The Boston Bruins took Game one over the Toronto Maple Leafs and are looking to go for win number two. The B’s played a full 60-minutes Wednesday and came out on top 4-1. It was the first time in a while that all four lines of the Bruins stepped up and the win displayed that. While it looked like a complete domination against Toronto, I’m not counting them out.

Tonight the game will end with the B’s being up by 2 games and carrying the momentum that goes with that or the Maple Leafs tying up the series.

(Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Bruins Change It Up:
With Andrew Ference being suspended for tonight’s game, the Bruins have no choice but to change up their defensive pairings that were so successful Wednesday night. Ference is a player that isn’t afraid to make his presence known against any team and Coach Claude Julien has the job of putting someone in his place that will take on that responsibility. So tonight either Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski, or Aaron Johnson will be back in the lineup in place of Ference. If I’m betting on this, I think Dougie will make his NHL playoff debut as he is the one out of the three who has had the most ice team this season. Also in terms of defense, Adam McQuaid was paired with Zdeno Chara at yesterdays practice which means Quaider could be potentially facing off against Toronto’s top line tonight.

Another thing to note is Wednesday Rich Peverley was a healthy scratch for the forwards so there’s a chance he’ll jump back into the lineup as well.

Toronto Takes a Step Back:
It’s no secret that the Maple Leaf’s didn’t leave Game One feeling like they gave it their all. They were out shot 40-20 and simply outplayed. But that game is in the past now and they Leafs are looking to make a comeback tonight. Most of the Toronto players are newbies when it comes to playoffs and the team has said that those nerves have been shaken off and their ready for Game Two.

The Maple Leafs will be without defenseman Mike Kostka after he broke his finger in the second period of Game One. Either Ryan O’Byrne or Jake Gardiner will be added into the lineup for Game 2. Also, expect to see some line changes for the Maple Leafs.

Bergeron Line FTW:
It’s no coincidence that every time Phil Kessel was on the ice with his line, the Patrice Bergeron line was also there. Bergeron along with Tyler Seguin, and Brad Marchand have been one of the B’s most consistent lines all season and they continued that pressure in Game One. Kessel, who lead Toronto with 20 goals and 52 points during the regular season was limited to just one shot in under 14 minutes of ice time on Wednesday. Bergeron, who is easily one of the best two-way players in the league, can be blamed for that.

Who’s Hot?
Boston players Milan Lucic and David Krecji. Looch has one goal and five points in the past three games, while Krejci has two goals and five points in four games. Krejci was the player of the game for the Bruins and was sporting their “player of the game Army Ranger’s jacket” after the game.

Expect Tuukka Rask to get the start for the Bruins as he was nothing but solid Wednesday night.

Puck drops TONIGHT at 7pm and you can check it out on NESN!

BELIEVE IN BOSTON!

Andrew Ference (Photo Credit: slidingsideways/Flickr)

Today Andrew Ference has a hearing with the NHL Department of player Safety regarding an elbow to the head placed on Mikhail Grabovski in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference QuarterFinals against the Maple Leafs.

The hit that is in question happened in the first period resulting in no whistle or penalty. Upon revision after the game you can see Grabovski skating towards the boards to battle Ference, each getting there at the about the same time. As Grabovski nears Ference turns his body and lifts his elbow enough that it connects higher than it should on his opponent. The question that remains, did Ference intend to hurt him or was it a simple move that wasn’t the brightest?

Grabovski was able to play the remainder of the game, including nine shifts in the first period.  He finished with a career-high 15:25 of ice time.  This would be Ference’s second offense should he be suspended, the first time being in the 2011-2012 season after boarding Rangers’ defenseman Ryan McDonagh.  Clearly Ference can’t claim an elbow pad malfunction on this one.

[UPDATE] The NHL Department of Player Safety determined after a phone hearing with the Bruins defenseman that he will serve a one-game suspension, causing him to miss Saturday’s game against the Leafs.

Before heading on a four-game road trip, the Boston Bruins would have one last game at home. They would face off against the Washington Capitals hoping for retribution for an OT loss last Tuesday. And they certainly got that revenge and so much more in today’s matinee game. Being St.Patrick’s day weekend, the Bruins practiced in their green jerseys and it would seem that luck was on their side during the game.

In net for the Bruins would be Anton Khubdobin, opposite the Capitals Michal Neuvirth. This would be Khudobins 7th start of the season and he certainly did not disappoint. He would make 32 of 33 saves in the game.

