Pregaming: Providence at Norfolk

Torey Krug is a fantastic goal scorer and a hilarious fighter.

The Providence Bruins will face the Norfolk Admirals twice this weekend in Norfolk in the first meetings between the two teams this season. The 10-hour bus ride to Norfolk is the longest road trip of the P-Bruins season and the two games against the Admirals will be the only two the P-Bruins play this weekend.

Coming into tonight’s 7:30 puck drop, Providence remains in 1st place in the Atlantic division and 3rd place in the Eastern conference with a 30-17-0-3 record (63 points) in 50 games played. They are undefeated in the last 4 games, 9-1-0-0 in the last 10 games and 14-9-0-0 on the road this season.

Norfolk is in last place in the East division and 14th place in the Eastern conference with a 22-24-3-1 record(48 points)  in 50 games. The Admirals, who were the 2012 Calder Cup Champions, are 6-3-1-0 in the last 10, including 3-0-1-0 in the last 4 games, and 13-10-2-0 at home this season.

The Admirals are 23rd on the power play (14.5%), while the Bruins have improved vastly to 13th place (17.3%). On the penalty kill, Providence also ranks 13th (83.9%), one spot behind 12th-ranked Norfolk (84.5%).

Ryan Spooner leads the P-Bruins in points with 37 (10 goals, 27 assists). The next 2 leading scorers, Jamie Tardif and Carter Camper, did not make the road trip as they are out with upper body injuries along with Zach Trotman; Max Sauve and David Warsofsky are out with lower body injuries as well.

Due to the injuries, forward Alden Hirschfeld was recalled on loan from South Carolina and Nicolas Tremblay (Bakersfield) was signed to a PTO. (Providence Bruins)

The Admirals leading scorer is defenseman Sami Vatanen who has 4 goals and 23 assists for 27 points. Conversely, the P-Bruins leading scorer on defense is Torey Krug, who has 7 goals and 17 assists for 24 points, which places him 5th on the team behind forwards Spooner, Tardif, Camper, and Craig Cunningham.

Next on the list for the Admirals, whose NHL affiliate is the Anaheim Ducks, are forwards Emerson Etem (13 goals, 2 assists) and Devante Smith-Pelly (6 goals, 9 assists), each with 15 points.

In goal, Niklas Svedberg will get the start for the P-Bruins. Svedberg hasn’t lost in regulation since January 2nd and is on a 9 game winning streak. The rookie has a 24-6-2 record, 2.32 GAA, and .921 save %. He ranks 2nd in the AHL in wins. He has appeared in 33 games.

Norfolk’s goaltending is evenly split between Frederik Andersen and Igor Bobkov, who have each appeared in 24 games. Andersen, also a rookie, is 10-10-1, has a 2.28 GAA and .929 save %. Andersen ranks 4th in the AHL in save %. Bobkov 10-14-0 with a 3.05 GAA and .906 save %.

The P-Bruins will look to finish the month of February strong as they play their final weekend games tonight and tomorrow. They have had a wildly successful month of February thus far with a record of 7-1-0-0 and a goal differential of +13, holding their opponents to just 19 goals in 8 games. They play their final game of the month in Portland against the Pirates on the 26th.

Some more February tidbits (if I did my math correctly) are that, going into tonight, though 8 games in February the P-Bruins are 11-for-45 on the power play, which is a 24.4% success rate, and 28-for-30 on the penalty kill (93.3%). They have out-shot their opponents 251 to 230 in addition to outscoring them 31 to 19.

The leading scorers in February have been Camper (1 goal, 9 assists), Krug (2 goals, 8 assists), and Spooner (2 goals, 8 assists) with 10 points each, followed by Cunningham with 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points, and Tardif (5 goals, 1 assist) and Matt Bartkowski (1 goal, 5 assists) with 6 points each. Kyle MacKinnon has recorded 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points this month after recording only 10 points in the previous 4 months. Graham Mink has also recorded 5 points after his PTO became a permanent contract with the club (2 goals, 3 assists), and Jordan Caron has contributed 2 goals and 2 assists since returning from injury earlier this month.

In the previous 8 games this month, 12 different Providence Bruins have been named as one of the three stars of the game, including Mink, captain Trent Whitfield, Spooner, and Tardif. To be named 1st star of the game once apiece have been both goaltenders – Svedberg as well as Michael Hutchinson, as well as Camper, MacKinnon, Krug, and Caron. Caron was also named 3rd star in a  separate game, while Cunningham received 2nd star and 3rd star honors in separate games.

Spectacularly, Torey Krug has had a fantastic month despite his consecutive scoring streak coming to an end – he has been named a star of the game in 4 separate games, receiving 1st star honors and 3rd star honors once, and 2nd star honors twice. Although he got off to a slow start this season, Krug has truly shown that he is one of the future stars of the Bruins organization. Hopefully he can keep that going tonight in Norfolk with the rest of the shining Providence Bruins team.

