Five Minute Major: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The stretch of Halloween to Christmas is every kid’s dream. Let’s count the awesomeness …

1. Night dedicated to dressing up in a badass costume.
2. Houses lined up giving away candy.
3. General indifference to shenanigans.
4. Having a piece of candy in your lunch for a month.
5. Day after Halloween off from school (maybe that was just us Jesuit school kids.)
6. Thanksgiving football (even better if your high school is good or if you play – neither for me when I was a kid.)
7. Turkey and mashed potatoes.
8. Thanksgiving break.
9. Letters to Santa.
10. Making outrageous demands for free stuff – and usually getting most of it.
11. Candy Canes
12. Christmas movies – Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Santa Clause: The Movie are my favorites.
13. Dancing to Schroeder’s piano skills in A Charlie Brown Christmas.
14. Little Chocolate Santas
15. Christmas pageants…Whatever, those kick ass. I was in a few.
16. Teachers who are just as ready for break and mail in the last week with movies in class and art projects.
17. The unequalled excitement about the impending arrival of Santa.

Think about how cool all of that is. Those ninety-odd days are the perfect end to a year. After the pain of a summer ending and a new school year starting, you are rewarded with a ninety-day span of joy, celebration and reward.

However, if you are the Boston Bruins, here is how this time period has gone for you. You thought you were going to have the most kickass costume in the neighborhood. However, all you could afford was a white sheet for a ghost costume. Then, as you were walking down the street a car drove through a puddle and splashed mud all over it. Your house got egged by the boyfriend of the girl you have a crush on and your parents took away all the good candy because they think it isn’t good for you. Now, it’s almost Thanksgiving and you are way behind in school because were so pissed off about what happened around Halloween that you stopped trying and if you aren’t careful, you will have flunked out of school by Christmas.

That was pretty complicated, and if I know my reader … I mean readers… you read the part about turkey and mashed potatoes and are drooling on your keyboard thinking about the big feast in two weeks. While you come back from your sugar/starch coma, sit down for a “Five Minute Major.”

1. Right before Halloween, the Bruins lost Marc Savard and Milan Lucic to injury. That’s two-thirds of the top line. For a team that was struggling at the start of the season like the B’s were, serious losses like that can be difficult to come back from.  The team then dealt Chuck Kobasew to free up some roster and salary cap space. The Black and Gold were expected by many to be at the top of the conference all season, and a contender for the Stanley Cup. Instead, right before Halloween, they were struggling just to field a team.
2. The three-game stretch to start November was the egging. Shutout losses against the Rangers and Red Wings and a shootout loss at home to Montreal were like getting teased by that a$$hole at school that always was on your case. Those three teams are also Original Six squads like the Bruins, but unlike the B’s, are mentioned as elite organizations in the sport. Montreal is like the Yankees, with a boatload of Stanley Cups and overall hubris when it comes to the rivalry with the Bruins. Detroit is the standard bearer for the NHL and New York is still the glamour team in the U.S. with the bright lights of the Big Apple. Having those three teams hand you defeats over five days is demoralizing.
3. In the NHL, goals are like candy – a good reward for hard work well done. Unfortunately for the Bruins, some of their candy was taken away from them and the team hasn’t really recovered. Prior to the season, GM Peter Chiarelli traded the top-scorer on the team last season, Phil Kessel, to Toronto. Now, if the draft picks acquired become superstars through either lottery luck or a big trade, then the merits of this deal are up for discussion. However, at the moment the Bruins are 28^th in the league in goals scored and 29^thin the league in power play percentage. The Bruins have scored a power play goal in only five of twenty games this year and have scored four or more times in only five skates. Last year the Bruins were popping in 4-5 goals on most nights and were deadly on the power play. The defense is still there (fifth-best in goals allowed) but the sugar infusion of a Kessel breakaway goal or a big power play strike is sorely missed. Against the Islanders last night, for example, the B’s had a 5-on-3 power play and couldn’t score. Rather than take control of the game, the Islanders got all the momentum and moved on to the win.
4. Injuries, swine flu, reduction of actual offensive talent and a tad of bad puck luck are starting to cause some agitation on the Bruins locker room. Dennis Wideman, he of one goal and four points after 13 goals and 50 points last year even got a little potty-mouthed in the room with the media last night. Frustration is evident and it should be. Once a favorite to win the East and a viable option to hoist the Cup, the Bruins are out of the playoff picture right now and having trouble staying within reach. The B’s sit 10^th in the conference and are almost close to “must-win” status way too early in the season.
5. The Bruins have 16 games left before Christmas. When Santa arrives, the B’s will have played 36 of 82 games and make or break time for the 2009-10 season will be coming down the chimney with the big guy. The good news for Bruins Nation is that Lucic and Savard should be early presents. Looch is back in full pads skating with the team and should have his legs and lungs ready when the pin is out of the finger and he can go in a game. That is good because there won’t be a stint in the AHL for him. Savard is getting close to skating again and should be ready in about two weeks. Also good for the Bruins is the competition that will be lining up in the 16 games to close out the holiday season. Only five of those games come against teams ahead of the B’s right now in the standings. Also, starting this week, the team finally has a nice big road trip. Instead of struggling at home and pressing to drown out the boos, the team can will be away for the next week to regroup and save the season.

A quick thought on Thursday’s game in the Dirty South against Atlanta. With the Thrashers one point ahead of the B’s, this may be the first meeting between the two teams with actual importance. With the bad taste of a heart-breaking loss at Pittsburgh and a stinker against the Isles fresh, look for an increased physical effort from the Bruins. The Thrashers are one of few teams in the NHL with a few tough guys on their team and guys like Zdeno Chara, Shawn Thornton and Mark Stuart could look to engage early. Should be an entertaining tilt on Thursday night.

One Response to “Five Minute Major: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

1. Jdog71 says:

   November 18, 2009 at 12:42 pm

   Adding to the importance of Thursdays game is the fact that the B’s desperately need scoring punch and they’ll definitely be scouting Kovalchuk. Savard can only do so much.