Bruins About To Resign Marchand?

"According to the Boston Globe, the general manager of the Boston Bruins feels there has been progress in the quest to sign Brad Marchand. Peter Chiarelli wouldn't say much else about ongoing contract talks with the 23-year-old winger's agent."

The gist of the article was that the Bruins would eventually resign their only restricted free agent. The question is how much. Most people think it will be in the 2-3 million range. The Bruins are close to the cap, so they have to be careful here. Marchand is an interesting guy, because as good as he was in the playoffs his 41 regular season points put him in the $1.5-$2 million range, but the way he played in the playoffs will get him somewhere over two. My best guess is a 2 year deal for about $5 million.

No matter what the Bruins can't afford to lose this guy, and I hope a deal gets done soon.

Bruins 4, Canucks 0

It didn't truly feel real until I saw Tim Thomas holding the Conn Smythe trophy. I've seen Thomas before, many times. I've seen the Conn Smythe as well. But when I saw that man and that thing together in the same frame, that's when it fully hit me what had happened.

The Bruins are Champions. Not Adams Division Champs, not Conference Champs. They didn't win the Presiden't Trophy, they won the Stanley fucking Cup. For the first time since 1972. For only their 6th time in history (remember, for a few decades there were only 6 teams in the League). The redheaded stepchildren of Boston sports are now the center of the Hub.

It started and ended with Thomas. His Finals numbers were unreal. A 1.15 GAA, and a .967 SV%, with two shutouts. All this against the best offense in the NHL. Thomas' season will go down as one of the best in the history of his position. The kid from Michigan whose career bounced around from Vermont to Houston to Finland to Hamilton to Sweden to Detroit to Providence and finally to Boston. What a great story, what a great player.

Then the defense. How monstrous were Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg in the postseason? Chara was a +16 in the playoffs and a +5 in this series. That's against the best players in the League. Against the Sedins, against Stamkos and St. Louis. He was +16!

Every forward contributed at some point. Horton's big game-winners. Ryder had a few huge games. Seguin's breakaways. Marchand's introduction to the NHL as a grinder and a scorer. Bergeron, Recchi, everyone had at least one big, vital performance in one game. And guys like Marchand and Peverley seemed to repeatedly come through in the clutch. 11 playoff goals for Marchand.

The same goes for defensemen like Boychuk, Ference, and McQuaid. Kaberle's biggest contribution was probably holding the Cup while his teammates drank from it. But who cares?

This is just a surreal feeling. This wasn't supposed to happen, right? Even when every other team in Boston was winning, the B's were lousy. They were the butts of jokes. They were the ones who couldn't get it done. And now they're part of the club, part of the best decade for any city in the history of sports.

On June 16, 2001, the Red Sox were on their way to another 2nd place season behind the Yankees. The Patriots had just used the 6th overall pick to draft Richard Seymour, and were hoping to recover from a 5-11 season under 2nd year head coach Bill Belichick. The Celtics were reeling from a 36-46 season that saw the departure of Rick Pitino. Boston sports were in a dark period.

Now look at where we are on June 16, 2011. We're preparing for another parade. Our Police Department has more experience in controlling Championship rioting than any other in the country. The longest active title drought belongs to the Patriots, who haven't won since all the way back in 2004. What a time to be from Boston.

Thank you, Bruins.

-The Commodore

Bruins 4, Canucks 0

The series is 2-2. It's hard to believe that things are even, because things seem so lopsided at the moment. The Bruins outscored the Canucks 12-1 in the last two games. And the play on the ice has hardly seemed to favor the team from British Columbia.

The Bruins have taken the initiative. And they've been aided by their world class goalie, who has yet to be chased from a playoff game. Unlike Luongo, who is revisiting the taste of being a backup from the Chicago series of the Canucks' playoff run. That series saw Luongo not even have the character to sit on the bench as his teammates battled the Blackhawks. He watched in the dressing room, on TV, until Schneider got hurt.

We've seen Luongo's vulnerabilities exposed in this series. We've yet to even see if Thomas has any weaknesses. He stopped 38 shots in Game 4, after stopping 40 in Game 3. He's simply superhuman. I think he deserves the Conn Smythe right now, regardless of how this series plays out. No individual has affected the outcome of the Stanley Cup playoffs more than Thomas.