Providence Wins 4th in a Row

Craig Cunningham’s 14th goal of the season was the game winner tonight and earned him the 2nd star in Providence’s 3-1 win over Worcester to wrap up a 3-0 weekend.

The Providence Bruins went undefeated this weekend and extended their winning streak to 4 games with a 3-1 win over divisional rival the Worcester Sharks this afternoon. With the win today, Providence remains in 1st place in the Atlantic division, clinging to a 1-point lead over the 2nd place Portland Pirates. The P-Bruins are now 30-17-0-3 this season.

Niklas Svedberg played in Friday and Saturday’s wins over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, extending his personal winning streak to 9 games. Today, Michael Hutchinson got the start in net for the P-Bruins and earned number one star honors with 32 saves on 33 shots.

Jordan Caron, who was named number one star in Friday night’s victory, was 3rd star in today’s win; Craig Cunningham was the 2nd star. Caron had a goal and an assist, while Cunningham had the game-winning goal.

Providence played today without one of their top scorers, Carter Camper, who was injured in the 2nd period of Saturday’s game.

Caron opened the scoring after Worcester’s Matt Tennyson went to the penalty box for goaltender interference at 7:41 of the 1st period. 9:31 into the period, Caron converted on the power play to record his 8th goal of the season with assists from Christian Hanson and Matt Bartkowski.

In the 2nd period, Providence again capitalized on the power play when Worcester’s Nick Petrecki was called for slashing at 15:48. Cunningham netted his 14th of the season on the man advantage at 16:45 of the 2nd from Tommy Cross and Graham Mink. Mink notably recorded his 500th career AHL point on Saturday night after playing in his 700th career AHL game on Friday night.

The Sharks cut the Bruins lead in half at 17:11 of the 3rd period on a goal by Yanni Gourde. Gourde’s 7th goal of the season was assisted by Jon Matsumoto and Danny Groulx.

The Bruins regained a 2-goal lead when captain Trent Whitfield buried an empty net goal in the final seconds of the game, solidifying a 3-1 victory. Whitfield’s 3rd goal of the season was assisted by Caron and Kevan Miller.

Providence was 2-for-5 on the power play today, and a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. They were out-shot 33 to 30 in the game.

Although Torey Krug‘s recent point streak ended this weekend, he recorded a team-high 3 shots on net, along with Colby Cohen.

The P-Bruins next play next Friday, February 22nd at the Norfolk Admirals.

Providence vs Manchester, Round 8

Jamie Tardif leads Providence in goals and is tied with Ryan Spooner for the lead in points. He also turns 28 on Wednesday when the P-Bruins face the Monarchs! (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

On Wednesday evening, the Providence Bruins will face the Manchester Monarchs in New Hampshire for the 8th meeting between the Atlantic division rivals this season. Thus far, the P-Bruins have a 4-3-0-0 edge against the Monarchs, but lost 3-1 to the Monarchs in Manchester this past Saturday. They will meet a total of 12 times before the regular season ends. If they don’t hate each other yet, they will soon.

Providence (20-15-0-3) is 1 point behind 2nd-place Manchester (20-17-2-2) in the Atlantic division standings, although Manchester has played 3 more games than the P-Bruins. Providence is 6th in the East; Manchester is 5th.

Providence still struggles to score goals, with 95 goals scored to 104 goals scored against (-9), while Manchester has 118 goals fore and 109 against (+9). Providence also still struggles on the power play, ranking 22nd in the league at 14.9% to Manchester’s 16.6%, which is 14th in the league. On the penalty kill, the Bruins is 21st at 81.5% and Manchester is 16th at 82.4%. Providence also averages more penalty minutes per game at 18.1 to Manchester’s 14.1.

Manchester’s leading scorer, Linden Vey, has 9 goals and 26 assists for 35 points this season and against Providence this year, 1 goal, 1 assist, and a +3 rating. Second leading scorer Tyler Toffoli will not be in the line-up as he has joined the LA Kings. The next 3 leading scorers for Manchester are Brandon Kozun: 11 goals, 19 assists = 29 pts; 2 goals, 3 assists = 5 pts vs Providence; Tanner Perason: 10 goals, 17 assists = 27 pts; 1 goal, 1 assist = 2 pts vs Providence; and Andrei Loktionov: 7 goals, 15 assists = 22 pts; 2 goals, 2 assists = 4 pts, +3 vs Providence.

In comparison, Providence’s leading scorer (after Chris Bourque) is Jamie Tardif with 18 goals, 7 assists and 23 points and Ryan Spooner with 8 goals, 15 assists and 23 points. Tardif had the lone goal against Manchester last Saturday and has 3 goals against the Monarchs this season, plus 2 assists for 5 points, 13 penalty minutes, and a -3 rating. Spooner has 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points against Manchester this year with a +1 rating.

