Bruins Return To Garden To Battle Devils

Hi Boston, remember hockey?

It’s been five days since the Boston Bruins have played a game, a thrilling win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night in Canada’s capital where the B’s scored two goals with under a minute and a half left in the third to tie it and eventually win in the shootout.

Tonight, the B’s will play host the New Jersey Devils, a team that has given the Bruins trouble and close match-up’s for years. Under Claude Julien, the Bruins are 3-2-3 against the Devils and no final score between the two clubs has had a goal differential over three, which has happened only once.

Ten games into the season, the Devils, back with Jacques Lemaire behind the bench, are off to a 6-4-0 start, but their road record has been more than impressive, it’s been perfect. The Devils are undefeated on the road with a 5-0 record.

As always, a main cog in the success of New Jersey has been Martin Brodeur, who missed much of last season with a torn bicep injury. However, luckily for Boston, Marty will be watching tonight’s game from the bench as Yann Danis will make his Devils debut tonight in Boston.

With the departure of Scott Clemmensen to Florida through free agency and retirement of Kevin Weekes, the Devils were without a solid back-up and addressed this issue with the signing of Yann Danis to a one year contract worth league minimum.

For Danis, this is his third NHL franchise in as many years, spending last season with the New York Islanders, where he put together a respectable season on a dreadful team with a 10-17-3 record, .910 save percentage, and 2.86 goals against average.

Despite his decent numbers, the same cannot be said when Danis stepped in between the pipes against the Boston Bruins.

In three games last season against the Killer B’s, Danis went 0-3-0 with a .881 save percentage, including a start against the Bruins in the Isles season finale where he was lit up for four goals in 25 minutes.

For Boston, the focus will be on looking to continuing the momentum they gained last week as the team gained five out of a possible six points while without top-liners Marc Savard and Milan Lucic.

The Bruins will still be without Lucic (finger) and Savard (foot) for tonight’s game, but call-up’s Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka have played considerably well and aren’t causing headaches for fans in the Hub of Hockey when on the ice just yet.

Last week, the success for Boston came in the final five minutes against the Sens, a task they surely don’t want to have to repeat tonight with Danis in net. The keys to the game will be to put the pressure on the Devils early and get Danis rattled. However, given the Lemaire trap-style of play, inducing lullabies everywhere since 1993, the B’s may have very limited chances to do so in tonight’s game, creating the mantra of capitalizing on their chances.

Players To Watch

For Boston, the pressure-cooker has got to be building on Matt Hunwick. Hunwick, who missed nearly all of the Bruins playoff-push last year following a ruptured spleen injury, has struggled out of the gate on a defensive standpoint so far in 2009-10. While the 24-year old has three goals in ten games thus far, he’s been a total liability when it comes to defending the Bruins zone responsibly. If this continues, B’s fans will be clamoring for the return of Johnny Boychuk from the press box in place of Hunwick sooner, rather than later.

Tim Thomas, coming off a huge 27-save performance in Ottawa on Saturday will be in net tonight for Boston and will look to improve to 5-3-0 on the short season. The 2009 Vezina Trophy winner has experienced relatively good success against New Jersey, boasting a 4-3-3 record and .920 save percentage, including a shutout of last year’s Devils.

In red and white tonight, while Patrik Elias is tops among Devils forwards when it comes to career points against Boston, Elias will be inactive tonight still recovering from off-season groin surgery, putting the focus on Devils captain and notorious Bruins killer, Jamie Langenbrunner. In 10 games this season, Langenbrunner is already off to a fast start with seven points and a +4. Always the dangerous playmaker due to his size and effective skating, Langenbrunner has already tallied 23 points in 34 career games against Boston and could have more if not contained by the Bruins.

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Ty

Desert Bound B's: Bruins vs. Coyotes Preview

Last night in the Hub of Hockey, the riot squads were called off and the Bruins were able to shut down the Dallas Stars en route to a 3-0 rout that’s settled down the masses of B’s fans, at least for now.

While the Bruins earned a “that’s how you do it” from most B’s fans for their efforts, Claude Julien’s squad was able to do all the things that made them such a successful team last season. For starters, they were able to kill of an early penalty to Patrice Bergeron 18 seconds into the game, avoiding the loss of any sort of momentum. The Bruins also capitalized on their up-ice rushes, putting three goals by Marty Turco on 29 shots.

