Khokhlachev Joins P-Bruins, Prospect and Injury Updates

Alex Khokhlachev’s OHL season ended when his team didn’t qualify for the playoffs and he joined the Providence Bruins for his first practice yesterday morning. The exciting prospect is expected to make his AHL debut tomorrow night. (Photo: Flickr/slidingsideways)

Alex Khokhlachev has joined the Providence Bruins and is expected to finish the season with the team. After his OHL team, the Windsor Spitfires, saw their season end with the OHL regular season as they didn’t qualify for the playoffs, Khokhlachev became eligible to play in the AHL.

Koko spent half the season in the KHL and joined his OHL team in January. He also played for Team Russia in the World Junior Championships this year in Ufa, Russia, helping his team earn a bronze medal.

In the KHL, he played for his father’s team, Moscow Spartak. In 26 games he only had 2 goals and 5 assists. When he re-joined his OHL team, where he played the previous 2 seasons, he was more successful with 22 goals and 26 assists in 29 games.

Khokhlachev was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2011 draft by the Bruins at #45 overall. The 19 year old from Moscow joined Providence for his first practice on Wednesday. In his first practice, he reportedly centered a line with Jamie Tardif and Kyle MacKinnon on his wings. He will make his Providence Bruins debut on Friday when they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

In other Providence Bruins news, Jared Knight reportedly also joined Providence at practice yesterday. The 2010 2nd-round draft pick has missed the majority of his first professional hockey season due to a recurring hamstring injury. He wore a red jersey to indicate no contact, but skating with the team is hopefully a positive sign in his ongoing recovery.

Despite the progress, Mark Divver reports that P-Bruins Coach Butch Cassidy has ruled out Knight’s return to the line-up until at least April. Learning from mistakes already made this season, the team is being very cautious with Knight so as to not re-aggravate his injured hamstring:

 Even when he’s 100%, he might not play right away

Hopefully that will mean a healthy Knight for the playoffs. The P-Bruins are poised to make for the first time since the 2008-09 season. That year, the P-Bruins lost in the 3rd round to the Hershey Bears. They were able to have such a good playoff run that year because they had Tuukka Rask in net. Niklas Svedberg, who has already earned 30 wins in his rookie season, could take the team as far as Rask did. It should be an exciting playoff season, especially if Anthony Camara‘s OHL team’s season ends and he, too, can join Providence. Camara’s team, the Barrie Colts, face the Kingston Frontenacs in the 1st round of the OHL playoffs, which start tonight.

Prospect Updates

Camara finished the regular season with the 13th most goals in the OHL (36), and 6th in power play goals with 15. Like Khokhlachev, Camara was drafted by the Bruins in 2011. He went in the 3rd round at #81 overall. The Bruins 1st choice in that draft, of course, was Dougie Hamilton, who went at #9 overall  (Thanks Kessel!)

Prospects from the 2012 entry draft that currently play in the OHL are doing well – specifically Boston’s #1 pick that year (at 24th overall), Malcom Subban. PK’s younger brother is the goaltender for the OHL’s Belleville Bulls. Subban has led the Bulls to the #1 seed in the playoffs, as they face off against the Mississauga Steelheads in the 1st round starting tonight.

In the 68-game regular season, Subban appeared in 46 games for the Bulls and had a 29-11-4 record. He had the best GAA (2.14) and save percentage (.934) in the OHL this season. He had the 5th most wins in the OHL among goaltenders, despite missing time to join Team Canada as the starting goaltender at the WJC, and had the 2nd most shutouts (5), with 2 goaltenders tied for 1st at 7. Despite Canada’s disappointing appearance at the WJC, Subban was not entirely to blame.

Picked by the Bruins in the 5th round at 131st overall, Seth Griffith is also a league leader in the OHL with his team, the London Knights (despite missing a number of games with a hand injury).  In 54 games this season, he has 33 goals, 48 assists (11th best in OHL), and 81 points (also 11th best). His 22 power play assists are tied for 10th best.

Cody Payne was drafted in 2012 at #145 overall in the 5th round.

In 66 games played, the 19 year old RW scored 24 G & 21 A for the Whalers this season, while also chipping in 75 PIM in a display of his more physical side… – From The Hockey Writers, a nice post about the prospects as the OHL regular season ended.

