Chris Bourque on Waivers

Chris Bourque’s reaction when he found out he was placed on waivers, probably.

The Boston Bruins have assigned Chris Bourque to the Providence Bruins of the AHL, which means they have placed him on waivers. Bourque must clear waivers, which he will be on until noon tomorrow, before he can return to Providence.

Will another team claim Bourque while he is on the waiver wire? Let’s hope not. He is a strong asset to Providence. It’s no secret the Bourque is one of the best players in the AHL the past few years, and it has been unfortunate that the skill does not translate when he plays in the NHL. However, the Providence Bruins are in a strong spot to make a run for the AHL’s championship, the Calder Cup, and Bourque will undoubtedly strengthen the teams chances.

Bourque currently has a 2-way contract that turns into a 1-way contract next season. There is always a chance he will be called up to Boston in the future (if he clears waivers) if necessary. For now, he is replaced in the lineup by Jay Pandolfo on the 3rd line. Don’t expect that to be permanent. Lane MacDermid is also still with the Boston team (because he is awesome). He will hopefully get a chance to play in more NHL games soon.

If the Bruins need to call up others from Providence, my money is currently on Ryan Spooner – although he is only 1 game back from injury and is still a young player who will benefit from further development in the AHL. Jordan Caron, after being re-energized on the Buzz Saw line with Bobby Robins and Christian Hanson, may move to the top of the call-up list if he can continue to improve and move away from the earlier abysmal AHL season he has had.

This weekend, the P-Bruins games will be important for all the players looking to prove they want to and deserve to play with the Big Club.

In other news, Garnet Exelby was suspended for 1 game by the AHL for a boarding call in last Sunday’s game. He will miss tomorrow night’s game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Providence.

Thank You Kessel: Bruins/ Maple Leafs Preview

That “thank you” will never ever get old in Boston, just saying. Tonight the Boston Bruins will square off against division rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. This is the first of four meetings between the North East division rivals. Looking back to the last season, the Bruins won all six meetings against the Leafs outscoring them 36-10. This is a new season, a shortened season at that, so it’s really any ones game.

Boston is coming off of their first regulation loss against the Buffalo Sabres and are looking to maintain their first place division lead. On the other hand, Toronto is looking to increase their win streak to three after beating out the Washington Capitals for their first win and the Sabres earlier this week.

Will Marchand continue to lead the team in goals? (Credit:Flickr/Steph Vail)

Bruins missing 2/3 of their fourth line:
Both Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille did not make the trip to Toronto and as of now are both out with injuries. Thornton suffered a concussion in the first period of Thursday’s game while Paille is out with an injury from a high sticking in the third period. Both men left the ice and never returned to the game.

AHL coming up big for both teams:
Because the “Merlot line” is out for the time being the Bruins will rely on their Providence boys to make up for loss players. Jamie Tardif  was recalled on an emergency basis on Friday while Chris Bourque and Lane Macdermid have been switching between playing and healthy scratch since the season started. All three are expected to play tomorrow.

On Toronto’s end they are also relying on their AHL team. Matt Frattin has four goals and two assists in four games since he was called up from the Toronto Marlies. He’s currently playing on a line with fellow AHL linemates Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. Kadri leads the Leafs with seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven games. It looks like this lines chemistry has been successful as Frattin scored the game winner against the Caps on Thursday.

Boston’s Best:
–David Krejci and Nathan Horton both have five-game points streaks and are looking to continue this tonight.
– Brad Marchand had a team high five goals and scored two of them against Buffalo on Thursday.

Injury report:
Like I said, Boston will be without Thornton and Paille. Toronto has Joffrey Lupul (broken forearm), Clarke MacArthur (lacerated pinkie) and Mike Brown (shoulder) on its injury list.

Puck drops tonight at 7pm on NESN!

For the Maple Leafs side of things be sure to check out Maple-Glazed!

 

Providence Finishes Weekend With a Win

David Warsofsky was sent back down to Providence, but undoubtedly will get another shot with Boston in the future. (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Boston Bruins AHL affiliate – when the NHL lockout ended, they lost their top scorers and defensemen to NHL training camp. When training camp ended, Boston kept Providence’s leading scorer, Chris Bourque, along with another vital team leader and forward Lane MacDermid. Boston also kept defensemen David Warsofsky, at least up until Sunday, when they sent him back down to Providence after recalling defensemen Aaron Johnson, who had been sent down to Providence on a conditioning stint for a few days.

