Report: Bruins expected play Canadians in 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium

(Photo by David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/File)

by Dakota Antelman

According to DJ Bean of WEEI, the NHL has finalized plans for the Bruins to host the Montreal Canadians in the 2016 Winter Classic at Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium.

The WEEI report acknowledges that the league is yet to make a public announcement on the subject. However, it does not come completely out of the blue.

Last month, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported via Twitter that the Bruins were favorites to host the 2016 Winter Classic. Though no venue was specified in that report, both Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park were names mentioned as potential host venues.

Fenway hosted the game in 2010 when the Bruins toppled the Flyers 2-1 in overtime. The aura of Fenway as an iconic stadium combined with the rivalry between the Bruins and Flyers drew in the largest viewership that the Winter Classic had seen in its then three year history.

Six years later however, the NHL appears to be leaning towards bigger venues in its selection of Winter Classic hosts. Though the Red Sox organization expressed interest in getting the game back, the potential for nearly double the ticket sales at Gillette Stadium seemed to sway the scale in its favor.

In terms of the matchup, the NHL is positioning itself for a bounce back year after the ratings flop that was the 2015 Winter Classic.

The long engraved rivalry between the Bruins and Canadians will be a major story throughout the league as the game approaches while it will also likely draw in far more Canadian viewers than has been the case in the first nine Winter Classics.

The Canadians will be just the second Canadian team to play in the Winter Classic.

For Bruin Dougie Hamilton, the prospect of playing in this storied game is delightful. He is part of a brand drew generation of NHL players who have grown up watching the Winter Classic and dreaming of playing in it.

He spoke Monday on the topic.

“I think it would be awesome,” Hamilton said. “It’s something that you kind of follow every year. In [recent] years I watched the HBO show in juniors and kind of pictured what the NHL was like. Then watching the games, it’s obviously special with the different jerseys and the venue and the crowd and rivalries and everything; it’s something you’d really want to be a part of.

“I think when [speculation] came out last year and we kind of thought it was going to be this year, I think it was kind of disappointing that it wasn’t us. Hopefully we get it and have that chance. It [would be] something to really forward to next year.”€

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Tuukka Rask bails out slow Bruins offense: Bruins beat Jets 2-1 on Hamilton OT winner

November 29, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

The Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets engaged in a gritty, up and down game Friday night that ultimately culminated in an overtime decision in favor of the Bruins.

The Bruins, fresh off back to back losses to Montreal and Pittsburgh entered the game rested and revamped after a week of tough practice.

But after all their preparation, things did not get off on the right foot for Boston. An early penalty kill situation in the first period was not executed adequately by the Bruins and resulted in Jets forward, Dustin Byfuglien scoring with just four minutes left in the opening frame.

The late goal served as a bit of a slap in the face for the Bruins. They had spent most of the week addressing their scoring problems and stressing the need to work harder defensively in the middle portions of the ice. Of course, none of that happened.

“Everything we talked about (yesterday) morning didn’t happen in the first period,” said Julien.

The Bruins did manage to turn things around following the Byfuglien goal however. Bruins goalie, Tuukka Rask stopped a seemingly endless quartet of breakaways while stuffing countless shots on any number of the ensuing power plays that the Jets got.

“Tuukka’s one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie, in the league,” said forward Reilly Smith. “Sometimes we rely on him too much, but he does a good job handling the pressure that’s put on him.”

Rask ended the game with 35 saves, several of which came in some key moments during a four minute penalty kill at the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime. 

As for the goal that got the Bruins to overtime; that came from big bodied left winger, Milan Lucic.

After Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said earlier this week that the Bruins needed more size and physicality in front of the net, Lucic demolished Jets forward Mark Scheifele by skating hard to tip teammate Carl Soderberg’s pass into the net.

Finally, something they had worked on in practice paid off for Boston.

“We worked on that this week – going D-to-D and up, and that’s what we did,” Soderberg said. 

“Looch skated to the middle and left the puck for me, and I drove the net. So that’s how we scored.”

With the game tied, the onus was put back on Rask to at the very least keep it that way. Things were complicated in the final three minutes of the game though when Bruins pest, Brad Marchand, took a double minor penalty for high sticking.

Even then though, Rask stood tall once even gloving the puck down to his stick and clearing it out of the zone on his own.

“You’re just in survival mode there,” laughed Rask after the game. “You’re trying to secure that point.”

