The World Cup of Hockey was wrapped up last night with the final match up between Team Canada and Team Europe. With the Canadians unexpectedly trailing the entire game as Europe was up 1-0 Canada picked up the pace in the third, scoring two goals to secure and defend their title as world champions. But what even more impressive than Canada's World Cup win is the Bruins' presence on the ice. All three goals put up on the board last night were those of Bruins players, talk about making a good impression for Team Canada and Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien. But let's be honest, he was already impressed and knows the talent he has on his Boston roster. In the opening period Bruins captain Zdeno Chara started Team Europe off with a shot to the back of the net helping ride them out for most of the game. Well, until Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron kicked into gear at least. In the third period the Canadians picked it up a notch, first by taking advantage of key opportunities Bergeron's power play goal helped to tie things up for the Canadians while Bruins standout, Brad Marchand sealed away the win taking a center pass from Toew's and slinging one in top shelf over Carey Price. Now, with only a few weeks until the NHL season kicks off, I think it's time these guys bring it back to Boston. I mean, it's only fair.
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The Bruins came up short in another preseason game Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings. With a 5-1 score on the board at the final buzzer, it's easy to get nervous in what this season has to hold. I'm trying to convince myself that the absence of recognizable players and their skills such as Tuukka's agility between the pipes, the dynamic duo of the Bergeron and Marchand line, and we can't forget the reach and power of Zdeno Chara who has a lot to teach his fellow rookie defensemen. Although starting off preseason with two losses isn't necessarily how we want to start things, let's not lose hope just get, it's only preseason.
On the bright side of a 5 - 1 loss, and yes there can be a bright side to that believe it or not, Malcolm Subban sat back in the goal during the contest for the first time since February after suffering from a fractured larynx. It's safe to say he may have been a little rusty but hey, isn't that what these games are for? Get the cobwebs out now because we officially hit the ice October 13th in another Columbus Blue Jackets match up at Nationwide Arena. The young blood of the Bruins organization hit the ice last night for the B's preseason opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets. With key players like Marchand, Bergeron, and Chara sitting game one of preseason out, because of their involved with the World Cup of Hockey games, it gave the rookies a time to shine, and despite a 3-2 loss, progress was made on the Bruins bench. Second seasoned Bruin, Jimmy Hayes, started things off with the black and gold scoring on an assistant from DeBrusk during the second period. Hayes also took home the second star of the game despite the loss. Danton Heinen is another rookie to look out for. Playing just two games with Providence last season Heinen got his name up on the board during last night's matchup with a tip into the back of the net off of defenseman Brandon Carlo. Heinen, the 21-year-old NHL rookie out of the University of Denver is someone to keep a lookout for this coming season; the young talent is sure to come through. Lastly, let's not forget about the youngster defenseman Brandon Carlo. With the assist in the third period along with his successful defensive play in front of the net in game one, it looks like Carlo may be just the candidate the Bruins are seeking to fill a spot in the top four. Although he's just nineteen, the skill he is already showing is very promising to the organization. ![]() As we've all been patiently been waiting for what feels like far too much time now, the waiting can finally be over, the Bruins have officially managed to get Marchand's signature on the dotted line. Boston re-signed the feisty little forward today to an eight-year contract extension worth $49 million! It's looking like drinks are on Brad tonight. This signing is a huge relief to the Boston community though, can you picture the Bruins without Marchand on it next year? He's just getting started. We've all seen it before, the big name being traded off their home teams but Boston is in no position to lose one of the highest scorers on the team. Last year Brad set a career high, putting 37 pucks past the goal keep and assisting in another 24 for a total of 61 points on the season in just 77 games of play. With Bergeron signed on until 2022 and now Marchand until 2024 the Bruins have some time to really get something going out there. So, it's been a little while since I last blogged and I think it's only fair that we touch upon the first week on the World Cup of Hockey and how Team USA is doing. If anyone isn't already aware, it's not looking very good for them. No, Team USA wasn't the prospected winner of the tournament but they weren't expected to be knocked out of the round robin without winning a single game! Three games up and three games down for the Americans. I've never seen them go down so easy! Here's a little recap of each robin robin game: Game 1: Team USA (0) vs. Team Europe (3) Looking at the stats it's easy to say that Jonathan Quick didn't have his best night between the posts this night. With Team USA outshooting Team Europe 35 to 17, Quick made just 14 saves on the night. Team USA DOUBLED their shots on net but could find the back of the net the entire night. By simply looking at the box score the two teams were fairly matched up, and where they weren't even, Team USA came out on top in each category other than the most important, goals. Game 2: Team USA (2) vs. Team Canada (4) As one of the biggest