Game 7: Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 0

Some more video of the Kessel chant/Seguin's goal (c/o Days of Y'Orr and the YouTube uploaders):

The Good

• The crowd The above videos say it all, right? The TD Garden crowd was really into this game from the get go last night, mainly thanks to #81 in the white sweater. One could debate for hours whether or not Kessel deserves the flack he gets in Boston, but the fact is that he's getting it, and the B's fans are doing a great job of giving it to him. Mike Milbury said on NESN last night that the boos/chants are getting under Kessel's skin and getting him off of his game. While I'm not sure I agree, it's not hard to see where Mad Mike gets that idea from: Kessel had zero points at the Garden again last night.
• Tim Thomas Ho hum, another game, another shutout. I hope Tuukka Rask likes the hat they gave him to wear on the bench, because at this rate, he'll be wearing it for a while.
• Dennis Seidenberg I had to show some love for Big Money Seids, as he's been a scapegoat of mine for the first few games. Seidenberg played well last night, dishing out a couple of hits and blocking an astounding six shots, one of which probably saved a goal. He's no Big Money Wides, but Seids is making progress.
• Patrice Bergeron's off the schnide Bergeron has (in my opinion, anyways) played well this season. He was playing sound hockey, the points just weren't falling yet. Last night, Bergeron notched his first goal of the year (and the 100th of his career), a goal that turned out to be the game-winner. Good to see from a guy who is one of the heart-and-soul players on this team.
• Adam McQuaid steps right in A good first game of the year for the youngster. It can't be easy to sit in the press box game after game, wondering when the call will come. But McQuaid stepped right in and played well. I've always thought that if you don't notice a defenseman during the course of a game, he's playing well. The only time I noticed McQuaid last night was when he was called for a comically bad dive by a Leafs player. Good on the kid to not miss a beat. Oh and file this under "What a difference a year makes:" McQuaid said on 98.5 The Sports Hub between periods last night that he wasn't trying to fill Johnny Boychuk's skates or replace him. A year ago at this time, few casual B's fans even knew who Boychuk was. Will we be saying the same about McQuaid at this time next year?
  

The Bad

• Come on, Phil "Bad" might be a bit harsh for Phil, but he gets the big money to score goals, and he didn't do it last night. Kessel didn't really have a bad game (he had six shots), but it all comes down to putting up points. One can't help but think Kessel really wanted to pot one and shut the fans up last night, but it didn't happen. Kessel's a guy who uses hate as fuel, however, and it's likely only a matter of time before he burns the B's.
• Mark Recchi's wheels I know he's 42, and is providing invaluable lessons to youngsters like Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron behind the scenes, but seeing Rex trying to churn up the ice is pretty funny. Recchi still has life to his game, don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to knock the guy, I'm glad he's on the team. But when he was trying to chase down a loose puck last night that would have led to a breakaway, all I could think of was an old car: you press on the gas, and hear the engine revving, but it takes a few seconds for the speed to kick in. Vrooooooooom.
• Brad Marchand is snakebit Marchand has yet to score a goal in the NHL, but had a few glorious chances last night. After missing on one chance late in the game, Marchand was looking skyward, wondering what help he could find in the rafters. Not a bad place to look, Brad; there are a few guys up there who could probably offer up some tips.
• Nathan Horton YOU WERE BROUGHT TO THIS TEAM TO SCORE GOALS, WHY DIDN'T YOU SCORE? WE DIDN'T GIVE UP A NUMBER-ONE DEFENSEMAN FOR YOU TO TAKE NIGHTS OFF FROM SCORING GOALS! (Yes, I'm kidding.)

Attaboy: Thomas again. Maybe I should rename this "AttaThomas" or something, he's on fire.

Providence shuttle: Don't worry Phil, I hear they've got a SWEET arcade and an even better candy store at the Providence Place mall.

Game 6: Rangers 3, Bruins 2

Like I said, I worked Saturday night and only managed to catch about 17 minutes of the third period. Someone's gotta put out the grapes, right?

