The Basement, It's Called Bruins

Today, amid tons of excitement on the Boston sports scene, fans pretty much summed up the Bruins place in the happenings. The Boston Globe website offered this pole question. "Which Boston team will end up having the most buzz, Redsox-Celtics-Patriots-or Bruins? It was close early, but the Redsox have a commanding lead in the pole as of now with around 60%. The Celts and Pats are really close, with around 20% each. In last are the Bruins with, get this, 1.9%. If they added the New England Revolution, they would probably beat the Bruins. Hell, if you added the Ringling Brothers circus, it would probably beat the Bruins. All three other Boston teams have one thing in common, they do what it takes to field a winner, granted the Celtics took their time doing it, but they still got it done. The Bruins could never make a deal comparable to the KG move, since trading their entire roster probably wouldnt be seen as enough compensation. Soon, the seats in the Garden may be green and white rather than yellow and black since the Celtics will dominate ticket sales this season before even setting foot on the floor. Manny Fernandez just doesnt generate that kind of buzz, suprised?

Player Profile: Tim Thomas

Here is week 2 of the Player Profile series showing the candidates for the Bruins starting goalie spot this fall. This week is highlighting Tim "The Tank" Thomas. A Native of Davison, Michigan (near Flint), Thomas was the number one goalie at the University of Vermont during all four years he was there from 1993-94 until 1996-97. He was an ECAC All-Star and NCAA All-American during his sophomore and junior seasons. Tim was selected by Quebec Nordiques in ninth round (217th overall) of the 1994 Entry Draft. However, Thomas waited to sign with the team, choosing to finish his time at UVM and then signed with HIFK Helsinki of the Finnish Elite League after stumbling in the ECHL and IHL. Thomas returned to Europe until 2002, when he signed by the Bruins. It was this year Thomas finally made his NHL debut, and defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3. After playing the next season in Providence, Thomas yet again left for Finland. During the lockout, he played for Jokerit Helsinki, where he played almost every game and was the teams MVP. Thomas chose to return to Boston the next season, creating controversy when he evoked an escape clause in his contract the left Jokerit without a starting goalie. Thomas began the year in Providence, but when both Andrew Raycroft and Hannu Toivonen got hurt, Tim was called up. In his first game, nationally televised on NBC, Thomas lost a shootout 2-1 to Dallas, stopping 37 of 38 shots, and certainly should have won. We all know what happened from there. You cant finish a Tim Thomas article without mentioning the "Mage". The mage is a combination of the two headwear options for goalies, a mask or a cage. Some people love it other hate it, but Tim likes the mask he created in order to increase air circulation inside his helmet.Prediction for Thomas in '07- Backup or Platoon to/with Fernandez.

Preseason Schedule

Official Release from the Boston Bruins:

BOSTON BRUINS 2007 PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE

Tue., Sept. 18 N.Y. Islanders at St. John's, Newfoundland 7:00 PM

Thu., Sept. 20 New Jersey at Manchester, NH 7:00 PM ET

Sat., Sept. 22 Toronto at TD Banknorth Garden 4:00 PM ET

Sun., Sept. 23 Montreal at Halifax, Nova Scotia 4:00 PM AT

Thu., Sept. 27 Montreal at Bell Center, Montreal 7:30 PM ET

Sun., Sept. 30 N.Y. Islanders at TD Banknorth Garden 4:00 PM ET

(Not Really Breaking) News: Toivinen to St. Louis

Being a Bruins fan, I wasn't at all surprised by the fact Hannu Toivonen was traded today to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for centre Carl Soderberg. What did surprise me is the Bruins actually appeared to get decent value back. Soderberg has never played in the NHL, or North America for that matter. He is a big body, and at 21 he still has plenty of time left to develop. Carl pretty much killed any chance of playing in St. Louis when he refused to report to the AHL after not making the team last season. As for Hannu, everyone knew his time was up in Boston. Once thought of as the star goalie of the future, Toivonen just never found his groove, very possibly as a result of being rushed by a bad team. With a depth chart of Fernandez, Thomas, and Rask it was a foregone conclusion that Hannu and his salary weren't going to spend another year on the Providence-Boston shuttle.

*On another topic, the Bruins and Blues are becoming very comfortable trading partners, having made three deals this past year, including the deadline deal when Petie C, desperate for change, was hosed into giving up Brad Boyes for Dennis Wideman.

*Other News- the B's have resigned checking line winger Jeff Hoggan to a one year two-way contract worth $495,000. I'm not sure why this money is being spent. Hoggan was often a healthy scratch last year and really did nothing to establish himself as a keeper.

