It was about a week ago when we noted that the Bruins were in 6th place in the Prince of Wales Eastern Conference, which was a decent place to be, thus drawing the winner of the weak-sister Southeast Division. In that week, the B's have solidified the 6th spot, but are now officially in spittin' distance of bigger and better things. They've won blowouts this week, they've won shootouts, they've won at home, they've won on the road. They've done everything but beat Montreal. Now we see 6th place as little more than a nice springboard.

Tim Thomas, like he does, dug deep yesterday afternoon to keep the Bruins rolling. Mad after losing a penalty shot to Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk, Thomas stuffed Kovalchuk in overtime and then again in the shootout, thwarting the Thrashers and making Phil Kessel's goal stand up as the winner. Glen Murray scored early for the B's, and the red-hot David Krejci scored in the third to send the game to OT. The B's are now three points behind #5 Pittsburgh, and four points behind #2 Ottawa and Jersey.

Atlanta Weekend at the Garden continues tonight as the Celtics host the Hawks. Anyone who's irrationally giddy about the C's might to well to read Mark Murphy in the Herald today, as he points out that the infusion of veterans is going to force Doc to juggle peoples' minutes more than he has all season. While we've been (we like to think) rationally giddy all year, we can't forget last season, when Doc seemed to have two coaching styles: standing there helpless, like a guy watching his car get towed, or waving his arms like there was a bee on him. Here's to hoping he'll integrate the new guys seamlessly, and not bury Leon Powe on the bench again.

The Red Sox beat the Twins again, giving them a 2-0 lead for the Ft. Myers Mayor's Cup. Jonathan Papelbon, it must be said however, is starting to frighten us a bit. We all saw what happened to Rick Vaughan in Major League II when success went to his head.

Ty Law sure would like to come back to the Patriots. True, he did call Bill Belichick a "liar" on his way out of town, but that's almost a love poem compared to some of the things Bill's heard in the last few months.

BC's basketball season has been thoroughly mediocre, but they did get one bright spot yesterday. Sure, they lost to North Carolina, but Tyrese Rice hung 46 on the Heels in the losing effort, including 34 in the first half. Guess Carolina knows how to make adjustments; it's the most anyone's scored on them since 1970.