Boston Sports Then and Now

Thomas is ready to win back the starting job.

As the calender turned to August and Tim Thomas was still a member of the Boston Bruins, many fans began to groan. After Blake Wheeler re-signed following arbitration and Tyler Seguin signed his entry level deal the cries to trade Thomas despite a poor goalie market became even louder.

However, a healthy competition between Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask could be exactly what the Bruins need, despite the low salary cap room.

Thomas did not have a bad season when looking at his numbers, but much like the rest of the team he did not live up to the lofty standards he set in his Vezina winning campaign last season. Thomas let in his fair share of soft goals this season and was booed on occasion by the TD Garden crowd. He dealt with a broken hand early in the season, a hip injury late in the season and eventually lost his starting job to rookie Tuukka Rask.

But do not mention injuries to Thomas. He is the type of player that does not make excuses for himself and will be the first to tell you that injuries were not the cause of his down season. He talks of wanting to get back to his Vezina winning form and prove to everyone he is still a number one goalie.

And that is by far Thomas’ best trait. A goalie can learn to be better positionally, to take better angles, to learn traits of opposing players but the determination and fire Thomas possesses cannot be taught.

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Rask can still benefit from Thomas' presence.

Another season is over for the Bruins, a season that ended in more heartbreak for the black and gold faithful.

Now comes the time of great speculation, and complaining, from the fans.  Most are focused on the draft, but many are still focused on the Bruins goaltending situation. Tim Thomas is taking up $5 million in cap space for a team that desperately needs wingers who know how to find the back of the net.

“Trade Thomas” is the battle cry from many of these fans. After all, they say, there are many teams looking for a veteran goaltender and Rask, they say, is the real deal. Thomas had a “bad” season and the Bruins should hand the reins over to Rask full time.

Be careful what you wish for Bruins fans.

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Men have shed plenty of Man Tears because of Boston Sports.

Man Tears \man teers\

-noun

The effect on human males during times of ultimate jubilation or extreme devastation. Usually associated with Boston Sports teams (i.e. Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox).

Now that we got the dictionary definition of Man Tears out of the way, let me share with you my personal Top 10 Man Tears Moments in Boston Sports.

Sit back and shed some Man Tears with me. Remember guys don’t cry or weep, but Man Tears escape our eyes when witnessing sports ecstasy and/or travesty.

#10-Boston Bruins Lose To Carolina In Playoffs (2009)

Scott Walker's goal caused my Man Tears to freeze in horror.

The Bruins always find ways to break our Black and Gold hearts. After ousting Montreal in four straight games for their first playoff series win in ten years, Boston trails the upstart Canes three games to one.

Boston shut out Carolina in Game Five 4-0 then won Game Six in Raleigh to force a decisive Game Seven. The game would go to OT before Carolina’s cheap shot artist, Scott Walker pushed the winning goal past Tim Thomas.

My Man Tears couldn’t flow from my eyes because they were frozen in disbelief and horror. Did the Bruins just lose to the Whalers, I mean Hurricanes?!

Wait until next year…..again.

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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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