In his 2 games with the P-Bruins on Friday and Saturday, Johnson was a -1 with 1 assist on a Spooner power play goal Friday. Providence lost both games, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Portland Pirates on Friday and a 3-1 loss to the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday. Today, however, Warsofsky was back in the lineup with Johnson back in Boston, and the Providence Bruins came away with a 4-1 victory over the Connecticut Whale.

Warsofsky was the #1 star. He had the game-winning goal, an assist, a +2 rating, and 4 shots on net. Warsofsky’s goal was his 3rd of the season in the AHL, and assisted by Ryan Spooner and Matt Bartkowski. The goal came at 17:57 of the 1st period.

The Connecticut Whale opened up the scoring in the 1st period at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on Sunday with a goal by JT Miller at 4:26 of the 1st period. It was Miller’s 7th of the season, assisted by Brandon Mashinter. Jamie Tardif tied the game at 1 at 16:23 of the 1st on his team-leading 18th goal of the year from Spooner and Justin Florek. Tardif and Spooner were sent back down to Providence from Boston training camp on Friday, and on Sunday Tardif earned the #3 star while Spooner earned the #2 star.

In the 2nd period against Connecitcut, Carter Camper got his 4th of the season, a PP goal, from Warsofsky and Florek at 7:34. In the 3rd, Kyle MacKinnon secured a 4-1 lead with a goal at 14:49. It was also his 4th of the season, assisted by Graham Mink and Christian Hanson. Providence outshot the Whale 38-15 in the end.

A big part of this game was the physical play as each team racked up dozens of roughing minors and fighting majors. The 4 players for Providence that received fighting majors were Bobby Robins, Tyler Randell, Ryan Button, and Tommy Cross; for Connecticut, it was Chris Bourque’s little brother Ryan Bourque, Sam Klassen, Jason Wilson, and Dylan McIlrath.

Sunday’s 4-1 win was an important positive note to end an otherwise tough weekend on. The 3-2 shootout loss on Friday came despite out-shooting Portland 39-21. Spooner and Robins (his 2nd of the season) scored for Providence, and Darian Dziurzynski had both regulation goals for Portland. In the shootout, only Spooner and Camper converted for Providence, while Chris Conner, Ethan Werek, and Jordan Szwarz converted for Portland for the win.

On Saturday night, things did not get any easier for Providence as they were handed a tough loss at the hands of the Manchester Monarchs. They out-shot Manchester 46-47 and went 0-for-8 on the power play. Tardif scored late in the 3rd period (assisted from Camper and Florek) to make it 2-1, but soon after that, Stefan Legein sealed the Monarchs win with an empty net goal.

Niklas Svedberg got the win today and the shoot-out loss on Saturday, and Michael Hutchinson got the loss on Saturday. Svedberg was particularly big in net to preserve the lead against Connecticut today. Providence faces Manchester again this Wednesday in Manchester for a rare weekday game. Providence is now 20-15-0-3 with today’s win, giving them 43 points, lead-frogging Worcester for 3rd place in the Atlantic division. However, Manchester (20-17-2-2) won again today, giving them 44 points and the 2nd place spot in the division. The Pirates remain in first with 50 points.

Providence found it’s scoring touch with a 4-1 win today and hopefully that will carry into Wednesday, because it isn’t likely they will get their leading scorer in Bourque back anytime soon. Their top scorers found ways to score this weekend – Spooner, Tardif, and more importantly, guys who needed to score who hadn’t been, such as Camper. Craig Cunningham has also stepped up the scoring recently, and look for him to continue to do so. Wednesday’s game against Manchester will be a big one as the two rivals continue to battle for playoff positioning in the division and conference.

The win on Sunday marks the 20th win of the season for Providence. “To get 20 wins in the 1st half of the year…is pretty good The guys should be proud of themselves,” said Coach Butch Cassidy after the game.

Bruins Beast the Rangers

It was Tuukka time in Boston tonight! (Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight your Boston Bruins took to the ice for the home opener of the 2012-2013 season against the New York Rangers and it was everything you could hope for in a home opener and so much more.

The B’s for the most part stuck to a similar lineup as last season but tonight brought the debut of Boston native/ Ray Bourque’s pride and joy Chris Bourque. Tonight was also the first time that the B’s first round draft pick of 2011 Dougie Hamilton would play in the NHL. Tuukka Rask is now the starting goalie for the Bruins and he faced off against Henrik Lundqvist, a man who doesn’t exactly let up against the Bruins or against any team in general.

Tonight was an exception as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-1.

