Through 11 games of this season, the Bruins’ record is as such: Loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, (shootout) loss, win, loss. This leaves us with 11 points – fourth in the division, but only four points behind Buffalo, three behind Ottawa, and one behind Montreal.

It also puts us in a three-way tie for eighth in the conference right now with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, but the Flyers get the edge based on that shootout win they had against us. Curse you, Ray Emery!

Last night’s game against the Devils was a heartbreaker – the boys had one of their best starts all season, only to lose the game on a Dainius Zubrus goal 18:34 into the third period. The Lunch-Pail Crew – Shawn Thornton, Steve Begin, and Byron Bitz – especially played well. An exchange between my friend and I during the game went as follows:

“No one remind Bitz that he is not supposed to play pretty.”

“Are our fourth-liners… oh my god, GOOD?”

“Shhhhhh. Don’t tell them that they are fourth-liners… they forgot.”

I love the Lunch-Pailers, past and present. They’re the guys who are going to get us through the injury-induced absence of Marc Savard. You can also call Daniel Paille and Vladimir Sobotka members of this prestigious group. These guys, the grit, heart, and soul of the team, are the ones who score the key goals for us and make the key plays, not the top six.

Why do I say that? Every team we need to beat has a solid top line (when healthy, ours is Marco Sturm, Savard, and Michael Ryder; Montreal’s features Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta; Philadelphia has Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, and Daniel Briere, et cetera). But not every team we need to beat has a solid fourth line. Come on, do you really think lines with Arron Asham and Georges Laraque stand a chance in matchups against our boys? I think not.

The Bruins play the Edmonton Oilers in a matinee tomorrow. Not to jinx the pattern, but I foresee a win…

So two of our best three forwards are out for a month. Denny just missed a chunk of time with a shoulder injury. The best two-way line in hockey is now without its left wing. Our multi-million dollar goalie isn’t playing like he did last year – at one point against Nashville last night, just watching the puck trickle in instead of attempting to fall on it.

What the hell is going on?

Where’s the Bruins team that decimated the entire NHL last November?

Yes, last night’s comeback win was impressive, and I’m glad that Steve Begin’s first goal as a Bruin was so important. But the fact of the matter is, Steve Begin should not be our fourth-best scorer. Marco Sturm and Blake Wheeler need to produce more than Begin. They’re only one point behind apiece right now, but still.

And what of that defense that GM Peter Chiarelli decided to “shore up” this offseason? They’re a combined +3, but don’t let that fool you – it’s mostly because of Mark Stuart (+5) and Andrew Ference (+4). Our big-money man of the offseason, Derek Morris, is a miserable -5. Worse, Tim Thomas is only 3-3 and has only occasionally looked like the Vezina Trophy winner of last year. I’m beginning to wonder why we didn’t spend some of that money on Phil Kessel.

One of my friends suggested that we scrap Morris for spare parts, or trade him for a physical trainer.

The theory is out there that Chiarelli is going to make a run for a young UFA with more talent than Kessel after this season, which would explain the one-year deal with Morris and the recent stockpiling of high draft picks. The team added one more with the trade of Chuck Kobasew (happy trails to you) to the Minnesota Wild.

Speaking of trades, the Bruins have welcomed a lot of new faces to the roster over the past week. For one, Vladimir Sobotka is back with the team, a move I’m excited about; he was a point-a-game player in 44 games with Providence last year, and is the kind of gritty player the Bruins love.

Daniel Paille, an acquisition from Buffalo, will be looked upon to fill some of the void left by Milan Lucic’s injury; like Boston’s favorite son, he’s got a great shooting percentage (15% last year, 17.3% the year before). He’s not Looch, but anybody who can shore up our offense is absolutely welcomed, and an assist on Begin’s game-winner helps. It also means the Lunch-Pail Crew has some more depth, as we can add Paille to Begin, Byron Bitz, Shawn Thornton, et cetera.

The team has also made some call-ups from Providence, with Brad Marchand the most notable. In his AHL rookie season last year, he had 59 points in 78 games. But if he and Trent Whitfield, who’s spent most of the past four years with Peoria of the AHL, are the best we can do to replace Marc Savard for the next month, perhaps we’d better look at making yet another trade.

I vote Morris off the island.

