Finding a Way to Win

Injuries happen in sports. That's the nature of athletic competition. The questions isn't, is someone going to get hurt? But rather, when is someone going to get hurt? Who will it be? And how long are we going to be without them?

The injury bug can shatter a team's chance at success. The Chicago Bulls, a team that seemed to be on the cusp of asserting themselves as the best team in the NBA Eastern Conference, have been decimated by the losses of Derek Rose and Luol Deng over the past two seasons and seem poised to remain sequestered in irrelevance.

The Green Bay Packers, who have made it to the playoffs each of the last 4 years, stand on the outside of the NFL playoff picture looking in after the loss of All-Pro Quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Somewhere Matt Hasselbeck rejoices.

We're gonna take the ball and we're gonna... throw a game ending interception.

The Boston Bruins are currently missing Chris Kelly, Dougie Hamilton, Loui Eriksson, and Adam McQuaid for substantial periods of time and consequently...

Oh wait... the Bruins are currently sitting atop the Eastern Conference with a three game lead over the Montreal Canadians with a game in hand... Okay so maybe that was a bad example, but they're the exception right?

I mean, let's take a minute to look at the Boston Red Sox. The Sox were missing their best hitter, David Ortiz for the first month of the season. Star outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury missed about 30 games. And arguably their best pitcher for the first half of the season, Clay Buchholz, didn't pitch from June until September. Clearly this level of injury should... come again... what's that? They... they won the World Series? Well... this is awkward...

Injuries don't phase you when your hair also sweats

Okay we can talk about the Boston Celtics. They're essentially a collegiate team, right? They brought in Brad Stevens from Butler to coach a team comprised of seven players who have three years or less of NBA experience. The fact that All-Star Rajon Rondo, undoubtedly the best player on the team, hasn't played all season means that... means that they are sitting at 10-13 yes, but are currently 4th in the Eastern Conference and have went 6-3 over their last nine games...

Well at least we can talk about the New England Patriots, right? Danny Amendola has been unable to shake the injury bug that has plagued him his entire career. After missing the first 6 weeks of the season Rob Gronkowski saw his season ended on a low hit by Browns' safety T.J. Ward. The defense is reeling after the loss of nose tackles Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly, and defensive captain/inside linebacker Jerod Mayo. The Pats can't hope to... what? Go 10-3 with a perfect 7-0 record at home through 13 weeks? Sit in 1st in the AFC East with a strong bid for a first round bye?

Somehow Boston's sports teams have been able to overcome injuries which would have decimated the majority of franchises in their respective sports. The loss of superstars, team leaders and playmakers has done little to slow down any Boston squad.

You can look to a variety of factors for answers: excellent coaching adjustments that take advantage of available personnel, deep farm systems and practice squads that emphasize the same play styles and responsibilities as their professional sides, key acquisitions by management to fill holes in the roster.

When it comes down to it there is no easy answer to the amazing way in which Boston's franchises have overcome injuries. They've used different methods, relied on different players and tried different strategies, but, put bluntly, they've simply found a way.

That simple phrase seems to embody what Boston is all about. When times get tough, when the chips are down, when tragedy strikes, this remarkable city bands together and finds a way. This year it seems like the organizations that represent Boston have taken that lesson to heart.

All of this of course begs one major questions. What the hell is really in that dirty water?

One part nitrogen, two parts used syringes, one part sweet sweet victory

A Rash of Injuries to Test Bruins

After the injuries sustained in the Bruins vs. Penguins game on Saturday, the list only grew against the Maple Leafs the next night.

Here's a compilation video highlighting the major incidents in the brutal first period of the Penguins game.



Less than twenty seconds into the game against the Penguins, Bruins’ winger Loui Eriksson was on the receiving end of a crushing hit by Brooks Orpik.  Whether the Orpik hit on Eriksson was a dirty hit or not could be argued either way.  On one hand, you could say that Eriksson did not have the puck when the hit was delivered, making it a clear interference call.  The dirty hit argument would also claim that Orpik finished high, contacting the head.  On the other hand, it looks as though the puck was passing just under Eriksson’s stick just as contact was made and it is hard to tell whether Eriksson’s head was the primary point of contact.  Either way, the hit has put Eriksson out with his second concussion of the season.

