Bruins Need A Champions Attitude

Wow! Sleep through a couple of days because of the flu and people are talking about this new Boston Bruins team that cannot win unless if fights.The Bruins have been on the win one, lose one, cycle as of late and fans are getting nervous.  A hard fought (literally) win over Dallas (6-3), followed  by a loss to San Jose (2-0), followed by a highly publicized win over Montreal (8-6). The victory, which the Bruins dominated in all facets of the game, over Les Canadiens was a fight filled affair, highlighted by the dust up between goaltenders Tim Thomas and the Canadiens’ Carey Price. That tilt generated more talk and enthusiasm about the Bruins than had been heard or seen for a long time in the Boston area.

The Detroit Red Wings were next and fans expected another “yard sale” which meant more dropped sticks, gloves, teeth, and blood. The only thing, someone forgot to tell Bruins Nation was that while Boston went into the game with the most fighting majors in the league, the Red Wings are in last place in the National Hockey League when it comes to fighting.  The Wings came into Beantown and played one of their best games of the season defeating Boston 6-1. In the official Red Wings blog, Around the Rink, coach Mike Babcock did not seemed surprised at his club’s effort after it had lost three of its previous four games.

“Normally I let them solve their own problems and let them take control,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “And they normally do it all.”

For the review of the game from Detroit’s point of view, click here, http://hockeytownblog.com/2011/02/12/around-the-rink-february-12th-edition/.

With the two teams meeting in a rematch Sunday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit (12:30pm EDT, NBC) The black and gold does not get much time to think about what went wrong. Actually, it really was not a question of what went wrong for Boston because just about everything went right for Detroit. It is up to the coaches to draw up a game plan that will disrupt the Wings attack and it is up to the players to execute that plan perfectly.

Bruins faithful need to realize that not every game is going to be a raucous tilt especially those against the Detroit Red Wings. Fans need to realize they are watching one of those once in a lifetime teams in the Red Wings. Looking at their roster, one must have the utmost respect for the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Johan Franzen, Kris Draper, Henrik Zetterberg, and Brian Rafalski. You do not need to cheer for them but they deserve every hockey fans respect as each has won at least one Stanley Cup and is a future Hockey Hall of Famer. This is the team other clubs like try to emulate. Since 1997, the Wings have won the Stanley Cup four times. I do not need to remind anyone who worships at the alter of Blades the Bear, that the Bruins have won six Stanley Cups since 1929 and zero since 1972.

The Bruins have shown all season they are a team on the cusp of being in the upper echelon of the elite teams in the NHL. They are capable of defeating any team on any given night. To prove they are, indeed, in that upper echelon they need to begin defeating the true elite clubs in the league on a consistent basis.

The best teams, the championship teams, in any and all sports, go into games expecting to win. They do not hope their best efforts will result in a win. They have the attitude that their opponents will need to play up to their level. One can see this attitude in the Detroits, the Philadelphias, the Pittsburghs, and the Vancouvers, of the NHL. The Bruins are very close to acquiring that attitude but to do so, they need to go on the ice and take it from the elite teams they face. They are capable of doing it and they need to begin doing it Sunday in Detroit.

For all news pertaining to the NHL in general…..please visit  Too Many Men on the Site – Fansided`s excellent coverage of the Greatest Game on Ice !

Shawn Hutcheon can be followed on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/@shawnhutcheon. You can also become his friend on facebook by going to www.facebook.com/shawnhutcheon.