David Pastrnak to remain with Bruins past 9th game milestone

(Photo by Elise Amendola/AP)

by Dakota Antelman

Bruins general manager, Peter Chiarelli, announced Thursday that rookie forward David Pastrnak will not be returning to the Providence Bruins once his temporary call up ends following Thursday's game. 

In accordance with NHL regulations, his contract status will change to "professional" with his salary increasing as well. 

Chiarelli explained the deal in a press conference during the first intermission of Thursday's game. 

"We scrutinized his play in Providence and really felt that the NHL is a place where he is gonna get the proper physicality and skill of opponents," he said briefly.

Thursday marked Pastrnak's eighth start with the Bruins this season. He entered the game having scored four times while clocking nearly 15 minutes of ice time in each of those games. Still though, many were skeptical of his abilities as well as his longevity within the league. 

Notably, Pastrnak did not make it through preseason roster cuts due to fears from coaches that his small stature endangered him as he went against some of the bigger players within the NHL.  

After over 20 games in Providence, a tournament's worth of starts for Czech Republic at the World Junior Tournament in Canada, as well as eight starts with the Bruins though, those fears appear to have absolved from the Bruins' mindset. 

"He went down there and did what we told him to, that's play hard, play along the walls," Chiarelli said. "Definitely playing without the puck better."

Though Chiarelli admitted that Pastrnak does still have a propensity to put himself in somewhat dangerous situations given his size, the Bruin GM also insisted that his first round draft pick is rapidly gaining physical strength as well asweight.  

As for how often he will get to show fans that strength, that was left up in the air even after Chiareli's clarifying media talks. 

Speaking on the subject of the fluidity of Pastrnak's role with the team, he said "It dosn't mean he's in the lineup all the time, there may be times where his time dips a little bit, even times where he goes down to Providence for a game or two. But the big takeaway from this should be that he's staying with the team, practicing with the team and hopefully getting some playing time."

Though it remains unclear where among the Bruin’s offensive core Pastrnak will fit, there are few within the Bruins organization, or their fan base, who have much that is negative to say about the team’s youngest and most promising prospect.

"I feel he has done very well in his apprenticeship in Providence which has been huge," Chiarelli said. "He's a good kid."

Read More

Bruins in a free-fall as shots are taken from within

(Photo by Jared Wilkerman/Getty Images)

by Dakota Antelman

The Bruins sit outside the playoff picture. Their season has been marred with miscues and the alarm has long since been sounded. After a tumultuous sequence of days, following their most recent OT loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, though, the Bruins have begun taking shots at themselves.

The statement is both literal and in part a sports metaphor. The two days between Sunday’s 2-1 loss in Carolina and Tuesday’s meeting with the Penguins featured some pointed comments by GM Peter Chiarelli and CEO Charlie Jacobs as well as a literal fight between teammates Torey Krug and Brad Marchand.   

Ticket sales are stalling, fans have begun raining “boos” down not upon the opponent but the lackadaisical Bruin struggling in the neutral zone. Calls of “Tuuuuukk” uttered for Tuukka Rask have at times been drowned out by satirical cheers while the media has begun to intermix their highlight reels with statements like “this was the best spin we could put on this.”

Frustration is commonplace within the Bruins system today as it has been for much of the season. As the team continues to stumble, even at the halfway mark of the season, the frustration within the team has permeated into the stands.

Fans who are still watching this team are doing so not for goals or playoff victories but for trades, firings and gritty overhauls that will help revert the organization to the state that delivered such things.

As they do so though, the byproducts of this systematic frustration are scrutinized and elevated to a platform of media focus as talk of division titles was in years past.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, January fifth, sixth and seventh, were days on which that scrutiny was revealed.

Tuesday morning in Boston, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli addressed the Boston Globe saying that players should “absolutely be uncomfortable about their job security.”

“It impacts the rest of the game,” Chiarelli said specifically of the Bruins flat first period vs Carolina. “We’ve seen a few those of periods in this three-game stretch. It’s disappointing. We’re still treading water, and that’s not acceptable. That’s the common denominator in those three games.”

He went on to say “It’s never fun to be in this situation — to try and improve your roster when you’re not in a real position of strength, there’s not a lot of activity going around. But you try and peck away and try to improve your team. At the same time, you hope these guys can string a couple games together. We have to watch this closely.”

Chiarelli certainly had faith in his team when he spoke. But saying that his players should absolutely be uncomfortable does not bode well for team confidence and or trust in one another. It blatantly tells players they could be on the move soon. “So don’t get to comfortable!”

Though some may argue it is a motivational tactic, the statement seemed more like an honest assessment that need not be vocalized.

Mere hours later, newly appointed Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs came out with much stronger words.

Describing a scenario in which the Bruins miss the playoffs as an “utter failure”, Jacobs said “I’d say without question this has been a very disappointing year. It’s unacceptable the way that this team has performed given the amount of time, money and effort that’s been spent on this team,” said Jacobs. 

“To see it delivered the way it has is unacceptable. I can tell you that at the moment it’s a very fluid situation that’s being monitored closely. I don’t have any answers for why we’re underperforming because if I did I would have tried them long ago.”

It is as if the Bruins are a distracted private school student whose parents are frustrated with his or her plummeting grades.

Needless to say, when your supreme boss says he is disgusted with your performance the result is a DIRECT shot to your confidence.

But the Bruins are professionals right? They would not be shaken by a little tough love. More so, they surely have their priorities straight.

They made it harder to believe those statements in turn mere hours after Jacobs’ chastisement.

During “battle drills” at Bruins practice, a fight broke out between teammates Torey Krug and Brad Marchand. The scuffle apparently arose after Marchand made a joke about Krug’s height to a friend.

Krug gave a behind the scenes look minutes later at media availability time.

“He told one of my buddies that he was taller than me, and it pissed me off,” he said. “It’s just competing in practice, you don’t like something and tempers flare a little bit. It’s nothing crazy, and you saw afterwards that we’re fine with each other. Who knows? Maybe that is what this team needed a little bit.”

He then soured.

“I think it’s no secret that guys aren’t happy with where we’re at. It’s got to start somewhere, so why not in practice. I thought after that you noticed the guys were a little more intense, and having some fun. We’ll see. Maybe we can use that.”

Intensity is a good thing but a rare fight in practice does not seem so positive. There is a line between the good teams and the bad teams in the NHL and in recent years these types of practice fights have always occurred within teams on the wrong side of that line.

While it would be unfair to judge the entire roster on the occurrence of a hot tempered shoving match during a rough patch in the season, the trend is there and it definitely adds to this general perception that the Bruins are taking shots at themselves.

They face the Penguins Wednesday night Pittsburgh eager for a win against one of the NHL’s best teams. They do so motivated and positive; but perhaps they are not quite motivated enough.

The team has the players to win. The team has the coaches to win; yet they fail to.

Is it motivation? Possibly. But more, so these recent losses could be the product of incorrect priorities. The specter beseeching these priorities stands as the Bruins taking shots at one another.

Read More

Tuukka Rask bails out slow Bruins offense: Bruins beat Jets 2-1 on Hamilton OT winner

November 29, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

The Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets engaged in a gritty, up and down game Friday night that ultimately culminated in an overtime decision in favor of the Bruins.

The Bruins, fresh off back to back losses to Montreal and Pittsburgh entered the game rested and revamped after a week of tough practice.

But after all their preparation, things did not get off on the right foot for Boston. An early penalty kill situation in the first period was not executed adequately by the Bruins and resulted in Jets forward, Dustin Byfuglien scoring with just four minutes left in the opening frame.

The late goal served as a bit of a slap in the face for the Bruins. They had spent most of the week addressing their scoring problems and stressing the need to work harder defensively in the middle portions of the ice. Of course, none of that happened.

“Everything we talked about (yesterday) morning didn’t happen in the first period,” said Julien.

The Bruins did manage to turn things around following the Byfuglien goal however. Bruins goalie, Tuukka Rask stopped a seemingly endless quartet of breakaways while stuffing countless shots on any number of the ensuing power plays that the Jets got.

“Tuukka’s one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie, in the league,” said forward Reilly Smith. “Sometimes we rely on him too much, but he does a good job handling the pressure that’s put on him.”

Rask ended the game with 35 saves, several of which came in some key moments during a four minute penalty kill at the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime. 

As for the goal that got the Bruins to overtime; that came from big bodied left winger, Milan Lucic.

After Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said earlier this week that the Bruins needed more size and physicality in front of the net, Lucic demolished Jets forward Mark Scheifele by skating hard to tip teammate Carl Soderberg’s pass into the net.

Finally, something they had worked on in practice paid off for Boston.

“We worked on that this week – going D-to-D and up, and that’s what we did,” Soderberg said. 

“Looch skated to the middle and left the puck for me, and I drove the net. So that’s how we scored.”

With the game tied, the onus was put back on Rask to at the very least keep it that way. Things were complicated in the final three minutes of the game though when Bruins pest, Brad Marchand, took a double minor penalty for high sticking.

Even then though, Rask stood tall once even gloving the puck down to his stick and clearing it out of the zone on his own.

“You’re just in survival mode there,” laughed Rask after the game. “You’re trying to secure that point.”

His work was finally rewarded by the rest of the team roughly four minutes later when defensemen Dougie Hamilton smacked a wrist shot from the hash marks into the net to win the game for Boston.

The goal was yet another product of a Bruins odd man rush that seemed to get better and better as the game went on. Carl Soderberg took the puck in the neutral zone and skated with it into the Jets end as Lucic and rookie David Pastrnak curled in towards the net. Rather than passing it to them though, Soderberg turned towards a trailing Hamilton and slid the puck to his stick.

Hamilton, using the screen of Pastrnak and Lucic let rip a screaming shot that decisively ended the game for Boston.

“Obviously, it felt pretty good. I don't know if I ever scored an overtime goal before, so a pretty — pretty good feeling, and a pretty good feeling to get the win after the start that we had.”

Read More

No rest for Bruins during Thanksgiving layoff: David Pastrnak skates with first line, Chara, Kelly making progress after injuries

November 28, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

During a time while many were out digging out from this week’s snowstorm or relaxing ahead of their holiday feasts, the Boston Bruins were hard at work at their Wilmington practice facility, the Ristuccia Arena.

This three day period without any games has given the Bruins a chance to step away from the drama and competition of the NHL season and address some of the internal issues that have plagued them for much of the year.

Among the biggest and most publicized of those issues has been the injury bug that has bitten the Bruins badly this season. Going into the break they had five players on the injury report with at least three out long term.  Names like Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, Chris Kelly and David Krejci were all among those listed.

During the break however, considerable progress was made with milestones reached by several of those players.

Chara and fellow defender David Warsofsky were both skating for the first time since their injuries Tuesday morning. The next day, Kelly returned to practice and was seen running drills with the Bruins fourth line.

Kelly suffered an undisclosed injury last Friday vs Columbus and had been out of the spotlight since. When speaking to reporters on Wednesday however, he detailed the plan that the team training staff had set out for him. He spoke on the subject of how caution was an important quality in his rehab plan.

"I think we thought [it was] better to be on the cautious side of things," Kelly said. "It was exactly kind of how we thought it would be. And it felt good today [Wednesday], and we'll see how it feels again [on Thursday]."

Bruins fans and coaches alike were excited to see the returns of so many big names this week. But at the same time, Krejci, whose injury has still not been announced, was not present at any practices. Krejci, who might very well miss Friday’s game, has currently sat out three straight games. This recent absence comes during a stretch where Krejci has missed 9 of 11 games.

Bruins coach Claude Julian was non-descript in his discussing the terms of Krejci’s injury or his recovery plan.

“[we have to] Get the situation fixed so he's not in and out, in and out [of the lineup]," Julian said.

Beyond injuries, a myriad of transactions with AHL Providence saw rookie sensation Seth Griffith return to the team while Alex Kohoklachv and Jordan Caron were both sent back down. Among those who stayed with the Bruins, was first round draft pick David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak was promoted to the first line for Wednesday morning’s practice. He was seen skating alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Pastrnak made his NHL debut Monday vs. Pittsburgh skating 10 shifts for a total of 7 minutes and 53 seconds of ice time. He provided a presence in front of the net but did not manage to get a shot on goal.

The Bruins, who currently rank 20^th in the NHL in goals per game (2.5), are searching for a spark offensively and understand the need to put a flashy Pastrnak in a scenario where he can score. The first line, with Bergeron dishing out passes from the center position might very well be that perfect scenario.

"You try not to put him in a situation that may be too much, but at the same time, he's a good player, we know he's a good player - he showed that the other night, too," said Julien. "Offensively, he's a real good player, explosive, makes plays and he's pretty dynamic, and he'll only get better, so we need to continue to give him that opportunity to grow in the right environment."

Though experimenting with various positions in the lineup are definitely a positive for Pastrnak, with each new position comes a sort of acclamation period. The team is hoping Pastrnak can get into a grove on the first line as quickly as possible. 

The team's lack of scoring has definitely been noticed just as it has troubled team management.

“…The goal scoring, the offensive chances, the nature of the chances — getting better, but still has to get better,” GM Peter Chiarelli said. “I’m talking about heaviness on the puck, about competing, about not being stripped,” he said. “It’s a collective team thing.”

The Bruins understand that it takes goals to win hockey games. The Pastrnak move, as well as the Griffith call up, are both examples of the Bruins taking strides to give their team the best chance to get those goals.

Boston does currently hold a playoff spot; but with stalling goal scoring and nagging injuries, any number of teams currently breathing down their necks could very well come up and knock them out of that spot.

That is why nobody was resting within the Bruins organization this week. With the exception of a three hour Thanksgiving Day Dinner at Milan Lucic’s house, it was all work – top to bottom.

“I think what’s important with this group is that even with all of the injuries and everything, it can be easy to say we’re in a good spot right now,” said defensemen Torey Krug. “We’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not a satisfied group, so I think that’s really important — especially when guys start to return. We’re a hungry group looking to move up in the standings, and that’s where that sits.”

Read More

Bruins blue liners target November returns: Zdeno Chara, Tory Krug have both been out since late October

November 8th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Bruins defensemen Tory Krug and Zdeno Chara have been absent from the Boston blue line for over a week now with various injuries.

Chara has missed seven games since he tore his PCL on October 23^rd but was reportedly in good spirits when he was made available to the media Tuesday. Chara claimed to be alright and despite wearing a brace on his knee said he had been able to keep up with upper body workouts during the week.

As for when he might return, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli ‘conservatively’ estimated between four to six weeks from the date of the injury as being a possible time for Chara’s. In calendar dates that translates to a return anywhere between Thanksgiving weekend and the first week of December.

On Tuesday, Chara refused to detail any recovery plan or recalculated return day.

“I wish I could tell you guys exactly when I'm going to return," said Chara. "But as this point, it's really such a slow process, that who knows when the day is going to be."

The obvious good news that came out of Chara’s recent interactions with the media has been the reassurance that he still will likely not need surgery.

“It's always nice to be able to avoid surgery, so we'll see how it goes and obviously it was good news," he said.

The Bruins have been indecisive about Chara’s condition and what they tell the media about it. Understandably, his situation is fluid. Knee injuries like his, especially at his age have been known to take very long stretches of time to heal.

Krug’s injury however is much simpler from a medical standpoint. Krug was injured in an October 28^th game against the Wild when a hard slash broke his left pinky finger. He was seen with the finger immobilized for roughly a week after the injury before he was able to practice with the team Friday.

"It's doing well. It's coming along nicely, made some good progress the last couple days," Krug said. "And it's great to be back on the ice with my teammates, and competing and everything like that, so it's feeling better, that's for sure."  

He was seen in immense pain after the slash but was laughing it all off Friday evening.

"It's not a good feeling - obviously you could see my reaction on the ice, but it's alright. It's feeling good, feeling better and hopefully I'll be back soon,” he said.

One possible reason for his mirth might be the fact that he could very well be active for Monday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. What it will come down will be if the Bruins trainers felt confident enough in Krug’s recovery after Friday’s practice to let him play.

“…if he's given the OK by the medical staff, I'll be more than happy to put him in,” Bruins coach Claude Jullian said. “But I haven't been given the OK yet. I keep saying that - I don't anticipate anything until somebody tells me something."

If Krug does not manage to sneak into the lineup Saturday, it will actually be partially good because, as he detailed Friday, he is still struggling to get a good grip on his stick without a fully healed pinky.

“You never realize what big part your fingers play I guess, but it's just one of those things you have to get comfortable with moving on and taking those baby steps," Krug said.  

He said that most of Friday’s practice was just him trying to get his skating game back up to speed no matter when he returns.

"A couple of drills today, there was a lot more skating for the forwards and obviously being out for a week, they wanted me to get my skating legs underneath me," Krug said. "But yeah, maybe work on the hands a little bit more [too]."

The Bruins injury ridden defenders are working relentlessly to get back into game shape in the shortest time possible. The team needs that now more than ever as, not even one quarter of the way through the season, their players are suddenly getting bitten by the injury bug.

Beyond Chara and Krug, Warsofsky, Kevin Miller and center David Krejci are all battling injuries.

“Those injuries don’t always come at the greatest of times,” Julien said. “[But] we’ve just got to live with it, and adjust.”

Read More

Life without and life with collide: A look at Shawn Thornton's return to Boston

November 5th, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

Standing amidst a crowd of reporters Tuesday afternoon was a familiar Boston face.

Former Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton played seven seasons of hockey in the Hub and attracted city-wide respect as well as league wide fear during that time. He was a brute force on the ice, knocking bodies around like bowling pins and tossing off gloves like they were vile creatures. With his physical presence, will to stand up for his teammates, and still present goal scoring skill set, Thornton drew comparisons with some of the most legendary Bruins of all time.  

Just like the Terry O’Reily and Mike Milbury like players scattered throughout Bruins history, Thornton laid down a legacy of broken teeth, frequently uttered profanity and knuckle bruising helmet shots. Just like those players, he was loved by fans of the team dearly and deliriously. But above all and as has been commanded by the legal changes to the NHL rule book since O’Reily and MIlbury played, Thornton walked a line that he very rarely crossed. 

He lived by the code of hockey, rarely even attracting a second look from the department of player safety’s discipline committee and never falling onto the blacklist of hatred that many of the NHL’s top enforcers eventually land on.  

It was hard to hate Shawn Thornton and so, when Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announced this summer that salary cap contains would force the team to part ways with Thornton, there was almost universal sadness.

In a statement released that day, even Chiarelli acknowledged that.

 “I told him [Thornton] that he was one of the most significant acquisitions that we made — one, for the role that he played, and two, for the person that he is,” Chiarelli said. “It was nice to rehash his time. It was sad to tell him he wasn’t coming back.”

Soon after that though, Thornton was gone from Boston with his locker cleaned out and his legacy no longer an ongoing one. Further completing the detachment from his seven year home, he then signed a two year, $2.4 million deal with Florida.

Since then the Bruins have managed. Boston recognized the need to bring in somebody to play the role of a gritty fourth line thug and tried out quite a few such players during a rather chippy preseason.

Due to his performance and expansive body of experience, longtime AHL fighter Bobby Robins was promoted to the NHL squad. Robins was thrown into the lineup in the place of Thonrton and quickly gave fans a bit of consolation when he and Luke Schen threw down on opening night.  

Robins has actually done pretty well in the sheer fighting aspect of what the team is asking him to do. But needless to say he lacks the kind of unrivaled, leave-it-all-on-the-ice kind of leadership attitude that Thornton blessed his teammates with.   

Though he was never even considered to be a captain, Thornton was the recognized catalyst to many of the Bruins greatest moments while he was on the roster. He was the player that behind the scenes shows revealed to come into the locker-room barking encouragement and insisting that no game’s score was final until the final buzzer sounded. Beyond that, he was the kind of player and the kind of person who could, after applying generous helpings of roundhouse punches to opponents, completely change personas and become a soft spoken well-mannered member of the community.

The love for Thornton was omnipresent. The love for Thornton, solicited by any one of his actions on or off the ice, was shown when he finally returned to Boston albeit in a different sweater.

In a ceremonious gesture, Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant included Thornton in the starting lineup. That meant that he was able to have his name announced at the start of the game the act of which drew fourth the first loud cheer from Bruins fans of the night.

“It’s pretty touching, you know,” Thornton said. “To get a standing ovation in a visiting arena is pretty special and I appreciate it. The fans have always been great to me here and again tonight. It’s pretty nice.”

Among a Bruins team that has already seen several player homecomings this season, the general consensus was that this one was by far the loudest.

“Every time someone’s come back to town that’s been on our team they get one, and it was great,” Bruin winger Brad Marchand said. “He was here for a long time and the city loves him. He was a good teammate, so it was good to see and it was fun to play against him.”

Bruins coach Claude Julian agreed with his players.

“It’s nice they paid tribute to him,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “We’ve always liked Thorty, he’s an honest player and a hard-nosed player who understands his role and has always been very positive in everything he’s done. To me, he’s been a good asset to that Florida team.”

The game proceeded and Thornton went on to play a career high 16 minutes and 3 seconds. He took one shot on goal and, despite ending the night with a plus/minus rating of -1, played relatively well.

The Bruins would go on to win the game on Brad Marchand’s second overtime goal of the season. 

An honest team player, Thornton acknowledged his dissatisfaction with that result.

“I just wish we would have won but as far as getting it over with, I enjoyed it. I was looking forward to it and it was everything and more.”

For a moment, it seemed like those seven years of the Shawn Thornton fight club had never ended. He stood speaking to reporters in front of a TD Garden logo with humility in his voice and a faint bruise glistening on his cheek. But when one looked none too much further they saw the all red Florida Panthers cap atop his head and the nylon jacket with the pouncing cat upon his shoulders and chest.

As a result Bruins fans simply cheered for the one game, not the 82, that they got to see him play.

Read More

Bruins extend head coach Claude Jullian

November 3rd, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Late Sunday night the Bruins came to a contractual agreement with their head coach, Claude Julian. The deal will keep the long tenured Boston boss with the team for at least the next three seasons.

In eight seasons with the team, Julian has gone 310 and 163. He has led Boston to seven straight playoff berths and two Stanley Cup Final appearances. Furthermore, his leading the team to their 2011 Stanley Cup victory was the first time such a thing had happened in Boston for 39 years.

As a result of the success his team has had under his rule, Julian has earned team wide respect and loyalty.

"We have worked at this for a few months, but there was never any doubt in my mind that this would get done," Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said in a statement today. "Claude is one of the top coaches in the NHL and has consistently shown a passion for winning through his coaching.”

Julian has developed a “pass-first” mantra that he has in turn passed onto his players. Under him, the Bruins have consistently been one of the NHL’s top 10 teams in terms of goal scoring. Furthermore, the team has balanced their offensive abilities with defensive prowess. The latter is reflected by two the Norris trophy nominations for Bruins captain Zdeno Chara as well as the pair of Selke Trophy wins for defensive forward Patrice Bergeron.

“Coaching is a difficult profession at the best of times and what Claude does in implementing structure in his systems, and having a solid defensive foundation while allowing freedom in offensive play is no easy task,” Chiarelli said later in his statement.

This extension is Julian’s third in the Bruins organization. As with the other two extensions, Jullian’s actual salary has not and will not be disclosed.

Needless to say, the Bruins are willing to keep their coach at any cost. Up and down the lineup and beyond, his work is recognized.

"He's a great coach, obviously," said Bruins forward Brad Marchand. "His record shows it, and he really makes it easy out there.”

Marchand has improved statistically in each new season under Julian and is now among the Bruins top goal scorers. He is one of the biggest stories of Julian managed player development.

“He's always working with guys and trying to improve players' game,” Marchand said. “I get along with him really well, and we have a good working and personal relationship, so it's been great."

The Bruins are appreciative of how Julian has managed their team’s day to day proceedings. They understand what good things he has brought to Boston, both material and conceptual, and are a big reason why Julian has since climbed close to the likes of Mike Babcock for the title of longest tenured coach in hockey.

“We've had success, and it didn't take too long to get his system going, and it's paid off over the years,” said Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. “If that's the case, that's he's going to be here longer, it's good for the Bruins."

Read More

Zdeno Chara to miss 4-6 weeks with PCL tear

October 24th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

The Boston Bruins will be without their captain Zdeno Chara for the next four to six weeks. The veteran blue liner suffered an “isolated” tear to his Posterior Cruciate Ligament Thursday against the Islanders.

The injury was suffered when Chara laid a hard but clean hit on Islanders star John Tavares. At the time, Chara showed no signs of distress and played out the remainder of his late first period shift. However, immediately after getting to the bench, he was escorted back to the locker room from which he would not emerge for the rest of the game.

Late Friday morning, Peter Chiarelli announced that Chara had suffered an injury to his PCL, a ligament located in the back of the knee, opposite the ACL.

"Good news is it's isolated to that ligament. Bad news is he's out four to six weeks," Chiarelli said. "It might be a little bit earlier than four weeks, but a conservative time frame would be four to six weeks."

The 37 year old Chara will be sorely missed on the Bruins blue line. His high ice time and league renowned slap shot are appreciated by the Bruins meaning that their absence will be painfully felt.

As a result the Bruins are well aware of the fact that they will need to up their game to fill the void left by Chara. The play of defenders like veteran, Dennis Sidenberg as well as young blue liners like Zach Trotman, Tory Krug and Dougie Hamilton will be crucial in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, the Bruins front office, one that takes pride in the depth it creates at each position insists that the many players remaining will be able to make things work for the next month or so.

"There's no discouragement in that room. There's no issues there at all, to be honest," coach Claude Julien said. "It's more about it's opportunities for players, and if we become that bad of a team because of one player, it's not a real good sign for our hockey club. ... You've got to hope that your team is strong enough as a whole to overcome these things. Did we lose a good player? We did. Is he a big part of our team? Yes, he is. But I'd like to think we're better than that, than feeling sorry for ourselves, or be discouraged. That's not the case in our dressing room right now."

Chara’s injury comes as a big blow to a Bruins team that had just this week gotten back to a .500 winning percentage. But the Bruins believe that they can fill his role until he returns and are appreciative of the quick diagnosis.

Speaking in regards to his personal logic regarding time missed, Chiarelli said, "He's one of the premier defensemen in the league, but I'd rather have it four to six weeks than four to six months."

Read More

Bruins roster taking shape ahead of season opener

October 7th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

In the past week or so, the Boston hockey universe has been abuzz with talk of trades, demotions and contested promotions. 

On Friday, Johnny Boychuk was traded to the Islanders. Just a few hours after the Boychuk trade was finalized, the remaining Bruins took the ice in Detroit as they provided their final auditions for parts on this year’s starting roster. Guys like Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak were tested hard and often in the game that culminated in a shootout in which the two were Boston’s only shooters.

Members of the Providence blue line made their case to be picked to fill the role of Dennis Sidenberg’s defensive pairing left by Boychuk while many other players who had since been cut watched from afar.

By Tuesday night, just under 24 hours before the regular season kicked off, the roster had begun to take shape.

Perhaps the most talked about young prospect in this year’s preseason, David Pastrnak, was informed of his destination for the 2014 season Tuesday afternoon. In short, he has none; at least not now.

“We’ll have a little more time to watch and assess him,” Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli said.

Pastrnak missed much of the preseason with a shoulder injury making the Bruins indecisiveness understandable.

“We'd like to see him down there and play some games. It’s a good opportunity to have him on our soil and close by to watch him,” Chiarelli said. “In two or three weeks we’ll look at it and make a decision as to what the next step is.”

Thanks to a team friendly rookie contract, the Bruins have the freedom to have Pastrnak play in the AHL, send him back to the Swedish Elite League where he spent last season or call him up to Boston. Furthermore they could foreseeably toss Pastrnak into an awkward back and forth transit between Providence and Boston. Basically they have very little that they need to commit to in regards to Pastrnak.

Beyond him however, the Bruins shook things up in much more unexpected way Tuesday when they announced that 33 year old Bobby Robins had earned himself a roster spot.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Robins said. “It definitely proves that sticking to the game plan and the program of just working hard every day, and getting a little bit better every day and over the course of a long time -- nine years actually -- so over the course of that long time you can improve and get better and accomplish your dream.”

Robins’ is a long story. 9 years in the AHL have spawned 81 fights and a painful list of concussions and upper body injuries for him. His massive 220 pound frame is a mix of the hard skating power of Milan Luchic and the fists-flying ferocity of Shawn Thornton. The latter of those two established NHL’ers just so happens to, by no instance of coincidence, be the sole reason Robins made the cut this year.

In the wake of Thornton’s signing with Florida, the Bruins needed an enforcer. 9 years in the violent street fight league that the AHL can sometimes periodically become have made it so that Robins can be that.

“In Providence he was a great forechecker. As Claude said, he finished all his checks, he’s a hard player,” Chiarelli said. “Right through this camp he’s shown that he’s belonged, and it’s a great story.”

Robins does not deny that his place on this roster was not earned through skill but rather through physical power. He literally fought his way to where he is now.

“When you’re playing that style of hockey, fights are going to happen,” Robins said. “I’m going to be playing that style. I’m looking to hit guys and get on the forecheck. Then when somebody challenges you, that’s when you fight. All the stage fights are getting weeded out of the game, but when you’re playing with passion and fury, fights are going to happen and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Between the decision to not do anything drastic with Pastrnak and the impressive leap of faith to bump Robins up to Boston, the Bruins were praised by fans. Though they had not yet erased the confused pain solicited by the loss of Boychuk, the front office proved that they were doing what was best for the team.

But not everything was so fun in Boston Tuesday.

Former Edmonton Oiler, Simon Gange lost his battle with Ryan Spooner for the title of 3^rd line right winger. Also, highly touted goaltending prospect Malcom Subban lost a close race with Niklas Svedberg for the backup goalie spot late last week. He will start 2014 in Providence.

Lastly, the Bruins were dished a major blow when it was deemed that 2^nd line center, David Krejci would be unable to make Wednesday’s start.

Krejci missed Tuesday’s practice following an injury suffered when he collided with the boards in last weekend’s preseason finale. He was placed on IR Tuesday afternoon meaning that he would have to sit out at least 7 calendar days following the injury.

After the missed practice, Krejci was non-descript in regards to the actual injury and how it was suffered.

 “I don’t really want to talk about exactly what happened. It didn’t feel good enough to finish the game, so I was just being cautious,” Krejci said. “Obviously, I wasn’t on the ice today. It didn’t heal as fast as I would like to, so I would say it’s kind of day-to-day. We’ll see when I wake up tomorrow and how it feels tomorrow.”

His veteran presence on the back half of the Bruins 1-2 offensive punch will be sorely missed verses Philadelphia. However at the same time, if the injury is to his upper body, starting a game like this, against a team as physical at the Flyers could be greatly detrimental to his long-term health.

After an offseason of roster turnover, there are many questions being asked of the Bruins ahead of their opener. Those questions cannot be answered with words, rather, they must be and they will be answered by actions in Wednesday’s game. 

Read More

Peter Chiarelli addresses media on Boychuk trade: GM says trade part of bigger plan for team

October 26th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli spoke to media Saturday regarding the recent trade of Johnny Boychuk to the New York Islanders. In the conference, the longtime Bruins chess master explained his thinking as he “consummated” the trade while also recognizing the sadness felt by Bruins fans and players alike as Boychuk packed his bags.  

Early Saturday afternoon, Arthur Staple of Newsday reported via Twitter that Boychuk had been traded to the Islanders. It was later revealed that Boston would be getting two guaranteed second round picks in the 2015 and 2016 drafts as well as a third round pick in 2015 is Boychuk is traded to another Eastern Conference team.

“This is a tough trade we all like Johnny,” Chiarelli said in his opening statement. “I talked to him shortly after the trade was consummated and he was upset, I was upset too.”

Boychuk first came to Boston in a steal of a trade orchestrated by Chiarelli back in 2008. Since then, he had won a Stanley Cup and honed his brutal shot nicknamed the “Johnny Rocket” by Bruins play by play announcer Jack Edwards.

On the ice, he was known for herculean hits at the blue line and yet once he took off his skates, he was described by many as a friendly, funny person.

“He’s very well liked, he’s bummed and I’m sure the guys are probably bummed at me for doing this.” Chiarelli conceded.

Throughout the 20 odd minute press conference, Chiarelli did not deny the harsh reality of the trade. The Bruins fan base was an unsettled one Saturday afternoon with accusations of incompetence on Chiarelli’s part coming in bunches. Throughout the conference he apologized overtly for what this trade appeared to do to the hockey team.

“Obviously, this does not makes us better now but when I look at it in a series of steps I think it was the right decision,” he said.

As of now, this trade is all part of a bigger plan that Chiarelli outlined Saturday.

“I look at this globally as part of a few moves I want to make. This is stuff we have to peck away at and unfortunately, this [the Boychuk trade] is the stuff we have to start with.”

This was a deal bourn from financial constraints and made on similar terms. It would have taken too much money for the Bruins to resign him at season’s end.

“I’m not goanna put a number on it, part of my job is projecting the market and I see where Johnny’s market is going and I commend him”

He also insisted that the questions as to why the team did not wait until the deadline at which point they could have fetched a bigger return, are moot.

“You say here is what you would have got from him at the deadline but that is not what would have happened, if we kept him we would have had him play the season out.”

In the end, the deal hurts. Boychuk was a great player for Boston and the Bruins fan base is rather unhappy to see him go. But Peter Chiarelli knew he had to make the deal and though better decisions in the past could have helped avert a situation like this, the Bruins GM was smart in the way he addressed the media Saturday.

“We want to get better as a team and sometimes you just can't do it in one step, that's how I see this,” he said.

Read More