Bleacher Report - Boston Bruins

Tuuka Rask Is Showing Why He Will Start For The Boston Bruins One Day

Ryan Pickard — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:10:18 -0500

After tonight's win in Buffalo it's time to give Tuukka Rask his much due respect. Now there shouldn't be a single Bruins fan who thought Tuukka wasn't good, but he has been so highly touted that it is nice to see him getting some good playing time and showing why the Bruins traded for him.

The Bruins traded Andrew Raycroft for Rask during the 2005-06 offseason. This shows how much the Bruins wanted Rask considering Raycroft had won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 2004, but had fallen out of favor in Boston after.

Tuukka has started eight games this season posting a record of 5-2-1 with a shutout to go along with it. After a first couple of shaky outings he has come around very nicely and has started the past three games while Tim Thomas rests an undisclosed injury.

Right now the Bruins are in no rush to get Rask many starts since Tim Thomas is coming off his Vezina Trophy winning season and signed a four year extension in the offseason to keep him in Boston until the end of the 2012-13 season.

Before the season began there were people out there who had their doubts about how good Tuukka good actually be in the NHL. For one thing he is still a kid at just 22-years-old and he has shown at times that he still has some maturing to do.

I think almost every Bruins fan and hockey fan alike saw his meltdown in the American Hockey League Playoffs. After giving up the game winning goal in a shootout Rask began to protest sure that it wasn't a goal, but the refs said the correct call was made sending Rask into a fury. He went on to break his stick and threw a milk crate back out onto the ice.

Still that was a good thing to happen to him. It showed he needed to keep his temper down and show that he could handle adversity. Of course his temper could also be a good thing. You can see it every time he lets in a soft goal. He fires the puck out of the net and slams his stick against the net. This will just make him work harder in the future.

It's great to see Rask finally living up to his potential. When the Bruins got Rask in 2005 I couldn't wait for him to play for the Bruins and all his hype is finally paying off. While this may be a little premature I think it's safe to say the Boston Bruins have found their starting goaltender of the future.

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The Boston Bruins Have a Plan: Patience

Benjamin Altsher — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:28:45 -0500

First, let me be clear about one thing. This article is in direct response to Ryan Pickard's recent postings about the Bruins' lack of offense.

Certainly as a fan of the team, the lack of scoring throughout the season has been extremely disappointing. However, the injuries to Marc Savard and Milan Lucic cannot be overstated in this regard. Also, let's not forget about David Krejci.

He returned to the ice a month earlier than expected to make it in time for the regular season opener, meaning his first month has been like training camp. Now that he's finally got his game sharpened, we've seen the dynamic Krejci we're used to, creating scoring chances on nearly every shift.

Of course, the instant reaction would be to look at the position the team is in with respect to the salary cap and the large stock of draft picks and say that they need to make a move now. Indeed, the Bruins will make a move, but not until they feel the time is right.

As Pickard barely touched on in one of his articles, the Bruins' high cap number is a road block to picking up a player right now. That's exactly the reason a move won't be made until near the trade deadline at the earliest. There's no one on the roster that the team would be willing to deal, with picks, for a player like an Ilya Kovalchuk that another team would want.

Blake Wheeler's the biggest trading chip currently on the team, and there's no way Peter Chiarelli's letting him go without a fight. In all likelihood, Boston will make its move for a rental player, purely for picks.

In the meantime, Milan Lucic will be back Thursday night against Atlanta and Savard should return before Thanksgiving. This will bring the B's back to 100 percent, and hopefully back to their winning ways.

Let's not forget the Penguins stumbled through the early part of last season before going on a run to finish fifth in the East and eventually capture the Stanley Cup. This is not to say that the same thing will happen to the Bruins, but a slow start does not necessarily mean a poor finish.

Watch exactly what Milan Lucic brings to the Bruins in his return

Lucic to Savard

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Are the Bruins Starting To Question Trading Phil Kessel

Ryan Pickard — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:15:01 -0500

The Boston Bruins have hit the quarter point of the season.

They are sitting with a decent record of 8-8-4, but everyone knows if they keep this up they will not have a shot come playoff time.

One of the most talked about stories of the offseason was what were the Bruins going to do about Phil Kessel. The young winger had just led the Bruins in goals scored with 36 and was their best offensive threat.

He was about to become a free agent, though, and something had to be done about him. The Bruins could either sign him to a deal which would make it hard for them to sign other players or they could deal Kessel and hope to get something good in return.

In the end, the Bruins decided to trade Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs and in return they received Toronto's 2010 first and second round pick, and their 2011 first round pick.

Now there are many people out there who would think Boston got the better end of the deal especially now with the way the Maple Leafs have been playing. The problem with the trade though is that you never really know how draft picks are going to work out.

If the season ended today the Bruins would wind up with the first or second pick in the draft. They could end up getting another Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby or they could get another Eric Lindros.

What I'm trying to get at with getting another Lindros is that the Bruins would not be able to sign him since he wouldn't want to play for Boston and the Bruins would end up wasting a draft pick.

Still the Bruins have a great shot at getting a top five draft pick and could pick up a guy that would have an immediate impact on the team come next season.

So far this year Toronto has been helped a lot by the return of Kessel from offeason shoulder surgery. In just seven games Kessel has already scored five goals and had three assists. The team has also played much better since he has returned to the lineup.

Meanwhile in Boston the Bruins offense has been terrible. They rank right near the bottom in goals scored averaging just 2.25 goals per game. The only reason they have a .500 record right now is because of how good their defense and goaltending has been.

That can't hold them for the whole season, though.

Boston says that Kessel was asking for way too much money and that he didn't see eye to eye with head coach Claude Julien but still one has to wonder how the Bruins offense would be doing if Kessel was still in the lineup.

