Bruins Beat: First Place

Hello boys and girls and welcome back to another installment of Bruins Beat, a blog written by me in order to release all my pent up rage and happiness about this Bruins team (most of the time it happens simultaneously). In this post I will discuss how the Bruins are currently the best team in the Atlantic division and how hard I would have laughed if someone had told me this at the beginning of the season.
Simply put, I had little to no hope for this Bruins team at the beginning of the year mostly because it lacked not only the depth you tend to see throughout the forward and defense on playoff teams, but also because the team had lost several key players that had been integral in the Bruins success in the past few years. This team was largely unproven, full of rookies and top AHL players on all lines yet somehow this team was able to find a rhythm that has carried them to the point they are at now. Although it took the team almost half the season to find a consistency that playoff teams are able to produce night in and night out, the fact that the Eastern Conference was quite weak this year and also an epic collapse by the Montreal Canadiens allowed the Bruins to stay in the hunt for most of the beginning of the season even though they put up mediocre numbers, most notably in the goal tending and defense situation. Thankfully, both Tuuka Rask and the Bruins defensive pillars like Krug, Chara and Seidenberg have exponentially improved their game in comparison to how they played only a couple months prior. If it wasn't for Rask's mediocre start to the season, I would even put him as one of the top contenders for the Vezina trophy for best goaltender (especially since the leagues best goaltender Carey Price has been injured for three quarters of the season). Funnily enough the most consistent part of the Bruins game this whole season has been their ability to produce offensively, something that has plagued Bruins teams of the past especially under the coaching of Claude Julien. Stellar performances from Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Spooner, Brad Marchand and Matt Beleskey have pioneered the team and have reshaped how the Bruins play around the puck in both the offensive and defensive zone. One of my favorite Bruins this year has also been David Pastrnak who recorded his 11th and 12th goals of the season Saturday against the Islanders. If only he hadn't missed three months with a broken foot he might have been in the running for the Calder trophy this year as the leagues top rookie. Combining this exciting young core with the Bruins newest pickups in John-Michael Liles and Lee Stempniak have proven to be money in the bank with the Bruins riding a 7 game point streak since the trade deadline. Needless to say I have nothing but hope that this Bruins team can perform with the best of them and may have a chance to go deep into the playoffs and satiate my thirst for the most exciting and addicting thing in the world; playoff hockey.