Boston Bruins Season Awards

Patrice Bergeron (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight prior to the start of the Bruins game they announced the winners for the Eddie Shore, Elizabeth Dufresne, John Bucyk and Three Stars Awards. 

The Eddie Shore Award is given to the player that shows exceptional hustle and determination throughout the duration of the season. It almost goes without saying that the recipient of this award for the 2013 season is Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron has once again been an integral part of the Bruins team and without his stellar faceoff percentage and offensive prowess, the Bruins wouldn’t be in the playoffs.

The next award given was the Elizabeth Dufresne, given to the player who was the most outstanding player at home throughout the season. Once again, Patrice Bergeron was called upon. His home-ice statistics for this season: 8 goals, 13 assists, +20 rating in 20 games. He averaged 14:26 of ice time and took 419 faceoffs, winning 280 of them for a 66.8% overall. There was also a $25,000 donation made to the OneFund Boston Foundation with this award.

The recipient of the John Bucyk Award is awarded to the player for outstanding service in the community along with a $1,000 donation to a charity of the players’ choice. This year’s recipient for his contributions to charitable endeavors, Gregory Campbell.

Last but not least came the Three Stars Awards, given to the team’s top three performers of the season that  contributed most to team’s success throughout the year. Star #3 of the year went to Tyler Seguin who ranked 4th on the team in points and second in goals with 32 and 16 respectively. Star #2, Patrice Bergeron who by the end of tonight’s game will have locked up #1 with his faceoff percentage for best in the league. The Boston Bruins #1 Star of the season, Tuukka Rask, earning himself 5th in the National Hockey League with his 1.97 goals against average and a save percentage of .930 ranking him 3rd in the league.

Earlier this week the team also announced this year’s 7th Player Award recipient, being awarded to Bruins rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton, a player who fans voted exceeded the expectations set for him this season.

There’s only one trophy left for the Bruins to win and after tonight’s game, they have to play their hearts out and bring the Stanley Cup back to Boston. We are after all, BOSTON STRONG.

 

Bruins Cling to Life, Clinching Division Lead

Gregory Campbell (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight the Boston Bruins laid it all out on the line in the first period, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. They had a lot riding on tonight’s game as the Montreal Canadiens slipped up and lost to the Washington Capitals last night, moving Bosotn in prime position to take over the Northeast.  Despite a late surge from the Devils the Bruins ended up drowning them in the Atlantic 5 goals to their 4.

The Bruins were roaring right from the get-go as the Devils were unable to clear their defensive zone and Jaromir Jagr spun the puck in the direction of Brodeur.  As it came across the crease at Martin Brodeur, Gregory Campbell was right there in front to pick it up and flip it in for a quick 1-0 lead just 70 seconds into the frame. The goal would be Campbell’s first in his last 22 games and his third of the season. Within twenty seconds of the goal being scored the Bruins quickly found themselves on defense as they wound up on a 5-on-3 disadvantage.  However, as a penalty expired on Johnny Boychuk, he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced into the offensive zone where he was taken down and rewarded a penalty shot, the first of his career. While the defenseman drifted into the zone and pulled a head fake he was unable to lift the puck high enough over the pads of Brodeur and was denied the opportunity to put the Bruins up by 2. Just three minutes and forty-one seconds after the Bruins scored their first goal they would get a 2-on-1 shorthanded opportunity with Rich Peverley and Daniel Paille teaming up against the netminder. Paille shot initially and as he crashed the net, placed his rebound behind the veteran goaltender for a 2-0 lead at the 4:51 mark. Their hot streak would continue as Andrew Ference collected the puck from the Devils’ defense and shot it at the net with a slight deflection from Campbell out in front for the third goal of the period before the halfway marker. Through twenty minutes the Bruins dominated offensively and had the crowd booing their home team.  In order to stay in the game they needed to remain focused and keep the pressure on.

