Number 4, Bobby "The Dark Knight" Orr

Sorry for the lack of posts since Thursday. Its been a very geeky weekend over here at Breaking The Trap. Between the brilliance of "The Dark Knight" and the arrival of a new book by my favorite author there have been a lot of distractions in Trap-central. I aim to remedy that today.

Let me first put my review of the Dark Knight in hockey terms. Its the cinematic equivalent of Bobby Orr. Just as Orr was absolutely the best person to play his position ever the Dark Knight is, without a doubt, the best superhero movie ever committed to celluloid. Like Orr it has also thrown down the gauntlet for all movies to follow it in its particular genre, including its inevitable sequel. ALSO like Orr it will never get the respect that it really deserves. Orr is both the best defensemen AND quite possibly the best PERSON to ever play the game at any position. Likewise the Dark Knight is a truly, truly great film in any genre. However because of the genre it plays in it will likely never be considered a great film. Bobby Orr is better than Mario Lemieux AND Sidney Crosby AND The Rocket. Fact. Similarly The Dark Knight is a great achievement in cinema. Tell everyone you know, even those that don't like superhero movies to see it immediately.

OK... back to the business of blogging

First up we'll go through the offseason changes thus far in the North East division. Seeing as this should be relatively easy, the North East has been quiet in comparison to most of the rest of the league, I also hope to get through at least one division in the west, likely the Pacific or the Northwest. Mandate laid down, lets get right to it shall we?

Since I invoked his Orr-ness lets start with the team that has never quite recovered from his loss...

The Boston Bruins

Yes. They made the playoffs.

Yes. They took what appeared to be a very good Montreal team throughout most of the regular season to the limit. I think both were a little bit of a mirage though. Montreal's point totals, and to a degree the Bruins', were a bit inflated. This division, which as recently as two years ago, was one of the most competitive in the game is starting to dwindle a bit. The weakening of the Sabres and the continued atrophy of the Senators and the Leafs, has seen to that. Nevertheless this was a playoff team last year and that can't be ignored

The Bruins took few steps to improve their team in the offseason. I suppose Tim Thomas can actually be considered the real deal now, though I can't believe I'm saying that. So, it should come as no surprise that they weren't involved in the goalie market this summer. They are probably still reeling a little bit from the contract they gave to Manny "What me work?" Fernandez. If I was between the pipes for the Bruins I would have liked to see a little bit of work done on our back end. But the defense market was fairly dry this summer, with what was available receiving ungodly, read non-Bruins-like, contracts.

The Bruins made two significant additions to their team; Michael "Easy" Ryder and Blake Wheeler. Great line nicknames that could come out of this pairing aside; Ryder had the worst season of his career last year, putting up 14 goals and 17 assists in 70 games. This can be explained in a couple of ways. First, he was very unhappy in Montreal, this unhappiness either stemmed from or led to his receiving far less ice time last season and being demoted from the first line. Less ice time + lower quality line mates = less production.

This situation may not improve in Boston. Boston's right wing corps boasts Glen Murray, Phil Kessel, Chuck Kobasew and the aforementioned Mr. Wheeler. Of those 5, 4 are former first round picks. Want to guess which one isn't? Ryder. After seeing what Ribiero did in Dallas last year, its even concievable that Ryder was holding Ribiero back all of these years. Just food for thought.

Wheeler is something of enigma. Wheeler, owner of the ominous nickname "Whoops", was drafted 5th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2004 out of high school. Wheeler elected to play College hockey with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers where he had 96 points points in 127 games. Whoops is 6'4" but apparently has a set of...er... Wheelers on him. Phoenix offered him a maximum contract for entry level players which he turned down and elected instead to pursue free agency. There were rumors for a while that the Rangers were interested in his services but he eventually found his way to the Bruins, likely because of the crowded nature of the Rangers system at this juncture. I wouldn't let Wheeler enter your draft plans this year, as I'm not even sure he'll see ice time on this squad this year, but I would keep your eye on him in the future.

While right wing seems pretty well sewn up, the Bruins face many questions up front, not the least of which is the long term health of Patrice Bergeron. Those will be addressed in the team previews, coming your way in August.

So, in closing, I think Ryder is an interesting reclamation project and someone worth grabbing in a late round in your draft if you're looking for a 50 point winger. Ryder's shown that he's capable of that and I think he'll find his ice time, and linemates much more to his liking in Boston. Watch Wheeler but don't draft him. He's young and talented and probably at least a year away from making any kind of significant impact.