First off, that ceremony was great. It is so fun to be a fan of an organization so rich in history to be able to stretch generations as the Bruins did last night. To see Milt Schmidt grace the ice at the age of 93 was amazing, you could see in his eyes how proud he was. I was impressed with Jeremy Jacobs, Owner, as well. I thought he did an excellent job of recognizing how passionate the fans are about this team, and made it very clear he is not satisfied with one Cup. It gives a definite clear direction of where this fanchise wants to go, and as a fan, I could not be more excited. Last but certainly not least, Mark Rechhi. What an honor it was to route for him for the last few years. He is one of those guys you wish spent forever with your team. A great player, a great leader, and a great person. He was such a huge part of that cup run. Thank You Rex! On to the game....
There is no doubt who the standout was last night for the black and gold. Brad Marchand. He was all over the ice and that new two year contract is looking pretty good on him. He scored at 9:42 of the first period with a PP tally. He also had a handful of other chances, and made both Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen look silly on two gorgeous dekes. The Bruins came out hard in the first, rang the iron a few times but also missed the net on quite a few chances in the first. David Krejci was his usual crafty self as well last night. He is masterful with the puck. He slows the game down so well and passing lanes just open up for him. He will most certainly have to be at the top of the list come the end of the season as he will be a free agent. The rest of the first line, Horton and Lucic, seemed a little rusty last night. Although Nathan was robbed by Timmonen while falling away but being blocked with a wide open net. They will certainly gel with time and have the makings of a top tier line in the NHL. Patrice Bergeron looks very prepped to be in the discussion for the Selke Trophy again this year. (Best defensive forward) He was a beast on the back check and did a great job in the neutral zone. Another positive was that the Bruins power play picked it up as the game went on against an elite team witha n aggressive penalty kill. They started off by scoring with the extra man, then went cold for 2 power plays in a row. Black and Gold nation was saying, "Here we go again." Luckily the undisciplined Flyers gave us a few more chances (thanks Wayne Simmonds) The B's had much better puck possession and chances in the 3rd on those power plays. They were cycling the puck well along the walls, and unlike Thomas Cabaret, I mean Kaberle, Joe Corvo is not afraid to let it fly from the blue line. Z, Corvo, Boychuk, Ference and McQuaid give the B's quite a few options from back there that can shoot.
It looks like Philly did a good job of getting that rock in net they needed in Ilya Bryzgalov. I think there big question mark is their defense. We all know at some point Chris Pronger will go down with an injury (especially as he isnt 100% right now) and that leaves them quite a bit short. I think they have the tools to make up for the goal scoring they traded away with Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. Giroux, Van Riemsdyk, Jagr, Briere, Couturier, Read, and Voracek will do just fine lighting the lamp.
As expected, both teams had an incredible pace, but both seemed to lack the crispness we will see within a few weeks. We get Philly 3 more times this year, circle your calenders, as these teams seem to hate each other more as the year gets deeper. Now its time to revisit last years Eastern Conference Finals with the Tampa Bay Lightning coming to town Saturday night at 7:00. Be back here to get a recap and share some thoughts. Til next time!
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