Bruins Lose, Thornton looks good, and The Montreal Europeans

So I am not panicking...not yet. Bruins lost last night to the Sabres 4-3, but the silver lining is Big Joe was back in the lineup and playing great. He and Samsonov combined for 4 points and if not for Bruins penalty issues in the 3rd Period, they possibly would have earned their 4th win of the season. The funny thing is, despite being 3-5, Boston hasn't looked all the bad this season. Other than the 5-1 beating against Ottawa, The B's have been competitive in every game. They have lost by only one goal 3 times and I suppose this is what makes the new NHL so exciting. Teams can be up by two goals and in the blink of an eye, can be scrambling to get the equalizer with a minute left. The Bruins will take on Pittsburgh at home on Saturday. Hopefully Andrew Raycroft will return to the B's net (as it was Toivonen who started last night) and will be able to get the Bruins their next "W".

So far this season, the Habs fans I know have been generally pretty nice during the Bruins winless streak. In the past, Montreal supporters can quite easily get the upper hand on any Bruins fan by simply stating the following factual information: 24 Stanley Cups. This argument is perhaps the strongest by any hockey fan as to why there cheer for their team...albeit living extremely in the past. The agrument I cannot stand as to why an individual cheers for a certain team is country orientation. The number of times I have been ribbed for cheering for a so-called American team is countless. The irony being that the Boston Bruins have more Canadians playing on their squad than the Montreal Canadians. In fact, the Canadians have more Europeans on their team than Canadians. No offense Kate from England, but for a team to have more Europeans than Canadians and still call themselves the Canadians just doesn't seem right to me. This is not to say I don't respect the Canadians or their fans, I was in Montreal for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs when the Habs eliminated the Bruins in 2002-03 and the fans had a great sense of the game and were very courteous to the B's fans. (Unlike Leaf fans, but don't get me started on them!)

Anyway, I am looking forward to the weekend, spending some time with Kate from England, and cheering on the B's on Saturday night.