Be it Kool-Aid or hard work, the Boston Bruins have given in to Claude Julien. His suffocating defensive scheme has revived the once shameful Boston squad, transforming the team from ugly losers into gritty winners. The idea from the start of the season was to make the Bruins a much harder team to play against in 2007-08 because expectations were far from high. Being in 13th place for the past two seasons won’t get a team much respect, and any admiration coming this team’s way is a welcome development.

But the trap defense of coach Julien has allowed the likes of Zdeno Chara to be the smothering and destructive force his 6’ 9” and 260 pound frame permits, rather than the quiet and seemingly bored defenseman that former coach Dave Lewis created. Without a single fighting major during the 2006-07 season (even Brad Boyes had one), it seems as though Lewis was doing more to protect the team’s most expensive investment rather than having faith in the rest of the team to pick up Chara’s slack when put in the box.

The Bruins have done a complete turnaround compared to last year, mostly because of the addition of Julien and underrated assistant coach Craig Ramsay, who helped lead a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup. These two individuals ram the concept of a trap defense into the Bruins players’ skulls, making sure they lull the opponents to sleep by stifling their movements in the defensive zone. Playing a box plus one formation, four players use single man-on-man coverage and the fifth skater stalks whoever has the puck, making sure to get sticks and bodies in any lane possible.

Creating blockages in traffic and dumping the puck into the offensive zone is this team’s forte and offense is created by fore-checking and north-to-south passing to spread their opponents’ defense. The Bruins consistently hound the enemy with force rather than skate around them with finesse. Vladimir Sobotka, David Krejci, and Phil Kessel have stepped up to become excellent fore-checkers, keeping the puck in motion and retrieving lost possessions.

A pivotal key to the Bruins’ success has been Tim Thomas. After upping his own ante when Manny Fernandez was acquired, Thomas is showing why he is a number one goalie, as well as an elite netminder in the NHL. If a team is going to have any chance to win a playoff round, a season of excellent play is needed by their goalie. In the past, Thomas was the player that fans and the front office loved to under-appreciate.

Although there were flashes of great talent during certain stretches of the past couple seasons, it seemed he couldn’t put it all together for a consistent run October through April. However, Thomas has been able to prove the naysayers and his critics wrong by posting a current sparkling GAA of 2.49 (3.13 GAA last year) and becoming the emotional backbone of the team. At one point this season, he pushed the net off of its moorings because he let up a goal in the waning moments of a possible shutout. Intensity is a must in the game of hockey, and Thomas certainly provides that emotion in net.

Speaking of passion, it’s become evident that the current Bruins team has gelled tremendously over the past 60 games and the lack of movement on the trade deadline only solidified their cohesiveness. A team that communicates well and actually likes each other is destined to do well when they can successfully execute their scheme.

The debacle that was the Washington Capitals game on March 3rd is an example of what happens when the Bruins don’t communicate and they don’t put every effort into physically covering and harassing opposing skaters from flying into shooting lanes and executing offensive chances to near perfection. They did have more hits than the Caps, just not the crucial ones that players like Milan Lucic deliver on winning nights. Not even fighting could get the team going emotionally.

Most likely an aberration for the team as they’ve been consistently good all year, losing 10-2 is inexcusable, even if Alexander Ovechkin is flying through seams and being left wide open. Careless physicality also did the Bruins in that night, leading to penalties that could’ve been avoided and any sort of momentum being killed. It’s almost as if the red, white, and blue jerseys gave the Bruins hot flashes and they couldn’t catch their collective breath; visions of the Montreal Canadiens must’ve crossed their minds, and the presence of ex-Hab Cristobal Huet kept the Black and Gold looking blue.

Hoping to bounce back and continue their winning ways, the Bruins were licking their wounds while playing the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Their typical defensive scheme retained its form. However, the game was mostly about a plethora of turnovers. A lot of back and forth play between the teams made for an exciting, yet tiring end-to-end hockey game. Chances abounded for both teams and equally aggressive play on both sides generated a duel between backup goalies. Alex Auld and Craig Anderson each had excellent efforts and made timely saves into overtime. However, 22 seconds into overtime, Nathan Horton scored on a shot from the wing, leaving the Bruins with only one point for their efforts.

Toronto is up next for Boston on Thursday, and they’ll need to be more aggressive in the offensive zone if they want to score against the hot Maple Leafs. The last meeting between these two teams also ended in an overtime loss for the B’s and they can’t afford to miss out on precious points with the Eastern Conference being so tight.

The defense seems to be back on its feet and the formula the Bruins have used all year to stifle their opponents must be continued throughout March and April if this team hopes to win a playoff round. With the influential Julien at the helm, there’s no reason why the blue collar Bruins can’t continue to learn under his tutelage to start yet another point streak. Who doesn’t like Kool-Aid anyway?