Here are just a couple of things I took away from this game:

• While Tuukka Rask did take home his second straight loss on the season, it's hard to fault him for the goals he allowed. The first Ranger goal came off of a borderline-illegal high stick, while Rask looked like he had the second goal all sized up before Mark Stuart deflected it with his glove. Rask then got beaten by a good backhander by Marc Staal, a save one could argue Rask should have made. However, he was solid in the third period, and made a couple of great stops. While he didn't do anything to win the game for the B's, as one could argue Tim Thomas did in one (if not both) of the games against Washington, he certainly didn't lose this one for the B's tonight. He's gotten subpar efforts from the team playing in front of him in both starts, something that must have the youngster feeling a bit frustrated.
• Tough performance from Johnny Boychuk, who will be out for a month with a slight fracture in his arm sustained in a slash from Brandon Dubinsky. Boychuk left the game after the slash, got tape put on his arm and then came back out to finish the period...with the broken bone in his arm. Tough performance from a tough guy.
• Strawberries were the biggest seller at work Saturday night. Great deal at 2 for $5.

That's about all I can offer on this game. From the looks of things, it wasn't a bad one to miss, as the B's seemed to bring a B-grade effort at the start.

Game 5: Bruins 4, Capitals 1

The Good

• Power play finally shows some power: AT LAST! The power play moved out of "the Bad," and did so in a big way. The B's exploded for three power play goals last night against a previously-perfect Caps penalty kill. The power play looked much crisper, much more confident and much more dangerous than it had at any point in the first four games. Moving Mark Recchi up to the point proved to be a big boost to the PP unit. Kudos to assistant coach Geoff Ward, who apparently worked tirelessly on the power play in practice.
• Brad Marchand: Laid his body out in front of an Alexander Ovechkin one-timer, one he ended up taking squarely on the leg. It takes a lot of courage to slide in front of a slapshot, and even more guts to step in front of one of Ovechkin's. Marchand limped off the ice and down the tunnel, but later returned to the ice. According to Naoko Funayama, he's not on the ice this morning, however, indicating that the leg could still be sore.
• Bergeron chips in: I personally thought Patrice Bergeron had played very well in the first four games; the points just weren't there. Last night, however, the points WERE there, as Bergeron assisted on Michael Ryder's power play goal and gave Jordan Caron a beautiful pass on the rookie's second goal of the season. As far as CSNNE's Joe Haggerty is concerned, Bergeron was the best player on the ice last night, and I don't disagree.
• Ho hum, production continues: Tim Thomas and Nathan Horton continue to produce like clockwork; Thomas was stellar again save for his mishap with Jason Chimera, while Horton scored again and now has four goals and three assists in five games.
• Jordan Caron: Another goal and another all-around terrific effort from the rookie. He won battles on the boards and played a physical and tough game again, something fans are coming to expect from the youngster. Watching him out there so far, it's sometimes easy to forget that the kid's just a rookie. Right now he's making a case to be here for the long haul, even after Marc Savard and Marco Sturm return.
  

The Bad

• Tyler is no Rancourt: I know it was for charity, but really? Why? Yikes. Tyler's performance was the first thing my mother said to me about the game this morning: "He was awful." And she tells no lies.
• O-vechkin: The Caps star had a rough couple of games against the B's. He had 13 shots in the two games, but was a combined -3 and had no points. He drew a couple of penalties with his speed and stickhandling last night, but other than that wasn't much of a threat.
• D'oh! I'm reaching here, but save for his mental blunder, Thomas would have had his second shutout of the season last night. Stickhandling has never been Thomas' strong suit, but remember Tim, the guys in the opposite colored sweaters from you play for the OTHER team.

The Rest

• I had to listen to some of the game on 98.5 The Sports Hub with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers last night due to working late, and even on the radio it seemed like the game had the atmosphere of a late season or playoff game. This suspicion was confirmed when I got to watch the end of the game on NESN, as the crowd was extremely loud, cheering with every rush, every check and even every battle won on the half-wall. I know that it being the home opener had something to do with it, but I can't help but feel local puck fans were ravenous for hockey to come back, especially with the way last season ended. If last night was any indication (and I know it's early), the fans should have plenty to cheer about this year.
• How to tell when hockey is becoming relevant again: when columnists like Tony Massarotti, Steve Buckley and Bob Ryan start writing about the B's. All three must have taken breaks from writing about LeBron James' lunch or who the Red Sox should sign to actually see what that newfangled game of hockey is all about. Stick to the Sox, Patriots and Celtics, guys, and leave the hockey writing to Dupont, Shinzawa, Harris, Conroy and Co.

