Providence Playoffs: Heading Down to Hershey

Ryan Spooner at the face off against the Worcester Sharks (Photo Credit: Stephanie Vail/Flickr)

The Providence Bruins currently sit down two games to the Hershey Bears in a 5-game series. For Providence, tonight is do or die.  Despite finishing first in the league with 105 points and 50 wins, statistics mean nothing when it comes to the playoffs.

Throughout the series the Bruins have struggled to find their rhythm and a large part of that is due to team inexperience when it comes to the postseason. There’s no question, when playoffs hit, a switch is flipped and the dirty,gritty game that originated back in the 1800’s comes to light. For the young Providence Bruins squad, this is a feat that many have yet to endeavor unlike their opponent Hershey Bears.

The Hershey Bears have been contenders in the AHL consistently for years. The Bruins haven’t been a factor since 2009. The expectations set forth on a team when they enter the postseason is a completely different mindset, one that the Hershey Bears were prepared to face at the drop of the puck in the first period of Game 1.  For the Bruins it took until the last game to fully understand what they were up against. While they put forward a better effort in Game 2, they still fell short losing in overtime.

Of the six goals the Bruins have scored this season, four of the scorers have appeared in the AHL playoffs before. The veteran presence is attempting to keep the team alive while the rookies who flourished in the regular season, flounder and try to stay above water. The Bruins can’t afford to have guys like Ryan Spooner, Craig Cunningham and Torey Krug ‘find their game’ in a five game series that could easily end in Saturday’s game.  They need to kick it into high gear and fast.

While the Bruins were able to turn things around and make major improvements, there are still plenty more to be made.  Their focus needs to be on containing the veteran AHL forwards that make up the offensive lines for Hershey and finding a way to break through them. If the Bruins can force the turnovers and create breakaway plays, they should be able to break down the Bears young defense and get to the net.

Like Svedberg, the Bears goaltender Phillip Grubauer is also making his playoff debut. The difference between the two, one is making saves while the other one isn’t (obviously).  Svedberg has been a brick wall all season long and is falling short when it comes to keeping his team in games. With the lack of faith and confidence in their goaltending, the Bruins are apt to fall apart. He, like the rest of the playoff-rookies on the team, need to get their heads in the game and push it to the next level if they plan on staying alive.

It’s do or die time for Providence as they head to Hershey to take on the Bears Saturday night.

Providence Profiles: Graham Mink

Mink (21) when he played for the Hershey Bears (Credit: Flickr/ MR_53)

As AHL hockey season started so did the Providence Profiles here at A Cup A Bruin. Now that NHL hockey is back in our lives, many AHL players have been “sent up” to their respective pro teams, meaning they’re are spots in the club teams. If you’ve been keeping up with these profiles, you would know we were almost at the end alphabetically.

Or are we? This week’s profile is a new member of the Providence team Graham Mink. My fellow co-writer Steph made sure that I posted about Mink because he was once a Portland Pirate, a team she has a special spot for. He was almost a member of the Vermont Catamounts, a Hockey East school, that I obviously have a special spot for. Basically, we needed to write about him!

Since joining the P-Bruins, Mink has played in five games and already has a goal, an assist, and six pim’s to his name. Not too shabby.

The right-winger was a part of the Hershey Bears before coming to Providence this season. He has also played in 7 NHL games with the Washington Capitals because of playing on the Hershey team. Providence is the sixth AHL team Mink has played for in 11 seasons. Overall he has totaled 243 goals and 250 assists for 493 points in his AHL career so I definitely think he will  be an asset to Providence.

Mink joined Providence on January 12th of this year signing the veteran forward to a professional tryout contract. Having someone with that much experience join the ranks will not only help the P-Bruins with numbers, but I think Mink will serve as a great role model for the younger guys joining the team straight out of college.

With that said, welcome to Providence Graham! You can follow Mink on his twitter here: @GrahamMink21

 

Providence Profiles: Christian Hanson

Hanson (Credit: M. Richter/Flickr)

If Christian Hanson’s last name sounds familiar, it should. And not for the boy band if that is what you were thinking. Hanson is son of retired hockey player Dave Hanson who is best known for his appearance in the movie SlapShot.

As of July of this summer, Hanson was signed to the Bruins organization for a one-year, two-way contract worth $600,000 at the NHL level and at the AHL level $105,000. Obviously with the lock out this season, Hanson has spent his time thus far with the P-Bruins.

Before signing with the Bruins, Hanson had a contract with the Washington Capitals. He spent the entire 2011-2012 season with their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. In 52 games, he registered 21 points.

Hanson has seen some time in the NHL in the 2008-2009 season with the Toronto Maple Leaves. He made his NHL debut on April 3, 2009 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Four nights later, Hanson would score his first NHL goal against Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils.

You can check out that goal here:

Besides AHL and NHL, Hanson was also on the Team USA roster for the 2010 World Hockey Championship. Overall Hanson is a center that possesses great potential for the Boston Bruins if and when the lock out ends. Until then, he is doing his thing in Providence.

This has been another Providence Profile! Be sure to check back next week for a profile on Michael Hutchinson.