Bruins needing to change their shootout approach following loss to Maple Leafs

(Photo by Gregory Fisher/USA Today Sports)

by Dakota Antelman

As much as the NHL knows how much fans and players alike seem to hate the convention of the shootout, the absolute way of determining a winner in EVERY hockey game has it going nowhere.

As a result, the Bruins, who were most recently hurt by the shootout in New Year’s Eve game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, are in desperate need of an internal overhaul to their approach to the shootout. With it likely being a part of hockey for many years to come, the Bruins need to find out how to win shootouts. This is simply because right now, that is not happening.

Their December 31^st game that ultimately ended in the shootout loss began uneventfully. The Bruins fell behind 1-0 but kept pace when Tuukka Rask stopped a key penalty shot in the first period. The Bruins came back firing following the first intermission, tying the game and eventually trading goals with the Maple Leafs in the second period. They finished regulation tied with the Leafs at three goals a-piece.

After bouncing through overtime without a game winning goal, the game went to the shootout.

The TD Garden rang with boos of the shootout convention while its few supporters tried to explain its rules to still others who did not understand it.

As the Zamboni drove off the ice and the administrators of the dry scrape walked down the maintenance tunnel, the Bruins and Maple Leafs conferred with officials.   

The home Bruins elected to have Toronto shoot first as they finalized their own shooters.

Needless to say even that was not enough to stave off the shifty shootout goals and five round win enjoyed by the Leafs.

But it was not their talent that doomed Boston, it was the Bruins’ own mismanagement of their shooters that prevented them from closing out 2014 on a winning note.

Accounting for the sudden death rounds of the shootout, the Bruins sent five shooters to center ice. They started with Reilly Smith, then they sent Tory Krug, Brad Marchand, Seth Griffith and finally David Krejci who missed on a must-make shot that ended the game.

The lineup was bizarre to say the least with a defensemen taking the second shot and a 50% career penalty shot shooter in Patrice Bergeron never taking the ice. Of a fundamentally talented Bruins attack, Claude Julian selected a group of five players with a career penalty shot conversion percentage of 19%. Furthermore, he did so against a Toronto shootout attack that came in with some of the best numbers in the league.

Boston was swiftly embarrassed by Maple Leaf shooters who entered with a shootout conversion percentage of 39% and nailed two of five shots on Rask.

So what is the problem? How can this be fixed?

Well, not too long ago mind you, the Bruins were, hands down, the best team in hockey in terms of winning shootouts.

Two seasons ago, in the season of their dominant run to their second Stanley Cup in three seasons, the Bruins reaped the benefits of a near immaculate winning percentage in shootout games. That sterling reputation was the direct byproduct of their lights out shooting lineup.

Each time the shootout was needed, in almost painful repetition, the Bruins would send Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron and Davis Krejci to the puck.

Those players would constantly score on 40-50% of shots. They legitimately capped off hours of play with three minutes bearing three darting goals from the top of the opponents crease.

Things changed though after Seguin left Boston following the season. The Bruins started sending Marchand out in the top three and testing Loui Eriksson in the number two slot. They dropped Krejci out of the traditional shooting lineup and over time even let Bergeron fade.

And what for; so that they could let Seth Griffith shoot, so they could let a lucky Tory Krug pound a shot off Johnathan Bernier’s pad?

The Bruins need to rework their shootout approach. Bergeron needs to get back into the mix and we need to see somebody come through as a prime shooter for the team. 

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Loui Eriksson elevating play of line as he improves his own

(Photo by Charles Krupa/AP)

by Dakota Antelman

Bruins left winger, Loui Eriksson has been streaky to say the least since he came to Boston in the Tyler Seguin trade of July 4^th, 2013.

Over the course 96 games with the Bruins, Eriksson has thrice put together point streaks of more than three games. Between those intermittent bursts of hope he has wallowed in goal-less droughts that have lasted for weeks.

As Eriksson celebrates his second Christmas since the trade to Boston though, his current hot streak seems to have the makings of a redefinition of him as a player rather than just a streak. In the eight games since the Bruins December 4th loss to the Sharks, Eriksson has scored six goals and assisted on two others. He is a +6 in these games. He has scored a power play goal. In the minds of many, Eriksson has found his grove.

He scored a pair of goals in a game last Tuesday; a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators.

"I’ve been feeling good," said Eriksson following the game. "We’ve been creating chances. When you get on a roll you usually get on a good scoring streak and it keeps coming. It’s what I’m feeling right now. I have my confidence up, making plays and scoring goals.”

With only three goals scored going into the month of December, Eriksson has tripled his scoring output for the year in these eight games. His points totals have soared to 21 total points making Eriksson now the fourth leading scorer on the team.

Needless to say, the vast improvements have not gone unnoticed.  

"Right now, a lot of it has to do with confidence," said Head Coach Claude Julien. "I think he’s skating better. When you’re confident, a lot of things come easy to you; when you’re not, you’re skating out there sometimes you feel like you’ve got a piano on your back and your sluggish and everything else."

Julian has rewarded Eriksson for his efforts with increased playing time. He has played at least 19 minutes of each of the last three Bruins games. That is only the second time that has happened all year.

"But right now I think he’s feeling it. Like all players in this league when they get on a roll, they feel good about themselves and I think, to me, he’s showing the kind of player we’ve always thought he was. He’s scoring some goals, he’s making some plays, he’s killing penalties. He’s a guy that you can use in all kinds of situations, so right now I think we’re seeing some of his best hockey."