Player Profile: Manny Fernandez

This is the first in a four week series of profiles on the candidates for the Bruins starting goalie job, in order of their likely hood to get the job. The first profile is Manny Fernandez. Acquired in a trade from Minnesota during the draft, Fernandez is classified as a high risk-high reward pickup by Boston. Manny was born August 27, 1974 in Etobicoke, Ontario. His father, Marc is a native of Casablanca, Morocco and said to be of Portuguese descent. His mother is Canadian and the sister of NHL legend and current Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, and Manny's coach from '00 till last season. Contrary to popular belief, Fernandez is not Mexican and is predominately French-Canadian and has lived in the land of the leaf all his life. Manny was selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the 4th round of the 1992 NHL Draft. In 1994, he was traded to the Dallas Stars, the first team he played for in the NHL, and backed up Eddie Belfour after Roman Turek left for St. Louis. After failing to prove himself in Big D, Fernandez became the starting goalie for the expansion Minnesota Wild. Here, Manny appeared to find his niche, but was terribly inconsistent, loosing the starting job first to Dwayne Roloson, then to Nik Backstrom. The jury is certainly still out on Fernandez, some say he is a solid goalie and one of the most underrated players in the league, others say Manny is inconsistent, whiny and a poor teammate. Guess we'll have to wait and see in Beantown. 2007 Prediction- Starting Goalie

Donovan to Ottawa; Schaefer to Boston

Well, it's Tuesday which means its question day. No one sent any in but I have some questions for Peter Chiarelli. Spector first reported it and now various sources confirm last night the Bruins traded winger Sean Donovan to the Ottawa Senators for winger Peter Schaefer. (My hyperlink button isnt working, Yahoo sports has the player profile, just plug his name into Google.)This is just another deal I dont understand, recently Charlie Jacobs made one of his very few insightful comments "We need to get grittier", and that somehow prompts the trading of your teams grittiest player for and average scoring wing? While Schaefer beats out Donovan in assists last season and doubled his goals (11), we dont really need that guy. Stan Chistov can be THAT guy, who can be Sean Donovan, certainly not Peter Schaefer. Most strange about this deal, the Bruins took on Peter's 2.1 million dollar salary and only lost 925K on Donovan's. There is a theme here, do you have overpriced, over hyped, underachieving players, dump them on the Bruins.

MLK Day '08

The 2007-08 Bruins schedule was released this week, and as I do every year, I scrolled to a Monday in mid-January (MLK Day) to see who the Bruins were playing in the annual matinee game I have been at for the last five seasons (during the lockout, the trip shifted to a high school game in Glastonbury, CT). To my incredible disappointment there is no game on Monday, January 21, 2008. I checked the schedule again after confirming this was indeed the date of the holiday, it was and there was still no game. I've been checking for 3 days and have now resigned myself to the fact a game isn't going to appear. Thanks for another disappointment Bruins!
P.S. The Xavier schedule makers definatlety need to schedule a game for 1:00 on Monday, January 21, just throwing it out there.

Development Camp

I know its been a long time since I've written, but its been a very busy week around here. The Bruins of the future just finished up their development camp at Ristuccia Arena, the Bruins training facility in Wilmington, Mass. For some reason, gas in Wilmington is always around $.50 cheaper than everywhere else, why? Back to hockey, alot of the young prospects made a good impression on the Bruins coaching staff. I was going to write about the players, but Fluto Shizawa from the Globe did a good review, and I'm going to post that below. One of the off-ice highlights for the guys at camp was a trip to Fenway Park, during which Zach Hamill and Tuukka Rask appeared on the Pre-Game Show and Hamill threw out the first pitch. All the players enjoyed a private box, on which was for many of them, their first trip to Fenway, or for some the first pro baseball game of any kind. Here is Fluto's analysis of the prospects in camp:

Byron Bitz
Good size and good hands... Needs to pick up his skating and play more physical.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Chris Collins
In much better shape than when he arrived in training camp last season... Decent speed and hands... Needs to be scrappier and play with an edge.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Alain Goulet
Fluid skater with good skill set... Needs to put on bulk and develop in college.
2007-08: Nebraska-Omaha (CCHA)

Zach Hamill
Has skill set as advertised by his draft position... Can create offense in tight spaces... Average skating and good release... Projects to be solid two-way center.
2007-08: Everett (WHL)

Matt Hunwick
One of the most impressive players in camp... Terrific skater and excellent hockey sense... Strong for his size and not afraid to mix it up... Could get an NHL callup sooner rather than later. 2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Martins Karsums
Bowling ball of a player who can skate well and has decent hands... Needs to stay healthy as second-year pro... Might be a third-line winger in the NHL in coming years.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

