Ray Bourque made his Bruins debut in 1979. The last postseason meeting between the B’s and Maple Leafs came five years before that.

The longtime rivals finally end that 39-year drought Tuesday night at TD Garden, and Bourque joined the Big Bad Bruins Live crew before Game 1 to give his take on the rivalry and the series.

Check out what the Hall of Famer had to say in the video above.

Chris Kelly will make his return to the ice Monday night at TD Garden.

It was less than a month ago that a Chris Neil hit dropped Kelly to the ice in Ottawa, breaking the forward’s tibia and sending him to the injured-reserve list. It was speculated at the time that Kelly might miss the remainder of the regular season, but the center recovered quickly and will be in the lineup for the Bruins’ home tilt with Carolina.

Kelly will return to his usual spot on the team’s third line, but he will be playing between two new linemates. Head coach Claude Julien shuffled his lines prior to Monday’s game, placing usual fourth-liner Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin (usually of the second line) alongside Kelly on the third unit.

For more on Kelly’s return and a look at the full lineup, check out the video above.

Two new Bruins hit the TD Garden ice for the first time Thursday night as Jaromir Jagr and Kaspars Daugavins made their debuts in black and gold against the Devils.

It has been a stressful week for Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, who orchestrated the trade with Dallas for Jagr after a deal with Calgary for winger Jarome Iginla fell through at the last moment. Chiarelli joined Dale Arnold and Billy Jaffe during W.B. Mason Bruins Face-Off LIVE to discuss the team’s new additions (Jagr, Daugavins and former Blues defenseman Wade Redden) and give an update on Patrice Bergeron‘s status.

Check out Chiarelli’s full interview in the video above.

The scoreboard at the First Niagara Center remained unchanged deep into the third period Sunday night, with both the Bruins and Sabres unable to push across a goal.

David Krejci finally changed that with just over seven minutes remaining in the Northeast Division tilt, hammering a Nathan Horton rebound past Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller to give the B’s a 1-0 lead they would not relinquish. Horton added a tally of his own three minutes later, and the Bruins ended their brief road trip with much-needed victory.

To see Dale Arnold and Barry Pederson‘s breakdown of Krejci’s score, check out the video above.

Most up-and-coming hockey stars spend their first few NHL games playing limited minutes on the third or fourth line. That’s not the case for Bruins prospect Ryan Spooner, who will start on Boston’s first line tonight in just his second big-league appearance.

Spooner, the leading scorer for the B’s affiliate in Providence, will center between Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton on Tuesday in Winnipeg, filling the spot vacated when David Krejci went down with a leg injury on Sunday. Krejci isn’t expected to miss significant time, but Spooner has a shot to prove himself to head coach Claude Julien in the center’s absence.

To hear from Spooner, Horton and the Bruins boss, check out the video above.

St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in Boston, and so are the Bruins.

It only makes sense that the two would go hand in hand on Saturday, as the city enjoys a home game at the TD Garden and a holiday spirit that pervades from Southie to the North Shore and beyond.

NESN Nation’s Dan Duquette found some examples of that spirit captured on social media while the B’s battled against the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Check it out in the video above.

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On Thursday Tuukka Rask saw 11 shots in the first period and 12 in the second. And while that’s not an absurd workload, it isn’t exactly an easy night.

Overall, the Bruins netminder stopped 29 of 30 shots and after the game said he doesn’t mind getting tested a bit — so long as the shots aren’t point blank. However, Rask admitted after the 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers that, despite the decisive victory, Boston played long stretches where its collective head just wasn’t in the game, leading to some of those extra opportunities.

Check out the video above to hear everything Rask told Dale Arnold on Bruins Overtime LIVE.

The TD Garden is a busy place these days. Not only are the Bruins and Celtics now in full swing, but fans can also check out some boxing action on Saturday.

The main event for Saturday’s set of bouts will feature local hero Danny O’Connor, who just so happened to be at Monday’s B’s game. O’Connor caught up with NESN’s Dale Arnold and Barry Pederson during the first intermission, and he even offered up his expert opinion.

O’Connor discussed Saturday’s event, but he was also asked to break down one of Pederson’s 14 career NHL fights. O’Connor couldn’t really put his finger on Pederson’s technique, but he did refer to the former Bruin as an “animal.”

Check out O’Connor’s analysis in the video above.

Between clubhouse chemistry, injuries and drama surrounding their manager, nothing went right for the Red Sox in 2012.

Now, with John Farrell manning the dugout and a new concentration on character guys in the clubhouse, the only thing left for the 2013 Red Sox to succeed may be health. The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham told Dale Arnold on NESN Daily that as long as this team stays healthy, they should still be playing for something in September.

Abraham also said this will be an easy team for fans to cheer for. Since they’ll be rebounding from a season in the AL East gutter, they’ll have an underdog mentality that will be easy to rally around.

To hear what Abraham expects out of the Red Sox in 2013, watch the video above.

After reports came out that Tom Brady was heard yelling at the Patriots’ offense following the team’s close win against the Jaguars, everyone wondered how the team would perform in Week 17. Well, maybe New England’s quarterback should spend more time yelling at his team, because the Patriots came out firing on Sunday.

Kevin Faulk thought that Brady’s remarks may have motivated the team. Faulk said that sometimes as a leader, you have to know how to get every player on the same page, and Brady did just that prior to the team’s win against the Dolphins.

It was a full team win on Sunday, from Danny Woodhead and the Patriots’ offense to the pass rush and the defense. Watch the video above to hear NESN’s Dale Arnold and Faulk discuss the Patriots’ win on NESN Daily.

The Red Sox certainly improved their bullpen this winter.

In addition to guys with closing experience like Andrew Bailey and Alfredo Aceves, the team added more live arms in Joel Hanrahan and Koji Uehara. That gives Boston one of the deepest bullpens in the American League, but is it the best?

The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham thinks so, but his colleague Nick Cafardo disagrees, picking the Orioles’ bullpen arms. Who do you think got the better of the debate? Check it out in the video above.

Bullpen depth was arguably already a strength of the Red Sox, and with the addition of Joel Hanrahan at the back end of games, the ‘pen just got that much deeper.

The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham wonders if all those arms might mean a forthcoming trade given that all but Junichi Tazawa are out of minor league options. However, he also notes that, as things stand, Boston has four guys it can turn to with experience closing games — Hanrahan, Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey and Koji Uehara.

Check out Abraham’s chat with Dale Arnold on Red Sox Now in the video above.

Who remembers the last week of the 2009 season? In a matchup against the Texans in Houston, Wes Welker tore his MCL and ACL on a non-contact play, missing the playoffs that season.

That’s the kind of injury the Patriots will have to consider going into a Week 17 game against the Dolphins. Though New England is assured of a playoff spot, it could still earn a Round 1 bye or a No. 1 seed, so there’s still a lot to play for. But that being said, there’s always the threat of injury with the playoffs in the bag.

Whether the Pats will rest anyone on Sunday was just one of several subjects touched on by Matt Chatham, Kevin Faulk and Dale Arnold on NESN Daily Monday, so check out their discussion in the video above.

The NHL lockout talks are looking bleak right now, but at least one NHL player is planning as if the lockout will end.

Patrice Bergeron is leaving his Swiss team, HC Lugano, to return to North America in the hopes that the NHL season will be starting soon. Bergeron is going to play for Canada in the Spengler Cup, and then return to North America.

The NHL and NHLPA spoke on Saturday briefly over the phone, but there are no plans to meet in person right now. All games through Jan. 14 have been cancelled, and the entire season’s cancellation could be coming next.

Watch the video above to get all the latest news on the lockout.

The NFL is trying to cut back on head injuries by increasing unnecessary roughness penalties, but NFL players old and new alike aren’t too pleased with them — especially defenders.

On Sunday, we saw two helmet-to-helmet shots penalized in the Patriots-Jaguars game. The first was on a play that Tom Brady appeared to duck down at the last second, before receiving a hit from Jeremy Mincey that drew a roughing the passer penalty. The second was a bang-bang play where Patrick Chung led with his shoulder and hit Cecil Shorts in the head as he was defenseless. Former Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham didn’t particularly like either flag, but he had a bigger problem with the hit on Brady.

Chatham thinks the window to hit a quarterback is getting too small, and that it’s becoming too difficult to play the game fast while staying within the rules. You can’t hit a quarterback low at the knees and you can’t hit him high in the head.

Watch Chatham discuss the new NFL rules with Dale Arnold and Kevin Faulk on NESN Daily.

The NHL and NHLPA don’t appear to be getting any closer in their discussions to end the lockout, so the players have started taking drastic measures.

The players will begin voting Sunday on whether to grant the executive board the authority to dissolve the NHLPA. The NBA and NFL players’ associations did the same last year when both leagues were in lockouts.

Negotiations with the league can continue while the NHLPA decides whether to dissolve itself. The players would have to vote two-thirds in favor to pass the decision on to the executive board.

To find out what all of this means, watch the video above with John Shannon of Rogers Sportsnet as he discusses the latest happenings in the NHL lockout with NESN’s Dale Arnold and Leah Hextall.

While the holidays are a time for spending time at home with family, not everyone will be so lucky.

That’s why the Bruins continue on with their annual holiday toy event, which gives about $22,000 worth of toys to children in local hospitals who aren’t able to make it home this season. Bruins president Cam Neely and coach Claude Julien headed to Target on Monday as part of the event, picking out some toys personally to get delivered to a youngster. Even NESN’s own Dale Arnold and Adam Pellerin tagged along to help out the cause.

Check out the Bruins spread some holiday cheer in the video above.

NESN’s Dale Arnold checked in with some Massachusetts youth hockey players for their thoughts on the lockout. As expected, most don’t care how it’s accomplished, they just want hockey back.

Even though they don’t know who Donald Fehr or Gary Bettman are, even the youngest hockey fans know the simplest version of why the NHL is in a work stoppage: everyone wants more money. Fortunately, even though talks broke off on Thursday, the two sides did speak over the weekend and are expected to meet again this week.

Watch the video above to hear some young hockey fans’ thoughts on the lockout. One player even think the whole disagreement comes down to Tim Thomas.

The Jovan Belcher murder-suicide may have taken place in Kansas City, but it hit home for many current and former Patriots who played under both head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli.

Matt Chatham said the decision to play was rightfully on Crennel, and that in times of tragedy its best to trust your leader. Chatham also said that different players handle these situations differently and you have to look at each individual case and whether they can handle playing or not.

Kevin Faulk said if he was given the decision as a captain about whether to play or not, he would go to his teammates and try to figure out what the consensus was. He agreed with Crennel that for football players, sometimes the best distraction is to play the game they love.

Watch Chatham and Faulk discuss the Belcher tragedy with Dale Arnold in the video above from NESN Daily.

After the grim news Friday that the Winter Classic had been canceled,
the NHL and NHLPA appear to have started to talk more seriously.

Yahoo NHL reporter Greg Wyshynski says there just may be some hope for hockey in 2012. The loss of the Winter Classic may have kick-started the discussions between the two sides, led by Bill Daly and Steve Fehr.

With that said, there remains no hockey in the near future, but for the
moment, it looks like the two sides are back at the bargaining table. Check out what Wyshynski had to say in the video above with Dale Arnold from NESN Daily.