In the eyes of Bruins Nation, three players stood out in particular. Michael Ryder, who moved up to the top line, playing with Marc Savard and Marco Sturm had arguably his best game of the season. Although he was held to just one point, Ryder had some great opportunities.

Tim Thomas, who stoned all 27 of Dallas’ shots showed some great poise when under fire and was bailed out numerous times by great defensive efforts from his blue-liners.

The Bruins first star of the game has to go to Marc Savard, who had a phenomenal night offensively as he was constantly creating offensive chances for his linemates and took advantage of his own chances as he banged home two goals by Marty Turco, the second being an absolute bullet that I’m convinced Turco simply didn’t see.

Charging into Arizona, the Bruins will look to continue to ride their momentum from last night as they’re hosted by Dave Tippett’s Phoenix Coyotes.

Coming into tonight’s game, the Boston Bruins will be without forward Milan Lucic, who injured himself during last night’s tilt in the Lone Star State and have called up bruising forward Guillaume Lefebvre from Providence to stand in for Lucic tonight. Lefebvre has one assist and 25 penalty minutes in four games with the Providence Bruins so far this season.

The game plan tonight for Boston will be much of the same, put the pressure on the young Coyotes early and often. Although Ilya Bryzgalov is in the midst of a spectacular start to the season, posting a 4-1-0 record with a 1.17 goals against average, including two shutouts, the Bruins will undoubtedly up the pressure on the 29-year-old Russian netminder as they did on Turco last night.

For the Coyotes, the focus will be on Shane Doan, who’s off to a seemingly typical slow start, scoring just three points in six games so far in 2009-10.

Players To Watch

For Boston, keep your eyes out for defensemen Johnny Boychuk, currently filling in for injured blue-liner Dennis Wideman. The AHL’s 2008-09 Eddie Shore Award winning defensemen, Boychuk is coming off two very strong games where he showed a strong awareness of his space and where the play was going while continuing to throw his body around very well. At this rate, Boychuk will make fans forget all about the loss of Shane Hnidy as the team’s seventh defensemen.

Two more players to take note of are Marc Savard and Mark Recchi. Savard is currently sitting at 199 career goals, one shy of 200 while Recchi is just an assist away from 900 in his career.

Currently, as it stands, the Phoenix Coyotes are the Pacific Division leaders (crazy season, huh). A player who’s seemingly thriving under the system put into place by Dave Tippett is forward Radim Vrbata. Three goals and an assist in six games is making a lot of us forget that Vrbata was the same player who jetted back home to Czechoslovakia after being upset with the Tampa Bay Lightning just 18 games into a lucrative three year contract last season.

Scottie Upshall is another player to keep tabs on tonight if you’re a Boston player. Upshall has absolutely killed Tim Thomas, well actually any Boston goaltender, throughout his career and has eight points in as many games against Boston throughout his NHL tenure. While Upshall’s currently sitting with just two goals so far this season, it’s very possible that he could be the one to make the difference between a Boston win and Boston loss.

If you haven’t already, follow me on Twitter!

Ty

Bruins Sign Defensemen Wozniewski

Here come the Stephane Yelle and Glen Metropolit-like signings.

Today, the Boston Bruins have announced that they've agreed to terms with blue-liner Andy Wozniewski on a one-year contract with the club. This is the fourth club for the 29-year old defensemen within the past two seasons. After finishing the 2007-08 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wozniewski signed with the St. Louis Blues and was subsequently traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins during the trading deadline.

Wozniewski spent all but except for one game in the American Hockey League between the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins and Peoria Rivermen. In his one NHL game with the Blues in 2008-09, Wozniewski played just under seven minutes and was credited for one hit.

In the AHL, Wozniewski tallied 21 points in 74 games between two AHL affiliates and had an impressive postseason for the Rivermen with his 2 points and +1 in 6 games for the Blues farm team.

Although these AHL numbers may not shine out as greatly as those of Johnny Boychuk, what Wozniewski brought to the Maple Leafs in his last relevant season in the National Hockey League is very noteworthy for a player bound to be a seventh defensemen for the Bruins, if that. On top of having nine points in 48 games for Toronto, Wozniewski didn't shy away from the rough stuff as the big blue-liner was tallied for 43 hits along with 56 blocked shots.

There's no need for an outcry of how this move will take cap space away from signing Phil Kessel because this signing is without question for 550,000 dollars or less.

