February 5, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (30) stands on the ice against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

If you haven’t heard the news already, Tim Thomas was traded to the New York Islanders for a conditional 2nd round draft pick (2014 or 15).

When I first heard of the trade I was a little shocked it was the Islanders he was going to, I was for certain he’d be going to the Colorado Avalanche for J.S Giguere or even a draft pick from them, but no; Thomas went to Long Island. The trade did however bring back a rush of goalie related memories from my time as a young bruins fan in the early 2000′s. Jeff Hackett, Steve Shields, Byron Dafoe , John Grahame, Andrew Raycroft, and Felix Potvin are some of the more “memorable” names of the goalies who have come through Boston.

The Boston Bruins have had goaltending issues as far back as the Andy Moog to Dallas trade in 1993. The Bruins acquired Jon Casey, the goalie who Mario scored probably one of, if not, the most famous goal of his career on. Casey didn’t do bad in Boston in the regular season, he posted 30-15-9 with a 2.88 GAA and .881 SV%. The playoffs however would be a different story, he would only play 11 games in the playoffs going 5-6-0 while his back up Vincent Riendeau played 2 games going 1-1. The Bruins beat the Canadiens in 7 but lost to Jersey in 6 in the Semi-Finals. That Semi-Finals loss would be the last semi-finals the Bruins would play in for 5 years.

Following Jon Casey’s signing with St. Louis in 1994, The Bruins fell back on the undrafted Blaine Lacher (known better as Let Em’ In Lacher.). Lacher posted 19-11-2 in his rookie campaign in the shortened 94-95 season. The Bruins were eliminated in 5 games by the New Jersey Devils. Lacher was given the starting job the following season however the playoff loss from the previous season hit Lacher hard and he would never play as well as he did again.

The 1995-96 season saw the Bruins rotate between 5 different goalies. Lacher , Robbie Tallas, Craig Billington, Scott Bailey (who Pavel Bure scored his famous short handed breakaway goal on) and previous Bruin and former Oiler Bill Randford. Randford would become the main goalie of the 95-96 season going 21-12-4. The playoffs again would fall short, as Randford could not reclaim his former Oiler glory. The Bruins were eliminated in 5 games by the eventual Stanley Cup Finalists the Florida Panthers.. and we all know what happened to them.

1996-97 would be one of the most disastrous years for Boston in terms of goaltending. Randford began his own Lacher-esque downward spiral and again the Bruins rotated goalies Tallas and Bailey once again played and the Bruins added Paxton Schafer , Tim Cheveldae, and Dorchester-native and Vezina winner Jim Carey. The Bruins would not make the playoffs and were slapped with the worst record in the league. Carey who was seen to give the Bruins hope in 96-97 never played the same as he did in Washington in 1995-96. Many saw it as him being lazy after winning the Vezina, others thought maybe the pressure, whatever the case may have been, the goaltending disaster in Boston after 1996-97 would usher in one of the most memorable faces for Bruins fans of the late 90s and early 2000s. No not Joe Thornton or Sergei Samsonov.. but a 1989 2nd round draft pick from Washington, Byron Dafoe.
Byron Dafoe single-handedly carried the Boston Bruins on his back for 1997-98 and 1998-99. His play was more than phenomenal in both seasons. The 1997-98 playoffs would be a little shakey for Byron as they the Bruins lost to the Capitals in 6 games, but they did put up one hell of a fight with two 2OT games. Byron would continue his success right into 1998-99, 32-23-11 a 1.99 GAA and a .926 SV% and also 10 shutouts. DaFoe would lead the Bruins into the playoffs as the 6th seed as they dumped the Canes in a memorable six game series, and it took the super human goal tending of Dominik Hasek to best Byron and the Bruins in the second round. When all looked hopeful for Boston after 1998-99 tragedy struck Byron Dafoe. After having his knee crushed by Donald Brashear he wouldn’t return to form for the remained of the 1999-2000 season. The Bruins failed to make the playoffs in 1999-2000 and Byron began an up hill climb in 2000-01, the Bruins finished just 1 point out of 8th place. But despite this, Byron was continuing to return to form and he would for the 2001-02 season. The Boston Bruins would win the Eastern Conference in the regular season and Byron looked hot as ever. However an 8th place Montreal team would do in Boston in 6 games being lead by José Théodore.

It was after that 2002 playoff exit that Boston would never be able to reclaim goaltending glory. Byron DaFoe was left to free agency and claimed by the Atlanta Trashers where he would never be able to re-capture his former glory. The Bruins would again be stuck rotating goaltenders, with faces that include Jeff Hackett (acquired in a three-way trade that sent Kyle McLaren to San Jose) , Steve Shields, John Grahame, and two Providence call ups in Andrew Raycroft.. and Tim Thomas.