David Krejci
Far and away the best player in camp with the best skill set... Showed last year that he's capable of dominating AHL... Held back in camp but plays with an edge... Should be a big-leaguer, depending on how Claude Julien deploys his forwards.
2007-08: Boston (NHL)

Mikko Lehtonen
Smooth skater for a player his size... Good release on a heavy shot... Must play more physical.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Milan Lucic
Skilled for a big man and responsible on defense... Can see with several more years of development that he could be a good NHLer... Good straight-ahead skater, but needs to move on quick movement.
2007-08: Vancouver (WHL)

Adam McQuaid
Size makes him a commodity... Needs to work on side-to-side skating... Could use a few more pounds to play the physical game.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Radim Ostrcil
Raw but has skill set that coaches can work with... Fluid skater with good release if not the hardest shot... Could become an offensive defenseman.
2007-08: Ottawa (OHL)

Wacey Rabbit
Has skill set similar to Martins Karsums... Good skater with okay hands but tireless worker... Third-line winger in pros.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Tuukka Rask
Has the tools (size, quickness, athleticism, awareness) to become elite netminder... Competes and shows confidence on and off the ice... Must put on pounds.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Kevin Regan
Solid performer who will turn out to be a bargain... Hard worker who understands how he can play and what he needs to do... Will carry a heavy workload for the Wildcats.
2007-08: New Hampshire (Hockey East)

Denis Reul
Considered a project but did everything asked of him in camp... Projects to be a defensive defenseman who can hit and play the rough stuff... Will benefit from several years in major junior.
2007-08: Lewiston (QMJHL)

T.J. Trevelyan
Went undrafted and under the radar, but showed as first-year pro in 2006-07 that he can score goals... Not the best skater but puts himself in position to contribute offensively... Could be a midseason callup if Bruins need scoring help.
2007-08: Providence (AHL)

Bring Back Dale

Today, the Bruins reported the most devastating news since the trade of Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks. The contract of home play by play man Dale Arnold was not renewed and road pxp man Jack Edwards will take over all the games. You may know Edwards as the guy who talks over everyone else and never lets color guy Andy Brickley get a word in. Edwards has a very limited knowledge of hockey and tends to repeat the same stories over and over. Arnold was the signature voice of todays Bruins, I can't imagine any reason not to bring him back this season. With hockey ratings continuing to decline this is not the kind of move you want to make. Edwards makes me less likely to watch the game, although I almost always do anyway, but some less devoted fans may be completely turned off. NESN should reconsider their decision. If you agree with me sign my online petition, as pitiful as it might be at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/edwardsucks

A REAL Question!!!

This is a first here on Ask LaMalfa, someone has actually asked me a question, actually TWO questions so here goes:

Q: do you think that the draft age should be raised to 20 like it was? at 18 if someone comes out of juniors and isnt good enough for the nhl, they have to send them back to their junior teams where they can re-enter the draft and sign with another team. this is what happened to joe thornton. he was too good for juniors but not good enough for the nhl. this required him to stay in nhl and struggle. obviously he has had a great career but i could see something like that ruin a player and lose his confidence. what do you think?

A: Interesting question, but as far as I know, guys who are struggling in the NHL are usually sent to an AHL farm club until their ready. They dont have to be sent back to juniors. Also, under NHL rules the player remains property of the team that drafted him for a certain length of time. The reason he stayed up was the Bruins were bad, and wanted him to develop. While the rules of the NHL draft are far from perfect, if a guy is ready at 18, let him develop. Under your rule change, Sidney Crosby would be starting his rookie season this fall and while I agree he is over hyped, that wouldnt have been good for the NHL.

I'm saving the second question for my next Q-A time, since I may not get another one for a while!

Rough Opening to FA Season

I guess it shouldn't be surprising after Peter's comments on Saturday that the Bruins didnt sign a big free agent yesterday, but I wasnt expecting Chiarelli to walk around with his head up his ass yesterday as his second biggest rival signed the number 2 + 3 best available players, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. Who did the Bruins get, Shawn Thornton, no relation to Joe, (family or ability). If they had been able to dump the massive salary pit that is Glen Murray, they should have put all their resources into Drury. Todd is a local guy, Trumbull and BU, and is truly a franchise player. He is really a guy to build around, more than Bergeron, Savard, Kessel or even Captain Too-Tall. The Devils, Sabres, Bruins and especially the Islanders were the big losers today, while the Rangers and Flyers probably made the best moves among the east coast teams.