The same team that kicked major ass last year seems intent on proving that the Carolina game was a fluke, having lost two of their last three (in all reality, they lost all 3 – that comeback against the Islanders was outrageous) and starting the season 2-3-0, good for 10th in the conference and a tie for third in the division with Montreal. Only based on goal differential do we rank above Les Miserables.

So what’s going wrong? Why isn’t the defense, so stingy in the past, doing its job? Only Washington, Toronto, and Florida have allowed more goals in the conference.

Granted, we’ve scored 16, most in the division, which is a good sign, especially for a team lacking Phil Kessel. But seven of those goals occurred in the Hurricanes rout.

It’s not all Tuukka Rask’s fault, as the stats show he’s actually played better than Tim Thomas thus far, so don’t place the blame on weak goaltending.

The problem, it appears, is a knack for falling behind early in games, and having to dig out of holes. The Bruins did it against the lowly Islanders, and once against Colorado, but failed to do so against Washington or Anaheim, and eventually surrendered enough for the Avalanche to win Monday’s game.

I have ultimate faith in Peter Chiarelli to fix the problem, but still, losing three out of five is disconcerting at this point of the season. We can’t just be a comeback team all season. It’ll do nothing but wear the boys down.

Boy, were we in for a treat.

Thanks to escalator “issues” (and that’s putting it NICELY… the entire crowd had to use the stairs), we didn’t get into the arena until right when they were dropping the puck to start the game. Once we finally made it to the balcony, which landed us on the opposite side of where our seats were in the arena, we heard the goal horn go off, signaling Marc Savard’s power play goal.

We didn’t get to section 310 in time to see the replay, but the crowd was still pretty pleased by the time we made it over. Luckily for us, the Bruins still had plenty left in the tank – Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler both scored before the end of the first, and it was 3-0.

Of course, I had to explain a few things to Ariana over the course of the game – why Scott Walker and ex-Bruin Aaron Ward were on the kiss cam, the historical bad blood between the two teams, the irony of Cam Ward’s poor play in lieu of a multimillion dollar contract extension – but she got into it pretty quickly. It certainly helped that the teams brawled at the end of the second period, when the score was a nearly insurmountable 6-1 and pugilist Shawn Thornton had scored the last goal.

We had a few laughs at Eric Staal’s 25-stitch injury, as any fan with a vengeance would have, and at Jay Harrison’s pitiful showing in a fight with Milan Lucic. During the brawl, her cry for Zdeno Chara to “teabag that son of a bitch” Tom Kostopoulos, a former hated Hab who was trapped beneath our captain’s legs, was one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard a rowdy fan scream at the players.

Yep, she was one of us.

Best of all (on the ice, anyway)? Denny had a fantastic game. I have friends who have hated Wideman since we acquired him. They give me hell for wearing his jersey. At one point, Denny did something stupid (I forget what) and I lamented the fact that I was wearing his number. It always seems to me that when the player whose jersey you wear does something stupid, people start looking at you.

Then Denny scored a power play goal and I started getting high fives.

Then he broke Erik Cole’s leg, and my friend Chris (leader of the “I Hate Wideman” bandwagon) announced to me via text message that he was now a Wideman fan.

As far as hockey games go, it was one of the best possible ones that I could have ended up seeing. Being able to share it with someone special only made it that much better. It’s always nice to share a blowout victory with somebody when it’s their first professional hockey game.

Especially when your team makes the other guys bleed.

I know, I know, it’s a replica, so the numbers are ironed-on with zigzags to make them look sewn on. I don’t give a shit. It’s awesome. I think I look good in it. I’ve been wearing it the past four days and it has become a part of me…

It was also nice to see a generally full stadium, even for a preseason game. It’s proof that hockey matters in Boston again.

Watching the team, however, there were definite issues on the ice that led to the third-period collapse. The team went from up 2-1 to down 4-2, and it wasn’t all Tuukka Rask’s fault; he played superbly at times. The defense in front of him, however, wasn’t always stellar, allowing Columbus to set up and score some textbook goals.

Columbus played dirty at times, however, with Tim Sestito sitting on Chuck Kobasew for an extended period at one point. Eventually, a scrum erupted, with Columbus’ Jared Boll taking on “Sugar” Shawn Thornton. Thornton got in some solid punches, but Boll eventually took him down. So it goes.