His work was finally rewarded by the rest of the team roughly four minutes later when defensemen Dougie Hamilton smacked a wrist shot from the hash marks into the net to win the game for Boston.

The goal was yet another product of a Bruins odd man rush that seemed to get better and better as the game went on. Carl Soderberg took the puck in the neutral zone and skated with it into the Jets end as Lucic and rookie David Pastrnak curled in towards the net. Rather than passing it to them though, Soderberg turned towards a trailing Hamilton and slid the puck to his stick.

Hamilton, using the screen of Pastrnak and Lucic let rip a screaming shot that decisively ended the game for Boston.

“Obviously, it felt pretty good. I don't know if I ever scored an overtime goal before, so a pretty — pretty good feeling, and a pretty good feeling to get the win after the start that we had.”

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Bruins survive without Chara, Hamilton ties career high in points

October 26th, 2014

By Dakota Antelman

One day after learning that their captain Zdeno Chara had suffered a torn PCL and would be missing the next 4-6 weeks of games, the Bruins took to the ice in Toronto with a lot to prove.

Present Saturday night were new call-ups, Joe Morrow and Zach Trotman as well as several incumbent Bruins blue liners who were looking to make an impression in Chara’s absence. The Bruins were well aware of their need for those players to preform but prior to the puck drop there was certain fear that they simply would not be able to.

Needless to say, those Bruin defenders silenced the doubters against Toronto and proved that the sky was not yet falling.

"I think it's just a lot of focus and everybody knew without him, everyone had to step up,” said a cool headed Dougie Hamilton after the game. “So I don't think it's one guy - it's everyone as a team and our D corps and everything, and I thought we did well. Probably our best defensive game this year."

While the rest of the team may have played their best game of the year, Hamilton played one of his best games of his career Saturday.

He tied his career high in points with three. His assists on goals by Carl Soderberg and David Krejci helped put the game out of reach early while his stunning break-away goal in the 3^rd period earned the deserved praise of the Bruins fan base.

Such was a common theme Saturday as beyond Hamilton; the defense would fire off eight shots on goal sustaining the offensive minded presence that Chara would always bring to a game.

"I was just playing, and things happened, and wasn't really thinking about it. I just knew that we were facing a good line with Kessel and me and Seids had to play good defense and play solid,” said Hamilton. "And I think it's just a bonus that you get the offense."

Partially due to a stand out game by Rask but also due to a strong performance in the neutral zone, the Bruins allowed just one goal which was scored with only five minutes to go in the game.

"I thought defensively, we kept most of the shots to the outside. They did get some great chances, but Tuukka was up to the task,” said coach Claude Jullian.

All and all, the Bruins stood tall in a game that they could very well have lost. They silenced many who were in states of crazed panic after the Chara injury and played an all-out, leave-it-all-on-the-ice type of game.

"It should be that all the time, but when you lose a guy like Zdeno, you have to rely on it a lot more and it's got to be a total team effort,” Jullian said.

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Zdeno Chara to miss 4-6 weeks with PCL tear

October 24th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

The Boston Bruins will be without their captain Zdeno Chara for the next four to six weeks. The veteran blue liner suffered an “isolated” tear to his Posterior Cruciate Ligament Thursday against the Islanders.

The injury was suffered when Chara laid a hard but clean hit on Islanders star John Tavares. At the time, Chara showed no signs of distress and played out the remainder of his late first period shift. However, immediately after getting to the bench, he was escorted back to the locker room from which he would not emerge for the rest of the game.

Late Friday morning, Peter Chiarelli announced that Chara had suffered an injury to his PCL, a ligament located in the back of the knee, opposite the ACL.

"Good news is it's isolated to that ligament. Bad news is he's out four to six weeks," Chiarelli said. "It might be a little bit earlier than four weeks, but a conservative time frame would be four to six weeks."

The 37 year old Chara will be sorely missed on the Bruins blue line. His high ice time and league renowned slap shot are appreciated by the Bruins meaning that their absence will be painfully felt.

As a result the Bruins are well aware of the fact that they will need to up their game to fill the void left by Chara. The play of defenders like veteran, Dennis Sidenberg as well as young blue liners like Zach Trotman, Tory Krug and Dougie Hamilton will be crucial in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, the Bruins front office, one that takes pride in the depth it creates at each position insists that the many players remaining will be able to make things work for the next month or so.

