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.

Ah, they didn't let me down.

Kessel, Phil Kessel, whut...

I love it when they listen to me. Last night was a solid 60 minutes of effort, and I really have nothing to complain about. Manny Fernandez wasn't tested too often, but all but a couple of times, he came up big, which is important to the future of the team, at least this season. I'm only hoping that he can keep it up. Oh. And Marc Savard and Michael Ryder? Do I need to say it again? In case I do...YEAR OF THE SAVARD! Just in case you forgot. 9 points in 4 games. Oh, Marc.

PJ Axelsson was out last night, but you 'trade talkers,' this does not mean he's on the trading block. He had muscle spasms, folks. Claude said it himself. He'll be back tomorrow, and helping us out, just like he always does. I'd love, someday, for him to get the recognition he deserves. But that's probably not going to happen.

We come back to the Garden 2-1-1. All in all, a pretty good start to what I perceive to be a pretty good season. Tomorrow, we play the Pens, which will, no doubt, be a challenge. But I have a feeling that if we put together an effort like we did against the Sens last night, we'll be okay.

Reason 9,000 why I love Michael Ryder...

For those of you unfamiliar with the shirt, it has a Canadiens logo and the word 'sucks' beneath it.

Well, if I hadn't already loved him before, I would have started, upon seeing that. That boy makes himself easy to adore, that's for sure.

On a less 'haha Habs' note, Senators tonight. And...if you ask Aaron Ward:

Over the last two seasons our group seems to play well in Ottawa. Hopefully that continues and, with a bit of luck, we can also get the young guys into a situation where they feel the same, feeling comfortable, and looking forward to playing Ottawa, too.

We do have a relatively decent record against Ottawa, but we really shouldn't let that go to our heads. This is a different season. We can't start thinking about the fact that we can beat these guys, though we can, we just need to focus on playing good, Bruins hockey. If we do that for a full 60 minutes, I definitely think we can come out on top here.

Bish says...

12:49 p.m.
News from the North: Manny Fernandez was the first goalie off the ice this morning at Scotiabank Place. That should indicate that he will be the starter for Boston this evening.

Ottawa had an optional this morning after their game against Phoenix (a 6-3 win over the Coyotes).

It looks like old friend Alex Auld will go for the Sens. Should be interesting...

So, it's the battle of the backups? We don't know how well we can do against Alex Auld. He's big, tall and strong, so we just need to work on getting him out of position. We can do this. I've got a good feeling boys. Don't make me a liar.

Let's give them something to talk about...

One last thing before we go. Seems as though the chemistry between Michael Ryder and Marc Savard has people talking. Which is good. It's about time people started talking positively about Marc and Mike.

Wilmington, MA – On Thursday, dressed in the guise of mild mannered athletes, Bruins forwards Marc Savard and Michael Ryder attended practice at the Ristuccia Memorial Arena.

Unbeknownst to the casual observer, these two men have accounted for over half of the Black & Gold's goals and almost a third of the club's points during the first three games of the 2008-09 season.

Humorous image of Marc and Mike in tights aside...I say they keep up the trend tonight, what about you? Let's go Bruins!

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.

What a way to open the season!

A 5-4 win, decided in the final five minutes of play? I'm thinking I love it. Blake Wheeler's first NHL goal, a whole bunch of multiple point games and Tim Thomas looked about as solid as a door made of plutonium. That, my friends in the blogosphere, is what this life long Bruins fan would like to call cause for excitement. Let us go through the finer points, shall we? Phil Kessel started it off by proving my theory that Claude Julien knows what he's talking about. His goal was a thing of beauty, and not just that but it notched Bergy's first assist of the season. Two guys who kind of needed to strike early to avoid being criticized too much, and they did just that. Which was good. Patrice Bergeron was a man on a mission last night, out to prove that he wasn't affected too badly by his season away, and Phil Kessel was out to prove that his lesson was learned when Claude Julien benched him last season. Well, good. Now keep it up. Now, onto my next point.

The kid's got promise, I'd like to think.

FIRST GAME and he scores a beauty of a goal. Welcome to the Bruins, kiddo, because you're gonna be here for a very, very long time.

David Krejci. What on Earth can I say about David Krejci? The boy is amazing. People who thought his impressiveness last season was flukey are going to be proven terribly wrong. A goal and an assist and a whole plethora of chances. What a kid.

Michael Ryder also notched his 100th career goal and his first as a Bruin, which makes me very happy, because I'm one of the few who actually support the decision to grab him up from the UFA list. He's going to flourish on a line with Savard and Axelsson. The three of them line up well together. PJ has the defensive aspect, which lets Marc and Michael go and do their scoring thing. Mark my words: that line's gonna make a splash.

Speaking of Marc Savard...well, here, I'll let this picture do the talking:

Don't hate, guys, you might be as cool as Savvy someday.

A goal and an assist? Yeah, this is the season of the Savard, I can already tell. This pleases me, for sure.

Oh, and let's not forget Tim Thomas. He was all over the place last night. He made those classic Tim Thomas saves that you look at and say HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE DO THAT? He's got skill, yeah, but half the time you wonder what spirit is sitting on his shoulder saying YOU WILL GET THIS PUCK! I love my goalie like you wouldn't believe.

Hard work + team effort = win.

All in all, it was a very impressive effort, with a couple slip ups here and there, but that's to be expected of the first game of the season. It certainly gives us something to look forward to for the rest of the season, doesn't it?