Good to Be Back

I took a bit of a break from blogging to finish up school. I graduated. I want to go back. Ok, now it's time to get back to business. Let me start off by saying that if the Celtics and Bruins never play consecutive Game 7s ever again, I'll be content for the rest of my life. Having the top-seeded Black and Gold losing to Carolina on a Scott "Bucky Dent" Walker overtime game-winner was bad enough but then the C's laying an absolute goose egg the next night to coach Ron Jeremy and the Magic made it hurt that much more. Sad times in the Garden for sure, I hope I never see it again.

Now for more on the B's. Apparently Marc Savard, David Krejci, Phil Kessel, Chuck Kobasew, Mark Recchi and Andrew Ferrence (and Aaron Ward) all played through injuries in the playoffs. This is just insane. It's painful to think what could have happened if these six guys were healthy, not to mention Captain Zdeno's apparent bumps and bruises. I'd also like to point out that the Kessel-Krejci-Kobasew line is the second unit of forwards on the Bruins power play. Granted, the first unit usually featured four forwards with Patrice Bergeron on the point, but the second unit seemed anemic to me in the Carolina series. On top of it all, Montreal had no business making the playoffs this season. Who cares if it sold tickets? The B's barely had to do a thing in that series and it carried over to their seven game tussle with the "Tropical Depressions" as Globe Writer Kevin Paul Dupont called them. I would've much rather have seen the Bruins beat the Panthers in five or six games in the first round, that would've definitely prepared them for a battle-tested Carolina team featuring Eric "Celebrates like Ovechkin after an empty net goal" Staal. Ugh. Then again, I wonder how many goals Staal would've had if he'd played with kidney stones, mad props to Mark Recchi.

As for the offseason moves, I have a few prediction as to what a healthy Bruins lineup will look like sometime in December when Kessel and Krejci recover from their surgeries:

Lucic-Savard-Kessel
Ryder-Krejci-Wheeler
Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew
Sobotka-Bitz-Thornton (Reich)

Chara-Wideman
Stuart-Ference
Hunwick-Boychuk (Ward)

Thomas
Rask

I see no big signings, maybe a veteran to replace P. J., Yelle, and Recchi but nothing crazy. Their top priorities are Krejci and Kessel. Bitz and Hunwick shouldn't be very difficult to ink and they may even have some room left in the cap to perhaps deal a Kobasew or Ference at the deadline if necessary.

On the other hand, this is probably what the opening day roster will look like:

Sturm-Savard-Lucic
Ryder-Bergeron-Wheeler
Soderberg (if he decides to show up)-St. Pierre-Kobasew
Sobotka-Bitz-Thornton

Chara-Ward
Wideman-Stuart
Hunwick-Boychuk

Thomas
Rask

I really hope that Boychuk cracks the lineup this season. The B's could use a scoring touch from the blueline and I'm beginning to think that anyone, even Paul Mara, is faster than both Chara and Ward.