ORR AWARD FOR BRUINS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

This is a pretty simple Award to explain. It goes to the Bruins' best player. Here are the nominees...

Milan Lucic - LW
Tim Thomas - G
Patrice Bergeron - C
Zdeno Chara - D
David Krejci - C

And the winner is...

Tim Thomas



It's true, Thomas didn't do much in the first half of the 2010 calendar year. But in the second half, he's carried the Bruins on his back. Without him, they'd be hovering around 10th place in the East, with a struggling offense, and an inconsistent defense.

This season, he leads the NHL with a 1.80 GAA, 0.22 lower than 2nd place. His .945 SV% is also atop the League, and his 5 shutouts are tied for the most in the NHL. He's 18-4-5, trailing a few guys in the Wins column, but those guys also have more Losses. He's the best goalie in the NHL so far, and he's the biggest reason the Bruins are where they are.

FLUTIE AWARD FOR COLLEGE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

This Award goes to the athlete that performed the best, but also did so on the biggest stages. In other words, the Williams soccer team will likely never have a winner of this award, while BC and BU athletes have claimed most of these. The nominees for this year are:

Montel Harris - RB, Boston College Football
Luke Kuechly - LB, Boston College Football
Cam Atkinson - F, Boston College Hockey
John Muse - G, Boston College Hockey

And the winner is...

Luke Kuechly



You may have never heard of him, but he's a big deal. He led the country in tackles with 170 (101 solo), and was a consensus First Team All-American, BC's first since Mike Cloud in '98. He won ACC Player of the Week 4 times this season, and was one of the primary reasons that BC finished the year with the 19th best scoring defense in the country. He's only a sophomore, and the sky is the limit for this kid.

VARITEK AWARD FOR MOST OVERRATED PLAYER OF THE YEAR

This goes to the Boston athlete that was praised just a bit too much. Maybe they were good, but folks here thought they were all-time great. Here are the nominees:

Ray Allen - G, Boston Celtics
Daniel Bard - RP, Boston Red Sox
Jonathan Papelbon - RP, Boston Red Sox
Tuukka Rask - G, Boston Bruins

And the "winner" is...

Tuukka Rask.



It was amazing how some Bruins fans turned on Vezina winner Tim Thomas, and how quickly they crowned Tuukka Rask as the Norse god of goaltending. While Rask clearly outplayed Thomas last season, and earned his spot in net for the 2010 playoffs, he failed to come through in the post-season.

If Bruins fans, and the Bruins front office had their way, Thomas would have been traded in the off-season, with Rask cemented as the #1 goalie. In retrospect, that might have been one of the most painful things to happen to Bruins fans, and that's saying something.

A-ROD AWARD FOR BIGGEST CHOKE/DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR

This is one of the most loosely defined BBS Awards. It can go to a player, a coach, a team. It can go to a game, or just one play. It's awarded to the biggest "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" person/event of the year. But it can also be given to someone or something that just didn't live up to expectations. Here are the nominees...

Patriots playoff loss to Ravens
Red Sox bullpen
Bruins blow 3-0 lead to Philly
Celtics can't finish off Lakers

And the winner is...

The Bruins blowing a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers.



Bruins fans have endured pain, but this was unprecedented. After roaring to a 3-0 series lead over the Flyers, the Bruins became only the 3rd NHL team, and 4th in all sports, to blow such a lead. Not only that, but they were up 3 goals to none in Game 7. And the game-winning goal came on a power play, which was awarded because the Bruins had too many men on the ice. This collapse redefined choking.

That's all I have to say about that.

SHAUGHNESSEY AWARD FOR WORST SPORTSWRITER

This goes to the most annoying, condescending, pious, irritating, arrogant, and generally unlikeable sports writer of the year. And this year, it's going to the guy who still refuses to give Bill Belichick credit for anything:

Ron Borges of the Boston Herald



Ever since the rise of Tom Brady, Borges has despised Bill Belichick. He even didn't give Brady much of a chance until he won the Super Bowl. This is a nice gem from this season, in a column titled: "Randy Moss trade another blown call by Belichick."

"Take away the Patriots from Bill Belichick and what is he? A gym teacher with better jewelry, no disrespect to gym teachers intended. So how does he sell this latest fire sale to his players? Good luck."

The Patriots are 10-1 since that "blown call." And what's so funny about this is that Borges argued that Moss was washed up when the Pats' first acquired him. Talk about selling low and buying high.