Eriksson’s newfound consistency has also elevated the play of his linemates, Chris Kelly and Carl Soderberg. Kelly scored his first goal in 22 games in game seven of Eriksson’s hot streak. He has also assisted on a total of six goals since December 4^th. On the opposite wing of Eriksson, Soderberg has hopped back into the points column with a goal and four assists in the last eight games.

Finally, Eriksson has helped open space for the defenders behind him. In that 5-3 win over Nashville, Eriksson shot a stellar feed, back to defender Matt Bartowski who ultimately took a wide open goal scoring shot. The Predators, who had done their research, had allowed Eriksson to catch the defense leaning his way, leaving the rest of the Bruins unmarked.

Bartowski’s goal through an open lane was the direct byproduct of one of the first instances of Eriksson being treated like the 30 goal scorer he was in Dallas.

For the longest time, Bruins fans worried they would never get that. The common fear was that young forward Reily Smith would be the best thing that came out of the Tyler Seguin trade. Though that fear has not been put to rest yet, Eriksson is playing fundamentally good hockey this month.

He is getting power play time. He is getting into the corners in all facets of the game; and, as a result, he is getting on the scoreboard.

“I’m just trying to play my game and try to help the team as much as I can here,” Eriksson said. “These past couple games it’s been really good, so hopefully I’ll continue doing that.”

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Bruins unsatisfied with lacking December effort

(Photo courtesy of the AP)

By Dakota Antelman

After going 1-1-1 on a three game road trip, the Bruins return home bedraggled and questioned. Things have not gone well for the Black and Gold this month and as we near the NHL Christmas break, they find themselves on the outside looking in on the playoff picture.

33 games into the season they have accrued just 35 points. They sit a point behind the Rangers for the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot and nine points behind the Canadians in the divisional race that they were favored to win back in the preseason. Big losses in marquee games against the Ducks, Blackhawks and Sharks this month have decimated what little momentum they built with their five game win streak back in November.

This free-fall has them angry but dangerously non-productive. Also, it is beginning to solicit anger and discontent from the fans.

Said discontent, if defended before this most recent road trip, was painfully validated by the 1-1-1 finish.

"I'm not happy,” said Bruins coach Claude Julian after the trip’s final game, a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. “Because we could have came back - the way we were playing - we could have came back with five out of six."

He extrapolated saying, "And if we're happy with that (three out of six points), we're going to be on vacation there in the beginning of April. We're going to need more than that, to be honest with you. We've got to string some wins together here and this was an opportunity that we missed [Friday night]."

The Bruins were outscored 6-7 on the trip; an unimposing deficit until the shot totals are noticed. In 190 minutes of play on the road trip, the Bruins were outshot 104-91. They struggled to sustain zone pressure and failed to capitalize on goal scoring opportunities directly in front of the net.

"You just have to look at the scoresheet - there's guys that end up with no shots and all that stuff and you say, with the amount of ice and positions they're put in, they should be getting shots at the net," said Julien of the lack of opportunistic play. "We need more out of certain players, no ifs or buts about that."

One image that will likely be a lasting one of this road trip shows Loui Eriksson with complete separation from the Winnipeg defense late in a then 2-1 game. He had the puck on his stick, one on one with the goaltender, yet he held onto the puck and simply never took the shot.

"I had too much time to do something there. I should keep it simple and try to get a shot quick there," Eriksson defended. 

Too much time, too many opportunities; with the exception of the Predators really, the three teams the Bruins played on their road trip were ones they had huge opportunities to beat. But they did not beat them, getting, in the words of many players, “too cute” with the puck.

"…the biggest thing for me is that we passed up on so many shot opportunities and looked for the cute plays and that's not our team," said Julien.

This lack of simplicity in play is evident across the board.

On the back end, Zdeno Chara, rather than elevating the play of the defensive unit in his return from injury, has taken a long time to get his timing back and cost the team any number of goals. The defense has struggled to clear pucks out of the crease leaving their goaltenders, who have not played half bad, to pick up the slack and steal the few games they have won this month.

Weak forechecking and lackadaisical coverage has forced the goalies to be perfect. That is simply not a good strategy.

For a team that prides itself in smart plays and logical strategy, loosing this kind of identity has been a talking point and omnipresent point of sadness for the team and its coach.

“Costly mistakes end up in our net and then the lack of wanting to put pucks at the net with a purpose versus trying to be cute, which is not our team, is what we struggled with," Coach Julian said.

The Bruins have been confessing their problems and confessing them again for weeks now but very little is changing in regards to the effort recognized by coaching. Goals are not coming for the Bruins and neither is timely shut down defense.

Things need to change for the Bruins who will be starting the second half of their season soon; because this is not the kind of team that misses the playoffs. 

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Bruins offence continues slump in 2-0 loss to Kings

by Dakota Antelman

The Bruins lost 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night in LA. The game served as the middle portion of a three game Southern California road trip.

Johnathan Quick stopped 31 shots in his third shutout of the season while a first period goal by Tanner Pearson stood up as the game winner. Throughout the night, strong defense by the Kings stifled the Bruins attack. They defended their blueline with ferocity throwing 28 hits and confined the Bruins to the perimeter of the offensive zone with apparent ease. Though the Bruins did get 31 shots off from that position, they recorded far fewer scoring chances.

