Turning Point?

In an early season that has already seen several peaks and valleys, the Bruins responded with a hell of an effort against the Predators. Once more, the vultures were circling high above, spewing rumors of trades and coaching changes. The tone was set early by Shawn Thornton, taking on a hell of a tough customer, Eric Boulton.

For those that don't watch hockey (and many that do), fights are supposedly one of the reasons why the sport will never be as big as football or baseball. I've never understood their line of reasoning: hockey fights are generally one on one, whereas fights in baseball and football look like some type of jailhouse riot/shower gangrape, with what looks like 50 plus people running all over the place. I'm a proponent for fighting, as I believe it can sway the course of a game. Thornton once again already has quite a few majors this year...but with that has come an upswing in his production. There are truly few "goons" left in the game. Today's fighter needs to be able to skate and can't be a liability. I'm still a bit shocked that guys like Derek Boogaard and Colton Orr have a place on their teams. They routinely get less than five minutes a game and are absolute defensive nightmares.

The "4th line" has been the consistently best line for the Bruins this year. Campbell, Marchand and Thornton bring the effort every single goddamn shift and they're always exhausted when they get back to the bench (looking at you, Wheeler).

It was great to see Thornton play out of his mind the other night. He must have wanted to put on a show for his parents, who were in attendance. When the Garden crowd started chanting for him to get out on the ice so he could try for the hatter, I'm sure they had cold chills. I know we did.

I'm not quite sure what Meyers was thinking when he went up high with his hit on Looch, but that was a bad fucking choice. Andrew "Recycle, Motherfucker!" Ference came charging in and gave him a whatfer. Looch ended up drawing the match penalty for his little popshot on Meyers once things had settled a bit, but I'm glad the NHL only fined him instead of giving him a game or two. You could see Looch pull his punch a bit and Meyers would have been hurt badly if he had given him all of it.

I think that this game will help pull the team together and show them (once again), that they play the best when they're nasty and hit everything in sight. It worked a few years ago against the Stars, and I'm thinking that it will have the same result this time.

B's have a few days off and will be back on the ice tomorrow night against the Panthers. Until then, happy holidays to all and as always, Go B's.