I belive the Bruins got the better end of this deal because if Toronto continues at the pace they are right now then they will wind up with a top five draft pick. They can then use that pick and be able to select a player that can play in the NHL immediately and have a strong impact.

Still, I will always have to think that the Bruins could have a better record this year with Kessel still around.

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The Boston Bruins Need To Get a Goal Scorer

Ryan Pickard — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:05:18 -0500

The Boston Bruins scored five goals in their game Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they need to go out and get a big-time goal-scorer.

Through the first 19 games of this season the Bruins have scored just 44 goals. That's an average of 2.32 goals per game, good enough for 26th in the NHL. They have also been shut out three times already.

The Bruins last year were right at the top of the league in scoring, but they did not need as many goals since they had one of the strongest defenses in the league. The defense has been just as strong as last year, but the Bruins have been losing because they cannot put enough pucks in the back of the net.

Part of the reason the offense has been so lackluster has to be the injury to Marc Savard. Savard has been out since the seventh game of the season and his absence has been very clear.

Savard has been the Bruins leading scorer for the past couple of years and is one of the best passers in the game, ranking near the top of league in assists. Without him, the offense has stalled. Savard will not be back for at least another three weeks and the Bruins don't want to fall so far behind that they cannot catch up by the time Savard returns.

With that said, the Bruins have to think about going out and trading for a good goal-scorer. It would most likely be Ilya Kovalchuk, who is going to be a free agent at the end of the year and the Atlanta Thrashers are unlikely to sign him when the time comes.

Kovalchuk has played just 11 games and already has 12 goals and six assists. Throughout his six seasons with the Thrashers, he has scored at least 29 goals per season with a career-high 52 in both 2005 and 2007.

The one downside to Kovalchuk is his plus/minus, a stat that can be very overrated. He has never had a plus/minus better than minus-two, but the Thrashers have never been very good when he has been there.

The Bruins have plenty of draft picks that they could put up in a possible trade for Kovalchuk along with a player or two. There have been many rumors, but most include Blake Wheeler and a few of the Bruins' picks.

They have to make sure that if they do end up getting Kovalchuk that they are able to sign him to a deal. They would not do very well if he ends up being just a rent-a-player and they aren't able to win the Cup.

The major factor keeping something like this from happening is the cap hit. The Bruins are very close to the cap and with it expected to go even further down next year, they have to make sure they don't go over.

If the Bruins are able to make this deal happen they would put themselves right back in the running for a shot at the Cup. And with Savard teamed back up with Kovalchuk, they would both benefit greatly.

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All Time Bruins: Raymond Bourque

Joe Gill — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:12:54 -0500

Following in the skates of Bruins legend Bobby Orr, Raymond Jean Bourque was a stellar blue liner with offensive instincts. He was the face of the Boston Bruins for 21 seasons before being traded to Colorado where he became a Stanley Cup champion. Though he wasn't officially crowned champion until 2001, all Bruins fans knew since his rookie year in 1979 that he had the heart of a champion.

Raymond Bourque was drafted in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1979 NHL draft. Boston acquired the draft pick in a trade with Los Angeles for goaltender Ron Grahame. Being born in Quebec and a fan of the Montreal Canadiens as a youngster, Bourque was now going to lace up his skates for their arch nemesis, the Boston Bruins.

Bourque made an instant impact in his rookie season. He scored in his first game as a Boston Bruin. He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and set the all time record for scoring by a first year defenseman with 65 points.

Bourque scored at least 55 points a season through 1985 with his best being 96 points in 1983-1984. The Bruins chose Bourque as a co-captain with teammate Rick Middleton in 1985. Upon Middleton’s retirement in 1988, Bourque became the sole captain of the club. His tenure as captain (1988-2000) with one club was a NHL record before being broken by Detroit’s Steve Yzerman.

Bourque wore #7 since his rookie season of 1979. However, in a surprise move during a 1987 ceremony for Bruins great Phil Esposito, Bourque removed his number #7 jersey to showcase his new number, #77. Bourque made a very respectful and unselfish gesture for one Boston’s great players. His new number, #77, would also become synonymous with hockey greatness.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Bourque was consistently one of best players in the NHL. He was selected to 17 All-Star games, the most memorable being the 1996 All Star game played on his home rink in Boston. Bourque broke a 4-4 tie at 19:22 of the third period to win the game for the Eastern Conference and capture the game’s MVP award.

Raymond Bourque was also recognized for his superb play as a NHL defenseman. He won the Norris Trophy five times which is the third most in league history. Only former Bruins Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey have won the award more.

The Boston Bruins reached the 1988 and 1990 Stanley Cup Finals versus Edmonton, but fell short both times. Boston never got close again and Raymond Bourque’s dreams of being a Stanley Cup champion were fleeting.

Ray Bourque requested a trade to have an opportunity to win a championship before his career came to a close. In 2000, Bruins GM Harry Sinden granted Bourque his wish, and the long time captain of the Boston Bruins was shipped to the Colorado Avalanche.

Colorado fell short in the 2000 playoffs, so Bourque decided to play one more season. He achieved his boyhood dream in 2001 when the Avalanche defeated New Jersey in seven games. He finally was finally able to hoist the Stanley Cup and cap off his career as a champion. It took Bourque 1,826(regular season and playoffs) games to win his first and only championship, a NHL record.

Bourque hung up his skates for good following his championship season of 2001.

In his career, he scored 410 goals and recorded 1,169 assists for 1,579 points in 1,612 regular season games. In the playoffs, Bourque added 41 goals and 139 assists in 214 games.

Raymond Jean Bourque was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Boston Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month, send me a nomination by e-mail .

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