LOTS of Bruins 11-12 Highlights

As the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals loom just 2 days away, us Bruins fans are struggling to cope with the reality that the Bruins are not part of it this year. Every aspect of the playoffs taking place leading up to the beginning of the Devils/Kings finals series on Wednesday reminds me that the Bruins were there last year, and it makes me so sad (sadder than I already am) that they aren't there anymore - and even more so, that what seems like yesterday when they were there, was actually a year ago. To try to cope with this sadness, I will post some of my favorite videos from the 2011-2012 Bruins regular season, which offered some amazing moments in and of itself.

These are in no particular order, and are only a dozen of the endless amount of videos I wanted to post, and perhaps plan on posting this summer.

I have to admit, looking through these season's highlights, I realized how unbelievably fortunate I was as a Bruins fan this year to experience a dozen home games that were all (except for 1 or 2) absolutely fantastic! I have so many wonderful Bruins memories over the years, starting with my first game in 1997. I miss them so much, and look forward to the wonderful memories they are going to give me the opportunity to be apart of in the years to come.

Bruins 1, Caps 0 (OT) Game 1 (4/12/12)

Last night was awesome! I went to the first Bruins playoff game in 2 years, saw them win a playoff game in person for only the 2nd time in my life, and saw them win a playoff game in OT for the first time! What an amazing experience! We had great seats (Loge 9, Row 11). Here are all my photos uploaded to flickr.

The Bear, The Gang, and the Good Ol' Bruins Are Back

It's fitting that Thornton's goal broke a 38-game goalless streak and Seidenberg's goal broke a 28-something-game goalless streak on a night that the Bruins proved they had finally broken a collective losing streak that sucked the life out of them from January through the early weeks of March.

I was extremely uncertain coming into tonight's game about what to expect from the Bruins. I hoped, obviously, that they would continue to improve and play great hockey that they are capable of. They seem to be on that road, with each passing game in the past week or two another step in the direction of playing in playoff mode. Tonight certainly seemed to have a playoff-like intensity to it, at least in the 3rd period. I had forgotten what it was like to see them play so well, and be successful. I don't want to jump the gun and say they're gonna keep it up and steamroll into the playoffs, but they are showing that they are on the right track.

Which is why I was hesitant to expect a win tonight. Tampa was so devastating the past two games they played against the Bruins, and the Bruins in general have been awful against the Southeast Division. But the 4-game season series ends at 2-2, with the home team winning every game. Playing well at home was something important they needed to re-establish before the end of the season; they had proven that they could play well on the road during the California road trip. But their shot totals had been down, and they still had some kinks in their game. Tonight, it's great to see they continue to iron out those kinks in their game.

This game was a huge relief, and Love That Dirty Water playing over the Garden sound system after the game ended almost gave me déjà vu from last years playoffs wins at home. You can't blame me since this was against the Lightning, like in the Conference Finals: things like Roloson in net playing great hockey and the recent resurgence of The Bear, who we hadn't seen since Tampa fans got unreasonably offended and outraged over the Bruins brilliant marketing scheme from last year's playoffs; after Tampa fans bombarded the Bruins marketing staff with personal threats, The Bear was no more.

He made his triumphant return yesterday in another genius marketing bit, The Bear and the Gang, and you can't help but think the Bruins debuted this on purpose at this perfect time. To put a cherry on top of how trolly and brilliant this is, check out the banner hanging on the wall in the background of the basement set of the show:

That is unmistakably the same poster. Genius. Anyway, let's look more at tonight's game!

Since it is so insanely fun to bask in wins like this, I'm going to talk about why this game was great, and why they are finally turning it around.

Return of the Rolston

Words cannot describe how happy this makes me. TWO OF MY FAVORITES, HAPPY!

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 8-0 on Monday night, sweeping the season series with Toronto with 6 wins, and outscoring the Leafs 36-10 and shutting them out twice. Tim Thomas earned the shutout; while he only had to make a few saves, he made some great ones. The Bruins had a strong defensive game all night, however, and appear to be learning how to walk again after months of stumbling.

I have a lot of feels and thoughts.

Bruins and the Draft

The Bruins have done a good job in recent years in making the best of their draft picks. Many recently drafted players are still in juniors or developing in Providence, but a few current players have been bred and raised as purebred Bruins.

Of the 22 active players on the Bruins current roster, 21 have been drafted and 1 (Rich Peverley) is undrafted. Of the 21 drafted players on the roster, 6 have been drafted by the Bruins (Lucic, Krejci, Bergeron, Caron, Marchand, Seguin), 2 by Toronto (Thornton, Rask), 2 more by Florida (Campbell, Horton), and a combination of another 11 teams (1 of which nolonger exists – the Quebec Nordiques, who drafted Tim Thomas 217th overall in 1994).