21 down, 61 to go

Before the season began, I predicted the scoring totals for the players I expected to stick with the club. Seeing as the Bruins just played their 21st game of the season (thus passing the quarter-mark), I figured it was a good time to revisit those predictions. Not surprisingly, some of the players were sent back down (Noke, Sobotka, Schaeffer) or just sent away (Alberts... poor guy) so I will focus more on who is left with the team.

Player........................G - A - P
Patrice Bergeron...........16-39-55
David Krejci................20-35-55
Marc Savard................31-74-105

P.J. Axelsson................0-26-26
Milan Lucic..................23-27-50
Marco Sturm................26-26-52
Shawn Thornton.............4-12-16

Phil Kessel...................39-23-62
Chuck Kobasew.............23-54-77
Michael Ryder...............12-31-43
Blake Wheeler..............23-12-35

Zdeno Chara................16-20-35
Andrew Ference.............0-34-34
Shane Hnidy..................0-9-9
Mark Stuart..................4-0-4
Aaron Ward..................0-12-12
Dennis Wideman...........20-20-40

Totals: 257- 455 - 711

Goalie........................GP - W - GAA
Manny Fernandez...........27 - 20 - 2.55
Tim Thomas.................55 - 35 - 1.80

Record: 55-12-15 125 points


Obviously these numbers are based on their current pace and are unlikely to hold up over the season. What really surprises me is the fact that my admittedly generous record, goals scored and goals allowed are actually proving underestimations. I was just hoping the Bruins would manage to put up close to 246 goals and 100 points... instead they are on pace for 257 goals and 125 points! My predictions were actually fairly accurate in most cases and I am most proud of pegging Lucic as nearing a 50-point scorer (predicted 48, pace for 51).

The obvious outliers are Bergeron, Krejci, Ryder, Kobasew, Kessel, Ference and Chara. I definitely seemed to misjudge Kessel and Krejci while I expect Kobasew and Ference to come back down to Earth (though will still have good seasons from both). Chara has been finding his game recently so I am less concerned by his numbers. My real worry is that both Ryder and Bergeron have been underperforming thus far... makes me question whether having the offensively challenged Axelsson on their line is really a good idea. Once Sturm recovers from this 'upper-body injury' (what the hell happened to him??) I really think they should move Kobasew up to the second line (Sturm has played too well with Krejci to move him). Chuck has been a great spark for us thus far and you have to think his physical game and play-making ability could only help Bergeron and Ryder find their games. Then again, they are winning games so why fix what ain't broke?