Bruins schedule January 2012

BRUINS NEW YEAR SCHEDULE

     So far, the Bruins have played 33 games.  Of those 33, 20 were at home and 13 were on the road.  Honestly, it’s hard to see a difference in the Bruins play when they’re on the road.  They’ve won 10 of their 13 road games so far.  They play the same type of game whether they’re in front of their home crowd or not.  When I watch the Bruins, I see a skilled, tough, diligent, hard working, committed to one mind set team.  It doesn’t matter if they’re in the TD Garden in Boston or the Bell Center in Montreal; they play the same type of game and try to impose that on their opponent.

     For this column, I’ll discuss January.  This month seems like it will bring the Bruins the toughest stretch of hockey they’ll face until March.  All total, they play 13 games in January; 6 are home, 7 are away.  Although they’ll only play 13 games in 31 days, they play 12 of those games in a 21 day period.  They’ll have 3 sets of 3 games in 4 nights and 1 set of 3 games in 5 nights.  Here’s how it breaks down:

4 Jan - @ New Jersey

5 Jan – vs. Calgary

7 Jan – vs. Vancouver (Welcome back Roberto (NOT!)

10 Jan – vs. Winnipeg (Welcome back Wheels and Stuey (good to see them playing well in WPG).

12 Jan – vs. Montreal (I hate the Habs)

14 Jan - @ Carolina (0-2 so far this year, time to get rid of the donut)

16 Jan - @ Florida

17 Jan - @ Tampa Bay

19 Jan - @ New Jersey

21 Jan – vs. New York Rangers

22 Jan - @ Philadelphia (this team doesn’t look the same without Pronger)

24 Jan - @ Washington

     Due to the All-Star break, the Bruins won’t play again until Ottawa visits on 31 Jan.  The Bruins rolled into the Christmas break in 1^st place in the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference.  They’ll have a tough stretch of 7 games (6 on the road) in 11 nights in Jan.  However, they’ve proven they can win in just about any environment.  I’d expect the Bruins to get through Jan with a few nicks and bruises but still in charge of the Eastern Conference.