Posted by Rob Bradford

(The following is an introductory by WEEI.com hockey writer Joe Haggerty)

The droning and deafening buzz of the Zamboni and the unmistakable “thwap” of hockey stick punishing puck rubber in the month of September signals only one thing in New England: the Black and Gold are back.

A return to the icy-cold Boston-area rinks that inspired one of my favorite Dunkin’ Donuts commercials and the distinctively pungent aroma of a hockey locker room are two random things I always look forward to each and every fall, and this autumn is no different than any other – yet it’s altogether different at the same time.

As an intrepid hockey journalist that’s sometimes been accused of masochistic tendencies while chronicling the travails of the B’s over the last five years, there have been instances when I even wondered why I cared about a team that had dropped so precipitously out of the New England sportscape.

The Once Big and Bad Bruins – a pro sports team that owned the Boston region long before Red Sox Nation started hocking membership cards for money and fostering a cult of baseball followers – had fallen on extremely hard times and were much more punch line than pro hockey team.

Pointed barbs about the “Pooh Bear” jersey and Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs’ uncanny resemblance to a certain thrifty nuclear power plant owner from Springfield were of more relevance than…well…the hockey actually being played out on the frozen sheet.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Bruins becoming the Bad News Bears of Boston hockey.

The guys in the Spoked B sweaters actually rolled out a few W’s, skated together in a cohesive and effective defensive style and managed to bring back the “rock ‘em, sock ‘em robot” style of play that made puck heroes out of the Big Bad Broons in seasons of hockey past.

The fighting and feisty B’s were a throwback and infinitely more compelling than the non-fighting style favored by deposed Bruins coaches Mike Sullivan and Dave Lewis.

Prior to last season, the Bruins were universally picked to finish dead last in the Eastern Conference and it was assumed that the playoffs were a pipe dream conjured up by the punishment-savoring hockey fans on Boston’s endangered species list. The Bruins won some gritty hockey games along the way and squeaked into the playoffs before pushing a postseason series against the hated Canadiens to seven compelling games.

Anyone that attended Game 6 of last season’s Stanley Cup opening round series at the TD Banknorth Garden could easily crown it the Best Hockey Game ever played in the 13-year-old building.

That isn’t saying a whole heck of a lot at this point, but it’s something.

And that’s essentially what can be said for last season.

In the grand scheme of the NHL world, a first-round exit in the Stanley Cup playoffs is a blip on the hockey radar screen. But it was everything to a hockey franchise in need of even the smallest spec of respect.

That little sliver of success makes this upcoming 2008-09 season one of the most important campaigns in the 85-year history of the Original Six franchise. The Boston Celtics – formerly a partner in the joke-butting business with the Bruins – captured Banner 17, and the Bruins are again clinging to the edge of the Boston sports fans’ radar screen.

Bruins management didn’t make the anticipated splash signing of gifted free agent scorer Marian Hossa this summer (he opted for a one-year run of glory with the Detroit Red Wings), but they did jettison 36-year-old Glen Murray after rigor mortis had clearly set in on the fossilized forward.

Instead the Bruins faced a number of question marks as they reported for physicals and fitness testing on Friday – with a weekend schedule of full practices awaiting them before they fly to Halifax next week for three exhibition games against the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and the defending Stanley Cup champion Wings.

Among those questions: Will Patrice Bergeron fully return from the horrendous concussion that knocked him out for the season after only ten games last year, and will he be the same fearless two-way player willing to dig and scrape in the corner for loose pucks?

Will journeymen Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas – both free agents to be — be effective while splitting time between the pipes this season?

Is Phil Kessel the erratic one-dimensional player that rode the pine for the first three playoff games last year, or will the 21-year-old with the go-go gadget jets in his legs mature into the offense force that his hockey toolbox would seem to dictate?

Does Milan Lucic have the offensive tools to take the next step in his valiant attempt to sit upon the Neely Throne – an exalted puck place that hasn’t housed a rough-and-tumble resident since the mighty, mighty Cam finally called it a career in 1996?

Will a healthy Bergeron and free agent acquisition Michael Ryder be enough puck-scoring punch to fuel an offense that scored the second-fewest goals (212) in the Eastern Conference last season?

Will the dormant Boston hockey fans that saddled the Bruins to the fifth-worst attendance in the NHL last season (15,384 in a building that can seat 17,565 at capacity) finally snap out of the funk after last season’s playoff run?

These are just a sampling of the many questions rattling around the Black and Gold hockey team this fall, but head coach Claude Julien seems to be preaching the right things to this year’s edition.

“To me everything was positive and people really seemed to enjoy last year and everything else. But in saying that you also have to be very careful because the last time I looked we got bumped off in the first round,” said Julien at the outset of training camp on Friday. “We can be happy with some of the things we did last year, but you’re going to hear me say a lot that we can’t be satisfied with what we did last season.

“There’s obviously a lot of competition with the other sports teams that have done really well and we want to be part of that group,” added Julien. “In order [to do that] we need to be better. [Last year] was good, but it wasn’t great. We need to be great.”

“Great” might be a tall order for this team given the number of questions they face, but that’s what will ultimately bring the sleeping hockey Krishnas back to their own personal Shangri-La on Causeway Street. It’s time to drop the puck, and I’m looking forward to bringing you all the hockey action in a season that should be full of lamplighters, puckstoppers and slobberknockers.

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