The beauty of this signing is that it gives the B's another "fringe" player in the event of a rash of injuries striking the Bruins. The mentioned "fringe" are players who are good enough to be top players at the AHL level while also having the talent to fill in on an NHL squad for a short stint. The Bruins now have two presumably waiting in Providence with Drew Fata and now Wozniewski.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of this move for what it brings. In short, Wozniewski is a 6'5 behemoth signed as a cheap insurance policy. Similar to Hnidy, Wozniewski's size will be his biggest strength for the club. If all goes as planned, Wozniewski will only make an appearance for Providence this season. Worst case scenario, he's thrown into a familiar division and defensemen friendly system.

Bruins Trade Ward To Carolina

An unexpected trade today became official this morning as the Bruins have sent veteran defensemen Aaron Ward to Carolina in exchange for a 2010 fourth round draft choice and forward Patrick Eaves. After the trade, newly acquired Patrick Eaves was placed on waivers and was going to be bought out if no one claimed him.

This was a cap dump by definition, however, the disagreement in the Hub of Hockey is beginning to grow.

First off, Aaron Ward was a fan favorite. Made popular for his rugged style of play and "Ward Wednesday" on the Toucher & Rich show on WBCN, where he would frequently bash a player from the opposition without care. Despite being overpaid in many people's eyes as Ward's numbers never quite justified the 2.5 million dollar a year salary, he earned the status of Boston's veteran defensive presence for young guys such as Mark Stuart and Matt Hunwick.

The biggest killer in this deal for most B's fans has been the fact that if Eaves doesn't get claimed, that he will be bought out. Boston is currently paying both Glen Murray and Peter Schaefer through buy-outs that are counting against the cap and now they're going to add another to the list? Between Schaefer and Murray the B's have 1.9 million dollars in buy-outs currently against the cap and with Eaves expected to join the list, the amount of buy-outs on the cap jumps up to over two million dollars.

This move was ultimately made to create the cap space needed to re-sign 36-goal scorer Phil Kessel. However, despite the eventual addition of Phil Kessel, the Bruins have created themselves a lack of NHL ready players on the blue-line.

Along with mainstays Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart the Bruins are expected to have young players Matt Hunwick and Johnny Boychuk join the NHL roster as their defensive core. With these six ready for the NHL season, the problem would develop if and when an injury strikes the B's defense. With no defensemen in Providence truly ready for the big leagues, there's a need for a seventh defensemen in Boston.

With Shane Hnidy signed in Minnesota, the obvious choice is gone. Kessel, who's expected to sign for four to five million dollars a season, Peter Chiarelli will simply not have a lot of money to add anyone for more than league minimum. Although Drew Fata was recently signed to a two-way contract, he's an undersized goon who really doesn't bring much to the table at the NHL level.

In a large pool of veteran defensemen looking for new homes, the Bruins may just get lucky. One name that sticks out to me for one, is former Bruin Kyle McLaren. The 32-year old defensemen has certainly experienced quite the fall from grace. After being sent to the AHL with his 2.2 million dollar cap hit, the 6'4 menacing blue-liner put up seven points in 22 games for the Worcester Sharks. When a trade that would have sent McLaren to Philadelphia was nullified after McLaren failed a physical, the doubts are growing that he will never return to the NHL level.

Along with McLaren, 47 year old Chris Chelios is still out there as a free agent. Despite struggling in the 2009 Playoffs for the Red Wings, the veteran could possibly be a nice addition as a seventh defensemen held to limited playing time. He has Stanley Cup experience and could even be a better mentor to the Bruins young guns than Ward was. I fully believe that if both were given to chance to play in the NHL then they'd accept league minimum contracts.

For some, the attempt to get back into the NHL will be difficult following major surgeries. Two names that stick out are Sergei Zubov and Rhett Warrener. Zubov is coming off major hip surgery and looking for a new home. The 39 year old defensemen has been a great powerplay weapon his entire career and had 4 points in 10 games for the Dallas Stars in 2008. Warrener, a former Calgary Flame mainstay is coming off major shoulder surgery and appears to be done in Calgary.

In 2007-08, Warrener's last season played in, he had 4 points in 31 games. With his shoulder possibly unable to hold up, a role as a seventh defensemen for league minimum could be a plus for both Warrener and the Boston Bruins.

One thing's for sure, this cap space freed up by the trading of the three-time Stanley Cup winner has made enough room to sign Kessel to a long term contract. As is the case with many NHL teams and the way they approach their restricted free agents, the Bruins are anxious to get a deal done with the potential 40 goal scorer of the future, which is now fully possible.

