Boston Bruins: 2013

[Zylos45 118]

Dupes said he will be at the morning skate today.....

[chippa13 1844]

Boston Bruins twitter feed has photos of his stall prior to the skate and of him during the morning skate. He subbed in with Campbell on line drills.

[chippa13 1844]

Class act from Sabres to salute fans with Bruins tonight.

[Powerfibers 8]

Class act from Sabres to salute fans with Bruins tonight.

Steve Ott's interview following the game was very classy. People in Buffalo have a lot of love for Boston (especially when not playing them). I thought the Images from Yankee Stadium were awesome too.

[Zylos45 118]

the anthem last night was something special

could not have been handled better by rene

[bagsbie 8]

Great game last night, despite of the outcome for the Bs. Loved the fan salute by both teams at center ice.

[chippa13 1844]

Lucic on the outside looking in? Boston Bruins twitter reports that Lucic practiced on a line with Daugavins and Pandolfo this morning. Soderberg skated with Kelly and Jagr.

[Zylos45 118]

Lucic looks lost out there.

hoping this semi demotion sparks him...but I doubt it

[chippa13 1844]

I think he is one his way to being a healthy scratch tomorrow night.

[bagsbie 8]

I think he is one his way to being a healthy scratch tomorrow night.

that's what I heard on the radio as well... he could not look worse out there last game.

[Jason Harris 31]

It seems like the fix should be easy for Lucic: skate fast, hit anything that moves, go to the net, and stop attempting 12 MPH touch passes.

Do all that and the success should follow.

[Jason Harris 31]

After reading Lucic's quotes today in the Globe, http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/2013/04/18/struggling-milan-lucic-may-sit-out-friday-game/8cNWXA8mzDb6xcRaB8LsIL/story.html, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that something off-ice is happening that Lucic is bringing onto the ice.

[chippa13 1844]

He did return to Boston from Winnipeg earlier this season for personal reasons.

[start_today 757]

He also didn't play anywhere during the lockout in order to be with his family, and has a newish baby.

[chippa13 1844]

I have to say, as nice as all of the tributes and support have been, I think it is time to let the game be a distraction for the Bruins players.

[bagsbie 8]

I am still hopeful that they pick it up. They looked awful against the Flyers. I could not single out anyone in particular who was bad. In fact, if a 41 year old guy is your best player in a game, the team must be doing something wrong collectively.

He also didn't play anywhere during the lockout in order to be with his family, and has a newish baby.

Marchand did not either. That's not an excuse. There's definitely a conditioning issue and something psychologically weighing on him that we do not know about. Does not sound like Chiarelli knows either... Watching the past few games it's not even Lucic that I am concerned about, it is the whole team: if one guy is not performing to the expectation, the rest must pick up the slack one way or another.

[Steve_v3 275]

A good step forward tonight. They played better than they have in a while.

I still think they have a ways to go to be ready for the playoffs.

[chippa13 1844]

Agreed, still not perfect but I think the return to normalcy helped the boys to focus on hockey instead of carrying the responsibility of being city ambassadors. It had to have been tough to go balls out against guys when you'll be saluting the crowd together afterwards or they're wearing jerseys to be auctioned off to help your city in its time of need.

[chippa13 1844]

There are weak hooking calls and then there are WEAK hooking calls. Nothing like not only deciding a game but also potentially playoff position.

[Steve_v3 275]

Just Awful. I have no idea what team is going to show up for the playoffs.

They haven't showed anything to make us think the playoffs will be any different than what we have watched the last month.

[Jason Harris 31]

I'm not as concerned. They lost the game due to poor discipline -- Peverley's retaliation was stupid -- but that is more correctable than lack of skill.

[IPv6Freely 2084]

I really hope they beat Ottawa, that's for sure.

[hockeymass 11]

I have no idea what happened tonight. I do know that you're not going to win multiple playoff series by putting up two goals a night.

[Jason Harris 31]

I agree about the lack of scoring, although I was surprised to see they were eleventh in the league this year, since it seems like they are offensively challenged . It's apparent that Dougie Hamilton is going to be this year's Tyler Seguin, sitting during the playoffs for better defense. I think their defense is strong enough overall, that I'd rather see Dougie's offense.

By the way, I think the matchup with Toronto is actually better for them than against Ottawa, though it could lead to a less favorable second round opponent if they get by Toronto.

[Chadd 916]

Hamilton has been impressive in the limited number of games I have seen.