The Bruins get back on the ice tonight as the regular season begins with a nationally televised game (7:30pm, NBC Sports Network) against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden.

Despite some personnel losses, the Bruins are still considered one of the top teams in the NHL. They’ll look to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals but will face some tough challenges.

Bruins doing their best in salary cap struggle – Fluto Shinzawa looks at how the Bruins were impacted by the salary cap coming into this season.

Bruins hope to follow Blackhawks model en route to Cup – Stephen Harris has the B’s looking to emulate the success of Chicago, who had to cut ties with some players for Cap purposes after their 2010 title, but still won another Cup. in 2013.

Get all the links on the Bruins at BruinsLinks.com.

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Another local team starts their season tonight, as the Boston Brawlers of the FXFL (Fall Experimental Football League) play their first game tonight against the Omaha Mammoths.

The league consists of four teams – The Brawlers, the Mammoths, the Brooklyn Bolts and the Florida (Miami) Blacktips. The hope is the the league can develop into a developmental or minor league for the NFL, similar to the NBA D-League.

Tonight’s game will be broadcast on NESN Plus at 8:00pm.

The Brawlers roster has several players who have spent some time with the Patriots, including offensive linemen Jon Halapio (6th round pick in 2014) and R.J. Mattes and wide receiver Wilson Van Hooser.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

60 thoughts on “Bruins Drop The Puck Tonight As NHL Season Opens”

  1. Everyone is tripping all over themselves to make statements such as this from Fluto: “Because of the manpower losses, the Bruins team that opens the 2014-15 season tonight at the Garden against the Philadelphia Flyers is not nearly as good as it was en route to 117 points last season.”

    But what are these people going to say if the Bruins are the best team in the East again?

    It also does not allow for ANY internal improvement, from players such as Soderberg, Hamilton, Smith, Krug and others.

    Like

    1. They’ll make the playoffs. After that, it’s all about having the hot goalie…and a couple of offensive players also getting hot at the right time. The Kings were something like the #7 seed in the west last year. They just got hot at the right time. The B’s are capable of doing the same, especially with a guy like Tukka between the pipes.

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      1. well kings were the 3 first off , and the hot goalie line , that’s used by people who don’t really watch hockey.

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        1. I’ve been watching hockey for about 40 years. The “hot goalie” line may be cliche, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Of course, you also have to score goals, which was usually the major shortcoming of the pre-2011 Bruins (especially the teams in the 80s and 90s that came close a couple of times). The Kings, by the way, finished sixth in the west last year in total regular season points, with 100, behind Anaheim (116), Colorado (112), St. Louis (111), San Jose (111), and Chicago (107).

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          1. thanks for the correction guy …. i looked at a playoff bracket .. hot goalie, it’s still a lazy comment , and i know u don’t watch as much hockey as me.

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          2. Can we at least agree that if you don’t have a goalie to make the “big saves” in April, May and June, you don’t have much of a chance? I, personally, have watched the B’s of the 70s lose Stanley Cups because the likes of Bernie Parent and, before him, Ken Dryden stoned them in playoff series and pulled less-talented Philadelphia (’74) and Montreal (’71) teams across the finish line. Also, were the 2011 Bruins really the best team that year, or was Tim Thomas’s play in goal simply otherworldly that spring? The Islanders of the late 70s went from high-scoring, very talented pretenders to champions in the early 80s because they finally decided to go with Billy Smith as their playoff goalie in 1980, after years of fiddling with other combinations. The Rangers broke the curse in 1994 mainly because Mike Richter was the playoff goalie they’d been waiting for since 1940. There are those rare, rare teams in hockey history that had so much talent everywhere else that having a great playoff goalie may not have been completely necessary, but only a handful of those teams come to mind: the Oilers of the 80s (and even they had Grant Fuhr, one of the best ever); the Penguins in the early 90s, who were so good that Tom Barrasso was able to win two Cups with them; and maybe those Montreal teams in the late 70s win a couple even if they don’t have Dryden between the pipes (but not four in a row, that’s for sure). But that’s about it. It’s true that I don’t watch as much hockey as I used to, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t watched a lot of it over the past four-plus decades.
            Enjoy the season.

