Wicked Bruins Fan

Tonight the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens at the TD Garden. I don't have to tell you the Bruins have lost their last 8 games. I don't have to tell you how frustrating it is to watch them. I don't have to remind you how much injuries suck.

With that said, let's hope it can't get any worse in the 6 remaining games before the Olympic break.

Tuukka Rask (10-7-2, 2.13 GAA, .925 Sv%) will be in goal tonight. Rask has lost his last four starts. His last win was a 4-0 shutout against the Thrashers on December 30th. Rask is looking for his first win in 2010 tonight.

More fun facts from game notes:

- The Bruins have lost their last eight games at 0-6-2 with their last win a 2-1 shootout victory in San Jose on Jan. 14 …It is their longest winless streak since they went 0-5-3-1 from Feb. 15-Mar. 3, 2003 and is their losing streak since an 0-8-0 stretch from Dec. 22, 1955- Jan. 12, 1956, which is the second-longest losing streak in team history (team record is 11 from Dec. 3, 1924-Jan. 5, 1925).

- The Bruins have lost seven straight home games at 0-6-1 with their last home win was a 2-1 overtime victory over Philadelphia at
Fenway Park in the 2010 Winter Classic …That is their longest home winless stretch since an 0-5-4-0 mark from Nov. 28-Dec. 30, 2003
and is the second-longest home losing streak in club history (team record is 11 from Dec. 8, 1924-Feb, 17, 1925).

- The Bruins have had 13 power play opportunities in their last two games (3 for 13, 23.1%), which matches the opportunities in their
previous seven games combined.

- The Bruins have scored two goals or fewer in eight of their last nine games, with the exception in that stretch a 4-3 shootout loss in
Los Angeles on Jan. 16, including their last seven straight (9 goals) …That is the longest such stretch since a seven-game span from
Mar. 3-13, 2008 (8 goals) and they have not gone eight straight games with two-or-less goals per game since Oct. 10-27, 2001 (11
goals).

It can only get better from here, right? Let's hope so. The Bruins need the wins and points before the two week break.

The Bruins, like many other NHL teams throughout the course of a season, have had their fair share of injuries. Key injuries to key players. They have been lucky in a sense that (dare I even say it?) the majority of players have been healthy to an extent. (I won't name names or specific positions, but I'm sure you can figure it out.)

This season hasn't been as fun as last season. It's been frustrating. One of the best games was when the Bruins scored two late goals and won in a shootout against Ottawa. The Winter Classic is not in that same category because nothing will ever compare to that game, and that's why I excluded it. So the game in Ottawa was one of the games when the Bruins never showed any quit.

Lately it seems the quit is coming too often and way too early in games. Despite the injuries and the revolving door between Boston and Providence, there are no excuses when it boils down to the heart, passion and commitment the players have. That stuff shouldn't diminish at all. There are only a handful of guys giving their 110% every game. It's easy to see who they are. Other players teeter between 50% and 100% depending on which way the wind blows that day.

It's no secret some players are having dismal seasons. I felt so bad for Dennis Wideman, I bought a player t-shirt to support the guy. That's one of the things that irks me. No matter how rough the season is for a player, the priority for a fan is to support the team and whoever is on that team. That's my mentality anyway.

So when I saw this quote in the Globe today, I felt horrible.

Even the star-crossed Wideman, who took a puck in the mouth Sunday, reported no significant damage.

When noted that he didn’t miss a shift after eating the puck, Wideman deadpanned, “Why would I go out? I had to be on the ice for another goal against.’’

Wideman was out there for every Hurricanes goal on Sunday. He finished a -4 and was out there for a power play goal against. It's easy to kick someone when they're down, but it's harder to support them when they need it. Making t-shirts that have the #6 on the back and "turnover king" above it is the easy way out. That's my two cents anyway.

Byron Bitz and Marc Savard should be back for Friday's game in Buffalo. There was no reason why players shouldn't have been giving over 100% while they were out, and while Steve Begin, Marco Sturm and Andrew Ference remain out of the line-up. This is the time when the players should have been giving it their all, every minute of every game.

There are only a few more weeks before the Olympic break. We'll see if the Bruins find their heart before then. Let's hope the fans who are lacking find it as well.

The Bruins practiced in Wilmington today after a day off yesterday. Yesterday's day off can be understandable since they got back from a west coast road trip on Sunday and had to play a matinee game on Monday. That is not fair of the NHL schedule makers. But in the game I watched last night between the Sabres and Ducks, they did the math of the Ducks' next road trip and it has them flying over 7,000 miles total. That is a lot of frequent flier miles. So the Bruins didn't have it too bad. But why they had to fly from Anaheim up to San Jose and back down to Los Angeles will be one of those mysteries.

