"This is a 'show me' night and they're showing each other." ~ Jack Edwards

There was absolutely no question about that First Star award. Shawn Thornton led this team to victory. Mark Recchi said this was a must win game for the fragile Bruins and Thornton apparently took those words to heart.

Two seconds into the game, Thornton dropped the gloves with Eric Boulton and had a long, spirited bout. We don't think it was a coincidence that Thornton fought Boulton right on the B's logo at center ice. 

That was a message that, at least in this game, the Bruins would not be pushed around. The Bruins needed to be angry and Thornton knew exactly what he was doing. And on this night, his team responded.

Shawn "Wayne" Thornton might not have a letter on the front of his jersey but anyone who doesn't think he is a leader must be inbred. Or live in the south. A fight. Two goals. Almost four. He had one puck dance near the goal line and hit a post near the end of the game. We'll see if the Bruins carry this momentum into the next game but for one night Thornton's troops followed him into battle and the Bruins showed the type of team they can be if they are engaged.

After the jump, Shawn Thornton dominates you, cheap shots on both sides and a first line brawl.......

It is Christmas time and much like fans, NHL teams and players around the league have certain things on their lists they hope to receive this year!

Since we are in the Christmas spirit, we decided to do a little digging and found out what some of our "favorites" wanted.

After the jump, Brian Burke wishes he was Marty McFly, Kaleta and the cowardly lion have something in common and Nabokov makes "The Decision".......

Good news if your a Rene Rancourt fan and will be at tonight's game.

Per the Bruins Buzz on twitter, you can get your picture taken with Rancourt at "Rene's Village" at tonight's game during the first and second period behind Loge 7. All you need is a camera and $10 to "donate."

First Rancournaments and now pics with Rene? This is like the best Bruins Christmas. Ever.

We're stoked at the chance to get our picture taken with Mr. Rancourt. We love the red carpet leading to his throne and hope he's wearing a crown. But the candy cane wheels and while, fluffy clouds make it the scene a tad bit... creepy.

We hope we can sit on his lap.

Smile, Tim.

We've been bitching about the Bruins a lot for the last few days, so time to turn to something a bit more positive.

The Boston Bruins spread some holiday cheer this week, going holiday shopping for hospitalized children and then delivering the gifts to the sick kids. It's been an annual event for the team for godknowshowlong.

Here's video of the Bruins going holiday shopping.

Some funny moments included:

• McQuaid "getting the hang" of Christmas shopping. He says he saw the other guys baskets were full and he had barely anything. Either McQuaid never got gifts as a child or he didn't realize he was supposed to be picking out gifts for little kids.
• Any these pics:

After the jump... more pics and the Bruins deliver the gifts.

As a heads-up, the chances of seeing a recap of tonight's game is slim-to-none -- at least not until later tomorrow at best. It's the holidays and we're very important people, as you might expect, so we have parties to go to and shenanigans to get into. We're sure you'll survive.

"We have to win Thursday." --Mark Recchi (NESN)

Tonight's game is huge for the Bruins. They're still two points behind the Habs in the Northeast and have a few games on them, meaning a win would allow the Bruins jump from 8th place seed to 3rd, should the Habs lose to the 'Canes tonight.

Of course, playoffs are still way in the future.

What's more important is finding the Bruins' heart, which Patrice Purrgeron risked life and limb to find. Bruins need to show their coaches, management and the fans that they care.

Bruins had an "emotion" practice on Tuesday, followed by a "sharpening skills" practice yesterday. Hard practices are great, but let's break the math down:

Win = 2 points
OTL = 1 point
Good practice = 0 points

So those two good practices this week still means the Bruins haven't done diddly in the standings.

Tonight we find out if those practices translate on the ice.

And what better opponent than the Thrashers who are doing well this year?

Now don't give the Thrash too much credit. The teams they've laid waste to this month aren't exactly Cup contenders: 6-3 win over Leafs, 7-1 win over Devils, 4-3 win over Ottawa, 5-4 win over Islanders, 3-2 win over Predators, and 3-1 win over Caps (who are a Cup contender, yes, but were in the midst of an 8-game losing streak). Teams the Thrash have lost to this month: Blues 2-4, 'Canes 2-3, Lightning 1-2, Aves 2-4 and Pitt 2-3.

Still, the Trash are considered a hot team and the Bruins need to win this game to get some points, show some heart, and go into this mini-Christmas break with a victory under their belts.

After the jump... projected roster... game day links... game day video...

I'm sure most of you have noticed the absence of Patrice Purrgeron around here lately. Several of you even wrote in to complain. Good to know he is loved.

Purrgeron is certainly not gone, rather he was simply on a mission. During Days of Y'Orr staff meetings and pizza nights, Patrice Purrgeron often complained about the Bruins lack of heart this season, often saying he's left better looking things in dried up clumps in his litter box. Eventually his cat like curiosity got the best of him and he set off on a mission.

A mission... to find the Bruins heart.

Purrgeron wanted to know where it went and what he could do about it. He vowed not to return until he had found it. He searched far and wide, leaving no stone unturned. He even had some help from an old friend. He returns today to tell you his miraculous story.

After the jump, Patrice "Indiana" Purrgeron goes on a quest to find some black and gold heart.....

Other than the three first-period goals against Washington and McQuaid's fight, the only other item of note from the game were two moronic Bruins fans leaping over the glass and onto the ice -- rumor has it was in hope of getting onto HBO's 24/7, which the Caps are a part of.

Not sure if that's true and it doesn't matter. You gotta be a special class of retard to pull a stunt like that. 

“I was fairly impressed on how quick he got over that high glass, that was quite impressive. And then he almost made the landing too, which was equally as impressive,” said Thornton, (WHDH-TV)

One almost lost his pants (you'll see later) and they sure as hell lost whatever shred of dignity that came with.

The two fans in question (Jonathan and Matthew Parker) are brothers from New Hampshire (things are making a bit more sense), are ages 17 and 20 (yep... pieces fitting together), and were under the influence of alcohol (A-ha!).

Of course, this isn't the first time this year that the Bruins have had to deal with dumb drunk kids. We all remember the kung-fu kick chick.

After the jump... more reaction from Mr. Shawn Thornton and close up pics of the event...

We woke up pissed this morning. It's four days before Christmas. We should be running around like five-year-olds in our onesies, not moping on the couch with arms crossed, bitter that we wasted our Monday night watching gutless hockey.

And yet, here we are anyways.

We don't want to come off as whiny on the blog (there's enough of that going around as it is), but we're getting sick of watching the Bruins play.

We're season ticket holders and in no way have we been rewarded for the time and money we've spent on the team. Our ticket rep didn't give us the "Fanatic Package" we asked for three times, one of our Rene Rancournaments doesn't sing and the Bruins are playing flatter than a later bloomer's chest.

What has been hitting the ice is a passionless team. There's no fire in the belly, no "playing with desperation" as Julien called it last night.

Hell, we put more effort taking shits in the morning than the Bruins have put on the ice this month.

And after an embarrassing 3-0 loss to the Ducks only the injured Mark Stuart is on the ice early today for practice and that's after the 11am practice got pushed back to 11:15. The whole team should've been out there working on passing and shooting drills. The Bs put up 45 shots last night but they all sucked. Wheeler was the only one that really impressed us last night to any degree.

And that's saying something.

This morning Toucher and Rich asked some questions about coaching that obviously made Shawn Thornton a little uncomfortable. They didn't directly asked about Claude Julien but their intent was obvious. We're not quite pro-"Fire Claude!" but we're frustrated as well and can see why people would want him booted from the bench. Some think maybe Leaf fans are on to something with this waffle-throwing craze going on up north.

People have been asking us where the Bruins heart is this year? Where it was last year?

We don't have an answer. Patrice Purrgeron is on another adventure as we speak trying to answer that very question for us (stay tuned later).

After the jump we look back at what kick-started the 2008 Boston Bruins road to domination (sans playoffs)...

The best part about tonight's games was getting our Rene Rancournaments, plain and simple.  That was the one ray of light in an otherwise dark day.  For weeks we've talked about a lack of heart, lack of 60 minute effort, and a overall inconsistent style of play.  As a result, the Bruins have now gone 100 game minutes without a goal.

The Bruins did manage to out shoot the Ducks 45-25, with those numbers, the game should have looked something like this:

However, now that god damned dog is laughing at us

This is the second time in a row that the Bruins have been soundly defeated by the Ducks, but I guess that's to be expected when you face the "Minnesota Miracle Man" Gordan Bombay.  The team has certainly come a long way from their past as District 5.

After the jump, more Mighty Ducks jokes.

Let's face it; no one going to this game is going 'cause they want to see the Ducks.

They're going because of this little trophy.

It's the day we've been waiting for since the Bruins announced Rene Rancournament Day. First 10,000 fans get this singing ornament. TD Garden can hold 19,600, so don't be one of those lame 9,600 people who miss out.

We're still not sure what song will be part of this thing -- our please to Bish/@NHLBruins fell on deaf ears.

And yes, the DOY staff will be in attendance. Purrgeron will be holding down DOY HQ on his own tonight. We're sure you're all wondering that.

We're also assuming Rene will be gracing us with his sweet vocals tonight with his Christmas tunes. Seriously, why doesn't he have an album out?

Shameless plug: We also have Rene Rancourt Fistpump t-shirts available in the DOY Store.

Rene looked extra pumped on Saturday before the game. 

After the jump... projected roster... game day links... and your game day video...