Congrats Horton on your Gordie Howe hatty! (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

This game to me was what the Bruins have been working to accomplish the past few games. It was a 60-minute effort. I know in the past few games they boys have lost steam in the third but not today.

It all started in the first with the first line. Nathan Horton would get a slapshot in off an assist from Milan Lucic  and Zdeno Chara .Not more than three minutes later David Krecji would score thanks to Looch once again. The first line has been pretty MIA in recent games so seeing their presence right away in the first period made me think this would be a good game.

Second period would start with the Bruins on a penalty kill and they would kill it once again because being first in PK’s means it’s hard to score on them. But right after said PK, Washington would strike with an unassisted goal from Marcus Johansson. At 8:02, Andrew Ference would score a LONG overdue first goal of the season. The assists would go to Horty and Krejci. It was good to see Ference get that first goal. At the end of the second the score would be 3-1 Boston.

Now let me take a brief intermission from scoring to talk about ALL the fighting. Brad Marchand would square off against Mike Ribeiro and just 8 seconds later Horton and Matt Hendricks would fight. And yes that would mean Horton got a Gordie Howe hattrick today, basically proving Horty was having a great game! Hendricks would fight again against Adam McQuaid in the third thanks to a little instigation from Shawn Thornton. 

Onto the third period! Bruins would get on the power play early on thanks to a slashing call. And all it took was 8 seconds of said power play for the B’s to strike with a PP goal from Rich Peverley. Looch and Krecji would get the assist on that. Like I said later on in that period there was another bout. It was pretty apparent at this point (at least to me) that the Bruins had the clear momentum at this point in the game.

The Bruins would go on to win bringing their record to 19-4-3, while the Caps would fall to 11-15-1.

B’s are back in action tomorrow for another matinee game this time in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.

Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly gearing up for a game. (Photo Credit: Stephanni Phillips)

With the announcement of the NHL lockout finally coming to an end after 113 days, the Boston Bruins players are flooding the Boston once again, as they should have been doing back in September.  A handful of Bruins participated in skating yesterday at Boston University and shared some emotions afterwards:

Tyler Seguin: When asked what the best thing returning to Boston “Being back with the boys.”

Andrew Ference: “There’s a lot of pride in pulling on that jersey.”

Milan Lucic: told media he can’t wait to play at teh TD Garden in front of fans, “We thrive off their support, we thrive off their energy.”

Dennis Seidenberg: stated that he is happy to be back in Boston and to “see all of the guys again.”

As it was presumed, the Bruins are just as anxious to be back in Boston as the fans are to have them back.  As previously reported on A Cup A Bruin, a shortened-season should be quite beneficial to the Bruins.  With the Bruins having the most amount of players overseas along with the Philadelphia Flyers (each had 11 players in Europe), they were able to remain in great physical condition and ready themselves for the game to come back.  The players that chose not to go overseas are a stronger disadvantage in the sense that they haven’t take a game-like hit in the better part of nine months.  On top of their physical condition, Bruins forwards also proved that they are capable and ready to give big name players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos and Alexandre Ovechkin a run for their money as they posted insane totals for their respective clubs overseas.

Tuukka Rask is also stepping up to the plate in filling the number one goaltender skates.  Today as he stood between the pipes for an unofficial practice with teammates, he was chirped at for playing “too well.”

“I played against him over in the Czech League over the last few months and Tuukka was dominant,” said Andrew Ference. “The team he was playing on wasn’t very good, so he was really carrying them. That’s an encouraging sign for us.” (via CSNNE.com)

“I haven’t seen the schedule yet, but I’m assuming it’s going to be every other day,” said Rask, who finished with a .929 save percentage and a 2.05 goals against average in 23 games for the Bruins last season. “So the workload is going to be big, but that’s why you work out so hard in the summertime. As a goalie it will be a tough challenge physically and mentally. I went to play overseas to stay sharp and stay in game shape, so it won’t be an issue for me.  Whether it’s 48 or 50 games that we play, I’m sure it’s going to feel like a full season when we’re done with it.”  (via CSNNE.com)

With the season only being 48-50 games, there is little to no room for error.  The Bruins can’t head into this season as they did 2011-2012 where they only won 3 games out of the entire month of October.