Subban, Griffith, and Payne are not eligible to join Providence, however, since they do not have contracts with the Bruins yet. Camara recently signed a contract and therefore will be eligible.

Transactions

In transaction news from Providence, goaltender Adam Morrison has been reassigned to Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL. He joined the P-Bruins last week while Michael Hutchinson nursed a hip injury, but Hutchinson is back to 100%. He did not appear in any games over the weekend although he dressed as Svedberg’s backup on Friday and Saturday. Defenseman Ryan Button has also been reassigned to the ECHL, to the South Carolina Stingrays.

Other Injuries

In delayed injury news, Chris Bourque is out indefinitely after Cody Goloubef of the Springfield Falcons delivered a cheap shot last weekend. Goloubef was suspended for 2 games by the AHL for the hit.

Christian Hanson, who is out with an injured hand, is “50-50” for this weekend, as is Tyler Randell. Hanson’s injury has had a noticeable impact on the Bruins, especially in the faceoff circle. Hanson, a very underrated role player, is Coach Cassidy’s go-to guy in the faceoff circle – even more reliable to win draws than Captain Trent Whitfield and Ryan Spooner. Hopefully he will be back soon.

Providence currently sits at 2nd overall in the Eastern Conference with 81 points. If the playoffs started today, they would face the Hershey Bears. I recommend checking out the AHL’s daily playoff primer for more information as we prepare to enter the final stretch of the AHL regular season and start the playoffs.

Providence Pregaming: P-Bruins Host A-Devils; Hirschfeld Recalled

Ryan Spooner finished off the month of January on a hot streak and hopefully won’t miss a beat, beginning the month of February as Providence’s leading scorer in the absence of Jamie Tardif.

The Providence Bruins look to extend a 3-game winning streak and continue to close in on the Portland Pirates for 1st place in the Atlantic division tonight at the Dunkin Donut Center as they host the Albany Devils in what may come down to yet another shootout showdown.

Providence is 23-16-0-3 (49 points) in 42 games this season, placing them 2nd in the Atlantic division and 5th in the Eastern conference.

Albany is 17-14-1-8 (43 points) in 40 games, putting them 3rd in their Northeast division and out of the current playoff picture at 11th in the Eastern conference.

Providence is coming off of a shootout victory last night in Bridgeport, which may be fitting because the previous 2 games between Providence and Albany this season have both been decided in the shootout. Providence has won both of those games by a score of 2-1 – once in Providence on November 9th and again in Albany on December 15th.

Last time around, David Warsofsky got the game-winning goal in the 9th round of the shootout in a game that saw Zach Trotman score the only regulation goal for Providence and Michael Hutchinson notch the number 1 star on the night. Niklas Svedberg had won the previous shootout win against the Devils.

Providence has a 12-7-0-3 record on their home turf, while the Albany Devils are 9-6-1-3 on the road. Providence also has a great record against the Northeast division: 11-6-0-0; against the Atlantic, Albany is merely 3-3-0-3 this season. Still, in their last 10, both teams are similar: Providence is 6-3-0-1, and Albany 5-3-0-2. What separates them is shootout victories.

In fact, Albany is 0-8 in shootouts this season, the only team in the East without a shootout win yet and only 1 of 2 teams in the league. Providence is 6-3 in shootouts.

Taking a look at special teams, Providence has a rare advantage in numbers on the power play. Albany is 27th in the league in power play percentage with 12.2%, while Providence is 21st at 15.6%. On the penalty kill, however, Albany has the advantage at 83.9% (14th) to Providence’s 82.4% (18th). Each team has 1 power play goal in the season series.

Providence will have to make do without their leading goal scorer and 2nd leading goal scorer in the entire AHL, Jamie Tardif (21 goals), who was called up to Boston on an emergency basis last night. (Since then, Alden Hirschfeld has been recalled from South Carolina of the ECHL.) That leaves Ryan Spooner as the P-Bruins top scorer at 8 goals, 19 assists and 27 points on the season. Spooner is also an impressive +9 on a team that has an overall goal differential of -5.

The next leading scorers for Providence are Carter Camper (5-20=25), Craig Cunningham (9-9=18), Max Sauve (5-11=16, +4), and Christian Hanson (5-10=15). Torey Krug is next on the list and the top scoring defensemen with 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points.

