TWO FUCKING PENALTIES IN A ROW FROM GILL!? WITH FOUR MINUTES AND CHANGE TO GO!? WHAT THE FUCK! YOU WORTHLESS SACK OF SHIT! WAY TO HAMSTRING YOUR TEAM!

Yeah, I know. I say we have Survivor: Bruins and murder Hal Gill.

If a Survivor: Bruins ever happens, the final will be between Hannu and a bag of pucks. I think we have to realize this is probably a bottom 5 team in the making.

Boyes is sure looking like a nice find though.

As for Gill, what more can be said? He sucks and he stinks and he sucks. His contract is up after this season; let's pray he's gone next year.

No question he'll be gone next year. We need to pray that he'll be gone next week.

That said, the players as a whole were not on their toes tonight, which is inexcusable.

They need to end 2005 with a win in Tampa.

Nice job of building on the momentum generated by the comeback win against the Caps. This team is a mess. The B's and Celtics are going to make this a very long winter after the football season ends.

Warning: The following post is a near-incoherent rant from a frustrated fan that wishes to vent a bit.

I only caught the 1st period tonight so I didn't see any of Gill's Gaffes. However, his dish to Sturm for the first goal was pretty heads up as he pinched in from the blueline. It was a nice play but it doesn't surprise me he found a way to screw it up in the late minutes.

I believe it was the play-by-play guy on OLN the other night that said Gill is a decent enough player but has never really acquired new skills or honed existing talents. I thought that summed it up pretty well.

Of the 3 goals scored against Raycroft in the 1st, I thought 2 of them were out of his control and the other one was not soft by any means.

One was the result of a fluke bounce off the boards that took a charity hop to a Panther. Another one was poor defense that left Jokenin all alone for what became a breakaway for all intents and purposes. The last one was a nice redirect from a centering pass by Stumpel. Tough for a goalie to defend on those...The defense should have a had body on that guy in front of the net.

I've gone to 3 games so far in my 10 game package and, at this point, I might either donate the remaining 7 to another massochist or toss them in the shredder at work since it makes a cool noise.

Something that dawned on me during tonight's game was how little we as fans really know about the players on the team. Christ, if Alex Cora has diareah in the locker room, it's practically a lead story.

If fans are going to endure yet another winter of a subpar on-ice product, wouldn't it behoove NESN and the Bruins to provide more in-depth coverage of the team to the few who view? Sorry, my idea of in-depth coverage doesn't involve Rob Simpson at ice level talking about Rene Rancourt's longevity or Brick introducing another uninspiring edition of "Ice Shavings". Give me some footage of the team traveling or hanging out after practice. Give me an interview that isn't one of those between period fluff pieces where every other phrase is "giving it 100%" or "We're getting our legs back out there".

Speaking of Ice Shavings, could NESN pick more boring outtakes than the ones they usually use? I actually like the idea of it on paper but the finished product just ends up being 3 clips of a guy grunting followed by him on the bench yelling a guy's nickname out (C'mon Fitzy!")
In his defense, I thought Travis Green's Ice Shavings segments were the best by far since he actually had some good stuff in there.

Things I'd like to see during Bruins Broadcasts:
1) Bruins meet The Matrix -- Each player should have a chip in their skate which is linked the Bruins' site. Fans can log-on and track individual players' positioning and see where they spend most of their time on the ice through color shading. Encourage interactive viewing through THE internets!
2) Camera Angles -- Camera angles need to be revisited. The overhead camera that follows the play from directly above is great. The camera right behind the goal is great. The side view camera from up in the balcony....not so good. Keep it in the mix for replays and the occassional wide shot but, for the love of God, give me some eye candy.
3) Ice Girls -- A few times each game, a couple of good looking girls come onto the ice in skates to clean the ice during a television timeout. This I like. What I don't like is how I can't see it if I'm not at the game. Give Frede and Nifty 20 seconds less and give me a sultry ice girl montage. Your viewers aren't soccer moms for the most part NESN, they are beer swilling louts that appreciate T&A with their PIM's and SOG's.
4) Stats -- I love statistical graphics and there's never enough for my liking. Sure, we see goal and assist totals but do they think we can't handle more than that?

I WANT to love the Bruins. Really, I do. Why must they make it so hard?

Bergeron just dangled Burke in an incredible manner.

2-1 B's midway through the 3rd.

Huge win tonight

I have no idea how that puck did not get in the net during that scramble with about a minute left

Agreed. Toivonen was also absolutely It is ridiculous that I can't spell the word ridiculous tonight and really kept us in the game. I still don't want to see Gill on the ice, but he was decent on the PK. I guess the less he gets noticed the better he's playing.