Then there's Rich Peverley. BMack quite accurately compared him to Troy Brown. And he has the same qualities. He can literally play in any role that is asked of him. He has the skills to be on the 1st line, the smarts to be on the 2nd, the grittiness to be on the 3rd and 4th, he can be on the PP on the PK, and he makes all these groupings better. You can insert him anywhere, and be better for it. He not only fits, he makes his teammates better.

And both Ryder and Marchand were overdue for goals, with as good as they've been playing. With Horton out, these two guys are the scorers who need to step up. And they did just that in Game 4. Ryder put himself in position to score several times before beating Luongo. And Marchand's looked excellent the last few games.

The series is 2-2, but the Bruins have the momentum, they have an answer between the pipes, not a question mark, and they have guys like Rich Peverley who can do just about anything.

Also, great job by the refs for keeping a lid on Game 4, without going nuts with the penalties. They called the blatant trips and high-sticks, and let the players play. Well done by them.

Game 5 Friday night in Vancouver.

Bruins 3, Lightning 1

Where would the Bruins be without Tim Thomas? He's not a nominee for the Hart Trophy (MVP). There's that whole "goalies have their own trophy" stigma. Yet without him, the Bruins aren't up 3-2 over Tampa Bay. They don't sweep Philly. And they don't even get past Montreal. They might sneak into the playoffs somehow, but only if they're lucky. He's carried the Bruins on his 37 year old back.

His save on Downie was...

No words to describe it... poetry. They should have sent a poet.

Actually, I'll describe it a bit. His balance is unreal. Wherever he throws his body, his center of balance remains constant. This allows him to flail his stick out, and not only stop the puck, but to have enough leverage to slap it away. If you want to design a 4x4 vehicle, design a chassis based on Tim Thomas.

The Bruins didn't win a beauty pageant last night. They won a playoff hockey game. It was ugly. The B's didn't make many plays. But they didn't screw up. Krejci once again got caught messing around near the blue-line, but it was a forced turnover that resulted in Tampa's goal-scoring breakaway, not an unforced giveaway.

Much later, two perfect passes from Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron found Nathan Horton and Brad Marchand. The goals looked so pretty. Which was ironic considering how much the Bruins had been struggling to make even the simplest of plays.

Seeing Marchand score reminded me of how important Patrice Bergeron has been this postseason. When he went down, we all knew that the Penalty Kill would suffer, that the best defensive forward was out, but I was also worried about Marchand. They just click together. Bergeron's play allows Marchand to play like himself. Marchand never has to help out Bergeron or Recchi. He can just focus on playing his game.

The Power Play is still like watching a pee-wee game. Though, I'm glad they're trying new stuff, like playing Chara down low. I remember the Flyers putting Chris Pronger in the crease in a 5-on-3 situation last series, and if the B's didn't have Chara to defend against him, the Flyers probably would have produced. The Lightning, however, don't have anyone who can withstand Zdeno Chara. So keep him down low, or maybe even roaming from half-wall to half-wall as the 3rd forward.

But so long as the Penalty Kill continues to excel (now 16 of 18 in the series), the special teams battle remains in the Bruins' favor. The B's don't need PP goals. The Lightning thrive on them. The Bruins killed 4 penalties, and although that wasn't what won the game for the Bruins, it's what DIDN'T win the game for the Lightning.

The Bruins Power Play might be frustrating, but the B's can win without it. The Lightning are incapable of winning without theirs.

Game 6, Wednesday night in Florida. I have goosebumps.

-The Commodore

Bruins 5, Flyers 1

No need for anxiety. No need for panic. The Bruins took care of business Friday night and let all their fans relax a little bit.

A few weeks ago, I stressed the importance of improvement in the playoffs. From game to game, from series to series. And the reason the Bruins are in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 is because they've improved.

Remember those painful turnovers in Games 1 and 2 of the Canadiens series? Remember Marchand and Horton playing with the jitters?

The turnovers stopped. Marchand and Horton were the Bruins' best forwards in the Philly series. The Power Play actually scored a 5-on-4 goal (eventually). Chara's fully hydrated. And Lucic scored twice in Game 4, ending a long drought.

It was a sweep, but it wasn't utter domination. Thomas stole Game 2. Game 4 was a nail-biter until the late stages. And in those tight games, the Bruins showed some character. They fought the tough battles, won most of them, and that's why they are where they are.

