Guess Who's Back? Well, Almost...

It is hard to believe that it is already this time of year yet again. Hockey is back, and so are the Boston Bruins.

So far, we have experienced a very uneventful offseason for the Black and Gold. To be honest, they really could not do much with the lack of cap space. Shawn Thornton signed with Florida, Jarome Iginla signed with Colorado, and Torey Krug and Reilly Smith continue to hold out as restricted free agents. 

Where is the optimism? 

Simon Gagne and Ville Leino received training camp invites from those in the front office, while David Krejci cashed in on his new contract extension. Add in the return of both Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid, along with a plethora of emerging young studs within the B's organization, and there you have it: the 2014-15 Boston Bruins. 

Keep in mind, several cuts must be made and weeks of practice still need to unfold, but this is what we have presently. Have the palms of your hands become excoriated with anticipation? 

The B's kicked off their seven-game preseason campaign against the same squad who bounced them in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last year--their divisional rival--the Montreal Canadiens. 

Below are the forward lines and defensive pairings for this game....

Matt Fraser-David Krejci-Loui Eriksson
Ethan Werek-Carl Soderberg-Brian Ferlin
Daniel Paille-Ryan Spooner-Simon Gagne
Jordan Caron-Chris Kelly-Tyler Randell

Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
David Warsofsky-Kevan Miller
Chris Castro-Joe Morrow

Niklas Svedberg-Malcolm Subban

Ugh. Let's hope some of these players, particularly at the forward position, are not with the team come opening night. 

As far as the game, the "baby bears" shined. Spooner looked like he had something to prove, recording a goal and several other scoring chances. However, the Bruins fell to the Canadiens by a score of 3-2 in the preseason opener. 

There is only so much to discuss when you have no live action to go by. The Bruins will now play two games against the Washington Capitals in the upcoming days. 

Preseason Game One Box Score