Bruins Put Drubbing on Ducks, Where's Gordon Bombay?

The Bruins and the Ducks squared off at the Garden Thursday night and let's just say that the Ducks should have broken out the 'Flying V'.

It was all Bruins tonight as the B's put six pucks past Anaheim goaltenders, winning their second straight. The Bruins put three goals past both of the Ducks goalies. Where is Goldberg when you need him?

The Bruins were able to score six goals for the second straight game, as five different players lit the lamp.

Boston Goal Scorers:

Phil Kessel (26)

Michael Ryder (21)

Chuck Kobasew (13,14)

Matt Hunwick (4)

Byron Bitz (4)

It was Tim Thomas' second straight stellar outing. This time Timmy pitched the shutout, stopping 35 Anaheim shots.

The emotion was back with the Bruins obtaining solid goal tending, great goal scoring and how about the fisticuffs? Thornton, Lucic and Savard? Oh yeah, it was on tonight folks.

The Bruins will next face off against the Washington Capitals in a battle of the top two teams in the East. The game is Saturday night at the Garden and the home team has won each of the first three meetings. The B's own a nine point lead for the top spot in the Conference over Washington after Thursday night's play.

Let's talk rumors:
Today's hot trade rumor is Chris Pronger.

With defenseman Ryan Whitney coming to the Ducks, TSN is reporting that the Ducks will be looking to shed a defenseman's salary. Pronger could be that guy as he makes $6.5 million.

The Bruins, Devils, Flames and Maple Leafs are watching to see if the Ducks want to clear out the remainder of Pronger's $6.25M salary according to reports.

Pronger was in town tonight with the Ducks and was the first period intermission guest with Naoko Funayama. Pronger made sure to be careful in answering questions regarding the Bruins. He was very kind with his answers let's just say.

Six days to go, stay tuned.

Ryder Back Tomorrow: Rumor's Continue

Michael Ryder has missed seven straight games. According to GM Peter Chiarelli, it won't be eight. Ryder has been out of the lineup with facial fractures suffered on Feb. 5 against Ottawa.

Ryder, will most likely play with either a full cage tomorrow night against Florida, but at the very least will play with a visor. Ryder normally plays without facial protection.

According to the Ottawa Sun, the Blues haven't asked F Keith Tkachuk to waive his no-movement clause. However, the Sun reports that this may happen as soon as Tuesday.

The paper said Tkachuk would like to go to the Bruins, but the Bruins might not have as much interest in him.

*The Ottawa Sun is also reporting that the Bruins may be interested in Chris Neil of the Senators.

I don't see this happening as I don't see the Bruins going after a guy who has six points and who is a -12. But if it's thrown out there, I give it to you.

Fernandez to Start: Julien Calls Out Team, "Not as Determined"

Manny Fernandez will start tonight for the Bruins against the Tamp Bay Lightning. He will be matched against 22-year-old Karri Ramo.

*Fernandez's Line: 14-3-3, 2.15 GAA, .925 Save %.

*Rammo's Line: 1-3-1, 4.22 GAA, .889 Save %.

*Martins Karsums, will replace Vladimir Sobotka in the lineup.

*Claude Julien called out his troops in a sense. The Bruins have clearly dropped the intensity level as the season has progressed.

"The little things that make a big difference in the game aren't there anymore," Claude Julien said of his team's play. "We've addressed that. Hopefully we can turn the corner and start committing a little bit more. If we do that, I think we'll be a harder team to play against."

"It's been oncoming," said Julien. "We have to be honest with ourselves and know that our game is not where it was. To me, we're not as determined and committed as we were at one point of the season."

Boston on Kaberle's List: Timmy vs. Vokoun Tonight in Florida

The goaltending match-up for tonight's Boston and Florida tilt will be Tim Thomas vs. Tomas Vokoun.

