Thomas

BOSTON — Even two All-Star Game berths, a solid seven-game playoff series last spring and some gaudy goals-against averages and save percentages the last couple years haven’t made Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas a household name.

Tonight he had a giant chance to impress more people than those American Idol contestants (relatively speaking), and he took advantage. With the game beamed to a national audience in the U.S., and of course shown in Montreal in two languages, Thomas produced maybe his most dynamic performance of the season with 34 saves in a 3-1 win over the Canadiens at TD Banknorth Garden.

“Maybe it was just the year before (last) but every time I played on Versus I had like my worst games of the year,”  Thomas said after the emotional win. “And those are the ones that friends and family from Michigan get to watch the most. So I’m happy this year I’ve had a couple good games on Versus.” (more…)

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins rode two goals by Zdeno Chara and 34 saves by Tim Thomas to a 3-1 triumph over the hated Montreal Canadiens.

To read the recap, you can go to Yahoo!

The Bruins now lead the Northeast Division by 12 points over the Habs.

Sturm

BOSTON — Hopefully for the Boston Bruins the worst news of the night came before puck drop for their game against Montreal at TD Banknorth Garden.

In a release, general manager Peter Chiarelli announced tonight that winger Marco Sturm underwent successful surgery to repair his meniscus and ACL — meaning he is officially out for the rest of this season.

In 19 games this season, Sturm posted 7-6-13 totals and a plus-9 rating. This injury will end Sturm’s streak of  consecutive 20-goal  seasons at six.

Lucic

BOSTON — Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic did not take the warm-up with his teammates at TD Banknorth Garden 20 minutes before puck drop for the  game between the Bruins and Montreal.

In Lucic’s place during line drills, Martin St. Pierre, a call-up from Providence (AHL), skated on left wing alongside Marc Savard and Chuck Kobasew, who shifted back to his natural right wing position.

Lucic will now have missed three games with an undisclosed injury.

Wheeler

BOSTON — I finally got a chance to get Blake Wheeler’s reaction to being named to the rookie team for the YoungStars Game, which is scheduled for Jan.  24 in Montreal — the night before the 2009 NHL All-Star Game.

“It’s very exciting. It’s an honor to be part of the festivities, especially in a place like Montreal. So it’s very exciting,” he said.

Boston teammate Milan Lucic was named to the sophomore team for the game one year after he competed in it as a rookie. I asked Wheeler if he asked Lucic for any advice about the high-scoring, 3-on-3 affair. He said a little bit and added, with a smirk: “I hope we’re out there together because I’m going to shadow him. I’m not going to let him get on the score sheet. So it’ll be fun to get out there against Looch. He’s a lot of fun to be out there on the ice with, so it’ll be fun.”

Komisarek

BOSTON — Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek remembers the feeling he left the TD Banknorth Garden with the last time his club visited the Hub. And he’s going to do all he can tonight to make sure there’s no repeat of it.

“The last memory you have of this building is obviously us losing and (me) getting hurt,” said Komisarek after his team’s morning skate in preparation for its showdown with the Boston Bruins. “And you always want to go out there and sort of erase that memory with a win.

“Boston’s playing really well. They’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league and they’ve been setting the pace in the conference. So when things are going well and you’re playing with confidence, you want to be challenged, you want to see how you measure up against some of the top teams. And we did that against Washington (Saturday) and have another big challenge against Boston tonight.” (more…)

Bergeron

BOSTON — Today was Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron’s third day back on the ice for a light skate, as he attempts to return to action from his second concussion in 14 months.

Bergeron was joined on the TD Banknorth Garden ice by Milan Lucic, Andrew Ference and Manny Fernandez. Bergeron said that while he hasn’t been straining himself, there has been a slight increase in his heart rate (from 145-150 beats per minute to 155-160). But mostly he’s on the ice just to get out of the workout room.

“(The skating is) just to have a chance for me to put the skates back on and get a feel for the ice again and have fun with it also,” he said after his teammates went through their morning skate in preparation for their game with the Montreal Canadiens. “So it’s not like a drastic change or a big increase of the workouts, but it’s more of just go on the ice and have fun and do kind of the same workout as I could do on the bike.” (more…)

Lucic

BOSTON — Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien said that the club will decide today if winger Milan Lucic can return to the line-up for tonight’s game with the Montreal Canadiens.

Lucic, out the last two games with an undisclosed injury, skated before the team and then joined the full squad for its morning skate. He mixed in on Marc Savard’s line along with right winger Chuck Kobasew.

“Those decisions will be made today – his availability tonight as well as others,” said Julien.

The head coach also clarified some things on his other injured players. Goaltender Manny Fernandez, who skated before the team today, is battling “general soreness.” And winger Phil Kessel, placed on injured reserve yesterday with mono, is out indefinitely.

“With mono, it’s one of those situations where it’s pretty clear there’s no way he can play and we’ve got to wait for the doctors to clear him. So that’s the extent of it,” the coach said.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have taken the ice for their pregame skate in preparation for their showdown with Montreal tonight at TD Banknorth Garden. Here’s a look at the forward lines.