rivals in hockey, at least Team USA made it onto the board for this one. But again, statistics wise, Team USA pulls slightly ahead of Team Canada, although it is a much closer matchup compared to game two against Team Europe. The Americans pulled away with 62% of the face-off wins and had an additional two shots on net compared to their rivals but still weren't able to put the few extra into the net. Quick stood between the pipes for this matchup as well with another save percentage in the eighties compared to Carrie Price's 94%. Bruins center David Backes went -1 on the night but held a 70% face-off percentage while on the other side of the ice Bergeron helped seal the win for the Canadians bringing them to their 4-2 victory. Game 3: Team USA (3) vs. Team Czech Republic (4) With a 4-3 loss to the Czech Republic, Team USA got a little closer but just not close enough. For their third game in a row they outshot their opponent but were unable to get it across the goal line. This time, Bishop and Schneider each took time serving as the goal keep for the Americans although Bishop failed to save each of the four goals. In this level of play I think Team USA showed that the minor mistakes can be game changers. Although, according to the stats, they didn't have an awful run, they allowed teams to capitalize on prime opportunities and failed to capitalize on opportunities that were given to them. After the first weekend of the World Cup of Hockey took off in Canada this weekend, the six Bruins players playing in the World Cup tournament are off to a good start. For starters, Team Canada took the win from the Czech Republic in an easy coast to a 6-0 victory. With their top line compromised with Bruins, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand paired with Pittsburgh Penguins standout, Sidney Crosby we can expect some high scoring games out of Team Canada. Maybe we can get Crosby in a black and yellow jersey in the near future? Marchand and Crosby are on the top of the leaderboard after the first official weekend of the tournament kicked off, each with three points under their belts. Marchand sunk a goal of his own with a deflection of Brent Burns shot from the point and also assisted for two points off of each of his linemates. Bergeron ended the weekend with one goal in the first period of play versus Team Czech Republic and finished the night +2 on the ice. As for the rest of the Bruins, Team USA faced a tough loss on Saturday evening to Zdeno Chara and Team Europe being shut out 3-0. Although Chara ended the game with only one shot on net, he was given prime ice time throughout the contest. Bruins, David Backes, who is rostered with Team USA, didn't see much time on the ice during Saturday's game, and it's not looking too promising for Backes for Tuesday night's matchup against Canadian rivals. Tuukka Rask is also scheduled to sit between the posts Tuesday, September 19th as Finland takes on Team Sweden. The tournament favorite, Team Canada, dropped the ball Friday evening to Team USA in a 4-2 matchup. And if you missed it, you should probably consider your status as a hockey fan. Exhibition game or not, the two teams scruffed it out just like any other game. Looking at the stats, you'd assume that Canada came out on top, but Team USA proved to be relentless in the matchup. Team Canada outshot Team USA 43 to 25 showing that it wasn't Jonathan Quick's first day on the job. Joe Pavelski and Derrick Stepan helped sealed the deal, and backup Quick's stellar performance, each walking away with a goal and assist for the red, white, and blue. And if you missed the action last night it's not too late. The two teams will face off again today, Saturday, September 10 at 7 pm. But before you prepare to watch tonight's game check out some of last night's highlights! Now here's some food for thought. With a World Cup of Hockey beginning in less than two weeks, and with a quarter of the Bruin's invited to play for their National teams, how has a team that seems so stacked up faced so much struggle in the past two seasons? I guess that's something we just can't figure out, but on the bright side, at least we know that we're coming into a new season with more than enough talent on the bench to make something happen this season.
The B's have players representing five different countries during the world cup starting off with Captain, Zdeno Chara putting on the jersey for Team Europe and Assistant Captain, Patrice Bergeron lacing up with USA's rival, Team Canada. Assistant Captain, David Krejci was invited to play for Team Czech Republic but is still recovering from his off-season hip surgery. Meeting their fellow Captain's at Air Canada Centre, home of the Toronto Maple Leaves, is Bruin's forward David Pastrnak playing for Team Czech Republic, Goalie, Tuukka Rask between the pipes for Team Finland, and newly rostered Bruin, David Backes wearing nothing but red, white, and blue for Team USA. Although the Bruin's have the luxury of getting five of their guys on the ice fighting for their countries titles we can't forget about the two men who were also called to play in the tournament that were dropped from the Bruin's roster for this upcoming season. Both Dennis Seidenberg and Louis Eriksson were offered spots on their respective National teams, obviously showing that there isn't a lack of talent, but we all know there's much more there's more than just talent factored into trades and buyouts, unfortunately. Now we just have to wait and see if the call by Don Sweeney and the rest of the Boston management was the right one. To catch the action pre-tournament games start on Thursday, September 8th with the official preliminary games facing off on the 17th with Team USA starting off the showcase facing Zdeno Chara and Team Europe at 3:30 pm ET. For the complete schedule and to catch all the action use the link below. |
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