Boston Bruins 2007-08 Preview:
“Game On”

On Friday night, the Boston Bruins begin their 2007-08 season with five games on the road in eight days. That's a pretty tough way to start a season, but the Bruins are often out of town for long stretches in October when the circus or the ice show comes to town so that's nothing new. Seasons usually began with unbridled optimism and generous publicity, but in the case of the Bruins that's not so much the case any longer. With the recent successes of the Red Sox and the Patriots, and the big splash made by the Celtics made over the summer, there are only a few stubborn, foolish diehards who will actually take notice that a new hockey season is on the horizon. The local media does not regard the Bruins as more than afterthought, and the team and its ownership have no one but themselves to blame for this predicament. There's only one cure for this particular malaise: winning. Chances are, this will be a year where only the few passionate Bruins’ fans who remain on Planet Earth will have anything to talk about.

No one really knows what to make of this year's edition of the team, as there’s a new goaltender in Manny Fernández, a new coach, and hopefully a much better attitude from the returning players. While the core group has returned, there are a couple of new faces as well. David Krejci and Milan Lucic are the two rookies who made the club coming out of camp. Veterans Peter Schaefer and Shawn Thornton were added to bring a little badly needed muscle up front. Last year's defensive corps returns pretty much intact, and that may be the team's weakest area.

Zdeno Chara should have a much better year in Boston this time around. The former coach basically handcuffed him by taking away the best part of his game: the ability to fight and make life very difficult for opponents who’d love to camp out in front of the Bruins' net. Chara was basically forced to carry the team on the shoulders last year and played far too many minutes. Signing him to a “max deal” may or may not have been the most fiscally prudent course of action, but the team needed a physical presence and he more than fit the bill. However, by the end of the year he was worn down like a stone. If he’s used properly and not forced to play thirty minutes every night, Bruins fans should see the player they hoped he’d be.

Mark Stuart finally made the team coming out of camp. It's time for this kid to step up and play like a number one draft choice. He had a knee injury last year that hampered his development. Now that he's healthy, it's time to be the defensive force that the Bruins envisioned. Another question mark on defense is Dennis Wideman. He came over at last year's trade deadline from St. Louis in exchange for Brad Boyes. Supposedly, he will quarterback the power play. He looked more like a fire hydrant than an NHL-caliber defenseman in the brief time he played for the Bruins. This kid needs to show that he can move the puck. Hopefully, Matt Lashoff (who impressed the faithful, with his athletic skills when he came up to Boston last year from Providence) will be back up with the club in short order. The defense will also rely on Aaron Ward, who came over from Rangers at the trade deadline. While he adds a veteran presence, one has to wonder why he's even here to begin with. The Bruins traded Nick Boynton to Phoenix a year ago for Paul Mara, but that worked out so well that they had to flip Mara to the Rangers for Ward. Given a choice between Boynton, and Ward, I'd opt with for the former, notwithstanding his proclivity for taking stupid penalties at the worst possible time. At least he came out every night with his heart on his sleeve and absolutely hated to lose.

Up front, the Bruins need Patrice Bergeron to remain healthy and return to his prior dominant form. He struggled all season all year with one nagging injury after another. Phil Kessel is similarly counted upon to improve in his second year. All things considered, Kessel had a pretty good year. Here's hoping for continued good health and success. For all the talk about trading Glen Murray during the off-season, maybe the best trades that are made are the ones that are never consummated. When Murray went down with an injury in late February, the Bruins went in the tank. Fans can be critical of his "one-timer" slapshots, but the guy can score goals, notwithstanding his other liabilities on the ice. Marc Savard proved that he was among the best centers in the NHL with or without dynamic talents on either wing. While the fan base may have had misgivings over the amount of money paid to Chara, there was pretty much unanimous agreement that Savard was worth every penny. This year they'll need him to step up even more.

Marco Sturm (<em>the last holdover from the dreadful trade of Joe Thornton two years ago) had a pretty good year last year, especially during midseason when he was renegotiating a new deal with management. Truth be told, after he signed his extension he was just as invisible as everyone else in the lineup. P.J. Axelsson, is the longest standing member of the team (having been there since 1997), needs simply to stay healthy. P.J.'s games played have declined steadily since 2001. The guy plays very hard, and when he's on his game the Bruins are definitely a better team. But more often than not it seems he's out of the lineup and there's no one who can really replicate his skill set. It was really kind of surprising that he wasn't traded during the off-season to a Stanley Cup contender looking for a talented penalty killer. P.J. has done pretty much everything the Bruins could have asked of from seventh-round draft choice 12 years ago. It would be nice to see him hoist the Stanley Cup just one time, but that ain't going to happen wearing the "Spoked B". Left wing Peter Schaefer came over from Ottawa during the off-season in exchange for Shean Donovan. Schaefer is known as a tough cornerman. We shall see...

One area that the Bruins addressed during the off-season was the lack of the physical presence on the ice. Jeremy Reich gave the team his level best yet it still was not enough to prevent the Bruins from getting pushed around most nights. As explained in my last hockey post a week ago, getting beat up has traditionally been a cardinal sin for anyone fortunate enough to wear a Boston sweater. The defining moment of last season came on January 30th in Buffalo when David Krejci (playing in his first NHL game) was knocked out cold and sustained a concussion. There was little, if anything, in the way of retaliation from the Boston side and from that point, opposing teams just knew that they could run over Bruins with impunity. Eddie Shore would be most displeased. To address that shortfall, management went out and secured the services all of Shawn Thornton from Anaheim, who will have no problem responding to such incidents should the need arise.

The two players that the Bruins received from Calgary in exchange for Brad Stuart, defenseman Andrew Ference and forward Chuck Kobasew, are nice players. They're certainly not all-stars, but neither are they journeymen. They simply need to find their place, work hard, and things will work out just fine. The Bruins may have also uncovered a real find with Brandon Bochenski, who came over from the Blackhawks last February. In 31 games with Boston, Bochenski scored 11 goals and was a plus 3. If the Bruins have a shot to fight for that final playoff spot, he's also going to have to step up and improve.

Last and most importantly, is goaltending. Just like baseball and pitching, the single most essential element for success in hockey is for a team’s goaltender to play well. Last year, the former coach started Tim Thomas so often and so much beyond the point of Timmy's capabilities that he abused his effectiveness. Timmy is a great 1-A goaltender who will give the team everything he has and is probably most effective playing 35-40 games a season, not 70. The Bruins gambled by trading for Manny Fernández, formerly of Minnesota Wild. Manny was out for much of the second half of the year with a knee strain and has worked hard during the off-season to rehabilitate his injury. He is not in the Martin Brodeur-class of elite goaltenders of the world, but he has a very good track record, and will get ample opportunity to show what he could do. The jury's still out on the whole goaltending matter.

Analysis: Much as I hate to say it, I don’t see this edition of the Bruins materially different than last year’s. The only improvement may be found in the intangibles: the coaching change and an improved attitude by the players. Compared to other teams in the East, they will be hard-pressed to secure one of the lower playoff spots. Because of the general lack of talent, Bruins’ fans should accept the product for what it is without any expectations of short-term success. I don't know about you, but I'll be watching every game and rooting for my team to win. Let's hope it's a fun season. Time will tell.