"There's no discouragement in that room. There's no issues there at all, to be honest," coach Claude Julien said. "It's more about it's opportunities for players, and if we become that bad of a team because of one player, it's not a real good sign for our hockey club. ... You've got to hope that your team is strong enough as a whole to overcome these things. Did we lose a good player? We did. Is he a big part of our team? Yes, he is. But I'd like to think we're better than that, than feeling sorry for ourselves, or be discouraged. That's not the case in our dressing room right now."

Chara’s injury comes as a big blow to a Bruins team that had just this week gotten back to a .500 winning percentage. But the Bruins believe that they can fill his role until he returns and are appreciative of the quick diagnosis.

Speaking in regards to his personal logic regarding time missed, Chiarelli said, "He's one of the premier defensemen in the league, but I'd rather have it four to six weeks than four to six months."

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Bruins get back on track with 4-0 win in Buffalo

October 19th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

The Bruins who currently sit in last place in their division nabbed a reassuring win Saturday night in Buffalo.

Just a few days after getting humiliated in Montreal, the Bruins downed the Sabers by a score of four to zero with goals coming from Bruin’s youngsters like Tory Krug, Dougie Hamilton and Carl Soderberg. Their defense played better than they had all season and their goalie Niklas Svedberg atoned for a shaky performance in his debut with a 32 save shutout.

Svedberg, who allowed 2 goals vs Colorado last week, replaced Rask late in Thursday’s loss to Montreal. After attracting the attention of the coaching staff, he was given the start Sunday.

"He came in [against Montreal on Friday] cold and had to make some saves,” Said coach Claude Jullian, “I'm pretty happy with the way he's handled himself. In that first game that he lost, he was really good as well. It was tough to give up that goal with half a second left, and we know it wasn't his fault, so been pretty happy. We've been fortunate that we've got a good goaltender in Tuukka, and everybody that seems to come in continues to do the job, so that's great."

Svedberg made 32 stops Saturday. In doing so, he logged his first NHL shutout and also gained considerable support from fans who roasted him after the Avalanche game in which he allowed a goal in the final second.

In his postgame interviews Svedberg was assuredly happy with his play.

"It's a great feeling," he said. "Most of all, to get the win for us was huge today, and of course, I'm happy with the shutout, too."

Zdeno Chara, an observer of countless all-star Bruins goalies commented on Svedberg’s improvement in the past week alone.

"He's working really hard. He's making great steps forward, and everybody was really happy for him.” He said. “…If you look back, he made some really big saves in the game. Buffalo had some chances and actually could have made it a tighter game than it was."

Chara himself was decent in the game. He became one of three Bruins defenders who scored in this game when he put in a dribbling snap shot late in the first period. Among the other Bruins blue liners who scored were Tory Krug and Dougie Hamilton.

Hamilton’s 60 foot wrist shot early in the game served at the eventual game winning goal while Krug’s first of the year which came midway through the second period effectively put the game out of reach for Buffalo.

All of the shots came from positions far from the net and were only squeezed past goalie Jonus Enroth because of intense screen plays and thick clogging of the front of the net by the Bruins forwards.

"It's something that you don't see very often," Chara said. "When you have good traffic and guys are driving to the net and staying in front of the net, it makes it hard on the goalies to see the puck. It creates a lot of good things, offensively."

Carl Soderberg added his second goal of the season in the dying minutes of the game contributing to a two point night for his line.

The Bruins got back on track Saturday. Their win was convincing and answered several questions regarding the Bruins defense, their involvement of said defense in the attack and the strength of their trusted backup Niklas Svedberg.

Needless to say however, the Bruins still sit in last place and will have to do more than win one game to get where they want to be. Confidence is a good thing though, its importance being something that cannot be understated.

“It made a big difference, and it gives you an opportunity to go home feeling much better about yourself as a team, knowing you got four out of six points [on a 3 game road trip] and our game is starting to come around,” Jullian said. 

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On a mission: Bruins extend winning streak to 11 games and clinch playoffs using their size to their advantage

The Bruins have not lost a game since March 1st against Washington. That means that in 21 days, the Bruins have won 11 straight games, to account for their longest win streak since 1971. This streak has included wins over great teams like the Rangers, Habs and Lightning but it was Friday night that drew the attention of the hockey world. 

In a game that started at 9PM, Eastern Time, the Bruins were in a position where, if they could grab a win against the surging Avalanche, they would be in the playoffs regardless of what any other team did. But Colorado did not plan to make it easy and they certainly followed that plan. 

