Wicked Bruins Fan

The Boston Bruins started informal skates (Captain's practices) yesterday marking the unofficial start to the 2010-2011 season. The e-mails from Bruins Fan Relations have picked up their volume with a different e-mail in the inbox every other day. The weather is becoming less humid and more comfortable. A new hockey season is upon us.

The rookies report for training camp on Sunday and the veterans report on the 17th. The rookies will play two rookie games against the Islanders' rookies at the TD Garden on the 15th and 16th. General admission is only $5 - the same price as a good draft beer in the TD Garden area - so you should come out and see the rookies play. There will only be two training camp sessions for the public at the TD Garden on the 18th and 19th, much different than in past seasons.

The TD Garden will host two pre-season games on the 25th and 29th. The Florida Panthers will visit the Garden on the 25th and the Washington Capitals will be there on the 29th. After their game against the Capitals, the Bruins fly out to begin their trek overseas stopping in Belfast, Ireland for two pre-season games. Then they will make the trip to Prague, Czech Republic to open their season with two games against the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Bruins will play their home opener on October 21st against the Capitals.

News & Notes

The Bruins inked forward Wyatt Smith to a one year contract last week. Smith was signed to take the place of Trent Whitfield who ruptured his Achilles tendon. Smith will probably see the majority of his ice time in Providence barring any injuries (knock on wood) that should occur in Boston. (There is one happy Nashville Predators fan out there.)

The Bruins announced today they have entered a partnership agreement with the Finnish team JYP Jyvaskyla.

Under this agreement, the teams will be able to transfer players and have them train with the partner club and within the partner club’s developmental system, as well as exchange tactics and scouting information.

"It's a working agreement where there's an exchange of resources," said assistant GM Don Sweeney. "If you want to send a guy to the East Coast or to Providence, or if you want to utilize their training in the summer and let a kid work on his skill -- anything. It's an open exchange. There's nothing concrete in place."

The Bruins host their annual State of the Bruins for season ticket and package holders on the 21st. Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi will be the players at the event.

You still come here?

I realize last season this site was not one of the first places you would go to online. It probably wasn't one of the 25 places you'd check in on. I hope to change that this season. I understand the photo gallery is one of the most visited sections on the website and I love that fans enjoy it as much as they do. That will not stop this season and maybe I'll even get photos online before the season ends.

I have many short-term goals for this website and a few long-term ones. With the majority of training camp closed and Bruins' time away in October, the short-term goals will become reality by the time the Bruins play their first regular season game at the Garden.

If you're interested in advertising space, contributing, have a suggestion/complaint, you can e-mail webmaster(at)wickedbruinsfan(dot)com or hit me up on Twitter.

Here's to a great 2010-2011 Bruins season!

It was no secret I slacked a bit last season, and one of the things missing was something I am known for... my photographs.

It seemed like a tedious task to upload the photos, edit, re-size, and upload again so I let it slide for a while. I took over 700 photos at the Winter Classic alone! Someone would file a missing person's report because I would be gone so long dealing with those photos alone.

The system I created so many years ago was stale and a pain in the you-know-what. But it was etched into me, much like every monumental moment in my history as a Bruins fan.

Well today I came up with a smarter way to upload photos that doesn't have me swearing at myself when I screw up. And believe me, it happens every once in a while. It may have happened twice before the new way was created. I vaguely recall during the season looking through one album and selecting photos from another game to upload. That would have made for a crappy album.

With my new system, I got the remaining albums from the regular season on the site, along with the Winter Classic photos! I have never felt more accomplished. It only took some hours and lots of hockey songs to get through it... And maybe a break for dinner that may have included a beer.

I still have the playoffs to get on the site and some photos from development camp, but I'm calling it a night.

Here are the regular season albums to get you through the stretch run until training camp is here (camp opens on September 17th).

• October 21, 2009
• November 12, 2009 - Military Appreciation Night
• December 5, 2009 - Phil Kessel returns
• January 1, 2010 - Winter Classic
• January 9, 2010 - (Miro) Satan is here
• January 21, 2010
• January 23, 2010 - Winter Classic jerseys worn
• February 4, 2010
• March 18, 2010 - 1970 Stanley Cup team honored
• April 1, 2010
• April 8, 2010
• April 10, 2010 - Regular season finale

Did anybody else forget that Derek Morris was on the team? I will admit I have had a little hockey amnesia lately.

Hey there. I'm still around. The blog fell off the face of the earth back in February, but I didn't. When the website was up for renewal this month, I actually debated keeping it. But I have had it for five years and it would have been so hard to let it vanish into thin air. I would have regretted it instantly.

I mean, the photo gallery alone must be good for something.

In the next few weeks, I'll probably do some shifting around on the site within the blog and start a little fresh in July. Perhaps earlier since the draft is coming up and there is some hype around that number 2 pick. The one thing I know for sure is there will be tons of photos making their way to the gallery over the off-season.

I am going to ignore writing about the Bruins playoffs... Not going to rehash that heartache. But there are pictures from at least six pre-game warm-ups.

Go Celtics and Go Blackhawks!

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.