Bruins extend their head coach Claude Julien

The Boston Bruins have signed their head coach to a new contract. Julien lead the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. There is a news conference scheduled for today at 12:00 noon eastern time.

BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today, July 23, that the club has signed Head Coach Claude Julien to a multi-year contract extension. Chiarelli and Julien will speak to media about the extension on Tuesday, July 24.M

Julien, named the 28th head coach in Bruins history on June 21, 2007, led Boston to the club’s first Stanley Cup Championship in 39 years in 2011, following a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7. In five seasons behind the B’s bench, Julien has led the club to an overall record of 228-132-50 (.617 win percentage). His 410 Bruins games coached rank third all-time in club history and he is fourth all-time in Boston wins, trailing only Art Ross (361), Milt Schmidt (245) and Don Cherry (231). During his tenure, Julien’s squads have never missed the postseason, registering a career playoff record of 36-27 (.571 win percentage) to rank first all-time among B’s bench bosses in post-season victories.

In January, Julien was named head coach for Zdeno Chara’s team at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game, making his second appearance, having served as head coach at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

In 2011-12, Julien led the Black & Gold to its fifth consecutive season recording 91 or more points with 102, and the second straight season above 100, after reaching 103 points in 2010-11. Under Julien, the B’s did not suffer a regulation loss in the month of November with a 12-0-1 record and recorded the most points (25) in a single month since a 25-point March in 1978. It also marked the first full calendar month without a regulation loss since finishing January, 1969 with a 10-0-4 mark. Boston’s 10-game win streak from November 1-23 tied for the fourth-longest streak in team history and was their longest win streak since a 10-game stretch from December 12, 2008-January 1, 2009. Within that same span, Julien led the Bruins to a 15-game point streak (14-0-1) from November 1-December 5, the club’s longest such streak since 1983.

The 2011-12 season for Julien also marked the first time his Bruins swept Toronto since the Maple Leafs joined the Eastern Conference in 1998-99, in addition to registering the best single-season shootout record (9-3) recorded in team history. The ability to keep his bench composed late in games led the Black & Gold to record a +42 third-period goal differential this season, which was higher than the overall differential of all but four NHL clubs. Julien’s B’s also posted a league-best overall goal differential of +67.

Cory Schneider, 'we’re not panicking right now'

This is what former Boston College Eagle All-American goalie Cory Schneider had to say about the current CBA negotiations. Schneider is part of the 30+ members of the players' bargaining committee.Things haven't changed Cory is still cool as a cucumber.

“I think the only thing I can say is it’s a first offer,” Schneider told Papp via phone from his offseason home near Boston. “It’s a starting point. We’re going to consider it and figure out what our counter-proposal is going to be. Yes, it is a little shocking when you first look at it but, again, that’s how negotiations work. You aim high and then try to move back from there.

“There is going to have to be a lot of give and take for us to come to an agreement. So we’re not too worried and we’re not panicking right now. We’re just going to take it one meeting at a time.”

Schneider added that it was far too early to assume another lockout was inevitable based on the league’s first proposal, with training camps not slated to open for another two months and the regular season almost three months away. “There is still plenty of time,” he remarked. “I mean, we’re not thinking in those terms yet. I think we’re both trying to get a deal done here, but it takes time and it takes negotiations.” [Elliot Pap, Vancouver Sun]

Tuukka Rask resigned by the Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins have signed their heir apparent to Tim Thomas - Tuukka Rask signed a one year contract worth 3.5 million dollars. It will be interesting to see if the Bruins pick up a back up goalie or go with former Wild goalie Anton Khudobin who played a majority of his games with the Houston Aeros before coming to Boston where he played with the Providence Bruins.

TSN.CA --- The Boston Bruins have locked up next season's No. 1 netminder, agreeing to terms with Tuukka Rask on a one-year, $3.5 million contract.

Rask, 25, played 23 games with the Bruins last season, going 11-8-3 with a 2.05 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and three shutouts.

He was set to become a restricted free agent on Sunday.

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Tim Thomas' facebook update

This update was on the Boston Bruins star goalie Tim Thomas' Facebook page today. It has been confirmed that the Bruins goalie will be taking next year off  - you have to wonder if retirement on the horizon for Thomas as well?  Why not? Thomas has accomplished a lot during his hockey career and there isn't much left that he hasn't won. Last season  Thomas won a Stanley Cup and a Vezina Trophy and was the Stanley Cup playoffs and was also the MVP during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Thomas and Schultz rumblings.