You see this game was a one played by opposites. The Bruins are a team built on power and brutality on and off the puck. They are also a team that relies on guys like Jarome Iginla, Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic to pound the puck into the net. Those are all veterans. But Colorado is different. Coming into the game, they had logged just 26 fighting majors that were enough for 19th in the league. But Colorado does not need fights. They win games not with checks or punches but instead with dazzling explosions of speed and proficiency and calmness with the puck on their stick. They get the large majority of their scoring from players like 3rd year left wing - Gabrial Landeskog and rookies Matt Duchane and Nathan McKinnon. 

With these two teams going at each other with playoff positioning on the line, this game threatened to turn into one of those documentaries about the Serengeti. The small nimble wildebeest (Colorado) spends hours running as fast as it can away from the angry lion (Boston) only making that lion angrier when it cannot catch dinner. 

Instead, this game just followed the plot line of World War Z. After pushing back in the first few minutes of the game, the Avs were caught puck watching early and eventually converted from foe to victim of the Bruins army. 

Even the referees could not stop the onslaught. Just 1 minute and 48 seconds into the game, massive Bruin rookie - Kevin Miller, locked his sights on Avalanche rookie, Nick Holden. Locked up in a tight puck battle, Miller, finally delivered the hit that sent Holden crashing to the ice wondering what state he was in. Bizarrely, the hit was deemed an elbow and Miller was sent to the box. But that did not crush the Bruins sprites. Just about 3 minutes after the Holden hit, Patrice Bergeron broke the game open with his 21st goal of the year. The goal came as a result of great work by Patrice Bergeron to push the puck through 4 Colorado players. 

Dougie Hamilton took the puck at the blue line and awakened the Avalanche to their defensive error that left both Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara wide open inside the hash marks. Colorado overcompensated though and did not leave a man to cover Bergeron who proceeded to dash towards the net, and bang in Hamilton's rebound for the goal. 

“He made a good play to go to the net, and I just put it into him,” Hamilton said when asked about the goal. “I think I hit him right in the chest at the start, and it was a good finish after that, so I was pretty happy to have that.”

Colorado mustered a bit of a push after that goal, but the Bruins quieted that when Gregory Campebll dropped the gloves against 6 foot 2, 210 pound Cody McLeod. Though McLeod pounded at Campbell's head like he would a nail, Cambell held his own and eventually came back in the fight to land at least 3 strong jabs to MeLeod's jaw. That fight showed that the Bruins were not here to play street hockey. 

Over the next 2 periods, his were common. 

“I think it was a normal situation, considering we've been off for a couple of days, and again, there's thin air here, and that first period's always a bit of a challenge,” Coach, Claude Julien said. “So all of those things together, we knew we had to grind it out through the first.”

But in the second, they were just plain bullies. They defended their blue line like it was their house and the Avalanche were a hoard of zombies and forechecked and backchecked as if the winner of this game were not the team who scored the most goals but instead the team who broke the most bones.

“Second period, we kind of had to start getting pucks behind their Ds and playing more in their end, and the further the game went, the better we got. I thought we played a smart third, just putting pucks in deep and making them go back for every puck they wanted to bring up the ice. So that was kind of what we looked for and as the game wore on, I thought we got better all the time.”

The hits helped generate chances especially in the 2nd and 3rd periods when strong forechecking by the Bruins wingers allowed for their centers to pick up at least 3 great chances in front of the net. But the big hero of this game was Chad Johnson who earned his 2nd shutout of the season Friday night. He saved all 31 shots taken against him. 

“To be in front of these guys with such good systems, and a good D corps, and offensive players that want to play defense, too, you know, it helps me out a lot,” Johnson said after the game. “It helps the goalies out, and our whole team, so it's fun to play in front of our team when we're so committed defensively and we're out there to win and we expect to win.”

All and all, the Bruins are looking to be one of the scariest teams in hockey for other teams to play against. In a part of the schedule Bruins fans have dreaded all year, their team has owned the hockey world, climbing out from a tight race for the division and into a position now where massive numbers work to fairly define the magnitude of Boston's late season charge. They are 16 points clear of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Atlantic Division lead. They are 6 points clear of the Penguins for the Eastern Conference lead and they are tied with St Louis for the title of best team in hockey. For the 4th time in the Claude Jullian era and the first time since 2011-2012, the Bruins have topped the 100 point plateau and for the first time in the Claude Jullian era, they have won 11 straight games.