I am not a Hal Gill fan by any means, but I was checking out the stats the other day and Hal is one of the few Bruins with a positive +/-. I think it was a +1, but probably good for top five on the team.

So, hockey people, is +/- a true indicator? If so, Gill's agent will be wheeling out that stat in negotiations with the California Golden Seals next year.

Is there any question that Hannu is the number 1 goalie going forward? He's been incredible this season.

There's some speculation in the papers that Raycroft is struggling because he only played in 11 games total last season over in Finland, whereas Hannu played in 54 games in Providence. Could be something to that, or the reduction in goalie gear size has adversely affected Raycroft far more than we expected.

Robbie DiMaio is still in the NHL. Who knew?

Now that Toivonen has seized the starting goaltending position, might Andrew Raycroft be tradeable? There are a good number of teams out there looking for goaltending -- St. Louis, Vancouver, Colorado-- to name a few.

He and Tim Taylor are both on the Lightning. It's like 1998 all over again.

Trouble is, Raycroft's value is pretty low right now due to his awful numbers and record. The fact that Hannu's played so much better behind the same defense that Raycroft has is a point against Raycroft for any team looking to acquire him. St Louis has a terrible goalie situation, it's true, but they're going nowhere this year and may just prefer to punt the season. Colorado seems determined to let Abeischer and Pudaj battle it out and they just sent Kolesnik back down to the minors, so I'm not sure how they could find room for another goalie.

Vancouver's an interesting possibility with Cloutier out, and they're a playoff team. Might be worth watching them over the next couple of weeks to see if they have some interest. But Raycroft has to start playing better as well.

An optimistic take on the Bruins:

1. The Bruins just played their first above .500 month in the season, despite an unfavorable schedule (only 3 home games and their 5 game West Coast swing) and some key injuries (Murray & Samsonov 3 games each, Boynton 9 games, Stuart 1 game). FACTOID: Although the Sharks picked up 4 more points than the Bruins in December, the Bruins had better home and road winning percentages than the Sharks. The Sharks had more points because they played 8 of their 13 games at home, while the Bruins played only 3 of 12 at home.

2. Hannu Toivonen has emerged as the Bruins' #1, playing 8 of 12 games and helping the Bruins to 11 of their 13 points on the month.

3. All three players acquired from the Sharks for Joe Thornton have made their presence felt. Wayne Primeau is a grinder type with a great work ethic, and he chipped in a couple of key goals during the month. Marco Sturm is one of the league's top speedsters, and he led the Bruins in goal scoring with 6 goals. And Brad Stuart, perhaps the NHL's best kept secret in San Jose, has emerged as the best defenseman to wear the Black & Gold since #77.

4. Patrice Bergeron (4-8-12, +6) and Brad Boyes (4-5-9, +4) have thrived since the big trade.

5. Even the season's biggest disappointments, Murray and Zhamnov, have started to show some signs of getting their acts together.

Thus far Bruins have played only 14 of 38 games at home. Their road to the playoffs is simple (though not easy): dominate their home ice in 2006. To finish with 90 points, the Bruins will need to split their 17 road games and pick up 39 points in 27 games at home - a home record of 19-7-1. That may not be as difficult as it sounds - Hannu Toivonen is currently 5-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .937 save percentage in the TD Banknorth Garden.

There is no reason for Hal Gill to be in the NHL

The B's have had about 5 near misses today and trail. I hope that MOC or whoever runs this team locks up Boyes and Bergeron for a long time. Those two make things happen. Just awesome with the puck.

PS: I hate the namby pamby reffing in this new NHL.

It's encouraging they're able to play the Flyers evenly so far, given that the Flyers are in first place in their division and the Bruins are in last place in theirs.

Gotta win this thing, though. The time for moral victories is far past.

Words cannot describe the atrociousness of Hal Gill. Every time he touches the puck in the defensive zone he's very close to a killer giveaway.

Fuck. Had their chances but didn't put any of them away. Niittymaki won the game for Philly. Very frustrating.

Is there any doubt Hannu's the number 1 goalie for the Bruins now?

No doubt in my mind that Hannu's our #1. I'm thinking maybe we should trade Raycroft and Gill to open up some cap room and maybe land something like Ossi Vaananen and a 4th rounder in return.

Trading Raycroft would be a mistake. His trade value is at an all time low, and we have no guarantee that Hannu will stay healthy all season. Hannu should be the #1, but the Bruins need to get Raycroft going, too.

