Fall Is Here – And So Are The Bruins!

Fall is, by far, my favorite season.  Cooler temps, beautiful fall colors and the country fairs all combine to make it great.  When you consider the added bonus of Boston sports, and, well- hello euphoric glow.

It is a great time to be a Boston sports fan.  The Red Sox are doing well and can clinch a playoff spot with just 1 win (with many other things happening- like an Indians loss).  The Patriots are playing, well, interesting football.  And now, and this is a biggie, the Bruins are back on the ice!

Preseason hockey is pretty basic.  You get a chance to see what the team could look like.  This season, with the trade of colorful players like Andrew Ference and Tyler Seguin, there is some intrigue surrounding our boys in black and gold. (I will freely admit to being bummed about the trade of Andrew Ference, he was one of my favorites, and I hope he does well with the Oilers.)

Bruins veteran goalie Tuuka Rask sat out the preseason opener Monday night but started Tuesday against the Capitals. We got a chance to see some of the newer guys protect the net. On Monday, we saw  Chad Johnson, who spent most of the 2012-2013 season with our very own Portland Pirates, play the first 29 minutes.  He didn't do so well, stopping only five of the eight shots he faced.  Rookie Malcolm Subben took over and stopped all twelve shots. Tuesday, Niklas Svedburg split the time with Rask and did well.  He stopped 6 in the shoot out win over a strong Washington Capital team and he stopped a grade A chance by Alexander Ovechkin during overtime.

New Players to watch- veterans like Jarome Iginla and Loui Eriksson will be solid additions to our offensive force.  Iginla scored twice on Monday, while Eriksson sat. On Tuesday, Eriksson was quiet, but was one of the go-tos for Julien during the shoot-out.  He missed.

You may recall some fireworks surrounding Iginla last season, when he opted for a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins, burning the Bruins right at the trade deadline.  I like to think that he had a change of heart after Boston marched through the Penguins during the playoffs last year, beating them in 4 straight games.  He will find a home in Boston and will be productive, hopefully for years to come.

The Bruins also return some big names from the 2012-2013 team.  Shawn Thorton, Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron (my personal favorite), Brad Marchand, and the big guy, Zdeno Chara will still be wearing the captain's "C".  Goalie Tuuka Rask can be counted on between the pipes and we can expect to see Gregory Campbell return to the ice, after the horrifying broken leg he suffered on June 5th.

The team that finished second last year is returning it's core group of players.  Add those guys to some promising veterans and new talent, and we should see a pretty strong Boston squad.

First two preseason games are in the books, both in the win column, 6-3 on Monday, 3-2 on Tuesday. Do they count?  No.  Do they matter?  Yes.

We see the talent, but we  also see where work is needed and that's the point of preseason.  The penalty kill was weak on Monday and Julien is quoted on Boston.com as calling Tuesday's game as ugly.  All hockey players, not just the Bruins, need to work on taking less stupid penalties.  Nothing I hate more than a stupid penalty, especially bench minors!

Anyway, it will be an exciting season!  Go Bruins!

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