The trade deadline has come and went. The Bruins didn’t make a huge splash when the clock ticked to 3:01pm EST. No Rick Nash, no Dustin Brown, no Zach Parise, no Ryan Suter. Instead the Bruins ended Monday with Brian Rolston, Mike Mottau and Greg Zanon, obviously adding more depth than superstar factor. To be fair, I am okay with these deals For Rolston and Mottau they gave up two prospects you probably never heard of. For Zanon they gave up someone you wished you never heard of: Steve Kampfer. That’s right everyone, Steve Kampfer is gone!
It’s going to be a good year afterall!
It is unknown at the time of putting this preview together if the newbies will play, but I’m going to go under the assumption that they will. Thankfully, none of the new players will be held up via customs and wait a week to play with their new squad *cough cough*Chris Kelly*cough*. With Nathan Horton and Johnny Boychuk nursing concussions and Rich Peverley’s MCL mending itself back to his knee, one would think that Rolston and Zanon will be on the ice. I’m unsure about Mottau, but it could be the case where he plays over someone like Joe Corvo.
Though Joe Corvo has basically told Turris that he’s going to kick the shit out of him on the ice:
“That’s ridiculous. I think if you look back at the game before [in Boston Jan. 31], I hit him clean in center ice…I made it a point not to get my elbow up in his face. But apparently he didn’t give me the same courtesy. So, let’s just say I’ll be looking for him right off the bat.”
If you missed the game the other night, here’s the hit on Corvo.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEpf5uVCu20&w=640&h=360]
Of course in the Brendan Shanahan era, that’s a perfectly acceptable hit unless it was done by a Bruin. The Bruins are lucky that Corvo didn’t get seriously injured from that hit, unlike Johnny Boychuk who will now be out with a “minor” concussion. When will teams learn that concussions shouldn’t be labeled as minor or major. Concussions are concussions. Nathan Horton has a “minor” concussion and he’s been out for a little over a month. Sidney Crosby was originally diagnosed with a minor concussion and he’s played about 8 games in the calendar past year. So yeah, concussions aren’t minor or major, they’re just major. There’s nothing minor about a bruise on your brain.
Speaking of minor and major, about two weeks ago I tweeted if Bruins fans were more concerned about catching the Rangers or holding off Ottawa. A lot of people responded with catching the Rangers, but I wonder what they’d be saying now. Personally, I’ve always been worried about holding off Ottawa. There’s something scary about a team that has a good mix of young guys and veteran players who just seem to mesh well. Truth be told, if Ottawa had a real goalie they would be dangerous.
If you look at the standings, Ottawa is three points behind Boston though the Bruins have four games in hand. It’s definitely nice to have some games in hand on the team that chasing you, but none of those four games are automatic wins. Today’s game is Boston’s last game in February so I took it upon myself to look at March’s schedule. Here’s how that bad boy shakes out:
Boston has 17 total games in March. 6 of those are against teams currently in the playoffs (New Jersey, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, Florida, Philadelphia and San Jose). 5 more of those games are against teams fighting for a playoff spot (which could be the worst part of it, teams are hungry [Toronto (twice), Washington (twice), Los Angeles] and 8 are against teams that have little to no shot of making the playoffs (New York Islanders (twice), Buffalo, Tampa (twice), Anaheim). There’s also a three game west coast trip (hurray, 10:30pm EST starts!).
Tonight will also be the first time that the Bruins are trying to win back to back games since January when they beat the Jets and the Canadiens. It would be nice to put a little more distance between Ottawa, since it’s almost impossible to make up nine points and catch a red hot Rangers team.
Hey, at least we don’t have to see Steve Kampfer turn the puck over!
After the jump, the rest of the preview...
Project Lineup
Thanks to Daily Faceoff for the jerseys, fantastic website.
Note: 3rd line center is Rolston
2nd D pairing is Greg Zanon
bWo t-shirts
Get your bWo t-shirt before the second batch sells out! Stocked in all sizes S-3XL!
Media
Puck Drop: 7pm EST
TV: NESN
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Online Feeds: Here
Do You Know The Enemy
Game Day Video
GET HIM CHARA!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaY4UvMgvzg&w=640&h=360]
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