That 'B' stands for 'Believe'
There hasn't been much to get head-over-double-runners in love with, or even in serious like with, on Causeway Street these last, oh, gee, what has it been . . . the better part of 17 years?
In the time it has taken the Hub's hockey juices to really get flowing again, the league expanded from 22 to 30 teams, Gary Bettman became commissioner (effective Feb. 1, 1993), and somehow the game survived the all-too-lengthy Dead Puck Era that had league bosses convinced that customers would shell out big money to see an endless string of 2-1 games highlighted by 14 shots, a half-dozen hits, and, oh, let's not forget, two really dandy Zambonis to shave the ice between periods.
Now, we have been here before, on the verge of saying the Bruins are back - really, honestly, absolutely, and positively back from the dead zone. Or, in their case, all three dead zones. Such enthusiasm faded quickly after playoff losses to New Jersey ('94 and '95), Florida ('96), Washington ('98), Buffalo ('99), Montreal ('02), New Jersey again ('03), and Montreal again ('04 and '08). The biggest of those daggers for Bruins fans was '04, when a 2-0 series lead over the Habs slipped away in seven games, the knockout a 2-0 loss in Game 7 on Causeway Street.
What we have here now, amid Garden sellouts Friday afternoon and last night, is reason to believe. Actually, many reasons to believe. To wit:
1. Claude Julien. His coaching thus far has been masterful, among the keys the standard he set with the yanking of a gritless Phil Kessel from last year's playoffs. The only real motivating tool a coach has is his control of ice time. Lack of production has to be met with lack of allotted playing time, be it minutes or situations (line combinations, power-play time, etc.). Julien's X-and-O scheme is simple, straightforward, and the minutes he doles out are earned, not granted.
2. Tim Thomas. Forget all the bunk about his unorthodox style. Thomas stops the vast majority of pucks that come his way. That's the job, right? With just average goaltending, the Bruins are like so many Bruins teams over the last 17 years - barely worth a mention by Hockey Digest. What, you haven't received your latest edition of Hockey Digest?
3. Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. These two "foundation" players are unique properties, albeit with limitations. But, hey, Brett Hull had a hole or two in his game, too, folks. Remove either one and you've got holes bigger than that infamous Technicolor space between Jon Casey's pads.
4. Milan Lucic. In only his sophomore season, the 20-year-old winger has morphed from raw-material slugger into one of the hardest-hitting, and most frequent, checkers in the game. The Loochomotive added six more hits Friday to his league-leading total. Hitting, check. Fighting, double check. Now he just needs some Cam Neely tutoring on the art of burying 5- to 10-footers and he will be the total bomb.
5. David Krejci and Kessel. Krejci's spatial awareness and timing are sublime, and they seem to grow by each increment of 2-3 games. Kessel, post-playoff benching, is developing legit feistiness (a distant cousin of crustiness) to his attacking game, and has turned into a responsible citizen in three zones. He has gone from frustrating to watch to impact player-in-waiting.
6. Dennis Wideman. Much smarter with the puck, less prone to big boo-boos with attempted breakout passes. If he could make the same strides in limiting his misfires (such as game's end in Buffalo last Wednesday), he could render Brad Boyes a faded asterisk.
7. Patrice Bergeron. His unidentified upper-body thingy (official "Gray's Anatomy" term, NHL edition), has all but taken him off faceoff duty and cut back his offensive production. But he's still smart, effective, and his courage is a marvel after nearly being decapitated 13 months ago by Randy Jones.
There it is, a seven-step program to lead you back to a place you haven't been for a very long time. The 2008-09 Bruins have depth . . . coaching leadership . . . did I mention goaltending? . . . touches of personality (especially Lucic and fellow fighter Shawn Thornton), and most of all, believability.
Burke raises ante for GMs
Brian Burke's coronation went as planned yesterday in Toronto, where he takes over Harold Ballard's orphans with a new deal through the 2013-14 season that will pay the former Providence College Friar $3 million a year. One can only imagine the extra shades of orange Ballard's hair would have turned had he been forced to sign off on that deal.
Pay-wise, $3 million a year is the kind of purified air Rangers boss Glen Sather breathes on Broadway and the Devils' Lou Lamoriello (Burke's coach at PC) in Newark. It's also slightly less than 6 percent of the maximum allowed player payroll of $56.7 million. Come '13-14, it might be only 3 percent, if not less (provided the salary cap remains the infrastructure of the CBA).
