The Bruins have nine games left in the regular season and right now Diehard has no idea which way these Bruins will go. Will they be the world beaters of December and January or the February -  March gang that couldn’t skate straight, especially in the third period! Thursday, with a 2-0 lead going into the third, Los Angeles wins the game in overtime. Sunday, with a three goal lead in the third the Bruins were outshot 17-3 and took 4 consecutive penalties and managed to come away with the victory against the Devils and Martin Brodeur. That is not the remedy for the things that have ailed Boston the past two months. A win is a win is a win for the B’s especially since they do not play again until Saturday night up in Toronto. And you always want a big break to come with a victory. So with these nine games left in the season, it will be a harbinger of what we could be seeing in mid April when the tension is ratcheted up and they face the same opponent for four to seven times. If the playoffs began today, (and I know they don’t but don’t we all have to play this game) it would be last year all over again as Boston and Montreal would square off again only this time the Bruins would be the number one seed and Montreal struggling to get into the tournament and on a downward spiral. But we’ve seen too much of this rivalry to take anything for granted.Hopefully, the Bruins will take this break and recaptured what got them in a position of cruise control to stay number one in the Eastern conference.  Good solid play at both ends of the ice and the physical toughness and winning those little battles. The youngsters need to get back some of the chutzpah that they had earlier in the year and Tim Thomas needs to do nothing more than what he has been all season long!  Outstanding!!!  Why shouldn’t he win the Georges Vezina?!?!?!Diehard watches a ton of hockey because he has no life and there’s a lot of bad goaltending in the National Hockey League. Here in Boston, we have seen no such thing, save for one 80 foot slapper in OT. Thomas has been the most consistent goalie in the league. So, it’s up to the forwards and defensemen to do their jobs Protecting, scoring and checking fighting when necessary as we all tense up once the season ends and tournament play begins!

As the playoffs approach, do you get that feeling that we’ve been here before? This is getting very scary. It was 2004 and after several years of just what the hell is this Bruins hockey you speak of…where apathy had set in on Diehard in a big way, they lured me back in all the way.  Excited with the promise of going deep into the postseason. Number one in all the league and in the first round a 3-1 series lead over their biggest rival. To have it all come crashing down in a game 7 2-0 shutout was one of the biggest daggers that they have let in my heart over the past 37 years. Doesn’t this remind you of that fateful year? Not really but we’ll see.  What is does say is that this young team really needs some maturity. They need to know what it takes to get into AND through the playoffs. It means, no taking shifts off. It means, working hard at all the little things that made you stay up with the big club all season. It means not taking the ticky tack penalties that you took in the last three games. It’s not like they haven’t calling them all year. And it really means burying your chances when get them.  SCORING. And the Bruins scoring has been off since that big game, in which they lost, against the San Jose Sharks.They have been an inconsistent team since January was pulled off the calendar. If it weren’t for the big lead they had back on Feb 1, the Bruins would be fighting with the likes of Montreal, New York, Pittsburgh, & Carolina for playoff positioning or worse, getting into the tournament.Sunday’s game against the Penguins was ripe for the picking. Mathieu Garon looked like Manny Fernandez last Sunday in New York and yet the Bruins had too many penalties and Tim Thomas was not, well, Tim Thomas. Yet the Bruins could not put them away at any point. From Diehard’s point of view, it was frustrating to watch because, you knew, that with a bit of discipline, this would not have been close. But when you are not working hard, you use the stick, the free hand, and interfere. And that’s what the undisciplined Bruins did. And Pittsburgh has too much firepower and boy did they make the Bruins pay. So, it just remains to be seen if they are gonna stick yet another dagger in Diehard’s heart as April approaches with the most anxiety time in all of sport for me, (yes there was that excruciating Yankees-Red Sox series in 2004), or will they come back to the December-January Bruins and take all that apprehension away and say they were only joking! I’ll be there either way…but it will be ugly if it’s the former. 

