Bruins/Red Wings Tickets (2/11/11)

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I’m in love…with a hockey team.

Seriously, if you’re in New England, how can you not love this Bruins team?

First of all, Tim Thomas is having an unbelievable year. He is a fun guy to watch play net, and has a smile on his face no matter what the score is. He also was a rookie when he was 30, won the Vezina Trophy 2 years ago (most likely again this year), and played on the US Olympic team last year. Here is the latest in goalie leaders from nhl.com:

Oh yeah, he also go into a (kind of) fight the other night.

Enforcers on the Bruins have always been my favorites over the years. There was Terry O’Reilly, Jay Miller, and Lyndon Byers. Now, the B’s have Adam McQuaid, Shawn Thorton, and Gregory Campbell. But these players aren’t goons. They play tough and fight when they need to. And it works. But they aren’t the only three Bruins who are willing to drop the gloves. 16 Bruins have received fighting penalties this year. They don’t take any crap from any team, and they stick up for one another. This is how hockey should be played.

On the offensive side, Patrice Bergeron has 45 points and is a +22. Oh yeah, he’s only 25! David Krejci seems to be coming around, Lucic is having a career year, and Michael Ryder is finding the back of the net. Mark Recchi is leading both on and off the ice, and even though Nathan Horton had a huge cold streak, I like him at least 35 times more than Wideman. I also really like what I’ve seen from Brad Marchand, who is only 22.

Even though I wasn’t impressed with him his first couple of seasons in Boston, Chara is without a doubt the captain of this team. Tallest player, hardest shot ever, and he doesn’t take crap from anyone. When I saw him after the home opener this season, I told him this was the year. I really hope he believed me (See a letter I wrote to him here).

Yes, there have been crappy things about this season. Losing Savard sucks, but I think this team can rally around that. And say what you want about Ference’s comments to the media about Paille’s hit, the B’s are still the B’s and will look out for each other when it counts.

Really looking forward to this Original Six match-up tonight, even though my Michigan-born girlfriend might confuse people with her Bruins-Wings hybrid t-shirt that I made her:

And you heard it here first: This is The Year of the Bruin!! GO B’S!!!