The latter of those statements bit the Bruins noticeably.

“We’ve done a lot of good things, but at the same time when we’re not scoring then any small mistakes turn into big ones,” said Bruin center, Patrice Bergeron. “We don’t make up for it on the offense. We’re playing a pretty stingy game when it’s 1-0, so defense isn’t a problem. We just have to find a way to score more goals.”

Furthermore, even though they forced more giveaways, more takeaways, and blocked far more shots than the Kings, Boston was still outshot as they failed to create sustained pressure in the offensive zone.

The Bruins inability to solve the Kings defense long enough to fabricate rebounds into additional shots was partially due to Quick’s dominance. Beyond Quick though, LA’s defenders backed their goalie up with clearances and physical back-checking in the corners and along the boards.

Quick and the defense were actually crucial in initiating the play that resulted in the King’s first goal. In his own end, Quick managed to usher a long Bruins shot wide of the net. He then watched as Kings defender, Jake Muzzin, hammered Bruins forward, Loui Erickson, off the puck in the neutral zone. Ultimately, Muzzin turned the puck towards Niklas Svedberg and the Bruins goal.  There, through crisp passing by Kings forwards, Anze Kopitar and Brandon McNabb, Tanner Pearson took a shot from open space that beat Svedberg.

The first goal demoralized the Bruins. They entered the game with LA with a purpose and saw the Kings as a team that they could jump on early. In the four games they played before the game with Boston, LA had been outscored 6-1 in the 1^stperiod. But after getting behind the ball early with a long 5 on 3 penalty kill, the Bruins were tired and disorganized in their defense. That defense was caught bunched up near the net and allowed the Kings first goal to play itself out without any of the Bruins getting a stick on the puck.

From there though, Boston tried and at times succeeded in generating shots. Beyond offence, goalie, Svedberg, played shut down hockey between the pipes stopping 20 straight shots between the Pearson goal and when he was pulled for the extra skater in the final minutes of the game.

"They've given us a chance to win hockey games,” Bruins coach Claude Julian said of his goalies’ performances in not only this game but Monday night’s meeting with the Ducks as well. “Again, we just can't find ways to score some goals here. It's hard to get mad at these guys when you see the effort being put in and the commitment and everything else.”

Despite strong efforts by the Bruins goalies, there has been little offensive support of late. That is because several players that the Bruins rely on for goals have fallen into simultaneous slumps. Reilly Smith has not scored in 10 games while Loui Erickson has gone 11 games without a goal. Even players who are dominating regularly this season and played well rounded games vs the Kings have struggled to win “puck luck” in recent weeks and days.

Carl Soderberg saw almost two fewer minutes of ice time Tuesday than is regular for him and failed to score on the one shot that he took on goal. He himself has gone 10 games without a goal. On a somewhat lesser scale, rookie David Pastrnak, despite leading the Bruins in CORSI, +/- and shots on goal since being called up from Providence, has yet to log an NHL point for the team.

The Bruins are struggling to score goals but will play Thursday night in San Jose looking to salvage some points from this three game West Coast trip.

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Leaving with a bang: Bruins light up Senators in final game before Olympic break

During the Go Titletown preview of Saturday afternoon's game with the Senators we talked about what kind of taste this Boston/Ottawa game would leave in our mouths. If they lost, if they messed up like they did Thursday night in St Louis than the taste would be like that of some sweet and sour chicken minus the sweet. But if they won than the taste would be one of sweet candy that would last for two weeks. 

Let me just say this. We’re not eating any chicken in Boston tonight. 

The Bruins obliterated the Senators Saturday afternoon assembling their largest scoring output of the season and their second 5 goal victory in as many weeks. For the Bruins who knew they had to finish strong, this game quickly turned lopsided as Boston scored 2 goals in the first period alone. 

Their first goal was scored just over 2 minutes into the game when Patrice Bergeron used a stellar burst of speed to break up the middle towards Craig Anderson. As Bergeron crossed the blue line with the puck on his stick, he dumped the quick pass to Loui Eriksson and then took it on the return as he roared unchecked through the faceoff circle. Though the pass surely stretched him to the limits of his reach, Bergeron utilized a quick tap of the puck to settle it before yet another lunging jab at it lofted the shot past a disoriented Craig Anderson. 

As Bergeron celebrated the goal just behind the net, radio commentator Jack Edwards seemed to describe the play best. "How's that for effort?!" 

5 minutes later, effort combined with execution once again as Boston stretched their lead to 2-0 with Chris Kelly's 4th goal of the year.  Through 1 period, the Bruins had out-shot their opponents 11-6, their goalie Chad Johnson had continued his shutout streak to one 5 periods long but most importantly, the Bruins had not yet turned their sights to the break looming before them. And it showed. 

With 2:42 to go in the 1st period, Kevin Miller took on a man in Zach Smith who was 3 inches taller than he and outweighed him by over 20 pounds. Yet in true Bruins fashion, Miller took the role of orthodontist when he made out to rearrange Smith's facial geography. 

17 minutes into the game Bruins fans had just been treated to one of the biggest beat down by a Boston player all season and from that point on, this game turned from competition to clinic. Within 11 game minutes of the Miller fight, Patrice Bergeron solidified the clinic nature of this game when he caught Eric Karlsson standing still and tucked the puck between Anderson's leg and the post. As good as that goal was, the fact that Bergeron skated around both Karlsson and Anderson like they were beanbags was truly embarrassing for the Senators.

