BRUINS READY FOR REAL HOCKEY

You might not want to poke the bear, but you definitely want to get ready for the black and gold to drop the pucks for the first time since May of 2012. The Bruins did not make a lot of radical changes prior to the lockout. They resigned key young players including; Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin. Seguin looks to take his game to the next level in this shortened season by having his name mentioned with the elite of the sport.

The biggest change for the Bruins is at goalie. Tim Thomas, who had been a hero to the 2011 championship team, has pretty much chucked the deuces to Boston by sitting out a year and making himself an untradeable asset. Certainly the pressure is on young Goalie Tuukka Rask, who must prove himself to be an every day top tier goalie for a championship contending team. One addition the Bruins will receive is young defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who hopes to add some youth and play-making ability to to Bruins defensive unit.

The Bruins start off their shorten 48 game schedule with two out of their first three match-ups coming against the rival New York Rangers. New York fell short of the 2012 championship dreams to the New Jersey evils, and would love to start out 2013 with a statement victory or two against the rival Boston Bruins. This will definitely provide the Bruins with an intense start to this lockout shortened year. It will possibly provide fans with a potential playoff match-up preview early on in the season. So hockey fans get ready, the wait is finally over, lets get ready to pucks!

- Joe Passarelli

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