What is Brewing in Beantown?

Head Coach Claude Julian’s job in Beantown is safe...

...for now.

Meeting with the media on Wednesday morning at the Ristuccia Arena prior to the Bruins taking the ice, General Manager Peter Chiarelli was adamant about the fact that results have to come from the players, coaches, and upper management. A sincere top to bottom effort.

According to Chiarelli, the entire hockey club is responsible for finding a way out of this current 2-7-1 slide that has moved the Bruins from a comfortable position in the standings to merely a point away from the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.

Wasn't this essentially the same roster that dominated the Eastern Conference last year?

The real question Bruins fans have to be wondering is whether this current group is good enough to not only lock up a top eight spot in the Eastern Conference, but finally make a serious run at a Stanley Cup. At this point in the season, it's hard to argue the Bruins really pose a serious threat to the Penguins, Capitals, and Devils teams they would likely have to beat along the way.

On one hand, the Bruins injury woes have been terrible this year. The return of top line superstar center Marc Savard should give the Bruins the lift they desperately need moving forward. He's appeared in only 21 games this season, and his most recent injury, a partial MCL tear in his right knee, will require him to wear a brace. But his presence on and off the ice cannot be discounted.

On the flip side, Savard is not your clutch scorer. He's not the guy who's going to put the team on his shoulders like a Malkin, Crosby, or Ovechkin in the playoffs and mount the comeback on his own. He's a great playmaker, possibly the best in the game right now, but great playmakers need to be paired with dynamic scorers to truly thrive. With this fall's trade of Phil Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs, right now that scorer is not on the Bruins roster. It's probably safe to say until they find him, this team will not win a Cup.

With that in mind, how does does Peter Chiarelli approach the next few weeks leading up to the NHL trade deadline? He's drafted exceptionally well and locked up a great core of young talent. The depth of this year's draft crop is outstanding and with the poor season Toronto is having, the picks acquired in the Kessel trade will be very valuable. There may be an opportunity to build a package around those picks to acquire an impact player like Ilya Kovalchuk at the deadline. If that chance arises, does Chiarelli go all in and pull the trigger, or does he hold off and enhance the depth chart of the organization?

This week, the group was starting to look whole again, but it didn't stop Chiarelli, Assistant GM Benning and Vice President Cam Neely from attending practice to evaluate the current group and get a feel for what they are up against a little over a month from now. When the Bruins enter the war room on the morning of March 3rd, they will have a clear understanding of where they stand with regards to post-season play. For now though, they must find ways to collect valuable points before it becomes too late.

The current roster is in place for the 2010-11 season on paper, but on the ice, if they aren't good enough to win the Stanley Cup this season, don't try and fix something that isn't necessarily broken. Peter Chiarelli knows what he has in terms of depth on the big club and assets currently in Providence, but the most important thing is the future of this team. Don't sacrifice for short term solutions, especially if June hockey is not in the fold.

Injuries Strike in Beantown and Leave Bruins Searching For Direction

The Boston Bruins finished the 2008-09 regular season with a shocking 53 wins. That was good for 1st place in the Northeast division and atop the ladder in the Eastern Conference. Within the next month of hockey however, the Bruins were brought back to life, being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes and stopped just short of a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. A Game 7 overtime goal by NHL veteran Scott Walker not only ended a tremendous 2008-09 campaign for the Bruins, it left the Bruins stunned as they watched the Hurricanes celebrate just days after Walker’s sucker punch to the face of Bruins defensemen Aaron Ward (picture below). Days after the Game 7 loss, General Manager Peter Chiarelli seemed convinced that with the proper roster adjustments in the off-season, the Bruins would be back to where they left off in the 2008-09 season.

Unfortunately for Peter Chiarelli and Head Coach Claude Julien, things have gotten much worse since the domino effect began in May.  Phil Kessel underwent shoulder surgery and the Bruins realized they were unable to sign the restricted free agent.  Luckily, they pulled in a collection of high draft picks from the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the 2009-10 season began with mediocre hockey at best.  This was followed by significant injuries to forwards Marc Savard and Milan Lucic. While the Bruins are short handed due to injuries, the slow start for forward David Krejci has definitely contributed to the lackluster beginning to this season as well. To make matters worse, Krejci has been diagnosed with H1N1 and will join Savard and Lucic on the shelf.

The string of bad luck is followed by the departures of not only Phil Kessel, but also Chuck Kobasew, traded to the Minnesota Wild. Let’s stop for one second and devour all of this, Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Phil Kessel and Chuck Kobasew, all missing in action for the Boston Bruins.  Aside from the Detroit Red Wings, how many teams in the NHL are currently playing without that much talent from last season?

The Bruins were off to a 6-7-2 start heading into Saturday night’s action against the Buffalo Sabres. Most recently, a not so surprising scoring drought left the Bruins without a single goal in just shy of two hundred minutes of hockey, until Patrice Bergeron scored his fifth goal of the season. Yes that’s right, five goals in 15 games. Hey, it’s good enough to lead the club in scoring, but, it’s also bad enough to add to the club’s woes early on. Steve Begin, a well traveled NHL veteran through the waiver wire and via trade, is tied for 3rd on the team in scoring with eight points and one point behind hard nosed defensemen Derek Morris.

After 116 points in the 2008-09 season, it’s evident that the Boston Bruins are no where near the high expectations of the ownership group led by Jeremy Jacobs, General Manager Peter Chiarelli, and especially the fans. Rest assured one thing though, Chiarelli and assistant GM Jim Benning will without a doubt work through the difficult times they are facing with injuries and lack of scoring. The Bruins will be okay eventually, but for now, they have a difficult task ahead. 

