Good start for Bruins After Summer Full of Change

Last season the Boston Bruins had an on and off season, experiencing good and bad games. Then the playoffs came and they barely made it through round one of the playoffs because the Toronto Maple Leafs almost took them out. However, they came back strong in game seven (after almost losing) and managed to send that game into overtime and win the series. They made it to the Stanley Cup finals until they lost the cup to the Chicago Blackhawks (who played outstanding the whole entire shortened season barely losing any games).

When summer time came around the Bruins made some dramatic changes, being one of the most talked about teams. One of the biggest Bruins trades were players Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverly and Ryan Button sent to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser. Another shock was when Boston decided not to sign free agent Andrew Ference because they wanted to sign Tuukka Rask and they did not have enough cap space to keep both players long term. So Ference went to the Edmonton Oilers where he was recently named the fourteenth captain in the Oilers history. Backup goalie Anton Khudobin went to the Carolina Hurricanes where he is giving Cam Ward a run for his money. Again the lack of cap space meant that Nathan Horton would not re-sign with the team and he went to the Columbus Blue Jackets on a seven year deal. The Bruins also acquired Jarome Iginla on a one-year incentive heavy deal. He played very well in the preseason and is growing fast with the team in the regular season.

So with all these much needed players gone the Bruins had some room to add some fresh new and young blood to the roster. Many fans were worried that it would hurt their flow and they would not do well this season as the team would take a while to get used to the flow.

The first game for the Bruins was on Thursday October 3rd, at the TD Garden in Boston against the Tampa Bay Lighting. Both teams played strong but Boston played better outscoring them 3-1 (final score). In the first game it was the top players who scored, the players who had been there for a while. The goals were by Milan Lucic, Chris Kelly and Patrice Bergeron. Only one assist on those three goals were given and that was to David Krejci. Later after that game, the Bruins announced they gave Dennis Seidenberg to a four year, sixteen million contract extension.

I did not have any opinions until I saw the second game (against the Detroit Red Wings) for the Boston Bruins (October 5) at the same time I watched three other games (Habs being my first choice). But that did not stop my opinions to form on the improved Bruins team. The young players Torey Krug and Jordan Caron scored their first goals of the season under a Bruins contract. Adding to the youngsters, Chara and Marchand also scored a goal to lead the team to a 4-1 win. Lucic recorded two assists, Reilly Smith, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Johnny Boychuck and Adam McQuaid also recorded one assist during that game.

My thoughts on the first two games were first it is nice to see Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron back in the line-up after making a full recovery on injuries they suffered during the playoffs. Tuukka Rask has started the year with amazing goaltending, leading a .967% save percentage (only letting in 2 goals) on over 50 shots in the first two games. I am waiting to see what Iginla and Eriksson can do. They are having a slow start to the season but watching the preseason I think it will be worth the wait. I am expecting good things to come from the two of them.

Finally we have to keep an eye on some of the young players including Jordan Caron (who nobody expected him to make the final cuts in the Bruins camp yet alone make it on the opening night roster). Other players are Torey Krug, who after last season’s playoff goals I expected he would be a regular on the team and Dougie Hamilton.

Other things I have seen in the Bruins game are players are a lot faster than they were last season. I think it is all the new blood and having the kid line. I am also liking the way they are handling penalty killing, though they have always been good at that and they are even better on the power play so far. I remember two seasons ago when they were not very good on power play and only scored a handful of them throughout the season.

So to my Bruins fans, as of right now things are looking up for the Bruins and I do not think you need to worry about the team. They seem to have things under control and it will be exciting to see how they will progress as a team and as individuals in the next few months.

Players on opening night roster: Patrice Bergeron, Gregory Campbell, Jordan Caron, Loui Eriksson, Jarome Iginla, Chris Kelly, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille, Marc Savard (injured reserved), Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg, Shawn Thorton, Matt Bartkowski, Johnny Boychuck, Zdeno Chara, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Dennis Seidenberg, Chad Johnson and Tuukka Rask.

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