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(Editor's note: The fifth in our end-of-season report card series on the 2011-2012 Bruins.)

ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun handicaps the Norris Trophy race, saying it’s a two-player contest right now between Nashville’s Shea Weber and Boston’ Zdeno Chara. Writes LeBrun:

1a. Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Ever wonder what this guy would fetch July 1 if he was unrestricted as opposed to a restricted free agent? Let’s put it this way: I’m guessing at least a third of the general managers in the NHL would pick him first overall if the league redrew the rosters. Among the league leaders in points (36), plus-minus (plus-20) and ice time (26:15), Weber just does it all. Runner-up last season to the legendary Nicklas Lidstrom for the Norris, this finally could be Weber’s first win -- unless of course the next guy on this list wins it. They’re neck and neck in my opinion.

1b. Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
The parallels with the younger Weber are all too true. Physical impact, offensive force, shutdown terror and a great leader. They apply to both players; the only difference is that the veteran Chara has done it longer in this league. The 2009 Norris Trophy winner has a great shot at another one.

Click HERE to read the rest of LeBrun's piece

Wilmington, Mass. -- The Bruins held practice at Ristuccia Arena on Tuesday morning before jetting off to Buffalo for a Northeast Division tilt with the Sabres on Wednesday. While Buffalo is just 13th in the East and the Bruins are 2-0 against them this season, the B’s realize they can’t take their division rivals lightly.

“The one thing that we’re well aware of is that we haven’t fared well against teams that are out of the playoffs right now,” Julien pointed out. “We have to be a little bit better and our goal right now is to carry last game (a win in Washington) into this game here. I really felt like we had control most of the game and we did the things that we normally do when we’re successful. So we need to bring that to Buffalo and repeat it. I think that’s what our main focus is on and the challenge is playing better against those teams. Just because they’re there right now, doesn’t make them a bad team, it makes them a hungry team. So we are certainly aware of that and our focus is about our team more than it is other teams at this stage.”

Zdeno Chara was absent from practice Tuesday, but Julien calmed any fears following the skate, telling the media the captain was given a day off after a hectic week last week following the All Star weekend in Ottawa.

The forward lines once again looked the same as they did when the Bruins 4-1 win at Washington concluded on Sunday with David Krejci centering Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron instead of being in his normal slot next to Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton (or whoever is playing in place of Horton, who is out with a concussion.

Lucic was playing with Rich Peverley, who was again in Horton’s slot and Chris Kelly in Krejci’s place at center.

Speaking of Horton, Julien had no updates to give after practice, and wasn’t too happy he was asked to give one.

“Guys, I’m done talking about it,” a seemingly frustrated Julien said. “You know I look at every team who has guys with concussions and it would be nice if you guys would give him a chance and let him go through his things. I can’t give you an update every day because it could be long, it could be short. When you see him on the ice with us, it’s going to be a real good sign so we’ll leave it at that. I don’t have the answer so I’m not going to give you the answer when we don’t know what concussions are all about. There’s forward steps and there’s backward steps and I just can’t come out here every day because it doesn’t make sense.”

Here’s what the forward lines and defensive pairings looked like Tuesday:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Benoit Pouliot-David Krejci-Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Johnny Boychuk-Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid

Tim Thomas(
Tuukka Rask

As expected, the Bruins will have captain Zdeno Chara back in the lineup for Saturday’s afternoon tilt against the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers, according to media reports from Philadelphia. The 6-foot-9 defenseman had missed the previous two games -- both wins -- with what the team was calling a lower-body injury suffered in a collision with Blue Jackets forward Antoine Vermette during the Bruins' 5-3 victory last Saturday in Columbus.

Chara did skate with the team Wednesday morning prior to that night’s game against the Ottawa Senators, but he wasn’t deemed ready to play.

"He's obviously doing a lot better, but certainly not to the point where we want him in, but very optimistic that he'll be back pretty soon," coach Claude Julien told reporters Wednesday night in Ottawa.

The Bruins designated defeseman Steven Kampfer to Providence of the AHL on Friday, a good indication that Chara was going to be back in the lineup Saturday.

Chara, who has six goals and 13 assists on the season, is tied for the plus/minus lead among NHL defenseman at plus-19.