And it's nice sweeping, not just because it's easy on the nerves. Thomas gets a few extra days to rest. Chara and Seidenberg will be worked like mules, and they could use some time to recuperate. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for Bergeron to recover from a concussion. That's a huge loss.

Bergeron is the best defensive forward, best penalty killing forward, best faceoff taker, and he's become an offensive playmaker with Marchand and Recchi.

And against the Lightning, a defensive forward would have been nice to put on the ice against Stamkos. That will be an interesting series. Tampa Bay has some of the most talented forwards in the NHL. The Bruins have some of the best defensemen and the best goalie.

The series will start when the two Western series are decided.

-The Commodore

Bruins 5, Flyers 1

Well I won't sleep for the next 48 hours. Last year, the Bruins beat the Flyers 4-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the series. It was May 5th. And we know what followed.

However, last night we saw some of what makes the 2010-11 Bruins different from the 2009-10 team that choked so badly. Here are those differences:

#1 Tim Thomas:
Timmy has stopped 80 of the last 81 shots he's faced. He extended Game 2 for the Bruins, allowing them to win, even though they weren't the best team on the ice. Rask allowed 14 goals in the last 4 games of the series last year. He wasn't awful, though he wasn't that good. And he was nowhere near Tim Thomas' level.

#2 Health:
Last year, Seidenberg was out. So was Krejci. And Lucic was nursing an injury. This year, the Flyers are hurt much more. Without Pronger, they're a different team. I'd be shocked if Pronger doesn't play in Game 4, but how effective can he be? The Bruins have the good fortune of health at the moment.

#3 Marchand and Horton:
Horton has 2 goals and 3 assists in this series. Marchand has 2 goals and 2 assists. Last year, Marchand was a healthy scratch on the extended Bruins' playoff roster. Horton was golfing in Florida. This is the first postseason for both of them, and it doesn't show.

#4 Chara is Playing Like Chara
He's healthy. Whatever dehydrated him against Montreal has left his system. And so far, he looks much better than he did against the Flyers last year. His goal last night was classic Chara. Versteeg doesn't position himself right, Chara slips into the gap vacated, and fires a bullet over Boucher's shoulder.

But, we haven't seen the Flyers at their best yet. The 3-0 series lead is much closer than it suggests. One fortunate bounce for the Flyers on Monday and it's a 2-1 series lead. And at times on Saturday and last night, the Flyers looked listless and out of focus. Their 1st period last night was a joke.

History suggests that facing elimination, they'll bring their best effort. And we've yet to see how the Bruins will face serious adversity in this series. Rebounding from bad luck and bad games was what the B's failed to do last year.

And how will the Bruins deal with the inevitable pressure Philly will put on them. Last year, they relaxed. Will guys like Chara bungle a few plays? He did last year. It's up to the Bruins to execute, and truly put last year's collapse behind them.

Game 4 Friday night in Boston, on NESN.

-The Commodore

Bruins 2, Canadiens 1 (2OT)

How's your heart? Mine's still recovering from Saturday night's shenanigans. It took 89 minutes to determine a winner, but you can't say the Bruins didn't earn it.

Tim Thomas and Carey Price had two of the best goaltending performances of the playoffs. Price is the only Canadien that I respect. He and Thomas combined for 94 saves on 97 shots, which translates to a .969 save percentage. Thomas made his biggest save in the 2nd overtime period.

The three aspects of Thomas' game that combine to make him great are his balance, vision, and quickness. This save exemplifies all three of these qualities coming together to result in magnificence. His balance allows him to cut down the angle against Moen without committing to the shot. His center of gravity remains in his mid-section, which allows him to react to Moen's pass. Thomas actually does a better job reading the play than Ference. He starts moving to play Gionta before Gionta moves his stick to play the puck. Thomas' quickness allows him to get to the spot in time to not only block the shot, but to safely steer it to the corner.

But that play might not have been the save of the game.

This might have been Michael Ryder's best defensive game in a Bruins uniform, and not just for that play.

In order to succeed in the playoffs, a team needs to improve, from game to game, and series to series. The Bruins have done that in this series. They've stopped giving the puck away in dangerous areas. They're winning battles. They're getting bodies in front of Price. Ryder's actually playing. Horton is muscling people around. Chara is fully hydrated and once again a physical force. And Brad Marchand no longer looks like a rookie.

