I woke up on Saturday morning with the intentions of driving into Boston for the press conference starring Boston's front-office duo, President
Cam Neely and general manager
Peter Chiarelli, who were expected to field questions on the ratification of the league's new collective bargaining agreement. Then came the email: It's been postponed. "Oh no," I muttered, audibly, a brief moment of terror coming over me.
For a minute there, I thought the NHLPA had a last second change of heart and decided that they didn't like the language in it, sending us back to square one. No, I know, that's a crazy thing to think of, but it's also crazy that it's Jan. 13 and we're still without a game of NHL hockey. That's not to sound bitter about the past, it's just been a wickedly unpredictable saga that's thankfully, mercifully, finally over.
Rest in peace, 2012-13 lockout, you will be missed by absolutely no one.
Gone too late, in fact.
But alas, the lockout's officially over, and the NHL's schedule, which features 48 games in less than a hundred days, an incredibly absurd pace of play (one would say it's even a ludicrous speed), and it's time for us to take a look at what it presents the Bruins with.
First, here's a peek at the schedule...
JANUARY
Sat. Jan. 19 N.Y. Rangers 7:00 PM
Mon. Jan. 21 Winnipeg 1:00 PM
Wed. Jan. 23 At N.Y. Rangers 7:30 PM
Fri. Jan. 25 N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
MoThu. Jan. 31 Buffalo 7:00 PM
FEBRUARY
Sat. Feb. 2 At Toronto 7:00 PM
Wed. Feb. 06 At Montreal 7:00 PM
Sat. Feb. 9 Tampa Bay 1:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 10 At Buffalo 7:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 12 N.Y. Rangers 7:30 PM
Fri. Feb. 15 At Buffalo 7:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 17 At Winnipeg 2:00 PM
Thu. Feb. 21 At Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Sun. Feb. 24 At Florida 3:00 PM
Tue. Feb. 26 At N.Y. Islanders 7:30 PM
Thu. Feb. 28 Ottawa 7:00 PM
MARCH
Sat. Mar. 2 Tampa Bay 1:00 PM
Sun. Mar. 3 Montreal 7:30 PM
Tue. Mar. 5 At Washington 7:00 PM
Thu. Mar. 7 Toronto 7:00 PM
Sat. Mar. 9 Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Mon. Mar. 11 At Ottawa 7:30 PM
Tue. Mar. 12 At Pittsburgh 7:30 PM
Thu. Mar. 14 Florida 7:00 PM
Sat. Mar. 16 Washington 1:00 PM
Sun. Mar. 17 At Pittsburgh 12:30 PM
Tue. Mar. 19 At Winnipeg 7:00 PM
Thu. Mar. 21 At Ottawa 7:30 PM
Sat. Mar. 23 At Toronto 7:00 PM
Mon. Mar. 25 Toronto 7:00 PM
Wed. Mar. 27 Montreal 7:00 PM
Sat. Mar. 30 At Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Sun. Mar. 31 At Buffalo 7:00 PM
APRIL
Tue. Apr. 2 Ottawa 7:00 PM
Thu. Apr. 4 New Jersey 7:00 PM
Sat. Apr. 6 At Montreal 7:00 PM
Mon. Apr. 8 Carolina 7:00 PM
Wed. Apr. 10 At New Jersey 7:30 PM
Thu. Apr. 11 N.Y. Islanders 7:00 PM
Sat. Apr. 13 At Carolina 7:00 PM
Mon. Apr. 15 Ottawa 7:00 PM
Wed. Apr. 17 Buffalo 7:30 PM
Fri. Apr. 19 Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Sun. Apr. 21 Florida 3:00 PM
Tue. Apr. 23 At Philadelphia 7:30 PM
Sat. Apr. 27 At Washington 7:00 PM
More Buffalo and Ottawa, less Toronto and Montreal
With 48 games on tap, a "regular" year that'd feature six games against each divisional opponent simply isn't feasible.
Instead, the Bruins will split match-ups among the four Northeast foes this year, with five games against the Ottawa Senators and five against the Buffalo Sabres, while just playing four against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
Of course, this comes as a buzzkill to hockey's best rivalry, especially with the Habs on the mend from one of their worst years in recent memory. Same can be said for Toronto, whose trips to the TD Garden always bring out the most fun of chants pertaining to the career choices of
Phil Kessel.
And then there's the view from the competitive side of things, as many would contest that both the Sabres and Sens are significantly better than the Habs and Leafs, making Boston's road for a third straight Northeast title just a bit bumpier. Emphasis on the bit. Last year, the Black-and-Gold went a combined 10-2-0 against the Canadiens and Leafs, stealing 20 of a possible 24 points, compared to a 9-2-1 record against the Sabres and Senators.
My point: This division still belongs to Boston, even in a condensed season.
Disney on Ice, Bruins on road
I'm not sure if this is commonplace around the country, and I truthfully assume that it's not given the reaction I used to get when telling outsiders about it, but school children in New England are often the recipients of a mid-February vacation that puts school on hiatus for a week. Why? Well, we really don't know, and we really don't question it.