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  2. The Bruins, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, might be our only hope this winter. With the Patriots not assured of avoiding a ‘win-one-lose-one’ season and the Celtics not on anyone’s radar, the black-and-gold potentially hold our collective interest. This happens either immediately if the Pats falter or after the new year begins, when many people start paying attention to the B’s anyway. Here’s hope tonight is a good one.

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  3. “They should be on the hot seat, Not saying they should be fired!! but they should be on the hot seat”

    -Michael Felger on the Bruins management.

    Can someone please explain to me what this means?

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    1. LMFAO.

      The Felger and Mazz season preview during the first segment today:

      (A) categorizing themselves as not being part of the media.

      This is similar to how Fox News advertises itself as “non-mainstream” as if Rupert Murdoch is broadcasting from an unknown location and on the run from the FCC.

      (B) Praising themselves and their fans for being the only people in this market that are ever critical of the Bruins.

      I”m starting to understand the people that have told me that they don’t watch any games, but love listening to the entirety of Felger and Mazz shows.

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    2. It means that they don’t watch sports, so they want just want to talk about Soap Opera nonsense.

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  5. Oh my Lord. It has come time for me to go to pay radio and go satellite in the car. But I’m too cheap to do that.

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  6. I heard some one the worst radio this week.
    1. Holy. Speaking about a certain wr. Who came from rams. . Mike… says.. . He showed great promise with a 85 catch season. But he comes to pats and he hasn’t shown it.
    I’m thinking to myself. Mike your on your third co host. Your bosses must feel the same about you. All lighten but no flash or thunder. Your a bigger bust.

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  7. Then there is the poop stir show.. Mike hates mazz . I can tell by his facial expression and voice. He rather have Danny from Quincy screaming for four hours than have one more day of the phony Tony yelling like a stomped on mouse. Rumour and a good source says Mike pushed mazz into the water cooler

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  9. Actual quote on the B’s from Felgie and Mazz on Tuesday…

    “…and the Bruins got nothing for Seguin.”

    This was during a discussion on the Boychuck trade (which I don’t love, for the record). They were bemoaning the fact that the B’s didn’t get anything to help them this year but went on to say it was better than the Seguin trade. Didn’t they get Eriksson and Smith for Seguin? That’s a lot more than nothing.

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    1. A regular theme on 98.5 since day training camp last season.

      See Adam Jones ripping Loui Eriksson on a nightly basis despite the fact that on a new team, playing a new system, his per-game “counting stats” were all but identical last season, with less time on the ice, to what they were in his previous (final) season with the Stars.

      http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/e/erikslo01.html

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  11. Stopped at Kelly’s near the LTM on my dinner break…Grabbed the Globe sports section from the newspaper rack. There is Shank’s mug on the front page- next to the headline: “Bruins win opener, and it’s all good”

    “nobody seems to mind a summer of subtraction without much addition for the Black and Gold.”

    If by nobody, you mean, Dan, everyone in the media and just about every fan whose posts I’ve read on Bruins message boards and every Bruins related caller that has been on 98.5 and WEEI over the last month. If that’s who Shank meant by “nobody” than he is spot. on.

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    1. Wow. Leave a little to the imagination, Felgie.

      Also, think about how far Felger has come since then. At the time, the guy deserved to be lumped in with those two clowns. Now, he’s arguably the biggest and most influential name in Boston sports media. Not a fan of his shtick, but kudos to him. I know that today he’s still the same thin skinned baby he was then, though.

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  13. Bert Breer on with Gresh and Zo equates press conferences with the broadcast on television (cable and radio) of NFL games, says that Belchick owes his being rich and famous to his (non) participation in press conferences.