The Bruins’ power play, however, had its moments. The Zdeno Chara goal that put the team up 2-1 in the second was also a textbook power play setup: New power play quarterback Derek Morris passed to Marc Savard in the right faceoff circle. Savard passed to Milan Lucic toward the front of the net. Meanwhile, Chara crashed the net from his position at the left point, and Looch found him for the goal. I’ve seen Alexander Ovechkin score on that play more than once. Executing it is key to having a successful power play, and if they can keep it up, we’ll be dangerous with the man advantage.

As for Denny, he had some poor moments on defense, at one point bumping asses with new defensive partner Andrew Ference and taking them both down on a Columbus rush in the first period. It happened again not long after. I understand that adjusting to a new defensive partner is difficult, especially when you’re going from a 6’9″ monster/Norris Trophy winner to a 5’10″ defensive specialist, but Denny was simply trying to do too much. It was also embarrassing to see him take a penalty to open the second period while I was wearing his jersey.

On the bright side, and again going back to the power play, Denny was a solid number two power play quarterback, making all the right passes while he was out on the ice. I don’t know how having three offensive-minded defensemen is going to work out for the Bruins, but our power play should be incredibly dangerous this year.

The Bruins’ even strength lines for Saturday night were:

Milan Lucic-Marc Savard-Michael Ryder

Chuck Kobasew-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi

Brad Marchand-Zach Hamill-Blake Wheeler

Byron Bitz-Vladimir Sobotka-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris

Andrew Ference-Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart-Matt Hunwick

Tuukka Rask (backup: Tim Thomas)

Burke has been looking to acquire Kessel since at least the NHL Draft weekend, when he offered the Bruins puck-moving defenseman Tomas Kaberle in exchange. With Derek Morris now a Bruin, that deal is no longer on the table; with Kaberle’s $4.25 million salary and the Bruins’ limited salary cap space, it was unlikely anyway.

Burke wants an offensive star for his team, and is willing to pay for him. Last year, Jason Blake was the team’s leading scorer, with a measly 63 points. Alex Ponikarovsky was second with 61, and Matt Stajan was third with 55. Kessel had 60 points, but only played 70 games; Blake appeared in 78, Stajan 76, and Ponikarovsky all 82. Even with Kessel likely missing the beginning of the season due to offseason surgery, he’d provide a huge offensive boost for the Leafs.

The question, of course, is whether or not the short term loss of a player with Kessel’s energy and offensive ability would be worth it. In particular, the success of the trade relies on two things: Marco Sturm coming back from last year’s season-ending injury, and David Krejci coming back from his own offseason surgery and remaining productive as the second-line center, justifying the Bruins’ choice to retain him over Kessel.

Keep in mind that in all 82 games, Krejci scored 73 points; prorating Kessel’s 2008-09 performance over 82 games, he would only have had 70. Krejci was more consistent over the course of the year. Also, Sturm, unlike Kessel, is a natural winger. Kessel playing on the wing was a reaction to the Bruins having two first-line caliber centers on the roster, similar to how Peter Forsberg used to play on the wing with Joe Sakic while both were in Colorado.

If coach Claude Julien wants to maintain some semblance of last season’s lines, however, things may get tricky. The five players who had first-line time last year were Kessel, Sturm, Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, and PJ Axelsson. Savard is a lock to remain the number one center, and with Axelsson gone and Kessel likely on the way out, that leaves Sturm and Looch on either side of Savard. But both players are left-handed left wingers, making it difficult to maintain the line combinations that were so successful early last season. Somebody – likely Michael Ryder or Blake Wheeler – will probably see time as the first-line right wing.

Of course, the biggest worry with trading away a player of Kessel’s status and value is trying to get a decent return. Keep in mind that when the Bruins traded Ray Bourque a long time ago, the first-round draft pick they netted from the Colorado Avalanche turned into the underwhelming Martin Samuelsson. While Brian Rolston was a stellar acquisition in that trade, Sami Pahlsson and Martin Grenier were not. Neither did much for the Bruins, and neither did Andrei Nazarov and Patrick Traverse, the players acquired from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Pahlsson.

