Since yesterday when the Bruins made a trade for Nathan Horton there have been rumors flying around...
"Some people are telling TSN's Darren Dreger that Marc Savard is available in a trade, and the New York Post's Larry Brooks adds that they've been "aggressively shopping Savard since the end of their season (ESPN)."
The onyl way I see the Bruins trading Savard is if they know Hall is going to get taken before they pick. If that is the case then the Bruins need to open up a center spot, and deal Savard would also give them some cap relief.
After the trade of Wideman the Bruins could also be on the lookout for a veteran defenseman to take his place. There have been rumors about a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs to bring in Tomas Kaberle, whom the Bruins have had interest in for a while.
Another rumors going around is that the Bruins might trade future draft picks, so they can get their hands on the Blue Jackets pick (#4 overall), so they can get their hands on a top defenseman (Erik Gudrbanson, Cam Fowler or Brandon Gormley). They Bruins should be able to pull off that deal if they want to since they have 4 pick in the first 2 rounds of next year draft, and a bunch of later picks this year as well.
The Bruins win 2 road games against teams they're fighting against to get into the playoffs. Two very nice, very solid wins in a row. Then they come home against a team that's the 5th worst in the NHL. And they lose. Of course. It's getting so utterly typical of this Bruins squad.
I'll criticize the refs a bit. They missed an offside call that directly led to Tampa Bay's first goal. Then again, Mark Stuart has to play until the whistle in this situation, not just assume that the refs will get the offside. Stuart isn't Dominek Hasek.
Then there was the interference penalty on Wheeler in the 2nd. Wheeler's standing in the offensive zone, a few diagonal feet from the net. Steven Stamkos, from behind, skates into him, they both fall down. Whistle and Wheeler gets 2 minutes for interference. Stamkos scores on the ensuing penalty.
OK, so the refs helped the Lightning. But the Bruins didn't help themselves. Dennis Wideman had one of his worst games of the season, which is saying quite a bit. And his bonehead kneeing penalty to start the 3rd was a prime example of his lack of focus. He got beyond himself, trying to make an excellent play, and it cost his team a power play, and a crippling 5th goal.
You can say that the Bruins didn't get bounces, but hockey isn't pinball. Both Wheeler and Lucic had multiple golden opportunities to knock in rebounds, but both lack the requisite skill sets to consistently complete that task.
Sorry folks, but Milan Lucic is a 4th line player. He has heart, he has toughness, he has strength, but he has no skates and no hands whatsoever.
But he's better than Michael Ryder. Everyone in the NHL is.
If this team gets a 6th seed, it can play and beat the Sabres. But they get so complacent so easily. They think they've clinched just because they beat the Rangers and Thrashers. They didn't show any fire or desperation until 10 minutes were left, and they needed 3 goals to tie.
The Bruins better pick it up by Saturday, because Calgary is playing for a spot in the postseason too. Although they lost to the Islanders tonight.
The Bruins had this game. That HAD IT, and then they imploded, basically it felt like the rest of this season. Boston jumped out to a 2-0 with goals by Recchi and Wheeler. The Bruins were all over then dominating in shots 42-21. You should never lose a fucking game when you out shoot a team by 21 shots, but hasn't this been the problem all year. I am sick of just saying we "ran into a hot goalie", or we "just didn't get the bounces tonight". No, this is happening because we don't have anyone who can put the fucking puck in the net.
I don't blame Julien in the least, I blame the GM moves. I understand the trade with Kessel, I really do. He was asking too much, was kind of soft, and we got a high draft pick out of it, but why Kobasew. I not saying he would fix everything, but having a 20-25 goal scorer on the team wouldn't hurt. To make matters worse Ryder has not been the go to guy he was last year, Krejci has been flat out terrible, and even Lucic doesn't seem to be the same.
Anyways, back to the game.
Boston had a 2-0 lead with about 3 mins left in the 2nd, then they promptly let up two goals. I don't blame Rask, because both times the Bruins let some asshole sit in front of the net and screen. You know who that asshole was? Dennis Wideman. How many times have we said that this season? He is flat out terrible. I kept defending him thinking he was just in a rut, but it's past that. He doesn't hit, he doesn't play his position, and he just looks like he has his head up his ass all game.
So, the game is tied and no one scores in the 3rd or overtime. They go to a shootout, and like usual lose. The Bruins have not had a win in their last 9 games, and their playoff chances seem to be fading. Does a deal change that? I want to say yes, but unless guys like Krejci, Ryder, and Lucic wake up this team isn't going anywhere.
If you have watched the Bruins this year at all you would know that Wideman has not nearly been the player he was last year. It has gotten to the point where Bruins' coach Claude Julien has even called him out...
"He's got to bring his intensity level up and he's got to have a better compete level. That's what makes him a great player. He should easily be a top-two at worst, a top-three defenseman for us, and he's not close to that right now. We know it. He knows it. He's got to pick up his game (NESN)."
There is not a lot going around about who may be interested, but one rumor that is flying around is that Wideman and Wheeler could be traded to rent Ilya Kovalchuk for the season. I would be all for this. Wideman seems to need a change of scenery, and Wheeler is a very up and down player. You add Kovalchuk and a healthy Bruins team and you really have something going into the playoffs.
