...What the...

After the Habs had their fun with rigging the All Star votes, the league FINALLY decided to take some action.

Well gee, thanks, guys.

Now that, you know, the damage has been done and their lead is insurmountable. I implore each and every one of you who reads this blog to VOTE FOR THE BRUINS IN THE ALL STAR FAN BALLOTING! We can't just let this happen. It's ridiculous.

Now, to more fun matters, ie: the clobbering we laid on the Montreal Canadiens last night. All legitimately, might I add (no, I am not angry, why do you ask?). Firstly, I recommend that all of you watch the video on this page entitled 'Fighting for unity.' Therein lies Mr. Marc Savard's postgame interview. He talks about team unity, beating the Habs, taking Don Cherry to dinner and his relationship with his stick. It's a definite 'must-watch.'

Seriously, though? Last night was proof that this team is no joke. All our top players were top players. All our fourth liners were top players. And Manny Fernandez? I mean, COME ON! This is what we were looking for when we signed the guy. Granted the one goal he let in is one that I'm sure he wants to have back...he was still very, very solid in net. I'm almost sold on him. Almost.

Good old fourth line.

Flying under the radar, as per usual, is the play of Marco Sturm. Finally back to his goal scoring ways, I think this will be the breakout season that was expected from Mr. Sturm. Which is good, because we need him to continue rolling on. Also not to be lost is the absolutely solid performance of Stephan Yelle. And Shawn Thornton. Those guys round out what has turned into a pretty darn scary Bruins lineup. And I really, really think that we finally have a team that's capable of running away with things. Someone who will be sorely, sorely missed over the next few games: Andrew Ference. He was having an incredible season. Figures it would be a game against the Canadiens that we lose him for a stretch. Here's hoping Hunwick can pick up the slack, and Ference can pick right up where he left off when he comes back.

One last thing before I depart...

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

I'm very, very surprised I got through that post without a harsh word to a Montreal Canadiens player, but I did. Go me.

When you're hot...

Wow. Manny Fernandez was spectacular last night, wasn't he? For awhile, I was pretty sure that it was Timmy in a Manny suit, but...he just played a solid game, and I'm actually pretty pleased with that. Is this me starting to soften toward my arch-nemesis Manny Fernandez? I think it might be...but only if he keeps it up like this. Let's hope this is Manny being Manny, because this Manny? I can learn to tolerate. Reflex saves, instinct saves and just all around good, key saves when they were called for...that was the first time he played like the $4,000,000 goaltender we asked for when we picked him up.

Two solid goaltenders makes for a good season...

What to talk about next? Ah yes...you know I had to say his name eventually, since hardly a blog post goes by when I don't mention Marc Savard. Yeah, we've sort of come to expect amazingness from him now, but he really does never let us down. He plays with so much heart and he never lets us forget how happy he is to be playing for us. He really is the very best centermen that we've had in a long time. That's right, Jumbo Joe, I went there.

Not to be lost is what Michael Ryder does on a nightly basis. He may not be putting up goals, and sometimes he doesn't get assists, either, but you know what? He's playing solid hockey right now. Doing the best he can with what he's given. Give it time, and I'm sure he'll be back to his goal scoring ways. I really wish that they'd put him back up on a line with Marc Savard, because they really did work well together. Phil Kessel worked so well on that line with Sturm and Bergeron, so I don't know why they'd break up a good thing. But alas.

Oh...and yes, Dennis Wideman.

Easily our best defenseman right now.

I don't care what anyone says. Dennis Wideman is our best, all around defenseman right now. He can go from O to D at the drop of a pin and he's just solid, solid, solid. He's been absolutely amazing and I can't even believe how far he's come in the short time that he's played for us. He went from dog house to amazing in one-and-a-half seasons, and he's definitely living up to that contract extension we gave him in the offseason. I'd love to see anyone come up with a feasible argument as to why he's not our number one.

Also, welcome back, Chuck Kobasew. He just stepped right in and remidned us why we missed him so much. Yes, it was bad that Petteri Nokelainen had to be stratched in order for this to happen, but Chuck is back, and Noke is there just in case something happens to anyone else. Chuck was all over the ice last night. Throwing his weight around, scoring goals, notching assists...what a kid (she says of the guy who's two years older than she is).

Finally, this whole Glen Murray situation breaks my heart. He is still my favorite player, but the fact that he's going for full salary here, when he certainly doesn't deserve it, is just awful. He underperformed last season, plain and simple. And if this injury was so bad last season, and needed immediate attention, why was he shopping himself to teams in the offseason under the claim that he was healthy? He really just wants to take us for what he can get, and it's really disappointing.

Back to the happy, before I depart. The Bruins have won seven of their last games, and have given up no more than two goals a piece in each of those games. This team right here looks like a team poised to really make a run for it. Solid O, D and G, and a fanbase that's finally beginning to take notice. This is our season. I can feel it.

Trades of favorites are not fun things.

I had a clever writeup about Saturday's game in my head and the fact that Marc Savard tried to singlehandedly bring us back from a 4-1 deficit to win (by the way, I believe I mentioned that this year was the year of the Savard. I wasn't joking). I was going to throw it together, but then I saw this.

Boston, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has traded defenseman Andrew Alberts to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Ned Lukacevic and a fourth round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Well if that's not the most fun way to start the day. Hearing one of your favorite players has traded...to the team that's the very reason he's being traded is...not a fun thing.

I, for one, will miss you like crazy.

Well that sucks royally. We couldn't have, you know, kept him and traded Manny Fernandez (who, by the way, is pretty much the entire reason we couldn't manage to win that game on Saturday)? That would have made more sense than this. Even Claude seems baffled:

"There was a time where after he made a few mistakes, that would push him out for the rest of the game," Julien said. "I thought he'd been doing a great job of bouncing back and finishing strong. That was a positive."

*sighs deeply* Oh, and wait, the good news just keeps a'coming. Get this:

Claude Julien said Chuck Kobasew would be sidelined for three weeks, dating back to last Thursday's game when he suffered a fractured right ankle.

No word on whether Kobasew has been placed on long-term injured reserve. To be eligible for LTIR, a player must be unfit to play for 10 games and 24 calendar days. If the Bruins placed Kobasew on LTIR, the earliest he'd be eligible to play would be Nov. 1 against Dallas.

Oh Chuck. You seriously can never catch a break as far as injury goes, can you? If it's not one thing, it's another. I'm just glad that PC has a pretty decent tolerance for injured players. At least I thought he did. I say again, oh Chuck. This is a relatively depressing post. So, I won't even get into the 4-3 loss against the Wild, other than to say that Marc Savard rocks, Michael Ryder owns my soul, PJ Axelsson remains an underrated leader, Manny Fernandez sucks, Phil Kessel is great and and Patrice Bergeron is back to full form.

Before I close this, however, I have a little tidbit from another Bruins blogger that I'd like to share (WickedBruinsFan, if you'd like me to take this down, just ask and I'd be more than happy to).

"At the end of practice I saw Dennis Wideman go over to the door and get the attention of the equipment manager. He talked to him for a minute, returned to the ice skating alone at center and shot a puck, then grabbed his extra stick and was the first one to leave the ice. Wideman is never first to leave after practices. That was the point I knew Alberts was traded or at least something had happened. Wideman and Alberts are close, often riding to practices together."

That kills me. Just slays me. If I hadn't been broken up about this before, that would have done it. I'll definitely miss him.