists.
Thomas has been the one stable part of the Bruins’ core this season. After having hip surgery in the offseason, Thomas looks as if he has returned to the form he possessed in the 08’-09’ season, which earned him his first Vezina trophy. After losing his job last year to rookie Tuukka Rask, the roles have been reversed this season. With that said, the team will have to rely on Rask’s play as well as Thomas’s if they look to achieve any success this postseason.
The biggest surprise this season has come from the scrappy play of former fourth-line winger, Brad Marchand. Marchand, who was a vital piece of the Canadian World Juniors team in 2007, has emerged as a prominent part of the Bruins second line, alongside both assistant captains Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. These three players can be the most explosive and productive line for Claude Julien. Marchand has exploded with 16 goals and 14 assists so far this season; his goal total is tied for third best on the team. His high-energy play has elevated him on the depth chart, giving him a chance to play with probably the two most experienced Bruins on the roster.
Another player who has continued to show up night after night is left-winger Milan Lucic. Lucic has tallied a team- and career-best 23 goals in 53 games. This is what all of Boston has expected to see from Lucic when they first acquired him in 2007. After being able to play only 50 games last year due to an ankle injury, Lucic surged in the playoffs and hasn’t looked back since. He is a hard-hitting and physical presence, while also possessing the ability to score on any given night.
Other notable players for the Bruins this year have been newly acquired fourth-line center, Gregory Campbell. Campbell was included in the deal that brought Nathan Horton to Boston and he has given the Bruins “energy line” just the spark that it has needed. His counterpart in the trade, Nathan Horton, started off the season showing everyone why he was sought after by GM Peter Chiarelli. Since his hot start, Horton has slowed down his scoring, but looks to turn it around in the second half.
The Bruins blue liners are, well, hanging in there. Without the presence of a puck-moving defenseman, the brunt of the workload is being distributed evenly throughout the defensive core. That is with the exception captain Zdeno Chara. Chara is in the talks of another Norris Trophy nomination and is playing almost 30 minutes per game against the opposing teams’ top line. The Bruins’ defensive unit is a relatively young group, with the exceptions of Chara, Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg. Johnny Boychuck, Adam McQuaid, Mark Stewart and Steven Kampfer are all under the age of 30.
With the loss of Marc Savard due to continuing concussion issues, the Bruins will look to possibly make a trade for a big name to help the team in the last stretch of the season. The Bruins have all the right cards to make a trade, with Toronto’s first round pick, along with their own, and a lot of young talent. We can only wait and see if Chiarelli can make his first blockbuster move, and whether the Bruins can make a move deep into the playoffs.
