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Bruins fans should be ashamed of the team they root for

by Wally Brennan

on 03/07/2010 - 17:47

With 5:37 remaining in the third period of the Bruins' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marc Savard was blindsided by an elbow from goon supreme Matt Cooke. Savard laid motionless on the ice in a situation that gave Bruins fans flashbacks to the Patrice Bergeron incident in 2007.

However, nobody on the ice -- including supposed tough guy Milan Lucic -- stood up for their teammate and made Matt Cooke or anyone on the Penguins pay for the hit at the time of the incident or in the final five minutes.

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Bruins acquire Dennis Seidenberg

by Wally Brennan

on 03/03/2010 - 11:38

The Boston Bruins have acquired Dennis Seidenberg and Matt Bartowski from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Byron Bitz, Craig Weller and a 2010 2nd rounder that previously belonged to Tampa Bay.

This comes on the heels of the Bruins trading Derek Morris to Phoenix.

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Maple Leafs, Blackhawks talking swap of awful contracts?

by Wally Brennan

on 03/02/2010 - 12:51

Greg Brady of AM 640 in Toronto is reporting that rumors are swirling around the team that Toronto and Chicago may be talking about a deal that would send Jeff Finger to the Blackhawks for Cristobal Huet. He then speculates that the Leafs would flip Huet for something (though this blogger can't fathom who) and the Blackhawks would then target Florida goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Keep your eyes on TheCheckingLine throughout the day today and don't forget to join our live chat beginning at 9 a.m. tomorrow for more details as they emerge.

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Do the Bruins have a deal in place?

by Wally Brennan

on 02/25/2010 - 23:17

Earlier today (Feb. 25), Boston GM Peter Chiarelli hinted that the Bruins may have a deal or two in place for when the NHL roster freeze is lifted on March 1.

Speaking on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger and Mazz afternoon show, Chiarelli said that things have picked up the last couple of days and that some deals around the league need just formal announcement to be completed.

"Tuesday things started to pick up and I suspect you'll see some deals that have already been cooked," Chiarelli said. "You'll see them done like the morning of the first.

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Taking stock of the Bruins at the break

by Wally Brennan

on 02/14/2010 - 12:55

In what was billed as the most highly anticipated season for the Boston Bruins since the days of Cam Neely and Ray Bourque, the Black and Gold have failed to live up to the hype thus far as they head into the break sitting at 27-22-11, good for 65 points and 7th place.

Boston spent the majority of the first 75% of the season exchanging first place in the Northeast Division with Buffalo, settling into either 3rd or 5th in the conference. But a lackluster January in which the Bruins went 3-9-2 left Boston outside of the top 8 come Feb.

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Reports: Tim Thomas on the trading block

by Wally Brennan

on 02/08/2010 - 12:33

According to various reports, including one from Daren Millard of Central Sportsnet last night, the Boston Bruins are fielding offers for reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas.

Thomas, who has a 2.52 GAA and .915 sv%, has all but lost the starting job to 22 year old Tuukka Rask, who leads the NHL in GAA and ranks third in sv%. Rask has started the last three games for the Bruins, including a 36-save shutout of the Montreal Canadiens yesterday that snapped Boston's 10-game losing streak.

“Right now, we’re at a stage where you’ve got to go with the goalie that’s playing the best.

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Futility, thy name is Bruins

by Wally Brennan

on 02/05/2010 - 15:43

In this very spot yesterday I wrote that the Boston Bruins should beat the Montreal Canadiens based on the paper lineups. Well, a quick look at the paper box score tells me that the Bruins out-shot the Canadiens 47-25, had four more power play opportunities and won 11 more faceoffs. Easy win, right? Not with this team.

With the losing streak up to nine in a row after last night's 3-2 shootout loss, the Bruins are at a loss for any semblance of a clue as to what is going on.

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Gameday: Bruins vs. Canadiens

by Wally Brennan

on 02/04/2010 - 13:06

On paper, the Boston Bruins should win tonight.

After all, their forwards are better than Montreal's, since the Canadiens are missing Cammalleri and Andre Kostitsyn. The Bruins have better talent on the blue line, with Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuk and Derek Morris leading the way over a group that includes Hal Gill and the corpse of Jaroslav Spacek. In net, Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak have near identical Save %, with Tuukka holding an edge in GAA.

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Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of

by Wally Brennan

on 02/03/2010 - 12:27

For 40 minutes last night, the Boston Bruins had their fans thinking that the team that captured their hearts and rolled through the regular season and first round of the playoffs last season was making its triumphant return to the TD Garden.

But as it's been throughout the '09-10 campaign, the Bruins once again disappointed their fans by allowing three third period goals and missing numerous scoring chances in losing to the Capitals 4-1.

Now, it would have been unfair to go into last night's game expecting the Bruins to win, with Washington having won its last 10 games and Boston being

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