Goalie Tim Thomas, NHL Hockey player for the Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's been a roller coaster season for Bruins' goalie Tim Thomas. It will be interesting to see if the Boston Bruins trade him or not. If I was the Boston Bruins General Manager I would make sure that I sign Tuuka Rask first before they even consider trading Thomas. The bad thing about trading Thomas is that it could come back to haunt the Bruins if he met his former team in the playoffs. I would rather watch him finish out his career in Boston with the Bruins.

Tim Thomas' Options

LeBrun: We know the Boston Bruins may potentially try and trade goaltender Tim Thomas when his no-trade clause evaporates on July 1 but among the other options I'm told Tim Thomas is considering is maybe not playing next season. I'm not saying that's going to happen for sure but I was told today that he's thinking about maybe taking the year off. It's been a stressful year for the 38-year-old, we all know about the White House controversy, and the Bruins have a #1 goalie-in-waiting in Tuukka Rask. [TSN.CA]

The Justin Schultz sweep stakes are a month away, it will be interesting to see where the highly sought after offensive defenseman goes.

Dealing With Schultz

McKenzie: It's going to be very difficult for Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray to make a deal involving defensive prospect Justin Schultz. He's certainly out there trying to make it happen and there's lots of teams interested. Every NHL team will want this guy when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, which is likely to happen before July 1 but I can see the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers among others being extremely interested. But it's going to be tough for Murray to get anything for Schultz. It looks like he's going to unrestricted free agency.

Thomas Clarifies the We/They statements

Goalie Tim Thomas, NHL Hockey player for the Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas has clarified his we/they statements that he made during the post game press conference. Personally, I think there are some in the Boston Media that are trying to make an issue out of Thomas' comments and looking further into them than they need to.

Thomas for his part clarified his “we/they” statements after Game 7 by saying he was using the word “they” to make sure his teammates were getting credit without him involving himself in the complimentary statements.

“It’s because I’m trying to give them credit without giving credit to myself. They deserve a huge amount of credit. Don’t read too much in the ‘they/us’ thing, please. What I’m trying to say is that this is a special group of guys in here. Whether we won the Cup last year or whether we failed this time. It’s a special group of guys that bodes well for the future of the Boston Bruins.” [Joe Haggerty, CSNNE]

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More hating on Timmy Thomas?

First off, if you cover hockey or watched it for more than a minute you will know that goalie are weird ducks. You have to be odd to stand in front of a rubber disk that is going 85-95 miles an hour. Like my buddies kid said once, there is no team in goalie but there is a big friggen "I"... In other words, goalies are basically in their own worlds and the game starts with and revolves around them. Think about it - a lot of times when things are going bad, goalies are the ones that the fans focus their attention on and a lot of times they get blamed when their favorite team's loses.

Of course there are some in the Boston Media that have hung on ever word that Tim Thomas has said this season, the Facebook posts brought some unneeded attention his way and you can tell by reading some of the articles in the Boston Media that there are some that want to run Timmy him out of town.

Then there were the references to the rest of the Bruins team as “they” at least five times during his postgame interview. If one were a conspiracy theorist it sounds like there is a clear separation of State and Tim Thomas going on.

"What it says about our guys is that they’re battlers and they’re still champions," he said. "They gave everything they had to the bitter end. Unfortunately this is sports and they fell short this time."

The remarks were consistent with Thomas' tendency to paint himself as an individual. [Joe Haggerty, CSNNE.COM]

Thomas would not be the first professional athlete to feel the wrath in Boston, it's a tough city to play in for professional athletes if you catch the ire of the fans, just ask Bill Buckner and Bob Stanley of the 1986 Red Sox, it's not quite as bad as Montreal but it up there.

Sifting through the debris one day after the loss

Goalie Tim Thomas, NHL Hockey player for the Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Boston Bruins roller coaster season has come to an uneventful and disappointing end.

Last night the Bruins were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in game seven in overtime by a score of 2-1. Before the T.D. North Bank Arena was empty, the hockey pundits were also discussing Tim Thomas’ future/fate.

With the Bruins loss, the NHL has only one high seed left in the East in the New York Rangers, whose season could come to an end at the hands of that Ottawa Senators.

I wonder if NBC execs love the prospects of a possible match-up between the Florida Panthers and the L.A. Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals as  all of their pretty match-ups have gone by the wayside. None the less, I will still be watching no matter who is playing.

Who would have thought that Detroit, Vancouver, Boston, Chicago Pittsburgh would all be out in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Most of those teams were built to go deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs and are now golfing. 