The last time the Bruins traded away a player comparable to Kessel was when they shipped Brad Boyes off to the St. Louis Blues in the middle of the 2006-07 season. Boyes was coming off of a 2005-06 that was similar to Kessel’s 2008-09 season in point production, but hadn’t been scoring quite as much in the subsequent season. Thus, management traded him for Dennis Wideman, and the deal worked out for both teams: with 72 points, Boyes led the Blues in scoring last year, and Wideman has developed into a gritty no. 2 defenseman for the black and gold. (I mean, he’s also the namesake of this blog, but let’s try to stay objective for once.)

Regardless, it’s going to be interesting to see how this story plays out. Reportedly, the Nashville Predators are also in the hunt, and they may have an advantage solely because they’re not a division rival to the Bruins like Toronto is. But the only offer I’ve heard as of yet is the three draft picks, and that may be too tempting for GM Peter Chiarelli to pass up.

THE 2009-2010 BOSTON BRUINS SEASON PRIMER

Roster Additions: The biggest (and most expensive) offseason roster addition was that of Derek Morris, an offensive-minded defenseman for whom we attempted to trade late last season. He’ll probably slot in between Zdeno Chara and my boy Denny on the depth chart. Steve Begin was brought in as a gritty fourth-line center to replace Stephane Yelle. Finally, Tuukka Rask will likely make the big club after a couple of years of grooming. He’ll back up all-world goaltender Tim Thomas.

Roster Subtractions: Besides the aforementioned Yelle, the biggest name to depart is that of a backup goaltender. Manny Fernandez is gone, with most of the money that would have been committed to re-signing him going to Thomas. He’s still looking for a job. Steve Montador is also gone – he went northwest to become a Buffalo Sabre. In general, however, the roster remains pretty much intact… except…

Roster Limbo: Ah, Phil Kessel. From the day you were drafted 5th overall (when pre-season reports had you going first), you’ve played with a chip on your shoulder. You played through a serious health scare. You sat in the playoffs against Montreal two years ago as the team tried to make a point about your defensive play being sloppy, and you responded by jumping from a -6 to a +23 in plus/minus. You had an epic scoring streak for us last year – 18 consecutive games with a point – which included a six-game goal streak. In short, you were our best offensive player last year (with apologies to the rest of the Bruins’ top six, who all played very, very well).

Then, management made a bit of a mistake by rewarding David Krejci with a solid contract. I’m not saying that Krejci, the leader in plus/minus last year, is undeserving. I am saying, however, that if Krejci gets $3.75 million a year, then Kessel is in line for a little bit more than that, anyway. The old Fernandez contract, which was of a similar size as Krejci’s new one, was gone, but again, most of that money went to Thomas under the cap. Still, despite the headache, we still had a decent amount of cap room.

Then we signed Morris.

The Bruins have very little cap room left. NHLnumbers.com says the number stands at $1.764 million, and even that might be generous. Somebody has to move for Kessel to fit on the club, and even with that, the Bruins would have no space to make any mid-season moves.

If Kessel isn’t traded, the most likely candidates to move are our lower-tier defensemen – guys with contracts of over $1 million a year, but not essential to the club, with players like Johnny Boychuk waiting in the wings. These names include Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart. Chuck Kobasew’s $2.5 million contract could also be unloaded. Reports say that Kessel’s camp wants a deal similar to that signed by David Booth of the Florida Panthers (about $4.4 million a year for four years).

Regardless, the rest of this offseason will be interesting, as the Bruins attempt to keep Kessel on board and avoid a repeat of previous nasty contract situations (Byron Dafoe comes to mind).

But boy, was there a hell of a Stanley Cup Final.

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins did something unthinkable – they took four out of five games from the Detroit Red Wings after being down 2-0 in the final. They did it by outplaying a hurting Red Wings team in every game but the blowout in Game 5, in which five different Red Wings scored and Chris Osgood blanked the Pens’ offense.

There were almost too many storylines to count.

The first, and sweetest for Pittsburgh fans, was Marian Hossa’s second consecutive year on the losing end of a final. A Penguin last year, Hossa passed on a lucrative long-term deal for a one-year shot at the Stanley Cup with Detroit. And for the second consecutive year, despite being one of the few elite athletes of this decade to pass on money for a shot at a title, Hossa was snakebitten in the final, watching the opponents skate around with the trophy on his home ice. Worse, he didn’t score a goal all series.

