P-Bruins add defenseman Kolomatis; Regan sidelined again
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March 2009 ArchivesMarch 31
With three defensemen out with injuries, the Providence Bruins have signed David Kolomatis, 20, who played this season with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League, to an amateur tryout deal. An undrafted free agent, Kolomatis had 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points and 52 penalty minutes in 63 games this year. He was minus-5. A native of Basking Ridge, N.J., Kolomatis shoots right and is 6'0'' and weighs 186. He is strong on his skates and can move the puck. Kolomatis is expected in Providence late Tuesday and should practice with the team on Wednesday. Some background on Kolomatis: After a year with the New Jersey Rockets Junior B team, Kolomatis was invited to join the U.S. National Development Program Under-17 team, where his teammates included the likes of Pat Kane, James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk. In late 2005, Kolomatis committed to the University of New Hampshire, where he would have played with his friend van Riemsdyk. He left the national program in 2006 after a dispute with coach Ron Rolston. After Kolomatis injured a shoulder and a leg, Rolston reportedly told him that the team couldn't get him an appointment for an MRI for eight weeks. While Kolomatis rehabbed his injuries, Owen Sound offered Kolomatis an opportunity to play there with Bobby Sanguinetti, who like Kolomatis and van Riemsdyk is a New Jersey native. Sanguinetti is a Rangers first-round pick who is finishing up his first season with Hartford. Kolomatis turned his back on the UNH scholarship and has played the past three seasons in the O. In other news, coach Rob Murray said that goalie Kevin Regan is probably finished for the season with a torn labrum in his hip. Regan was injured in early March but had recovered enough to play in Sunday's 4-2 loss to Worcester. After a couple of weeks of rehab, "He got to the point where he felt good enough to play, but, bottom line, there's a difference between a game and a practice,'' Murray said. Regan was too sore to practice on Monday and Tuesday.
*** Defensemen Andrew Bodnarchuk, Ryan Stokes and Kevin Schaeffer won't be available this weekend because of injuries *** Peter Schaefer, who has been sidelined with a knee problem, will be ready to go Friday, Murray said. 
March 30
In an interview with Howlings, a Web site that covers the Hartford Wolfpack, here is what Dave Andrews, American Hockey League president and CEO, had to say about why Providence's Tuuka Rask was not suspended for his antics after the game against Albany on March 20: "It's been ruled on and essentially Tuuka had a temper tantrum and it really wasn't directed at the officials. There was nothing there to justify in our mind suspending the player. He embarrassed himself. I think and he'd probably like to have it back. It's been viewed about 500,000 times on YouTube. We think we're pretty consistent in terms of the discipline we apply and we try to be fair to the players and try to be consistent in terms of what sort of behavior merits a suspension and that one there was in line with the penalty that he received and that was it. Had had he directed any of that towards the referee or any of the linesman, that would have been a different story.
The Boston Bruins have signed Yannick Riendeau of the Drummondville Voltiguers to a three-year contract, according to rds.ca. Riendeau, 20, is a 5'11'' 178-pound left-shooting right wing. An undrafted free agent, he led the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in scoring this season with 58-68-126 in 64 games. In a four-game playoff sweep of Lewiston, Riendeau had a 9-10-19 line. Drummondville's next opponent in the playoffs hasn't been determined yet. It's not known whether Riendeau would join the Providence Bruins after Drummondville's season ends.
The NESN announcer said what Bruins fans were thinking last night when the fans in Philadelphia booed a noncall on Milan Lucic for hitting the Flyers' Randy Jones, who nearly ended Patrice Bergeron's career with a dirty hit.
