Bruins Trade Deadline Transactions

Welcome to trade deadline day for the NHL! While the Boston Bruins signed Jaromir Jagr earlier this week in exchange for Lane MacDermid not much else went down for the Black and Gold (I refuse to speak about the trade gone bad). But with today being the end of any sort of player trading, Peter Chiarelli and Co. cracked down and made some moves that’ll hopefully help with the B’s quest for the cup!

Welcome to Boston Wade! (Credit: Flickr/ CS Smith)

At one pm today it was confirmed that the Boston Bruins had traded Providence Bruins player Max Sauve to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Rob Flick. Flick has most recently been playing for the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate the Rockford IceHogs. He has played in 51 games this season for the IceHogs and has registered three goals and two assists with 97 penalty minutes.

The London Ontario native was drafted in the fourth round (120th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. While Flick hasn’t contributed much scoring wise, he’s 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds and has no problem throwing his weight around. In his first two AHL seasons alone, he’s racked up over 100 PIMs.

Flick will most likely head to Providence for the next few years to build but there’s no doubt that he’ll most likely be there if the Bruins are looking for a call up.

In a late trade, the B’s also acquired defenseman Wade Redden from the St. Louis Blues  in exchange for a conditional seventh round draft pick in 2014. However, if Redden plays in one or more games during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Bruins, that draft pick will change to a sixth round.

Redden is a former teammate of Captain Zdeno Chara and center Chris Kelly. He will serve as a strength defenseman that could come in handy as the Bruins head towards playoffs. This year, Redden appeared in 23 games with the Blues, scoring two goals and three assists with 11 penalty minutes. The 35-year-old has skated in 1017 NHL games between the  Ottawa Senators (1995-2008), New York Rangers (2008-2010) and the St. Louis Blues (2012-2013).

Overall it wasn’t the trade that’ll make headlines, but these are deals that could help the Bruins with the rest of this season  and in the future.

Drive and Determination

Bruins are to take on the Sabres tomorrow night in New York at 7:30pm EST.

Last night the Bruins fought hard to keep from losing their third straight game since their dreadful start in October.  They sported some new line changes and a whole new attitude in last night’s 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. With forward Brad Marchand coming out of his 6-game slump and scoring just 2:21 in, it gave the Bruins the little confidence boost they needed to go the distance.

David Krejci has also seemingly come out of his slump lately, along with linemates Milan Lucic and Chris Kelly who sported a +6 rating and Captain Zdeno Chara showed up on the positive end of things as well.  While Krejci didn’t assist on any of the goals his line scored, his presence was undeniable.

At the tail end of the first period Krejci crushed Russell into the boards causing him to release the puck early. This gave teammate Joe Corvo enough time to set up the puck for a shot that Milan Lucic would tip in.

“I told [Krejci] that’s how it feels when me and [Horton] get in on the fore-check. The whole first period we did a good job on the fore-check to get the puck back and keep it in the offensive zone,” said Lucic. “We talked about sticking with it and bearing down when we get those chances. That worked for us today for sure.”(via CSNNE.com)

The Krejci-Kelly-Lucic line had 7 of nineteen attempts last night and created numerous golden opportunities. While it is unlikely Krecji’s position change will be a career-changer, it is likely to remain until Horton or Peverley returns.

Along with solid efforts by the Krejci and Bergeron lines, there was a new face among the Bruins that shined. Carter Camper debuted in his first professional hockey game last night and managed to get 6:21 of playing time in eleven shifts winning all of his face-offs. Not bad for a new rookie. He also managed to make a beautiful opportunity to Tyler Seguin coming off the bench on his first shift out.

Today’s lines based on practice are:

Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-David Krejci

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin

Benoit Pouliot-Carter Camper-Josh Hennessy

Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Jordan Caron

All seven defensemen were present on the ice as well as both goaltenders. (Thomas being the first one off, though it is not likely this means anything special.)The only person missing was forward Shawn Thornton who, despite battling illness last night managed to create some pretty decent plays in his 14 shifts,  keeping his perfect attendance record.

The Bruins are to take on the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night in New York with a little breath of fresh air coming off a victory. While the Sabres have proven to be a problem for the Bruins since the Milan Lucic/Ryan Miller incident, the confidence boost should do them well.

Bruins Beast the Blues

Brad Marchand led the B's to a 4-2 win tonight (Credit:Slidingsideways/ Flickr)

FINALLY! I had to get the excitement out of my system because I wasn’t sure if I (or the team) could handle another loss tonight. Well fortunately myself, my partners here at A Cup A Bruin, and the B’s can get a nice happy night of sleep because we WON! Tonight marked the end of the St. Louis Blues’ 21 game regulation winning streak at home. To be honest, I really enjoy ending other teams winning steaks (insert evil laugh here).

Anyway Steph gave a pretty awesome in game blog found here so I’m going to focus on the players and moments of the game that help get the team out of the slump

1. Strong Opening Period

Both teams started off clearly going for the W. The Bruins notched the first goal thanks to a beautiful wrist shot by Brad Marchand. That would be his 20th goal of the season. I think I enjoyed this one the most because he had it, lost it, and got it back. Oh yeah and scored it 2:29 into the game. Great start! Milan Lucic followed it up with a slap shot 4 minutes later and when I say Joe Corvo let that puck rip to him, I’m not joking. That was Lucic’s big 2-1st of the season, and made him leading goal scorer for the team. Naturally the Blues had to retaliate back with two goals of their own but that’s not important because I’m celebrating the Bruins. Chris Kelly,aka my favorite unsung hero, ended the 1st with his 15th goal of the season and that gave the B’s a 3-2 lead that would carry over to the third.

