The one stop, all Bruins thread!

I missed the game!  But at least they won.  I have been worried the past while they can't keep up with these teams.  It still would be nice to have a 4 or 5 goal night , but baby steps... can't complain about a Bruins win.

Dava, i dont agree about the chemistry being gone.....who?? ward and kessel?? kobasew? those are the only 3 that are gone, or am i missing someone?? of course we miss kessel's goals, but i dont think having him would put us back to where we were last year, maybe a FEW pts in the standings. last year EVERYTHING went right, in the REGULAR season. This year losing savard TWICE really hurt. Lucic was lost twice too and he's not 100 percent now. TT hasnt been bad, but is down from last year. you also talked about a defensive defensmen, we could use one yes, Hunwick is weak back there, but the defense/GA, really isnt the problem, the goal scorer or 2 is, i agree there. Kessel's gone so i dont wanna talk about him anymore, lol.....i alos agree wait till the offseason now, and go out and sign a goal scorer.

  Finally the Bruins break that bloody losing streak. I saw the last 2 shoot-out losses to the Canadiens and Canucks, and to give up leads like that was like being kicked in the onions, thank goodness the bleeding is over. Now to go on the road and play a game every other night until the Olympics break......yeesh. A win versus the Northeastern Conference leading Sabres then beat the Florida teams could snap these guys out of their funk for good. Here's hoping so

Miami,
            Ward, Kessel, Kobasew and yes you are forgetting Axelsson. No they are not the chemistry but part of a collective chemistry that adds up to build a team chemistry. If you subtract some of that chemistry and character and add other pieces it will never add up to the same thing. Every team every year changes pieces and it changes the way it plays either marginally or greatly. The other problem is TT had a career year last year. Played over and out of his head. We should have all seen it for what it was. A 35 year old guy who has been playing hockey his whole life does not all of a sudden put it together at 35. He may have a great season but he is not going to become the greatest goaltender of all time at that point. It just does not all of a sudden click into place.  I am not knocking TT. He is playing right now up to his career stats this year so he is having a normal year for him.  I agree about Kessel being gone, my only point through all of the Kessel talk that I make is that if you have a 35 year old average goalie who has a Vezina winning season you do not break the bank for him instead of a 23 year old "goal scorer".  Which contract in the long run do you think is going to be more beneficial to them.  On top of giving TT 5 million a season he also got himself a no trade clause. We all know what those mean.  Kessel is gone. I agree we should stop talking about him but the problem is the Bruins brass traded him away and did not replace him. Because of that everytime we talk about a lack of goal scoring it has to be discussed that is the reason they lack goal scoring.  I agree that Savard and Lucic have been hurt but you could have had Bergeron or Krecji playing with Kessel and you still might have been able to put some points up.  If Lucic is still banged up he should be sitting out. Does anyone really think this team as currently built can win Lord Stanley's Cup? They are not to far away from what an offseason can fix but they are to far away for what an inseason fix can fix.

well here we go Dava, Rask will start his 4th game in a row tonight......you said CJ would always stick with Thomas, well he's not. I like it, you have to go with the hotter guy now, and finally he's doing it. Lets hope he gets the bulk of the starts now. I think if he stays hot, he'll be in there.

Daniel Paille  with 2 early goals ? Hey - take what you can get. Need our Bruins to hold this lead and get some confidence by beating the Sabres tonight. Who's watching ?

Finally a shoot out win for the Bruins!!! Very nice to see, and better yet great to see them finally give Rask the boost of confidence. Fourth game in a row...and I don't think he has let in more than 2 goals in each of the last 4 games. In fact he is second in the league in goals against and second in save %, Rash does keep my interest for the reminder of the season.

Miami, he did for way to long dont ya think. I will not dwell on that just think what might have been.  Rask is clearly the better goaltender and i hope he gets the bulk of the starts the rest of the way.  Only makes them stronger for next year. Rask's goals against average is just over two. I dont think he is hot. I believe this is what it is. I kind of feel bad for TT in a way though. With the way Miller is playing right now do you think anyone else will see time in net for the Americans besides him.


Go TUUKKA, Go Bruins and Go USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just heard the local radio media debating a TT trade. 

Would you guys want to move him? If so, what do you think would be fair compensation?

I would be in favor of a trade if we can get a player(s) that can help now. If TT's deal ended after next season I would have no problem w/ it. That 4 yr deal will hurt us down the road almost certainly. Davalden called it early on. 

I think its not going to happen because of cap space, TT's no movement clause, and a lack of teams that need goaltending. Dallas is now off the table too. Washington, Chicago, Detroit?

Are the Bruins buying or selling Matty? It makes a difference. Most teams that are in a playoff position have goaltending in place. The one real question mark is Chicago I think, but they are not going to give us anything to help us this year so most likely you will get a prospect or draft picks in return and you will need a goalie in return to back up Tuukka.  I said in a previous post that they should ride out this season and then fix the issues they have in the offseason. I feel that they can better fix the issues they have through free agency during the summer and then maybe a trade of TT.  TT's contract hurts any trade because he will be 36 years old soon and having an average year for him does not put many people in the mood to pick him up looking at spending 15 million over the next three years and that no trade clause.  I would take what I could get for him in the offseason because I think you can get more then than you can now.