Bruins fans, whatever you have been doing during these games for the past 2 weeks, DO NOT CHANGE IT! Let’s keep this streak going. 

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Boston Bruins vs. Buffalo Sabers game preview: Win crucial for battered B's

Boston Bruins (23-10-2, 48 points) vs. Buffalo Sabers (9-23-2, 21 points)
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
December 21st, 2013, 7:00PM 

Call it what you will, but Thursday night's 4-2 loss to Buffalo was demoralizing. Coming into the night, the Sabers had scored just 7 1st period goals all season long while winning 3 straight games just once all season. They were and still are the worst team in hockey and yet over the course of a near 18 minute span, they turned a 2-1 Boston lead into a 4-2 loss for the Big Bag Bruins. Tell me how that does not sting. 

Now the Bruins did not necessarily play badly during that 5 minute stretch in which goals 3 and 4 for the Sabers were scored as for the majority of the 3rd period they dominated play out shooting their division rivals 15-5 in the frame. However if you felt the need to blame somebody for both those goals that somebody would in both cases be 27 year old Bruins goaltender, Chad Johnson. The streaky goaltender has already played more games this season than he did in his previous 3 seasons combined. However, after failing to come through for his team in key situations Bruins fans may be forced to ask the question, is Johnson necessarily the answer to the question, who should back up Tuukka Rask? 

But he is not the only question mark on this Bruins roster going into the second half of Boston's first home and home set of the season. Over the past month or so, the injury report has been constantly growing as the Bruins defense alone has been ripped apart more than any other facet of the team. By the end of Thursday's game, 3 Bruins who without injury would have been on the ice were not even present on the bench. D-Men Dougie Hamilton, Kevin Millar and Adam McQuaid have all been missing for the past few weeks with an assortment of injuries ranging from a lower body ailment for Hamilton to a concussion suffered by young call-up Kevin Millar. 

As a result of these injuries, the Bruins have been forced to call up a wide array of young AHL starters including but not limited to, David Warsofski, Matt Fraser and Nick Johnson. One byproduct of that infusion of young men into this lineup is the fact that the existing Bruin's veterans are forced to truly stand up which is not necessarily a bad thing. Zedeno Chara has already shouldered 200+ minutes of ice time in the month of December while others like Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic have stepped up the physical play and rocked anyone who has tried to go after their near teenage teammates.  

This kind of peace of mind that can be brought about upon a player whose teammates are taking punches for their sake and yet what definitely feels even better is a strong, dominant win. 

When the Bruins and Sabers square off this evening, they will have a chance not only to beat a weak Sabers team but beat them up.

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Stephan Stamkos leaves game after grisly collision with post: A look at the magnitude of this injury

Hockey is a game played with a puck made of solid rubber that is rocketed at speeds of upwards of 100 MPH. They dive in front of these shots then jump up and then skate at 30 miles per hour across a sheet of ice covered in men wielding sticks in their hands and near knives on their feet. In a game possessing this much sheer power it is a miracle that it is even safe to be played. However there are injuries and during the second period of today's Bruins/Lightning veterans day matinee Bruins fans witnessed firsthand the grisly level of bodily harm that hockey can induce.

With just over 7 minutes to go in the second period of what was then a scoreless Bruins vs. Lightning midday game Stephan Stamkos got locked up with Bruin Dougie Hamilton in an attempt to prevent the defenceman from getting a clean shot on net. Prior to what happened next, Stamkos was tied with Alexander Steen for the NHL lead in goals with 14 and had been displaying the same back checking willingness that today would take him out of the game. 

"Obviously when he can’t get up it is a serious injury but we all hope for the best with him and hope it is not to serious." Bruin center Gregory Campbell said following the injury. But his words of remorse were not lonely in Boston today as without a doubt Stephan Stamkos truly is a league wide fan favorite meaning it stings us all when he goes down.  

"It is unfortunate that injuries happen in the game." Bruins assistant coach Doug Jarvis said minutes after Campbell spoke. 

Stamkos is tough, but gracious in his goal scoring. He rarely whines about calls or specific plays and takes accountability for his actions. There is nothing not to like about Stephan and for that reason, Bruins fans immediately fell silent and watched as these events unfolded. He slid hard into the post and screamed in pain as the net slid off its pegs. But being the competitor that he is, Stamkos made a valiant attempt to raise to his feet only to fall back to the ice and slam his fist repeatedly against the playing surface.  

