The Boys are Back in Town

...And so is the blog! It felt like the longest semester of my life, and it certainly was one of the longest droughts for my blog.

So, what should I write to bring readers back? Not the BCS that I have been so at odds with during a hair-pulling season at USC and could berate for hours. Not the NFL which is in full playoff chase right now. Not even the 23-2 defending champion Celtics. Nope, I am going with the Boston Bruins.

I am not crazy. I just think they are that exciting.

Back in the northeast, I got to attend my first Bruins game of the season on Thursday night. Last year, Boston announced it had a real basketball team in the NBA; it has certainly followed suit this year in regards to bringing a real hockey team to the NHL.

The B's set the tone earlyfor an old- fashioned Western shootout against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Just 36 seconds into the game a finally healthy Marco Sturm put home the first goal (he did not stay healthy for long, as he was hurt later in the period). Moments later, an early whistle took back what would have been a Chuck Kobasew goal, but David Krejci's first dangle of the night put the Bruins up 2-0 less than five minutes into the game and chased Vesa Toskala from the game, at least for the time being. Toronto tallied its first goal just seven minutes into the game, after which the team's seemed to be more interested in playing defense.

Somewhere between the end of the first period and the beginning of the second period, the novelty of defense wore off, either that, or Toronto's back up, Curtis Joseph, realized he is 41 years old and is too old for the game...

In any case, the Bruins came out firing—Marc Savard tipped in a Zdeno Chara power play blast just a minute and a half into the period. Then, David Krejci (three years old when Curtis Joseph first played in the NHL) one-upped his previous dangle: Blake Wheeler (also, three years old when Curtis Joseph played his first NHL game) took the puck the length of the ice against three defenders, then did a Gretzky turn and fed Krejci, who cut past Toronto's Lee Stempniak (causing him to drop his stick), headed for the goal line around lunging goaltender Curtis Joseph, who was clearly too slow for Krejci. As Krejci managed to sneak the puck around Joseph, back in front of the goal line and into the goal, before his momentum carried him behind the net. Two minutes later, Phil Kessel (two years old when Cujo first played in the NHL) sniped the has-been upstairs. The Bruins were up 5-1 less than five minutes in the second, and it appeared the route was on.

It was not, but the shootout was. In an eight minute span midway through the second period, the Garden from shaking with enthusiasm to shaking with fear as the Maple Leafs scored three consecutive goals to pull the blow out to a 5-4 game. Kessel appeared to restore order a minute and a half later with another snipe that Cujo lacked the speed or the eye sight to save (probably both). However, a late penalty on the Bruins led to a fifth Toronto goal, and the Bruins held on to a precarious 6-5 lead at the end of the second.

Down, but not out on the night, Vesa Toskala came back for more. It was not exactly clear if it was past Cujo's bedtime or he was just tired of getting run around the playground by a bunch of kids, but he had to feel better that by the end of the night Toskala would give up as many goals as he did.

The Bruins, also made a goaltending change after Tim Thomas had his worst night of the season, the five goals he gave up were the most yielded by the Bruins in any game all season. He had not given up more than three since opening night. The move paid off in the early going when Manny Fernandez made a spectacular save, sliding across the crease to save what would have been the tying goal from Jason Blake. Fernandez would end up turning away all 13 shots he saw in the period.

Meanwhile, the Bruins continued to have more trouble staying out of the net then the Irish do out of the bar. Michael Ryder roofed a fast break, power play shot midway through the third period, and Krejci stuffed home a 5-on-3 pass from Marc Savard to complete his first, and undoubtedly not his last, hat trick of his career.

Defensively, the Bruins yielded their highest total of the year at five, but offensively, they produced their highest total of the year at eight. Furthermore, they managed to extend their home winning streak to 12 games.

The thing I took away from this game, aside from that Curtis Joseph should have hung 'em up years ago (and I honestly thought he had until he came in the game), this Bruins team is gonna be something to contend with.

• Nine of the Bruins skaters tonight were 25 or under.
• The Bruins second goal Krejci from Kessel and Milan Lucic was set up a 22-year old from a 21-year old and a 20-old, as already stated, their fourth goal Krejci from Wheeler was a 22-year old from another 22-year old.
• Three of the top four defenseman were 25 or younger (Matt Hunwick, 23; Mark Stuart, 24; Dennis Wideman, 25) [third line defenseman, Matt Lashoff is 22].
• Assistant captain and first line center, Patrice Bergeron, is only 23(he has been in the NHL since he was 18).

This NHL will soon be run by the next generation (sorry, Cujo!). The Detriot Red Wings delivered a humbling reminder in last year's Stanley Cup that the next generation has not yet learned to win championships, but that reign will soon come to an end, and when it does, which young players will emerge as the next dynasty?

Will it by Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin in Pittsburgh?

How about Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin in Washington?

Maybe Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in Chicago?

Or...could it be the Boston Bruins!?

Go ahead, chuckle on the inside, but no one is laughing at Phil Kessel and his 16-game point streak that dates back to early November. Nobody is laughing at David Krejci and his +/- of +15 to go along with points in 12 of his last 13 games. Nobody is laughing at Milan Lucic; it is kind of hard to laugh at a guy that will beat your ass and score a goal while you stop your nose from bleeding.

As proven Thursday night, the Bruins have depth in net. Thomas and Fernandez are two and three respectively in goals against average and both rank in the top six for save percentage.

They have leadership at the point with Chara.

They are loaded with talent up front. Be it veterans like Savard (who leads the team with 34 points) and Sturm or young phenoms like Kessel and Krejci (who scored five of the eight goals on Thursday).

I had to see it to believe it, and I believe it! The Bruins are finally back. They have not put a quality product on the ice since before the lockout, but they are back, they are young, and they are certainly ready to roar.