Advertising Opportunities

head coach: Pat Burns

roster: C - Anson Carter, Dimitri Khristich, Joe Thornton, Ted Donato, Tim Taylor. LW - Ken Baumgartner, Rob Dimaio, Sergei Samsonov, Jason Allison, Mike Sullivan. RW - Steve Heinze, Landon Wilson, Per Johan Axelsson, Jean Yves Roy. D - Ray Bourque, Don Sweeney, Dave Ellett, Kyle McLaren, Dean Chynoweth, Mattias Timander, Dean Malkoc, Hal Gill, Darren Van Impe, Grant Ledyard. G - Byron Dafoe, Rob Tallas.

injuries: Don Sweeney, d (broken shoulder blade, out for season).

transactions: None.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Northeast Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
y-Pittsburgh 82  40  24  18    98  228  188 
x-Boston     82  39  30  13    91  221  194  
x-Buffalo    82  36  29  17    89  211  187  
x-Montreal   82  37  32  13    87  235  208  
x-Ottawa     82  34  33  15    83  193  200  
Carolina     82  33  41   8    74  200  219   

y - Clinched division
x - Clinched playoff spot

game results:

4/07 at Ottawa     W 4-2
4/09 Islanders     W 4-1
4/11 New Jersey    L 3-2
4/13 at Carolina   W 3-2
4/15 at Montreal   W 6-2
4/18 at Pittsburgh L 5-2
4/19 Philadelphia  W 2-1

team news:

by Matt Brown, Boston Correspondent

The Boston Bruins finished the season on a positive note, clinching a playoff spot as the fifth best team in the East, and probably also earning some post-season awards.

Literally rejuvenated by an influx of young talent, and refocused by coach-of-the-year candidate Pat Burns, the Bruins stormed back into the playoffs after a one-year hiatus. They are slated to face the fourth-place Washington Capitals, who also missed the playoffs last year, starting on Wednesday.

One of the most interesting aspects of this matchup are the connections between the two teams. Adam Oates and Bill Ranford are former Bruins, while Jason Allison and Anson Carter are former Caps, exchanged for each other. But starting goalie Byron Dafoe is a Capital once removed, having been dealt by the Caps to Los Angeles two years ago, in the same trade that sent Dimitri Khristich west. When both were traded to the Bruins together, spawning lots of "Are you following me?" wisecracks, it seemed almost inevitable that they would end up meeting their former team somewhere down the road. And lest we forgot, the Caps Joe Juneau once was a Bruin too, a linemate of Oates' at the time. Ironically, Juneau was traded in part because of a fuss he made about a hit from Mark Tinordi that broke his jaw. Juneau was angry and outspoken that the Bruins wouldn't send film to the league office to try to get Tinordi suspended. Tinordi is now Juneau's teammate at Washington, but so far he has refrained from breaking Joey's jaw again.

The last Bruin home game, versus the Flyers, was dubbed Fan Appreciation day. To thank the fans for their support, each of the Bruins players peeled off their game sweaters (in this case, Yogi's - the so-called special events third sweater that actually serves as the Saturday Fox Network sweater) and gave them to Bruins fans following the game. No, it wasn't first-come, first-serve, it was a drawing, with the names of the winners announced. Coach Pat Burns joked, "They asked for my suit jacket but it's brand new."

The year didn't start that well for Steve Heinze, but it finished just fine. Heinze was out for 52 games last season, after suffering serious knee and abdominal injuries after a hit from Nefarious Darius Kasparaitis. This year, Heinze scored 26 goals after working his way beck from a fractured ankle. During the latter part of the season, Heinze, with the help of Anson Carter and Ted Donato, showed opponents that they could not just focus on the Allison line in hopes of beating the Bruins. Steve showed speed and savvy, good corner work, and a sneaky touch around the net. This was Steve's best NHL season by far, as his 46 points and 26 goals were 15 points and nine goals better than his previous highs.

In the Bruins last regular season game against the Flyers, Heinze scored his fourth goal in four games to lead the Bruins to a 2-1 win. Heinze scored a power-play goal in the opening period on a feed from Jason Allison, slipping the puck past the left post under goalie Sean Burke.

Sergei Samsonov's goal, his 22nd of the year, made it 2-0 just 1:47 into the final period. The goal enabled Samsonov to tie Mike Johnson of Toronto for the overall rookie points lead at 47. Samsonov ends up ranked first because he scored more goals, and he also played one fewer game than Johnson. While this does not make Sergei a lock for the Calder trophy, it certainly makes him a leading candidate, helped by the fact that his team made the playoffs, and Mike Johnson's club did not.

The Bruins needed to win this game to avoid slipping to sixth place (and facing these same Flyers). The Flyers, for their part, were between a rock and a hard place, because a Flyer win would set up a series against the Bruins, who dominated them head-to-head, while a loss would send them against the Sabres and Dominik Hasek. The Flyers were 2-1-1 this season against Buffalo, and beat them in last year's playoffs, while the Bruins did a good job of stifling the Lindros line all season, so you have to wonder how much of a factor that was in their effort against the Bruins. Of course, nobody would ever tank a game. They just play smart hockey.

And this whole scenario was set up because the Bruins lost 5-2 to the Penguins the previous day. A win in Pittsburgh might have locked up fourth place and home ice for the Bruins, but it didn't happen. The Penguins played with meaning, and Boston, unfortunately, did not.

One of the most enjoyable games of the season for Bruins fans was the 6-2 drubbing the Bs handed the undermanned Montreal Canadiens at their Molson Center home. Montreal had several key players out with injuries, notably Saku Koivu, who always gives the Bruins fits.

You knew that it was going to be a long day for the Habs when Tim Taylor, while killing a Ted Donato penalty, broke in on Jocelyn Thibault and was hooked by Shayne Corson. Referee Mick McGeough called for a penalty shot, which Taylor tucked under Thibault's left pad. Thus the Bruins took the 1-0 lead on a short-handed penalty-shot goal. McGeough did not smile on the Canadiens very much, and the Canadiens did little to dampen the Bruins' spirits, giving up four power-play goals on ten power plays.

[ issues | web extra | stats | nhl archive | home | chat | mailing list | about us | search | comments ]

1998 © Copyright LCS Hockey All Rights Reserved