Preface: The preseason is weird.
Luke Schenn seems to be a Norris and a Calder Trophy candidate (that is, if defensive defensemen ever got consideration for the Calder), the Dallas Stars have one win, and the St Louis Blues have three players atop the scoring race.
Ken Armer is silently crying in an armchair, facing the fire with a glass of brandy in his hand at this news, while the Detroit Red Wings are silently chuckling to themselves, as they re-examine film of Manny Legace of his days as a Red Wing so as to expose his weaknesses when the games matter.
Alan Bass, meanwhile, is hiding out under the buffet table in the Philadelphia Flyers' media room—so much for college.
I'm going to acknowledge something right now: There are a lot of unknowns in the Northeast Division.
Is Carey Price going to be better this year? We don't know, although all signs point to yes.
Are the Ottawa Senators over last season's (cue Jim Hughson) malfunction of maganimous proportions, and do they have the offensive depth to compete when Heatley, Alfredsson, and Spezza aren't all on the same line? I don't know.
Can the Bruins prove to be a successful dark horse in the Northeast Division? Who knows?
Will the Sabres bounce back from an off year last year and instill Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, and Thomas Vanek as the next great trio? I don't know.
And what the hell will happen with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season? Good luck with that one.
Either way, someone's going to get the shaft in the Northeast this season, and it'll lead to a whole lot of yelling, as it normally does. Remember the scene from Tropic Thunder where everyone's yelling and they completely miss the explosion that Danny McBride (you'd know him as "Cody the crazy pyro") rigged up? Then after the explosion, they just go back to fighting? That's the way the Northeast is.
The regular season is the buildup, the playoffs are the explosion, culminating in the Stanley Cup Finals—which we all shut up and watch, and then go right back to fighting the day after.
And we wonder why some of the other teams in the NHL can't stand us...
Roster Additions: Michael Ryder-F (F.A.), Johnny Boychuk-D (Trade), Mark Marquardt-F (F.A).
Roster Subtractions: Glen Murray-F (F.A./Buyout), Alex Zhamnov-F (F.A.), Glen Metropolit-F (F.A.), Bobby Allen-D (F.A.), Alex Auld-G (F.A.)
How did 2007-08 go? 49-21-12, Eighth in conference, third in Northeast division, lost in first round of Eastern Conference playoffs.
2008-09 Goal: Second in Northeast, Fifth to seventh in conference.
Let's break'er down...
Speaking of the Senators in a roundabout way, they tied with the Bruins for the eighth playoff spot last season, but actually finished in seventh. By virtue of the schedule-makers not making the season longer, the Sens were fortunate to hang on to the seventh spot.
Either way, though, the Bruins made their first-round series with Montreal exciting, and they proved to be a scrappy team that doesn't quit.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Boston Bruins articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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