March 27
Enter Jeff Penner. Coach Rob Murray has called on the 5'11'' 190-pound first-year defenseman and his partner Johnny Boychuk to shoulder additional ice time. Boychuk, the top-scoring defenseman in the AHL (19-40-59 in 70 games) was already enjoying a career season. But Penner, 22, has emerged as a dependable, puck-retrieving defenseman. While Penner -- signed as a free agent out of Alaska-Anchorage of the CCHA last spring -- has 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 71 games, his most impressive stat is a team-leading plus-20. According to Murray, Manitoba is the only AHL team that records the amount of time that players spend on the ice. Penner and Boychuk both played 30 minutes during Providence's second game in Manitoba, Murray said, then played at least that much the following night in Rochester. ** IN FIRST: The Providence Bruins have spent much of the season in first place in the Atlantic Division. According to A.J. Atchue of the AHL office, "Providence bounced in and out of first place several times for the first couple months of the season. The Bruins tied Portland for first on the morning of Dec. 13... Except for a two-day absence (Jan. 1 and 2), they remained either tied for or alone in first place until being overtaken by Hartford on the morning of March 8. Providence and Hartford have been within three points of each other ever since that date.
Other notables on the list: Toronto's Brian Burke is 7th. Pittsburgh's Ray Shero, who was reported to be Boston's first choice before Chiarelli is 14th. Mount St. Charles alums Brian Lawton of Tampa is 25th, while Garth Snow of the Islanders is 27th. Bryan Murray of Ottawa (26), Glen Sather of the Rangers (29) and Don Waddell of Atlanta (30) bring up the rear. ** FREE AGENTS: Tim Thomas is 20th on a list of top free agents in the summer of 2009 compiled by USA Today''s Kevin Allen: "The general presumption is that Boston will re-sign him because the team has come too far to let their goalkeeper get away. Also, the vast majority of teams are happy with their goalkeeping or don't have the money to bring him in. However, if the Philadelphia Flyers have goaltending issues in the playoffs, it's plausible to ponder whether they might re-arrange their payroll to make a run at Thomas.'' ** WINNERS PROSPER: Attendence at Boston Bruins games is up by an average of 1,598 this season, according to James Mirtle. That's the third-highest increase in the NHL. ** CAVANAGH CARDS: The first 3,000 fans through the turnstiles at Friday night's Springfield-Worcester game in Worcester will receive a Tom Cavanagh autographed collector's card. Cavanagh will not be in the house, however. The former Toll Gate and Harvard star remains with the San Jose Sharks, who have 10 players on the injured list. ** MIKE CHECK: In his blog on cbc.com, Mike Milbury says that Boston's win over New Jersey Sunday was all well and good, but "Saturday's game (in Toronto) will be a test of character and confidence and a measure of Boston's readiness for the playoffs.'' ** RUSSIAN DEFENSEMEN: What a year former Bruin defenseman Kevin Dallman had with Barys Astana of the KHL. Dallman finished fifth in scoring with 28-30-58 in 50 games along with 117 PIMs. Bryan Berard had 3-15-18 in 25 games with Vityaz Podolsk/Chekhov. ** HOCKEY LEAST: I'm still waiting for a better explanation from Hockey East about UMass-Lowell's disallowed goal in the league's championship game in Boston on Saturday. Television replays clearly showed the puck was in before the referee's whistle was blown. Here's what commissioner Joe Bertagna told insidecollegehockey.com: "I heard two things," Bertagna said of his conversation with the officials' booth and replay official Scott Hansen. "I called the booth, and I heard the referee said he blew his whistle before it went over the line. There was never a question whether it went in or not. He blew the whistle first. The second thing, which is probably not as much of a factor, is the net did go up and down in the middle of the sequence. The rulebook has said even if it goes up and comes right back down on the pins, that's the same as being off the net. That was almost like a second reason not to allow it. The real, specific reason was (referee) Timmy Benedetto said he blew the whistle. He lost sight of it, blew the whistle and replayed it. They didn't have sound up there, so they watched him blow the whistle, they did a count and the puck clearly was not in the net at that point. So that was it." That just doesn't match what the TV audience saw on the replay. The whistle was clearly blown after the puck entered the net.
Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien has announced that Phil Kessel has an injury (which he did not disclose) and will not play tomorrow in Toronto or Sunday in Philadelphia, according to The Boston Globe.
