Boston Sports Then and Now

Calm, collected and focused, Tim Thomas sets out to prove doubters wrong again.

“I’m not going to lie, it feels really good right now,” said Thomas after the game. “First win I’ve had in a long time.”

On Thursday night Tim Thomas defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, snapping a six game personal losing streak and getting his first win since January 14^th. The Boston Bruins didn’t defeat the Maple Leafs, Tim Thomas did.

The team in front of Thomas played very poorly despite grabbing a win. The fiery netminder faced numerous odd man rushes, numerous break away chances and three shootout attempts but stood tall. On a night where the Bruins did their best to give a game away Tim Thomas refused to lose.

Some might point to the opposition and say it was Thomas grabbing a victory over a weak team but that doesn’t tell the story. Most of Thomas’ saves were high quality chances and despite their record Toronto has some players that can do damage. What Toronto didn’t count on was Thomas finding his swagger.

In the first period Thomas gave up a goal to Viktor Stalberg that made fans and Boston media members groan. Thomas saw the shot and partially stopped it, but the red light went on. However something was different about this night for Thomas. On this night he showed why he is a Vezina trophy winner.

Rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask had made 7 straight starts for the Bruins and seemingly had taken over the starting job. Before and after the break Thomas had to endure calls by fans and media to trade him because Rask was no longer the future, but the present.

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Has Chiarelli spent himself into a corner?

With their team struggling to score, and vicariously struggling to win, Boston management has yet to make any significant moves. Fans are in an uproar for something, anything, to happen. But is Boston reluctant to make a move, or have they handcuffed themselves by past moves?

Boston needs an impact player, a sniper who puts fear into opposing teams and can fill the net. Acquiring such a player means taking on additional salary and eliminating salary from your current roster to make room for such a player, but the Bruins have dug themselves a financial hole that makes acquiring a higher caliber player extremely difficult.

The historically stingy Bruins have spent to the cap since a salary cap was implemented following the lockout, but have yet to figure out how to manage it. Look at four Peter Chiarelli signings: Michael Ryder, Dennis Wideman, Tim Thomas and Milan Lucic.

Dennis Wideman was acquired from St. Louis during the 2006-07 season for forward Brad Boyes. He finished with 3 points in 20 games for the Bruins but Boston thought he had potential. The following season Wideman would score 36 points and would be rewarded with a four year deal with an annual salary cap hit of $3.875 million.

Last year, much like many of his Bruins teammates, Wideman had a career year scoring 13 goals and netting a total of 50 points, 25 of which came on the power play. Wideman finished with a plus 32 despite some defensive drawbacks but was paired with Zdeno Chara on a Bruins team that scored 274 goals (2^nd in the league).

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Thomas falling well below expectations for Team USA

Last night’s  Sabres-Bruins tilt told you all you need to know about Team USA’s goalie situation.
Tim Thomas started the season with a great shot to be the starting goaltender for Team USA and through mid-November was neck and neck with Ryan Miller. But Thomas, like most of his Bruins teammates, stumbled through the season as Ryan Miller lit up the league over in Buffalo and Ron Wilson’s decision quickly went from cloudy to slap you in the face obvious. Thomas, once again in his career, was getting snubbed. But for the first time he failed to respond.

Enter Tuukka Rask, the Bruins rookie netminder. Rask was completely snubbed from Team Finland. He’s not even third string. But unlike Thomas, Rask is playing like he has something to prove. He is playing like he should be Boston’s #1 and playing like he wants to start in the Olympics.

In a crucial match-up Tuesday night against the Sabres coach Claude Julien turned to Rask, not Thomas, to go up against Ryan Miller. Rask responded with a career high 43 saves, out dueling Team USA’s goalie and sending Boston to their second win in a row as Thomas watched from the bench. At a critical point in the season, when Boston desperately needed to reverse their fortunes, Tuukka Rask was between the pipes.

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Who are the Top 10 backstops in Boston Bruins history?  Some of the names you know and some may not be as familiar to you unless you were born in 1924. Sit back, put on your pads, waffle, favorite mask, grab your stick, and journey with me through Bruins days past and present.

These are the Best Goalies in Boston Bruins history.

