With the Celtics starting training camp and the Bruins set to drop the puck tomorrow night, Boston is once again a four team town. The Sox have clinched, Garnett is back and the Pats looked better last week so all systems are a go for the B's to start up where the left off last regular season. I'll be the first to say that last year this team should have gone farther and accomplished more, but winning the Eastern Conference, Vezina (Tim Thomas, Best Goalie), Norris (Zdeno Chara, Best Defenseman) and Jack Adams (Claude Julien, Best Coach) ain't too shabby. Still, this team has a lot to build on and could conceivably contend for the next half-decade if they can stay healthy and score. The emergence of David Krejci in 08-09 allowed for the B's to part ways with Phil "The Thrill" Kessel. It is unclear whether Krejci will be available for tomorrow night's tilt against the Caps, but if not this team has enough depth to win without him. Marc Savard and Milan Lucic will anchor the first line and expect to see either Blake Wheeler or Michael Ryder on the right side. Combine that with a second line of Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew and Mark Recchi and a third line of Marco Sturm centered by Krejci or Zac Hammel and either Ryder or Wheeler and you have three pretty solid lines.
The defense and goaltending, substitute Tuukka Rask for Manny Fernandez, is much the same and if they can repeat last season's success (Fewest goals allowed in the NHL) this team should finish in the top three in the Eastern Conference. The question then will be if this team can make the leap or fall short like so many Bruins teams in the 2000's. In my humble opinion, trading one of their first round picks in 2010 or 2011 for a scorer could make all the difference.
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