So after one round the in the Stanley Cup playoffs we have lost Gary Bettman’s team the Penguins, who bowed out gracefully in game six against the Philadelphia Flyers – the defending Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins, who went down with a thud to the Washington Capitals. Finally the Presidents’ Trophy winner the top seeded Vancouver Canucks fell on their nose quicker than Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler in full dive mode, as they were eliminated last week by the eight seed the L.A. Kings in six games.

I can only imagine that the NHL front office is probably pulling For New Jersey and or the New York to win their game sevens tonight so the NHL doesn’t have to face the possibility of having the Panthers and the Senators in the Eastern Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Elephant in the room

So the re-emerging theme that didn’t want to go away during the second half of the station was the Tim Thomas snub and him failing to go to the White House to see the President with the rest of the game back in January. One of the questions to immediately emerge in the locker room after the game was whether the Boston Bruins are behind their former Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas.

“I think he’s a great goalie,’’ Johnny Boychuk said. “He’s saved our butts a lot throughout the year. Throughout the series, he made plenty of saves and you know he’s going to be battling for you every night. And when you have a guy like that behind you, you don’t have any worries.’’

The issue now, though, is the long summer ahead. [Boston.com]

Some of the reports don’t sound so good coming out of the Boston Bruins Locker-room. There seems to be a bit of a of a disconnect between Thomas and his fellow teammates; or this story is being manufacturing in the media? It's hard to tell because a few of the Boston media guys have failed to let Thomas live down the "famous" White House snub last January.


While I admire Tim Thomas for making a stand personally and holding true to his core beliefs, I sometimes wonder if Thomas would have been better off just going to the White House with the rest of his teammates.

"Our best players, we probably needed more out of their game," said Boston coach Claude Julien, referring to a number of Bruins. "I didn't think our team was in tune as much as it was this time last year."

And with that, a year in which Boston's season was at least partly defined by Thomas' refusal to visit the President in the White House with his teammates in January ended with some degree of irony. Some Boston reporters said Thomas walked on the sacred Bruins logo after the game; there is speculation that the divisive former Vezina winner will be on the market this summer. And it was Ward and the Capitals who sent him there. [Montreal Gazette]

This little tidbit from the Obnoxious Boston Sports fan, apparently Tim Thomas referred to his fellow teammates as they. Boy what a difference a year makes and how soon they all forget, last year the fans and media in Boston were singing Tim Thomas’ praise as he was leading the Boston Bruins through the Stanley Cup playoffs. What have you done for me lately?

With the Bruins' exit, Thomas will be freed up to focus on Mitt Romney's choice of a running mate. Thomas, who played good but not great, will draw the ire of plenty of fans and others, who will continually make the mistake of linking his Facebook posts and political edicts to the fact that his GAA ballooned to 2.14 in the playoffs this season and his save percentage tumbled to .923. Tuukka time was likely going to arrive whether or not Thomas went to the White House and appears even more likely with Thomas' use of the dreaded "they" word while discussing his teammates last night. [Boston.com]

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Tyler Seguin extends the series

The Boston Bruins are going to another game seven as Tyler Seguin scored the game winning goal at the 3:17 of overtime to send the series back to Boston. This will be the Bruins fourth game seven in the last fourteen months. Game seven is on Wednesday night (TDB) at TD North Garden. This was the first goal of the playoffs for Seguin (1g-1a-2pts).

The Bruins have stuggled to get scoring from their top two lines, David Krejci (1g-2a-3pts), Milan Lucic (0g-3a-3pts), Patrice Bergeron (0g-2a-2pts), Brad Marchand (1g-1a-2pts). Krecji also scored his first goal of the playoffs today. Brad Marchand got his first goal of the playoffs yesterday.

Richard Peverley (3g-2a-5pts), Milan Lucic, Tyler Seguin, Andrew Ference and David Krejci all had 2 points in today's win against the Washington Capitals. 

The best line for the Bruins through the first five games of the Stanley Cup playoffs has been the line of Benoit Pouliot (1g-1a-2pts), Brian Rolston (1g-2a-3pts), Chris Kelly (1g-2a-3pts).

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Chimera hit on Marchand

I apologize for the quality of the video, I do not have a steady hand, nor do I have a video recorder to tape the plays that I would like. This was the hit in question by Washington Capitals forward Jason Chimera on Boston Bruins forward Bard Marchand as you can seen by the video that the Little Ball of Hate was not hit in the head. What caused the cut to Marchand's face is unknown.

