Who woulda thunk?

The Bruins continue to not suck. In fact, they are playing some of the best hockey I have ever seen a Boston Bruins team play. Now granted their two games against Tampa, who has the lowest point total in the NHL, should not have been challenging, and they were a Tim Thomas save away from ending up in OT, after leading by 3 goals almost the entire game.

But still you have to admire the way they have been playing, and they have not fallen into any of the traps that winning teams often do. I believe they are too young to be jaded, and their yutes are so jazzed to be in the NHL, and their coaches are doing nothing to discourage them. So you are just not seeing many nights when the team takes an on-ice vacation.

It is so encouraging to see young players like Wheeler and Krecji playing so well, and veterans like Axelsson and Yelle and Savard feeding off their energy. Granted, it takes an open net for PJ to score, but he and Bergeron our out there grinding away regardless of whether the puck is going in for them. Bergeron skates so hard every shift, and he is so disruptive to the opposition, that whether he scores or not is no big deal (especially since everyone else does.

You have to give lots of credit to Phil Kessel too. This guy has grown up so much physically and mentally since that benching in the playoffs. He used to look like Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) flying off the sled everytime he got hit. Now is is staying on his skates, properly braced, and even dishes out a few hits. He is also able to waterbug across the ice with the puck, finding seams and getting off a powerful and accurate wristshot that has caught opposing goalies flat.

It is almost too much fun to be a Bruins fan.