    There is no professional on this planet that is more useless than a journalist and that is doubly true for a “sports Journalist”.

    If “sports journalists” took themselves as (non) seriously as “celebrity journalists” I’d have 1000x more respect for them.

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    1. “There is no professional on this planet that in reality is more useless than a journalist and that is doubly true for a “sports Journalist”.”
      ————————–

      I’d say a “critic” of any kind is more worthless, but I agree with your assesment.

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      1. So – you know that criticism is what this website is actually for, and what all the commenters are actually doing, right?

        But, you’re not wrong…

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  14. I have no idea if Bruce is doing a Friday afternoon column but in case he isn’t…I need to rant.

    I had thought that the trade Brady for 2 draft pick talk that has infested F&M these last two days was the most insipid talk show generated drama evAH, until I heard MFB do the exact same topic today all the while Tim Benz went out of his way to appear to be even dumber than Mike Adams.

    So before I kill someone…literally…let me try and set the record straight. The Patriots are not trading Tom Brady for 2 first round picks. They are not trading him for 4 first round picks. You know why, because they are not trading him. Why aren’t they trading him? Because he is the best QB on the roster and one of the 2 or 3 best in the league. Do the Patriots have some personnel issues…absolutely…do they always figure out how to fix these things as the season progresses…absolutely. Is there any panic…any at all…in Foxboro? No. And most importantly, does anyone actually think Bill Belichick wants to work with a rookie QB for the rest of this year effectively blowing his playoff chances, all for future draft picks when he could keep Brady and make a deep run now? I will not get into the marketing and PR reasons why any trade of Brady will not happen. The speculation is absurd. It borders on “Make no mistake about it, this team hates its coach”.

    This speculation is so dumb it hurts. MFB in their attempt to play instigators made a dumb conversation even dumber.When Jim B and Margorie E on 89.7 sound more rational…there is an issue.

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    1. Was disappointed to see the usually level-headed Tom Curran join this chorus today. However, at least he stipulated that it’s probably not going to happen this season (well, duh!), and that it’s more likely to happen before both Brady and Garappolo have expiring contracts in 2017. He also had a rational argument, at least, for the limited possibility that such a trade could happen this season, and that’s the Patriots currently being $14M under the salary cap, which would make trading Brady this season easier to absorb from a cap-hit standpoint. However, trading Brady after the ’16 season certainly makes more sense given that he’ll be 39/40 by then. My personal belief is that Brady is the QB for 2014, 2015 and 2016, and then the Pats will reassess. They also will re-sign Garappolo before his contract is up, even if he’s not the starter by then, because it’s clear they think he’s Brady’s eventual successor. But Brady’s not going anywhere before 2017, IMO….unless he demands a trade (but I don’t think that’s happening either — he has to know that much of what’s happened to his receiving/TE corps over the past two years, like AH landing in jail and Gronk getting his knee exploded, has been beyond BB’s control).

      Like

      1. Curran makes a good point that would provide a good answer for why the Pats are under the salary cap by so much money right now (and no, its not because Robert Kraft is cheap, as Felger and other media trolls claim).

        Unless I’m misunderstanding the way the cap works, the Pats can shift that $14 million or so to next year, which gives them a larger cap next year (which they can then take a similar amount of money and shift to the next year and so on). So this gives them the flexibility to trade Brady a couple of years from now without suffering big cap problems.

        It also may help them resign Revis or absorb that huge cap hit for next year.

        So while the media will bitch and moan about how cheap Robert Kraft is and how the Pats are wasting that $14 million dollars that could be spent on WEAPONZ instead, it may be the very thing that will help this team big time in a year or two. Continuing the long running compete every year stance that Belichick has taken. The media will whine and complain about that too, but do we really think they wouldn’t be slamming the team to death right now if the Pats had “gone for it” 2 or 3 years ago and were now a last place team?