Zdeno Chara will most likely not be available for games this week against Los Angeles, Ottawa and Philadelphia because of a leg injury, according to the Boston Globe, citing an unnamed source.

If Chara's recovery goes well, he might be ready for the Bruins’ home game against Montreal on Dec. 19, or the Bruins could opt to keep Chara out of uniform until after Christmas to give his injury more time to heal, the Globe report says. The Bruins play at Phoenix on Dec. 28.

Chara was injured in a collision with Blue Jackets forward Antoine Vermette late in the second period of a 5-3 win at Columbus on Saturday night and did not return. He had scored 58 seconds into the second period to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

After the game, Chara was walking without noticeable discomfort, according to the Globe.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun offers up some first-quarter awards today and a number of Bruins are in the running.

Second-year forward Tyler Seguin checks in as an honorable mention for the Hart Trophy. Zdeno Chara is No. 3 for the Norris Trophy, while Tim Thomas is No. 2 for the Vezina.

While those three come up a little short, LeBrun has Patrice Bergeron as the front-runner for the Selke Trophy. Writes LeBrun:

1. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins: One of the smartest two-way players in the league and a player who deserves to get his name on this trophy at least once in his career. He's among the faceoff leaders again this season.

Click HERE to read all of LeBrun's first-quarter review.

BOSTON -- Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is normally a very serious person.

He was the last player available during the team’s annual media day in preparation for the 2011-2012 season and he had a bit of fun with a small group of reporters. As the scrum began to form in the spot Chara would be speaking, the 6-foot-9 defenseman jumped out from behind a black curtain and surprised the group.

He should be in a good mood because the players will receive their Stanley Cup rings during a ceremony Tuesday night, and then the championship banner will be raised to the rafters prior to the season opener Thursday at the Garden.

“It’s obviously very exciting,” Chara said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a great atmosphere and it’s going to be very emotional. We’re all looking forward to it.”

BOSTON -- The Bruins host the Islanders Friday in in their first home preseason game and captain Zdeno Chara will return to the lineup after missing the “Black and White” scrimmage Tuesday and the preseason opener Wednesday at Ottawa. Chara had suffered a contusion in his right knee area Monday when an errant clearing shot hit him in practice. He told the media Friday morning that he is ready to go and is happy the injury wasn’t serious.

“I’m feeling good,” Chara said. “I’m very glad that it wasn’t [serious]. Obviously it’s something that you’re a little worried about when it does happen but I was pleased that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. We took all the necessary steps to make sure that it was nothing major and it isn’t. Just have to still treat it and nothing major. The pain is just a factor that I can handle but as far as the swelling and being able to have the full range of motion that’s the key.”

As for what Chara will focus on tonight, he said he is just trying to keep things simple and work hard.

“Compete, work extremely hard and play simple,” Chara said. “Obviously it’s the first game so I’m not trying to do too much but I’m trying to find the timing and get that rust away. So nothing too complicated.”

Chara also said he is ready for whatever ice time head coach Claude Julien throws at him.

“Whatever coach is comfortable with,” Chara said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s preseason or regular season. I should be out there and I’m fine with it.”

Here’s the list of players dressing for tonight’s game:

Forwards: Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Benoit Pouliot, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Jared Knight, Lane MacDermid, Alexander Khokhlachev, Jamie Arniel, Daniel Paille, Zach Hamill, Rich Peverley

Defensemen: Zdeno Chara, Steven Kampfer, Zach McKelvie, Dennis Seidenberg, Matt Bartkowski, Johnny Boychuk

Goalies: Tim Thomas(, Anton Khudobin

For its current issue focused on Boston's sports success, ESPN The Magazine followed around some Bruins players, who take their local neighborhoods to heart. Among the players featured in the video above are Andrew Ference, who talks about living in the North End, Milan Lucic, who takes the Magazine to his barbershop, and Tim Thomas.

Also, check out this photo gallery, with shots of Ference, Lucic, Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Shawn Thornton around the city.

Montreal police have concluded their investigation into Bruins captain Zdeno Chara’s controversial hit on Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty on March 8 and forwarded their report to Crown prosecutors. It is now their decision whether to prosecute Chara.

