Canadiens @ Bruins Preview

This will be the first time the Bruins have played the Canadiens since that awesome first round of the playoffs last year. It seem like forever ago, then again it feels like forever since the Bruins played hockey at all. The Bruins are playing for the first time since Saturday. Maybe that's a good thing, since they haven't started all that great (3-5). Then again, you have to be worried the Bruins are going to come out at least a bit rusty.

There was good news for the Bruins as defenseman Adam McQuaid, who has missed the Bruins' last four games, has been cleared to play. He isn't a great player, but he is big and strong and overall is better then average. It gives the Bruins the defensive depth that they need.

What the Bruins need more then that though, is a consistent offense. Since they made all their line changes they looked better, hopefully that is here to stay.

I would expect that Thomas will be in net tonight. He has been good this season with a 2.16 goals-against average even though his record doesn't show it (3-3-0). He has owned the Canadiens going 10-3-1 with a 2.03 GAA and one shutout over his last 14 home meetings with the Canadiens (including playoffs).If that wasn't enough Canadiens goalie Price has really struggled going 0-2-0 with a 7.47 GAA during his last two regular-season visits to Boston.

I have not got an update on Seguin and his ankle injury, but from what I can gather it sounds like he'll play. He has been great to start the season and I don't see him slowing down (unless he gets hurt).

The Bruins are just a better team, and although I am worried about all that time off they just had I expect a win tonight.

Bruins win 3-0
Player of the Game: Thomas
Game starts at 7pm

NHL Schedule Pisses Me Off

I have long complained that the NHL (and NBA for that matter) season is way too long. I have wanted less games, to make them more interesting. Even if they wanted to keep the same amount of games there is no reason for the paces of their schedule.

The Bruins last played Saturday night, and they don't play again till Thursday? That makes no sense at all. The NHL can turn around and have them play back-to-back games, and then they might have 5 days off.

I just feel like if NHL teams played every other day, or once ever 3 days they could shorten the season, so it doesn't end during the summer, which in my opinion is a stupid time to have hockey on.

Quicke Sports Chowdah Update For October 21st- Elvis Hasn't Left the Building Yet- Series Heads Back to Texas Tied 1-1; B's Offense Blows Leafs Away

Dilip Vishwanat- Getty Images

WORLD SERIES- And just like that, the Texas Rangers are back in this thing.

Two games into the 2010 World Series, I'm pleased to report there have been no blowouts so far. In Game one, the Cardinals broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single from pinch hitter Allen Craig in the bottom of the 6th- and that would be the final on Wednesday night.

Thursday was a slightly different story as the Cards Jaime Garcia went 7 shutout innings, striking out 7 while giving up all of three hits. Colby Lewis went 6 and ⅔ innings for the Rangers, but once again, Allen Craig got the Cards on the board in a pinch-hit situation- this time in the bottom of the 7th- to give the Cards the 1-0 lead. The way Garcia and the Cards bullpen was keeping the Rangers bats quiet, it looked like that lone tally would be enough.

However, Ian Kinsler would lead off the Rangers half of the inning with a single off Jason Motte. Then, in a move that was almost as predictable as Dave Roberts stealing 2nd off of Mariano Rivera in the top of the 9th of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, Ian Kinsler took off for second and slid in barely ahead of a throw from catcher Yadier Molina and tag by Rafael Furcal.

Elvis Andrus the followed that up with a single, that put Kinsler on 3rd and Andrus reached on 2nd thanks to a Pujols botching a cutoff throw from right field.

The Texas bats had been quiet for most of the World Series so far, but with runners on second and third with nobody out, outfielder Josh Hamilton stepped into the batter's box. Hamilton gave it a ride to right field for a long flyout, but deep enough to plate Kinsler to tie the game and advance Andrus to 3rd base. Next up in the batter's box was 1B Michael Young, who would also fly out to deep right, but still deep enough for Andrus to make it home and put Texas up by 2-1. Adrian Beltre would go onto ground out to end the inning.

Nefatli Feliz would take the mound in the bottom of the 9th and allow a leadoff walk to Yadier Molina before getting the next three batters out for the 2-1 win. So Texas rallies to bring the World Series back to Arlington tied 1-1 not because of the big bats of Hamilton or Cruz, but thanks to aggressive baserunning and small ball.

Game 3 will be played Saturday night in Arlington, TX with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 PM ET. Kyle Lohse (14-8; 3.39 ERA in the regular season) gets the start for the Cards while Matt Harrison (sporting eerily similar regular season stats of 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA) takes to the bump for the Rangers. The game will be televised on FOX.