This Sheriff's Heading To The Wild (Out) West

Here comes the rough part of free agency. Anyone who expected the Boston Bruins to put out the same roster from the 2008-09 season was being naive. It was to be expected that with the limited cap space and amount of Bruins free agents to be that we'd be seeing some fan favorites take their exit out of the Hub of Hockey for broader horizons. Mark Shane Hnidy as the first of many bound out of Boston.

When the Bruins traded for the bruising defensemen back in January 2008, it was viewed as a desperation move by a GM who was simply running out of defensemen on the depth chart. Pulling the trigger to bring Hnidy into black and gold cost the Bruins winger Brandon Bochenski, a player who had experienced minor success in 2006-07 but failed to translate that into 2007-08 due to injuries and inconsistency under the Claude Julien system. The price for Hnidy was small, but no one expected what Hnidy truly brought to the Bruins blue-line.

Standing at 6'2 and with a face only a mother could love, Hnidy brought an added element of toughness to the Bruins defense. He would have no issues with burying a player into the boards, and his stern style of play earned him the nickname of 'Sheriff' in Boston.

Following another solid season as a 6th defensemen for the Bruins, Hnidy chipped in with the hits and added 12 points in 65 games, tying his career high from 2006-07 with Atlanta. Undoubtedly, his most remember incident came in a brawl with the Dallas Stars where The Sheriff went to work and demolished Matt Niskanen's face with several right hands.

Although never an offensive defensemen by any means and a frequent victim of poor decision making, there's no questioning that Hnidy, like many Bruins players, became a fan favorite with time. However, as the Bruins season ended, many knew that Hnidy would not be returning with Johnny Boychuk on the up-swing and Matt Hunwick anticipated to re-sign with the club for another season. Remaining on the list of 08-09 Bruins in the free agent pool are veteran center and face-off master Stephane Yelle, goaltender Manny Fernandez and restricted free agents Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick.

With Hnidy bound for Minnesota, the Bruins are now in new need of a Sheriff. Mark Stuart anyone?

Bruins Sign Begin; Re-Sign Bitz, Boychuk

We knew there would be a big bang with just about every other club besides Boston, but still, talk about one crazy day. Today we saw Marian Hossa trade in his Detroit sweater for a Chicago one, Marty Havlat move to Minnesota and the Montreal Canadiens create a line of all players 5'9 and shorter. Some of the contracts were outrageous per usual (If Hal Gill's a 2.25 million dollar defensemen, so am I) but in the end, the Boston Bruins emerged from the day without overpaying for any of the marquee names in this year's pool.

Despite rumors of Marian Hossa coming to Boston lighting up internet boards for the second straight year, the Bruins were wary to not commit large money to players considering they're lack of cap space. As quick as the talks of Kessel for Kaberle seemed to have resumed, the idea was put to rest just as fast and it was deemed false. By 6 o'clock, the Hub of Hockey was still as quiet as it was when Scott Walker ended the Bruins season when news broke of a minor signing.

The Boston Bruins had agreed to a one year contract with forward Steve Begin. The contract will pay the bruising forward 850,000 in 2009-10 and certainly replaces the depth that will be lost by Stephane Yelle's departure, which Chiarelli also confirmed today. In 62 games between the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars, Begin registered 12 points and finished with a -7. Although his stats may not impress the common Bruins fan, there are plenty reasons to be happy about this guy.

First of, as previously stated, he adds depth to a roster that could certainly use it with the likely departure of P.J Axelsson and question marks surrounding Phil Kessel and Mark Recchi. Also, with the addition of the 31-year old Quebec native, the Bruins become an even more gritty team. Begin's 185 hits in 62 games was good for 3rd among Stars forwards and his 38 blocked shots were only 2nd to Loui Eriksson, who partook in all 82 of the Stars regular season games.

For some, the injuries to Begin pose a question mark. Well, when you look at the style of play he brings to the ice every night, it's no wonder the 1996 2nd round choice by the Calgary Flames has had to spend some time on the shelf. Even in seasons plagued by injury, Begin has managed to dish out over 100 hits in every season. Despite the injury concerns, when you look at Begin's last fully healthy season, you can't help but be happy with this signing.