St.  Pierre-Savard-Kobasew
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder
Axelsson-Yelle-Karsums
Thornton-Nokelainen-Bitz

Lucic is mixing in with the  Savard line.

Chara, Wideman,  Hunwick, Stuart, Ward and Hnidy are the defenseman on the ice, in addition to goaltenders Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask.

BOSTON — Today, Boston Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez has joined yesterday’s trio of pre-practice skaters on the TD Banknorth Garden ice.

Fernandez, out since Saturday with an undisclosed injury, has not been on the ice since the ailment came to light. So now you can throw out all those  hushed (and some not-so-hushed trade rumors).

He’s currently skating with fellow recovering injured players Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ference and Milan Lucic. The full squad is scheduled to hit the ice in 30 minutes for its pregame skate in preparation for tonight’s showdown with Montreal.

I’ll have more as the day moves on.

BOSTON — The Providence Bruins and Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League are not scheduled to meet this season.

But it will feel like those two AHL contenders (the P-Bruins lead the Atlantic Division, while the Bulldogs are in a tight North Division race) are battling one another when the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens meet at TD Banknorth Garden tonight.

That’s because both teams have endured so much injury and illness that a number of players expected to spend the full year with their team’s respective farm clubs have been forced into one of the oldest, grudge-filled rivalries in the NHL.

Instead of skating in smaller barns and riding buses, the likes of Martin St. Pierre, Martins Karsums and Byron Bitz will be donning the spoked ‘B.’ And on the other side, the Habs will dress players such as Matt D’Agostini, Max Pacioretty and Kyle Chipchura.

This game will be more than a battle of the top two teams in the Northeast Division, more than another chapter in the ongoing feud between the two franchises, and more than a match-up of the two coaches selected to work the Eastern Conference bench at the 2009 All-Star Game.

This showdown will be a battle of organizational depth, and a chance for both clubs to show how much of that depth can help them overcome adversity. (more…)

Raycroft

Now that almost every NHL team is at or past the midway point for their seasons, it’s a good time to look at how some former members of the Boston Bruins are faring in other sweaters.

Coincidentally, two former Bruins, whose seasons are going in opposite directions right now, were featured prominently in their current teams’ local papers. In the Rocky Mountain News, Jim Benton featured goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who has started this season — his first with the Colorado Avalanche — with nine wins among his first 10 decisions. Raycroft might now be pushing Peter Budaj for the Avs’ No. 1 spot. (more…)

Kessel

The Boston Bruins today announced five transactions, including one that will end a pretty impressive streak.

Winger Phil Kessel, tied for fourth in the NHL in goals scored with 24, was placed on injured reserve with mononucleosis. Kessel’s streak of 167 consecutive regular-season games played will end when the Bruins take the ice against Montreal at TD Banknorth Garden tomorrow night. That streak dates back to Kessel’s return from his battle with cancer in his rookie season. Of course, he missed three games as a healthy scratch during last season’s playoffs.

In the other moves, the Bruins returned goaltender Kevin Regan and defenseman Matt Lashoff to Providence (AHL) and recalled goaltender Tuukka Rask and center Martin St. Pierre from the P-Bruins on an emergency basis. This means that Manny Fernandez is still a question mark to be available for the Habs game. Fernandez has been out since it was revealed he is suffering from minor injury Saturday.

Hnidy

Boston Bruins defenseman Shane Hnidy, who has missed the club’s last two games with a severely swollen left eye, was able to participate in the team’s full practice today at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington.

Hnidy, who took a Cal Clutterbuck shot to the face against Minnesota Jan. 6, usually does not wear a shield on his helmet, but he did today and will have to for a short time. Hnidy said today that he was awaiting doctor’s clearance to return to game action.

Bruins head coach Clade Julien can sympathize with Hnidy. The Bruins’ bench boss revealed today that he suffered a similar injury in Europe during his playing days, and “almost lost” his eye. He had to wear a shield for a short time but then discarded it because he couldn’t get used to it.

“For me, my thought process is on that, if you’ve played your whole life with one, or at least a half visor, why take it off if you’re used to playing with it. Guys that haven’t played with it, I know it can be something that’s not that easy to get used to,” Julien said. “At the same time, there’s going to be a debate. I’ve seen a lot of injuries happen with guys that have visors. The blade gets caught under the visor and they’ve lost an eye anyway. So it can be a debatable thing.”

Fernandez

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Boston Bruins goatlender Manny Fernandez did not partake in any hockey activity today, and according to head coach Claude Julien, Fernandez remains sidelined with a “minor issue” that the coach clarified is an injury.

“It’s a minor issue that we thought would be resolved by today; might be resolved by tomorrow,”  Julien said. “He’s definitely not a scratch right now for tomorrow.”

In  Fernandez’s place, Kevin Regan made his way from Providence (AHL) on an emergency basis for his first regular-season NHL practice. (more…)