If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times: in order for the Boston Bruins to make a legitimate run at the Stanley Cup, they must add depth to their blue-line.
It’s been proven time-and-time again; when the blue-line starts dropping — especially in the playoffs — finding last minute replacements can be tough when those potential needs aren’t addressed by the seasons’ trade deadline.
Can’t make it to any Boston Bruins preseason games this year? The B’s affiliates, Providence Bruins, are entering their 19th season in the AHL and have released their 2010-11 preseason schedule earlier Thursday.
Two scheduled preseason games will be held in Massachusetts: Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010 at 7:05 p.m. EST against the Worcester Sharks at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, MA — and Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 versus the Springfield Falcons the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA, at 7:00 p.m. EST.
The 2010-11 AHL regular season begins on Oct. 8, 2010, with the P-Bruins hosting Springfield at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. The complete schedule will be announced later this month.
Providence Bruins season tickets and Flex Tix packages are on sale now for the 2010-11 AHL season. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the P-Bruins ticket office at (401) 273-5000 or log on to the team website atwww.providencebruins.com.
The Boston Bruins announced earlier this afternoon that two of their preseason Rookie Games against the New York Islanders will now be hosted at the TD Garden in on Sept. 15 & 16 — both starting at 7:00 p.m. EST. The two exhibition contests were riginally scheduled to be held in Shelton, CT.
Tickets to the two rookie games can be purchased for five bucks ($500) through Ticketmaster beginning Thursday, Aug. 19 at 10:00 a.m. ET and on bostonbruins.com. Tickets will also be available at the TD Garden Box Office during regular Box Office hours with the proceeds going to the Boston Bruins Foundation.
The B’s full training camp opens on Friday, September 17; their full 82-game schedule for their 2010-11 NHL season can be seen here; and preseason schedule here.
As the off-season begins to slowly wind down, the Boston Bruins lineup is more or less complete. Barring any unforeseen surprises in training camp, there seems to be a general consensus as to what the team will look like come opening night in early October. While most major roles have been established this off-season, there is one position left unfilled, as it has been for quite some time now: The Bruins lack a genuine agitator.
Toughness in the NHL has been redefined over the past few years, and the “goon” is a dying breed. The speed of the game, along with the wealth of talent on depth charts has made the “pure tough guy” somewhat obsolete. Players who can get under opponents skin, test the patience of everyone on the ice, and still post 25-30 points a year have become far more valuable asset for a team to have. Read the rest of this entry »
When Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli announced the three-year entry-level signing of the second overall pick in this year’s draft, Tyler Seguin, yesterday, the team continued to go over the $54.9 million cap ceiling for the 2010-11 NHL season. However there’s no need to fret, as the general manager of the Black-and-Gold organization has a grasp on the situation while filing a Stanley Cup-contending roster here in The Hub.
There are currently 22 Bruins players who are signed and ready-to-go for this upcoming season; all looking for redemption after their historical seven-game collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers last May.
It took Blake Wheeler and the Boston Bruins a weekend trip to Toronto and a meeting with an arbitrator to agree to financial terms. But at the end of the day, or three days, the two sides met halfway and can now focus on the task at hand: preparing for the 2010-11 NHL season.
The Boston Bruins made it official this morning by accepting the arbitrator’s ruling and inking 23-year-old Blake Wheeler to a one-year, $2.2 million deal for the upcoming 2010-11 NHL season.
“It is never a pleasant experience for either side to go to arbitration,” said Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli. “However, as a manager, you know that the player will be under contract for the following year either way. We talked to Blake before and after the hearing and we are satisfied to have a good, young player under contract
for another year.”
With the signing, we now know the Bruins have surpassed the NHL-set $59.4 million salary cap limit for the season. Fortunately the Bruins still have until Oct. 9 (opening night in Prague) to make that number.
There will be a conference call in the next hour to media. More later.
After two days of deliberation, Elizabeth Neumeier—the arbitrator in Blake Wheeler’s hearing—yesterday set the 23-year-old’s 2010-11 NHL salary at $2.2 million. And this morning, the Bruins made quick work of their own 48-hour window to make a decision and accepted the arbitrator’s ruling by inking Wheeler to the one-year deal.
The Bruins had three options during that two-day thinking period, but keeping No. 26 was a no-brainer. Although the $2.2 million deal put Boston over the cap, Boston still has some time to get their payroll back down to the $59.4 million ceiling.
The first of three was the most unlikely of scenarios: Boston could have ‘walked away’ from No. 26 and his $2.2 million award. If the Bruins had exercised this right, then the 6′5″ Wheeler would have become an unrestricted free-agent, and the club would have received zero compensation for the former first-round draft pick.
The arbitration hearing between the Boston Bruins and their restricted free-agent (RFA) Blake Wheeler was held this morning in Toronto, Canada, after the two sides failed come to a mutual contract agreement. A player can only go to arbitration once in his NHL career, so this will be the first and last time Wheeler can use this bargaining tool to settle any future contract disputes.
“[the hearing] Went well – not contentious at all.” Wheeler’s agent Matt Keator told TheHubofHockey.net this afternoon. “Professionally done on both sides”
After working ten hours last night and thinking about the recent Ilya Kovalchuk signing, I was pretty stoked to come home and see that the NHL had rejected the ludicrous $102M contract that was to keep the 27-year-old phenom in New Jersey for the next 17-years.
After years of NHL general managers finding loopholes to circumvent the current Collective Bargaining Agreement’s (CBA) regulations on players’ salaries, the NHL has finally had enough and stepped-in to help salvage a bit of its integrity.
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Mark has been covering the Boston Bruins since 2007 and is a current member of the PHWA. His work has been published on CBSSports, TheHockeyWriters, and ProHockeyNews.
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