Attaboy: Thomas and Horton can share it. They've both been huge thus far.
Providence shuttle: Tyler. On the plus side, he should be pretty familiar with tour buses at this point.

Game 4: Bruins 3, Capitals 1

I realize these posts have gotten a little longer than I intended, so I'm going to try to keep them brief. I don't even think I'd read the entirety of these epic tomes I've been posting.


The Good

• Tim Thomas: Spectacular again, what else can be said? If he keeps it up, Tuukka Rask should probably buy a recliner to replace his back-up milk crate. He's going to be there for a while. Not many top notch saves from Thomas tonight, but he was solid all-around. Making 35 saves while allowing just one goal to this Caps team is nothing to sneeze at.
• Milan Lucic: Props to Lucic for his second-career Gordie Howe hat trick (which I've since renamed the "Pavel Datsyuk hat trick"), but even bigger props for fighting John Erskine again after getting popped pretty good last time. Lucic seemed to say in the Boston Globe's write-up of the game that he remembered that bout with Erskine and wanted to make up for it. I'd say he earned at least a draw this time around.
• Penalty kill: The B's had to kill off four penalties, including an extended 5-on-3, and performed extremely well on all of the kills. The PK unit only allowed four shots to get through to Thomas. The penalty kill was one of the B's strongest assets last year, and it looks in the early going like it will continue to be a valuable tool this year.

The Bad

• Matt Hunwick: Even with his goal, it'd be generous if I moved him up to neutral. Another rough game for the young defenseman, though one hopes that his goal will boost his confidence and get his game going in the right direction. Washington's lone goal came as a direct result of a Hunwick turnover right near his own net. If Hunwick continues at this pace, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a game or two off to reset his head.
• Turnovers: While Hunwick's was the most egregious, the entire B's team was guilty of way too many turnovers last night. It's not often that a team can be so careless with the puck and not get burned, especially against an explosive team like the Caps. It seemed like everyone got a bit careless with the puck at times, from Hunwick and Zdeno Chara to Michael Ryder and Tyler Seguin. The B's, as a team, need to be a bit more disciplined.
• Greg Campbell's second home: The fourth-liner racked up 11 penalty minutes (5 came in a fight) last night, including a tough four-minute high-sticking penalty in the dying minutes that forced the B's to finish the game 4-on-6. It didn't burn them this time, but Campbell is too valuable a checker to sit in the box that much in one game. Discipline, discipline, discipline, which is coincidental since his dad is the NHL's Dean of Discipline.
  
• Powerless play again: I think I might just create a template for these posts so I don't have to keep writing the same thing over and over about the power play. It was awful again tonight, including a squandered opportunity on an extended 5-on-3. Work needs to be done.

The Rest

• Not much life shown by Washington's big guns last night. Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom had the odd scoring chance or two, but were all held pointless. Shutting down those three will go a long way towards beating the Caps, and the B's were able to do so last night.
• Expect a long suspension from Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks for his incident with a fan last night in Minnesota. No sports league takes incidents involving player contact with fans lightly, but Rypien, who lost his cool and actually grabbed the fan by the shirt, will likely miss five or more games. No, he didn't actually punch the fan like Tie Domi or venture into the crowd like the Indiana Pacers, but Gary Bettman and Co. will still be hard on him. It's hard to blame the players for wanting to go after fans at times, especially with some of the taunts and insults heard in hockey arenas across the country, but restraint and the ability to tune it out are part of being a professional athlete.

Attaboy: Got to be Thomas again. As long as he keeps playing well, he should keep starting.

Providence shuttle: For the B's, it's Hunwick. In general, it's Rypien. Don't go after the fans, no matter how obnoxious you find their Minnesota accents.

