NO KESSEL, NO LUCIC, NO BERGERON, NO STURM... NO PROBLEM!!!

The Bruins were 0-8 against Montreal last year. They're 3-0-1 this season. Yet another inspiring performance, this time missing even more of their top tier talent, the Bruins handled the hottest team in the NHL, winning 3-1, and extending their lead in the Northeast Division.

Tim Thomas had one of the best games of his season, showing those ballot stuffing Quebecois clowns what an All-Star goalie looks like. Not only did he stop 34 of 35 shots, he punked Andre Kostitsyn after Kostitsyn boarded Aaron Ward. It says something about this team when even the goalie fights for his teammates.





The other big night came from Zdeno Chara, who had two power play goals. Both times he snuck in close and used his cannon of a shot to beat Jaroslav Halak, who actually had a phenomenal game between the pipes. Chara spent the rest of his 32 minutes of ice time breaking up plays and decking the Canadiens when they weren't paying attention.

There was one fight, which really demonstrated how fruity the Habs truly are. Mark Stuart got a little bit chippy, so Canadien Kyle Chipchura dropped the gloves and challenged him to fight. Here's the thing, Chipchura wears a plastic visor over his face, so Stuart couldn't land a clean hit on Chipchura's mug. Stuart, cleverly, started slapping Chipchura on the back of the head before finally ripping Chipchura's helmet off.

David Krejci had the 3rd Boston score, the product of Montreal's late desperation. He, Michael Ryder, and Blake Wheeler have been relentless lately. Krejci has 3 goals and 4 assists in his last 3 games. Ryder's scored 10 goals in the last 15 games, and added an assist tonight.

Montreal WAS 9-1-1 in their last 11 before this game. The Bruins have clinched at least a tie in the season series against Montreal. Montreal had 9 players riding point streaks coming into this game, they now only have 3 players with scoring streaks. The Canadiens have not won in Boston since April 15th.

The Bruins are now 12 points ahead of Montreal in the Northeast Division, and 11 points ahead of Washington in the Eastern Conference. They visit the lowly New York Islanders Thursday night. The Islanders have the worst record in the NHL.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

BRUINS-CANADIENS PREVIEW

The Bruins haven't played Montreal since November 22nd, when the B's came out on top of a shootout.

Unlike last year, the Bruins have held the upper hand against the Canadiens. The B's are 2-0-1 against Montreal, including a 6-1 throttling on November 13th.

However, Montreal comes into this game riding a hot streak. They're 9-1-1 in their last 11, including victories over top teams like Washington and the Rangers. The Habs' power play unit has finally started to produced. They've scored on 6 of their last 18 power plays. And the thing Montreal has always been best at is drawing penalties.

Both these teams will score goals in this game, and it should be an exciting contest. But the last time these teams played, Montreal looked a bit rattled. They focused on hitting Milan Lucic and quickly wore themselves out in the 2nd period.

As a team they seemed to have calmed down, but a quick Bruin goal might unnerve them.

It won't be Carey Price in net for the Canadiens. 23 year old Jaroslav Halak will start for Montreal. He hasn't faced the Bruins since March 22nd of 2007. It's safe to say the Bruins are now a different team.

But the Bruins will be without Patrice Bergeron, Marco Sturm, and now Phil Kessel will be MIA. Kessel has mono and could be out for a month.

The NHL made a major mistake before this season by balancing the schedule. These two teams staged 2 fantastic early season battles, but haven't faced each other in over 50 days. After this game they'll only see each other twice in the regular season. It's a shame, because this is reemerging as a fantastic rivalry.

Prediction: Bruins 5, Canadiens 4

THE 3RD ANNUAL BOSTON BLOOD SOX AWARDS!!!

It's that time of year again. Time for The Boston Blood Sox Awards, also known as the Bloodies.

It's been a roller coaster year for Boston sports. The Pats crapped the bed on the verge of perfection, then went 11-5 and missed the playoffs. The Celtics added to their overstuffed but dusty trophy case. The Bruins went from being Montreal's bitch to masters of the Eastern Conference. The Red Sox traded Manny but still couldn't beat the once lowly (Devil) Rays. BC Hockey won their 3rd National Championship. BC Football lost to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship... again, then lost to friggin Gloria Vanderbilt. No shortage of great teams, great performers, great games, and horrible things to complain about.

The winners of these Awards are determined solely by me. For winter sports like hockey and basketball, the CALENDAR year of 2008 is what matters. Any disagreement with my decisions, leave a comment, sit on it, and rotate.

Without further ado... The 3rd Annual Boston Blood Sox Awards!!!

B.B.S. AWARD FOR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

This was one of the hardest of the Awards to select. Here are the nominees:

Tyrese Rice - G, BC Basketball

Nathan Gerbe - C, BC Hockey

Kevin Garnett - F, Boston Celtics

Paul Pierce - F, Boston Celtics

Kevin Youkilis - 1B, Boston Red Sox

Dustin Pedroia - 2B, Boston Red Sox

Jon Lester - SP, Boston Red Sox

Marc Savard - C, Boston Bruins

Phil Kessel - RW, Boston Bruins

Wes Welker - WR, New England Patriots

Matt Cassel - QB, New England Patriots

There are a lot of good candidates for this Award, but none that really stick out. Except for one...

The winner is...

Wes Welker!

Wes Welker became the Patriots offense in 2008. With Brady down, the offensive line struggling, and about 20 different RBs, the Pats leaned on Welker, and he delivered. He nearly tied his own franchise record with 112 catches, and probably would have if the week 17 weather in Buffalo wasn't so horrendous. He had 1,165 receiving yards, and averaged nearly 10 yards per punt return.

While other receivers saw their numbers dip down from 2007, Welker's remained pretty much the same. That consistency helped Cassel evolve from a backup quarterback into a star in a matter of weeks.

Welker is the best weapon a developing QB could have. He gets yards after the catch, runs his routes well, finds space underneath in high percentage areas of the field, keeps linebackers busy in the middle, and in the event of a blitz he's the perfect safety valve.

Welker's not the tallest or the fastest or the strongest athlete in New England. But as a total package, he has enough of everything, plus the knowhow and awareness to be a force on the football field.

B.B.S. AWARD FOR TEAM OF THE YEAR

This may have been the easiest Award to select. Although there were two nominees, as there were two significant champions in Boston in 2008. Here are the nominees...

Boston College Eagles Ice Hockey
Boston Celtics

You already know who won...

It's the Boston Celtics!



Although the C's are in the midst of a rough stretch, 2008 was theirs. They took home the best record in the East (and the NBA). They survived some early round scares before destroying cream of the crop teams like Detroit and LA. Game 6 of the NBA Finals saw the Celtics crush the Lakers by 39 points.

As if that weren't enough, the Celtics commenced their 08-09 title defense with a 29-2 start, an NBA record. They may or may not be tiring in 2009, but 2008 was all theirs.

Pierce, Garnett, Allen, Rondo, Powe, Perkins, House, Allen, Cassel, Posey, Rivers, and more. Everyone's going to remember that team.