Jim Dalrymple.com

Every new hockey season brings with it a new batch of young energetic players that want to make their mark in the league. Some, like Sidney Crosby, do it with their goal scoring skills, while others rely on their fists.

This year, three new players are making their mark. Fortunately for me, the Bruins have one of them with the promotion of Colton Orr from the minors. The other — 6’4” 225lb Brian McGrattan — plays for the Ottawa Senators, but nobody can compare to the “Boogeyman.”

Minnesota Wild’s 6’7” 270lb Derek Boogaard has taken on all comers and handily beaten everyone so far. Realistically, how could he not beat his competition — this man is an absolute monster.

I watched a few clips on the ‘Net today of Boogaard’s fights and I just don’t see any way that anyone is going to be able to beat him. We’ve had some great fighters in the league over the years including the likes of Bob Probert, Troy Crowder and Stu Grimson. Boogaard definitely has some big boots to fill, but I think he can do it.

McGrattan’s claim to fame so far this year is knocking down Tie Domi the other night. Tie is a great fighter and I think he could do better given another opportunity with McGrattan.

Colton Orr has also been doing well, taking on all comers. I don’t think Orr has really lost a battle yet, but his closest match was probably against McGrattan, which ended up in a draw.

It’s not too often I feel bad for an opposing team, but last nights defeat of the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Boston Bruins was one of those times. No matter what the Pens did, it wasn’t right — the look on the coach’s face let us all know his days were numbered.

The Pens got penalty after penalty, many of them not good ones either. The Bruins ended up with several 5 on 3 power plays and made the Pens suffer on most of the attempts.

The Bruins Joe Thorton, Glen Murray and Dave Scatchard all had great games, getting multiple points. I was kind of surprised with Patrice Bergeron — he didn’t have the best game. You can forgive Patrice though; he kept the Bruins in many games by himself this year.

Sidney Crosby was, without a doubt, the best player on the ice for the Pens. It’s surprising that the Pens are doing so poorly this year with all of the talent they have. I see changes coming for them.

As for the Bruins — it’s good to see them finally firing on all cylinders. I hope they can keep it up.

The Boston Bruins pulled off a squeaker tonight as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime. With a 7-6 score, the Bruins won the game despite having a defense that resembles the keystone cops.

I remember part way through the second period thinking that if the Bruins win — and that was a big if — they wouldn’t deserve it. I’m amazed that they were able to come back and win.

Why shouldn’t they win? Because they are playing without a defense. The Bruins defense sucks ass! Why is it that players like Hal Gill, Brian Leetch and Jiri Slegr think that they game shoot the puck through their opponents. I have never seen so many dumbass plays in my life.

At the offensive blue line, with an opportunity to keep the puck in, the Bruins defense shoots the puck at the legs of the other team. Why not pass the puck, or at least shoot it in the corner.

The only players that showed up for tonight’s game for the Bruins were Murray (and not until late in the game), Leahy and Patrice Bergeron. Where the hell are the rest of you guys!

The Pens played a great game overall. While the Bruins relied totally on little bursts of speed to score their goals, the Pens played a more steady game. Lemieux had a couple of goals, starting his goal scoring season off.

Perhaps one of the highlights for everyone here in Nova Scotia was the performance by Sidney Crosby — wow, what a player! Sidney ended up with three or four points, but you can just tell this kid is something special.

Well, it seems only Andrew Raycroft showed up for the game as the Boston Bruins played the Buffalo Sabres tonight in Buffalo. It took Joe Thorton and the crew almost 50 minutes to get into the game and by that time Raycroft was too worn out to stop anything.

The game was pretty close for the most part, but the Bruins just couldn’t get it past the Sabres goalie, Miller. He played a really good game, but so did Raycroft — the difference was that the Sabres actually put players on the ice that wanted to play.

You have to feel bad for the goalie when your own defensemen seem more content to pass the puck to the other team than clearing the zone.

Mike Sullivan has to have a heart-to-heart with the team before tomorrow night’s game. Raycroft look hurt at the end of this game, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if he’ll play.

The Boston Bruins dropped their home opener on Wednesday to their archrivals, the Montreal Canadians. I was really disappointed with the referees and the sloppy play of the Bruins at times throughout the night.

First game of the season, so it’s not a big deal that the Bruins lost — even to Montreal. There were a couple of things that I found a bit distressing as I watched the game though.

The first was how much leeway the referees gave the players on the new rule changes. I like the new rules because it will open up the game again — penalties that would have been called just last week in preseason play were not called last night.

At one point Sheldon Souray lost his stick, so he just grabbed Joe Thorton’s and held on to it — hello, ref?! The Bruins got away with a few too, it wasn’t just Montreal. The league needs to keep a tight watch on this or the referees will let things slip right back to where they were.

Brian Leetch surprised me too. He seemed rather slow and lumbering on the ice instead of the fast, nimble player I remember. It is his first game back, so I’m willing to give all the players a chance to get into the game, but there was a lot of sloppy play in last night’s game.

Tomorrow we get to try again, so let’s hope things get better.

Living in the same area that Sidney Crosby is from in Nova Scotia, I’m happy for the guy. I hope he goes on to break records and be one of the best players in the NHL … ever! But really, do we have to be so desperate for news?

The headline in the sports section of the local paper here in Halifax is “Crosby hits crossbar.” What’s next, “Crosby ties his shoes,” “Crosby takes out his garbage,” or how about “Crosby plays Xbox.”

Crosby got an assist in the game and by all accounts, played a good game — why not report on those facts? Are we really so desperate for the guy to score goals that we will report on the fact that he hit a post or crossbar?

Oh and the Bruins beat the Pens 5-4 in OT. Go Bs!

The Boston Bruins have made moves to solidify their front line this week by signing center Joe Thorton and Travis Green. Two great moves by the Bs. Getting Green back on the roster was definitely a great move, but getting Thorton was an absolute must.

Thorton, in a few short years, has become the backbone of the Bruins — not every team has someone to fill that roll. With the addition of veterans like Brian Leetch, Thorton is free to work his magic with Glen Murray and Samsonov.

If I have one wish for this season it’s that the league keeps to its word and speeds up the game. These no talent players that hook and grab to keep up with players like Thorton need to either learn how to play the game or get the hell out of the league.