To begin the second period that was the exact game plan they followed as the Bruins found themselves with a 4-on-3 opportunity that had Jaromir Jagr on the same line as David Krejci. Jagr was able to throw the puck in front to Krejci with Zdeno crashing in and getting his stick on at the last second to poke it past Brodeur for a 4-0 lead. With his assist on the play Jagr earned his fifth point in his last four games since becoming a Bruin. At 11:12 the Devils showed signs of life as Sullivan threw a shot at Khudobin that Elias got a piece of out in front to cut the Bruins lead back to three. Moments later Nathan Horton had a drive that rung off the post, pushing the Devils to their limits. In desparation Anton Volchenkov decided to take out his frustrations in a similar fashion as he did in February 2011 against Boychuk of the Carolina Hurricanes, only this time against Brad Marchand. As the forward’s left elbow connected with the honeybadger’s helmet Marchand crumbled to the ice, eventually needing to be helped off by Jaromir Jagr and Andrew Ference. Volchenkov wound up with a game misconduct and is expected to have a hearing with Brendan Shannahan at some point for a suspension. To get the ball rolling after the incident the Devils would force a turnover from Milan Lucic who had some trouble handling the puck in the neutral zone, allowing Travis Zajac to move in on Dobby and beat him for the Devils second goal of the game. Through forty minutes the Bruins led 4-2 and found themselves down one of their leading scorers heading into the final frame.

Scoring wouldn’t open up in the third period until around the seven minute mark with Andy Green outsmarting a low-playing Shawn Thornton and out-of-crease Anton Khudobin, creating time and space for himself to place the puck perfectly behind the Bruins goaltender before he even knew what was coming at him, pulling them within one.  With twelve minutes and change remaining in the third the puck got dumped in the Bruins offensive end, Paille racing and winning the foot race. As he dished the puck over to Seguin who was racing into the crease he was able to flip it up and in, re-instating a 2-goal lead for a little breathing room. As the clock winded down, the Bruins found themselves on a 6-on-4 disadvantage as Seguin went to the box for elbowing and wouldn’t come out until the final minute and the Devils pulled Brodeur for the extra attacker. With ease they were able to kill off the penalty, but the extra attacker in place of Brodeur proved to be too much for Boston to handle as they pulled within one goal with 37 seconds left on the clock.  Thankfully the Bruins were able to cling onto the late Seguin goal and hold off the Devils from making a complete comeback, taking possession over first place in the Northeast.

They return to action tomorrow night against the New York Islanders at the TD Garden where they will need to re-evaluate some things and figure out how to win without Brad Marchand in the line up should he be out for a while. At the time this article is written there is no update on his condition. We will report more when we have the information.

Bruins Look for Series Sweep Against Devils

In the third and final regular season meeting between the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils, the B’s currently have the 2-0 lead. Can they go for the third and sweep the Devils? I guess we’ll find out tonight as the B’s head to the dirty Jersey for one last regular season showdown.

(credit: Slidingsideways/ Flickr)

The last time these two teams met up was just six days ago, with Jaromir Jagr making his Bruins debut and managing to score the lone goal of the evening. Anton Khudobin would get the shutout for the B’s and there’s a good chance he’ll nab the start tonight with the B’s playing back to back tonight and tomorrow.

Devils Doomed?
With only 9 games remaining in New Jersey’s schedule, they are currently riding a seven game losing streak. They are currently sitting outside the playoff brackets and are going to have to pull it together if they want a chance to make a run for the Stanley Cup. This is the longest losing streak the Devils have been on since their ’85-’86 season. A big reason for their loses stems from their poor overtime performance this season. They are 2-7 in shootouts this season and with a rushed schedule, now isn’t the time to be losing valuable points (one of those losses comes from the B’s).

B’s back on track?
The Bruins offense certainly stepped it up on Monday with a 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. That was the most goals the B’s have scored in a game this season. The line of Brad Marchand, Jagr and Gregory Campbell combined for two goals and two assists, while Tuukka Rask stopped 40-of-42 shots. However with the offense being on their A-game, it’s time for the B’s defense to step it up. There’s no excuse for why Rask had to stop that many shots. If the Bruins win tonight they will move past the Canadiens and regain first place in the Northeast division.

Who’s hot?
David Clarkson leads the Devils with 13 goals this season and scored their only goal in their most recent loss. Meanwhile, Tuukka time is 3-2-1 in his past six starts with a 2.16 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Injury Report:
B’s will be without Patrice Bergeron (head) and Adam McQuaid (shoulder). The Devils are most likely without Ilya Kovalchuk even though he did practice with the team on Tuesday. This will be Kovalchuks 8th straight missed game.