Game 3: Bruins 4, Devils 1

The Good

• Tim Thomas: It was only natural that Thomas got the nod in goal tonight, as he earned the right with last week's shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes. Thomas didn't disappoint, allowing just one goal while making 31 saves, some of the highlight reel variety. The goal he allowed was more the fault of his defenseman failing to pick up Dainius Zubrus at the top of the crease as opposed to Thomas himself making a mistake. The starting goaltending job was essentially handed to Tuukka Rask by many pundits before the season began, but early on Thomas appears to be doing his best to make Claude Julien lose a little sleep at night. If he continues to play like this, goaltending will likely become the biggest hot-button issue for the B's (if it isn't already).
• Jordan Caron's first goal: The rookie impressed many during training camp, and managed to stick with the big club through their European excursion. While he was scratched in the team's first game of the season, he made his NHL debut in the B's 3-0 win over the Coyotes last weekend, and played pretty well. Caron was dressed again in tonight's game, and, again, didn't disappoint. He scored his first career goal nearly six minutes into the second period, a goal that tied the score at 1 and jump-started the B's. Caron's goal was indicative of one of his better attributes: his willingness to go to the "dirty areas" of the ice and put in work. Caron parked himself in the slot in front of Martin Brodeur, and was there to bang home a big rebound. (Video of Caron's goal here, thanks to dafoomie.)
• Krejci's wrist: There was some concern going into the season that David Krejci would need some time to shake the rust off of his injured wrist; that he wasn't going to be able to perform all of his stickhandling and passing magic right away. So far, however, Krejci looks excellent, and was a wizard with the puck again in tonight's game. His beautiful flip-pass to Milan Lucic was his fourth assist this season, giving him a total of four points in three games. Krejci protected the puck beautifully all night, at times seeming to dare Jersey players to try to take it from him. Yes, it's early, but Krejci's injury appears to have healed nicely, and he looks to be in midseason form.
• Fourth line: The fourth line of Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell and Brad Marchand was excellent again tonight. Usually, a coach wants his fourth line to play responsible hockey and to make hustle plays and wear down the opposing defensemen with physical play; if the fourth line can chip in some offense, that's just icing on the cake. The B's got that icing last night when Thornton scored the third goal of the game on a great pass from Campbell. Marchand took a silly kneeing penalty that put the B's down two men, but other than that the fourth line was very effective, cycling the puck, finishing their checks and grinding out good shift after good shift.

The Bad

• Hunwick still looks shaky: It seems like many B's fans were quick to blame Matt Hunwick's troubles of last year on Big Money Wides, his defense partner and constant scapegoat. After all, Hunwick had performed terrifically during the '08-'09 season, and few people expected such a regression. However, even though the "W" half of the "H & W Comedy Show," as my friend termed the Hunwick-Wideman pairing last year, is gone, Hunwick continues to make shaky play after shaky play. "Bad" might be a little harsh here, more like "troubling;" Hunwick wasn't awful, but he made his fair share of headscratching plays and turnovers. The young defenseman is a great talent, but needs to tighten up his game and play more consistently.
• Martin Brodeur: His team's four goals allowed can't all be placed squarely on the future Hall of Famer's shoulders, but he certainly didn't help matters. Michael Ryder's wrist shot was a laser that Brodeur was helpless to stop, while Lucic's goal came from a sublime Krejci pass. However, the Caron goal came as a result of a "juicy rebound" and Thornton's goal came when Brodeur badly misread Campbell's intentions behind the net (though in fairness to Brodeur, Campbell did make a great play). Brodeur looked shaky throughout the night, seemingly out of position many times. The only reason the game wasn't 5-1 or 6-1 was because Brodeur made a number of huge stops to bail himself out. It's early, but he certainly hasn't set the world aflame so far.
• Still no "power:" The power play remains an issue. The B's had a couple of good looks on the man advantage, but were unable to convert. All in all, they had just four shots on three power plays. It's hard to find fault with a 4-1 win, but the power play still needs work.

