The Bruins are back, but imagine how good they might have been

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

May I have your attention please? The real Boston Bruins have finally stood up.

With a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Black and Gold extended their points streak to seven games and now sit atop the Northeast division.

Marc Savard has been a key part of all this with a four-game point streak and rewarded the Bruins for their seven-year, $35 million arrangement with his 200th career goal. It kind of makes you think, however. Savard just proved his worth to the team as it tanked in his absence and has flourished since his return and he gets handed the same money as Tim Thomas, but will need to serve two more years to get it.

Savard is 32-years-old and this will probably be his last big payday. Same could be said for Thomas when he signed his huge deal. The difference is Thomas is 35 and a fundamentally flawed goaltender who will surely not live up to the money the team has invested in him. Savard, even though he most likely will not maintain 70-plus point seasons, but his contributions as a leader can supersede point totals. On the other hand, a 38-year-old netminder who can't stop the puck because he has terrible positioning and rebound control and now doesn't have the reflexes to make up for it anymore doesn't have a place on very many hockey teams. Bruins fans that endured the Jeff Hackett and Felix Potvin eras can attest to that.

This isn't to say that they shouldn't have extended Thomas. He's provided stability that had been missing in net for the Bruins for year. But the exhorbinant amount is what hurts. What could they have done with that money? Well, among other things, perhaps re-sign Phil Kessel? Anyone who thinks that the Bruins would not be any better with Kessel on this team need to step back from the Black and Gold Kool-Aid. They've had enough. And the idea that he didn't want to play here? Maybe truth. But more likely Kessel felt he was just worth more money and didn't want to play for a fraction of his market value. And it's also very believable that if it was at all feasable without tearing down the team, the Bruins would have offered him more money.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the Black and Gold should have seen that that money could have been used for some better purpose. The Bruins are on the right track, but had a chance to be really special.