*Vokoun is 19-17-3, 2.47 GAA, .925 save percentage

*Thomas is 25-7-5, 2.09 GAA, .932 save percentage

Thomas' GAA and Save% is tops in the leauge. The Bruins and Panthers are similar in that they play their backup goalies a good amount. Craig Anderson and Manny Fernandez are two of the best backups in the leauge.

* Through January and February, the Panthers have recorded 29 points, one more than the Bruins.

* Tonight will be Andrew Ference's 500th career game.

* The media has found out the 10 teams on Toronto's Tomas Kaberle's list of acceptable trades. Boston is apparently one of those teams.

I wouldn't put too much into this, as Toronto GM, Brian Burke has said Kaberle is not going anywhere.

*The Bruins go into tonight's game against the Panthers nine points up on both New Jersey and Washington for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bruins Practice Notes: 2/19/09

Not much to report today as the Bruins were just on the ice for 45 minutes today.

*One player not on the ice was Mark Stuart. Stuart traveled to his home in Minnesota for personal reasons. It is not known whether or not Stuart will be be back in Florida for Saturday nights tilt with the Panthers.

*Michael Ryder is traveling with the team but will not play on this road trip. He is skating, however, and is expected back in early March. Ryder is wearing a full cage at the moment and that may continue into game action.

The lines at practice today were as follows.

Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Blake Wheeler

Vladimir Sobotka - David Krejci - Phil Kessel

P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Bitz/Karsums

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman

Matt Hunwick - Shane Hnidy

Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez

The Rumor Mill, Two Weeks to Go: Murray Hearing Delayed Again

Two weeks to go folks. So what is new?

There is one guy up front and one guy on the back line that the Bruins are apparently paying a lot of attention to.

The forward: Erik Cole

The Erik Cole rumors are apparently hot and heavy. Cole fully expects to leave Edmonton before the deadline and he thinks Boston is a likely destination.

It has even been said that Cole could join the Bruins in the next week. I personally don't see it happening until March, but it looks like the Bruins are very interested.

The Defenseman: Jordan Leopold

The Bruins and Colorado Avalance are in discussions about bringing Jordan Leopold to Boston.

The 28 year old blue liner is in the final year of his contract and with the Avalanche sitting in the basement of the Western Conference standings Leopold is likely on the move.

Leopold is a puck moving, offensive minded Defensemen who could play the point on the Power Play.

From what I'm hearing around the league, both of these players would likely cost a third round draft pick and a mid-level prospect. Those mid-level prospects include Matt Hunwick, Vladimir Sobotka and Matt Lashoff.

From WEEI. com --

The NHLPA grievance hearing for former Bruins winger Glen Murray has been continued once again following another round at the NHLPA home offices in Toronto last week, according to NHLPA Executive Director Paul Kelly.

The multi-day hearings began in mid-January concerning Murray and a purported ankle injury at the time of his contractual buy-out by the B’s this summer.

The next Murray hearing date has been scheduled for March 12.

“The Murray matter is a multi-day hearing and we are between hearing dates,” wrote Kelly in an email to WEEI. com.“We hope to finish the case and receive a decision in the near future.”

Once the hearings have concluded, an arbitration ruling is expected to come down 7-10 days following the final day of hearings.

Murray was bought out of his contract this summer, but the team was still on the hook for a $1.38 million salary cap hit this season and next per rules of the CBA. The NHL CBA rules prohibit teams from buying out injured players, and Murray’s representation is now claiming that the veteran forward was injured at the time of the buy-out. The team could be on the hook for the $4.15 million owed to Murray in actual salary. A positive ruling for Murray could, however, potentially open up roughly $1.4 million in salary cap space for the Bruins next season.

MONTREAL IN BIG TROUBLE--
Finally, is everyone seeing what is going on in Montreal? It is crazy up there. The Habs have lost 10 of 13 games and have told Alex Kovalev to go away for the next two games. Rumors started to swirl late this afternoon that Kovalev may not play for Montreal for the rest of the season and he blames it on the "kids" on the team.