As if losing a second line winger wasn’t enough, word of injury to Chris Kelly came after the game. A broken fibula is reportedly the result of this slash by Pascal Dupuis late in the second period.  Looking at the video, it’s hard to tell whether the slash was intentional.  While Dupuis was swinging at a bouncing puck around Kelly’s skates, it also came right after Kelly finished a hit on Dupuis.  Intent aside, Kelly was placed on Long-term IR and is set to miss 4-6 weeks.

The most notable event however, was the retaliatory actions of Shawn Thornton on Brooks Orpik following his hit on Eriksson.  Of course, right after I write a post about how Shawn Thornton isn't a goon, he goes out and performs the most goonish act of his career.  Thornton approached Orpik from behind, slew-footing him down to the ice and then proceeded to deliver two shots to his face as he was laying on his back, the second knocking him out.

Now I’m a big fan of Shawn Thornton, but his actions in this case are completely unjustifiable.  While Orpik may have had it coming to him after the Eriksson hit and his previous refusal to drop gloves with Thornton, this type of incident has no place in today’s game.  However, I still stand by my statement that this is not the type of player Shawn Thornton is.

He was clearly shaken in his postgame press conference addressing the incident.




Facing what will most likely be a pretty lengthy suspension, Thornton is the third Bruins forward who will be missing some time as a result of the events of this game.

The Bruins didn’t have much time to let the dust settle and figure out what their new forward lines would look like, seeing as they were scheduled to face the Toronto Maple Leafs the very next night.

This game only brought more bad news.  Dougie Hamilton left the game in the first period with what is being reported as a lower-body injury and has flown back to Boston.  It is likely that he will miss the rest of the road trip as the Bruins are set to face off against Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The Bruins depth will continued to be tested, even more so now that Hamilton will be missing some time and McQuaid has been placed on the IR.  With three Boston forwards slated to miss time, Ryan Spooner and Matt Fraser have been recalled from Providence to join Jordan Caron as fill-ins. Thankfully, the Bruin’s depth at the blue line has come up huge recently in the absence of McQuaid, and Johnny Boychuck.  Kevan Miller continued his strong play against the Leafs notching his first NHL goal last night.  Bruins coach Claude Julien is optimistic Boychuck will be returning to face Calgary on Tuesday.

This Canadian road trip and the games following will be a huge test for the Bruins.  At this point in the season, sitting atop the Atlantic Conference, the Bruins cannot afford to slip in the absence of these players.  However, if the Bruins can continue to get wins (as they did against Toronto last night) with a patchwork offense and a depleted defensive core, it bodes well for them moving forward.

If the Bruins can continue to play well in their absence, getting these players back will only provide them a boost in the New Year.  How the team responds in the face of this mounting adversity will speak volumes about the Bruins institutional depth and, more importantly, their heart.

The Bear is Back!

Last year the Bruin's launched a web-series titled The Bear and the Gang which chronicled the interactions between the B's mascot and various Bruins players, staff and personalities. If you missed any of last season don't fret, both first season episodes are still up on the teams site. (Claude Julien steals the show.)

Earlier today the team unveiled the trailer for Season 2...



So basically Season 2 is going to be even better - if that's possible. There's so much that's right with this video. Johnny Boychuk rocking the goggles from Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Loui Eriksson's face watching the Bear carrying a sheep through the locker room. (Although in fairness to Eriksson he really only has one face. I'm not lying look at how far down you have to go to actually see him smile.) Or perhaps Brad Marchand throwing out a sac tap that would make Ashley Schaeffer jealous.

Check it out and let us know what you think. And don't forget to tune back in when the second season begins on December...ish.

Bruins Sitting Pretty on Turkey Day

Falling just short of a third of the way into the season, “American Thanksgiving” is a time when teams can really start to get a feel for where they stand in their division and in the league as a whole.