With pending free agent center Marc Savard likely to suffer the same fate as Kessel this coming summer, one has to wonder whether the Bruins are gunning for a Cup, or simply in rebuilding mode.  With their most recent Stanley Cup occurring in 1971-72, asking for Bruins fans to be patient won't be easy.

State of the Union: Boston

Earlier this decade, fans in New England were treated to an exciting run of Red Sox and Patriots championships as both teams dominated their respective leagues. Meanwhile, to find a story about the Celtics or Bruins, you would've had to dig pretty deep into the sports section of the Boston Globe to find a recap of a game the night before. On December 7, for the first time in as long as many fans can remember, the Bruins were featured above the fold on the front page of the Globe. Has the torch been passed? Let's first take a look at the Bruins and try to figure out if this torrid start can possibly continue and somehow lead to a Stanley Cup Championship.

Following Tuesday's 2-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins now find themselves perched atop the Eastern Conference with a 25-5-4 record. Their 54 points are second in the NHL only to red-hot San Jose who achieved the fastest start in league history through 30 games. Third-year winger Phil Kessel currently sits fourth in the league in goals with 21 while playmaker Marc Savard trails Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin by one for the assist lead with 21. The dangerous duo teams up with 6-4, 220 pound beast-child Milan Lucic to create one of the most balanced, talented, and fun-to-watch lines in the NHL. In goal, Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez are ranked second and third respectively in goals against average behind Columbus rookie Steve Mason. How could this team possibly lose?

I'm not about to say the Bruins will head into a freefall and miss the playoffs completely. I can't argue a team that starts 25-5-4 isn't one of the league's elite. But I will say they are about to cool off...and when that happens we'll begin to really see what this very young team is made of.

Boston currently leads the NHL with 126 goals...but aside from Savard and the injured Patrice Bergeron, not a single player on the roster has put up more than 63 points in a season. Once teams begin to find ways to slow down this offense, the Bruins will need to start winning some 2-1 defensive battles. While the Thomas-Fernandez tandem has been standing on their head through the first third of the season, they are facing far too many shots a game (ranked 22nd at 30.5 shots a game). Boston's defense currently features Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, Matt Hunwick, Shane Hnidy, Mark Stuart, and Matt Lashoff...hardly an imposing top 6.

In many cases, all it takes is a few unlucky injuries to expose a team like this. Last Thursday, winger Marco Sturm suffered what looks to be a bad knee injury that might require surgery. There's no word on how long he'll be out, but two days later Patrice Bergeron absorbed another concussion which has the potential to threaten his career. If you'll remember, Bergeron was hit viciously into the boards last season by the Flyers Randy Jones and it took him months to recover enough to even ride a bike for 5 minutes. Losing key forwards like Sturm and Bergeron for a long period of time could bring this hot start to a screeching halt. I would still expect Boston to have no trouble making the playoffs, but this is a very young team. Inexperience can be deadly when the stakes are raised in the playoffs - look for the Bruins to last one round or two at the most.

If the Bruins' bubble is about to burst, what about the Celtics? SportsJudge's NBA expert Adam Primm decided to weigh in on the Celtics' chances at repeating and possibly topping the regular season wins record set in the Michael Jordan era:

On Sunday the Celtics won their 18th straight game to go to 26-2 on the season. With such a prolific start, fans have to wonder if the Celtics can keep up this pace. The Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins in a season is within reach even if the Celts cool off a little, but how feasible will it be for Boston to break that record.

Only 10 of the 26 wins have been within 10 points. However, one of those was to the 23-4 Cleveland Cavs, and two were to the South leading Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics have simply been obliterating the competition in the early part of the season. And the scary thing is, the 'Big Three' (aka the Boston Three Party) are scoring less this year than last year. Paul Pierce's scoring average is down one point and Kevin Garnett is down two. Ray Allen has improved by one point. The main reason for the Celtics improved play has been the maturation of point guard Rajon Rondo who is playing more aggressive this season and is showing he can score with the other three. The 'Big Three' may become the 'Four Horsemen' by the end of the season if he continues to improve.

The Celtics are currently on pace to finish roughly 76-6 at their current pace. However, there is no chance that the win at that rate for the full season. Given the age of this team, relatively older by NBA standards, I would expect to see them wear down a little come midseason. Also, this team has yet to experience any kind of injury. The Cavs were playing at a similar pace winning 19 out of 20 games during a stretch earlier this season. While the Cavs are now 23-4 overall, they struggled in two tough games against Philadelphia before losing on the road at Atlanta, a major reason why these three games were difficult was because two of the Cavs key players were injured in Daniel Gibson and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. When those two came back, the Cavs crushed the Nuggets in Denver. The Celtics currently have a better record, and Pierce, Allen, Garnett, and Rondo are probably are better starting unit than Lebron James, Mo Williams, Delonte West, and Ilgauskas, but the Cavs are a team that are 10 deep with the bench. The Celtics bench is good, but only has 3, maybe 4 players, that can be plugged in to avoid a letdown if someone gets hurt meaning the health of the Big Three is very important to their run at 72. The Cavs had 2 guys go down and promptly lost one game and struggled in the other two. A team that isn't quite as deep will probably have similar problems in the same situation.

While I think the Celtics have a very good chance to win 70 games, I think they will fall just short of the record at 72. I expect the veteran players to wear down a little and some major contributor to be hurt for a significant period, like 10-15 days. This doesn't mean that I don't think the Celtics are the best team in the league. I am confident that we can at least pencil the Celts in the Conference Finals right now because the only two teams that have a chance of beating them in a seven game series are the Cavs and the Lakers. The Celtics should easily finish with the best record in the league, but I don't think they will be able to keep up this pace and break the Bulls record for wins.

Agree? Disagree with where the Bruins and Celtics are headed this year? Feel free to speak your mind in the comments section.