Monday, August 11, 2008

NHL Four-cast: Boston Bruins

1 - Why is this team worth watching? They do play boring hockey thanks to former Devils coach Claude Julien but you never know when Milan Lucic will channel his inner Cam Neely and go nuts. The scary thing? He is still learning how to play in the NHL ... and their Ice Girls are pretty nice to look at.

2 - Are they better or worse than last year? I would say slightly better. The Bruins bought out Glen Murray, who has slowly been getting worse as he gets older, but they didn't necessarily replace him by signing the enigmatic Michael Ryder. They did steal Blake Wheeler, and the kid has to be considered an early candidate for rookie of the year but, as with any rookie, who knows? Having Patrice Bergeron back from that concussion he got from that sick hit should help.

3 - Who should YOU draft in fantasy? Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara are no-brainers. Bergeron claims to be in good shape which should translate into a point-per-game and he will slip under many people's radars. Lucic will get you numbers across the board. David Krejci should put up some good power play points as will Phil Kessel, who has something to prove in the last year of his contract. The opposite should be said for Dennis Wideman and Ryder, who both got raises, something that often leads to complacency - and they weren't that great to begin with. Tim Thomas may scramble alot to make big saves, but he still ended up with 28 wins and a .921 save % so he is a worthy second goaltender.

4- Who don't the Bruins ever want to face again? Montreal. Aside from the Ghosts of the Forum, the Habs, who beat them in a surprisingly close seven-game first round series last year, scored 58 goals against the Bruins in the 15 games they played over the course of last season.

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