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Jason Chimera blows up Adam McQuaid

Check out this hit by Washington Capitals forward Jason Chimera on Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid. Chimera was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for this hit. Don't expect any further discipline from the Vice President of Players Safety Brendan Shanahan because the hit happened to a Boston Bruins player Chimera doesn't have a history of being suspended or fined by the NHL.

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Interesting comments from Brendan Shannahan

Boston Bruins bench (Photo credit: slidingsideways)

I find it funny that Brendan Shannahan felt the need to comment on this situation, there is perception around the league that certain teams aren't going to get a fair shake because of his bias against those teams. Whether it's deserved or not, it's a perception that is out there. As a Wild and Bruins fan, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that I have seen things that are questionable and grounds for scrutiny.

Just today the NHL suspended Tyler Meyers for a very similar hit that went unpunished this season, more specifically, these were some of the same kind of hits that the Wild and Bruins players were a victim of but no punishment was levied to the perpetrator. There seems to be one set of rules for Stars and a different set of rules for the goons and third and forth line players.

D.J. Bean, WEEI --- As for the Bruins in general, Shanahan responded to the idea that he has a bias against the B’s when it comes to suspensions. Marchand, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference have all been suspended this season for various infractions.

“It’s funny, people in Boston might think I have something against the Bruins, which is so absurd and crazy,” he said. “It makes you feel any better I can promise you all I have to do is flip on my Twitter page, or if I ever wanted to venture onto the internet, almost every team in the league thinks there a specific reason I hate their market and hate their city as well.

“I have to defend why I don’t hate Pittsburgh, or why I don’t hate Montreal, or why I don’t hate Buffalo, or why I don’t hate Minnesota. For Boston, it’s even more absurd, quite honestly. Talk about a team I grew up admiring. Cam Neely is probably the one player I tried to model my game after more than anybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s a team you grew up admiring, or a team you played for, there’s so much scrutiny in this job, you can do this job and you can’t sleep at night, if you don’t do it with as much integrity as possible. That doesn’t mean you’re perfect. You would love to have a perfect season in sports. You can objectively look at this hit and disagree with the assessment, and that’s fair. That’s always going to be fair. But it’s absurd to suggest in any market that we have a grudge or have it in against anybody.”

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Shawn Thornton vs. Mike Commodore

In this situation, former Fighting Sioux and current Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mike Commodore didn't really need to fight Boston Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton. I guess some guys will do whatever it takes to make the team or stay on a team.

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Malkin hit on Boychuck

The powers that be in the NHL gives us lip service on how they want to take these types of dirty and unnecesarry hits out of the game of hockey.

In fact the powers that be want to take these types of hits out of all levels of hockey, but then the officials let a super star player off of the hook by only giving them a two minute minor.

I guess it's okay to make these types of dirty and dangerous hits that if your star player like Evgeni Malkin. It would appear that you're not going to the get the five minute major and the game misconduct, if you're a star player like Malkin.

After the game, the head coach of the Boston Bruins Claude Julien didn't seem to like the Malkin hit on defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

"My opinion doesn't matter," Julien said. "We'll have to wait to see what happens from that. But it was Malkin that hit, right? It wasn't [Matt] Cooke? It was Malkin. We'll see. The league will have to look at it. It was a hit from behind. They're the ones who make those decisions. We don't like those hits.

"My job is tough enough as it is. I don't want to do his, because his job is pretty tough as well," Julien added of NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. "I'm talking about Shanny. So we'll let Shanny do his job and I'll do mine and we'll just move on. You've just got to look at it that way. For different reasons they make their assessments and they decide. So we as coaches have to do our jobs and work with the guys we have." [NESN.COM]

More fuel for the fire is, why was Johnny Boychuk allowed to return to the game after he just got hit with a questionable check and it looked as if he was dazed after the hit. Boychuk had just returned to the Boston Bruins line up after being out a two games with a concussion. 

Adam McQuaid vs. Ryan White

Good hockey fight as the Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid works over Hab's punching bag Ryan White. The Boston Bruins are second in the NHL in fighting majors with 42.

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TD Ameritrade to host UNO, Lancer games

I have to be honest with you that I think the Outdoor Hockey games are a bit over done and I think that we have way too many of them, but I guess we shouldn’t look a gifted horse in the mouth eh? Looks like UND is finally going to be part of one of them… It will be interesting to see how many fans this will draw.

Rob White, WORLD-HERALD --- Outdoor hockey is coming to TD Ameritrade Park next winter.