By this time, many storylines have started to play out and patterns are starting to emerge. Offseason acquisitions have had time to gel with their new linemates (or defensive partners) and have had exposure to their new team’s system.  I figured now would be a good time to take a look at the Bruins season so far.

The obvious place to start is to take a look at how the Bruins’ biggest offeason moves (arguably the biggest offseason move in the league) are panning out.  Moving Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars, along with Rich Peverley, was a move that certainly made waves across the Boston sports community.  In return, the Bruins received Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith, as well as two other players who are currently playing (and playing quite well) in Providence, Joe Morrow and Matt Fraser.

Eriksson and Smith seem to be coming into their own on their respective lines, providing the effort and depth that the Bruin’s hoped to acquire through this trade.  Sporting a recent six-game point streak and hands like this, Eriksson will no doubt continue to make the Bruins better at both ends of the ice. With the addition of a more defensive-minded player to his line, Patrice Bergeron has been able to focus a bit more on his offense.  Though he has not been finding the net lately, that will undoubtedly change and the line of Eriksson, Bergeron and Brad Marchand will contribute immensely to the success of this Boston team moving forward.

The second biggest move the Bruins made coming into this season, was the highly publicized addition of Jarome Iginla, just a half-season after he snubbed the Bruins to go play with those two whiny stars in Pittsburgh (click that link, it’s a good one).  While, fans were understandably hostile when news of this acquisition first broke, at this point of the season, Iginla has won the majority of them over.  Stepping in to fill the vacant winger spot left by Nathan Horton on the Milan Lucic-David Krejci line, Iginla has been everything fans could have hoped for.  He’s brought both physicality and the ability to score along with the passion Bruins fans love to see in their guys.  

The third line features two players who have made a much bigger impact than expected.  Flanking Chris Kelly on the third line this year are Smith and Carl Söderberg.  Smith, coming over in the Seguin deal, has been a pleasant surprise almost doubling his point total last year as a Star, just 24 games into the season.

Söderberg is not exactly a newcomer to the Bruins as he got some playing time late in the season in the playoffs after coming over to from Linköpings HC of the Swedish Hockey League.  Söderberg has really come into his game so far this year, dropping the timid, finesse, Euro game for a more physical, aggressive style while still showcasing his soft hands and strong shot.  Of course, any kind of production from the third line is a step up from last year’s line, which was invisible for the majority of the season.

Depth on the blue line has also contributed to the Bruins success so far this season and is a major factor in their current position atop of the Eastern Conference.  With injuries to veteran D-men like Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid, the Bruins haven't missed a beat.  Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton have all continued to improve and show that they can be trusted to step up and not only eat up minutes, but contribute on the score sheet as well.  Kevan Miller has also stepped up as of late, playing some solid D against some top teams.

The biggest problem I see with the Bruins right now is their goalie situation.  While there’s no question that Tuukka Rask is one of the best goalies in the NHL, Chad Johnson makes me nervous.  I wouldn't call Johnson a sieve, but he is a rebound machine keeping the defense on their toes.  In the recent past, the Bruins have had solid goaltending from both their number one and two guys, whether it was Rask backing up Tim Thomas (and vice-versa) or more recently, Anton Khudobin backing up Rask.  There may come a time this season where the Bruins will have to consider taking a closer look at Niklas Svedberg (in Providence) as a backup.  Let’s just hope Rask doesn't go down because that could prove catastrophic for a Bruins team looking to make another deep playoff run.

All in all, if you're a Bruins fan, you have to be really excited about where the team is
right now and the kind of talent they have on their roster.  It’s still early in the season and hockey is an unpredictable game.  Teams can get red hot, other teams can completely fall apart and injuries can change the entire course of a season.  While it’s way too early for any kind of prediction, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Bruins are currently among the league’s elite teams.  Here’s to hoping they stay that way.

The great thing is after this many games last year, the season was already half over.

The even better thing is, we still have that two-week break in February for Olympic Hockey!