The game remained halted for the better part of 10 minutes all before Stamkos was painfully moved to a stretcher and hauled off the ice.  Bruins fans present rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to the fallen foe.

"It's broken" he supposedly said to those gathered around him and after several replays it is clear that that might not be of any exaggerated nature. The leg that collided most strongly with the right goalpost seemed to snap or at least contort itself in a non-natural way. 

It is important to note that although Stamkos spent time burying his face in the ice he never lost consciousness and was immediately transported via ambulance to a local Boston hospital for X-Ray examination. To this point, no results have been announced.  

A loss like this is one not simply suffered by Tampa but by extension the entire NHL. But to this point we have all seen the mighty toughness of Stephan Stamkos and while there may be a absence of intact leg bone right now there is no doubt that the second he can even crawl on his leg he will be on the ice fighting as passionately as possible to get back to playing the game he loves. 

To see a GIF of the Stamkos injury click here WARNING: leg can be seen bending in severely unnatural way.

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The Not so Big Three: How Matt Bartowski, Dougie Hamilton, and Torey Krug will be huge role players in 2013-2014

Not all perfect trifectas need to keep with them with them future hall of famers. Not all super heroes need to weigh 250 pounds an look like steroid users. In fact, not all super heroes or big three’s even need their names to be known among their city of Boston, Gothum or Krypton. 

No, sometimes, those groups of heroes can include guys who are 5 foot 9 and like to blast little chunks rubber into twine backed squares of iron.  

Before this Bruin season, that would not have been the case but with the departure of the big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Piece and Ray Allen over the past few seasons, in has come a new batch of super hero athletes. And those three men have names: Torey Krug, Dougie Hamilton, and Matt Bartowski. 

Torey Krug: a 22 year old left handed defender came to the Bruins on March 25th 2012.

At that point Krug had never played a professional game yet in 3 years with Michigan, he had already made a name for himself as a high scoring defense man. Torey Krug never missed a single one of the 114 games his Spartans team played from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012 and in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 at least, he was a huge factor in each and every one of the games he took part in. In just those 2 seasons alone, a total of 76 games, Krug scored 23 times. (11 in 10'-11' and 12 in 11'-12')  

In those final two seasons of NCAA excellence, it seemed that Krug was going to be a perennial role player on that Spartans team for at least one more year. But in the blink of an eye, that all changed. 

"Torey has had an outstanding collegiate career at Michigan State," Boston General Manager Peter Chiarelli said after signing Krug. "He is a very intelligent player who is a terrific skater and shooter. But what stands out the most with Torey is his character. He is a two-time captain and a tremendous competitor. We are thrilled to have signed him and look forward to a seeing him contribute to the Bruins." 

"I would also like to thank the Boston Bruins organization for this tremendous opportunity." Krug then said 2 days after the signing. "Every hockey player has the dream to play in the National Hockey League, and I am excited about my chance to prove myself at the next level." 

Fact is Krug was an amazingly gifted offensive defense man in college averaging nearly .75 points per game. But once he came to the Bruins organization, those Bobby Orr esque skills did not immediately follow him. In the 2 games Krug played with Boston in that 2011-2012 season, the Bruins went 1 and 1 with Krug logging just over 34 minutes of ice time, mustering 3 shots on net and putting through 1 assist for his first NHL point. He was not good, but he was not all that bad. 

Nonetheless, the Bruins were determined to develop this kid and even if the fans did not see it immediately, Peter Charalli did, so, instead of dropping him or dishing him back to NCAA hockey, Krug was soon moved down to the AHL. He would spend the majority of this past season down in Providence and in the 63 games he played, his scoring touch soon returned. Through those few months of play, he shot up 45 points on 13 goals all while seeing his Providence Bruins skate to their first division title in over 5 years. 

Yet as Providence collapsed in the second round of the AHL playoffs, they were no more than a side story as the big Bruins captured the minds of the world with a late May tilt with the storied Toronto Maple Leafs. In the blink of an eye, Boston erased a 4-2 Toronto lead to beat the Leafs in OT and march into the second round.  But amidst all the celebration, there was a problem in Boston. Dennis Sidenberg had been hurt on the very play that won Boston into the semifinals, and, going into that crucial series with New York, the Bruins were one D-man short. 

