It will be interesting what kind of money the 35 year old Thomas will get...He is leading the league in GAA and SV %..Pretty sick numbers actually.

Lot of goalies on the market that are free agents this year...

3 years $12 million??

Yep. While Manny didn't play a lot with Boston due to injuries, he has been a good asset for us this year. I was curious to see if we'd trade him at the deadline for a pick, but looks like Chiarelli wants to stick with the pair of good goalies going into the playoffs.

I'm looking forward to Rask having some substantial time in the bigs next year!

He deserves a nice raise, hopefully we don't cheap out on him.

4 years $18 million is my guess.

bad luck today ray

I hope we beat you in OT

FU

make yourselves useful one time please?

I think you guys need to not worry about what other teams are doing, and win your own games.

First Guerin, then Recchi. Good trades by both teams!

Never fails the Serge jinx...The only other time Thomas gave up 5 goals in a game this year..Against the Leafs on December 18..

I need to patent this jinx..Its sick how good it is.

kid's got heart!

Hahahaha that was awesome. He's got a little Happy Gilmore in him (uh oh here comes the putter throw). I love how bad he wants to win though, he'll do good things in the NHL.

Huuuuuuuuuuuuge win against New Jersey. We finally beat a team that's good, I just hope beating them gives us the confidence we need to make a run, let's go boys!

I figured I might as well give this a bump, we're playing decent hockey again, and at the right time! Manny wasn't horrible today, so hopefully he's got some confidence back. I'm hoping Kessel's feeling better soon from whatever injury he's got, and we can get ready for a deep playoff run!

Nice job pulling it back together after that tough series of games they had.

Fo' Cheesy ma neezy.

Tim Thomas. Ca-Ching, the newly, and expensively paid, happy man on the B's.

Siiiiick!


Tim Thomas looks be staying in Boston for the foreseeable future.

According to a report in the Boston Globe, the Bruins and Thomas agreed to a multi-year deal that will see Thomas remain between the pipes in Boston for at least three more seasons.

The deal will reportedly pay the 34-year old goalie $5.2 million per-season.

The team is expected to announce the signing later on Friday.

I'm interested in seeing how much money Kessel and Krejci get this summer.

I worked the numbers out a while ago, and if the cap goes down at all, I think the Bruins are in a bit of trouble, cap-wise (like pretty well any team with star-caliber players).

Congrats to Boston, the 2009 Eastern Conference Regular Season Champs!

Nice to see Thomas still performing after signing that nice new contract, and to keep his cool and get the shutout after that bonehead Avery gave him a whack to the back of the head with his stick during a commercial break.


That's 6 wins in a row now, HUGE for us considering the struggle for the past little while. The Bruins could go DEEP!

dohhhhhh!

I just hope he doesn't get abducted by aliens!
Is Brodeur not over 36?
I didn't know that about goaltenders, 4 years is seeming like a long time now, hopefully by then Rask will be performing well and Old Man Thomas can back him up?

Ya know, it's funny... I was thinking about this contract, and I find it interesting...
If this contract was signed last year, I would have thought 5 mil for 4 years... hmm... pretty damn good deal, if Thomas keeps it up. If he got injured, then they buy him out, and take a smaller cap hit.
But this year, with the economic downturn, I think it could be a big problem. If the cap drops to mid 40's or worse, then a 5 mil cap hit for a non-performing/injured goalie would be a disaster, since it would cost you at LEAST another 5 mil for a starter (assuming Rask doesnt turn into a star, which is entirely possible, and makes everything else irrelevant, since he would be entry level through Thomas' contract length).

I don't know how it will turn out, but I think this one could be interesting in a couple of different ways..

I think it's more that the butterfly technique is destroying goalies's hips than anything .. as neither Brodeur or Thomas play that way there is hope!

Apparently you are correct w.r.t. Brodeur's age:

Wow what a game tonight! I needed the win as I finally got some money for future bets on my sportsbook account and parlayed the $134 needing Boston win and Detroit over, so that was sweet! Will be a great series if these 2 end up against each other again!

Unbelievably bad play by LaParierre not getting the puck out at the blue line on the OT goal.

Nice! Congrats!!!

Very mad with Boston tonight.

Sorry dude, I was cheering sooo hard for us to win in regulation!

You and me both, did catch the game though, and it was a very entertaining hockey game at that.
More Boston love, BU currently up over Vermont right now in the Frozen Four with a min to go. That has also been an amazing game.

BUmp for the future Stanley Cup Champions beginning their quest for a Stanley cup in 2009.

They are Ray's team and they are my adopted Eastern team.

Go Bruins show Ray and the rest of Bruin nation proud.