The Bruins and Rangers have played each other pretty close. Lots of 1-0, and 2-1 games. And as frustrating as those losses can be, they're at least exciting to watch, and the Bruins typically register a good effort. Neither of those things were true Saturday afternoon.
You can blame the injuries all you want, and the Bruins have had their share and a half. But injuries don't excuse Dennis Wideman's inability to consistently handle the puck. They don't excuse Michael Ryder's stilted and deliberate shooting (in high traffic areas, he doesn't one-time the puck, he catches it, handles it, then tries to shoot. Of course, by that point, a quick reacting defenseman has poke-checked the puck away). They don't excuse David Krejci's puck ignorance in the crease. They don't excuse a defensive scheme that surrendered the neutral zone without a fight, and yielded the defensive zone almost as freely. Saturday afternoon, the Bruins' supposedly vaunted layered defense looked more like the French in WWII.
From now on Dennis Wideman's new name is Harvey Dent, because he's a Two Face. He flips a coin, and half the time he does something clever with the puck, the other half he does something wholly moronic.
David Krejci is a premature ejaculator.
Derek Morris is back to being Derek Useless.
And I'm starting to think that Michael Ryder is the reason the Bruins acquired Miroslav Satan.
How many Too Many Men violations have the Bruins made this season? 10? Isn't anything higher than 2 at this point far too many? If you want tangible evidence for a team not focused, look no farther than their obscene amount of Too Many Men penalties.
At the game, some people around my seats kept yelling for Rask. Talk about treating the headache by taking some Pepto-Bismol. The goaltending is not the problem on this team. Nowhere near the problem. Injuries and good players playing like bad players, that's the problem. These "Tuukka Time" people are the same guys who wanted the Pats to put in Michael Bishop.
Nothing against Rask. I'd venture to say that he and Thomas are close to equals. And I don't really mind who is in net. But mostly that's because when the defense forfeits the zone so easily, it doesn't much matter. You could have Vladislav Tretiak and Patrick Roy's lovechild in net, and you'd still give up bad goals.
The Bruins have a West Coast trip that might help them get their heads back in the game. But how many times have I had to write something like that this season? "Hopefully this gets them focused," "Maybe now they'll get their act together," "This trip is what they need to get back on track."
"Defenseman Dennis Wideman won't be on the charter flight this afternoon when the Bruins make their way to Dallas for tomorrow night's game against the Stars. Wideman, who did not work out here this morning, injured a shoulder when he crashed into the boards Saturday night vs. the Islanders. He did not return to the game that night and has not been on the ice since.
''I would just say you are missing a pretty good defenseman,'' said coach Claude Julien, asked how Wideman's absence influences the composition of his six-man defensive unit.
According to Julien, Wideman will skate on his own over the weekend, likely here at Ristuccia Arena, and ideally rejoin the club in time for Nashville's visit to the Garden on Wed. eve (Boston.com)."
This could really hurt the Bruins. The defense has not been playing well at all so far this season and Wideman is one of the few guys who was actually doing a decent job. Wideman is fast becoming one of my favorite players on the team. It sounds like he will only miss 2 games, but we will keep you posted...
Manny Fernandez was outstanding last night stopping all 27 shots he faced, as the Bruins rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Panthers. The win ended the Panthers 3 game winning streak, while the Bruins have now won 4 in a row. Phil Kessel has some streaks of his own going, he scored in five straight games and has six goals in those games (1 goal against the Panthers). He also owns the NHL's longest current point streak (11 games).
The Bruins easily dominated this game, even with all the injuries. It was good to see Wideman, who missed last game, back on the ice. The name that people need to start remembering is David Krejci. If you don't watch the Bruins, you probably have no idea who this kid is, but he has been a big reason for a lot of the Bruins' success. He has 23 points already this season, and had 3 assists last night.
The Bruins next game in Monday vs Tampa Bay in Boston. Looks like another easy win for the Bruins.
The Bruins dominated the first 2 periods, but then turned around and let the game slip away in the 3rd. The Bruins had a lot of chances to put the game away, while they were up 2-0, but Henrik Lundqvist made some incredible saves. Chara and Wideman were able to get the two goals by him, but this game could have easily been 5-0 if it wasn't for the play of the Rangers' goalie.
In the 3rd the Bruins seemed to relax a bit, and the Rangers took advantage scoring two goals. The goal that tied it up with was under a min left, and you could just feel the air come out of the Bruins sails. In overtime, the Bruins were horrible, but Thomas was able to keep them alive to force a shootout. God I hate shootouts, and apparently so do the Bruins, as once again they were not able to pull this one out. Chris Dury was the only one to score as both goalies were incredible. Bergeron looked as if he was going to send it into another round of shootouts, but a replay showed that the puck didn't pass the goal line.
If the Bruins had won they would have been one point behind the Rangers in the race for the Eastern Conference lead, but now they are dropped four back (hatred for shootouts growing). Still the Bruins have to be happy that during the last two games they have played the best in the NHL, and have got 3 points to show for it.
