It would appear Christmas has come roughly six months early this year for Boston Bruins fans! PC and the Crew (sounds like an early 90’s boy band) swung a lovely deal yesterday sending the poster boy for the Bruins woes, Dennis Wideman, the 15th overall pick this year, and another pick in 2011 to the Florida Panthers for 2003 3rd overall Nathan Horton, and Gregory Campbell. This is a little like trading a bag of cancer for a 19 year old huge hootered blonde that can fry a steak like a Texan. It’s a great trade for both clubs, and ironically enough, probably the first domino to fall in a series of deals for both clubs.

Why is this a great deal for both clubs? Glad you asked. Dennis Wideman needs a change of scenery worse than Whitey Bulger right now. He was consistently booed at home, and was the target of the best heckle I heard all year. A guy over my right shoulder had been screaming “Wideman you suck!” all game against the Rangers. Well, don’t you know, Wides scored the game tying goal, or game winner, I can’t remember. Either way, it was a big goal. As the arena is quieted and play is about to restart the guy screamed, “Wideman! You still suck!” He just couldn’t win for losing, and it affected his play. There were some really big gaffes on his part defensively, and that’s doubly bad because he’s not very good defensively, that cost the Bruins some goals at timely points in games. The guy’s confidence was totally shot, and you could see it in his body language.

I think the change of address will only help Wideman get his game back together. It’s gotta really suck getting constantly booed at home the way he did, and I don’t think he’ll find that in South Florida. I wish him nothing but the best, and I hope he can get his game back together.

What the Bruins got in return has me downright giddy. Nathan Horton is a prototypical Bruin. He’s rough and tumble, and would just as soon god through you, as around you. I have been a big fan of this kid since his arrival in the league, and I don’t buy his reputation as a guy that doesn’t give his all every shift. I have been impressed with him every time I’ve seen him play, and I think some of the alleged attitude issues may stem from the fact that the Panthers are constantly sucky. I’d have a hard time giving it my all every shift if I played for them too. What it really gives the Bruins, is a finisher to play with Savard that can put you in the 4th row if need be to retrieve a puck. Look at the potential first line, and tell me you aren’t as happy as a little girl.
Lucic-Savard-Horton
Really? How eager are opposing defensemen going to be to retrieve a puck when the Bruins start chip and chase with those two bearing down? I love it, and I think it gives them the swagger they need to play their best hockey.

Also coming over in the deal was Gregory Campbell. He’s Colin Campbell’s son, and a grinder that the Bruins need to sign. I hope he’s not a salary dump like the Eaves deal from Carolina last summer because I think he can really helps this club. It sets up a 4th line of:
Campbell-Sobotka-Thornton
Here I am, all giddy again. Thorton fights the heavies, Campbell the lightweights, middles, and light heavies. Lucic fights whoever he wants. It’s a great situation to be in, and the deal also frees Boston up to decide on Johnny Boychuk’s future with the club and Mark Stuart’s future as well. I would hope PC and the Crew could deal Wheeler and Ryder too, as they both found their way onto my shit list this past season too, but I may be asking too much there.

The bottom line is it looks like the Bruins brass is willing to look at themselves in the mirror and realize there is an issue. This deal changes the complexion of the team for the good, and hopefully they don’t totally fuck up the draft on Friday. Also, with free agency looming the week after, they need to keep their focus sharp and not do anything stupid. So far, so good.

I’m not sure if it’s because all the Carolina fans are jumping off the ledge, and any that haven’t jumped yet are thinking about it now that Cam Ward is hurt, but I see a lot of Bruins fans coming in off the ledge. I wrote earlier in the week about what they need to get done. Saturday night, they did 2 of the three things. Amazing what happens when the Power Play is working, and playing with a truculent attitude eh? Looks like the blue print for success moving forward.

While it wasn’t exactly a knock down, drag em out affair, it was markedly more physical of a game last night. Shawn Thornton had 2 fights, and Mark Stuart had enough of net crashing late in the third. Unfortunately for Jochen Hecht, he was the target of Stuart’s frustration. Stuart has been physical all year, and I love his ability to fight. He is a very tough kid, and the rest of the league should take notice. If you are going to take liberties on the ice, you may have to deal with Mark Stuart.