In fact less than two weeks after they beat the Flyers so bad that their captain called it their most embarrassing game of the year, the Bruins once again drove an opponent to a point where they verbalized their discomfort with the loss.

Jason Spezza called this game "embarrassing" while coach, Paul McLane sternly joked that "we probably owe them some money for the clinic they put on today"

Haha...that's funny, because it is true.

By the end of the second period the Bruins led 4-1. 

Before 5 minutes ticked off the game clock in the 3rd period, that lead had been stretched to 5-1 and by 10 minutes in it was 6-1. Though Ottawa eventually scored again, the "killer instinct" that has been ever present this season in Boston shone through when Carl Soderberg snapped his 9th of the year past Robin Lehner to seal the Bruins' biggest offensive output of the season. 

In their final game before the Sochi break, the Bruins treated their motivation like they would on any other day in any other situation. They came out flaming and scored, hit and fought with a fearsome edge. All season long this Bruins team has won off of a youthful drive like none other and Saturday was no different, well except for the numbers that drive produced.

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To win the trade: How Seguin's 4 goal game, Phil Kessel's success in Toronto and Loui Eriksson's lackluster performance in Boston effect the perception of 2 of the biggest trades in Bruins history

When Tyler Seguin was traded to the Dallas Stars back on July 4th we all know the possibility and even likelihood that he would score 400 goals in the season and become the next Wane Gretzky. But frankly after what happened last night, the entire hockey world acts surprised.

Going into the Stars' Friday night game with Calgary, Tyler Seguin had scored 8 goals and 9 assists in 18 games played. Less than 3 hours later his score sheet barely looked recognizable. Tyler Seguin netted 4 goals on Friday night and without a doubt played the best game of his still fledgling career. He improved to a point where he is now an astounding 12 goal scorer and the 4th highest scorer in the entire NHL. Furthermore, the former Bruin winger has already eclipsed the scoring output of both his 1st and 3rd years in the league and however unlikely, it deserves mentioning that should he continue on this torrent goal scoring pace, Seguin will finish 2013-2014 with 52 goals. As a fan of the Boston Bruins, all I can do is relay the single exclamation that came to the minds of all of Bruins nation when they woke up this morning and read the morning paper. Ouch. 

We look around this morning and think what if this kid was still in Boston? What if those 4 goals came during the Bruins mini slump last week? If so, would Seguin's presence have turned the Bruins into the 15 win team that even this early in the season they could be? No. 

Like was said last July, Boston was never the place for Tyler. Here the team is centered around the framework that was laid in 2009 carried out when Boston won the cup in 2011 and intensify when 6 Boston Bruins netted 20 goals in their year of Cup defense that was 2012. This is the team that has seen just 3, 30 goal scorers in nearly a decade and for Tyler Seguin that kind of scoring distribution seemed to be off-putting. He always had this capability resting within him but like Hulk needed anger to trigger his violent power Tyler Seguin needed the Bruins to implement a kind of support they simply could not provide in order to allow him to bring home the goals.  

This is the defining factor that distinguishes Seguin's 208 games in Boston from the 19 he has played in Dallas. He has been moved to center and told that HE is the most important part of his team. There are players who need this kind of its all about me mentality in order to succeed. Seguin and Kessel are two examples of this. Guys like Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic are examples of the opposite. 

However, while Seguin's future in Boston was always a short one when you look into the Boston end of the Seguin trade and by extension the Kessel trade that gave the Bruins the pick the used to select Seguin everything seemed to have flipped from 1 year ago. At the end of last season, it seemed that with Seguin succeeding in Beantown and Kessel succeeding in Toronto the trade seemed even for both teams. Sadly though, once Seguin was shipped out of Boston this means that in a way, the Bruins traded Phil Kessel for a 28 year old Swedish winger: Loui Eriksson.  

How does that sound? 

To spit out a few more statistics, Bruin, Eriksson has scored 3 goals in Boston, 2 of which have gone in off his skate, while Kessel in Toronto has scored 10. Also, as you look towards  Kessel's situation in Toronto and the one he went through in Boston, they unlike the case with Seguin are all but identical. From 06 to 08, the Bruins had no identity and therefore, Kessel was the big man on campus scoring 36 goals in 2008 all while playing the same position he plays today in Toronto.  

Over the past 5 seasons, the ideas and outlooks on the Phil Kessell Trade that changed the future of the Bruins for the better has constantly changed. There was Seguin in Boston who came just 1 goal shy of 30 in 2012 and then Kessel who flipped the tides back in his favor with 3 straight 30 goal seasons in Toronto. Finally with Seguin gone and Loui Eriksson introduced  it seems that the book has been closed, the hatched has been buried. Unless Loui Eriksson turns it around  soon, the Bruins will not only have lost the Toronto trade but also the Dallas one. 

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The distribution of wealth: A look as why depth in NHL scoring is far more important than singular excellence

The Boston Bruins have had just 3 30 goal scorers since the 2004-2005 lockout and just 2 since the Claude Julian era has begun.