RED SOX: Not too surprisingly, both players and front office personnel from the Red Sox deny the rumors of players drinking beer, playing video games and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse between innings during games. DH David Ortiz made some noise about joining the Yankees as a free agent, but seemed to walk back those comments in the last few days and expressed a preference for staying with Boston.

On Friday, the Oakalnd A's announced that former Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young was leaving Boston to join manager Bob Melvin.

Meanwhile, a deal that would see Epstein head off to the Cubs is still considered likely, but the proceedings have slowed down noticeably this week.

Elsa/Getty Images

BOSTON BRUINS: At long last, the Bruins offense was showing some signs of life, handing the Toronto Maple Leafs their first regulation loss of the season.

The Leafs had gotten off to a scalding 4-0-1 start on the regular season heading into Thursday night's game at the Garden. Meanwhile, this would be the Bruins first divisional matchup of the season after hosting the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday.

Toronto would draw first blood with a Dave Steckel tally at the 7:29 mark in the first period, but that would be just about it for the Leafs. The Bruins would get two separate power play goals starting with Nathan Horton's game tying goal three minutes later (with assists from Chara and Ference) before Zdeno Chara's power play goal at the 16:05 mark (with assists from Andrew Ference and Tyler Seguin).

With just under 3 minutes to go in the 1st, Chris Kelly would put Boston up by a 3-1 score on what would turn out to be the game winner. After a scoreless 2nd period, the Bruins got plenty of insurance thanks to goals from Lucic, Bergeron and Seguin (all even-strength) before Toronto notched their second goal of the evening.

Boston moves to a game under .500 with this dramatic 6-2 win over the previously surging Leafs, making them undefeated (1-0) in matchups against teams in the Northeastern Division.

The 3-4-0 Bruins will next host a homecoming of sorts for Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks (1-3-0) at the Garden on Saturday at 7PM ET. The game will be televised on NESN.

Winners Of The NBA Lockout

With the NBA lockout talks falling apart, and it looking less and less likely there will be any season, I tweeted that the only winners in all of this is the NHL. I want to change that just a bit, and say there are 2 winners in all of this and that is the NHL and college basketball.

This was huge for the NHL. The rating have been going up in recent years, but with the NBA not taking the spot light for the winter the NHL will now actually get some SportsCenter time. There will obviously be a ton of NFL talk, as that is the cash cow, but the NHL has to be pumped to be in the spotlight. Too bad they are still stuck of Versus.

The other winner, and I think could even be BIGGER winner is the College Basketball. Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel like it's been as good over the past couple of year. Sure, we all get into the March Madness stuff, but I feel like the regular season hasn't been as exciting in years past. With every basketball fanatic looking for something to watch College Basketball could explode.

I love hockey, but even I am sad for no NBA. It was just starting to get really good again. It went into kind of a lull in the post-Jordan era, and I feel like it was just starting to comeback. You had the most talent in the NBA since the 80's. All the major markets had teams with hope of a Championship, and you had the whole world collectively hating LeBron. Now these two sides are proving how greedy they are, and it's costing the fans (like it always does). When you think about it, it's almost illegal. They use public funding to build these stadiums, yet the product won't get on the court, because they can't figure out how to split the billions they made off you. What a shame.

Maple Leafs @ Bruins Preview

The Bruins have had a bad start (2-4-0) to the season, while the Leafs have had one of the best (4-0-1). Why has Toronto been so good, well it's been in large part to the NHL's top scorer and former Bruin Phil Kessel. He currently leads the league with seven goals and 12 points.

I guess the good news for Boston is that Kessel has not been great against the Bruins in his career scoring only two goals and four assists in 12 meetings. It will be interesting who the Bruins decide to start in net tonight. One would think Thomas will be in net, since the Bruins haven't played well in front of Rask this year (or last). I say it's interesting though, because Thomas has lost his last 4 starts against Toronto and has a 3.29 GAA, while Rask is 5-1-0 with a 1.76 GAA in seven matchups.

My guess would still be Thomas though. The Bruins might have Krejci back tonight, as he is a "gametime decision". My hope is the Bruins will be fired up after all the fights against Carolina. Yet, me picking them to win hasn't seemed to help anything. Still, I think the Maple Leafs suck.

Bruins win 3-2
Player of the Game: Peverley
Game starts at 7pm

David Krejci Injury Update (UPDATED)

David Krejci was able to get back on the ice for the first time since his "core" injury. Krejci was able to participate in the morning skate, and it sounds like he will be back Saturday against San Jose, if not tomorrow against Toronto.