I would think that the Bruins are buyers, who knows. My gut feeling is that they wont do too much at the deadline. No need to acquire a player and mortgage the future by doing so. Depends on the deal. I think the Bruins make the playoffs this year as is, but beating teams like Pitt or Washington will be very difficult for this team.

Im hoping that a team like the Blackhawks feels pressure to acquire goaltending for this year/playoffs and has to make a deal that they wouldnt want to otherwise. If the Hawks make a play for Thomas they would need to send back close to equal cap hit......or bury Huet and his big deal in the AHL. I dont see that happening.

there are lots of teams unhappy with their goalies.  Avalanche, Black Hawks, Predators, even the Capitals are not exactly thrilled with Jose Theodore, and figure thery could do better.... there are lots of buyers and these are just the ones in contention... Some of these teams may not be able to pick up Tim Thomas' contract though... he is still attractive to most teams.. even the Bruins because average or not, he is better than many goalies in this league, and coming into a game thinking you need a shutout to win probably hasn't helped him out so far.

Oilers or a low down team could want him but since they aren't going anywhere, they probably wouldn't offer up a lot unless it was the off-season.   I think the Predator's have space left .. maybe Chicago would have the space and trade a lesser paid player to create more room. 

I should qualify that... the fans of these teams are arguing about their goaltenders.... probably more than here, lol.... they have more agreement on who is bad and who is good.

If a trade took place with the Bs, Tim Thomas probably wouldn't be let go for peanuts, so it may be the Bruins we know today going into the playoff race homestretch.  It is sometimes surprising what pops up though.  I would definitely like to see a couple of players with crazy speed on this team whether now or in the off-season the last streak of games shows the Bs keep up for a while with faster teams, but just are dying by the end of the game.

It would be hard to trade TT to a contender because of his lack of playoff experience.  The Blackhawks have a guy with just as much playoff experience as TT so they are not going to trade with the Bruins and then hide there other goalies contract in the minors. TT has only two playoffs under his belt and has not gotten out of the second round. So I believe they will wait til the off season and try to move TT.  The other team taking his contract and his notrade clause coupled with the fact he is 36 and slipped backwards towards his normalcy as far as numbers go will cause you to settle for a lesser package. I hope PC gets the best deal he can but I do believe he has to move TT in order to be successful next year in signing a goalscorer.

Davalladen I think you would seel Tim Thomas short.  No trade and salary cap are big hills to climb, but not the "lack of playoff experience".  Still I just say IF  Thomas is looked at for a trade, he is trade-able... a lot of teams would like to have him.  I still like him on the Bruins because he is steady.  I don't mind if he goes, but also careful wishing for it.  I don't see  TT as a crux of getting a goal scorer.
Also being 36 doesn't necessarily make him a bad player.  You see Thomas as a salary dump... I see Thomas as one of the few options for trade bait the Bruins have... we still see things a lot different.

Woops forgot to add we also both want the Bruins to succeed... and sell not seel...  I see some other contracts that do not seem to work for the Bs. 

On the trade topic... who would the rumoured offer from the Blackhawks be?  And do they have any room to work with?  I think the Predators have room, but I cannot find up to date cap levels for teams.  They wouldn't and couldn't trade Thomas for nothing.. if the rumours are emerging, may as well see what they are.

Ok, my belief on why a trade with the Blackhawks for TT is not going to happen.  I think for the Blackhawks(if they make a move) there best bet would be on the Island. Roloson would be cheaper and not as long of a contract as TT plus he has played in the finals and he had 12 wins during that post season. He has played 30 odd playoff games. Do not discount playoff experience at this point in the season, that if anything is what the hawks should be looking for. The Blackhawks have a bad goalie contract now why would they add another one.

Oh by the way NS check out nhlnumbers.com that should help you with the salary caps.

Thanks, look I have tried nhlnumbers.com earlier it looked to me like the Blackhawks were not a great fit... the Predators were a better fit, but again, Bruins have value in having Tim Thomas, so i believe dumping him is out of the question.  I would consider Roloson as good of a goalie as TT in any stretch.   If the rumours are true the Hawks are looking at TT then great, but what do they get?  (rumour-wise) 
 I doubt you can toss lack of experience on some players shoulders... I mean that is such an intangible it is hard to tag to anyone and unfair to many players.  I mean how many playoff games did Mats Sundin play and I doubt many think he wasn't a good player.  Kovalchuk had little experience in the playoffs too... he had value...   Marty Turco is an experienced playoff goalie and how many GMs are looking at him?  consistency is a valuable asset, and Thomas is consistent.  Screw playoff experience, it is a fraction of everything else GMs would look at.  Let's focus on value that is a little more concrete.  Vezina is a hard value.   The Bs can trade with that.

I agree though that the Blackhawks are pretty hard against the cap though....  if there is a rumour that is valid, the Hawks would have to give a pretty good player to the Bruins to trade for Tim Thomas, which where they are at, doesn't look good.  When Tim gets a streak going, I could care less.... I think we have what we have for this season.... if we make it in, I just hope for a hot streak to ride through a round or two.  Michael Ryder and Sturm and others seem to thrive on short spurts of production.  There are some other contracts I question more than TTs.

Hello everyone.I was without the internet for over a month, but I am back.Good thing I was without the web during this bad streak.I have said all along that TT would be traded if the Bruins wanted to make a big move.I think it is a hard deal to make but can be made.