Stuart’s fight was very one sided, as was the fight Thornton had with former Bruin Steve “Step Brother” Montador. Has anyone ever seen Steve Montador, and Will Ferrell in the same room? Anyway, I did not see what started the Thornton and Paul Gaustad fight, but to say Thornton was heated after the tilt is a gross understatement. He was yelling at him louder and with more animation than the bartender of the Makaha after refusing me service on my 6th Mai Tai and my subsequent refusal to go quietly into the night a couple of years ago. The point being, Boston was not pushed around last night, and when they play that way they are tough to beat.

Another good sign was the two PP goals scored by the Black and Gold. Mark Recchi got the party started in typical Wrecking Ball fashion with a trademark tip in while parked in front of the net goal in the first period. Later, Zdeno Chara got off the snide with a blast from the point that went in off a Buffalo defender. It was kind of a greasy goal, but it’s the kind of goal the Bruins weren’t getting a week ago. The bounces just weren’t going their way, and after last night’s game, it appears their luck may have changed.

I’ll give you the fact Buffalo played a goaltender that was making his NHL debut and was giving up rebounds bigger than he should have been, but it’s the fact Boston was putting themselves in the position to exploit said goaltender, and rebounds. Not two weeks ago, they made Yann Danis look like Terry fucking Sawchuk, and they put 98% of the shots on Carey Price the other night in the stupid CH logo on his butt smoking chest. After not giving up Thursday, and playing the kind of Bruins hockey that has made them successful last night, I am ready to say they may have turned the corner on the season, and are pointed in the right direction. With defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh in town Tuesday (riding a 2 game losing streak in which they have given up 10 goals while scoring 2) and playing in Pittsburgh next Saturday, we Bruins fans should get a good reading on where exactly this team stands. In the meantime, Carolina fans, there is plenty of room out on the ledge. I’ll leave the window open.

With the opening of NHL training camp less than a week away, I wanted to talk a little bit about fighting and its place in hockey. Below you will find what the NHL deems to be a “good” fight, and a “bad” fight. Meaning, one is spur of the moment, and one is “staged”. I have a problem with the use of the word “staged.” It implies fake to me, and there is nothing fake about fighting in hockey. Moving forward I will use the term “planned.” Anyway, the rational I guess is that a planned fight is a fight for the sake of fighting sake, and a spur of the moment fight, is a fight brought on by emotion, and a reaction to something in the game. It makes no sense to me, as a planned fight is often times a reaction to something in the game, i.e., you’ve just gone down 2-0, and you need something to turn the tide your way. Or, perhaps somebody has taken a liberty with one of your guys, so you send out the tough guys to straighten it out off a draw. Perhaps the two toughest guys on the team find themselves on the ice at the same time during a face off, and want to have a go. The reasons why people fight, and for what cause are endless.

Now, then. The first scrap is between Jared Boll of Columbus, and Marc Stuart of Boston. Stuart took exception to Boll running his defense partner, and takes it upon himself to straighten Jared Boll out. Kudos to Stuart for getting in there against one of the NHL’s up and coming tough guys in Boll.

Fight 2. The planned fight between Milan Lucic and Chris Neil happened two days after the first fight, and is a dandy. Neil was trying to turn the tide his way after his Senators fell behind 2-0 to Boston. It didn’t work, as Boston rolled, but kudos to Neil for trying.

Having watched both fights, what did you notice? Other than the fact that Milan Lucic can take a punch with the best of them? For starters, I noticed in both fights, one of the combatants lost their helmet. I guess in the NHL’s thought process, in a planned fight, the fighters are more apt to lose a helmet either by removing it before they start fighting, or it gets ripped off during the scrap.

The second thing I noticed in both fights, is, THEY ARE FIGHTING! What the hell does it matter if it starts during play, or off a face off? Two people end up hitting each other. It angers me that people controlling the governance of the game may at some point penalize planned fights to the point they are legislated out of the game. If the penalty for fighting after a goal because it’s planned is more severe, would enforcers wait until play has gone on for a second to start fighting as opposed to dropping them as soon as the puck hits the ice? How does that get determined? Is there a 5 second rule? I can see it now 5 Second Rule: Not just for dropped food anymore. Beauty marketing tagline eh?

It’s finally here at any rate. We’ll have a new edition to the Goonblog staff shortly I think you’ll all enjoy, and it’s rumored a Podcast featuring Dave, Hammer, Killer and I will be recorded in December. Stay tuned everyone it’s going to be a great season!