In 2005-06, Begin played in 76 games for the rivaled Canadiens, where put up 23 points, finished with a +9 and was credited with 202 hits and 64 blocked shots. Throughout his career, Begin has become an established penalty killer and with the future of P.J Axelsson uncertain as mentioned, it only makes sense that Begin is in all likelihood, Axe's replacement on the Bruins penalty killing unit. In his 62 games with the Canadiens/Stars, Begin averaged 1:37 minutes on the penalty kill per game. Along with that minute plus of time on the kill, he averages just over 10 minutes a game, making this signing a great deal for a proven 4th liner willing to drop the gloves when the bell tolls.

Along with Begin, the Bruins also re-signed winger and new found fan-favorite Byron Bitz. The 24 year old Saskatoon native had a solid year in Boston as he put 4 pucks by goaltenders and tallied 3 assists in 35 games for the Bruins. Following a willingness to drop the gloves with legendary scrapper Donald Brashear, Bruins fans began to watch the rookie more closely. After a 2-goal effort against the Florida Panthers where the Garden faithful began chants of "We Want Bitz!" repeatedly, a cult following seemed to be in the works. Shirts reading "We Want Bitz" were made and distributed. After a lackluster playoff performance by Blake Wheeler, the fan favorite found himself in the line-up, suiting up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time.

It didn't take Bitz long to make an impression as in the Bruins Game 3 demolition of the Canadiens, Bitz netted an assist as time nearly expired in the period. Sure enough, Bitz found himself back in the line-up for the Bruins second round series against the Carolina Hurricanes where he scored a seemingly pivotal first period goal in the Bruins Game 7 loss to the 'Canes. These moments and flashes of scoring capabilities reminded many Bruins fans of an old player they used to call their own, Mike Knuble, a big winger who blossomed into a 20+ goal scorer at the NHL level. With the re-signing of Bitz taken care off, it's clear that the Bruins brass may see the same potential in Byron.

Rounding out the day for Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was the re-signing of defensemen Johnny Boychuk. Boychuk, who spent most of the season with the Providence Bruins had another fine year at the AHL level, where he finished the year by winning the Eddie Shore Award, the AHL's honor for the best defensemen in the league. Boychuk finished with 20 goals, 46 assists and a +19 in 78 games for the Baby B's. It's a one year deal but as per club policy, the terms of the deal financially were not disclosed.

One issue that B's fans are still discussing is the signings that haven't been involving restricted free agents Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick. As we close the book on the first day of free agency, both players are without contracts. While we haven't heard much talk about Kessel in the rumor mills today, the word on Hunwick per Joe Haggerty of WEEI.com was that many teams were showing a strong interest in Hunwick, and the Bruins not being one of them. Undoubtedly, this would come as a shock to Bruins fans if Hunwick is to leave, who showed potential of being the 'puck-moving defensemen' Peter Chiarelli so desperately desires in Boston.

With day two of the busiest time of year just hours away, it's just a short sleep for the 30 GM's of the NHL before they roll their sleeves back up and return to their phones.

Word On Ward

“He’s not going to make the trip to Florida, so (he’s) definitely out for this week” Coach Claude Julien said on Monday morning, speaking on Aaron Ward's injury suffered in Saturday's 4-1 rout of Detroit. This is the 2nd significant injury the Bruins have suffered on defense already and yet again they're going to have to rely on a Providence call-up to fill the role of a veteran. With Ward not making the trip to Florida the Bruins will need to make a call but it is still unknown if the Bruins will go with Matt Lashoff again or give new comer Johnny Boychuk a chance with the big club.

Boychuk, a 6'2 defensemen from Edmonton, Alberta is currently leading AHL defensemen in points, scoring 4 goals and adding 19 assists. He's also 3 points away from matching his point total from all of last season (26) in a little more than 1/3 of the time. Although it'd appear he's the clear candidate for the call-up one can't rule out Matt Lashoff, who only trails Boychuk by 7 points and has played in 4 less games. One thing hurting Boychuk's chances is his lack of NHL experience, playing in only 4 games while Lashoff's played in 30 career NHL games, all with Bruins posting a -7 and scoring 1 goal and 6 assists.

In my opinion I believe the call-up should go to Johnny for this road trip. This would be his first legitimate test with the Bruins as opposed to giving the opportunity to Lashoff again who's struggled when actually given the call. Especially with the team playing at the rate they are along with the rather soft road trip it wouldn't be a terrible time to try and mix it up.

Johnny Boychuk is currently the leading scorer in the AHL for defensemen.