The B's finish the first half of the season sitting in first place in the Northeast Division with 63 points, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. Their overall record sits at 28-15-7 and they have a +40 for the season thus far.
Here are the Bruins first half leaders:
Patrice Bergeron= points (40)
Milan Lucic= goals (20)
David Krejci= assists (26)
Zdeno Chara= +/- (+22)
Tim Thomas= goals against average (1.81)
The NHL All-Star game this year was apart of history as this was the first "pick-them" style in which Detroit Red Wing defender Niklas Lidstrom and Carolina Hurricane forward Eric Staal were the captains. Zdeno Chara was selected 4th by Team Lidstrom (7th overall) and Tim Thomas was picked 5th by Team Staal (10th overall).
Chara and Thomas, as well as rookie forward Tyler Seguin, were participants in the Skills Competition. Chara set a new record in the hardest shot challenge with a speed of 105.9 mph. As far as Thomas, he was in the fastest skater challenge....yes that's right, fastest skater challenge. He was unstoppable..until he met the boards. However, he is 3-0 as a goalie in the All Star game.
One thing I need to express my feelings about; when Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were ruled out of the All-Star game, it was a shame that Patrice Bergeron was not added to the roster. Maybe next year. See you for the second half of the season.
