Ference out for remainder of regular season

As we speculated last night after it was said Andrew Ference would not make the trip to Ottawa, Ference will miss the final four games of the regular season.Claude Julien said Ference will be re-evaluated prior to the start of the playoffs. Ference was injured against the Rangers on Saturday.

Tonight's lineup: Based on pre-game warmups:

Blake Wheeler - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Mark Recchi - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Byron Bitz

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Matt Hunwick - Steve Montador

Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Manny Fernandez

Tim Thomas

* Alex Auld (15-18-6, 2.50 GAA, .910 save percentage) will start in goal for the Senators.

Bruins dinged up heading to Ottawa

The Bruins practiced this morning and the key word was injuries.

Two Bruins will return from injury, while three others will miss Tuesday's match up with Ottawa.

Phil Kessel (shoulder) and Shawn Thornton will be back in the lineup Tuesday night while PJ Axelsson, Dennis Wideman and Andrew Ference will all miss the tilt.

Axelsson and Wideman are said to be missing the game for some "maintenance" while Ference appears to have a significant injury. From what I am hearing here, Ference will probably miss the final four games of the regular season.

Claude Julien on Ference...

"Probably the worst of the bunch will be Andrew Ference. He's getting evaluated further today, so we can know the severity of the injury. A lot of the guys that aren't playing it's really just maintenance. There's nothing serious there."

*In an early move, Manny Fernandez has already been named the starter for the battle in the Canadien capital.

*While the Bruins were arriving in Ottawa, the Senators were in Montreal facing off against the Habs. The Senators defeated the Canadiens 3-2.

Here are your updated Eastern Conference Standings through Monday night

1 z-Boston: 112 pts (4 games remaining)

2 y-Washington: 104 pts (3 games remaining)

3 x-New Jersey: 102 pts (3 games remaining)

4 x-Philadelphia: 95 pts (4 games remaining)

5 x-Carolina: 95 pts (3 games remaining)

6 Pittsburgh: 93 pts (3 games remaining)

7 Montreal: 92 pts (3 games remaining)

8 NY Rangers: 89 pts (3 games remaining)

9 Florida: 89 pts (3 games remaining)

z= Conference Champion

y= Division Champion

x = Clinched Playoff Berth

Bruins Clinch Conference Title

Congratulations to the 2008-2009 Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins will have home ice advantage in every series they play until the Stanley Cup Finals.

The B's still have something to play for over their final four games as they are currently one point behind the San Jose Sharks for the overall best record in the league.

Race for the Presidents trophy,

1 San Jose: 113 pts (4 games remaining)

2 Boston: 112 pts (4 games remaining)

Now let's look at the playoff picture as of 5:17 on Sunday afternoon.

1 z-Boston: 112 pts (4 games remaining)

2 y-Washington: 104 pts (3 games remaining)

3 x-New Jersey: 102 pts (3 games remaining)

4 x-Philadelphia: 95 pts (4 games remaining)

5 x-Carolina: 95 pts (3 games remaining)

6 Pittsburgh: 93 pts (4 games remaining)

7 Montreal: 92 pts (4 games remaining)

8 NY Rangers: 89 pts (3 games remaining)

9 Florida: 87 pts (4 games remaining)

10 Buffalo: 85 pts (4 games remaining)

z= Clinched Conference

y= Clinched Division

x= Clinched Playoff Berth

Thomas officially inks deal on day Bruins look to clinch Conference crown

*After signing his new huge deal, Tim Thomas will be in between the pipes today against the New York Rangers in a potential first round playoff preview.




With a win, or overtime loss, the Bruins will clinch the Eastern Conference.


* Phil Kessel and Shawn Thornton will be out of the lineup again today. Both should be back next week.


*Aaron Ward will not play today because of an undisclosed injury. According to Claude Julien, Ward suffered the injury on Thursday against Ottawa. Julien said the injury is not serious and that he expects Ward to play on Tuesday against the Senators.


~ Now from my expert take on the situation I am guessing it is a hand injury for Ward-o. He was seen shaking his hand on the bench after taking a shot off the mitt on a penalty kill.


*Steve Montador, will take Ward's spot in the lineup. It looks like Montador will skate on the fourth line and Matt Hunwick will take his spot on the blue line.

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Tim Thomas had a press conference this morning to discuss his new four year, $20 million deal.Some quotes from Tim Thomas' press conference this morning.

*Why stay in Boston?

"You have to think about, 'Would you rather go someplace else, or would you rather stay in Boston?' After weighing things over, over, and over, the answer always kept coming back Boston," said Thomas. "It's a great place to play. Great teammates. Great fans. I'm very happy to be looking at the next four years in Boston."

*On the length of the deal at his age, and the end of his career.

"I've never really felt like it was close," Thomas said of the end of his career. "I still don't feel like it's close. I still feel like it's a long ways away."

*Chiarelli on the cap numbers and trying to keep the team in tact."I'd like to sign everyone, but we have to make decisions over the summer," Chiarelli said. "We'll look at the performance of players, then we do the math. We've been doing the math from the time I've come here. That's a large part of the job. What is important to the organization is that we have terrific goal tending for a long time. Sometimes you have to put aside the math -- not completely -- and make the decisions like we did with Tim."

*Thomas on his thoughts of the deal?

"In hindsight, I'd have to say everything worked out perfectly," said Thomas. "Here I am in a great hockey town and in a great situation. I'm looking forward to the next four years, playing in that hockey town and for that organization. I'd have to say everything worked out as it should have."

Signing Tim Thomas brings more questions than answers?

Well, as all of you know by now Tim Thomas has been resigned with the Boston Bruins for four more years. This deal will extend until the end of the 2012-2013 season and Thomas will be 39 years old at deals end.

