The Boston Bruins are headed outdoors on New Years Day to square off against the Chicago Blackhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. What a way to kick off 2019!
Happy New Year everyone! It is 2019 and Boston Bruins fans get to kick things off in the best way possible, by watching their team play in the Winter Classic.
The Bruins will be playing in the elements as the hockey gods intended as they face off against the Chicago Blackhawks at legendary Notre Dame stadium.
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No matter where this game was played it was going to be a good one. An Original 6 matchup is always fun to watch. The Blackhawks definitely have some talented players that will put Boston to the test.
The Bruins enter the game on a relatively high note. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres in OT in thrilling fashion. Sean Kuraly saved the day with a well earned overtime goal.
Now there are some things that change when playing outdoors. Players will be donning eyeblack, coaches have to bundle up for the cold, and weather can play a big factor.
So it will be interesting to see how the Bruins perform on Tuesday. Boston is 1-1 in Winter Classics with their last game being an absolute debacle. In 2016 the Montreal Canadiens demolished the Bruins 5-1. Tuukka Rask probably still has nightmares about that game.
But we are on to 2019 so let’s look at the 5 things you are going to want to look out for in the 2019 Winter Classic.
1. Is it Tuukka time?
As I mentioned, Tuukka Rask doesn’t have fond memories of the Winter Classic. He has a great opportunity to change that on Tuesday.
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Rask is coming off a great outing in Buffalo where he stopped 26 shots and looked great in the Bruins overtime win over the Sabres. There were numerous times that Rask bailed out Boston and kept their chances of winning alive.
I hope to see Rask have a great game between the pipes. This could really give him a nice confidence boost to help him out for the rest of the season. There is nothing like exercising your Winter Classic demons as well as having a great game on national television.
Bruce Cassidy seems to be confident in Rask. He easily could have sat him out since he played in Boston’s last game.
Tuukka Rask has a chance to show the hockey world that he is a great goaltender on Tuesday. Hopefully, he takes advantage.
2. Brad Marchand finally gets his shot
This will be the first Winter Classic that Brad Marchand plays in and he is excited to play in the game. So much so he is nervous that media members will jinx him by asking him questions about the game.
Marchand has had a pretty good season for the Bruins. It is hard to perform at the level he did last season, but he has almost seemed to reinvent his game.
So far this season Marchand has 12 goals and 29 assists. These are some great numbers, but he is currently overshadowed by David Pastrnak who is tearing things up.
Marchand seems to be sharing the puck much more this season. I honestly don’t care how he is involved in goals as long as the Boston Bruins are scoring, I’ll be happy.
Hopefully, Marchand has a great debut in the Winter Classic and leads the Boston Bruins to a much-needed victory.
3. Who will Bruce Cassidy start?
There isn’t a ton to complain about when you look at the Bruins projected starting lineup, but there are some things that seem to make you a little nervous.
The first thing is that Bruce Cassidy is splitting up the 4th line. Sean Kuraly, Chris Wagner, and Noel Acciari were made to play with one another. There is no reason to take out Acciari and insert Danton Heinen.
Heinen is already struggling. There is no way he somehow improves by playing with Kuraly and Acciari. Heinen needs skill players around him to put him in good opportunities to score.
Speaking of Noel Acciari, because of the way the lines are set up it is either him or Ryan Donato playing. Bruce Cassidy better make the right decision. The Bruins need scoring and they won’t get that from Acciari. If Acciari plays over Donato I will not be a happy camper.
4. How many times will Anders Bjork be mentioned?
If I’m Vegas I am creating a prop bet for how many times Anders Bjork name will be mentioned during the game. I’m setting the over/under at 3.5.
I am really stunned that Bjork didn’t get called up. The Bruins are without David Backes so it seemed like a spot opened up for Bjork, but Bruce Cassidy decided to keep him down in Providence.
Bjork is a quality scorer which is just what the Bruins need. Also, Bjork has played on the first line before with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand so you could have dropped David Pastrnak down a line giving your team some much-needed depth.
Bruce Cassidy’s reason for not bringing up Bjork was that he believed in the guys who were currently in the lineup and that he doesn’t want to mess with the mojo.
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I know the NHL is a business, but this seems like it would have been perfect for Bjork. Imagine if he scored? The place would go nuts.
5. The weather report
Weather plays a humongous factor in the Winter Classic. If it is too hot the ice can get soupy and have players falling all over the place. If it snows it will make goalies lives a living nightmare.
At the time of this article being written it looks like things will be perfect in South Bend, Indiana, but things can change quickly.
If the conditions get rough it could make life very difficult for the Bruins. Boston already struggles to score in perfect arena conditions. If the ice is in rough shape one goal could be all a team needs.
Then again if it starts to snow it could be a long day for Tuukka Rask. Rask is known to have his slip-ups so adding in precipitation can’t make things any better.
No matter what the weather is the 2019 WInter Classic is bound to be a great game.