Tag Archives: Tuukka Rask

Boston Bruins Sign GM Peter Chiarelli to Contract Extension

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Overall, this is a solid move for the Boston Bruins. Chiarelli definitely has his glaring strengths and weaknesses, but when you win the Stanley Cup and come within 4 periods of another, you deserve some level of job security. As a writer, Chiarelli is the perfect GM for me because it can be so easy to second guess his moves and overall plan.

Chiarelli’s biggest weakness by far is his drafting. He has been downright horrible since he has become GM of the Bruins. Now, I know some of you hardcore Believers are saying to yourself, “Wait a minute, the Boston Bruins have at ton of home grown talent on the team between Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, and the acquisition of Tuukka Rask”. And you are correct, except that Chiarelli had exactly nothing to do with any of those players becoming Boston Bruins. They were all either drafted or acquired by the Bruins during the much-lamented Mike O’Connell era. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not going to say that the O’Connell era was all sunshine and rainbows. I was calling for his head long before Jeremy Jacobs had the guts to fire him only when things hit rock bottom. However, he does deserve credit for this young Bruins nucleus, especially that Rask trade with Toronto, I mean Andrew Raycroft for Tuukka Rask and a pick? That has to go up on the pantheon great Bruins trades. I’ll get back to the trade talk later.
Now, back to Chiarelli’s crappy drafting. Do you want to guess how many Chiarelli draft picks played in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals? If you guessed ZERO you would be right! Remember, Torrey Krug was a rookie free agent and not a draft pick. I don’t think I need to run down the list of Jordan Carons and Joe Colbornes  and other flops that he has taken with his picks. He traded his most heralded pick, Tyler Seguin this offseason and the jury is still out on Dougie Hamilton who lost a spot in the defensive rotation to the aforementioned Krug. It seems as though the Bruins have already addressed the issue by firing the former Director of Scouting Wayne Smith and replaced him with Keith Gretzky (yes, the brother of Wayne) who has a more European focus. Hopefully, the Bruins will start seeing some improvement on draft day.

Chiarelli has been very good at moving pieces around via trades. He brought over some major contributors to the Bruins success, especially Dennis Seidenberg, Matt Bartkowski, Nathan Horton, Gregory Campbell (all from the Florida Panthers acquired in a couple of different deals), Daniel Paille and Johnny Boychuck. His one stinker of a trade so far was the Tomas Kaberle trade, but then again, who knows if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup without him in 2011, so I am willing to give him a pass on that one considering most of his other trades look great so far, except for the Kessel trade. For me, the jury is still out on the Phil Kessel trade Tyler Seguin has already been traded and Dougie Hamilton still has a lot of growing up to do.

Peter Chiarelli seems to have a pretty good working relationship with President Cam Neely even if they don’t always see eye to eye on everything. Chiarelli and Claude Julien will always be linked together in my mind and seem to have a similar sense of the way a hockey team should be run. It will be a fun ride and I can’t wait to second guess Chiarelli for the next 5 years or so.

2013 Stanley Cup Finals, Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks Game 6 Recap

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Game 6 Recap

Boston Bruins Salute CrowdAll things considered this BruinsBeliever will keep my head held high. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in this team. Did the way it went down suck? Yup, it certainly did. The Bruins went from a 2-1 lead to a 3-2 deficit in 17 seconds. Another defensive collapse from a team that was full of them during the regular season, finally reared its ugly head during the postseason in a collapse eerily similar to that of the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins gave the solid effort that I knew they would give. Right now it is not worth placing any blame or rehashing this game. We all saw how it went down and nothing else needs to be said.

The Chicago Blackhawks were the better team from the start of the season all the way through to the end. They play the game the right way and I have no issues losing to a team like Chicago. Before the playoffs started some fellow BruinsBelievers and myself were discussing our 2nd favorite NHL team and we all agreed that Chicago would be that team. So hats off to you Chicago, you earned it.

Already, some injury news has leaked just minutes after the season finale. We now finally found out what was ailing Patrice Bergeron. Perhaps I should just rephrase to what is healthy for Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron was suffering from a broken rib, torn cartilage, and a separated shoulder. The trip to the hospital in Chicago was prompted by concern over his spleen due to his broken rib. I know many more injury stories will be coming out in the days ahead for both teams and you can count on Zdeno Chara to be on that list. The Boston captain had to be playing with some kind of injury with the effort he was putting forward towards the end of the playoff run. Nathan Horton can now finally get his shoulder fixed, as it was clear it has been hanging by a thread. I am going to let the injury stories play out before I cast judgement on the finals performance of any player.

