Well, the Bruins are not going to be eased back into action after their Christmas break. Tonight they’re going to be taking on one of those dreaded “red teams” that they have so many problems with. Last season’s contests against the Carolina Hurricanes (19-16-3) were particularly painful. The Bruins (18-14-4) only managed to win one of the four contests last season and they needed OT to do it.
You’ve probably all heard that Peter Chiarelli is looking around at his trade options. That’s because Aaron Ward is out with a broken foot and is a few weeks from returning. Also, Glen Murray is out with a hip flexor problem and he may not be back for some time. Andrew Alberts is still not skating because of his post-concussion syndrome. Then there are the obvious losses of Bergeron (also several weeks from a return) and Fernandez (gone for the season). All of this seems even worse when you consider how much time Andrew Ference and Shawn Thornton lost, Bobby Allen is still having back spasms, Tim Thomas missed time because of a groin pull and Lucic missed a few games after he had his bell rung. That’s a lot of injuries and it’s not even taking into consideration how many small issues some players have had like missing a couple of games because of a puck to the face or sitting out a single game because of a tweaked muscle.
How many years in a row is it that the Bruins have had huge injury problems like this? I would say maybe they need more of a focus on physical training but the nature of a lot of the injuries really has nothing to do with being out of shape. Broken feet, concussions, knee twists and pucks to the face can’t be dealt with through physical training obviously.
Chiarelli has said he does not like getting rid of draft picks or prospects, a sentiment I share with him. What I don’t understand though, is why make a trade if that’s how you feel about it? To get something good back, you usually have to give up draft picks or top prospects. Why even make a trade if it’s just going to send out a few mediocre veteran players for a couple of other mediocre veteran players? He has also ruled out discussing moving anyone with a no-trade-clause so the “move Chara” crowd will be disappointed. Personally, I would like to see the Bruins just stand pat, work with what they have and wait to get healthy again. Dealing from a position of weakness is never a good idea and it’s not like the Bruins haven’t gone through a couple of rough patches this year and turned things around. Players like Bochenski and Kessel have to step up and keep the team on track until other guys can get back. I’ve said it before, I think the Bruins will make the playoffs but I think it would actually be better for the club if they didn’t and I would rather sit through another losing season where the youngsters got some experience than a barely successful season due to a panic trade. Of course, this doesn’t take into account the speculation that Chiarelli’s job may be riding on whether or not the club makes the playoffs.
Of course, the Hurricanes have been having injury troubles of their own. Chad LaRose and Justin Williams are on the IR. Mike Commodore has just recently returned to the line-up after missing 14 games and Matt Cullen may have a concussion after being elbowed by Colton Orr in Carolina’s loss against the Rangers last Wednesday.
Tonight’s game will be an interesting one since the Hurricanes are essentially the antithesis of the Bruins. While the Bruins don’t allow a huge amount of goals (though lately that’s not been the case) they also don’t score many. The Hurricanes allow a lot of goals but they also score a lot. Who knows what type of flow this game will have.
Keys to the game:
1. People keep writing about the Bruins getting bad habits, not putting enough effort in to win, and generally dogging it. This inevitably comes up every time they start losing. Is that really the whole story though? Could it not be that a lot of them are not dogging it but they just don’t have the talent up front to score or the skill on the back-end to always control the puck? Personally, I think that’s what is going on more so than a lack of effort and I think that the Bruins’ goals will depend on whether or not some of the usual suspects come through tonight. If Kessel, Sturm and Kobasew don’t get back into one of their scoring grooves (I don’t think there’s a consistent scorer on the team) then the Bruins will continue to lose.
2. Tim Thomas. Hopefully he returns to his form from earlier this year. He hasn’t looked terrible since returning from his groin pull but he also hasn’t stolen a game yet. Thomas looked unbeatable for most of this season and he’ll have to return to that form, especially against this offensively gifted team.
3. As usual, the Bruins will need to stay out of the box.
Prediction:
4-2 Carolina
-Gerz
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