The Bruins need offense right now there is no getting around that. I do like Seguin skating with guys like Horton and Lucic, because they are bangers (when they are playing like they should) and that is the kind of guys that can cause chaos in front of the net and open the ice up for Seguin.

I didn't see the game last night, and from the sound of it I am kind of glad, but I did read the Bruins shook up their lines. Whatever it takes to breathe a little life into this team is probably a good idea. I am hoping that all this fighting last night got this team fired up. We have seen it before that the Bruins play better angry.

My 2 cents on the lines (when healthy), which mean little to nothing, but makes sense to me are...

Lucic - Krejci - Peverley
Marchand - Bergeron - Seguin
Pouliot - Kelly - Horton

I am a big Horton fan, but he has looked like shit. I like Peverley on that first line to add some speed with Lucic, and some energy. Lucic I feel like at times seems out of it, and almost bored. Sometimes a fiery guy like Peverley can breathe life into a player like that. Little worried about the size on the 2nd line, but Marchand plays a lot bigger then his actual size, and Seguin/Bergeron are such playmakers they can make Marchand a 30 goal scorer.

Like I said, that's just my idea.

***UPDATE***

Here are the lines from today's practice...

Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Nathan Horton
Jordan Caron-David Krejci/Rich Peverley-Benoit Pouliot
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Yea, it's a lot different then mine, but I do like it. I think Julien realizes that Horton is playing like shit, since he dropped him to the 2nd line. Like I talked about before I like that Seguin/Lucic combo, because when Lucic is playing like he should he can cause problems for teams in front of the net.

Anyways, interesting to see they are changing it up, but I think it's a good idea.

Hurricanes @ Bruins Preview

The Bruins have been up and down this season. They have played well in games against Tampa Bay, and Chicago, but have looked like shit in the rest. That being said I didn't think there was any shot the Bruins would beat the Blackhawks this past weekend, and I'm taking it as a sign this team is really to roll.

A big reason for that is the play of Seguin. He has looked awesome as that first line center, and has given a spark to players like Horton who were really slow to start the year. The kid has the most talent on the team, and right now also has the most points.

On top of that the Bruins got back to grinding out games, and that means hitting. That's how the Bruins win. In the first meeting this season the Bruins lost 3-2 to Carolina, but they only really played about 10 mins of good hockey. I think they play more then that tonight, and that'll be enough.

Bruins win 3-1
Player of the Game: Tyler Seguin
Game starts at 7PM

Quick injury update. Krejci will not play tonight, and McQuid is a game-time decision for the Bruins.

Crosby Cleared For Full Contact

Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contact, and might be able to return to game action soon. There is still no timetable, but I am guess that it can't bee more then a week or two, as he has been able to skate and keep himself in shape. This is great for the NHL, as he is one (if not the biggest) star in the NHL. Plus, the Penguins have a sick team with Malkin back, and they actually played pretty well without Crosby, so think how good they will be with him back.

I hate seeing these terrible concussion injuries, so while I do not like Crosby at all, I am happy to hear he'll be back.

3 Carolina, 2 Bruins

Another lackluster performance by the Boston Bruins last night as they gave the Carolina Hurricanes their first win of the season. Cam Ward (26 saves) shut the door for most of the game until the Bruins found the back of the net in the third period. Tim Thomas (31 saves) had to make a few ridiculous saves just to keep some tallies off of the board for the Canes. Its early, but the chemistry just doesn't seem to be there yet.

The first goal was scored by Carolina's Joni Pitkanen when he got a shot pass Thomas on a power-play. Then Old friend Tomas Kaberle was credited with an assist on the Canes first goal....typical.

It didn't take long into the third period for the Hurricanes to add another goal to their total as Anthony Stewart found the back of the net at 3:42 while Thomas although he was being screened, I think he could have stopped this shot. The Bruins found themselves down by two goals and it really wasn't looking too promising. However, not even thirty seconds later at 4:07 Tyler Seguin puts one right over Ward's shoulder after assists from Adam McQuaid and Nathan Horton. Seguin scoring is a great sign for things to come for the Bruins this season.

Once the the Canes scored their 3rd goal it was over. The Bruins turned the puck over which led to Jiri Tlusty goal. It was a pretty bad turnover, Thomas didn't have a chance. The Bruins were very shaky to even get the 2 goals in the first place. Marchand scored the second goal for the Bruins and the second of his season, but it was too little too late.

They take on my boy Patrick Kane and Chicago next.