Amid public outcry from Canadiens and NHL fans in Montreal after Chara was not suspended by the NHL for the hit that left Pacioretty with a cracked vertebrae and concussion, the police launched an investigation in March and just recently questioned Chara.

Pacioretty, who criticized the NHL for not punishing Chara, did go on record later as saying he disagreed with the law getting involved in the matter. Pacioretty is expected to play in the 2011-12 season.

MONTREAL -- Zdeno Chara hoisted the Stanley Cup as captain of the Boston Bruins two weeks ago. Next, the big defenseman will be meeting with the Montreal police.

Police say they intend to question Chara in the coming weeks and decide whether to press charges for the hit that sidelined Montreal forward Max Pacioretty with a concussion and a cracked vertebra.

Quebec's director of criminal prosecutions ordered an investigation into the hit by Chara during a regular-season game against the Canadiens on March 8.

Police spokesman Ian Lafreniere said Chara is the last person they need to speak with to complete their investigation. He added that the Bruins have been cooperative, and hired a Montreal lawyer to act as an intermediary.

Pacioretty recently signed a new two-year contract with the Canadiens and is expected to be ready for next season. He reacted to the news about the investigation on Twitter.

"Last comment on this: I hope Chara is NOT prosecuted. I have moved on from my incident and I hope everyone else can do the same," he wrote. "All I am focused on is getting ready for next season, and will no longer comment on the past."

A week after Tim Thomas led the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup title since 1972, the 37-year old goalie won his second Vezina Trophy in three years.

Thomas set an NHL record for save percentage when he finished at .938, surpassing Dominik Hasek's .937 set in the 1998-89 season. He also had a league-low 2.00 goals-against average and nine shutouts.

According to the NHL, Thomas is the second goalie to win the Vezina, Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) and Stanley Cup in the same season, joining the Flyers' Bernie Parent.

Thomas topped fellow Vezina finalists Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Nashville's Pekka Rinne in voting by the league's 40 general managers.

Norris Trophy finalist Zdeno Chara came up short as Detroit's Niklas Lidstrom took home the prize for top defenseman.

For more on the NHL awards, click here.

From the first goal of Tyler Seguin’s career in the second game of the season all the way through the playoffs to the Stanley Cup title, ESPNBoston.com looks at some of the season’s top moments.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was quite serious when dealing with the media after the team’s practice Friday afternoon at the University of British Columbia.

He was focused on his preparations for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at Rogers Arena.

Chara discussed the importance of getting more traffic in front of Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo, and his new role on the PK:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks will take to the ice tonight for Game 1 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena. The wait is over. The Bruins are in the final for the first time in 21 years and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972.

The Black and Gold enter the series as heavy underdogs but if they want to prove the critics wrong they must start by following these three keys in Game 1:

Set the tone early: The Canucks have been off for a week after clinching the Western Conference with a 3-2 double overtime win over San Jose in the wee hours of May 25. Yes, they’re rested, but they could be rusty as well and the Bruins must find that out by setting the tempo early. Boston must dictate the game to the Canucks and try and take what will be a raucous crowd out of the equation as soon as possible. If they can head to the first intermission with a lead or even tied, they will be in good shape. Setting the tone early will drain the energy out of the Canucks and their fans.

Stay disciplined and control emotions: The emotions and excitement level will be high when Game 1 begins and the Bruins must do their best to stay in control. Of course, they can channel that emotion into motivation and energy. But the Bruins must be sure to keep their emotions in check and not be too aggressive and end up in the penalty box. They don’t want to give Vancouver any chances on the man-advantage where they are scoring at a 28.3 percent clip. The Bruins need to make sure they don’t get carried away in the excitement and spotlight of the game and just play hockey.

Don’t get too caught up with the Sedin twins: Henrik and Daniel Sedin are the most dynamic and talented tandem in the NHL. It would be very easy for the Bruins to just focus their whole game plan around the Sedins and forget about the rest of what is a very deep and skilled Canucks lineup. The Bruins must play their game and not let the Sedin twins determine how they play. There is also Ryan Kesler and plenty of other players in the Canucks’ lineup to worry about, so just revolving your plans around the Sedins won’t beat the Canucks.