This is the year

1972 was the last time the Stanley Cup graced the Garden.

When the Bruins made the playoffs in the 2007-08 season, they finally got some mentions in the Boston media, albeit paired with estimates of their imminent failure. But respect was gained when they forced a game seven with the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the first round of playoffs.

When they lost game 7, it was back to the usual: the Bruins are destined to fail and nobody cares about hockey in a town filled with baseball, football, and basketball domination.

The Bruins finished with a 41–29–12 record (94 points). And that was without two key players- top scorer Patrice Bergeron and goalie Manny Fernandez.

Before he was injured in October, twenty-two year old Bergeron had scored three goals and four assists in 10 games. With Bergy back at top caliber, the Bruins have got their young-gun scorer, with speed to match, back.

This month, the Bruins signed Montreal Canadiens right-winger Michael Ryder for three years. A sub-par performance last season can be explained: the Canadiens took Ryder off the power play, which was a main source of goal scoring. Ryder got 46 of his 99 career goals on the power play, which is one of the Bruins' main weaknesses. I see a match here.

He wins battles along the boards, protects the puck, creates opportunities, and can SCORE. He's a strong guy, who will definitely fit in with the B's physical-style of play.

Ryder and Bruins head coach, Claude Julien, go way back - Ryder has played for Julien for six seasons, so Julien is quite familiar with his strengths and weaknesses, and can use that knowledge when deciding what line to put him in.

And this year, the Bruins have the youth on their side- over half the team is in their twenties:

• 20 year old Milan Lucic is already a fan favorite, and last year's winner of the Seventh Player Award. The "Hal Haters" in section 315 have been replaced with the "Lucic Crew": lovers of the 6'4", 220-pound left winger who is as gritty as they come. Proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqMfY00Dk_U
• This May, the Bruins resigned second-leading scorer, twenty-five year old Chuck Kobasew to a multi-year extension.
• Hockey experts suggest that if Phil Kessel were eligible (he was too young at the time), he would have been drafted number one overall, ahead of Sidney Crosby, in the 2005 draft. The 20 year old speedster has often been compared to Mike Modano. Not to mention, the kid only missed 11 games after undergoing testicular cancer surgery. If that's not perseverance, I don't know what is.

And the “old guys” include:

• Top playmaker Marc Savard, who had 60-plus assists for a third straight season.
• The tallest NHL player, Zdeno Chara, with the 103.1 mph hardest shot. At season’s end, Chara had a career-high 17 goals, 34 assists, and 51 points. And that was with a torn labrum in his left shoulder, which he played through for two months.
• And last but not least, Tim Thomas, the goalie who will flop to the ground amidst thrashing sticks to make a save, and subsequently do a back handspring to get the rebound. The NHL All-Star had three shutouts last season. His save percentage is .921, which means he saves 92.1% of all shots, which is .1% higher than Martin Brodeur, a ten-time NHL All Star and three-time Stanley Cup champ. With more goal-scorers like Ryder, Kobasew, and a healthy Bergeron on the Bruins, Thomas can expect his Goals Against Average (GAA) to go down from the respectable 2.44 he had in 2007.

Rally caps on, people… Let’s bring the Cup back and make Boston a true title town!
Go, go, Black and Gold!