Game Preview: Maple Leafs at Bruins
13 years ago
 |  | |
| Record | 5-2-1, 11 points | 4-2-0, 8 points |
| PP % | 14.7%, 19th | 20.0%, 9th |
| PK % | 86.2%, 8th | 90.5%, 2nd |
| Goals For | 23 | 24 |
| Goals Against | 19 | 11 |
The fortunes of the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs will be tied for this next generation for many reasons not the least of which is duelling Stanley Cup droughts only five years apart. John Ferguson Junior’s disastrous Andrew Raycroft for Tuukka Rask trade has likely provided them with Vezina quality goaltending for the next 10 years (please God let Tuukka Rask be Finnish for Jim Carey). Of course, Brian Burke’s trade for Phil Kessel will be sitting their alongside it as the defining moment of each General Manager’s tenure.
The fairest judgment of the trade can only be done years down the line. The argument against the trade is usually made with today’s information that the Leafs would be giving up a second overall pick but that’s just another case of selective hindsight by Leafs haters. Right now, the focus is on Tyler Seguin who says that he is a Leafs fan:
"Growing up, all I wanted was to watch Toronto win a Cup," said Seguin, who plays just his seventh NHL game Thursday and first against his childhood team. "That’s what everyone wanted back then. They were my local team. Now I’m going against them.
But can he be trusted when he cavorts with known turncoats?
"I’ve got some buddies back home who say they’re Toronto fans but they’re going to be wearing Seguin jerseys. … My friends might have had it circled more than I did. It should be a lot of fun. It might be a little strange seeing a Leaf jersey on the opposing team."
To say that Phil Kessel has struggled against the Bruins is an understatement. In six games last year he was -5 and collected only one assist. Worse still was that he was noticeably timid during the majority of those games. In the final encounter he was the dynamic forward that we saw for most of the rest of the season. He created a number of scoring chances and only incredible saves by Tim Thomas kept him off of the scoresheet.
Line-up news and reading material for tonight’s game:
- Friend of PPP Cornelius Hardenbergh travelled to Prague for the Bruins’ season opener. Check out some of his pictures.
- Peter Chiarelli is trying to make a deal to fix the cap mess he has created through some terrible contracts.
- James Mirtle looks at the obvious match-up as well.
- Johnny Boychuk will miss four weeks while some no-name steps into the Bruins’ line-up.
- Colby Armstrong will also be out for 4-6 weeks after Chris Higgins vicious slash which opens up a spot for Gym Tan Luca "BOOOM" Caputi to show that he did not deserve to be sent to the Marlies.
Now, for a good memory of the Leafs-Bruins rivalry:
Recent articles from Pension Plan Puppets