Puck drops at 7 and you can check out the action on NBCSN for Rivalry Night!

Bruins Blow By Hurricanes

 

After losing to rival Montreal, the Boston Bruins knew they would have to come out on top against the Carolina Hurricanes. With so few games remaining in the season, the B’s are so close to clinching the playoff’s but to do so they need wins. Chris Kelly would return to the lineup the featured some player swapping. Tyler Seguin would move to the third line with Kelly while Gregory Campbell would center the second line.

Tuukka Rask would get the start opposite the Canes Jusitn Peters.

Two goals tonight for Marchand! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

The first period would kick off with Rich Peverley ending his 10-game goalless streak with a goal at 3:51. Pevs was able to get passed Peters with the wraparound goal with the assists going to Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference. Four minutes later Brad Marchand would notch his 15th goal of the season thanks to a perfect set up from his linemates Campbell and Jaromir Jagr. With that Justin Peters would be pulled after allowing two goals on four shots and  Dan Ellias would step up in net. Marchy wasn’t done for the period  because with 2:40 to go in the period he would score. Jagr and Seidenberg would each get assists on that. This is Marchand’s 8th career two goal game.

Second period would start just like the first did with a Bruins goal! This time it was Andrew Ference with his third of season. Seids and Soupy would get the assists on that review goal. This would be the third assist for Seidenberg and his first three point game as a Bruin. Just so we’re keeping track the Bruins are now up 4-0 against Carolina. Halfway through the second, Jordan Caron would make it a five goal lead with his first goal of the season. Caron’s liney’s Peverley and Shawn Thornton would get the assists for that beauty of a goal. With 21 shots on goal thus far, the B’s have scored five. Carolina has 30 shots on net but none managed to get past Rask. Tonight marks first four-goal and five-goal leads this season for Boston.

Third period wasn’t as exciting. In fact it dragged quite a bit. It dragged just like Eric Staal’s skate when he tried to kick in a goal with 10ish minutes remaining. Pretty sure that just added to the Canes frustrations BUT they would score at 10:03 thanks to a goal from Patrick Dwyer, his seventh of the season. So it wouldn’t be a shutout for Rask. 45 seconds later Drayson Bowman would score making this a 5-2 game. With 3:04 remaining, the Bruins would find the back of the net yet again with Dougie Hamilton setting up Nathan Horton for his 13th of the season. The Bruins now have six goals and this is the most they’ve scored in a game all season. Milan Lucic would also get an assist on that.

Now the Bruins won and that’s great but there are a few things that they need to work on. Rask may have stopped 40-of-42 shots but he shouldn’t have to face that many if the defense was doing their job. And I think it’s best that I don’t speak of our ever terrible power play.

Hey a win is a win and the Bruins have proved that on home ice they do pretty well. The boys are back in action Wednesday in New Jersey to take on the Devils.

 

Bruins Seek First Road Win

Even though it’s only the second road game of the season for the Boston Bruins, and even though the team is undefeated in regulation, the teams eye is on getting that first road win.

To do so the boys will have to get past the Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-0), who are coming off of a road win of their own, beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Friday. This isn’t going to be easy considering last season Carolina swept Boston, beating the boys all four times they played.

Will the Merlot Line have another big game? (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

This is a new season, and this will be the first of three match ups between the two teams. If the Bruins can muster a win or an overtime game, it will be the first time since 1990-91 that they opened the season with a five-game points streak.

Summing up Carolina:
The first two games of the season for the Hurricanes were rocky at best, but since then the team has bounced back with home and home wins against Buffalo. If the Hurricanes win against the B’s, it will be the longest win streak against Boston the team has ever had (5 games)

Who to watch out for:
-Captain Eric Staal‘s hattrick on Thursday helped the team win 6-3 against the Sabres.
-Goaltender Cam Ward is the man behind the 4 wins against Boston last year with 1.25 goals-against average vs. Boston last season.

Bruins Best:
-The “Merlot” line is the reason for the teams 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Friday. The fourth line consisting of Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille, and Gregory Campbell with each of the guys scoring at least one goal thus far this season.
–Tuukka Rask  is 3-0-1 with a 1.96 GAA and a .925 save percentage to open the season for the team. He will be playing in his 5th straight game because of his consistency.
–Dougie Hamilton had his first multi-point game on Friday and was named first star of the game.