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        1. yes at least Currans take is rational. Certainly not this year or next year. After that,if a team came calling offering “multiple picks” (a big if) Pats would be fools not to consider it,for the simple fact that NOBODY plays this game forever….love Brady, but no matter how much he says he wants to play into his 40’s the track record just isn’t there. Age gets everybody eventually.

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          1. I agree. His approach was very rational and he basically gives the non-extremist viewpoint on why the Pats are currently carrying so much cap space. I was just a bit surprised to see him venture into “are they trading Brady” territory. My gut feelings, as I noted above, is that Brady is still the QB through 2016, and then they’ll re-evaluate. In the meantime, that cap room will go towards re-signing some key guys like Revis and McCourty, and also dabbling in the FA and trade markets.

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          2. I hear ya…I was hesitant to even post about the subject because it started as a #HotSportzTake and think it’s basically ridiculous at the moment……But I did do a search of QB’s who played to age 40 and beyond, it ain’t good. Farve and Warren Moon basically had the most success. Most were being backups and or journeymen. Harsh reality is, life without Brady has to be planned for…

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      1. Since you mentioned Miguel…A shout out to Miguel Benzan…a super guy who I had the pleasure of being in the same fantasy football league with for 4 years and who I got to go to a Pats game with once. If I remember correctly he even won the league (UPUFF) one year from the Grogan Division (we Hannahites had to have been sleeping at the wheel that year). In any event, everyone I know uses his sites and his numbers…I like to point out he is a real person, a really nice guy and an all around football savant!

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  15. How about Felger and YARM yesterday? SUddenly the Bills being owned by the Sabres owner is the greatest thing ever, especially for the Patriots and the AFC East in general. Now, apparently and suddenly, the Bills are a legit threat to the Patriots, according to Felger. But, sweet mother of God did Mazz have the unbelievable take of the year.

    Mazz, on Tuesday: “It was a nice win, Mike. But, really…if they go and lose a stinker to the bills it means nothing!!! Really!! It means nothing if they lose this game!”

    Mazz, on Thursday: “Look at what Seattle and San Francisco are doing. Now that’s a real arms race. Maybe losing to Buffalo this week would be a good thing because it would force the Patriots to take notice and make off-season changes to get better. I mean REALLY get better.”

    Mind. F**king. Blown. Tuesday a loss would be catastrophic. Thursday, a loss would be good because of what would happen in March and April. I stopped listening after that comment. Just deleted the podcast and went and watched season 1 of Friday Night Lights

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    1. Mazz desperately wants the Patriots to lose, any reason and justification he can think of for it, he will take, even if he blatantly contradicts himself.

      Although let’s not kid ourselves. The Pats could win 59-0 and Mazz will still be killing the team all next week and declaring how Brady will be traded.

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      1. A Patriots win would just increase Brady’s trade value and give F&M more crap to throw against the wall for 17+ hours next week.

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  17. It was SOOOO refreshing to hear Glen, Pete, and Greg talk about the GAME this week and not spend 17 of 20 programming hours this week talking about trading Brady like Felger and YARM did. What a contrast in styles. How do people listen to F&M do this sh*t hour after hour, day after day? Glen and Pete did mock them today by saying “let’s check in with Felger and Mazz and see if they have Brady traded yet”….hahaha

    i think 98.5 is really lucky that TBSU isn’t on major terrestrial radio yet. I really do. Not saying they would beat F&M in the ratings but I think you’d see them drastically change their style and stop with this hyperbolic, soap opera bulllshit radio they do now.

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    1. “How do people listen to F&M do this sh*t hour after hour, day after day?”

      I know a few people that listen to F&M for hour after hour, that admittedly don’t watch games.

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  20. Did anyone else notice how quiet the Bills fans sounded when the Pats had the ball up by 9 in the third quarter?

    So much for that crowd.

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  21. Felger & The Echo Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Monday, October 13th, 2014, 2:10 PM –

    Felger: What’s your take, Tony?

