bruins claim eastern conference title, tim thomas inks new deal

Yesterday's 1-0 win over the New York Rangers gave the Bruins enough points to officially claim the Eastern Conference title, effectively guaranteeing the team home-ice advantage for as long as they are in the Eastern portion of the playoff table.

They may, in fact, still be able to leap-frog the Sharks for the President's Trophy (most points in the League), as the Sharks only stand one-point ahead of the B's as of this morning's writing. To do so would give the B's home-ice advantage in every round of the playoffs, including the Finals. While it makes it hard to type, my fingers are crossed that they can reach the Finals to take advantage of this.

Yesterday's win was remarkable on a few fronts. The shut-out was Tim Thomas' 5th of the year, and his first since inking a 4-year, $20 million dollar deal with the Bruins on Thursday. Thomas was set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer, and there was a lot of talk about whether he would test the open market as this may be his last opportunity to find that giant payday that every UFA desires. Instead he chose a fair deal with the one NHL team that has given him the chance to prove himself at the highest level, and he rewarded the team with his loyalty.

For his part, Thomas is currently the NHL leader in goals-against average and save percentage, and this year enjoyed his second consecutive first-team All-Star appearance. To my mind, he is on that short list of players on the Bruins' squad that could have been born to be Bruins: he's the ultimate underdog, remaining signed (by Colorado) but not playing in the bigs before being cut, then posting League MVP rankings in other professional leagues before being given another shot at the NHL (ridiculous in the face of so many porous goalies who are still kicking around the league – particularly in Colorado), his style (and gear!) is unorthodox but ridiculously effective, and he he's a tremendous competitor, never giving up on a play and always playing with pride, even when the odds seem stacked against him.

That last point was especially evident in yesterday's match up against the Rangers. During a routine stoppage in play, Thomas was in front of his crease, stretching, when Uber-Douche Sean Avery skated by and clocked Thomas in the back of the head with his stick. In typical Avery fashion, he then just skated away like it was completely unintentional, obviously expecting no retribution for his bullshit.

Thomas, who clearly has no fear of mixing it up with anyone, got up and charged Avery, punching him in the back of the head, and drilling Frederik Sjostrom in the face when he came in to Avery's defense (surely an unpalatable situation for any of Avery's teammates), as other players went to work on Avery. In the typical form of NHL justice, Avery and Thomas were both given minor penalties on the play.

After the game, Thomas explained that he actually enjoys competing against Avery's tenacity during the game, but in being clubbed in the back of the head with a stick, intentionally, during a stoppage in play, Avery once again shows that he has trouble understanding what everyone else sees as the normal boundaries of competition in the NHL.

Personally, I don't want to spend any of my time thinking or writing about Avery, who is little more than Steve Downie with a Vogue subscription, but I will say that I hope someone fills him in (and smartens him up) in a manner not dissimilar to what Jordan Tootoon recently experienced. If there's any lesson the NHL seems to teach again and again, it's that what goes around, comes around.

And that lesson (in a positive sense) was just reiterated to Thomas, whose commitment to the every shot on every play for the Bruins was recently rewarded with a new contract. Just in time for a nice, long playoff run. Fingers crossed.

Of Note: The B's have not registered 50 wins since the 1992-93 season; if the playoffs started today, the Bruins would face these same Rangers in the first round; by re-signing Thomas the Bruins have slotted in one piece of the UFA puzzle – questions remain about whether Fernandez will be re-signed in the off-season, or whether Tuuka Rask will be brought up from Providence to back up Thomas; the Bruins' next game is on Tuesday, against the Senators in Ottawa.

bruins 5 - stars 1

The Bruins, in their most successful incarnations, have been a team that combines the nimble skills of the elite, with the back alley services of the brawler. At their best, the Bruins have had players that can dangle and score, create amazing opportunities with their passing, and also level the opposition with hard checks and, when necessary, bare-knuckle fighting (sometimes these skills are all found in the same player – a la Cam Neely, Phil Esposito, or perhaps in time, Milan Lucic).

Last night’s home game against the Stars showed the Bruins at their (historical) best, against their polar opposite. In a game that saw 146 minutes in penalties, the B’s faced down the “agitator” antics of Sean Avery and Steve Ott with guts and camaraderie. When Ott delivered a low-bridge hit on Stephane Yelle, or Avery ran Milan Lucic from behind (or any number of other cheap plays through the game), they were met with the willing fists of Bruins stalwarts Sean Thornton, Shane Hnidy and Milan Lucic, but also the unlikely pugilists Marc Savard and Andrew Ference.

Ott and Avery were repeatedly invited to back up their questionable (borderline league-suspension) play with their fists – again, a characteristic of “old-time hockey” and quality NHL clubs of the past – but these two players instead chose to cover up and not be drawn into a fight that would be the logical outcome of their cheap shots. It is a decision that has been noted by media, opponents, and even teammates:

“I don’t know what’s going on here. If this is what we’re going to be about here, just give me a front office job right now.” -- Future Hall of Famer Mike Modano, as quoted here.

However, in the end, the Dallas club received a fitting justice, losing badly to a Bruins team that retained its composure and defended each other. Given the Bruins’ recent history with teams taking liberties with its star players, resulting in concussions and hundreds of man-games lost, it was heartening to see the Black, White and Gold show heart and stick together, while also filling the net.

The highlight of the night, for me at least, saw Andrew Ference fighting Sean Avery. Ference is one of the few NHL players that I can personally relate to (environmentalist, bike enthusiast, social activist, smaller defenseman), but through last season I was always a little disappointed by his play in the defensive zone. This season he seems to have stepped his game up considerably, looking assured and solid with his defensive play, and while he wasn’t able to deliver the K-O that I feel Avery most deserves, Ference showed himself to be a dyed-in-the-wool Bruin, landing a series of lefts (before Avery’s slew-foot take-down), and trying to get past referees to deliver more.

This kind of action shows the heart of Ference as he develops into a more complete player, the cohesiveness of the Bruins as they become a more formidable, tougher team, but probably most significantly, an entire NHL (and its fans) recognizing the gutless, selfish play of Avery, Ott, and a Dallas club that fosters and apparently accepts such behavior.

Also of note, Krys Barch taking on Sean Thornton - it is unfortunate that Barch is left to clean up the mess that his teammates start, but cannot finish.