The Canadiens are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference but only sit one point up on eight place Buffalo.This is the team that was expected to make a cup run in their centennial season; wa-ha-at happened?

If you're a Bruins fan you have to love seeing a little trouble north of the border. Wouldn't it be something if the Habs fell to eighth place and it set up a first round match-up with Montreal. Ah, the theater.

Bruins Bounce Back to Get Win #40

With four straight losses the Bruins were eager to get going in Carolina. However, the pregame celebration for Glen Wesley carried on for what seemed to be an eternity and the Bruins started slow.

The first half of the first period had a slow and sleepy pace and it lead to a Carolina goal just past the half way mark. It was Ray Whitney finding Matt Cullen for the tally. Whitney collected the pass at the hip and was able to rip a wrister past Tim Thomas.

As the period ticked away the Bruins caught a break, when Eric Stall slashed Chuck Kobasew, putting the Bruins on the Power Play. Blake Wheeler, who started to show his old form in Nashville tied the game when a rebound from a blue line shot lay off the post. Wheeler buried and the Bruins and Hurricanes skated into the room tied at one.

In the second period with a faceoff coming in the Carolina end, David Krejci won the draw back to Shane Hnidy who threw a quick wrist shot at Cam Ward. Ward was not able to handle to shot and the Bruins took their first lead at 2-1.

The rest of the period was played with the Bruins having the best of the scoring chances, but no more goals were scored.

The third period was a tight battle until the final minutes. Boston was actually on the PK, but no fear, Krejci is here. Krejci picked up a pass and broke in on Cam Ward. Krejci was able to pull the puck to his backhand and beat Ward, stick side.

One minute later, with the Bruins on a Power Play, Zdeno Chara teed one up and beat Cam Ward. The shot from Z was tipped on the way in, giving Ward no chance.

With under one minute to go, Boston continued to pile it on as Patrice Bergeron scored an empty netter. The goal was the Bruins third goal in under three minutes. The goal by Bergeron, (empty net) was his first goal in nearly three months.

With the win the Bruins picked up win number 40 and maybe more importantly moved 11 points ahead of Washington and New Jersey for the top seat in the East.

The Bruins are off until Saturday night when they will face off against the Florida Panthers. Three days off in Sunrise, Florida? The Bruins should send a fruit basket to the NHL for that schedule making.

The Big Three: Who the Bruins are Heavily Scoping Over the Last Two Weeks

The Celtics have their version of the Big three so I thought I'd play with three names that have been thrown out a lot over the last 48 hours in terms of Bruins interest in a trade.

1) Erik Cole.

I've heard that thanks to the Bruins recent slide they are looking at Cole heavy. The Oilers are willing to part with Cole as it is thought that he will walk at seasons end. It is said that it will cost either Matt Hunwick or Vladimir Sobotka with a second round draft pick.

2) Cody McLeod

McLeod is a newer name on the list, but with the Avalanche falling out of the playoff mix they are starting to make players available. The Avalanche go on a six game road trip starting February 20 through March 2. The trade deadline is March 4 so this trip will make the decision clear for Colorado; buyers or sellers?

3) Keith Tkachuk

The big winger has been thrown out there, perhaps more than anyone. The question with Tkachuk is whether he would want to be traded. The Blues love Tkachuk and Tkachuk likes playing in St. Louis, so will the two part? I think given the right situation to compete for a cup Tkachuk wouldn't complain about leaving St. Louis. Tkachuk has Boston roots, playing at Boston University and is a big left handed shot, which the Bruins are looking hard at.

All three of these guys are left handed shots, which is the number one need according to the Bruins front office. There are plenty of other players in the mix for the Bruins also, and not only forwards. The Bruins have been said to be making calls on top blue liners in Florida and Anaheim. Two weeks to go, but the question remains; Deal or no deal?