Carter Camper is next on the list of leading scorers in Providence (4 goals, 16 assists = 20 points), and he has 1 goal and 3 assists against Manchester this year, but a frightening -5 rating. Craig Cunningham has 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points on the season for Providence but only 1 goal and 1 assist against Manchester and a -3 rating. Kyle MacKinnon has 2 goals against Manchester this year, which accounts for 50% of his total goals scored this year.

In net, Manchester’s goaltenders have each suffered 2 losses to Providence, but Martin Jones has 2 wins to Peter Mannino‘s 1. In 3 games against Providence this year, Mannino is 1-2-0 with a GAA of 2.02 and save % of 0.949. Jones is 2-2-0 against Providence with 8 GA but a matching 2.02 GAA and a 0.917 save %.

Michael Hutchinson has gone 0-2-0 against Manchester this year with 5 GA, a GAA of 2.54 and 0.894 save %. Hutchinson’s overall numbers on the year are 4-9-1 with 39 GA, 2.79 GAA, and 0.896 save %. Niklas Svedberg is 4-1-0 with 10 GA, a 2.00 GAA and 0.932 save % versus the Monarchs this year. Svedberg is 16-6-2 this season with 58 GA, 1 shutout, 2.37 GAA, and 0.920 save %.

Providence is 9-8-0-0 on the road this season and Manchester is 11-10-2-1 at home. Providence is coming off of a win on Sunday against the Connecticut Whale, but are 4-5-0-0 in the last 10 games. Manchester is 6-4-0-0 in the last 10 and riding a 3-game winning streak despite losing a great majority of their roster to LA Kings training camp, and two long-time Monarchs to waivers (Thomas Hickey and Richard Clune).

Providence remains without Chris Bourque, who will likely stay with Boston for the season. Lane MacDermid will also remain with Boston as the 13th forward into the unforeseen future, but David Warsofsky returned to Providence on Sunday and had what The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver called one of his best games of the season. Two other players that returned from Boston Bruins training camp prior to last weekend – Ryan Spooner and Jamie Tardif – also had strong weekends, which showed on the scoring sheet as well. (Speaking of Jamie Tardif – he turns 28 tomorrow, January 23rd. Happy Birthday!)

Now that the NHL is back and guys actually have the hope to be called up to Boston driving them to play their best hockey, expect many Providence players to show a lot more heart. Guys like Lane MacDermid show that heart all the time, of course, which is why he is awesome and already made the Boston team. The Boston Bruins blueline is already falling victim to injury as Dennis Seidenberg sat out Monday’s win against Winnipeg; Aaron Johnson stepped in for him, but if another defensemen goes down, there are several options to call up from Providence. Although Torey Krug was not invited to camp, the Bruins have their eye on him. Then of course there is Matt Bartkowski, who was at camp, and Warsofsky could get called up again as well. This will all be dependent on how well they play in the immediate future in Providence.

Speaking of injury, Jordan Caron spent several days last week with Boston Bruins strength and conditioning coach before Boston practices. He is coming off of an upper-body injury (arm or shoulder) and according to Mark Divver (I know I cite him a lot, but he is seriously the best source for Providence Bruins news, period), Caron returned to practices with Providence today:

Jordan Caron, still wearing red no-contact jersey, on a line with Spooner and Cunningham this morning at 146 rink.

Coach Butch Cassidy says Caron may play this weekend; injured defenseman Garnet Exelby may also play this weekend. Colby Cohen and Zach Trotman, 2 other injured Providence d-men, are still sidelined indefinitely.

The P-Bruins play this weekend on Friday and Saturday before taking a break for All-Star Game festivities that will take place at The Dunkin Donuts center in Providence on Sunday and Monday. The puck drops at 7pm tomorrow night between the Monarchs and P-Bruins in Manchester, and tickets can still be purchased here. Meanwhile, All-Star balloting for the starting roster is also taking place, so make sure you vote for Trent Whitfield!

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 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.

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.

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.

Marking Matt

(Photo Credit: Dan4th/Flickr)

Yesterday the Boston Bruins signed defenseman Matt Bartkowsi to a one year two-way contract, keeping him through the 2012-2013 season. By signing Matt, the Bruins are sending the message that they are in fact keeping their former teams(Providence and Boston) in tact and keeping their defensive depth. Bartkowski started last season with the Bruins while Adam McQuaid was sidelined with an injury, then finished his season with the Providence Bruins in the AHL.He finished the season with 22 points and 38 penalty minutes, walking a fine line between AHL prospect and NHL defenseman.  He has also registered four major league penalty minutes as well with the Black and Gold.

Throughout camp he has shown improvements in quick, first passes and looking for plays in the offensive zone. Yet, when he gets into the actual NHL atmosphere, it seems as if he is lost and can’t quite keep the tempo.

This season, with Joe Corvo being gone, there is an open 7th-defenseman roster spot available. Granted, the majority of Bruins fans are expecting 19 year old Dougie Hamilton to make the leap, but Matt throws some stiff competition. This year’s pre-season should prove to be an interesting one as a great handful of young men fight for the opportunity to wear the Black and Gold sweater.