Bruins @ Hurricanes Preview (UPDATED)

With no basketball, and the Red Sox reports sounds more like something out of the Book of Revelation thank God we still have the Bruins and Patriots. As, I said before the Bruins will be without Krejci tonight, but I still think there is a good chance they win tonight.

The Bruins will be facing one very familiar player in Tomas Kaberle, as they got Corvo to replace him. Carolina has had a tough start to the year as they are 0-2-1. Not that the Bruins have had a great start with their 1-2 record.

With the Bruins it's all about energy. They didn't have any of it for the first 2 periods against the Avs, and it cost them the game. I think that changes tonight. Last year, the Bruins would have one slacker game, then come out and beat the bag out of someone. I think we see that tonight. Look for Lucic to come out and hit hard, and a little more of life in some of these players legs.

Bruins have won 11 of 13 against Carolina including 3 in a row at the RBC Center.

Bruins 5-1
Player of the Game: Lucic
Game starts at 7:30pm


***UPDATE***

Interest development for tonight's game...

"The Bruins received good news on the status of David Krejci, as coach Claude Julien said Wednesday in Carolina that the center did not suffer a knee injury, but rather a core injury. Krejci will not play Wednesday but is considered day-to-day (WEEI)."

We also learned that Tyler Seguin will become the team's first-line center. Now I am fucking pumped for this game.

David Krejci Could Be Out Awhile

Like Boston needed anymore piss poor news today we are getting word that David Krejci hurt his knee in practice the other day. He has been ruled out of tonight's game, and there are some reports that suggest that he could miss "a couple of weeks".

The first line for the Bruins (Krecji/Lucic/Horton) have been terrible so far this season, so a shake up was probably coming soon if they didn't get it going. This injury is going to force them to do it tonight. The question is how do the Bruins react to this. Do they move Bergeron and breakup their best line so far this season (Marchand/Bergeron/Peverley)? Do you entrust Tyler Seguin to play center on the top line?I think they will do neither. I think most likely Chris Kelly will play on that first line.

We'll update you when we hear more about Krejci's injury and timetable.

Bruins Give Peverley 3 Year Deal (UPDATED)

The Bruins announced Tuesday morning that they have signed forward Rich Peverley to a three-year contract extension. Peverley was among the Bruins set to become free agents following the season.

Peverley might be my favorite player on the Bruins (him and Seguin). He is a high energy guy, who never seems to take a shift off. I love that he goes right for the net. He has never had more then 22 goals in a season, but I actually think with the line he is on (Marchand, Bergeron) I think he could top that. I am not saying he will ever be a 30+ goal scorer, but he could score around 25 goals.

There is no word how how much the deal is for, so it's kind of hard to judge, but there is no argument that he has been on the Bruins best line through 3 games and I don't think that's a fluke.

***UPDATE***

TSN is reporting the deal carries an annual cap hit of $3.25 million

Avalanche @ Bruins Preview

The Bruins have not beat the Avalanche since 1998 (0-4-1), but Avalanche aren't the team they once were and had a terrible season last year. They were so bad they went 5-27-2 to end last season. The lone bright spot for them seems to be Semyon Varlamov, who was acquired from Washington during the offseason to help improve Colorado's NHL-worst 3.50 GAA from last season. Varlamov stopped 36 of 38 shots and helped kill all four of the Red Wings' power-play opportunities, but Colorado still lost.

The Bruins enter the game 1-1, and looked really good against the Lightning. I didn't think they played all that bad against the Flyers either. Obviously, they have the same concerns, which is getting consistent offense, but I like what I have seen from a lot of their young guys (Seguin/Marchand). Look for the Bruins to take this game pretty easy, as the Avalanche is pretty terrible team.

Bruins win 5-2
Player of the Game: Bergeron
Game starts at 1pm

Flyers @ Bruins Preview

It's time to raise the banner. God, that feels good to say. It's been a long time since we could say that as Bruins fans, but tonight's the night we get to remember all the excitment of last season.

The crowd should be extra crazy tonight, and it should be a great game, but the game really comes 2nd tonight, as it's still kind of about last season. I mean this is game 1 of 82, and even if they were to lose it really wouldn't kill the night. The main thing people will remember is watching that banner rise.

Still, there is a game tonight, and much like the Bruins at some point, we are all going to have to get ready for the long season.

This is a much different Flyers team then last year. They dumped a bunch of their scoring threats (Mike Richards, Jeff Carter) in return they brought in goalie Ilya Bryzgalov and even brought Jaromir Jagr back from the dead.