Let me break down the game by period for you.

3 Providence Bruins Make the AllStar Roster

Chris Bourque ready for a face off in the Black&Gold scrimmage January 15, 2013. (Photo Credit: Stephanni Phillips)

Today the AHL announced that three of the Providence Bruins have made the AllStar Roster for the Eastern Conference.  While there is no question that Chris Bourque should be on the list along with Niklas Svedberg, one has to ponder the reasons as to Trent Whitfield making the ballet. From a strictly statistical standpoint, there were a few other candidates that were far more deserving such as team leaders Ryan Spooner and Jamie Tardif.  However, the general assumption would be that it is “Trent’s House” seems  as he is the Captain of the Providence Bruins and the Dunk is his teams’ home.

Chris Bourque is more than deserving of the opportunity to participate in the event as he has been among the top points leaders since the beginning of the season, making a name for himself as more than just Ray Bourque’s son. In 32 games with the Providence Bruins Bourque has posted 8 goals and 20 assists for a team high of 28 points.  He is also sporting a +2 and filling a third line roster spot throughout the Boston Bruins training camp.

Niklas Svedberg has stepped between the pipes for Providence for 23 games, easily becoming one of the best goaltenders in the American Hockey League. He sports a 15-6-1 record, .920 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average.  Not bad for a rookie goaltender.

Captain Trent Whitfield appeared in five games for the Bruins to start the season before being sidelined with an injury.  He made his debut back against the Portland Pirates where he was able to record his first point of the season and go on to post a goal and another assist for a total of three on the season through eleven contests.

The AHL All-Star Skills Competition is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 27, and the 2013 AHL All-Star Game at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 28.

Bruins Scrimmage Bruins and Bruins Win

Dougie Hamilton (53) attempts defensive zone coverage on the penalty kill with Jamie Tardif parked in front of the net, where he has scored the most goals and power play goals for Providence in the AHL this season before getting called up to Boston training camp (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

Boston, Providence, who cares? We are all Bruins.

Some people were upset that the “real” Bruins lost, but I don’t know where you’ve been the past 5 months because I’ve been in Providence watching the only “real” Bruins available to see play and they’re pretty awesome. And I am glad they won tonight, because they worked hard and it was adorable.

And also, because they are all Bruins! With the exception of 2 players on Providence that do not have contracts with the Boston Bruins (Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon), every single player who played in the Black and Gold Scrimmage tonight is either on the Boston Bruins current team, in their training camp, or will be a part of their future.

Allow me to provide a quick recap for those who did not have the pleasure of experiencing the scrimmage in person at the TD Garden or watching it online live.

Providence Finished the Weekend With a Win; Scrimmages Boston Tuesday

Graham Mink’s game winning goal going in the net on Sunday afternoon (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

On Friday night, Graham Mink was putting his son to bed when he got a call from his agent about an offer from the Providence Bruins to join the team on a Professional Tryout Contract. 2 days later, he scored the game-winning goal for the P-Bruins to give them a 2-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs, finally breaking the deadlock in the stands between the 2 Atlantic division rivals.

Mink’s goal came on the power play and broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd period. Craig Cunningham scored just 58 seconds into the game to give Providence a 1-0 lead. It was Cunningham’s 7th of the season and came unassisted. The P-Bruins out-shot the outmatched Monarchs 13-10 in the 1st period, but goaltender Peter Mannino played well for the Los Angeles Kings farm team. Manchester came into the game with only 15 skaters dressed (rather than the usual 18) due to sudden call-ups to the LA Kings training camp. Although Providence also saw it’s roster recently depleted with its best players due to call-ups to Boston for training camp – as well as devastating injury, of which they lost 2 more players on Friday (Jared Knight and Zach Trotman) and at least one more on Sunday (Justin Florek took a puck to the ear) – recent call-ups from ECHL teams and a few new signings such as Mink filled out Providence’s roster coming into Sunday.

The 2nd period saw shots even up at 12-12 apiece, and with 9 seconds left in the period, Brandon Kozun tied the game at 1 for the Monarchs with his 10th of the season from Linden Vey and Bryan Rodney. Providence took control again in the 3rd period, out-shooting Manchester 16-3 (for a total of 41-25 in the game), and on one of many power play chances in the game, were able to capitalize when Mink deflected in a pass from Max Sauve, with a secondary assist to Carter Camper. Also of note – Camper had 10 shots on net in the game on Sunday, although he was poor in the face off circle. In the absence of the team’s tops players to Boston training camp, Camper and Cunningham have seen significant increase in ice time. Cunningham has been playing extremely well, although Camper seems to be struggling at times as he has ever since he returns from injury earlier this season.