    Echo: The Bills SUCK, Mike!

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    1. All last week:

      “Everyone is completely underestimating this game, Mike! This is going to be a close game! Brady, if he hasn’t been traded by the time of the game will not be able to perform as well. Especially with that Bills defensive line and garbage like the tuba player protecting him. And once they lose to the Bills? That Bengels win means nothing!”

      What’ we’ll hear this week:

      “The Bills suck Mike! S.U.C.K. suck! This win means nothing! They’re just fattening up on the tomato cans!”

      Like

      1. To be fair, Mazz was a lot better today than I thought he would be and gave the Pats a lot more credit than you ever think he would have gave them.

        Felger on the other hand went completely into Shaughnessy “tomato can” mode. Nothing the Pats could have done yesterday would be enough.

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  22. SEATTLE DYNASTY OVER?

    COWBOYS AND ROMO ELITE?

    WE HAVE IT ALL COVERED OVER THE NEXT 168 HOURS ON ALL 400 ESPN CHANNELS.

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    1. The anti-ESPN: Mike Tanier: “Everyone likes to say that championships are won in the trenches, but when you win every week with the best offensive line in the NFL, people ask questions like ‘Why is Tony Romo so much more effective this year?’ or ‘Who knew DeMarco Murray was so good?’ Watch the line, folks. Also, that was the 22nd fourth-quarter comeback of Tony Romo’s career, and he did it on the road against the defending champions. But feel free to keep calling him a choke artist, because facts are for squares.”

      http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2229466-mike-taniers-monday-morning-hangover-jay-cutler-is-the-new-herschel-walker

      Like

  23. Tim Benz to caller: The Browns were favored to win by two points (at home), therefore, the Browns winning by 21 points was “predicted”.

    Like

      2. Don’t you like Permasmirk Fauria and jokes he makes that only he laughs at? Can’t you enjoy Magician Beard Merloni’s DAMN analysis? What about Tim (Hey we only had a summer home and a winter home when I was growing up) Benz’s love of all things Spygate?

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  24. So I’m curious, does anyone find themselves missing Bill Simmons’ presence?

    Did you notice that he’s not been ‘around’, for lack of a better word?

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  25. They couldn’t fuking help themselves. F&M ALMOST got through 3 hours without Brady Trade-gate. And Felger can’t “fathom how nobody wouldn’t talk about.” YES! But not 4 hours a day, five days a week!!!!!!!!!! He admitted that all year it will be #1 how is the team, and 1a Brady’s status. Looks like I am TBSU and Dale & Holley full time now.

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    1. When your citing Trent Dilfer and Steve Young as some sort of journalistic gold standard, it’s time to retool.

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    2. The 4 hours a day, 5 days a week thing is the key point here. Felger will and has argued that the show wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t discuss the Brady situation. And that I agree with. But they need to consider the amount of coverage they are giving this in comparison to other things. The Pats had a huge win against the Bengels, after a week where the media and haters were in all their glory, bashing the team, the coach and the players to death, and even loyal, logical fans were starting to question how good this team really was. The Pats then go and blow out what many had claimed was the best team in the AFC, if not the league. 95% of the Pats talk following that win, if not more, was focused on negative things, such as how the team and Brady have a rift, how Brady will be traded soon, how they’ve got “tuba players” protecting Brady, how the Broncos have gotten Manning weapons while Kraft is cheap and has refused to give Brady any, etc…

      I get that sports radio and the media can’t simply be cheerleaders for the team. But in the current environment, everything is focused on “hot sportz takes” and portraying the team in a negative light on every single thing it does. There is hardly any time spent on the positive, and that’s why Felger and his like deserve tons of criticism over their treatment of the Pats. Felger saying “I picked the Pats to win this week” or “I pick the Pats to go to the AFC championship game” for 1 minute, and blasting the team for 3 hours and 59 minutes does not cut it.

      Like

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