2. Carter Camper

Talk about a breath a fresh air for the B’s. Camper played in his first NHL game EVER and though he was only on the ice for 6:21 he made quite an impression. In the first period, the rookie went 4-4 on face offs. I have a feeling this one will be around for a bit.

3. Brad Marchand

This was Marchy’s game without a doubt tonight. I mentioned his 1st period goal but that wasn’t the last the Blue would see of the Nose Faced Killah. In the third, Claude Julien decided to mix up the lines and put Marchy with Krejci and Looch in with Seguin and Bergeron. The result was a breakaway goal for Marchand, tying him for leading goal scorer with Lucic at 21 goals. I swear when Marchand and Seguin on ice together, it’s like they have telepathy because they literally always seem to know where the other one is.

On the win tonight, Marchand had this to say:

“It’s been a few games- the longest slump I’ve had in a while, so it was nice to get the monkey off the back” (via @NHLBruins)

Over all I think that this win was a win for the entire team. Seven of the players had either a goal or an assist tonight and I hope that from here we can only continue to improve. Goaltender was great too as Tim Thomas for 30 for 32 on shots on net. It was a solid effort and a well deserved victory against a good team.

The B’s are off tomorrow but continue their road trip against my not so favorite Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.

 

Live Blogging:Bruins @ Blues

Marchand scores with just 2:21 into the first period (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

 

 

 

 

 

 

       4                                                       2                                                                                                                                               

FINAL

 

 

Starters. BOS: Milan Lucic, Chris Kelly,David Krejci,Dennis Seidenberg, Joe Corvo & Tim Thomas.

STL: Perron, McDonald, Berglund, Polak, Russell & Elliott.

Scratches:: Peverley(knee) Horton(concussion) Hennessy and Bodnarchuk healthy scratches

Bruins Battle the Blues

Shawn Thornton is a game-time decision for tonight's match-up against the Blues (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

The St. Louis Blues are to host the Bruins tonight at the Scottrade Center for the first time since November 23, 2009.  The Bruins have taken points in the last four games versus the Blues but have not defeated them since March 6, 1993.  Seven out of the last Eleven games between these two teams have been decided by shootouts with the Blues winning them all.

The last time these two teams met was on January 10 at the TD Garden where each team had a penalty shot for and against in the same game, making history.

The Blues are looking to take advantage of home ice before heading on a difficult road stretch and send the Bruins on their first 3-game losing streak since October 22-29.  They have not lost at home in regulation since December 3, with a record of 18-0-3 and 5-0-0 with 3shutout victories since the All-Star Break.

Much like Boston, the Blues are coming off of a loss Sunday after losing to the Blackhawks 3-1.  They are looking for the win tonight to try and catch the Detroit Red Wings in the standings.  The Bruins(+38) and Blues(+34) are ranked 2nd and 3rd best for five-on-five for/against ratings in the League as well as in the top five for total penalty minutes. (Boston 2nd-876, Blues 5th-757)

Vladimir Sobotka is the lone player on either roster to have played for the other’s organization being a Boston Bruin from 2007-2010 playing in 134 games.

Tonight TJ Hensick is looking to net his second goal with the Blues and is currently ranked 3rd in the AHL with 64 points (19 goals, 45 assists) with the Peoria Rivermen.  He was re-called by the Blues on Febraru 21 to replace forward Jamie Langenbrunner who broke his foot in Sunday’s game against the Blackhawks.

For the Bruins Carter Camper is looking to play his first NHL game being called up on February 20. He joins teammates Josh Hennessy, Jordan Caron and Andrew Bodnarchuk as Claude Julien attempts to shake up the lines and create some sort of working dynamic.

The Bruins will face the Blues without forward Nathan Horton(concussion) and forward Rich Peverley(sprained knee, MCL) and potentially forward Shawn Thornton(feeling under the weather), but is likely to remain a game-time decision. Thornton is one of five players who have played in all 56 games for the Bruins this season with Dennis Seidenberg,Patrice Bergeron, Joe Corvo and Chris Kelly.

The Blues will be without Alexander Steen, Matt D’Agostini and Jamie Langenbrunner.

Tonight marks game 8 of 10 road games for the Bruins who are 3-4-0 thus far. They opened their 11-day trip with a 4-3 shutout victory against the Montreal Canadiens, dropped 4-2 against Winnipeg and got shutout on Sunday by the Minnesota Wild.

Bruins are looking to extend their 2-point streak over Ottawa in the Northeast to 4 and prevent themselves from falling into a losing streak tonight. They are hoping to create some sort of balance and dynamic with line changes and call-ups and get rid of the weight that is hanging over their shoulders.

You have to be loose, you’re going to have to play confident and take some wieght off your shoulders because that’s what’s slowing us down lately..If you take the weight off your shoulders and play a little bit looser and just go out there and create some fun, we may have a chance.”-Claude Julien (via Bruins Official Site)

 

The game is at 8pm EST on the New England Sports Network (NESN)