By comparison it seems that every other team in hockey has snagged themselves a scorer that could be named THE guy when it comes to scoring. In Philly, that guy is named Claude Giroux, in Chicago, there are two, Johnny Toews and Patrick Kane. Fact is even Tampa Bays has their perennial star in Stephan Stamkos. In the world of heavy statistics and a fantasy sports driven sports

fan base, the guy who can belt in 50 goals in a single season is far more appealing than one who can pot 20 but assist on 40-50 additional tallies like Patrice Bergeron can. But while fantasy owners and statistic addicted hockey fans will pay more attention to teams like the Penguins who have 1 or 2 big number goal scorers that does not mean that teams like the Bruins are not just as good or even better.

It is an interesting question and one that has been answered, broken open and then answered again time and time again throughout the NHL’s near 100 year history. Is the lack of a big bucks scorer more a strength rather than a weakness?

In 2011-2012, the last complete NHL season, the Bruins top goal scorer was Tyler Seguin. In that season he finished with 29 goals and while he led the Bruins in goals, Tyler was only 32nd in the NHL in goals scored. In that season, 30 NHL’ers topped 30 goals but among those 30 names, only 1 team had more than 2 men on the list. What’s better is the fact that among the 23 teams who added to that list only 9 of them made the playoffs. That means that 7 of the 16 teams contending last summer were teams devoid of a 30 goal scorer.

Also in 2012, the league’s top goal scorer: Stephan Stamkos, played for the Lightning who finished 8 points out of the playoffs.

Judging off of the Stamkos statistic, the 60 goals he scored came at a price. In 2011-2012, the same year he scored that flood of goals, the Lightning were forced to fork over 8,000,000$ just to keep him in uniform. When you think it out, that translates to a price per goal of about 133,333$. By comparison, in that same year Benouit Pouliot of the Bruins scored 16 goals. His salary of 1,100,000 divided by those 16 goals loosely translates to a price per goal of 68,750$. That is close to 25% fewer goals for a near 50% cheaper price per goal. I don’t know about you but if I’m a GM, I’ll take 60 goals from 5 or 6 guys like Benouit Pouliot over 60 goals from 1 guy like Stephan Stamkos.

So there you have it, while having a 30, 40, 50 or even 60 goal scorer on your team is nice and while it does give you a slight edge in whether or not you will make the playoffs, it is not pivotal in making a deep run. But when you think about it, that fact does not really make sense. Why is scoring less goals better than scoring more? Because on good teams, not having a Sidney Crosby, or a Jarome Iginla does not directly translate to fewer goals. No team demonstrates that truth better than the Boston Bruins.

In that 2012 season, the Bruins who finished as the clear cut winners of their division netted no 30 goal scorers but did snag an astronomical 6 guys who potted 20 tallies. They finished the season with 269 goals. That’s was 48 more than the San Jose Sharks who led the league with 3 30 goal scores.

The Boston Bruins are a team built around the excellence of so many guys. This game plan allows them to eliminate the idea of line matching by spreading at least 1 or 2 huge scoring threats over all 4 of their lines. This was true in 2012 when 3 of Boston’s 4 lines sported a 20 goal scorer and it was true in 2013 when in a near half season of play they pounded together 6 more guys with 10 or more goals.

As was said earlier, it has been 2 years since Milan Lucic netted 30 goals in 2010-2011 but many may argue that in 2013-2014 that lack of 30 goal scores in Boston may come to an end as recent additions: Jarome Iginla and Loui Eriksson come to town boasting resumes flush with 30’s in the goal column. So okay, you do have an argument there. Brad Marchand will likely get even better in 2013-2014 and Jarome Iginla who has netted 11 30 goal campaigns all on a Flames team that is well, sub-par, could easily add to his career as he is set to play on a line that could easily be dubbed the best in the entire NHL. But the underlying facets are still there.

Even if the Bruins grab 1 or 2 spots on that 30 goals list, they will inevitably also have 5 or 6 additional spots on the list containing 20 goal scorers. Good teams distribute their wealth; good teams have more than one guy to count on. The Boston Bruins have close to 10 of them and that is why they are one of the best teams in all of the NHL.

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Bruins Training Camp in full swing: First impressions, quotes, and suspicions about the 2013-2014 NHL season

* From now until October 3rd when the Bruins regular season begins, I will author a series of general preview articles and collections of notes regarding this impending 2013-2014 NHL season. These articles can be viewed as a full collection by clicking the tag "Bruins season Preview." at the bottom of all these posts. 

The 2013 Boston Bruins preseason starts on Monday. 17 days after that, the Bruins will host the Lightning as they look to satisfy their one goal. Win, win, win.

Following the Bruins' Game Six loss in the cup finals, I wrote "For the first time since January 19th there is no tomorrow." The Bruins had lost, their season was over and while most fans cowered in a cloud of misery trying to forget those terrible 17 seconds in which Chicago scored twice and won the Stanley Cup, the Bruins front office did not. For almost 2 months, they continued to dominate the headlines, signing Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask to long term contracts while losing Nathan Horton to free agency. Before long, Andrew Ference was gone as well but with all the added cap space, the Bruins were able to finally bring Jarome Iginla to Boston. 

But that was not all. 

As more and more came out about the frowned upon habits of Tyler Seguin, he was traded only to be replaced by the already proven Loui Eriksson. 

As crazy as all this is, as crazy an confusing as all these turnover has been it is hard not to understand that by sheer numbers this hockey team iced by the Bruins in 2013-2014 may be even better than that assembled last season. 