It's just there, sandwiched between Christmas and April vacation, and nobody's felt that it's necessary to send it to the slaughter. It's a truly puzzling thing, but we're getting way too sidetracked here -- back to hockey and stuff...
So, with the kids on vacation, the TD Garden has assumed (once again) that Bruins hockey is not what they want. No, not at all. They want, yup -- you guessed it, Disney on Ice! As is tradition, February will include just three home games for the B's, with a monstrous 16-day layoff coming between the club's Feb. 12 game against the New York Rangers and their return to Boston ice on Feb. 28 against the Florida Panthers.
The good news is that a lengthy road trip with stops in six different cities will give the Bruins a chance to gel and form the heavily-cliched team-bonding everybody turns to when teams start to win. The even better news, however, is that great seats are still available for all of Disney's fifteen (Yes, fifteen) ice-shows at the Garden, which acts as a complete sports-filibuster in Boston from Feb. 15 to Feb. 24.
Disney stinks, you guys.
March Madness
It's no secret that the 2013 season, an under-discussed 48-game marathon, is going to take its toll on the body. There's going to be a lot of hockey in not-a-lot of days. For the Bruins, it's the month of March that will truly be the make-or-break month in the club's bid for a top-four seed in the East. Much like last year's 18 games in 31 days March, the abridged 2013 campaign will come with a 17-game March headlined by pairs of games against the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals.
To answer your next question: Yes, this is a month that should concern you.
Last year's March was anything but memorable, with Boston at one dropping six of eight, and barely salvaging the month, finishing with a 9-8-1 record. Granted, much of those struggles fell on a goaltending tandem featuring an exhausted Tim Thomas and rusty Marty Turco, who was literally signed off the streets following Tuukka Rask's season-ending groin/abdomen injury, but questions are there.
How will Claude Julien manage such a crazy month, especially one with four back-to-back contests? How will a trade deadline fit into all of this? Just what Irish band are you going to listen to when the Bruins play the Penguins in a St. Patrick's Day matinee?
So many games, so many questions.
B's (finally) cool it with the Saturday matinees
What was your favorite part of last year's first round series against the Capitals? If you're like me, having three of the series' seven games played as matinees sat right below
Jason Chimera's playoff beard at the bottom of your list.
Matinee hockey? It's absolute nonsense. Nobody in the crowd is into it, the players need a whole period to get their legs going, and it's generally some of the sloppiest hockey you'll watch at this level. That's not even including the fact that the Bruins are always awful in day-games at home. Yet, for some insane reason, the Bruins are notorious for having about a billion Saturday matinees after Christmas.
12:30 o'clock start? Why? 1 o'clock start? No. 3 o'clock puck-drop? What is the point?
In case you can't tell by now, I absolutely loathe matinees.
Yet, thankfully it appears that the matinee woes won't be a great pain in the ass this year, as the Bruins will host just four Saturday day games in 2013, and five all together (Jan. 21's Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee vs. Winnipeg). My response: Good.
For the out-of-towners...
With a fanbase as large as Boston's, it's not easy to catch every Bruins game without a subscription to the Center Ice package you're not getting for free this year, so here's a list of your nationally televised B's games by month and network.
Sat. Jan. 19 vs. Rangers (7PM): NHL Network
Wed. Jan. 23 at Rangers (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
Mon. Jan. 28 at Hurricanes (7PM): NHL Network
Sat. Feb. 2 at Maple Leafs (7PM): CBC/NHL Network
Wed. Feb. 6 at Canadiens (7PM): RDS/TSN/NBC Sports Network
Tue. Feb. 12 vs. Rangers (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
Sun. Feb. 24 at Panthers (3PM): NHL Network
Tue. Feb. 26 at Islanders (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
Sun. Mar. 3 vs. Canadiens (7:30PM): RDS/NBC Sports Network
Thu. Mar 7 vs. Maple Leafs (7PM): TSN
Sat. Mar 9 vs. Flyers (1PM): NHL Network
Tue. Mar 12 at Penguins (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
Sun. Mar 17 at Penguins (12:30PM): NBC
Sat. Mar 23 at Maple Leafs (7PM): CBC/NHL Network
Mon. Mar 25 vs. Maple Leafs (7PM): TSN
Wed. Mar 27 vs. Canadiens (7PM): RDS/TSN/NBC Sports Network
Sat. Mar 30 at Flyers (1PM): NHL Network
Thu. Apr. 4 vs. Devils (7PM): NHL Network
Sat. Apr. 6 at Canadiens (7PM): CBC/RDS
Mon. Apr. 8 vs. Hurricanes (7PM): NHL Network
Wed. Apr. 10 at Devils (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
Wed. Apr. 17 vs. Sabres (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
Fri. Apr. 19 vs. Penguins (7PM): NHL Network
Sun. Apr. 21 vs. Panthers (3PM): NHL Network
Tue. Apr. 23 at Flyers (7:30PM): NBC Sports Network
That's a whole lotta Doc and Edzo.
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