In the whole "Team of the Decade" debate before the last Super Bowl, Borges lobbied for the Colts because:

"The Colts have won more regular-season games this decade than the Patriots, won more consecutive games this decade than the Patriots, made the playoffs more often this decade than the Patriots (9-8), reached the playoffs more consecutive years than the Patriots (eight straight) and if they win Sunday will trail them by only one Super Bowl victory this decade."

Borges would be tolerable if he could let go of his anti-Belichick grudge. But he can't. He's more negative-minded than Shaughnessey. And if you disagree with him, you're "drinking the cool aid," or pledging "In Bill We Trust."

Borges can't even admit "I hate Belichick, but respect him as a coach." I've got friends who are Steelers fans, Jets fans, Dolphins fans, Eagles fans, and they all admit to despising Belichick, but also concede that he is a phenomenal coach. Why can't Borges do that?

FRAZEE AWARD FOR GOAT OF THE YEAR

This Award is named after former Red Sox owner Harry Frazee, who sold Babe Ruth and many more talented players to the Yankees in order to finance his stupid Broadway plays. Basically, this Award is given to the biggest villain in Boston sports. Here are the nominees:

Josh Beckett - SP, Boston Red Sox
Jonathan Papelbon - RP, Boston Red Sox
Randy Moss - WR, New England Patriots
Laurence Maroney - RB, New England Patriots
Claude Julien - Coach, Boston Bruins

And the winner is...

Randy Moss, formerly of the Patriots.



After the initial backlash of the Moss trade, the Patriots went on to win 10 games. Moss, on the other hand, has only caught 18 passes during his time with the Vikings, then the Titans. In Boston, Moss went from a victim, to the villain, as fans started to blame him for the Patriots' struggles, and credited their recent success to his departure. And despite all he did for the Pats, especially in '07, he did turn into a monster at the end. He demanded a contract extension, took plays off, and in the end, didn't want to be here.

And now, he wishes he were here. But he's not welcome.

CANADA 4, USA 1

After facing relatively weak competition in the group stage, the US Juniors were overmatched by their Canadian rivals, who finally avenged last year's 6-5 overtime loss in the finals. The Canadians played fast, hit hard, and gave the American skaters no time or space to do anything. Despite having the previous night off, the US were quickly exhausted by the Canadian attack.

Canada plays Russia in the finals on Wednesday night on NHL Network, and if you like hockey, I suggest you watch this game. The US will play Sweden for the bronze Wednesday afternoon, in the game nobody wants to play in.

I only wish Tyler Seguin were in Buffalo with team Canada, getting high pressure experience. Wednesday would be the biggest game of his life. Instead, he'll be watching from Boston, getting ready to play 12 minutes in the massive Bruins/Wild game the next night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

TUUKKA TIME

I was glad to see Tuukka Rask in the Boston net to start the game. The Bruins need Thomas fresh and rested, which therefore means they need Tuukka Rask to perform as an adequate backup. And he has done that this year, despite a deceptively bad 3-7-1 record.

Rask stopped 36 shots, and the only goal he allowed was aided by Mark Recchi skating off the ice to be changed out, giving Mikhail Grabovski a world of space for his breakaway goal.

The Bruins' top line had been in a mini-slump coming into this game. Lucic hadn't registered a point in 7 games. Horton hadn't scored a goal in 9 games, and had only 1 assist in that stretch. Savard only had 2 assists in the last 7 games.

Last night, all three resumed their productivity. Horton and Savard scored in the 2nd, with Horton and Lucic getting the assists on Savard's goal. They were threatening all night, cycling the puck around, moving without the puck, creating space and opportunities for each other, getting the defensemen involved, and ultimately winning the game.

Lucic and Horton have scored 28 of the Bruins' 112 goals this season, which is precisely one fourth the team's total. In other words, when these guys are cold, the Bruins aren't scoring. And Savard also needs to get in on the fun. It's kind of weird to see him at only 2 goals nearly halfway through the season.

The Bruins end their 5 game road trip with a 3-0-2 record and 8 points. Not too shabby. They just need to keep up the good work, and straighten a few rough edges. Ryder and Wheeler, for instance, need to get going. Last night, I don't think they did a single thing right on offense.

The Bruins host the Wild on Thursday. Minnesota are 13th in the West, so this is a good chance to keep things rolling going into a tough stretch of games in Montreal and Pittsburgh.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo