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.