Niklas Svedberg made a couple key saves in the final minutes of the game as Providence was able to hold on to the 2-1 lead and rebound from an embarrassing 4-1 loss on Saturday night to the Springfield Falcons.

Providence is now 19-14-0-2 (40 points), placing them 3rd in the Atlantic division – 2 points ahead of Manchester (17-16-2-2) and just 1 point behind Worcester (19-15-1-2). Providence is also 4-2-0-0 against Manchester this season, and will face them 6 more times before the season ends. The next meeting is Saturday, January 19th in Manchester.

But the next “game” for Providence is tomorrow night – Tuesday, January 15th. The team will travel to Boston to scrimmage the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden in front of a sold out crowd. Chris Bourque, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, Lane MacDermid, David Warsofsky, and Matt Bartkowski will suit up for Boston (presumably). As for Providence?

I’m told that pretty much every healthy Prov. player under contract w/Boston will play in Tuesday night Garden scrimmage . . .Robins & MacKinnon, who are on AHL deals will play, too. Mink (PTO) and Randell will not play. (Mark Divver, The Providence Journal.)

Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon, although they do not have contracts with the Boston Bruins organization – only with Providence in the AHL – will play for Providence against Boston tomorrow night. However, since Mink is still on a Professional Tryout Contract, he will not play.

If you aren’t able to make it to the game in Boston tomorrow, it will be streamed online for free. Make sure to tune in because there’s nothing better than watching Boston and Providence at the same time…even if Providence is sure to get their butts kicked.

Chris Bourque was placed on a line with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley while Lane MacDermid, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, and Jay Pandolfo wore green jerseys and split duties on a 5th line. (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr).

Speaking of which – I went to training camp on Sunday before swinging down to Providence for the P-Bruins game (see training camp pictures here, P-Bruins game pictures here). Chris Bourque was the only forward call-up from Providence who already had a spot on the forward lines – right on the wing of the 3rd line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly (just like I have been saying). He also has been practicing on the power play unit with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. I would say it’s almost a sure thing that he will be the guy that stays with Boston out of training camp. But I guess we will have a better idea about where everyone stands after tomorrow’s scrimmage. Or maybe not. Maybe we will just be thoroughly entertained!

6 P-Bruins Invited to Training Camp; Stingrays Recalled to Providence

Lane MacDermid is one of 4 Providence forwards invited to Boston training camp, and the only forward not on the top line to receive an invite. Boston loves his work ethic and general awesomeness. (Photo: Steph Vail/me)

The Providence Bruins recalled forward Jared Knight from the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. After missing 27 games due to injury, he played 2 games with the Stingrays over the weekend before returning to Providence. He recorded no points and 8 shots in 2 games in the ECHL.

The Bruins also recalled forward and Boston University alum Justin Courtnall from South Carolina. (Justin Courtnall is also the son of former Bruin Geoff Courtnall.) Forward and Northeastern alum Tyler McNeely was signed to a professional tryout contract with the Bruins along with defenseman and Providence College alum Eric Baier. These roster moves were made to fill in roster spots for the players that were invited to the Boston Bruins training camp, which will start Sunday or Monday.

The Providence Bruins players that have been invited to the Boston Bruins training camp are forwards Chris Bourque, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, and Lane MacDermid along with defensemen David Warsofsky and Matt Bartkowski. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton, currently playing in the OHL, will also be at training camp competing for a roster spot.

While this may leave the P-Bruins in a tight spot, such is the nature of being an AHL farm team. Training camp will last less than 1 week as the NHL season is set to begin January 19th, and only 1 forward and defensemen (perhaps 2, to keep a healthy scratch around) will make the actual team – so after camp is done, the players that don’t make the cut will be sent back down. I still firmly believe Chris Bourque is destined for that 3rd line spot with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly.

As an OHL player, the NHL and OHL have made adjusted arrangements for the number of games a player can play in at the NHL level before using up a year on an entry-level contract. In a normal season, it is 10 games. This year, it will be 5 games. That means if Hamilton makes the team (which I think he will), the first year of his entry-level contract will be used up by the 6th game he plays for the Bruins.

Details on exactly when camp starts and who will be there have yet to be confirmed as we wait for the NHLPA to ratify the CBA. Only a few hours ago did the NHL owners unanimously vote to ratify the CBA; the NHLPA vote will come on Saturday.