The Rest

• It remains to be seen whether or not Tyler Seguin remains with the B's for the rest of the season, but so far it seems like he's doing little to suggest he should be sent back to juniors. While Mike Milbury may not think Seguin will be an "impact player" this year, he's made his presence felt in the B's past two games, scoring his first goal in the B's second game against Phoenix and assisting on Ryder's strike last night. It seems that at this point, Seguin would have to be a detriment to the team for him to be sent back to juniors; he doesn't have much left to prove there, and won't really improve his game playing against junior competition. The thought here is that he will remain with the B's this year, and will get better with each game.
• I'm going to write about the whole road-trip experience in a separate article to be posted on the main site, but I was hugely disappointed with the Jersey crowd. The arena was beautiful, the transit to and from NYC was very easy and the whole trip was a really fun time, but the crowd was absolutely terrible. The arena wasn't even close to half-full, and seemed to have an atmosphere more appropriate for a wake or a library than that of a hockey game. I know the Devils haven't gotten off to the greatest start, but it's sad to see the fans not come out and support the team. Where's Puddy when you need him?

Attaboy: Caron...gotta give it to him when he nets his first career goal, right?

Providence shuttle: The entire pro-Devils crowd at the Prudential Center tonight. It'd probably only take 5 or 6 Megabuses to get them all up there too, but more on that later.

No love for the Thrashers?

Atlanta's finest rapper T.I. wears a B's hate during an interview with BET a few months back. Yes, if there's a picture of a rapper out there in a Bruins hat, your friends here at BHN will find it.

Game 2: Bruins 3, Coyotes 0

The Good

• Tim Thomas: What can be said? Thomas did exactly what was asked of him, making big saves when called upon and playing a solid all around game. No matter what he's said, losing the starting job must have eaten at Thomas all summer. A motivated Thomas will have a two-fold impact on the B's: first, he'll push Tuukka Rask, making them both better; second, having a competitor like Thomas burning with a desire to prove himself again will only make him better.
  
• Mark Recchi: Old-Man Frozen Pond played with the energy of a rookie today, winning a great one-on-one battle to set up Nathan Horton's goal, the B's second of the game. Recchi had an iffy first game, including a turnover at the blue line that led to a shorthanded scoring chance for the Coyotes. However, today Recchi played an outstanding game, finishing the day at +1 with one assist and four shots on goal.
  
• Brad Marchand: The B's number-one agitator definitely got under the skin of the Coyotes today, but not by playing on the edge: instead, he played a terrific all around game. Marchand was tenacious on the forecheck, created a number of turnovers and even created a couple of fantastic scoring chances. One example of his stellar play came when he won a battle for the puck on the boards, fended off a Phoenix defenseman and wheeled a no-look pass to Zdeno Chara, who was streaking into the slot. Chara had a prime scoring chance thanks to Marchand's hustle and persistence.
• Zdeno Chara: Big Z's got one of the most feared shots in the league, but it loses a lot of its effectiveness when he can't get it on goal. Today, Z's slapper was right on target, and he finished the game with seven shots on goal. At one point, I remember Jack Edwards remarking that Chara's first four shots of the day landed on net. Chara was also very active offensively, jumping into the rush at times and driving to the net to create space.

The Bad

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson: The Swedish defenseman had a rough game on the Phoenix blue line, coughing the puck up a number of times and creating a number of scoring chances for the B's. The youngster is a high-level prospect, but he's just 19 years old and will likely have a number of games like he did today while he develops. He finished the game at -2 (along with Shane Doan and a couple of others). Ekman-Larsson will definitely benefit from having veteran players like Doan, Derek Morris and Ed Jovanovski on his team, as these guys who have been around the block will certainly be able to give the kid some pointers.
• No, YOU'RE supposed to score, Not Them!: For the second game in a row, the B's at times seemed to be more prepared to give up a goal on the power play than to score one. Yes, shorthanded bids are going to be allowed at times, due to blocked shots, broken sticks or other fluky happenings. However, the rate that the B's allowed shorthanded bids in these two games is somewhat alarming. There was a breakaway and at least one two-on-one during today's game, along with a ton of shorthanded bids on Saturday. Admittedly, it's only been two games, but right now the B's special teams need some work.

