Here is a little take on the deals that went down on trading deadline for the Boston Bruins. The B’s made two trades during the March 4th NHL trade deadline. They first sent F Petteri Nokelainen to Anaheim for D Steve Montador. Then followed that up by trading prospects Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums to Tampa Bay for F Mark Recchi and a 2nd round draft pick. These two deals were to add depth to the Bruins roster. GM Peter Chiarelli wanted to hit upon two areas approaching the dealine; add a left handed shot on the powerplay and bolster the defense. He accomplished both of those with out breaking up the roster or throwing away the furture for one shot at the Cup. Although it is believed that a bigger deal was left on the table, the Bruins came on winners at the trade dealine.

The Bruins Get

Steve Montador
Position- D
Height- 6-0
Weight- 210 lbs.
Shoots- Right
Experience- 6 years
Age- 29

Mark Recchi
Position- Wing
Height- 5-10
Weight- 195 lbs.
Shoots- Left
Experience- 19 years
Age- 41

2nd Round Draft Pick From Tampa Bay

With a 6-4 win over Ottawa last Thursday, the Bruins finished the first half of the 2008-09 NHL season. And what a fist half it has been. Through the first 41 games the B’s sit atop the Eastern Conference, all while bring back remembrance of the big bad Black and Gold of days past. While the Bruins were filling the net with a league leading 154 goals, the fans were filling the seats and getting their money’s worth. Big hits, big goals, and fights galore reminded fans of the Bruins of the past. Whether it’s Milan Lucic doing his best Cam Neely impersonation, or Phil Kessel lighting the lamp in the same fashion Phil Esposito once did, your Boston Bruins are back in the main stay of Boston sports.

At this point last year, not much was said about the Bruins. They were just another professional team in Boston and very ordinary in the NHL. All the story lines were on the Patriots going for a perfect season while in the playoffs, the Celtics Big Three tarring apart the NBA, and Hot Stove reports surrounding the Red Sox.  It wasn’t for another couple of months later when the Bruins gave the city a glimpse of what hockey was going to be like from there on out. The B’s got Causeway St. excited about hockey again with an amazing game 6 win over the Habs in last years Stanley Cap playoffs. Losing game seven was only part of the foundation set by the Bruins, as a number of their young nucleus got to experience the NHL playoffs for the first time.

Boston’s Claude Julien will be your All-Star coach for the Eastern Conference All-Stars. The coaches for the game are determined by the best winning percentage at the midway point of the season. That means Julien gets the nod behind the bench as he has lead the B’s to 66 points at the half way mark. Todd McLellan of the San Jose Sharks will represent the Western Conference All-Stars behind the bench with a league leading 67 points at the mid point.

Julien’s assistant for the game will be none other than Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau. Carbonneau beat out Washington Capitals’ coach Bruce Boudreau. Carbonneau and the Habs needed to beat Boudreau’s Capitals on Saturday night in order to get him in as coach. Montreal rallied for a 5-4 victory, thus placing their coach in the game.

With Julien coaching and Marc Savard, Tim Thomas, and Zdeno Chara participating, the B’s will be well represented in the game. The Bruins will also be represented well in the Young Stars Game. Milan Lucic will return to the game but as a member of the sophomore team this time. He will be playing against teammate and member of the rookie team, Blake Wheeler. Wheeler has tallied 13 goals and 14 assist in his first 42 games as a pro.

Skating with Wheeler will be Patrik Berglund (Blues), Mikkel Boedker (Coyotes), Drew Doughty (Kings), Michael Frolik (Panthers), James Neal (Stars), Luke Schenn (Maple Leafs), Steven Stamkos (Lightning), Kris Versteeg (Black Hawks), and goaltender Steve Mason (Blue Jackets).

Bruins Weekly Recap
 

The Bruins earned 4 out of a possible 8 points. Boston is currently in 8th place in the Eastern Confernece and 3rd in the Northeast Division. Here are the results from this weeks games.

Three Up

Milan Lucic-

Milan Lucic not only found the net, he’s seeing the ice better, too. Lucic, playing his second straight game wearing contacts, earned his first career hat trick  in the win over the Thrashers on Saturday night. “It’s like going from ordinary TV to high-definition TV,” Lucic joked. “It’s good to be out there when your vision’s clear.” Lucic has also taken full advantage of PJ Axelsson’s early injury and has planted himself on the top line with Marc Savard and power play time on the second unit. This week Lucic has post 3 goals, two assist, and a classic hit. Lucic put Toronto’s Mike Van Ryn through the glass 20 seconds into the second period, sending shards of glass flying into the crowd and raining down on the Leafs defenseman’s neck
 

Power play 2-

Headline sound familiar? Except this time it wasn’t Ray who score the game winning goal and it was the Bruins who benefited from a Bourque goal. This time it was Ray Bourque’s son Chris Bourque who help the Capitals to a 4-3 win over the B’s yesterday at the Garden. Bourque finished with a goal and an assist and continues to impress Washington coaching staff.  With no Alexander Ovekchin for the Caps and no Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara, Michael Ryder, Phil Kessel, and David Krejci for the B’s, it gave opportunity for Claude Julien and staff to get a good look at the bubble players. Julien wants to cut the roster to 30 players by the end of today. The line of Stephane Yelle, Vladimir Sobotka, and Petteri Nokelianen had a strong game contributing 2 out of the 4 goals scored. Another solid game from rookie Blake Wheeler who added the other Bruins’ goal from a Patrice Bergeron feed. Tim Thomas started in net and looked a little rusty and Chuck Kobasew saw his frist pre-season action coming back from a broken leg.

Boston is now 2-2-1 in pre-season action. The biggest thing that is being learned is that the front offcice and coaching staff will have some difficult descision to make as far as personel. This is a problem that everyone is glad to have. Young players such as  Sobotka and  Wheeler are making lasting impression and playing themselve to a spot on the team. The team is building the maek-up that the Buffalo Sabres had two to three years ago with depth at every position. The Bruins are not quite there yet but they close.