Jeff Hackett and Shields were left to free agency and Grahame was traded to Tampa for a draft pick. This left the Bruins with Andrew Raycroft and Tim Thomas. Thomas was left for Providence and the Bruins signed former all-star and Leafs goaltender Felix Potvin. Raycroft would start the 2003-04 season with Potvin as the back up. Raycroft would go on to win the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year with a 29-18-9 record. Potvin would put up 12-8-6 during his time as back up. The Bruins went into the 2004 Playoffs with their hot rookie goaltender facing the 7th Seeded Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins chose  to put a rookie goaltender into the playoffs while they had the veteran playoff performer in Felix Potvin benched. However things did look good for the team, the Bruins went up 3-1 in the series after an overtime Game 4 win in Montreal. When the series came back to Boston however the Bruins dropped their lead and the Canadiens won 3 straight games to eliminate the Bruins. Potvin would go to free agency and retire, while Raycroft continued for the team through the 2005-06 season as the Bruins failed to make the playoffs. Raycroft was traded for Tuukka Rask and the rest.. is history.

He did it by trading Tim Thomas.

Yes, Tim Thomas was wacky (or unhinged), flawed (or bigoted), and a little cantankerous for most people to tolerate at times. His opt out to the White House marked the beginning of the end of his career in Boston, and his adamant stance to sit out this season put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

The politics of hockey. Thomas informed Chiarelli of his decision, leaving the Bruins’ GM little recourse but to suspend # 30. “If he wasn’t playing I would have to suspend him.” said Chiarelli. “His cap number would still be on the cap. We would have relief through Savard being on the cap, so it would almost be a wash that way, and that’s the way we would proceed through the year. We’re not seriously cramped from the cap perspective. As I’ve said, we’ve got Marc Savard on LTI and he’s at $4 million, and Tim’s at $5 million, so do the math and we’re maybe a million short. So we’re not seriously disabled there. It’s something that I’ll approach delicately with Tim.”

The New York Islanders gave up a provisional second round draft pick in either 2014 or 2015 for Tim Thomas. This allows the Islanders to make the cap floor. The Bruins get the five million dollar monkey that was Thomas’ salary off their back. We get another draft pick, very likely a high end one in the second round, and Chiarelli once again shows off his talent as a trade genius. I am a practical, rational man. I understand the mechanics and why this works out so well for both clubs. I understand everything that this means and how this really benefits the team I love.

So why am I on the verge of tears?  I love Tim Thomas the HOCKEY player. I tend to disagree with a lot of Tim Thomas the hockey PLAYER says. Would I have a beer with the man and talk politics? That would be very unlikely. Would I buy this man a case of beer and tearfully thank him for June 15, 2011? Damn skippy. I got to watch him live, and in action four times in 2011 and 2012. He never lost when I was there, and the stuff he was doing in the crease….inspiring, if not spectacular. He is the guy that went out there along with Mark Recchi and showed us all that Champions had no age limit.

You were a little bonkers for a lot of us Tim, but by God you’ll be missed.

UFA Defenseman Wade Redden. Photo credit: Getty Images.

They say Wade Redden played well with current Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara when he was paired with the monster of a man that is Big-Z during their days as Ottawa Senators. They say that Redden can still be a serviceable NHL-level defenseman and that the Bruins are one of the teams interested in his services. Do you believe it?

Do you think the Bruins should add a veteran d-man like Redden, who will most likely get the veteran minimum after recently being bought out of the final 2 years of his 6-year, $39 million contract by the New York Rangers? Its very well a possibility as we all know Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli will do anything and everything he can do in order to get the Bruins back to the promised land and as Causeway Crowd editor Andrew Thompson often says, “Rescue the cup”.

But what about cap space? Aren’t the Bruins up against the salary cap? Yes, yes they are. In fact they have one of the larger payrolls in the NHL. However, the Tim Thomas trade market isn’t dead just yet as a handful of teams are still below the cap floor and may take on a contract like Thomas’ (who as we all know is planning to sit out the entire 2013 season) and they could add him for cheap and not touch their projected starting lineups.

They pay Thomas to sit at home, they reach the cap floor and the Bruins are rid of Thomas’ $5 million cap hit for this season. Sounds like a win/win for everyone if you ask me. That would then open the door for the Bruins to trade for a bigger contract (looking at you Bobby Ryan) or add a few free agents to help solidify their already solid organizational depth, but truth be told they could probably use another veteran defenseman and Redden could be that man.

This all could open the door for Redden or someone else, maybe the B’s may never deal Thomas and just find another way to sign Redden, or quite possibly none of this could ever happen. But it’s important to notice that the B’s adding Redden and subtracting Thomas are both currently being talked about, so the possibility of one or the other happening is just that, a possibility.

If they could deal Thomas that would be very ideal, if they were able to rid themselves of that now useless cap hit I would love it and love their salary cap flexibility.

If they add Redden for cheap I don’t have a problem with that either, however I would love to see what the kid Dougie Hamilton can do at the NHL-level for at least 5 games. But, if they do sign Redden or another veteran defenseman I will never have a problem with it, you can never ever have too much depth at any position. Especially during what should be an injury plagued, condensed 48-game NHL schedule.