The Rest

Frame this picture and put it on your wall, Tyler. Hopefully there are plenty more where this came from.

• We saw a bit of Tyler Seguin's skill yesterday, but we really saw flashes of his brilliant potential today. Early in the game, Seguin really turned on the jets and nearly beat both Ilya Bryzgalov and a Phoenix defenseman to a loose puck. Seguin's speed turned what looked like a routine dump-in into a scoring chance. On his first NHL goal, Seguin's speed was again on display, along with great hand-eye coordination to catch the puck in flight and stickhandle in stride. He also showed his fantastic finishing ability when he flipped the puck over Bryzgalov while falling down and being pursued from behind by a defenseman. All in all, a pretty memorable first goal for the rookie.
• An interesting note: Recchi was on the ice for Seguin's goal. I'm not sure what the largest age difference between two teammates who are on the ice when a goal is scored is, but Recchi's 24 years on Seguin must be up there.
• I have to agree with Thomas, who said in a NESN interview after the game that Prague was one of the most beautiful cities he'd ever visited. I was fortunate enough to spend a few days there back in 2008, and everything about the city is awesome, from the architecture to the history to the rest of the sites. As I remember reading somewhere (can't remember for the life of me where it was), Prague's kind of like Boston in that it's full of history and everything's old. But whereas "old" here is 375 years, old there is thousands of years.
• The people in Prague seem great, but someone has to get the 02 Arena staff some new tunes. A sampling of the songs I heard played there during NESN's telecasts: I Love Rock and Roll, Sk8er Boi and Rock You Like a Hurricane. As B's fans know, no hockey game is complete without some Mötley Crüe, and while I know they're a few years behind the American music trends, someone's got to help them get some current music. Actually, their old school taste in music means they probably don't have Lady Gaga or Ke$ha over there...sounds like heaven.

Attaboy: Marchand. The grinder was probably the B's most effective all-around player today, creating turnovers and numerous scoring chances. If he continues to play like this, he'll make for some hard decisions when Marc Savard and Marco Sturm today.

Providence Shuttle: Ekman-Larsson. Again, all part of the learning curve for the rookie, who will undoubtedly have a few more bumps in the road during his development.

Game 1: Coyotes 5, Bruins 2

(Note: This is the beginning of something I'm going to try to do throughout the season. I don't have access to the players, so writing game stories without quotes would be pretty useless. I'm instead going to do something called "The Good, the Bad and the Rest." Here's the first one below, let's hope I keep it up all season. The "Attaboy" is meant to be the best performer/standout factor, while the "Providence Shuttle" isn't meant to suggest demotion, but...well, you get it.)

The Good

• Nathan Horton: The big winger looked excellent in his Bruin debut. As Joe Haggerty of CSNNE put it, Horton looked dangerous every time he had the puck in the slot. If Horton can play every night like he did this afternoon, then maaaaaaybe I'll be more OK with the fateful Wides trade. After one game though, Horton looks great.
• Tuukka Rask: You wouldn't expect the goalie to be on the "good" list in a 5-2 loss, but Rask actually played pretty well. I don't think any of the four goals he allowed were really his fault, and the sophomore made some huge saves to keep the B's in the game early. Rask finished the game with 32 saves, including a couple of highlight-reel flourishes with his glove. He may have allowed four goals, but Rask was hardly the problem.
• Gregory Campbell: Campbell was somewhat overlooked in the Horton-Wideman trade, but the fourth-line centerman earns high marks here for dropping the gloves with Vernon Fiddler in the third period. He'll certainly earn a lot of kudos from his teammates for fighting, and his scrap seemed to energize the team, if only for a few minutes.

The Bad

• Dennis Seidenberg: Oy. Early in NESN's telecast, Jack Edwards commented on a remark GM Peter Chiarelli made about Seidenberg, saying (paraphrasing here) that he "had a lot of rust to work off." Well Seidenberg looked as rusty as the Tin Man after a rainstorm today, appearing slow and sloppy and getting beaten badly on Taylor Pyatt's net-front goal. At his best, Seidenberg is an outstanding puck-mover and an offensive threat, but today he was a liability.
• Power(less) Play: Different year, same story? The B's power play was an area of weakness last year, and in this year's first game it appeared that little had changed. The B's were just 1-for-4 with the man advantage today, including one failed 5-on-3 in the first period. They got a few chances and a late strike from Horton, but for the most part the power play wasn't much of a threat.