#10 - Pete Peeters

10. Pete Peeters – Peeters joined the Bruins in the ’82-’83 season after being traded from the Philadelphia Flyers. He paid instant dividends in his first season with Boston. Peeters posted 40 wins (8 shutouts) with a GAA of 2.36 and won the Vezina Trophy.

He would play 2 more seasons with Boston before being dealt to Washington during the ’85-’86 campaign. Peter Peeters ranks 11^th on the Bruins All Time list with regular 91 regular season wins. He also earned nine wins in the playoffs.

9. Reggie Lemelin – After losing his starting job in Calgary to Mike Vernon, Rejean “Reggie” Lemelin joined the Bruins during the ’87-’88 where he shared  goaltending duties with Andy Moog.

#9 - Reggie Lemelin

During his first full season with the B’s, Lemelin posted 24 wins with a GAA of 2.93, helping Boston to the Stanley Cup Finals against Edmonton. During that playoff run, he won 11 games and had a better GAA (2.64) than he did during the regular season. The Bruins rode Lemelin as Moog struggled in the post season.

The Bruins made a return trip to the Finals in ’89-’90 season. Lemelin was yet again an integral part of the team’s success. He won 22 games with a 2.80 GAA. Moog and Lemelin captured the President’s trophy for fewest goals allowed in the NHL.

The Bruins rode Moog’s hot hand in the playoffs that year. However, they would fall to the Oilers yet again in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Lemelin would play with the Bruins until the ’92-’93 season. He was limited in his last two seasons, posting just 18 wins. Lemelin currently ranks tenth on the Bruins all time regular season list with 92 wins.

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The transactions that changed the Bruins.

This is a compilation of the Boston Bruins’ top acquisitions via trade or free agency of all time. All of these players had an impact on the franchise, but not all of them resulted in championships.

These players skated for the Bruins for many years or a short while. However, they are listed here because they all helped the Boston Bruins for the better during their stay.

10. Adam Oates-Oates had a stellar career with Detroit and St. Louis prior to coming to Boston. In St. Louis, he was paired up with sniper Brett Hull. They were one of the most feared tandems in the game. Hull

Adam Oates

had three straight seasons with at least 70 goals and Oates was feeding him the puck.

The Blues dealt Adam Oates to the Bruins after a prolonged hold out. Saint Louis would get pivot man Craig Janney and defenseman, Stephane Quintal in return.  Boston’s management probably had the images of Oates feeding Neely as he did with Hull. However, that dream never came to fruition due to Neely’s injuries.

With Neely sidelined, Oates became a better all around offensive player. In ’92-’93, he had his best career scoring season. Oates posted 45 goals and 97 assists for 142 points which was good for third in the NHL (Mario Lemieux and Pat Lafontaine finished first and second respectively).The Bruins finished with the best record in the league but got swept in the first round of the playoffs.

Oates had another great season in ’93-’94 season when he finished third in the NHL yet again with 112 points.  Oates had 53 points in the lock out season of ’94-’95 and finished his tenure in Boston with two more 70 point plus seasons.

The Bruins were going with a youth movement and traded Oates on March 1, 1997 to the Washington Capitals with Bill Ranford and Rick Tocchet for Jim Carey, Anson Carter, and Jason Allison.  The players the Bruins got in return had sparks of greatness but never had the consistent numbers of Adam Oates. He shouldered the offensive load during his stay in Boston especially with the injuries to Cam Neely.

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Tim Thomas has been stealing games for the Bruins.

Give Tuukka Time a rest (especially you Michael Felger)!

Tim Thomas is still an ELITE goaltender folks. The game last night versus San Jose illustrates just that.

He single handedly won that game for the Bruins last night. They had no right winning that game with their depleted roster.

Thomas should have been charged with THEFT against San Jose.

Boston is missing their top THREE centers. Savard, Bergeron, and Krejci were all out of the lineup.

The team resembled the Providence Bruins more than the Boston Bruins.

San Jose is stacked with former Bruins franchise player, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Danny Heatley. Even with a healthy team, the Bruins would be hard pressed to beat the West Coast juggernaut.

The Bruins need to play flawless defense and have all world goaltending to weather this injury storm.

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