Roto Exclusive : Guest Contributions and Featured Articles

y Tim Graveline
The Big Bad Bruins are still around folks, but they aren’t as bad as they once were. The team is still
tough, but they are such a solid all-round team with one of the best forwards groups depth-wise. They
make take poor penalties with players like Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic on the team, but those guys
are fan favorites and are good players in their own right. Like many teams Peter Chiarelli has kept his
core intact with very little movement. The biggest news has been political and that’s because of Tim
Thomas and his Facebook account.
Yet, there is much to hope for with this team for this season and the future.
Their vets may be a year older, but their youth infusion is what has me excited
about this team moving forward. Tyler Seguin is a year older and had a great
sophomore campaign where he more than tripled his rookie season numbers.
Tuukka Rask is their everyday starter and has been ready, but needed the
opportunity. I expect great things from him as he has been patiently waiting
for this moment to shine. Hopefully the wear and tear of full-time starting
duties does not throw him off his game. The other young guy coming in is
Dougie Hamilton. He is very tall, but I hesitate to say huge, because he needs to fill out his gangly frame
more for me to consider him as such. He has a ton of potential and being able to learn under Zdeno
Chara will do wonders for his development. This is exciting, but these three cannot carry the team.
The veterans are the ones that need to be counted on and
will not disappoint. Zdeno Chara will lead this team as he
has for so long and with the continued poise he has shown
so far. Then you have Patrice Bergeron who’s one of the
best centers in the league. He isn’t the guy who puts up the
most points, but they are always respectable and he’s so
sound in his own zone that he’s a big contributor to their
many wins. So expect these two guys to lead their team as
usual with the bad boys Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic. Those guys end up in the sin bin quite often,
but their intensity and style of play is so beneficial to their team’s success.
The players to watch are the three young guys I listed above and another I saved for this section. I
expect Seguin to continue his improvement and work his way to the 70 point mark. I, also, expect Rask
to be a top 10 goaltender. This is due to his skill and the defense in front of him. Hamilton is the
wildcard. He will either amaze or see a lot of nights from the press box. Either way, he’s going to learn a
ton this season as he has nothing left to learn in the OHL. The one player I have not mentioned so far is
David Krejci and that’s because I wonder about his place on the team. He’s a solid second line center,
but he’s been given first line duties ever since Savard’s career was derailed. I feel like he could be bait at
some point to bring in a center who might be better suited to this team. Chiarelli has provided a great
team as usual and there are many more stories to look out for, but this is a team that will surely make
the playoffs and could truly contend for Lord Stanley’s Cup.
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