The Rest

• Cool to hear TD Garden P.A. guy Jim Martin on the P.A. system at 02 arena in Prague. It was a little strange to hear Martin announce Phoenix goals with such enthusiasm, but must have been a cool experience for Martin. It was also cool to hear each team's goal horn and song played after a goal. Not something you hear at your usual hockey game.
• The Czech crowd seemed pretty into the game, and even seemed to be pulling for the Bruins at times. A poster on HF Boards who was at the game even reported that some of the Europeans in the crowd started an unconventional (by American standards) "Bos-ton -clap- -clap- -clap" chant. Good to see a foreign crowd getting into the game (and, of course, pulling for the Black and Gold.

Attaboy: Horton. A strong start for a guy who's looking to shrug off accusations of having no heart. Two goals in your first game will go a long way towards impressing your new club.

Providence Shuttle: Seidenberg. Yes, it was his first real game action in quite some time. But the German defenseman looked borderline lost at times out there. Hopefully he regains his '09 form as he gets more games under his belt.

Bergeron Signs an Extension

With his three-year, $15 million contract extension signed and done, Patrice Bergeron can now focus solely on the business of playing hockey and of continuing to regain his pre-concussion form.

It's safe to say that the 25-year-old Québécois is "back" from his concussion, as he was tied for the team lead in points last year with 52 and added on an additional 11 points in 13 playoff games, good for second on the team (behind Big Money Wides, of course). Bergeron also played for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics, albeit in a limited checking role. Bergeron has reestablished himself as one of the game's premier two-way players, a guy who can both make plays offensively and shut down opposing players on the defensive side of things.

So is his new $5 million cap hit worth it? I think so, especially when you look at some of the other players who are making at or around $5 million per year: Brian Rolston, Patrik Elias, Jason Pominville, Alex Kovalev, Mike Riebeiro, Ryan Smyth and Shane Doan, just to name a few. Bergeron's all-around game is at least comparable to, if not better than, pretty much everyone on that list, with the exception of maybe Shane Doan, who has been a rock for the Coyotes for years.

One can't help but wonder why the deal is only for three years, however. It seems like the Bruins wanted to keep Bergeron, and that he wanted to stay here as well. So why not make the deal longer? Are there lingering concerns about his long-term health, especially in light of Marc Savard's current condition? Is Bergeron holding out for one more big contract? Did the Bruins want to hold off on anything too long term so that they could see if his offensive numbers continue to improve?

I'd say that the last two are probably the closest to the truth, but there's something else worth considering: Tyler Seguin's entry level contract will be up in three years as well. Assuming the B's re-sign Zdeno Chara to a long-term (5-7 years) deal while also locking up Tuukka Rask to a long-term deal, the B's will have some figuring to do in regards to the cap.

Dennis Seidenberg, Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, Marc Savard and Tim Thomas are all currently on the books through at least 2012-2013. Rask and David Krejci will be free-agents after the 2011-2012 season, and both look to be in line for big raises. While Marco Sturm's and Michael Ryder's salaries will (probably) be off the books after this season, that's still a lot of number crunching to do. Assuming Seguin pans out, he'll be looking for a big jump after 2012-2013 as well.

Another side to the Seguin coin: if he really pans out as well as people expect, and turns into a franchise player, he may force management to take a hard look at Bergeron's worth to this team (three years down the line, that is, not now). If Seguin develops into a bona fide playmaker, that would likely leave the B's with Savard, Krejci and Seguin as their top-three centers. Is $5 million worth it for someone who may not have as significant a role on this team in three years?

For now, however, most B's fans will be happy that Bergeron is locked up for three more years. If he continues to improve, he'll be a bargain at $5 million; two-way players of his caliber don't come along very often.

BHN gives this deal a Thumbs Up.