“It’s definitely going to be sloppy hockey to start off the season,” Milan Lucic told ESPN Boston, ” It’s going to be awesome.  With less games becomes a sprint right away and every game means so much more.”

While a shortage of season is brutal to fans and players alike suffering from an already long off-season, some hockey is better than no hockey at all.  For now we just have to sit and wait until the schedule is released.

WE’RE BACK!!! (Credit: flickr/Slidingsideways)

I have been waiting since the end of last year’s playoffs to post this and now I can finally say  Boston Bruins hockey is back in Beantown! This morning I woke up to my phone going off from a facebook notification from an Aery’s post saying “NHL ladies how happy are you right now?” At sixish in the morning being woken up by a text usually doesn’t make me happy but this one caused me to grab my computer, go on Twitter, and shriek!

It’s official; after 113 days, the lockout is officially over.

So on that note…

Now the question is how many games are going to be in the regular season? Well the details are still being hashed out and right now it’s between 48 and 50 games. Yes half of the season, the Winter Classic, and the All-Star weekend are gone, but I will take 48  or 50 games over zero anyday.

So when does all the fun start?
It looks as though training camps will be starting up very shortly and will be no longer than a week. For the who’s who on the training camp for the B’s including which Providence Bruins members could be making the jump into the NHL, check out Steph’s post here.

Now if the season jumps in the already scheduled season, it looks to be that the Bruins first game of the season will be January 19th against our good old besties, the Montreal Canadiens. This game will be an away game for the B’s with the boys traveling to the Bell Centre.

However with the agreement coming earlier then expected, the schedule could get bumped up and we could have an earlier start to the season.

Bruins fans I know some may be disappointed that it took as long as it did to get the season going, but it’s going now and at the end of the day I think that’s what really matters.

I think Andrew Ference tweeted it best this morning. He said:

“As players we can now do what we do best. Proudly pull on our jerseys and play with complete passion for our cities and fans. I hope that we can replace the intense negativity brought on our sport with a reminder of how great it can be when the action is on the ice. From my grandparents to our B’s fans, I am deeply sorry that we had to miss so much hockey. All we can do now is play our hearts out for you.” (via  @Ferknuckle)

With that being said, get ready to put on your black and gold, get your butts to the TD Garden and Believe in Boston! This season is ours and the Stanley Cup belongs in the bean so get ready to cheer for it!

Now if you’ll excuse me, this is how I plan on spending the rest of my day:

Ladies and gentlemen, stuff just got real.  Yesterday the NHL announced that all pre-season games scheduled until September 30 would be cancelled, providing us with at least a month of no hockey to get excited for.  The real kicker, two more Bruins players announced today that they would be headed overseas to play.

Forwards Tyler Seguin and Andrew Ference are joining their teammates Sedienberg and Krejci on their foreign hockey journey as they accept contracts from the Swiss and Czech Republic.  Nothing gives me more hope for a hockey season like reading about all of the new signings overseas…NOT!  Seriously, with big names like Joe Thornton and Alex Ovechkin, BIG name guys in the NHL leaving to play overseas so soon, what does this say about the state of the lockout. Granted, these players are getting their playing time in, but who is to say that the second they land in this foreign country thousands of miles away from their US home, that they aren’t going to be called back for the NHL?  Do the players know something that we don’t know?  In having players rush overseas, it allows one to believe that there will in fact not be a season this year and that we are all just kidding ourselves.

Sadly, the cold, harsh reality is that Tyler Seguin is leaving Boston today to play with the Swiss for HC Beil, while Andrew Ference heads to the Czech Republic to play for HC Mountfield České Budějovice.  Along with Anton Khudobin playing for HC Atlant Moscow Oblast (KHL) and Chara being rumored to go play for HC Slovan Bratislava (KHL).  Yup, it looks like a lot of new jerseys are going to be purchased this year along with some pretty expensive plane tickets.  But hey, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, right?

When will players set foot on the ice again? (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

With the days dwindling down to hours now we must all come to the realization that an agreement has not been reached and we will need to get our Bruins hockey fix in other ways for at least the beginning of the season.  How do you go about this you ask?  That’s what A Cup A Bruin is here for.  We promise to keep you informed on all of your favorite Black and Gold players throughout the year as information becomes available.  Through the course of the past week we have learned some valuable information that we find may be helpful in the event of a lockout.  For starters, in our Survival Guide we mentioned getting acquainted with your AHL team, the Providence Bruins.