Burke's haul should be heralded around the league by GMs, many of whom toil in the modest $1.2 million-$1.5 million range (equivalent to third-line grinders). The three most important hires for a hockey team are: 1. the GM; 2. the coach; 3. the goaltender. If those spots are nailed down, then turn on the arena lights, scrape the ice, tap the beer kegs, and collect the money - a playoff spot is a virtual fait accompli.
Any GM who now inches his club into the top third of the overall standings, and displays the ability or potential to keep it there, will be justified to ask for $2 million a year, if not more. For GMs, the Burke take is almost akin to the quantum leap in pay that young studs typically enjoy once their first (entry-level) contracts have expired. It just took the bosses a lot longer than the stick carriers to get there.
All in all, Toronto just delivered a very good payday for the vast majority of the GMs in the Original 30, and one that was long overdue. Not only will a few of them be able to breathe easier now that Burke is under the employ of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, they'll be able to shop in the same stores and high-end java shoppes as their backup goaltenders.
Etc.
Getting in sharp focus Only some six weeks to go before the Players Association informs the Lords of the Boards whether it will keep on keepin' on with the current CBA or whistle it dead after this season. NHLPA boss Paul Kelly has met with 17 of the 30 clubs, and this week he'll sit down with the Blues, Avalanche, Flames, and Thrashers. Typically, meetings are held while clubs are on the road, which keeps the rank-and-file focused and virtually guarantees 100 percent attendance. According to Kelly, many of the questions raised by players relate to how to keep revenues growing. "My response is that the guys need to keep doing what they're doing, namely playing competitive and exciting hockey, and continuing to be great ambassadors for the sport off the ice," Kelly reported in an e-mail Friday. "I also add that as a sport we need to improve our national television exposure and revenues here in the United States. Broadcasting every game in hi-def [including all games on the NHL Center Ice package] would be a good way to start."
Old-time hockey You know things have improved on Causeway Street when the Bruins are playing in the same stratosphere as the 1929-30 Black-and-Gold edition that piled up 38 points in its first 22 games. That '29-30 edition, fresh off the franchise's first Stanley Cup, finished the regular season with a 38-5-1 mark, setting the franchise standard for fewest losses in a season. The Bruins squeezed by the Maroons in Round 1 that spring, then went out in two straight to the Habs. Spare the e-mails. Your faithful correspondent witnessed neither round (but has considered putting in for expenses).
Leafs never turned Just ahead of Brian Burke taking over the Toronto front office, Cliff Fletcher wheeled away two former first-rounders, Alex Steen and the brittle Carlo Colaiacovo, for Buffalo boy Lee Stempniak, ex- of Dartmouth and now ex- of the Blues. All three have their question marks. But it was beyond question that the Leafs gave both Steen and Colaiacovo ample time and opportunity to play into their draft status. Time for both to move on. Stempniak drove home 27 goals in '06-07, then popped in only 16 more across his next 94 games with the Bluenotes. If he can rekindle that scoring touch, he'll be a great add. If not, then at least the Leafs have made the decision not to keep living with underperforming parts/draft mistakes.
Message to Michael Michael Ryder ripped home his fourth goal as a Bruin Friday for a 2-1 lead over the Islanders, then roofed another in the closing moments of the matinee drubbing. Now that is the Ryder the Bruins paid for this past summer. Claude Julien is a front-runner for Coach of the Year honors, and his best coaching this season might be getting Ryder back to being one of his favorite students.
Loose pucks Shaky times for Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, reportedly due to the steep fall in the worldwide price of oil. Russian clubs have been known to pull guys out of the lineup and not honor deals (ex-Bruin Byron Dafoe learned the hard way). If it came down to Jaromir Jagr (now of Omsk Avangard) wanting back to the metro New York area, only the Devils would have the cap room for him . . . Shawn Thornton, 6 feet 2 inches, 217 pounds, figures he has been misclassified as a middleweight in these columns. The gritty Bruins winger has a point, especially because of his fearlessness in picking partners. But the league has some uber-heavyweights, such as 6-7 Derek Boogaard, the Minnesota Mauler. Thornton was toiling in the minors for Anaheim in 2006-07 when then-Ducks forward Todd Fedoruk chased Boogaard around the rink one night, begging for a fight. Boogaard finally accommodated him, leaving Fedoruk to be carted off to the hospital after sustaining a bone-crushing punch to his kisser. "That's the fight that got me in the league," recalled Thornton. "I was called up right after that. Guess I should buy the guy a beer, huh?" First beer to Boogaard, second beer to Fedoruk.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report. 