Soapbox stand time.

I'm ignoring the second consecutive shootout loss entirely, because I really just don't want to talk about it. So, abandoning that in favor of a soapbox stand. That's right, I have my ranty stick and I'm preparing my authoritative voice. Be afraid. Be very afraid. The topic of choice? Dennis Wideman. Well, not so much Dennis as the way people speak of him.

Because what are Bruins fans if they don't have something, or someone, to gripe about?

In this case, we're griping about someone who has been our top defenseman so far this season. Forget the penalty on whatshisface Kostitsyn in the Montreal game. Dennis Wideman's game has grown since we got him two seasons ago. He's become one of the (if not the) top defensemen on our team. When we traded Brad Boyes for him, we were just looking for someone to fill a defensive hole. We seriously didn't think we had a top four defenseman here, just someone to kind of be there and fill in spaces, but over the past one-and-a-half seasons, he's developed into one of our stalwarts. He produces offensively, without allowing it to take much (if any) from his defensive game.

Yeah, there have been times where he's gone in and out of the doghouse. But seriously, what player in the NHL hasn't? Shall we recap the top three things he's done for us? Just off the top of my head? Because there are definitely more than just that.

03: The 18,000th goal in Bruins history. We were in an epic scoring draught around that time, if you recall. We were shut out for four and a half periods in a row and he scored, and it happened to be the 18,000th in Bruins history.
02: The tying goal in the Pens game when we came back from 0-4 down. An opportune goal at an opportune moment, which, maybe didn't lead to the result we'd wished for? But it definitely helped.
01: The pass that lead to the OT winner in game 3 against the Habs last season. Because without that beautiful behind the back pass he made, Marc Savard wouldn't have been able to score that goal.

Remember that, guys?

I have so much more to say, but really...he's a great player. And I think a lot of the reason why people like to scapegoat him is because, well, Bruins fans always need something...or, should I say someone to complain about. Get over it, guys. Because a lot of the time? You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. And I'd really not like it if that were the case this time.

Last night and tonight...

Okay, so...the home opener? The way everyone stood and cheered for Patrice Bergeron warmed my heart right to the center. I wish I'd been there, because you would have been able to hear me screaming all the way in China.

Welcome home, boys.

Last night...was a solid 60 minute effort. But if figures that one of those, our best game of the season so far, would be solved in the penalty shot contest known as a shoot out. Shootouts are pretty much the devil, I'd like to think. Seriously, though? The only criticism I can pull from last night's game is...we need to capitalize on those power play chances. We had eight power plays, and one power play goal. Speaking of which...Phil Kessel is pretty much the king right now. But that's beside the point.

Tonight, we're in Buffalo. All we need to do is bring the same effort we brought last night, and we have a huge chance to win this one.

Why start a new trend...

...when the old one is working so well? Yeah, we'll go with that. I made a bullet list of things to talk about from last night's game, so...shall we begin? We'll start with the good things.

When you're hot, you're hot.

Marc Savard. What can I say that I haven't already said? Five goals in three games? Talk about starting the season with a streak. His first goal was a thing of beauty. Absolute beauty. But the second? A lucky bounce in Montreal...going our way? That's an insane concept and I'm wondering what in the world happened there. Maybe the ghosts are colorblind and thought that the black and gold jerseys were suddenly bleu, blanc et rouge. Either way, mess up of a ghost or just a genuine lucky bounce in our favor? I quite like it. And when you're hot, the bounces go in your favor, right?

Tough calls beget tough goals.

And the fact that Dennis Wideman cross checked whichever Kostitsyn brother that was, isn't a question, no. But when a ref calls a retaliation? They have to call the initial penalty, too. I don't know what kind of gunk the ref had in his eyes, but...did he miss when Kostitsyn scissor tripped Wideman to the ground? I have a slight Wideman bias, I'll admit, but...I'd feel the same way if roles had been reversed, so...I really think they need to find refs who won't bias either way. That may not exist but it's worth a try, because the refs always seem to have a bias toward the Canadiens when we play them.

The boo birds were flying high last night, as is standard with a Boston/Montreal tilt. Poor Michael Ryder...that must have been rough on him, going back to his old haunt and being pretty much booed to the point of a screw up each time he touched the puck. He did, however, notch an assist, so it was sort of a 'I can still do this' thing for him. Which is good.

Also, what was Tim Thomas thinking?! I don't know whether it was at the end of the third or at some point in OT, but...when he went chasing after the puck like he was walking a dog? Oh Timmy, I love you right to bits, but please don't ever do that again.

No comment on the shootout. It was rough. But we could have had two points if not for that momentary collapse. Keep that in mind next time, boys.

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.