UNO and the Omaha Lancers are set to play outdoor hockey games next season, against North Dakota and the Lincoln Stars, respectively, according to sources.

A press conference to announce "a unique winter sporting event to be held at TD Ameritrade Park during 2013" is set for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the downtown stadium.

The 24,000-seat TD Ameritrade Park serves as the home of baseball's College World Series.

Tuesday's press conference will feature representatives from the Omaha Sports Commission, Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, UNO, the Lancers and the Stars.

North Dakota and UNO are rivals in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

From the article here is the list of all of the outdoor college hockey games. There seems to have been a few of them over the years.

Other outdoor men’s college hockey games of note
Oct. 6, 2001: Michigan-Michigan St.
Spartan Stadium, Lansing, Mich., Att: 74,554

Feb. 11, 2006: Ohio St.-Wisconsin
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis., Att: 40,890

Jan. 8, 2010: Boston U.-Boston College
Fenway Park, Boston, Att: 38,472

Feb. 6, 2010: Michigan-Wisconsin
Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis., Att: 55,031

Dec. 11, 2010: Michigan St.-Michigan
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich., Att: 113,411

Jan. 7, 2012: Massachusetts-Vermont
Fenway Park, Boston

Jan. 7, 2012: Maine-New Hampshire
Fenway Park, Boston, Att: 38,456

Jan. 14, 2012: Northeastern-Boston College
Fenway Park, Boston, Att: 29,601

Jan. 15, 2012: Michigan-Ohio St.
Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio, Att: 25,864

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Another reason to hate the Vancouver Canucks

Image via WikipediaI mean really?!? Cory Schneider is a good goalie and a very serviceable back up to the Canucks head case Robert Luongo, but he isn't even close to the stature of Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. I guess as a Bruins fan, I can just chalk it up as another reason to hate the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.

The Providence --- Cory Schneider, an American from Marblehead, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, was one Canuck willing to weigh in, and his message was simple. Thomas should have sucked it up and gone to the White House.

“I’m not that religious but if I had the chance to meet the Pope, it’d be pretty cool,” Schneider said.
”I don’t believe in everything the Catholic church does, but I’d still show up to the Vatican and say Hi to the Pope.

“I have no problem with his personal beliefs, but (Thomas) can suck it up for an hour, say Hi and be with the team, and avoid all of this.

“Respect the (Presidency). He plays for Team USA and he has no problem making millions of dollars in the USA but he can’t go say Hi to the President.

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P.K. Subban slewfoots Chris Kunitz

Hum! Another game, another P.K. Subban atrocity by the Habs defenseman, well maybe not, but I think this is the same thing that Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand got fined for when he slew footed Matt Niskanen. Last week the Habs punk Subban hit Boston Bruins forward David Krecji in the head with a questionable high hit . I am starting to see a pattern here, Subban is starting to turn into quite the goon.

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McQuaid Knees Foligno

I would expect the NHL to review Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid's knee to knee check on  Ottawa Senator's forward Nick Foligno. When I first saw the hit, I thought that Nick Foligno would be done for the night but Foligno returned to game after shaking it off on the bench. McQuaid was given a five minute major and a game misconduct.

Bruins re-sign Brad Marchand

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Boston Bruins fans breathed a collective sigh of relief today as their up and coming star forward re-upped for two more seasons. Brad Marchand was a restricted free agent and was coming a great post season where he scored 11 goals and added 9 assists in 25 Stanley Cup playoff games. Marchand was a major reason the Bruins won the Stanley Cup this past season.  Marchand’s deal is worth about 5.5 million over two seasons.

Fluto Shinzawa; Boston.com --- The Bruins have confirmed that Brad Marchand has agreed to a contract extension. According to TSN, Marchand has signed a two-year, $5 million contract, giving him an annual cap hit of $2.5 million. Marchand will earn $2 million this season and $3 million in 2012-13. Marchand will be under contract and alongside his teammates when camp officially opens on Friday at TD Garden.

“From the get-go, I never was going to miss a day of camp,” Marchand said during a conference call. “I never wanted that. I wanted to be here the first day and show everyone I wanted to be here. I wanted to go through the whole camp with the guys and be part of the team. I’m very happy it didn’t have to come down to [a holdout] and that we could get a deal done before camp.”

Marchand’s extension was framed primarily by the two-year, $5.75 million contract that Logan Couture signed with San Jose. Couture, one of three finalists for the Calder Trophy last year, scored 32 goals. Marchand scored 21 goals and 20 assists.