The Bruins Playoffs

All season, the Bruins were a team that seemed to shrink away from adversity. They had problems with teams that would take the game to them. They would follow extended winning streaks with losing streaks. Their coach, Claude Julien, looked completely clueless behind the bench, appearing as more of a thinner Alfred Hitchcock clone than an NHL coach. The powerplay was anemic at it's best.

This continued into the playoffs against Montreal. The Bruins lost the first two games in Boston, with Montreal goalie Carey Price looking dominant. The Bruins then won Game 3, but promptly fell behind 3-1 in Game 4. Then Claude Julien did something completely out of character - he did something. He called a timeout, and just told his team to look at the scoreboard. It worked. The Bruins would go on to win the game.

Then came Game 7 of the series. History was against the Bruins here, as they had not won a Game 7 in years. Tim Thomas had never won a game 7. Zdeno Chara had never won a game 7. Julien had won one - against the Bruins while he was the coach of the Canadiens, so that was roughly the equivalent of someone beating up Helen Keller. Montreal seemed ready.

The game would go into overtime, and it felt like the Bruins would be done. Given their past history, it would seem that they would tighten up, and inevitably lose the game. Then something strange happened for the Bruins - they won. Suddenly, all sorts of demons were slain.

This carried over into Game 1 of the Flyers series. Both teams were fresh off Game 7 victories, so they both should have been ready. The Bruins went into Philadelphia, and steamrolled the Flyers with a 7-3 victory. In Game 2, the Flyers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, and it became possibly that the Bruins victory was an aberration. The Bruins would fight back, and force overtime due to the unbelievable play of Tim Thomas, who stole that game for them. Then came Game 3, where the seeds of last year were attempted to be placed into the minds of the Bruins players. Their response - a dominating 5-1 victory.

These Bruins are different than they had been. They are playing with confidence and a swagger. They are not backing down, and are actually initiating the play instead of reacting to it. Julien has always been more of a reactive, defensive minded coach, but the reins appear to have been loosened on the offense. Game 4 in Montreal was the turning point, and it may actually go a long way.

While they may not win the Stanley Cup this year, they are definitely playing like a contender, moreso than in years past. A collapse such as what happened in the playoffs last year would be a total shock, given how well the Bruins have performed.