» Continue reading “In The Event Of A Lockout”

Ference and Chara both support the You Can Play Project (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Earlier this week defenseman Andrew Ference tweeted that he was going to be running the stands at Harvard Stadiumn at 6:30am Wednesday morning and for anyone to join him.  What started out as an every day work out for Ference turned into a fun-filled fundraiser for the You Can Play Project.

Once founder of the YCP Project, Patrick Burke, caught wind of the early morning run, he questioned the defenseman about it, who would then later challenge Burke to run the stairs with him.  Burke and Ference’s twitter followers along with Ference raised $2500 just to see Burke struggle up the stairs, “I think they got their money’s worth,” Burke told Bruins News.

By Wednesday night they had earned over $3000 in just 48 hours.

“That’s the magic of Twitter, I guess,” smirked Ference. “Things kind of get going if you let them.” (via Bruins News)

While the stairs are a usual workout for the defenseman, it is usually a solo effort, but Wednesday morning he was working alongside 300 other runners who came out to support the cause (November Project).

 ”It’s one thing to come and do them on your own. It’s another to have a huge group of people who are up and at it early in the morning and just out here to get fit. It’s just about getting together and getting after it.” (via Bruins News)

Burke had his own thoughts on the support he has received for the Project;

“Andrew and the Bruins organization have been behind You Can Play from the start,” he said. “Zdeno Chara has done a video and Shawn Thornton has also spoken out for us, so we’re really honored to have the support of such a great organization.”

Brad Marchand extends contract through 2017-2018 (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

With the idea of the NHL lock out coming closer and closer, the Boston Bruins are still focusing on having a season and maintaining contracts with the current team.

Today it was announced that forward Brad Marchand has been signed to a four-year contract extension through the 2016-2017 season. His contract will be worth an average of $4.5 million annually, $18million all together.  This deal makes Marchand the fourth highest paid player on the team, behind guys like Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron.  While it may seem like a lot of money, Marchand has accomplished a lot in the past two seasons wearing his black and gold sweater.

The 5′ 9″ little ball of hate has managed to be among the teams top scorers in both seasons, contributing 49 goals and 48 assists combined, setting a career high of 28 goals last season.  While he has a major influence on the ice in scoring goals, he has also provided the Bruins with some hefty penalty minutes as well with 138 minutes spent in the box.  We also can’t forget his greatest contribution of helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 2011 by sealing the fourth and final goal of Game 7.

“It’s always nice when you sign players,  but it’s nice when you sign a player like Brad, who has worked his way up through and played the way we enjoy watching.  He has an in-your-face game, he sacrifices his body and he’s really coming into his own as an offensive player,” Chiarelli told the Herald’s Steve Conroy.

Along with Marchand big names like Milan Lucic, Tuukka Rask and Tyler Seguin are also looking to be locked up this season, as they are RFA’s come July, while Nathan Horton and Andrew Ference will be considered unrestricted.

Sticking to his game plan, Chiarelli has continued to lock up his core players that he had during the Cup run, and given recent events, we can assume that this pattern will continue.  With a market already being set for Seguin with Taylor Hall and Jeff Skinner signing contracts averaging the $6million mark per season, we can assume he will get somewhere along those lines.

While the current CBA negotiations try to hinder GM signings, Chiarelli is still jumping at the chance to sign his core.

“I can’t ignore (the labor situation) and I’m trying not to.  We’re trying to lock up core guys, we;re trying to lock up the critical mass of our team (but) I’ve told the guys ‘Look, if the system changes dramatically and I have to shuffle pieces around, I have to do that.’ That’s part of the business and, when we’re signing guys, they’re okay with that.”(via Boston Herald)

Boston Bruins 24/7, sounds like a dream doesn’t it? It’s every fan’s dream to see their team featured in a documentary leading up to the Winter Classic in January. However, for Bruins fans, this hasn’t happened.  While the Penguins/Capitals and Flyers/Rangers were equally entertaining to watch, the Boston Bruins could provide some quality television.

Seriously, think about it. What other team around the NHL has greater rivals than the Bruins? The only measurable one I can think of is the in-state Pittsburgh-Philadelphia rivalry.  Aside from that, Boston and Montreal hold the biggest original six rivalry to date. While the year of goaltender fighting may have been the greatest year to watch the rivalry play out, there is never a dull moment when the two play each other.

» Continue reading “24/7 Boston Bruins”