Today's a day many Bruins fans didn't think we'd ever see. The Bruins (33-15-3) are set to take on the Florida Panthers (21-24-7) tonight at the Garden, marking the first time since 2011 Tim Thomas will return to the ice where he made his name and history this time not as a Bruin but as a visitor.
Now the arguments have raged over the last few days over how people should or should not feel about Tim Thomas. "Oh he's ridiculous for what he did in 2011 by not going to the White House." "He's a traitor for just abandoning the team like that." Blah blah blah blah blah *insert more bullshit here*. I'm not going to waste time trying to prove that these people are dumber than Crosby was that one time he decided trying to agitate Zdeno Chara was a good idea. I will say this though: that guy played a massive role in us winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years and without him, who knows what would have happened. He deserves a warm welcome back to the place he once called home and plenty of respect from the hometown crowd. End of story.
But on another, more important note, today is Bell "Let's Talk Day", a day dedicated to raising awareness about mental health issues. This hits particularly close to home for us fans of the NHL and hockey in general as people remember Rick Rypien, a Vancouver Canuck who committed suicide in 2011. Today is being used not just for those affected in the NHL but for everyone out there. So spread the word and tweet #BellLetsTalk for the rest of today and the Bell Let's Talk Foundation will donate 5 cents to mental health initiatives.
Back to the Bruins though, Chris Kelly will be in tonight's lineup after missing 22 games with a broken ankle. As such the Bruins have sent both Trotman and Ryan Spooner back to Providence.
Now the arguments have raged over the last few days over how people should or should not feel about Tim Thomas. "Oh he's ridiculous for what he did in 2011 by not going to the White House." "He's a traitor for just abandoning the team like that." Blah blah blah blah blah *insert more bullshit here*. I'm not going to waste time trying to prove that these people are dumber than Crosby was that one time he decided trying to agitate Zdeno Chara was a good idea. I will say this though: that guy played a massive role in us winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years and without him, who knows what would have happened. He deserves a warm welcome back to the place he once called home and plenty of respect from the hometown crowd. End of story.
But on another, more important note, today is Bell "Let's Talk Day", a day dedicated to raising awareness about mental health issues. This hits particularly close to home for us fans of the NHL and hockey in general as people remember Rick Rypien, a Vancouver Canuck who committed suicide in 2011. Today is being used not just for those affected in the NHL but for everyone out there. So spread the word and tweet #BellLetsTalk for the rest of today and the Bell Let's Talk Foundation will donate 5 cents to mental health initiatives.
Back to the Bruins though, Chris Kelly will be in tonight's lineup after missing 22 games with a broken ankle. As such the Bruins have sent both Trotman and Ryan Spooner back to Providence.
Projected Bruins Line Up
Lucic-Krejci-Iginla
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Soderberg-Kelly-Eriksson
Thornton-Campbell-Paille
Hamilton-Chara
Bartkowski-Boychuk
Krug-Miller
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Soderberg-Kelly-Eriksson
Thornton-Campbell-Paille
Hamilton-Chara
Bartkowski-Boychuk
Krug-Miller
Team Stats
Team: To put it simply, the Panthers are downright awful. Now, they're not quite Sabres level awful, which I guess is a plus for them. The Panthers are 0-2 against the Bruins and are coming into this game after a win against the Red Wings. They are 7th in the Atlantic Division with 49 points and have a -31 goal differential. The Panthers average 2.94 GA/game (24th in the league) and 2.31 GF/game (27 in the league). Their power play is the worst in the league with an 8.8% conversion rate.They are 5-4-1 in their last 10. What this all boils down to is: this team kind of sucks all around.
Players: 16 of their guys have negative ratings on the ice ranging from GIlbert's -1 to Weaver's -11. The rest go from even to Jovanoski's +4. Gilbert leads the team with 24 points (185th in the league) while Boyes leads the team with 13 goals (107th in the league).
Goalie: Oh Tim Thomas. Despite the hiatus he took, lately he's been resembling the god like being he was between the pipes in 2011. He's played in 32 games with a 14-14-3 record. He has a .915 SV% (35th overall) and a 2.65 GAA (43rd overall).
Players: 16 of their guys have negative ratings on the ice ranging from GIlbert's -1 to Weaver's -11. The rest go from even to Jovanoski's +4. Gilbert leads the team with 24 points (185th in the league) while Boyes leads the team with 13 goals (107th in the league).
Goalie: Oh Tim Thomas. Despite the hiatus he took, lately he's been resembling the god like being he was between the pipes in 2011. He's played in 32 games with a 14-14-3 record. He has a .915 SV% (35th overall) and a 2.65 GAA (43rd overall).
Team: The Bruins honestly should have no problem the Panthers, especially with the way we've been playing lately. We're coming into this game on a three game win streak after beating the Islanders 6-3 yesterday. We're still first in Atlantic Division with 69 points. We now have a +40 goal differential with an average of 2.16 GA/game (2nd in the league still) and an average of 2.98 GF/game (now 5th in the league). Our penalty kill isn't going to be much of a concern this game since the Panthers have no idea how to make their power play work but if/when they go on the power play, our kill has an 82.9% success rate.
Players: 19 of our guys have positive ratings ranging from Campbell's +3 to Bergeron's +24. The others range from even to Soderberg's -1. Krejci still leads the team with 42 points (37th in the league) while Reilly Smith and Brad Marchand are still tied to lead the team with 17 goals (42nd in the league).
Goalie: Tuukka Rask will get the start tonight against the man he once backed up. He's played in 39 games with an 23-12-3 record. He has a 2.08 GAA (14th in the league) and a .930 SV% (8th in the league).
Players: 19 of our guys have positive ratings ranging from Campbell's +3 to Bergeron's +24. The others range from even to Soderberg's -1. Krejci still leads the team with 42 points (37th in the league) while Reilly Smith and Brad Marchand are still tied to lead the team with 17 goals (42nd in the league).
Goalie: Tuukka Rask will get the start tonight against the man he once backed up. He's played in 39 games with an 23-12-3 record. He has a 2.08 GAA (14th in the league) and a .930 SV% (8th in the league).
Score Prediction: 4-1 Bruins Win
Until after the game,
Keep calm and Bergeron!
Keep calm and Bergeron!