What’s Next for BruinsBeliever

So I am sure you are wondering, what is next for BruinsBeliever now that the ride has ended? Well, we will have plenty of off season chatter to keep me busy over the course of less than 3 months. One of the few benefits of the lockout was an extended season which means a shorter off-season. The NHL Draft is this weekend and I will have some thoughts on that, even though the Bruins do not have a first round pick thanks to the Bruins advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals in the Jagr deal. I will also be handing out grades to every player on the Bruins, one for the regular season and one for the post-season, as well as an overall positional group grade. I will give my take when there is a big off-season signing. Tuukka Rask is a restricted free agent and big names like Nathan Horton and Andrew Ference are unrestricted free agents. There will be plenty of time to get ready for next season and it will be nice not having a lockout hanging over the off-season.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @BruinsBeliever and I will be tweeting throughout the off-season whenever new blogs are posted. Thanks for reading and keep Believing, I know I will be. Let’s go Bruins!

2013 Stanley Cup Finals, Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks Game 5 Recap & Game 6 Preview

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Game 5 Recap

Patrice Bergeron AmbulanceMany are wondering whether the Bruins Stanley Cup hopes went out in an ambulance last night with the mysterious injury to Patrice Bergeron. I believe that the Bruins still have a shot at the Stanley Cup regardless of who is injured, but this is by far one of the biggest blows they could take. Yes, the Chicago Blackhawks were missing Jonathan Toews for the majority of the third period after a crushing hit by Johnny Boychuck, but something tells me the Blackhawks’ captain would have hit the ice had the Bruins tied the score. Today it appears that the injury to Bergeron may not be as bad as first thought, no one can know his status for Game 6. It appears as though Toews will give it a go Monday night for Chicago.

Once again, the Bruins struggled early, although they bounced back nicely towards the end of the first period, they were dominated throughout the 2nd period. Chara was once again a minus 2 after the first 2 periods and it appears as though the Chicago strategy of taking away time and space for him and Dennis Seidenberg is working. Claude Julien responded by splitting up the pair at the start of the third period and kept them apart for the remainder of the game.

Not enough pucks went on net for the Bruins. While Chicago was content with throwing as many pucks as possible on Tuukka Rask, who was tremendous down the stretch, the Bruins were being way to cute with the puck. Too many times they had me shouting in my living room, like a ‘pink hat’ fan during a power play, “Shoot it!”. David Krejci was the worst offender last night as too many times he opted for the extra pass which allowed the Blackhawks defenders to close down the shooting lanes. The Bruins never made Crawford work all night and that is disappointing given the amount of times they lit him up during Game 4.

Game 6 Preview

Well, this is it. The Stanley Cup will be in the building on Monday night and let’s hope that it stays in its case. If ever there was a time when you needed a strong effort from everyone at the jump, you would have to assume Monday night would be the time. As Tuukka Rask said after Game 5, “It’s kind of sad that we’ve got to lose a guy [Bergeron] like that to wake the team up and start battling out there.” I am very happy to hear Tuukka call out his teammates after that last game, because someone has to. Too many times now, this team has come out of the dressing room sleepwalking and that would be an unacceptable way to go out when the Stanley Cup is in the building. I am expecting a much stronger, consistent effort from the Bruins.

As for potential lineup changes,  I am fairly certain that Toews will be in the lineup for the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6. For the Bruins however, it will be tough to predict what would happen with the Bergeron injury. If Bergeron is out, any one of these scenarios could play out: the most likely would be to move Chris Kelly up to center the second line, Soderberg could keep centering that line, Rich Peverley could be brought up from the 4th line, or, least likely, Tyler Seguin could finally get his shot to play some center on that second line. Look for Daugavins to get some play back in the lineup if Bergeron can’t go. I would also expect Claude Julien to keep Chara and Seidenberg separated as the D pairs return to their regular season pairings.

All in all, this has been one heck of a series. I know that the Garden crowd will be hyped and ready to go. The Bruins need to feed off the energy in the building and come ready to play. Remember what happened in 2011 in this same scenario, anything can happen with this Bruins team. It can be done, and this team is far from done. I believe it can happen. It starts with a win. Lets Go Bs!

Boston Bruins are The 2013 Eastern Conference Champions!

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Boston Bruins 2013 Eastern Conference ChampionsGame 4 Recap

Bruins vs. Penguins SweepThis was one of those games where it was a grinder, it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t always entertaining, but that’s how the Bruins want it. Adam McQuaid’s improbable goal was all that was needed for Tuukka Rask and the stupendous Boston Bruins defense to close out the highest scoring team in the NHL over the last 2 seasons. Zdeno Chara’s incredible save on Evgeni Malkin in the closing seconds was the icing on the cake. It was an ugly, almost mundane game at times and you could sense Pittsburgh wearing away. All I can say about Jerome Iginla is, sweet decision and I hear Pittsburgh has some really nice golf courses.