Today's game sucked because the Bruins were just snakebit. They deserved to win.

The officiating was atrocious. Two very marginal calls against the Bruins, while the Flyers were somehow allowed to blatantly interfere with Bruin players, even going so far as too knock Alberts headfirst into the boards.

Is Mike Sullivan stupid, or is there some other reason why he cannot recognize what his players can and cannot do well?

We'd get the same for Raycroft now that we'd get for his twin brother, Blaine Lacher.

Right now, I'm projecting the playoff cutoff at 88 points. But the problem for the Bs is the number of teams they have to pass (five) to get there. The more teams ahead of you, the less likely they all are to falter the required amounts.

You're probably right. I'd think about doing a deal like a prospect and a 3rd round pick for a half-decent defensive defenseman on a team that needs cap relief (like Vancouver... perhaps Nolan Baumgartner?)


Yeah, we hit a couple posts (there's no reason why Zhamnov shouldn't have scored there when he hit the post), and we got all around unlucky. Also, on the Carter goal, if you're Hal Gill, I don't think you haphazardly lay your stick sorta on the ice - you dive there to eliminate the pass and allow Stuart to take the puck carrier. Friggin' Nancy Marrapese-Burrell could've executed that play better than Gill.


Agreed. The Johnsson hook on Sturm coming around behind the net was nothing short of inexcusable. Worst officiated game I've seen in the new NHL.


I really have no idea why he took the checking line off of the Forsberg line. The first shift they're away from the Forsberg line, Philly scores. Also, Bergeron should definitely not be on the point on the PP. The fact that he's not down by the net is a big reason why our PP hasn't been nearly as effective as it should be (that along with Zhamnov's ineffectiveness).

edit: Forgot that Hilbert got dealt

If the playoff cutoff ends up being 88, then the Bruins don't need to worry about passing anyone else - they just need to win 27 games (out of their remaining 43).

This team doesn't really need a Defenseman anymore. They really need to let Alberts and Jurcina develop, and Boynton will be back in a couple of weeks.

And really they aren't having a problem keeping the puck out of the net anymore. The problem they are having is putting the biscut in the basket

I disagree. The team needs more than a decent player, and I would not spend prospects and drafts picks on a band-aid.



I don't buy the "checking line" criticism. Forsberg's line was held scoreless! I think it's silly to say that Primeau's line would not have had that breakdown if Forsberg had been out there. Also, the best Bruin scoring chance of the game came when Bergeron forechecked Forsberg, took the puck away from him, and fed Boyes for his post.

As for Bergeron playing the point, he's there now because he is the third best Bruin player at playing the point, behind Leetch and Stuart. (Slegr is also better but he was not dressed and shouldn't be dressed with Jurcina and Alberts playing so well).

The problem is that the Bruins power play has been awful since the Thornton trade, and Bergeron leads the team in power play goals with 6. He also is tied with Murray for the team lead in power play goals since the start of the 2003-04 season, even though Murray has had vastly more time on the power play and a lot of Bergeron's time there has been at the point.

Finally, Bergeron has scored quite a few goals with his quickness in front of the net and his sense of where to shoot. The power play is a situation where there will be rebounds out front and some open spoace around the net. Perfect for Bergeron, if Sullivan could just manage to get his head out of his ass long enough to notice.

They also really need to get rid of Gill, or at least cut down his role. Gill should be the guy scratched when Boynton comes back. But he won't because Sullivan doesn't know the difference between a good hockey player and a bad one. All he knows is that Gill is a veteran and Alberts and Jurcina are rookies. I think he'd rather play Gill knowing that he can't win with Gill than take a chance on Alberts and Jurcina.

KPD said in today's paper Gill played a great game yesterday. And he's STILL advocating putting Gill in front of the net on the PP. Give it up, Dupont.

Why not?

I saw 2/3rds of the game Friday night. First game I have seen in years. The Bruins needs help. I agree with the goalie comments.

Because Gill has no puck-handling skills at all and struggles most when trying to make short, quick movements requiring some finesse. It would be a useless gimmick, akin to Eddie Andleman's insistence that a sumo wrestler would make a great NHL goalie.

Does he really believe that Gill would handle the front of the opponents' net better than his own and better than someone like Murray? Maybe he should be a forward then . All kidding aside, defending Gill is pointless. He is a defenseman who lived on the old rules of clutching and grabbing to keep himself above the 5th or 6th defensive spot a few years ago, and now that that is done away with to some extent, Gill acts like a lamp post out there as young forwards dart past him and his defensive partners dive to try to make up for his deficiencies. We need to trade Gill ASAP to maximize his trade value, cause it's only going to get worse...