The Albany Devils leading scorer, Bobby Butler, has 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points. Butler has a +11 rating, 5 power play goals, and 1 shorthanded goal. The Massachusetts native has 1 of Albany’s 2 regulation goals against Providence this season (the other was scored by Adam Henrique, who is now with the New Jersey Devils).

Albany’s next leading scorers are Joe Whitney (11-13=24, +14), Steve Zalewski (7-16=23), Harri Pesonen (9-10=19), and Mattias Tedenby (9-8=17). Their leading scorer on the blue line is Eric Gelinas (4-8=12).

Providence continues to be lead in penalty minutes by Bobby Robins, with 211 total PIM. That number also leads the entire AHL. Robins also tops the AHL in majors, with 25. The Albany Devil with the most penalty minutes is Tim Sestito, with 55. In the one fight that took place in the previous 2 games this season, Robins dropped the gloves with Alexander Urbom.

Both goaltenders for each team have played against this opponent this season.

For Providence, starting rookie goaltender Niklas Svedberg, with a record of 19-6-2 in 28 games – including 4 shootout wins – ranks 2nd in the entire AHL in goaltender wins. He has a 2.32 GAA (9th best) and a 0.922 save % (7th). He has recorded 1 shutout. Backup Hutchinson has played in 16 games and has a record for 4-10-1 with a 2.73 GAA and 0.897 GAA.

Albany’s starting goaltender is Keith Kinkaid, who has played in 26 games and posted 2 shutouts. He has a record of 14-8-4. His 14 wins put him in a tie for 11th most in the AHL. His 2.36 GAA is 12th best in the AHL, while his 0.917 save % is 15th. Jeff Frazee, who has played in 14 games, is 3-7-4 with 2.47 GAA (18th in the AHL) and .909 save %. Both goaltenders share an AHL record for most shootouts without a win, as they both have 0 wins in the shootout this year.

The puck drops at 7pm tonight. Make sure to check it out, it should be a good game!

Pre All-Star Recap; Mink Signed, Hirschfeld Sent to SC, Trotman Skates

Graham Mink is no longer on a PTO. Providence signed him to an AHL contract on Monday. (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

The AHL All-Star break comes to an end tomorrow and the Providence Bruins will get back to work with only a few slight roster tweaks.

Prior to the All-Star break that began Sunday, Providence played on Friday, January 25th and Saturday, January 26th. On Friday, Providence beat the Portland Pirates 6-1. Defenseman Torey Krug had 2 goals. Kyle MacKinnon, Jamie Tardif, Max Sauve, and Carter Camper also scored for the P-Bruins. Niklas Svedberg made 28 saves between the pipes for the win.

On Saturday, Providence got another important divisional win when they beat the Worcester Sharks 4-3 in a shootout. Craig Cunningham, Tardif, and Justin Florek scored in regulation and Cunningham had the deciding goal in the shootout in the 7th round. Svedberg played for the 2nd night in a row and got his 2nd win in a row before appearing in his 1st All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday and All-Star Game on Monday.

Tardif, who joined Svedberg and Captain Trent Whitfield at the All-Star Classic in Providence, scored his 20th goal of the season on Saturday night. He leads the team in goals and points with 29. Carter Camper leads the team in assists with 19, overtaking Ryan Spooner this weekend, who has 18 assists on the season.

Jordan Caron joined the Providence Bruins line-up on Saturday for the 1st time since January 4th, when he suffered an upper body injury. He recorded 2 shots on net and was a -1.

On Monday, the Providence Bruins officially signed Graham Mink, who was on a Professional Tryout contract, to an AHL contract. Today, the P-Bruins also announced that they have sent forward Alden Hirschfeld back down to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. He spent 18 games with the P-Bruins this season thus far and recorded 5 points.

Another bit of positive news is that injured defenseman Zach Trotman, who has been out with a concussion for a few weeks, skated informally this morning. Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports that although  Trotman is not yet cleared to play, he is likely to return next week. Before his injury, he was having a better-than-expected season for Providence, recording 2 goals, 10 assists, and a +5 rating.

Providence returns to action tomorrow night, Thursday, January 31st, at Bridgeport against the Sound Tigers. Providence currently sits 2nd in the Atlantic division with a 22-16-0-3 record (47 points).

Also: Happy 23rd Birthday to Max Sauve and Happy 21st Birthday to Ryan Spooner!