On June 24th 2013 the Bruins had lost, for the foreseeable future, there was no immediate next game that could serve as a night of redemption for all of Boston's shortcomings in Game Six of the Cup. For the Bruins they got no alleviation from their pain an instead were forced to sit on the loss for the reminder of their short off-season. But as was profiled before, the changes were made, Seguin was sent packing, Iginla was brought in and while on the 24th there was no tomorrow, over 80 days later there is. 

--

With the calendar currently reading September 14th, the Bruins are now 2 days into training camp. They have done all their conditioning, they have made all their quotes, logged all their hours lifting weights in the gym and running at home but as the sun rose on Thursday, the focus of the sweat, blood and exertion of this Bruins turned from a tune of self-strengthening to one of answers delivered and camaraderie built. 

That later part was emphasis more than any other in these first few days of camp. 

With so many new faces, 2 lines seemed to beg the most attention. With Seguin gone, the Bergeron/Marchand line that served as such a driving force last season was left incomplete. In addition to that the second line that included both Milan Lucic and David Kerjci was also suffering from a similar loss of skill named Nathan Horton. As it stood there was no question who would initially come in and replace the voids left by Seguin and Horton, but what was under scrutney was how Bergeron and Marchand would mesh with Loui Eriksson and how Lucic and Krejci would do the same with Jarome Iginla. 

According to Coach Claude Jullian, there was no problem with chemistry or conditioning. 

"The one thing I can say is everybody came in really good shape, and that’s a real plus because when even the Providence players come in shape, the way we’ve asked them to come in shape, that’s a good sign," Claude reportedly said when asked for his impressions on the first days of camp. 

"That’s what was probably more impressive, is that we've got some really good players that seem to understand what it takes and what we expect from them - and it showed on the ice, I thought we had pretty good pace today for the first day."

As for his thoughts on the top 6 offensive players on this Bruins squad, Jullian's words were nothing but approving. 

"We traded for those guys not to say ‘you guys are on a tryout’ but to put them in spots where we think they can fit in. This is what training camp is for; we’re going to give them that opportunity to maybe build some chemistry, get to know each other a little bit better and at one point we are going to have to make a decision whether it’s seems to suit our needs or not."

These line parings are obviously not final. This is mainly because of the structure of these camp sessions. On each day, the entire team consisting of starters and bench-warmers is split into 2 groups. The first skates for 1 or 2 hours fighting through a high tempo practice before they leave the ice, allowing it to get refurbished and cleared to allow for the second group to come on. Of course, all the projected lines were placed in the same group as each-other and in fact most of the starters played in group one. 

But as was said before the attention was not placed on guys like Carl Soderberg or Jordan Caron. For those watching from the Garden grandstand seating, all eyes were on the top 6 and while coaches can give their impressions, only the players can really tell you what THEY think of their situation. But good news Bruins fans, when you compare the statements made by Bergeron to those made by his coach they are both based off of nearly identical skeletal bases. All be it, Bergeron did slightly elude to the fact that there is no way that you can build much chemistry in 1 simple skate.

"Felt pretty good - you can tell, obviously that Loui is a great player and he has great speed and great skill, so I'm very excited to have him with us," Bergerion said. "It's obviously the first practice, so we've got some work to do on the chemistry but still, I thought it was pretty good and fun to see these two guys on my side."

"I think we're all smart players and can figure out where to be on the ice and read off of each other, so I think [chemistry will take] a little bit of time, but not that much; games will be the best indicator of where we stand and help us the most."

Last season, Loui Erikkson used the same speed that Bergeron noticed to his advantage scoring 12 goals an 17 assists as he served as one of the few bright spots on a pathetic Stars team. 

"It's great to have this time right now to get used to each other and learn how each other play," Brad Marchand eventually added "Who knows if this is what they'll be during the season, but for right now, we're going to use this time to our advantage and really get to know each other."

"He's a great player, he's shown that in the past and you can see that just by watching him out there on the ice so it will be a lot of fun playing with him…I'm sure he'll complement us very well." 

Stats are not tracked in training camp but according to the accounts of Bruin writer: Caryn Switaj it seemed that at least judging by levels of chemistry, Bergeron, Marchand, and Eriksson won out as the best line overall. 

You hope that [the chemistry] is there immediately, but obviously it's something that no matter who you play with, it's something you have to work at," Milan Lucic who skated with newcomer Iginla said. "I think all three of us are determined to make it work and find that chemistry. As you know, its a guy I've looked up to as a teenager and the way that he plays. It's pretty cool to be sitting here talking about him being my linemate," 

But as cool as it is, with Iginla essentially replacing Nathan Honton, the kind of play that Lucic had become accustomed to from the right side of the ice will not be there in 2013-2014. Iginla is a guy who historically wants the puck alot more than Horton did. Iginla has often been known to score 30+ goals in a season while Horton is more often than not a 20 goal guy. In addition to that Iginla likes to lead and use his speed and agility to get around guys rather than run through them. This is both good and bad for the Bruins. It means that he takes a few fewer penalties than Horton did but by default that means that without hitting as much, this limits the number of odd man rushes played by this Lucic/Krejci/Iginla line by not taking as many guys out of specific plays. 

Before long, hockey will be back, the blood will return to the ice and the fists will still fly out of the Bruin's gloves. The goals will still flood forth of the sticks of men dinning black and gold jerseys and all will be right in Beantown. The Bruins will still contend for the Stanley Cup and while some members of this Bruins team have come and gone, the core that has revived the culture of winning on Boston ice the will STILL be there. 

