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Bruins set to raise title banner before hosting Flyers

Oct 6, 2011 - 2:55 PM (Sports Network) - The Boston Bruins will get their Stanley Cup title defense started tonight, as they help get the 2011-12 NHL season underway by hosting the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden.

Boston won a road Game 7 against Vancouver last spring to pick up its first Cup since the Bobby Orr-led Bruins won it all in 1972. The Bruins will raise the banner for their sixth championship in a ceremony prior to tonight's game.

"I think the most special thing about [Thursday] night is that, other than the parade, it's pretty much the first time we get to share the Stanley Cup with our fans and I think that's going to be a special moment as well," Bruins forward Gregory Campbell told his club's official web site.

Along the way to winning the Cup, the Bruins swept Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals, erasing the memory of an historic collapse against the Flyers in the 2010 playoffs. The Flyers lost the first three games against Boston in the second round of the 2010 postseason before winning the final four tests to take the series. The amazing comeback gave the Bruins the dubious distinction of being just the third team in NHL history to lose a series after leading 3-0.

The biggest difference for Boston last year was Tim Thomas returning to his Vezina-winning form between the pipes. Thomas, who was bothered by hip problems in 2009-10, was named the NHL's top goaltender for the second time in three seasons last year and he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the 2011 playoffs. That was quite the change from the 2010 postseason, when Thomas watched Tuukka Rask take over as the club's No. 1 netminder.

With captain and top defenseman Zdeno Chara leading the way from the back end and Thomas coming off a simply dominant season, the club still figures to be one of the hardest teams to score against in the NHL. However, with Chara and Thomas entrenched as the faces of the team, it's easy to forget how good Boston's offense was last season.

The Bruins, who were led by Milan Lucic and David Krejci's 62 points in 2010-11, went from 30th in the NHL in scoring two years ago to having the league's fifth-best offense last season.

Even more impressive was that Boston took that offensive leap forward without the services of Marc Savard for most of the season. It's important that the Bruins proved they could be a potent offense without Savard, who, at 34 years of age, may have played his last NHL game after suffering multiple concussions. Savard, who led Boston in scoring for three straight seasons from 2006-09, last played on Jan. 22 and has already been declared out for the entire 2011-12 campaign.

While the Bruins didn't make many changes from last year's championship roster, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made more than a few tweaks to his club. In addition to signing goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million deal, Holmgren also dealt captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles and shipped top sniper Jeff Carter to Columbus.

In return for Richards and Carter, the Flyers received a trio of young, highly-touted forwards (Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn) and draft picks. Philadelphia will also rely on homegrown youngsters Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk to take over for Carter and Richards as the leaders on offense.

The Flyers also signed winger Jaromir Jagr to a one-year, $3.3 million contract and they hope the former NHL superstar still has something left to offer at the age of 39. Jagr, who has 643 goals and 1,599 points in his NHL career, is back playing in North America after spending the previous three seasons with Avangard Omsk of the KHL.

With Richards gone, veteran defenseman Chris Pronger has taken over as captain. Pronger, a former Norris and Hart Trophy winner, missed 32 games last year due to injury and will turn 37 years of age on Monday.

On Wednesday, the Flyers lost center Blair Betts, who was picked up off waivers by Montreal. Philadelphia expects former Penguin Max Talbot, who was signed in the offseason, to fill the role of top penalty killer and fourth- line centerman.

In addition to sweeping Philly in the 2011 playoffs, the Bruins also won three out of four against the Flyers during the season. Boston has taken five of six and six of nine overall from Philadelphia in the regular season and the Flyers have dropped two of their last three in Beantown.

Thomas has excellent career numbers against the Flyers, compiling a 10-2-2 record and 2.19 goals-against average in 14 games. Bryzgalov, who spent the last four years as the No. 1 goalie in Phoenix, is 4-1-1 with a 1.99 GAA in six career outings against Boston.

The Bruins are 4-1 all-time in home openers of a title-defense season and 2-3-0 overall in the first game following a Stanley Cup title. Boston's next game will also be on home ice, as the club is set to host Tampa Bay on Saturday.

The Flyers are 3-3 in their last six season-opening games and 3-0-1 in their last four road openers. Philadelphia will visit New Jersey on Saturday before playing its first home tilt Wednesday against Vancouver.