Another strong storyline was the play of the two goaltenders, Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and Detroit’s Chris Osgood. One goalie was solid, or the other was, with the 5-0 spanking of Pittsburgh in Game 5 a prime example. Most thought that Osgood would shine on home ice in the last game of the series, as he’d been better in Hockeytown all series. But it was Fleury who elevated his game in Game 7, making a key save at the end of the game to seal the deal for the Penguins. Fleury, like Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, finally lived up to his No. 1 overall draft pick status by bringing the Stanley Cup to the Steel City. Osgood, on the other hand, is now 2-4 lifetime in Game 7s.

The greatest news for the NHL, however, is that this Stanley Cup Final has the power to change the entire direction of the league. It established Detroit and Pittsburgh as a rivalry for the next ten years, at least; both teams have locked up players to contracts which will take them into the sunsets of their careers. But it also gave the NHL the right to say something that the NBA can’t: the NHL’s wunderkind superstar, Crosby, scored a championship ring with an underdog; the NBA’s all-world player, LeBron James, couldn’t pull it off, despite having a heavily favored team. The NHL’s top two superstars, Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, faced off in the playoffs, resulting in one of the most exciting playoff series in history – dueling hat tricks and a 7-game set.

James and Kobe Bryant? Never happened. Wait ’till next year.

The NHL has done an excellent job of creating superpowers in markets that actually care about the game (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh) and building it up in non-traditional hockey markets (Anaheim, San Jose, Washington). There are also plenty of teams with great players that could surprise a few years down the road (Columbus, St. Louis, Vancouver). The future is bright for the sport, and a couple more finals like the one this year will only help advance the sport further.

Origin: February 26, 1975, Kungalv, Sweden

Bruins Status: #11, Winger, Certified Member of the Lunch-Pail Crew, penalty-killing fiend

Linemates: Stephane Yelle, Shawn Thornton, a bottle of mousse

Achievements: over 700 NHL games, has never bailed on the Bruins for more money elsewhere, multiple endorsement deals with hair-care products in his native Sweden

Scouting Report: Axelsson is, by far, the strongest player on the Bruins roster, his wiry frame hiding the power of Thor, the powerful Norse god of Thunder. Yes, that’s right; PJ Axelsson is just an alias for Thor, although you wouldn’t realize it based on his often Lady Byng-worthy demeanor. Luckily for all, he is one of the nicest players on the Bruins roster, and is particularly friendly with goalies (which explains why Hannu Toivonen, Steve Shields, etc. were never killed with lightning bolts while on the team). Speculation is that Axelsson may have been Pelle Lindbergh in a past life. This is one of the reasons why he is such a strong penalty killer: he empathizes with the men behind the mask, and doesn’t like to see his teammates embarrassed by having goals scored on them.

Unfortunately, this is also why many of Axelsson’s goals are empty-netters: he doesn’t like to embarrass opposing teams’ goalies either. That fact, as well as the aforementioned strength of Thor, plays a part in why Axelsson is a member of the Lunch-Pail Crew. Though one of its most effective players, Axelsson simply prefers letting his teammates score, seeing no need to show off his superhuman ability.

Thor’s wild side only comes out in full when Axelsson gets angry. This often happens when the other team gets a power play, making his work harder. At these points, Axelsson is inserted on the first line, the top power play line, the top penalty kill line, and is one of the first three Bruins to go in shootouts. As for opposing teams’ goalies, and players in his way, all bets are off; Axelsson will use all of his strength to defeat them. Befitting a god, however, Axelsson will not use his strength for evil, and is thus not a particularly strong fighter.

As for his hair, Axelsson’s mop is one of the finest in all of the National Hockey League. As such, he decided to forgo the team tradition of shaving one’s head before the playoffs, keeping the look that has won him multiple “Sexiest Bruin” awards. Axelsson, always just as concerned with looking his best as he is playing his best, also passed on the scruffy playoff beard this year, instead opting for a well-groomed goatee. One of the most attractive men to ever come from Sweden, and a popular Olympic selection for Tre Kronor, Axelsson returns home every offseason, because the country couldn’t bear to spend any more time without one of its most attractive residents and, according to GodChecker.com, its third-most popular god.