The deal is for $20 million over four years and is top heavy. Thomas will make $6 million over the next two seasons, $5 million in year three and $3 million in year four.

Now at first thought you say to yourself, wow this is fantastic. We are locking up a top goaltender in the NHL for four more years. Of course there is also the angle that nobody deserves this more than a long time journeyman like Thomas. However, maybe not so fast.

This year the Bruins have been able to take the top seed in the conference thanks to their young talent and great top six forwards. Yes, the defense and Thomas have been stellar but the forwards need to get a lot of credit. Last year the Bruins were challenged when it came to putting the puck in the net. Now, not so much.

So, as big a Bruins fan as I am I decided to do some homework. Now, remember those young guys that everyone has been raving about? The ones where everyone has said, hey the Bruins youth will keep us good for years to come, remember them?

Well, yes the may be young but, they're not that young. They have reached the point in their careers where they can enter free agency.

For example, this summer Phil Kessel, Daivd Krejci and Matt Hunwick will be restricted free agents. Then in the summer after the 2009-2010 campaign you will have Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler ready to test the free agent waters.

Those players are your top six forwards and then there is Hunwick who could be a top four defensemen on this team for years to come. If you are locking up Thomas for $6 million per over the next two seasons than needless to say, half of these guys are out.

Then it comes to the big two this summer, Krejci and Kessel. Who do you sign? The Bruins are tight against the cap as it is, and with this signing it looks like signing both may have flown by the wayside.

Then what about in the year after this, when it is Lucic and Wheeler up for a renewal? Not to mention Savard, Ryder and a guy like Andrew Ference.

Now, I know this is a cap era and every team faces these issues, but the young talent is supposedly how we have come this far correct? How can we keep the young guns like Kessel, Krejci, Lucic and Wheeler in tact if $6 million is tied up in Thomas?

Then there is Tuukka Rask, the man who is supposedly ready to become the Bruins goalie of the future. Apparently Peter Chiarelli doesn't think so as Rask will now be looking at backing up Thomas over the next four seasons, at oh by the way, almost $3 million a year.

Now, don't get me wrong I like Tim Thomas as much as the next guy, but doesn't this signing create some very interesting questions come July 1?

The hot stove will no doubt be sizzling this summer for the Bruins as they may have to do some wheeling and dealing to make sure they can salvage keeping their young core in tact.

Thomas deal, four years for $20 million

The Boston Globe is reporting that Tim Thomas' deal is for four years and a total of $20 million.

From the Globe:

According to a front-office member of an NHL team, Tim Thomas has signed a four-year, $20 million extension. Thomas will make $6 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11, $5 million in 2011-12, and $3 million in 2012-13.

Thomas earned $1.1 million in each of the last three seasons. Thomas is scheduled to speak at a press conference tomorrow.

REPORT: Bruins re-sign Thomas

It looks like John Buccigross' Boston roots have finally helped ESPN break a hockey story.

Buccigross and Matt Barnaby reported on ESPN SportsCenter that the Bruins will call a press conference this weekend to announce an agreement on an extension with goalie Tim Thomas.

The extension is expected to be for three years. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

More to come as details come available.

UPDATE: It looks like Thomas' deal is going to be in the neighborhood of $5.2 million a year. For a comparison, that is the money that Martin Brodeur makes currently. Brodeur is currently the 11th highest paid goalie in the NHL. That would give you a feel for where Thomas will be paid in terms of starters in the league.

The deal should be confirmed tomorrow morning before the Bruins face-off against the New York Rangers.

Bruins double up Senators for 50th win

The Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at the Garden by a 2-1 final. Before the puck even dropped on tonight's game, David Krejci was a winner. A winner of the Bruins '7th Player Award,' voted on by the fans.

The Senators were here to play, however, as just over five minutes into the game, the Ottawa Captain lit the lamp. Daniel Alfredsson used a screen in front of the net to beat Tim Thomas for his 24th goal of the season.

With the Senators out in front by a goal, things were pretty restless heading into the first period intermission.

Early in the second period, Boston got things turned around when Milan Lucic ripped a wicked slap shot past Alex Auld. Lucic's snipe was his 17th of the season.

In the final minutes of the middle stanza, Jarkko Ruutu took a run at Tim Thomas and his teammates didn't like it. Especially, one PJ Axelsson. Yes, Axelsson, who is not known for being a tough guy, jumped on Ruutu and then others joined. Shane Hnidy was the guy who ended up looking for blood, but the officials stepped to brake up the fracas.

Boston came out for the third period and quickly took it to the Senators. Just three minutes into the third, it was Marc Savard netting his 24th goal of the season on a nice feed from Axelsson.

After the Bruins took the one goal lead, it was Ottawa who carried the rest of the third period play. However, the Senators were not able to beat Thomas.

Then with 1:55 to play in the game, Mark Recchi went to the box and Ottawa pulled Auld for a six-on-four advantage. The Bruins were able to hold off the Senators, as Thomas made a great save on Alfredsson with just seconds remaining for a Boston, 2-1 win.

The win gave Boston their 50th of the season and moved the Bruins magic number to one for clinching the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are nine points up on the Washington Capitals with five games to go.

The Eastern Conference is a lot more interesting at the bottom of the conference.

Here's a look...

1) Boston - 110 points (5 games remaining)

2) Washington - 101 points (5 games remaining)

3) New Jersey - 98 points (5 games remaining)

4) Carolina - 93 points (4 games remaining)

5) Philadelphia - 92 points (6 games remaining)

6) Pittsburgh - 92 points (5 games remaining)

7) Montreal - 90 points (5 games remaining)

8) New York - 89 points (4 games remaining)

9) Florida - 87 points (5 games remaining)