-Diehard

So he had some pretty good games early in the year. And when he didn’t the Bruins were scoring lots of goals and Manny was feeling good about himself and his winning streak. But c’mon, did we think he was the second coming of Patrick Roy or Jim (Seaweed) Petty. But, Sunday afternoons performance in New York was abysmal!  Plain and simple.  No goaltender wants to be facing the back of his net and twice Fernandez was doing pirouettes while the puck was lying in the net. Many times he looked behind him which is the sure sign that he has no idea where the puck was after it was shot. Too many times he was down on his knees before any shot taken and he looked totally lost out there. Time for Thomas to play the remaining 15 games and all games in the playoffs.  If the Bruins expect to go anywhere, they certainly aren’t gonna get there with Manny guarding the gate. I never understood the fascination with him in the first place and now, 3 years later, I still don’t. Did he have any value at the trading deadline?  I don’t know but I wish he had been traded. The Bruins could sure use a bag of pucks right now. He showed no mettle in the game. He had already let in two goals (Gomez & Callahan) that should not have been scored. His teammates battle back to tie the game and then he screws it up again leaving an open net for the Rangers to close the deal. Sorry, its time to shut Manny down. No sense in letting him giveaway games for the Bruins. Tim Thomas has always been a work horse since Boston brought him up. Let Thomas be Thomas and the Bruins will ride him as far as they can. I like my chances with Thomas. The Bruins have no Chance with Manny being awful!  

-Diehard 

Well, at least they made a trade. Two in fact on deadline day.The best thing about the trades is that they did not have to give up much.  Martin Karsums and Matt Lashoff were shuttled to Tampa Bay for 41-year old Mark Recchi who most likely will be in the Bruins lineup Thursday when the meet the Phoenix Coyotes, and a 2010 draft pick. Definitely not a bad pickup. Recchi brings the left-handed shot on the power play that they have been lacking all season. The B’s also picked up defenceman Steve Montador from Anaheim for Petteri Nokalainen. These trades are not bad pickups for Boston, hey, they may even be the “Goring effect”, but after doing absolutely nothing at last seasons deadline, I think we fans wanted to see something more significant. Well, at least they did not mortgage the future….but sometimes don’t you have to do that if you REALLY want to win the Stanley Cup? Don’t you have to give up a possible young star (Kessel) and claim that prize d-man or intangible player that would really solidify your lineup and lockerroom. I guess I was expecting more and don’t think that these moves will do much for the team.  Hey, I could be wrong and we will all see.  In three seasons as GM for the Bruins, there has been no trades at deadline day to put the Bruins over the top.  Lets see what Steve Montador and Mark Recchi, both of whom have won the Stanley Cup, bring to this Bruins team in the next month heading to the playoffs. 

-Diehard

And your Boston Bruins have made a couple of insignificant trades. 41 year old left handed shot Mark Recchi is now a Bruin along with a 2^nd round pick in 2010.Matt Lashoff and Martin Karsums are now Tampa Bay Lighning.Boston also acquired defenseman Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks and sent Petteri Nokalainen out west.  

Diehard is still waiting for something of much more significance to the team.  

-Diehard

This is one of my favorite times during the National Hockey League season as the sellers and the buyers get ready to either prepare for the playoffs or prepare to rebuild. Obviously the Bruins are preparing to try and make hay in the post season, and let us try and examine what possibly they would need to go that Butch Goring push. If you don’t know who or what Butch Goring means to the playoffs, go look it up.  

The B’s need a defenseman to go along with the crop they have now.  A big strong prototypical veteran defenseman. Chris Pronger?  Sure, who wouldn’t want the big sometimes cheap shot artist. I’d take him immediately. What to give up?  The big debate is should the Bruins package young and still learning Phil Kessel. All things considered, you are still not going to win without scoring and I think Kessel scores more than Pronger helps on defense. If the Bruins are looking for a true good cap friendly veteran on defense, they should go after Toronto Maple Leaf Tomas Kaberle. Kaberle is definitely available and would be a much better fit on the Bruins Blue line than Pronger and I think at a much lower cost.  

Boston also needs a left-handed shot on their forward lines. And the bodies that would likely be a good fit for the Bruins in that “Goring” push would be someone like Keith Tkachuk. Tkachuk is one of those aging veterans that can still put the puck in the net (518) and although he has a no-trade clause in his contract with the Blues, he could be persuaded to come back home (Melrose) to the Bruins. Also, Bill Guerin, who has been in the witness protection program since warm-ups Saturday with the Islanders, would be one of those veterans that might get the B’s over the hump. Regardless,  what I don’t want the Bruins to do before 3pm on March 4, is nothing like they have done the past two seasons. Nothing is not going to put this club over the top. Nothing says that well, we have put together a good regular season with what we have and we are staying pat and will go with what got us here. Not good enough. Nothing will not get you past the first round of a seven-game series.

Time to make a splash and get us fans even more excited about what lies ahead for the 2009 edition of the Boston Bruins.

-Diehard