NHL boston Bruins

It's not always a bad thing when a television network has too much influence over a sports league's schedule. Sometimes, doing things for the sake of ratings is good.

However, I'm pretty sure most hockey fans would agree it is not a good idea to pander to a television network when that network wants to avoid the two-time Hart Trophy winner. That appears to be what the NHL has done for NBC, and it involves the league's signature regular-season event, the Winter Classic.

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division.

Brian Burke begins his rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa and just what is Boston going to do with Phil Kessel and a limited amount of salary cap space?

The Boston Bruins had their season come to a somewhat unexpected end in the second round of the NHL playoffs by losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes a little over a week ago. While the 2009-10 season has yet to begin, the Bruins have already suffered their first (potential) loss as forward Phil Kessel recently had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum. According to WBZ in Boston, the surgery could keep him on the shelf for as long as six months.

Assuming he misses that much time, he would be back on the ice sometime around the end of November or early December.

While the NHL is sure to welcome any and all new or returning fans, they're not out implicitly begging for them. As much as the league would love to get more coverage from mainstream media outlets, they understand that they hold little control over such matters.

However, the league had to smile a bit Monday, when a well-known sports columnist (one who didn't ever hide his changed feelings about hockey) made it clear he was back on the bandwagon.

Tonight the Bruins and Hurricanes played a hockey game that went about as close as any game could. The two teams went toe-to-toe for nearly four periods, matching each other in every facet of the game. Goaltenders Cam Ward and Tim Thomas showed why they were big reasons as to how their teams made it to this point, making 35 and 34 saves respectively. Fittingly, the game headed to overtime and the Bruins would fall thanks to a familiar foe.

During Game 5 Scott Walker received a game misconduct for a punch -- or sucker punch depending on your view -- to the face of Aaron Ward. The NHL decided to rescind the automatic one game suspension that comes with an ejection and let him play, drawing the ire of Boston and many in the media. Tonight, Walker made a few more enemies in Boston by netting the game winning goal with 1:14 to go in overtime.

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Right about now fans of the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes have to be wondering which version of their teams will show up tonight. This Eastern Conference semifinal has seen both teams go through the motions and take their turns dominating the series.

Four of the six games have been decided by three or more goals. Each team has won at least two in a row at some point during the series and neither has had a huge home ice advantage.

As entertaining and closely competitive as the Penguins-Capitals semifinal was, the Hurricanes and Bruins have provided us with a series that leaves most fans scratching their heads. It's really hard to get a feel for who has the advantage tonight for Game 7 in Boston.

You've probably heard it by now, but this postseason (Wednesday night's epic fail by the Capitals aside) has been absolutely riveting, the type of postseason the good-press-hungry NHL needed. And the good press has come; people are noticing.

Still, there have been two stories undermining an otherwise success -- the league's TV exposure, and a ridiculously inconsistent disciplinary structure. The TV thing, though, is nothing new; people have ragged on Versus from the inception of the league's deal with them. The gripes are valid, even if the league's reports of ratings increases are meant to quell them. There are still fundamental flaws in the league's TV deal, as almost everyone interested in watching Thursday's Bruins-Hurricanes Game 7 will experience first-hand.

There were eight first-round series in the NHL playoffs. Three of them ended in sweeps, and six of them were over before they got to a seventh game. While no one complained about getting a couple of super Game 7s in the first round, it was hardly as competitive as some thought it would be.

As we approach Game 7 between Pittsburgh and Washington (Game 7s between Carolina-Boston and Anaheim-Detroit will be played Thursday night), let's take a moment to talk about how great this second round of action has been.

Somewhere along their trip from Carolina to Boston for Game 5, the Boston Bruins found the motivation to turn this series on its head. They had been getting dominated on the scoreboard and on the ice for three straight games, outscored 10-3 during that time. They were outworked and looking like they had rolled over, ready to start their summer.

In Game 5, the Bruins turned the tables and dominated the Hurricanes. Tuesday's Game 6, was more of the same, as a 4-2 victory by the Bruins has forced a Game 7 on Thursday in Boston, where the Bruins are 4-1 during these playoffs.

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The NHL's decision to rescind Scott Walker's mandatory one-game suspension as a result of his altercation with Aaron Ward on Sunday night was confusing to say the least. Walker's explanation as to why he punched Ward in the face is simply off the charts.

According to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, Walker was under the assumption that Ward actually threw the first punch. Seriously.