The Bruins, in consecutive series, beat a team that has blocked the most shots in the NHL, in the Rangers, and the highest scoring team in the NHL in Pittsburgh. Two teams with contrasting styles that require two completely different strategies. The Bruins are the most versatile team remaining in the playoffs. They can win games the way their opponents want the game to be played, and are exceptional at playing their own style of hockey which I call Bruins Hockey. The sky is the limit for this team and I am looking forward to enjoying the ride.

Eastern Conference Finals Bruins vs. Penguins Game 3 Recap and Game 4 Preview

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Game 3 Recap

Tuukka Rask Brick WallThe easy way for me to recap Game 3 would be to discuss the nearly flawless performance of Tuukka Rask or the awe inspiring toughness of Gregory Campbell. There will be more on those items later but first I will delve into my observations from Section 329 last night.

Most of my pregame interactions were that fans that were chomping at the bit to get in the ears of some of the hated Penguins. If I were to guess the order of most hated down to plain old hated I would rank them 1. Matt Cooke, 2. Sidney Crosby, then Jerome Iginla. This video of Bruins fans taunting Matt Cooke while he was in the penalty box makes me proud to be a member of this fanbase (seriously, no sarcasm was intended). If that doesn’t describe the vitriol of people that were in that arena, nothing else will.

Overall, I thought the Bruins played a very lackluster game and did not necessarily put out their best effort consistently during regulation. David Krejci scoring a goal early into the game was key for the Bruins because it allowed them to settle into their style of defensive hockey. We learned, during regulation anyway, that the Penguins can play the rough, defensive style of hockey for 60 minutes and hang with the Bruins. Due to the Bruins often criticized strategy of rolling 4 lines, they were the fresher team and it showed in both overtime periods. Other then 2 unacceptable, inexcusable too many men on the ice penalties, the Bruins played extremely well and the Penguins were beginning to fade. Finally with less than 5 minutes to play Jaromir Jagr made a tremendous play along the boards to win the puck away from Evgeni Malkin, who was the Penguins best player by far last night. Of course, the Penguins couldn’t resist some whining about officiating on a possible hook by Jaromir Jagr on Evgeni Malkin. Marchand was able to show patience and the Bruins created a carbon copy goal of the Game 1 overtime winner against the Rangers.

Tuukka Rask was absolutely outstanding last night. He was the best, most consistent player on the ice throughout the entire game. He is coming into his own as a goaltender and this game could be the shining moment he needed making 53 saves on 54 shots. He has given up just 3 goals in his last 4 games! There is nothing more that can be said about his performance thus far, the numbers speak for themselves. I believe that he ranks above David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron as my potential Conn Smythe winner thus far.

No one showed more courage and determination than Gregory Campbell going down to block a shot, breaking his leg, and continuing to do his job and attempt to kill the penalty. He stayed in passing lanes and even attempted to block a shot on one leg. Make no mistake about it, the Bruins will rally around his injury, and use it as a battle cry for the rest of the playoffs. We will be seeing this sequence below for years to come, especially in the awesome “Because It’s The Cup” commercial series. If you have a few minutes I would highly recommend watching the sequence again. My hats off to you Soupy!

Game 4 Preview

Most of the questions surrounding Game 4 are, did the Bruins take the Penguins best shot they had left & how will the Bruins lines look with the Campbell injury? As for the prior, I believe that the Penguins will not go quietly onto the golf course so to speak. Having said that, I do believe that the Bruins took the best shot the Penguins had at trying to play the grinding style of hockey to win against Boston and they still came up short. One can only guess what that does to the psyche of a team that is already doubting their ability to score goals, especially on the power play which was the best in the league all season.

My gut feeling on how the Bruins will make the adjustment to their lines, without Campbell, is to move Rich Peverley to center the 4th line and move Daniel Paille up to the 3rd line with Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin. I do think that coach Claude Julien will most likely bring in Kaspars Daugavins to play along side Peverley and Thornton. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that we may see a little bit of Jay Pandolfo before this playoff run is through. Julien loves his trusted veterans, especially on the penalty kill, and Pandolfo showed early this year that he is up to the task. We might have to wait until next year before our next glimpse of Carl Soderberg, who is sure to be a part of the Bruins long term strategy going forward. Hopefully, if all goes to plan, we will be breaking out the brooms tomorrow night! Let’s Go B’s!