The Lockout is Over: Which Bruins Will Remain in the AHL?

Probably soon to be seen wearing a Spoked B, just like his father. :’) (Steph Vail/Flickr)

The NHL lockout is (almost officially) over, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop covering Providence Bruins hockey. If the lockout has taught us (me) anything, it’s that we’ve (I’ve) been missing out on a really awesome thing in the AHL all these years. The Bruins have lots of great prospects that we are excited to now bring you coverage of in addition to actual real live NHL Boston Bruins hockey coverage.

The NHL is still several weeks away, but the Providence Bruins have a big game this afternoon! They face the Springfield Falcons at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence at 3pm (look for a full game preview right after this!) The Falcons, who sit atop the Northeast division and 3rd overall in the Eastern Conference, are coming off of a 4-1 loss to the Albany Devils on Saturday night. The lone goal scorer was Cam Atkinson, netting his 17th of the season on the power play.

Atkinson, the Falcons leading scorer (and 3rd leading scorer in the entire AHL), will soon be heading off to Columbus, however, as will many other top scorers and other stars around the AHL, including Falcons goaltender and frequent brickwall to the Providence Bruins, Curtis McElhinney. This afternoon will probably be their final game in the AHL before NHL training camp opens later this week. That means it will also be the last game (at least for a little while) for at least a few Providence Bruins as well as they will be headed up to Boston to fill out the roster. The Bruins happen to have the most players under contract out of any other team in the NHL (which puts them in cap-space jeopardy, but I don’t know the exact numbers under the new CBA yet), so we won’t have to part with many of our beloved P-Bruins.

Which Providence Bruins should we expect to see at Boston Bruins training camp? Good question. Jordan Caron, as reported yesterday, is out at least 3 weeks with an upper body injury. Poor guy got injured just in time for NHL training camp. The Boston Bruins currently have 11 forwards under contract. It breaks down as follows: David Krejci, Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic (1st line); Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand (2nd line); Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell, Daniel Paille (4th line); Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly.

That means 1 forward spot is up for grabs on that 3rd line, assuming all forwards are healthy (they are – including Horton). Who will slide into that winger spot that was previously filled by Benoit Pouliot last year and Michael Ryder the year before that?

Ryan Spooner was supposed to make a push for a spot in the lineup before the beginning of the season was canceled, but I don’t know if we will see him make it at the NHL level quite yet. Max Sauve was called up last year but injured quickly, and is coming off another injury recently. Carter Camper was also a call-up last year, scoring his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot, while Lane MacDermid fought a veteran NHL tough guy in New York Ranger Mike Rupp on his very first shift in his very first game when he was called up last year as well. But don’t expect to see those names up in Boston before you see a familiar name in a Boston Bruins jersey.

Chris Bourque will probably fill the spot of the 12th forward. First of all, just look at his style of play. Wouldn’t he fit in perfectly with Kelly and Peverley? Kelly could easily have another magical 20-goal season.

Bourque came to Boston/Providence in the off-season from Hershey/Washington. When he arrived, he signed a 2-year contract with the Bruins and Boston Globe columnist Fluto Shinzawa predicted that he “could be in the mix for bottom-six NHL duty if he has a strong training camp. Otherwise, [he] will be the go-to scorer in Providence.

Given that there was not summer training camp, and there will be a very much shortened training camp before the shortened season starts, the basis for bringing Bourque in as a bottom-six forward (which he would be if he played on Peverley & Kelly’s line) would be his strong performance as the go-to scorer in Providence. He has caught fire recently with 6 goals in the last 6 games and is by far the leading scorer for the P-Bruins with 27 points.

Then there is the added bonus that he is Ray Bourque’s son, and we all love Ray Bourque, and we all want to see the Bourque bloodline in the Spoked B rather than the Spoked P if even for just a few games. But if he were to have great success in Boston, playing under his father’s retired #77…well, that would be

Whitfield Leads Providence to a 3-2 Victory Over Portland

Captain Trent Whitfield: hero, All-Star and all around awesome human being

In his 2nd game back after missing 24 games with a concussion, Providence captain Trent Whitfield scored his 1st goal of the season with only minutes left in the 3rd period to lead the Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the Atlantic division-leading Portland Pirates. In a chippy game with 3 fights, lopsided penalties that often saw Providence players sitting in the penalty box and 2 early power play goals for the Pirates, Whitfield’s composure and leadership proved to be exactly what the Bruins needed and may have been severely lacking in his long absence this season.