You are playing a pathetic team and should cake walk..Dont just win, humiliate. A nice 6-0 Thrashing would suffice for game 1. Beat them physically, hurt them, injure them. Play old school bruin hockey that Orr,Esposito and Middleton would be proud of.

GO boys...Take it

Sigh, this one is interesting. On one hand, we've got the serge curse, but on the other hand, the differential between these two teams just might be enough to overcome it.

Serge curse over hyped and not real.

Canucks looked fine yesterday and the fact the Pens won the first game is a good sign. Philly will come back HUGE

I'm sooooooooo excited for tonight. Earlier on in the year when the Bruins were the hottest team in the league, I was just staring at the standings like 10 times a night, imagining how sweet it would be if they went all the way. It's been WAY too long since I've even seen them play in the 2nd round, AND I HATE the Habs, and we can never beat them. This first round win would just be sweet for so many reasons. Please God I don't ask for much, but I NEED this one!!!!

we dont need God's involvement in the first round. Its a cakewalk...Save the divine intervention in later rounds when we may need it..

Remember 5-0-1 in the regular season. Even the Habs fans have given up.

We were 0-8 last year in the regular season, and took them to 7 games... I'm not ruling anything out against them.

If Price is on his game, he can steal a series. He's that skilled. If he can be consistent enough, that's another story. Same can be said for Thomas, as well, the stealing a series thing, that is.

Kovalev too, he can be the best player on the ice, but will he? Flip a coin.

Bruins have Yelle too, he can be the best player on the ice if you flip about 64 coins and they all come up heads! Or I'll take it if they all come up heads except for the 28th being tails.

12:50 p.m.
What the heck did Georges Laraque say on Tuesday?
According to Mike Zeisberger of The Toronto Sun, George Laraque decided to let words start a battle earlier this week instead of waiting until the drop of the puck tonight.

Zeisberger, no doubt working off a translation of an interview on CKAC, a French radio station in Quebec, reported that Laraque said of Shawn Thornton, "When we dropped the gloves in Montreal, I fell...I'm out of his league. He's way too small for me."

According to Zeisberger, Laraque added: "Actually, some of his teammates told me he was shaking in his boots before the game. He really didn't want to face me. If he wants to dance in Boston it will be my pleasure to go with him. I'll make sure the crowd quiets down really fast."

Lastly, this nugget: "Of course I'd like to also fight with Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara but I have to be careful...In the playoffs they'll eject you immediately."

According to Zeisberger, Laraque also had some choice words for his own team AND the Bruins when he said, ""I have never seen a team get roughed-up as badly as the Bruins roughed us up last week...I'm sure that if they play that kind of hockey during the playoffs, guys will get suspended. I understand why they played that way. They didn't want to face us in the first round. They wanted to face the Panthers."

Wow.

Now, let's be frank here -- I include Mr. Laraque's comments solely because I believe they are relevant to tonight's game as a story and not necessarily because I believe there is any validity to his notions about Thornton and his B's teammates.

But now that you've read them, I can report about the rest of the day with your having the relevant information and quotes. In fact, go to the source to read the whole thing.

Laraque is a goon and shouldnt be in the NHL.

Laraque is anything but a goon.

He's a stage fighter. He's never delivered a cheap shot in his life. He only fights if guys are willing to fight, etc. He's not extraordinarily effective as a "tough guy" either, for those reasons.

He is an enforcer, therefore a goon. His only use to a team is his fighting presence. Definetely not his 2 assists for the year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enforcer_(hockey)

Hollweg is a goon. Laraque is not a goon.

i dont think you know what a goon is.

A goon isnt necessarily a guy who does cheapshots, if you look up goon in the dictionary they most certainly have the french Laraque in there.

IMO, a goon is a cheapshot piece of shit who tries to fight and injure. Laraque hates fighting, and only does so when it's been prearranged. He's not a good. Most fighters are, however.

our definitions differ, however you may agree that if there wasnt fighting in the NHL, there is no place for Laraque.

While you also think Avery is a cheapshot piece of shit, I think you would agree that he would have a job.

Hollweg is a goon and a piece of shit agreed.

I think Laraque could be a borderline 4th liner. He actually has decent hands, and is an absolute beast along the boards controlling the puck. His cycle game is quite underrated.

Avery has hockey stills too. Fighting or not, he'd still be a head case.

Any Habs fan want to wager with me...Non Monetary but humilation bet??

If the Habs beat the Bruins in the series, i will at the HOF tourney wear a Habs jersey and ACT the whole time like I am a Habs fan.

If you are willing to offer something similar in return, we have a bet.


Takers?

you guys are all chicken..

WEEEEEEEE ..Me and Ray gonna party tonight..

If you come down to Stratford, we'll go out for pints after the game on me!