Marchand's goal was a prime example of Boston's physicality triumphing. The B's aren't going to get more big hits than Montreal. The Habs use their speed to inflict big hits, and to avoid them. But on Marchand's goal, the Bruins repeatedly won inside position, and it ultimately resulted in a goal. That's where the Bruins' strength can defeat the Canadiens' speed.

Things aren't perfect yet. It's hard to discuss faults and flaws after thrilling back-to-back OT victories. But there's plenty of room for improvement. The power play continues to struggle, which is fine because the PK is clicking beautifully. The Bruins have stopped turning pucks over on their defensive blue-line, but they need to take better care of it between the offensive blue-line and that Stanley Cup Playoff logo.

Then there's Kaberle. His lack of strength directly lead to Montreal's 3rd period goal. The Habs had been pressuring the B's for 10 minutes, but Kaberle's inability to push a puck to a safe area allowed Montreal to score. Kelly and Peverley have contributed so much more than Kaberle has.

I was glad that Horton and the first line scored the game-winning goal. But Lucic needs to show up. He's still floating around, hoping for some good luck. I wouldn't be shocked if he's injured because he looks like he did in last year's postseason, hardly skating at all. He needs to simplify his game, stop worrying about drifting into scoring positions, and play physical. The goals will find him if he just stays true to himself.

And Krejci needs to stop dangling and deking. Just shoot the friggin' puck. You're not going to trick Carey Price.

Thankfully, Game 6 isn't until Tuesday. Both these teams need some recuperation time. The Canadiens are facing elimination and that makes them very dangerous. Under Julien, the Bruins are 2-7 when they can eliminate a team from the playoffs. They're also 0-3 in Game 7's under Julien. So despite the 3-2 series lead, I'm hardly over confident.

-The Commodore

Canadiens 2, Bruins 0

A few days after a guy named Price shut down the Sox, Carey Price shutout the Bruins. I'm just glad the Knicks don't have anyone named Price.

It's been my mantra all season long. The Bruins give the puck away too easily in dangerous places. Their power play sucks. They have too much trouble entering the zone. The forwards aren't good shooters. All these problems were on display last night.

The two goals the Bruins allowed came off inexcusable turnovers. First, let's discuss Kaberle's mistakes.

He wasn't under enough pressure to justify his blind pass. The B's traded for Kaberle because he was a "puck moving defenseman." But last night, he moved the puck far too often. Instead of trying to win a one-on-one confrontation with a Canadien, he'd arbitrarily pass it to another spot on the ice, often a more dangerous spot.

Kaberle's second mistake was how hard he passed along the boards. It wasn't a soft dribbler to the relatively safe corner. It wasn't a hard screamer along the kickplate and out to the blue line. It was the perfect speed to set up a Canadien by the faceoff circle.

Kaberle's third and fatal mistake was to take a large circular route around the net. He vacated the slot, abandoning Tim Thomas to fend for himself against a pair of Montreal forwards. Three mistakes in one play. That's impressive.

Lucic's giveaway was a lot simpler, but no less stupid. There was no reason to try to outmaneuver Scott Gomez there. Just pass it back to the defensemen, or self-pass off the boards, but there's such little reward for so much risk in that situation. Lucic simply lost his patience, and tried too hard to make a small play.

That's why the Bruins allowed 2 goals. Why didn't they score any?

Give some credit to Price. Give some credit to nerves, as playoff rookie Brad Marchand had a few golden opportunities he seemed a bit too eager to slam home. Krejci was still in regular season mode, trying and failing to make his clever plays in the middle of the ice. Those don't work in postseason play. And Milan Lucic was a complete ghost for 2 periods. He didn't show up until the 3rd, and then his most important play favored the Canadiens.

The Bruins' power play was dreadful. But the penalty kill was good. I'll take that exchange. In this series, if the B's can emerge from a game even on special teams, that's a victory.

For the Bruins to win this series and go deep into the playoffs, they need their best players to show up. Lucic, Chara, Marchand, Bergeron, Recchi. They need to eliminate the mistakes they made last night. They need more ferocity, more energy, and more bloodthirstiness. When Montreal was on the ropes, the Bruins seemed to slow down. That's when they need to speed up. They need second chance opportunities on Price. They need to control the crease on both ends of the ice.

It's easy to say, not so easy to do.

Game 2 Saturday night at the Garden.

-The Commodore