For Bruins, Frustrations & Losses Mount

Unless you've only been a Bruins fan for a single season (in which case, let me be the first to tell you that there are far more robust bandwagons to hop on), you'll know that a big part of being a Bruins fan is negotiating the frustrations that come along with the job.

In my lifetime, the Bruins have not won a single Stanley Cup, despite making the Finals 5 times. Equally frustrating, they've also missed the playoffs 5 times. Hence, the radical dichotomy that exists inside all B's fans.

Witness the last two games for the Bruins as examples:

Against Florida on Thursday, the Bruins peppered Tomas Vokoun with 40-something shots, extensively outplayed the Panthers, received great goaltending from Tim Thomas, yet ended up in a 1-0 loss.

Last night against the Penguins, the Bruins were down 2-0, battled back into the game, exchanging goals with Crosby & Co., and ended up taking the lead with a little over a minute left in the match. However, the Bruins were unable to shut the Penguins down, and gave up the tying goal with 0.3 seconds left (less than a second from victory), ultimately losing in overtime.

It has been that kind of season thus far for the Bruins and the Bruins faithful. The Bruins scoring touch may have returned against the Pens, but the result was still a loss. The offense may have been going on all cylinders against the Panthers, but the result, again, was still a loss. Marc Savard and Milan Lucic may have resumed practices with the Bruins, but the results, for now, are more losses.

The most frustrating part, of course, is that the Bruins have basically looked pretty good in these games. They are playing well, and just haven't been getting the wins. While that may be some comfort to B's fans, generally speaking, teams are not given access to the post-season because they've almost won games.

With the season one-quarter over the Bruins need to find those small differences that make close games into wins. It is what they were able to do last year, and those small differences are what ultimately wins games in the playoffs.

Until then, Bruins fans are stuck pondering the what-ifs - the same way we did in the years we only made the finals, or missed the playoffs entirely.