Hold on let me go on a little side rant here. I hate Jagr so much, he is really #2 behind Ulf Samuelsson on my All-Time NHL hate list. I hate his stupid face. I hate his stupid hair. He is just an awful person. So, I am kind of glad he is back, because much like the days of Bettis in Pittsburgh, it's just more fun to have someone to hate.

Anyways, the Flyers do still have some scoring power with Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, Danny Briere, ect. The question if do they have enough? Can van Riemsdyk take that next step? Does Jagr still have "it"? Was this goalie worth it?

These obviously won't be answered until well into the season, but I do think with the major turnover, and the crazy atmosphere they will be walking into tonight they could have a hard time.

The Bruins have everyone back basically (as Rob pointed out earlier). I know it's weird to say the Bruins need to be better then last year, but they do. Tim Thomas won them the Cup, he can't just do that every year. Guys like Bergeron, Krejci, Horton need to go from being "good" players to be "great" players. They are all young enough to take that next step, but there are all in their primes and if not now when?

On top of that, I want to see Seguin turn into a 20 goal scorer this year. I don't think that's asking too much. He has the most talent on this team, and if he is on the power play I think he could easily break that mark.

If those players pick up their games, and Lucic gives you more of the same, then Thomas can just be a great goalie instead of the greatest goalie ever and the Bruins could still do it.

Tonight, I expect Thomas to have a great game. I think the Bruins defense is too good for the Flyers, and I also think the Flyers are going to need some time to re-gel. The crowd will be outstanding and all of that will end with the Bruins winning by 3 goals.

Bruins win 4-1
Player of the Game: Thomas/Seguin
Game starts at 7pm (turn it at around 6:30 though for the banner stuff)

Rask To Play More This Year

"We're going to have to see as time goes on and the one thing that's pretty obvious is that with the amount of games that we played last year and where Tim is in his career, you have to think about making sure he gets the proper rest if we want to get the same performance from him," Claude Julien said. "So Tuukka will play a bigger role. But it's not going to take anything away from the strength of our team. If anything, it'll only make it better and give us some durability (ESPN)."

I think he is right, and Rask is going to have to play more, because Thomas is older, and played a ton of hockey last year. Rask played 29 games last season, and I think he will be closer to 35-40 (depending on how the Bruins are playing), as they try to keep Thomas fresh. The NHL regular season is so long, and we have seen time and again that being in 1st place doesn't mean all that much. What counts is being fresh and healthy.

Bruins Talking Trade For Ray Whitney Again

"We're hearing more and more about the possibility that the Boston Bruins will add Ray Whitney via trade. While the fit seems good, the timing might get a little tough for the Bruins.

The Bruins probably won't pull the trigger on this deal unless they play a few weeks and find that they need someone to fill Mark Recchi's role from last season. But they can't wait too long because, as the Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont writes, "Might be far less complicated for general manager Peter Chiarelli to pull the trigger early rather than get boxed in come the March trading deadline when the Coyotes would have a handful of Cup-hopeful bidders to extort (ESPN)."

We heard about this trade last year, and nothing came of it. I think you are going to hear a lot of Bruins rumors coming up, because they actually have some cap room to work with. The Bruins (once the officially put Savard out for the season) will have about $6.5 million in cap room. So, a deal could be made for a player like Whitney.

Whitney is 39 years old, so he really would be filling that "Recchi role" of being a leader on this team, but I think the Bruins needing that is being overrated. They just one the Cup, they all know what it takes to get there, so a move like this I don't think is needed. If they get into the season and find it's a problem, then maybe they will. I also think there are probably better players out there then Ray Whitney.

Racist Or Not Racist?

"The man who threw a banana peel on the ice as Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds was starting a shootout attempt against the Red Wings last week did not mean to make a racist statement and is "mortified" at how he is being perceived, according to his lawyer. Chris Moorhouse, of London, Ontario, was only hoping to prevent a goal, lawyer Faisal Joseph explained. "He was horrified when he saw the implications a day later as to how it had come out, and he said to me, 'If I had an apple or an orange, I would have thrown that out onto the ice. I did not realize the significance,' " Joseph said. "This is a young guy who's guilty, if anything, of an act of stupidity (WEEI)."

It's almost impossible to know this person's intent, but I think we are missing the bigger issue in this whole story. Who the hell heads to an NHL with a banana? Did he wants some fruit with his beer? Did he really have the foresight to be like "Yes, I am going to take this banana and those it at that black guy on the Flyers"?. If that's the case how fucking pumped was this guy when Simmonds came up for a penalty shot? Like that doesn't happen all the time, so it must have been like racist Christmas for this guy.