One year ago today, the Bruins were coming off what what clearly the most dominant season in many years; following the disappointing loss in overtime of Game 7 versus the Carolina Hurricanes, fans questioned what type of team they had been rooting for all season long.

Was it going to be just another one of those years, with the only solution to be to "wait 'til next year"? The Bruins fired former General Manager Peter Chiarelli and replaced him with the capable, but unproven, Justin Li. He quickly got Bruins Nations' attention through some big trades, such as the trade of big captain Zdeno Chara; all seemed to turn out well, however, as the Bruins clinched 3rd in the Eastern Conference while simultaneously winning the Northeast Division, with a total of 90 points and a .548 winning percentage.

The Bruins continued the trend they had been starting a few seasons earlier: in 2007-2008, the Bruins were eliminated in round 1 of the playoffs to the Habs. In '08-09, the Bruins made it to the second round, losing to the Canes in game 7 after nearly coming back from a 3-1 series deficit. This past offseason, the Bruins made it one round further, only to lose in a disappointing 4 game sweep at the hands of the NY Rangers. As we all know, the Rangers went on the win the Stanley Cup.


Last season, the Bruins had some serious offensive zip; both Phile Kessel and Loui Eriksson scored nearly 35 goals, and Marc Savard played well as always to lead the team in points for his 3rd straight season. Along with those 3, David Krejci put up 60 points, which unfortunately rounded up the main offensive 4 man punch for the Bruins. Wideman put up 40 points, and Pronger had 36, but that was about as far as it went offensively. Fortunately for the Bruins, the stellar goalie tandem of Tim Thomas and Tuuka Rask had a combined GAA of about 2.4 and a save percentage of around .920 %.


This season, the Bruins find themselves the victim of a league realignment, and perhaps unfortunately for them, land in the former Eastern Conference leader's division, to play with the Carolina Hurricanes, as well as the rebuilding Washington Capitals and depth-deprived Tampa Bay Lightning. This could prove to be a tough division for both the Bruins and Canes, but perhaps more so for the Bruins, as they are the ones inconvenienced by the move, and may always have more to prove to their ever-demanding fans.


At this point, the Bruins are clearly predicted to win the Southeastern Division, and for good reason. They have an incredibly talented top 3 centers, to continue the tradition that has been maintained since the 07-08 season; Marc Savard, Mikko Koivu, and David Krejci all can likely put up 60+ points, and having Dominic Moore as a 4th line center certainly bodes well for this team.


Despite having to deal with an aging Mark Recchi, the Bruins' Left Wing slots appear to be filled with quite a bit of talent: Martin Erat, Rene Bourque, Mark Recchi, and Alex Burrows all can potentially put up 50+ points this year, and having Petteri Nokelainen as a healthy scratch/4th liner/PKer is certainly a luxury most teams do not have.


At Right Wing, the Bruins seem to be set for the season and a Cup run, with Blake Wheeler, Phil Kessel, and Loui Eriksson all set to bury 25+ goals and 60+ points. Without a doubt, the Boston Bruins in Season 2 can only be wowing the opposition with their superior offensive potential. If only for the sakes of every other team in the league, the Bruins didn't have a complementary set of defensemen to round of this team...


No Chara? No Problem. With three defensemen rated 80+ overall (Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, and Dennis Wideman), and no top six defenseman rated under 77 (Only Staal is a 77!), this team looks like it will be a serious killer, and one that will make Claude Julien's system proud.


Hidden within these six defensemen are three offensive defensemen that are the envy of many other EFHL teams; all young and highly skilled with seemingly limitless potential.

When it comes to goaltending, nothing has changed from last year, except that this Bruins squad is even better. This looks promising for both Timmy Thomas and Tuuka Rask, as they will both likely put up career numbers.


So in summary, if you are the owner or General Manager, or even just a fan of a team in the Elite Fantasy Hockey League, WATCH OUT. We predict it now; the Stanley Cup will be in Beantown following Season 2. And who can blame us for this prediction, a mere glance at this insane roster should knock you out of your socks as well. The only potential setback is the number of players that may walk to free agency following this season; will GM Li seek to trade some of the pending free agents away as an act of financial preservation for this Original Six franchise? Only time will tell... stay tuned.

Very nice!

Yes, nice job!

Hey, how do you put pictures into your posts? I seem to be the only one who doesn't know how to do that. Good action shots add a great dimension to articles. I'd like to learn how.

I want some KFC now :D

Right above the box where you type out your article (or post) there is a button that says IMG which when clicked will make a box pop up. Place the url of an image in there and click ok. It will likely go to the bottom of your post so you will just have to copy and paste it to the section in which you want it to be shown. Or, much faster way is to use [img ]url[ /img] without the spaces. give it a try and let me know if you have any issues.

so I still look at the KFC claude julien pic and crack up every time... is that normal?

:sarcasm: