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.
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 »
Photo: NESN.com
The Bruins recent drought in goals is nothing new this season for the boys in Black-and-Gold.
Up until the final minute of last night’s 2-1 loss, Boston had gone nearly seven playoff periods without hitting the back of the net. Akin to the regular season where the Bruins finished dead-last in the NHL with 2.39 goals-for per game, their anemic sniping-sticks have come out of hibernation once again.
Along with the recent riposte of struggles to light the lamp comes many excuses and finger pointing to why. Some people yelp in the direction of non-contributing players such as Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler, while others pull the “injuries” excuse. Some even accost the Bruins’ management for not bringing in a goal-scorer on the NHL’s trade deadline.
The latter of excuses cannot be further from the true reason.
B's fans should want to see this around 9:30 p.m. tonight
For the first time ever, Bruins’ fans have a reason, and an excuse, to be rooting for their long-time nemesis and rivaled Habs, as a Canadiens victory could favor Boston’s semifinals matchup
With their series tied up 3-3, the No. 1 seed Washington Capitals host the No. 8 Montreal Canadiens in the series-deciding Game 7 of the Conference quarterfinals tonight at 7:00 p.m. inside the Verizon Center.
With Bruins’ defenseman Zdeno Chara now cleared to play in Game 6 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Colin Campbell and the NHL should still review the video footage of last night’s near-melee that occurred between the B’s and Sabres.
With less than a second remaining in the game in last night’s 4-1 loss, (watch video here), Buffalo’s Paul Gaustad decided it would be a good idea to slash the back of Chara’s legs/skates. What unfolded was Chara dropping the gloves with Gaustad, while defensemen Craig Rivet and — AHL call-up — Cody McCormick were the third- and fourth-men in the altercation.
Here’s what the NHL rules says about the third man in who intervene in a fight:
“47.16 Third Man In – A game misconduct penalty, at the discretion of the Referee, shall be imposed on any player or goalkeeper who is the first to intervene (third man in) in an altercation already in progress except when a match penalty is being imposed in the original altercation. This penalty is in addition to any other penalties incurred in the same incident.
For a team that has ranked dead-last in the NHL in goals-for virtually all season long, the natural reaction would be to call for forward who can find the back of the net.
Likewise, as the Bruins remain in the top-5 in goals-against average for the majority of the season – especially in the second half of the season – to say their true need upon the Mar. 3 NHL trade deadline was added defense to their blue-line was near blasphemy to some people. But as we witnessed once again today, the Bruins lack of depth on their blue-line proved once again why this was in fact, their public enemy No. 1.
But now that Mark Stuart has hit the shelf for at least two weeks, injuries — as it has been all season long for Boston — are bound to happen. Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick each logged over 27 minutes of ice time during their 2-1 OT win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Comfortable with that in the playoffs? [Read more ---->]
`He’s a reckless player and someday someone is going to make him eat his lunch,” said Flyers’ head coach at the time, Ken Hitchcock. “He’s going to get it someday, and it’s going to be harsh.
This is something in my opinion that the players should take care of.” added Hitchcock.
“He two-handed me across the face.” said the fat-lipped Recchi after the game. “It might not come from our team, it might come from some other team, but he will because he’s cheap and he does stupid stuff like that. He’d better learn to protect himself.”
On Mar. 5, 2004 – one-week after the Halvat cheapshot – Philly hosted Ottawa as the two top-teams in their respective Divisions’ squared-off. Nonetheless, the bad blood carried over and escalated into an NHL-record-breaking 419 penalty minutes in the 60-minute contest. Five separate brawls took place – goaltenders included – and the ejections of 16 different players occurred within the final two-minutes of the third period. (The old NHL record for most penalty minutes in a game was 406, set by the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins in 1981)
A name synonymous in Boston amongst the Bruins faithful as a cheapshot, marked-man, and public enemy No. 1; Randy Jones is an afterthought now. Yes, the Bruins backers now have a new enemy — rightfully so — in Pennsylvania, named Matt “bleepin” Cooke.
The video is out there in may different angles, speeds, and formats. Replay it over and over 100 times and the action and result is still the same.
Unfortunately, we can’t turn back the clock to let Shawn Thornton or Zdeno Chara loose and vent their retributions on the cheap, cantankerous Matt Cooke in hindsight. After all, this wasn’t Cooke’s first debut in cheapshots: it was just his latest. I do agree, however, that some sort of retaliation was merited, especially with over five minutes remaining in the third. But that time will have to wait until the B’s finish-up their seven-game road-trip when they head back to the TD Garden on Thursday, Mar. 18 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Their opponents: Pittsburgh Penguins.
Surely Cooke should be handed down a suspension from the NHL’s Sr. VP and Director of Hockey Operations, Colin “The Sherriff” Campbell. And what perfect timing for a cheap head-shot like this to occur [if there's any positive to come out of it] as the NHL’s general managers meeting undergoes today. But for when and for how long remains to be seen. While Black-and-Gold fans would love for to Cooke relieve a well-deserved 10-game suspension, that would run into Mar. 18 reunion between the two Eastern Conference team.
With the Olympic roster freeze now lifted, the 30 general managers across the NHL have until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Mar. 3, to make any transactions amongst each other.
One player who is looking to find a new home with a contending team is Atlanta Thrashers forward Vyacheslav Kozlov. The 37-year-old is playing in his seventh season with the Thrashers, and has just 24 points and a minus-16 through 52 games with the club. Kozlov, in five of his six prior seasons in Atlanta, had netted 20-plus-goals and 50-plus-points — including four seasons of 70 or more points.
From TSN: “I don’t know if I’m going to be on this team or another team,” Kozlov told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If we can find a team which I like and which is good for me and my family I will go. If not, I’m going to be here.
With coach not playing me, what can you do? That’s why I feel I could go play for somebody that needs my help. If so, I’ll waive my no trade clause.”
What does this have to do with the Boston Bruins? Absolutely nothing.
However, if Peter Chiarelli is in fact looking for another inconsistent and over-paid gamble, Kozlov could could be an option.
“Obviously, you look at the statistics, and it’s our scoring, it’s bad” said Chiarelli, “so you want to get some type of top-nine forward that has an offensive bend to his game. There’s not many out there.”
But from the Bruins financial standpoint, the impending UFA Kozlov has a cap-hit of $3.66MM for this season. No thanks. Not worth it. [see: Ryder, Michael & Sturm, Marco]
Since the Thrashers’ general manager Don Waddell looks as though he’s going to be a seller rather than a buyer, there could be another option or two for Chiarelli to explore down in Atlanta.
Now I’m still convinced the Bruins need a defenseman first and foremost — and they missed the train on Jordan Leopold — but Maxim Afinogenov is an impending UFA forward out of Atlanta that may help the Bruins’ scoring woes. The 30-year-old right-winger leads the team with 19 goals and second amongst all Thrashers with 46 total points [13 on the PP] through 60 games played. With numbers like that, the Moscow, Russia, native would look like this in Boston:
Goals: 1st [19]
Assists: 2nd [27]
Points: 1st [46]
Shots on goal: 4th [141]
PP goals: T-3rd [5]
Afinogenov, drafted by Buffalo back in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, played with the Sabres over the course of nine NHL seasons. A few very good — and very bad — seasons and couple of groin injuries, the left-handed winger, akin to Michael Ryder in Montreal, was laughed out of town when he hit the free-agency date.
An invite to the Thrashers training camp on Sept. 17, 2009, Afinogenov signed a one-year contract with Atlanta on Sept. 29, 2009. Now on pace for a career-best 26 goals, No. 61 could be a viable option for a playoff team like the Bruins. The price tag should be reasonable enough for the Bruins if the recent transactions around the NHL are any indication: Jeopold to Pittsburgh for a second-round pick, Dominic Moore to Montreal for a second-round pick, Matt Cullen to Ottawa for a defenseman and a second-round pick.
Boston owns a total of five second-round picks in the next two NHL Entry Drafts; and 11 total picks in the first three rounds over the next two.
So, sending a second-round pick [either from Tampa Bay, Toronto, or Boston] to Waddell and the Thrashers for Afinogenov is a hypothetical trade option, which would make sense for both GM’s. Afinogenov is a veteran with good experience: 10-13-23 in 49 NHL playoff games. And at an $800K cap-hit on the season, the “gamble” on the 30-year-old Afinogenov would be about the same, financially, as the “Miroslav Satan Experiment” — which we all know isn’t working.
As the Mar. 3 trade deadline approaches, there will be some teams in the NHL who will be buyers to make their last minute push through the playoffs, and some will be sellers while looking to rebuild down the road. And then there will be a handful of teams who just can’t wait for this 2009-10 season to end.
When it comes to the Boston Bruins, I think we’ve all realized that this team is just a distant memory from the 116-point team from one-year ago, and unfortunately, is not a legitimate contender for Lord Stanley’s Cup. The B’s have shown glimpses here and there, but nothing consistent enough to make even the biggest of fans think that this team can compete with powerhouse teams such as San Jose, Chicago, or Washington in a seven-game-series. The Black-and-Gold backers recently watched the New Jersey Devils land their big fish while shattering their dreams of watching Ilya Kovalchuk skate on Marc Savard’s wing for the remainder of the season.
But that’s not to say that this season is over. Overcoming their 10-game winless-streak throughout January, the Bruins went 4-0-0 in their last four games before this Olympic break — plus gaining 10 points in their last six contests – to find themselves back in the Eastern Conference playoff picture [65 points, 7th place].
Darren Dregger of TSN.ca reported this on Twitter yesterday: “Following a previous tweet. Look for the Bruins to add a d-man when the freeze lifts. No agreement on the deal yet, though.”
On Friday night before the Saturday Bruins vs. Panthers game, I wrote a piece about the Bruins’ need for a solid defenseman, and how they should be eyeing Jordan Leopold and Dennis Seidenberg. In fact, I even wrote aboutLeopold on Examiner back on Jan. 6 when Andrew Ference hit the shelf with another groin injury.
With the mess that’s going on in Florida, my first guess on Dreger’s Tweet would be Leopold [$1.5MM, UFA]. Sexton has already said that no player is safe from a trade, so I think Chiarelli looks there first.
Second: Dan Hamhuis of the Nashville Predators [$2MM, UFA]. Probably a slightly higher price tag to trade for than Leopold.
Third [and least likely]: James Wisniewski of the Anaheim Duck [$2.75MM, RFA]
As we saw here in Boston last year with the Phil Kessel saga, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli had five months [Jul. 1 - Dec. 1] to either sign or trade the 22-year-old RFA Kessel. Throughout the cat-and-mouse game of whether or not Chiarelli would match an offer sheet that was presented to Kessel or not, Maple Leaf’s general manager Brian Burke went the more courteous route by offering the Bruins a trade for Kessel’s rights. And on Sept. 18, 2009, Phil Kessel was finally out of town and official property of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The outcome: better draft picks for Boston [2010 first- and second-rounders, plus a first-round pick in 2011] than what the Collective Bargaining Agreement [CBA] would have required Burke to forfeit if he had just extended a contract offer sheet to Kessel [first-, second-, and third-round pick in 2010].
Now, long story short, the Bruins have a plethora of future draft picks – 11, in fact, in the first three rounds over the next two years.
One player who is an impending RFA on Jul. 1, 2010, is Anaheim Ducks’ power forward, Bobby Ryan.
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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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