Great start

 The bruins wrapped up the first home stand of the season a perfect 4-0. The game them self weren't perfect but nevertheless here we are. A few bright spots I noticed were the play of Kevan Miller. I was very very skeptical about how he would preform, After the first 2 games i was a bit at ease. then this home stand hit. Oh my dear lord. That man is back with a vengeance. He is strong on the puck, First to come out of the corner with it. Laying the body all over the place. Id like to see him shoot it a bit more but ill take what I've seen so far. Another happy spot so far has been the play of the role players. Guys like DeBrusk, Coyle, Wagner and Nick freaking Ritchie. who would have ever thought after what we saw last season that anyone would be saying that Ritchie is an asset? Certainly not this sports blogger that's for damn sure. You have your always reliable first liners. Marchand and Bergeron have been top notch as usual. Marchand even adding to his league leading total for short hand goals. The Bruins PK currently sits at 96% efficiency which is good for tops in the league. With all that being said the brightest spot I've seen so far has been Trent Frederic. Not only are his chirping skills ruthless (just ask PK Subban) but he has been playing like a man that wants nothing to do with going back to the farm. Only 1 point so far but hes been right there in the thick of it all season. Now some questions are gonna come up this weekend. David Pastrnak is slated to return from his off season hip surgery and will no doubt occupy his normal spot on the first line. That begs the question of who goes where. The bruins have had a few different guys rotate through that spot in the line up and all have done fairly well. I think the logical choice is to put Studnika on second line with Krejci and DeBrusk. Move Ritchie to third with Coyle and Smith and let Bjork watch a few games. Its not that Bjork has been playing bad. in fact last night was probably his best game so far this season. But I seem to be leaning towards him being more trade bait then anything. Just from what I've seen and what I've read over the last few days from the real bruins beat writers, I don't think he will be around much longer. Moving on to the goalies. Tuukka Rask is in top form already minus the small set back against Pittsburgh. I don't think hes really hurt but he does have a history of hip issues and giving him the full days off leading into the road trip was smart. Halak is very capable of carrying the load for a bit early in the season. 

Now the fun part of this blog. The Bruins will play Washington this weekend for a pair of games one on Saturday and one on Monday. Now some of you readers might be thinking why is this interesting. The caps are without Ovechkin, Samsonov, and few other key players due to Covid protocol. Well boys and girls its interesting because this is the first time in 16 years the bruins will be playing against Zdeno Chara. Talk about awkward right. Now I know guys change teams all the time and its a business and blah blah. Spare me. The impact Big Z had on 90% of this bruins team will be felt all weekend. He molded guys like McAvoy, and Carlo. Hes best friends with Bergeron and Marchand. Him and Pasta are from the same country. This isn't a normal guy goes to play somewhere else kind of  game. Chara has been known although admittedly not much the last few years as one of the toughest more feared guys in the league. I know guys are supposed to check that at the door and go out and do their job, but if you think for one second that Chara is gonna go hard in the corner against Bergeron, or hes gonna very physically chop down on Marchand in front of the net well then you haven't been paying attention. I'm not saying Chara is gonna play soft or let up a goal just because. No that's not hockey. But in terms of how players normally approach a game I don't think the choppiness will be the same level as it normally would be. At least for the game on Saturday. Its very rare in todays sports that anyone plays for a team for 16 years and then leaves to play elsewhere. Normally its off into the sunset so these are new times. I really hope its a great game and that its physical but I just think that if the caps goalie makes a save and 37 or 63 is in front don't expect you to see Big Z tossing anyone out of there, it will be a gentle glide and pat on the ass as they skate away.

This week was also supposed to be Media week for the Super bowl. The lovely time of year where a convention center somewhere near the stadium is filled with a hundred different radio and tv stations all sharing interview guests and not actually talking much about the current game. Just ask my cousin Josh who is missing his 10 consecutive Radio row. But I did want to break from that tradition and talk about the game for just a second. Tom Brady is the G.O.A.T. if you think for a second that he is going to lose this super bowl then you are very very wrong. Yes the Chiefs have a better team on paper. Yes the Chiefs defense might look better. But Thomas Edward Brady has more magic in his left nut then Mahomes or Andy Reid have in their entire body. It was no mistake that Brady wanted to go to the NFC. That's where the only 2 QBs in which have been in the conversation of greatest ever have been. And he beat them both! Brees and Rodgers had to bow down to superiority. Think about this just for a moment. In the time Brady has been in the league he has had guys like Favre, Manning, Brees, Rodgers. Yes they have all one a super bowl during Brady's career. But brady has 6! SIX!!! He has been more consistent, more successful and did it with much less. The whole Brady Belichick conversation is about to put to rest on February 7th when brady is handed his 7th Lombardi trophy. Bill had the chance this year even if the pats didn't win the super bowl to at least make it an interesting conversation. He went out and got a former league MVP and number one overall draft pick at QB. Cam Newton. He still couldn't win. All the people who say Brady built a super team down in Tampa, Well Brown didn't play till week 8, Gronk didn't do very much all season. He had Evans and Godin who were already there and a mediocre defense. Tom is the best hands down. He will win Sunday.