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It still hurts: Several Bruins come forward speakng about 'moving on' after Game Six loss

17 seconds. 

17 seconds is all it took for the Bruins magical run to the Stanley Cup Finals to end. 17 seconds. Over the course of 17 meager ticks of the clock, the sacrifice by Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron, and the OT heroics that guided the Black and Gold back into summer hockey for the second time in 3 seasons was flushed down the drain.  

With 1 minute and 16 seconds to go in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Boston Bruins had the lead in the game that they had to win. It was game six and the series was tilted 3-2 in Chicago's favor and long story short, a loss would give the Hawks the Stanley Cup.  The Bruins had the lead off of a Milan Lucic goal and in the minds of nearly everyone in the hockey world; it was time to pack your bags for Game Seven. 

Yet in the blink of an eye, time seemed to stop as in a psychotic scrum in-front of the Boston net  the puck somehow found its way through to tie the game with a little over a minute to go. But all the damage was not done. 17 seconds after the Brian Bickall goal, Tuukka Rask found himself caught out of his net meaning that with 59 seconds left in Game Six, everything had changed. The Blackhawks had flipped the score and now led 3-2 Rask was pulled for the extra attacker but that frantic attempt would be for not as when the clock hit 0, the score had not changed. The Chicago Blackhawks had won the Stanley Cup, the Bruins had not. 

Almost 2 months after that gut wrenching game, the memory of the celebration that followed the conclusion of the contest are admittedly still fresh in the minds of this Boston roster.

During a Shawn Thornton organized "Putts & Punches for Parkinson's" golf tournament, ESPN's Joe McDonald caught up with Bruins: Tuukka Rask and Danial Pallie.   

"I definitely got some time to reflect on the overall picture and it's definitely a little bit disappointing in the result we have, but we can move on and make sure we learn from that mistake," Said Paille as Rask nodded in agreement. "Right after, you just want to forget about it and not think about it," he said. "Then in the first few weeks you're trying not to think about hockey at all, but I still find myself thinking about it and how much it sucks. Everybody knows what the situation was with our guys being hurt and stuff. We definitely left everything out there, so there are no regrets or no feelings that we should have done something differently and I think that helps the healing process."

Rask then spoke.

"You can always be better, right?" added Rask. "And looking at last year, I don't think we played our best hockey but we still somehow made it to the finals. A lot of things have to click. You have to play as a team and all kinds of stuff has to happen, but if you look at the roster I can't see a reason why we couldn't be better." And he has a point. 

When you look at this Bruins roster statistically, they are even better than the one that got farther in the playoffs than 30 other teams. They dumped Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverly and got Loui Eriksson in return in a big trade with Dallas, then after losing Nathan Horton to Columbus, they finally snagged Jarome Iginla, while resigning both Rask and Bergeron to max 8 year contracts. Though the Bruins would lose Andrew Ference before all was done, a happy fact remains ever so ridged. The Bruins are a better team today than they were 2 months ago. 

"From what I'm told, it should be a seamless transition with the guys we're bringing in," Thornton said "With Loui Eriksson, both Axelsson brothers texted me and told me how great a guy he is and how much we're going to love him." 

But for this team there is one more facet that might shoot the Bruins in the foot: chemistry. When Jaromir Jagr came to this team at the Trade Deadline in April, the core group mentality seemed to get to him as he scored just 2 goals in Boston before he was let go in July. Fact is when you think about it, the core group of Chara, Bergeron, Lucic, Marchand, Seidenberg and company that brought their team to the Cup Finals in 2011 had not changed at all since that grand day that they hoisted the cup in Vancouver. Yet over the course of this off-season, it has. They have lost their praised young scorer: Tyler Seguin and seen Nathan Horton skate away from the team. Andrew Ference could not be resigned and while he may not REALLY be a huge Bruin for life kind of guy, Rich Peverly is gone to.  

Now don't get me wrong, the Bruins have replaced this talent but what they never will be able to replace is the chemistry. The camaraderie that is built from hours on the road will never return. All that they can hope for is that they can forge new bonds and connections that hopefully will translate into the "defend your teammate" atmosphere that has made this Bruins team so great to watch over the past few seasons. 

"Yeah, definitely some big changes from last year," Paille said. "For myself, I don't want to change too much. I want to continue the trend I had last year and build off that. If an opportunity comes up where I'm able to take advantage of the situation where I could play that third-line spot, I definitely will, but I'm not quite sure what the circumstances are going to be at this point. I'm not really going to go with too many expectations. I'll go into training camp and see what the position will be. I definitely have no problem playing with Soupy and Thorty because we've done so well in the past." 

Since Pallie came to the Bruins in 2009-2010, he has progressively increased his poise but exploded in this 2013 season as with his 10 goal 48 game season had him on pace to score 17 goals in a regular 82 game  year. 

"I don't think anybody will dispute that, [the Bruins look better in paper]” Paille said. "We definitely want to get that chemistry going, especially early on with [new teammates], and we'll definitely try to progress as much as we can throughout training camp and build throughout the whole season."

 Thornton then spoke right as Pallie concluded his statement. "I like where our team's at. On paper it looks great, but paper is one thing, we have to perform, still. I'm excited about the upcoming year." 

2 months ago, the Blackhawks ripped the Bruins hearts right out of their chests with 17 of the most historic seconds in hockey history. They broke the hearts of millions of Bruins fans while bringing smiles to the faces of millions of their own followers...all with 17 seconds of glory. 2 months later, the sting of that late night defeat has not gone away but for the Bruins they are almost ready to move on.  