Who’s Missing:
The Canes will be without forward Tuomo Ruutu with a hip injury and it is likely he will be missing the entire season. Meanwhile Adam McQuaid did not travel to Raleigh with the team for “personal reasons” and defenseman Aaron Johnson will take his spot on the roster for the night.

Puck drops at 7pm and you can check out the game on NESN!

Bruins Beat in the Big Apple

Dougie Hamilton got his first NHL point tonight! (Credit:flickr/Steph Vail)

Saturday it was Rangers at Bruins; tonight it was Bruins at Rangers for the teams second of three meetings this season. Last game as we know went wonderfully for Boston. Tonight the Rangers were seeking one thing…REVENGE!  And sure enough they did, but it took a lot of effort. Both teams played hard and deserved to win and very rarely will I say that about anytime facing my Bruins. Tuukka Rask was in net for the third start in a row facing off against Henrik Lundqvist.

Here’s what went down in the Big Apple:

Bruins Beast the Rangers

It was Tuukka time in Boston tonight! (Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight your Boston Bruins took to the ice for the home opener of the 2012-2013 season against the New York Rangers and it was everything you could hope for in a home opener and so much more.

The B’s for the most part stuck to a similar lineup as last season but tonight brought the debut of Boston native/ Ray Bourque’s pride and joy Chris Bourque. Tonight was also the first time that the B’s first round draft pick of 2011 Dougie Hamilton would play in the NHL. Tuukka Rask is now the starting goalie for the Bruins and he faced off against Henrik Lundqvist, a man who doesn’t exactly let up against the Bruins or against any team in general.

Tonight was an exception as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-1.

Let me break down the game by period for you.

Happy Birthday Soupy!

Today we here at A Cup A Bruin want to wish Gregory Campbell a big Happy 29th Birthday! Campbell has been with the Bruins since 2010 in a deal that gave us not only Soupy but Nathan Horton as well. Recently, Campbell was re-signed to a three year deal with the B’s so we have much more time with the Center to look forward too.

Besides being easy on the eyes because let’s be real, he is, Campbell has been an asset to the fourth line more commonly known as the “Merlot line”. Soupy along with Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille have been one of the most effective fourth lines in the NHL.

And because it’s his birthday what better way to celebrate then with a tribute video:

 

Bruins Beneficial Short Season

“The sides are far apart and have different views of the world,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Tuesday after the NHLPA presented an alternative agreement to the collective bargaining agreement. Currently, the players are proposing to partner with the owners of the clubs to bring stability to the industry and assist those who are less financially stable.  They want to fix the current existing problems, rather than focus on problems that don’t.  With the realization of a lock out becoming more and more evident, we have to start looking at the positives of the situation. Perhaps a lockout wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Boston Bruins.

No News Is Good News?

(Credit:Slidingsideways/Flickr)

Free agency has been underway for six days now, including today and the Bruins are sticking with their original game plan.  GM Peter Chiarelli stated on numerous occasions throughout the season and post-season that he had a good team and would not be splitting them up. He wanted to keep the core of the team together and that is exactly what he is doing. With the signings of Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell  and Shawn Thornton, the fourth line will remain the same and one of the ‘best’ in the League.

The only players that are not returning to the Bruins roster, for sure are; Benoit Pouliot (signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay Lightning), Joe Corvo(signed a two-year contract with Carolina Hurricanes) and Brian Rolston. There is still the possibility that Mike Mottau, the Massachusetts native will fill the seventh defenseman spot, but with Dougie Hamilton coming off of a breakout season in the OHL, there is room for competition.

For the upcoming season we also have to take a look at who is going to fill the third line slot alongside Chris Kelly. With guys like Jordan Caron, Ryan Spooner and Jared Knight, the possibilities are endless. Each and every one of them have a fighting chance at earning a spot in Boston, we will just have to wait for pre-season to find out.

The only question mark remaining is the whereabouts of Tim Thomas. Will he stay in Boston and sit for the season or get traded elsewhere? Unfortunately, no one has those answers as of yet and it remains at a 60/40 chance of dismissal. (One can only hope) Regardless, Tuukka Rask is more than ready to step up and be the number one net minder once again.