Svedberg Practices, Providence Transactions and Updates

Providence has called up South Carolina goaltender Adam Morrison just in case Niklas Svedberg is too sick to play tomorrow. Morrison played for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL last season when Boston signed the former Flyers 3rd-round pick to a 3-year entry level contract. (Photo Credit: Caelie_Frampton/Flickr)

The Providence Bruins practiced today after a 3-0 loss to the Manchester Monarchs last night with goaltender Niklas Svedberg, who missed last night’s game due to the flu, back on the ice and skating with the team.

After signing former Northeasern college and ECHL goaltender Adam Geragosian to an emergency PTO (professional tryout) contract last night in the absence of Svedberg and a backup for Michael Hutchinson, Providence released Geragosian today. South Carolina Stingrays goaltender Adam Morrison was called up from the ECHL today, “just in case” Svedberg might not be well enough to dress for tomorrow night’s game against Portland.

Morrison is a 22-year-old British Columbia-born goaltender that was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2009 at 81st overall in the 3rd round. Boston signed him to an entry-level contract on March 15th of 2012. He spent 4 seasons in the WHL, playing for the Saskatoon Blades and Vancouver Giants. Although he had good numbers in the WHL, his 1st year in the ECHL is not as impressive.

In 10 games played for the Stingrays this year, Morrison is 1-6-0-2 with 39 goals against (4.07 GAA) and 0.877 save %. His only win game in his 1st game back on October 13th. He played 5 games in October, then his games played diminished to 2 in November, 2 in December, and just 1 in January. He has played 1 game in the AHL, with Providence, on April 14th of last year in a 4-2 loss. He made 35 saves. It doesn’t appear that he will need to dress for a game for Providence and if he does, it will be merely as a backup.

In more transactions, Tyler McNeely has been sent back to South Carolina of the ECHL. After playing 38 games with the Stingrays to start the season, Providence signed him to a PTO on January 10, 2013. He had 1 point in 4 games and registered a -5 with 14 penalty minutes.

Providence has also sent Eric Baier back to Trenton Titants of the ECHL. In 3 games with Providence, he had no points or penalty minutes. He hadn’t played in a game since January 13th.

The P-Bruins look to rebound from last night’s shutout when they host the Pirates tomorrow night. We will have a game preview for you later today!

UPDATE: Providence Defenseman Colby Cohen has also been assigned to South Carolina of the ECHL. And to clarify on statements above, McNeely and Baier were not “sent down” to their respective ECHL teams; they were released from their PTO contracts and therefore returned to the teams they were with beforehand.

Knight, Trotman Injured, Providence Calls Up 2 and Sign 1

Randell has been recalled from South Carolina of the ECHL despite having a disappointing season (Photo Credit: Denins Pause/Flickr)

In last night’s 5-4 win over Bridgeport, the Providence Bruins lost forward Jared Knight again as he re-injured his hamstring, and also lost defenseman Zach Trotman to an upperbody injury. To fill out these roster spots, Providence has called up forward Tyler Randell from South Carolina of the ECHL as well as defenseman Wes O’Neill from Toledo of the ECHL.

In 37 games with the Toledo Walleye this season, O’Neill has 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points and 56 PIM. O’Neill was a teammate of Christian Hanson at Notre Dame in 2005-06 and 2006-07. The 26-year-old New York Islanders 4th round draft pick has also played in the ECHL for the Johnstown Chiefs and Kalamazoo Wings and in the AHL for the Lake Erie Monsters and most recently last season for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He has a total of 5 NHL games for the Colorado Avalanche from the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons with no points, 6 PIM, and an overall -1 rating.

Randell, a 6th round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2009, played 30 games in Providence last season and only had 2 goals and a -11 rating. He played 1 game with the AHL club this season before being sent down to the ECHL, where he has been under-performing. His lack of production likely meant he was going to stay in the ECHL, but the dire circumstances with the Providence Bruins current roster has warranted calling him up.

Providence has also signed Graham Mink to a professional try out contract. The 33-year-old is a “proven AHL scorer” who has played for the Hershey Bears, Portland Pirates, Worcester Sharks, and Rochester Americans. Says The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver:

At 6’3 and 220 pounds, Graham Mink gives P-Bruins needed size on wing. 243 goals in 686 AHL games for 33-year-old who played at Vermont

The P-Bruins face the Springfield Falcons tonight. Look for a preview coming soon!