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    All-Centennial Team

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    Stanley Cup Champs

    B's gearing up for tough stretch before Olympic break

    (photo by S. Babineau/Getty Images)
    The Bruins have eight games to play before the NHL takes a two-week break to send their best of the best over to Sochi for the Winter Games. For the five Bruins taking the trip, and the other twenty-something players that get two weeks to relax, it can be easy to think about the time off, or the time spent trying to win a medal for your country.

    But the Bruins can't allow themselves to look ahead, as the eight games remaining on the schedule are not meant to be taken lightly.

    The Black and Gold have a three-games-in-four-nights chunk starting with the Flyers in Philly on Saturday. They then travel up the East Coast to play the Islanders Monday, and then host the Panthers on a back-to-back Tuesday.

    The next trio of games are at the Garden, and all versus Canadian clubs.

    Montreal come to Boston for the first time this year on Thursday the 30th. The Bruins then host the Oilers on Saturday at 1 p.m., and the John Tortorella-less Vancouver Canucks the following Tuesday the 4th.

    The Bruins then fly out to St. Louis to take on the Blues on Thursday Feb. 6th, before returning home to the Garden to wrap up the season series versus the Senators at 3 p.m.

    Versus these eight teams, the Bruins have posted a 4-5-1 record, with the most notable losses among them being a blowout loss at Vancouver, two away losses to the Senators, a shootout loss at home to the Blues, and two losses to the Islanders where the B's gave up eight goals in total.

    (photo by B. Babineau/Getty Images)
    With the Tampa Bay Lightning breathing down their necks in the Atlantic Division (Tampa is just two points behind), it'll serve the Bruins greatly to stay on track and not lose focus before the break.

    Add to the fact that the captain Zdeno Chara will miss the games versus the Blues and the Sens due to his appointment as his countries flag-bearer for the opening ceremonies, the stretch of games gets a liiitle bit tougher when looked at all-together.

    The B's start Saturday in Philly for a 1 p.m. date with the Flyers, who now sit in 7th place in the East after turning their season around following their poor start to the year.