It's Been Real, Sturmy

The time comes for all hometown heroes to move on.

Reports surfacing today indicate that the Bruins are sending veteran winger Marco Sturm across the continent to the LA Kings in return for conditional draft picks. For Sturm, it ends a 5-year tenure with Boston during which he had some big highlights. We all remember his monstrous overtime goal in 2008 against the Montreal Canadiens. We remember his Winter Classic overtime winner and some of the most epic photos that were taken in recent memory from Fenway. Excluding his 2008-09 injury-plagued campaign during which he played just 19 games, Sturm notched 22+ goals in each of his seasons with the Bruins. He finished his B's career with a +24 rating and 106 total goals.

Most of the Garden faithful may have seen this move coming. When asked about Thursday's transaction, avid Bruins fan Matt Goodwin took the high road in sending #16 away.

"I'm not upset by it. I like the team now as it is, and getting Savard back will be clutch," Goodwin explained. "Sturm had his great moments, he was consistent, but we have new younger talent now."

The evidence is there. The Bruins are in a pinch making room for a guy like Savard on their roster. Who do you cut? It's a tough call. Having to make another move to allow Sturm into the mix just didn't seem to fit the mold. At 32 years old and coming off ACL surgery, it seemed that the time was right to part ways. Thanks for the memories, Sturmy. Best of luck in LA. See you in the Cup finals (Bruins-Kings was my preseason prediction for the finals).