So along came Torey Krug. 

Its seems like one of those go lucky sports movies when you talk, write about or watch the highlights from that series. Over the span of just over a week and a half, everything went right for Boston and in turn for little 5 foot 9 Torey Krug. He scored 4 times in those 5 games and added an assist to bring his points total to 5 in the series and 7 in his career. 

But Krug was not the only bright light that looked shine in that series. No there was another... and his name was, Dougie Hamilton

Dougie Hamilton: picked up as the final piece of the trade that sent Phil Kessel to Toronto, the Bruins exercised their 2011, 9th overall pick in the draft by selecting a Toronto born D-man with some serious promise. 

Unlike his now teammate Krug, Hamilton: a Canadian with hockey woven into his veins never played in the US's NCAA hockey leagues. In fact he spent 4 years not even going to college and playing OHL hockey for his home town Niagara Ice Dogs. When playing in Canada, he sure didn't have the perfect attendance record of Tory Krug but still was even more productive in the 213 games he did play. He averaged .88 points per game and scored 12 or more goals twice in his career as he led his Ice Dogs to a Memorial Cup championship in the spring of 2012. 

He sure caught eyes and in truth that was why the Bruins drafted him. Like Krug he was a offensive defense men, and with Zdeno Chara regularly patching in 10 goals a year it is all but obvious that defense is not all that a Bruin defender needs to worry about doing. 

"He's a big strong kid with a good offencive skill set." GM Peter Charelli said about his new pick.  "Honestly, we didn't think he would fall this far." 

"We didn't think he would fall this far." Charelli said but nevertheless, he did, 8 teams passed up on Hamilton all for different reasons, and while in the end Boston would get their hands on him, he still was not NHL ready. So back to juniors he went. 

But unlike the 3 years of OHL hockey he had already partook in, in that final season, Hamilton had a goal, and that goal would be achieved on Saturday, January 19th 2013 when he made his NHL debut. On that day, Hamilton was the only rookie on the ice and all the attention was on him, and he did not disappoint. While he may have got off to a relatively goalless start, Hamilton finished the month of January with 4 NHL points and a professional contract with the Boston Bruins.

So, with goal one was crossed off the list on he went to his next major pursuit: actually scoring a goal. Now in the end, the pursuit of THAT particular piece of glory would not take long as on February 15th he finally broke through with a tally against one of the best goaltenders in hockey: Ryan Miller. 

Over the next few months, Hamilton would add 4 more regular season goals along with a point total of 16. Now he, like Krug saw his team into the playoffs but that is where the similarities end. Once Hamilton got to the postseason any hint of his offensive skills dried up in a shriveled mess of nerves and shining performances by mighty Krug. 

Hamilton still had the skills, he still had the future but after 7 playoff games over 2 different series, his postseason was done long before those of his teammates were. 

But still there is more. 

 Matt Bartowski. After coming to the Bruins alongside now star D-man Dennis Sidenberg, Bartowski signed with Boston on April 29th 2010.

As for semi pro hockey, well, Bartowski followed a path similar to that of Tory Krug all be it with some less frequent burst of goal scoring and instant glory.

Fact is, Matt Bartowski is a D-Man of far more intangible skills, meaning that the illustrious facets of his game are all that more difficult to illustrate. In 20 games over 3 seasons with Boston, Bartowski was yet to put one in offensively, until an almost forgotten play in a game that is all but forgotten. Just under 5 minutes and 35 seconds into Game Seven of the Toronto series, Bartowski took a weak pass off the stick of Phill Kessell before moving into the center of the ice and blasting the shot past James Reimer to give Boston the 1-0 lead. 

Matt Bartowski was never the super star that many believed him to be but in the end, he could easily become a key role player in years to come. 

The not so big three: between the 3 of them, their average age is just 22 years 4 months but they have all done so much. Between the three of them, only 34 points have been scored but they have all done so much more that runs up a list far longer than that one of just 34 tics. Fact is, in just a matter of years, Zdeno Chara will be done, and so will Dennis Seidenberg. Andrew Ferance has already gone and with Adem McQuiad beginning to show singes of a concussion problem, his days of play but begin to become numbered as well. 

Long story short, even while the Bruins list of veterans begins to shorten, their list of prime 1st and second year players is beginning to grow handing their club a hope for a future almost as bright as the one Chara, Seidenberg, and company have already given them. 

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