It still hurts but with just 1 month separating them from training camp, it is time to shove away the pain and throw it on some other team next June.  

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Who is Loui Erikson: Why Claude Jullian will love the Bruins replacement for Tyler Seguin

Its a fact: Claude Jullian and Peter Charelli never really liked Tyler Seguin. In fact they hated him so much that they were willing to trade away a guy who literally undermined everything that Claude stood for gaining instead a guy of slightly lesser skill yet still one who might as well be Jullian's son.

Born on July 17th 1985, Erikson, now 27, has played 4 more years of NHL hockey than Seguin did and through those 4 years has literally been Mr. Consistency. The Stars always knew what they were getting out of him. 36 goals in '09, 29 in 2010, 27 in 2011, 26 last year and 12 in this 48 game shortened season. Through the last 5 seasons, Eriksson has missed just 3 games and all of them were in one season. He has no relay history of injury and unlike countless players on the Bruins roster will not be a guy you have to worry about concussions with. He reliably scored upwards of 70 points in a year and despite his natural position being left wing has shown he can perform at any position (a fact that the Bruins will love seeing as at this point in time they pretty much have NO right wings.)

Nevertheless while we all know Eriksson may be the guy we have been waiting for (ie. a 30+ goal scorer) but really the underrated facet of Eriksson's game may be his ability to play defense. You see while in time, Seguin's speed may develop into a useful tool to assist him on the back-check, the departed Bruins draft pick was definitely one of those guys who would wait at the blue line and let other guys work the puck out in order spring Seguin up on a breakaway. For Coach Claude, that style would be hard enough even if Seguin scored on those plays yet what made things harder for Bruins coach was the fact that no matter how hard Seguin tried to position himself for a breakaway, he never was the 50 goal scorer he had the potential to become and that's a problem. 

In Claude's eye's, Tyler Seguin might as well be a monster walking the earth, while another name on the Bruins roster in the complete and total opposite: Patrice Bergeron.

Now a 9 year veteran of the NHL, the former 2nd round pick by the Bruins, plays a very similar style to that of Eriksson, all be it with a little less emphasis on the scoring aspect of it all.  He will spring out on a breakaway if given the opportunity but not afraid to go work in the corners, not afraid to take a hit to make a play. 

"He's an unbelievable guy, the perfect Bruin" Claude Jullian once said and judging by the standard set up by various signings by the team, that could not be more true.  

Nevertheless as Bruins fans learn more about Eriksson, the Boston front office is already singing the praises of their incoming budding star. 

"Loui’s a big, strong skating, left-shot, right wing. He can play both sides, but he would be playing right wing for us. He's had four [straight] seasons of 25-plus goals. We got a real good two-way player," Peter Charelli said last night. "I had a certain idea of a player and the type of player that we want," he then went on to say when asked for some insight into the trade.  

Nevertheless as I hinted at before, the one big dilemma now spread before the Bruins organization is: where to play Eriksson? In those 9 years in Dallas, he played his natural position: center. Yet with his talents now shipped off to the B's, he may be used to fill a crucial hole in the Bruins lineup: right wing. 

"With Nathan [Horton] gone, we've got to look to our right side to see and assess how we are going to reconstruct the right side. We got some players from within that may be able to fill. I want to do a sweep of these players that will be available in trades and free agency. I’d like to think that we’re a destination for an older player - old, relatively speaking - that wants a chance to win. So I've got to canvas that. It’s about turning over all the stones and going through the free agent list player by player. We’ll have our [staff] in here. We met all day [Tuesday]. We will meet again [Wednesday]. You make calls and you gauge how the market’s going. You act when you think you have to act. I’m going into it with the approach that we are going to be diligent in talking to these guys and seeing what the trade opportunities are also."

So      Horton gone, Jagr likely soon to follow and now both Tyler Seguin AND  Rich Peverley traded away, the Bruins right wing position is mostly empty: MOSTLY! This is where the versatility of Eriksson once again will likely make Claude Jullian smile. If the chips fall as they stand, the Bruins will begin next season with Eriksson playing with either Bergeron and Marchand or Krejci and Lucic therefore filling the roles of Seguin or Honrton respectively. 

Seguin is gone, off to places where he will hopefully someday thrive. In the words of Peter Charelli "he is a good kid" but the Bruins were never the team for him so, not wanting to delay his success any longer, the rid themselves of the controversy and speculation surrounding Seguin gaining in return a guy who will probably not score 40 goals but will regularly get you 25 or more. For the Bruins and Loui Eriksson, this is a match made in heaven and as a fan, i cannot wait to see this one pan out. 

"These are moves that are predicated on being a successful franchise going forward and making the prudent moves in a timely manner so that you can capitalize the market as it stands. Let me say a little bit about Tyler, because I think Tyler comes in here with much fanfare. He’s a real nice kid, dimensional speed, dimensional skill and he’s only 21. He’s got the whole world ahead of him. Probably better suited as a center but he did well for us as a winger. We find ourselves a little bit - because of the cap going down - we've got to make some hard decisions so we got some very good return and lower cap numbers with trading Tyler. I had a talk with him. I think he understood - maybe in five years, he’ll understand better. He’ll thrive there [in Dallas] and he’ll thrive playing center." ~ Peter Charelli on Tyler Seguin

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