For anyone here who has tickets to see the Bruins/Lightning on Saturday:

The Bruins are changing the start time of the game from 7PM to 5PM, because the Pats are playing Jacksonville at 8PM.

The Tampa Bay Lightning just placed 43 year old Captain Dave Andreychuck on waivers. His salary is only $800,000, and his numbers are not that bad this year (40 games, 6 goals, 12 assists - 4 goals and 8 assists on the power play).

I would love to see the Bruins claim him for use as a power play specialist. Their PP currently lacks a guy who will go to the front of the net, and Andreychuk has made a career of doing exactly that. With all of our savings from the Thornton and Scatchard deals the money would be no problem, and if Andreychuk scores a few more PPG he'd have some value at the deadline.

Come on, MOC!!!! Don't be asleep at the switch on this one...

I'd really love this deal if he were claimed by us. He'd be a great leadership presence in the dressing room, and he's a powerplay specialist as EJ said. We've been lacking somebody in front of the net all year on the PP and at even strength, with Thornton being a behind-the-net player. Isbister's probably our best at that right now, and that's not saying much.

Make it happen, MOC.

Oh, and is that salary $800k for the whole year? If so, that's a bargain for Andreychuk - $400k for half a year.

I'd pick up Andreychuk with no second thoughts.

Isbister is terrible, because he can only do half of the job. He's a big body, and he gets in front of the net, which is great. But he is also insanely slow at getting his stick on rebounds. He's got no quickness at all. Some of the most frustrating missed opportunities of this season, for me, are when the Bruins shoot, the puck pops out for Isbister out front, and... just sits there while Izzy slowly realizes where the puck is and even more slowly starts moving towards it.

The best Bruin in front of the net is Glen Murray (on those rare occasions when he goes there.)

Samsonov is out, and the B's are going with these top two lines:

Bergeron centering Murray and Sturm
Zhamnov cetnering Boyes and Axelsson

The Bergeron line is looking the way a top line should look; they had a couple of good chances early in the first.

I wonder if these new lines are basically an admission that Zhamnov can't play effectively with that huge fork stuck in his back.

Just tuned in, any idea what is wrong w/ Sergei?

Sergei's got the flu.

Bruins looking good tonight. A pair of assists for Bergeron, goals for Murray and Stuart (PP).

Through half the game, Bruins are looking good. Ottawa has had pressure at times, but Boston's PK and PP have been good, and Bergeron is having a great game. Three times in the second period he has gotten in behind the Ottawa defense. Once resulted in a penalty, and another time Hasek came waaaaay out to challenge him and Chara had to stop Bergie's shot from going into the empty net.

Murray is shaking off the "Joey's Gone Blues" and starting to get to the net more and he's had a couple of scoring chances.

Toivonen came up limping after the last scrum in the second period. Looked like he had his left left twisted underneath him. He was able to skate off, but Raycroft is playing the third period. NESN hasn't given any details on the injury.

Otherwise, a terrific game for the Bruins tonight. Boston up by 1 with 4 mins. left.

Unbelievable. This team is all over the place but have now beaten Ottawa twice at home.

Raycroft gives up 1 goal on 15 shots in the 3rd. Imagine getting tossed into your team's most important game of the year against the NHL's best offense (albeit without Spezza) 2 hours after you've warmed up with nobody to back you up.

He played great goal tonight.

Tanabe was also a force out there. Probably a dozen up-ice rushes, and throwing his weight around. Stuart was incredible as well, making Gill look even better on a solid night for Hal.

More importantly - albeit without Alfredson.

I thought Raycroft looked shaky out there, but he made the saves and hopefully this will help him get his confidence back. He's always looked very confident and focused in net, compared to other goalies - until this year.

I'm a huge Stuart fan. He's a legit #1, play well in all situations kind of guy. We haven't had one of those since #77. Come to think of it, Gill probably hasn't had it so easy since he was playing with Bourque.

Great night for Bergeron and his line (Murray and Sturm). Bergeron is now 4-10-14 in the 14 games since the trade. I love watching that kid play - I don't think there's anyone quite like him in the league. (Which is not to say there aren't plenty of better players - I just like the way he goes about his business.)

A lot of positives tonight.

Raycroft will start the next game I am guessing - hoping that he can build on tonight [even though I didn't think he was spectacualr].

Just hope Hannu is A-OK.