My good friend Nicholas has never been to Wilmington in his 20 years of being a fan. I have been going to Wilmington since high school, and that included getting early dismissals to go to practices before they were open to the public. I would go just for autographs and pictures with players.

Nicholas wanted to get his Milan Lucic jersey signed. There have been failed attempts since last season and if he couldn't go, he was going to give it to me to get signed for the next practice I get to. Personally, I think there's nothing like getting something autographed for yourself from your favorite player, so we made the trek up there to the ice box.

Marc Savard, Steve Begin, Byron Bitz and Andrew Ference didn't practice. Dennis Wideman was the first one on the ice, but then went away when Tuukka Rask and Mark "One Man" Stuart came out. Marco Sturm had his serious face on while skating laps to warm up before practice started, and he seemed to be flying, scoring goals in the first couple of drills. But Sturm left midway through leaving Matt Hunwick to fill in as the other wing-man for Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. That was no problem since Adam McQuaid was back from his stay over in Providence last night.

There were some scary moments in the last drill of practice. Matt Hunwick took something (either a stick or a puck) up high near his left eye. Bergeron, being the nice guy, skated over to the bench to retrieve a towel for Hunwick. The trainer checked him out, and then Hunwick went into the locker room and returned soon after. While Hunwick was gone, Stuart blocked a shot with his ankle/foot, but shook it off. Then Miro Satan got a stick up high from Tim Thomas.

After the "they got out alive" drill, the Bruins stretched at center ice. No player went into the center circle until coach Claude Julien skated by and I can only assume told Stuart to get in there. Stuart slid over from his original spot and I wondered how the heck he doesn't have an 'A' on his jersey yet. (He was in the center the last time I went to practice too, before the west coast trip.)

Practice ended and Nicholas and I headed outside to wait. I had something I wanted to get autographed too. A month or so ago, I bought a game program that had Wideman on the cover. (There might be a story behind that but I'm not willing to share.) The one thing I wanted was him to sign it.

Inside there is a two-page poster of Lucic, and one-page posters of Savard and Stuart. Since Savard was already long gone, I thought why not get Stuart to sign too? Stuart came out with Johnny Boychuk and Lucic, so while Nicholas went to Lucic's window to get his jersey personalized, I went to Stuart's and got his autograph.

I asked Stuart how his sternum was and he said it was fine... Because Stuart feels no pain.

The Bruins didn't seem too happy after practice and fans can only hope they come out pissed off against the Blue Jackets tomorrow.

I hope they give me a nice win on my birthday.

Over the course of this season, I have had to answer many Bruins questions. My season ticket holder seatmate and I sold our tickets for Monday's matinee game against the Senators. Thank goodness. We both elected to work and money was definitely better than seeing a 5-1 loss to the Senators.

When I miss a game, it brings up questions.

• Why aren't you going to the game?
• But you go to every game, don't you?
• Are you selling any more games?
• How many games do you miss?
• How long have you had season tickets?
• Are you going to the next game?
• Are the Bruins going to make the playoffs?
• Why are the Bruins worse than last season?
• Who is injured now?
• Where are your seats?
• And my favorite: How much did you pay for your Winter Classic ticket?

It's endless on some days. And it can get both annoying and exhausting. I feel like I'm answering the same questions over and over and over again. I should start carrying around a frequently asked questions sheet with me and hand it over when the questions start.

I can only imagine what a coach goes through during the length of an 82 game season and the repetitive questions he gets.

I wonder if other Bruins fans get these types of questions from other casual fans. Weigh in, but please don't ask any questions.

The euphoria of the Winter Classic at Fenway on Friday has all but worn off. The Bruins returned to reality playing the New York Rangers on Monday night. The game, televised on Versus, seemed so boring at times that I found more entertainment looking up drink recipes than paying attention to the game.

The Bruins were trailing 2-0 in the third period. They had penalty trouble in the first period with Vladimir Sobotka getting two penalties and Dennis Wideman adding one in between. The Rangers had a 5-on-3 advantage for over one mine and scored during Wideman's penalty.

The Bruins looked like they were going to be the comeback kids yet again when Matt Hunwick got them on the scoreboard with a shorthanded tally. Then Blake Wheeler scored over a minute later to tie the game.

But the Rangers would get the go-ahead goal with 1:09 remaining and that would be it.

It didn't help the Bruins when Patrice Bergeron, their best player this season, was hit in the hand by a shot off Wideman's stick. Versus reported that Bergeron had X-rays taken, but it was unconfirmed by the Bruins. Bergeron didn't return to the game and is on his way back to Boston while the team goes to Ottawa.

The Bruins didn't deserve the point they were close to getting tonight. Even Claude Julien knows that. We'll see how the Bruins respond to tonight's game when they play the Senators tomorrow.