March 26
First-year defenseman Jeff Penner is the Providence Bruins' American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year award winner, the American Hockey League announced Thursday. A player from each team is selected by their respective clubs for their outstanding contributions to the local community and charitable organizations during the 2008-09 season. From this list of finalists, representatives from American Specialty and the AHL will choose the winner of the 2008-09 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. The AHL's annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, who died in 1997 at the age of 24, following a 16-month battle with leukemia. Former Providence College star Peter Zingoni is the Norfolk Admirals finalist. Click here for a list of finalists.
Reul, a 6'4'' 226-pound right-shooting defenseman, wrapped up his season early this week with the Lewiston Maineiacs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Reul will play in Providence on an amateur tryout contract. Reul had 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 60 games, along with 97 PIMs. He is a physical, stay-at-home defender whose skating needs a lot of work. Reul, 19, is from Marktredwitz, Germany. He played for Germany in this year's World Junior Championships. His hit on Angelo Esposito, above, in the World Juniors made him some enemies in Canada.
March 25
Ushr.com reports that UNH recruit Ryan Bourque has decided to forego his scholarship and jump to the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he will play for GM/coach Patrick Roy, his dad's former teammate with Colorado. Bourque, a 5'8'', 165-pound center and left wing, has 19 goals, 24 assists and 43 points in 47 games for the U.S. Under-18 Team this season. He's a native of Boxford, Mass. Ryan Bourque, 18, was ranked 61st among North American skaters in January's NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings.
Coach Rob Murray noticed it as he ran his Providence Bruins through an otherwise routine midweek workout Wednesday morning at the Dunkin Donuts Center. "The guys had a little more spring in their step,'' said Murray. That's because two key members of Boston's management -- Vice President Cam Neely and Director of Hockey Operations and Player Development Don Sweeney -- were watching from the bench. After a 45-minute team practice, Hall of Fame right wing Neely and Sweeney, who played defense in the NHL for 16 seasons, laced up their skates and offered personal instruction to some of the younger Providence prospects. While Sweeney worked with defensemen at one end of the ice, Neely and skills coach Victor Teleguine tutored six forwards -- Mikko Lehtonen, Brad Marchand, Zach Hamill, Matt Marquardt, Jordan Knackstedt and Ned Lukacevic -- on the finer points of protecting the puck, moving their feet and accelerating with the puck out of the corner and toward the net. Who better than Neely to teach forwards to go hard to the net. Though at 43 he may be a pound or two over his playing weight, the broad-shouldered Neely still looks like he might be able to play a few shifts down low on the power play. From time to time, Neely offered praise or took the youngsters aside to point out a shortcoming. The players -- most of whom were toddlers when Neely was putting up 50-goal seasons -- listened nervously but attentively. Sweeney is a frequent visitor -- and instructor -- at P-Bruins practices, but this was Neely's first appearance.
You can't watch ESPN today without seeing footage of Tuukka Rask's epic meltdown at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Friday night. And the question that comes to mind every time you watch it is: What was Rask thinking? Matt Kalman of The Bruins Blog covered the game and spoke with Rask afterward. Albany's Jacob Petruzak ''went backwards and stopped the play and waited three seconds and then shot it," Rask said. "I guess the guy didn't believe it either because he stopped and then took the shot. As long as the ref doesn't blow the whistle, it's game on I guess." Read the rest of Kalman's report on the incident here.
March 24
Coach Rob Murray said Tuesday morning that he had been informed by the American Hockey League office that there would be no suspension. Murray said he did not know if Rask had been fined. Murray downplayed Rask's actions, saying that he'd seen much worse during his two decades as a pro player and coach. "It it weren't for Youtube, no one would have known about (the Rask incident),'' he said. On Friday, Rask was furious at referee Frederic L'Ecuyer for allowing goals by two Albany players during the shootout. On the first, Jakub Petruzak appeared to lose control of the puck far off to one side of the net before scoring. Then L'Ecuyer ruled that Harrison Reed's shot had entered the net for the game-deciding goal. Rask argued that it hit the crossbar. After the game, Rask smashed his stick on the boards, then flung it across the ice. He then grabbed a milk crate from behind the Bruins bench and tossed it halfway across the ice. L'Ecuyer slapped Rask with a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct. Rask is tied for the league lead in wins with 30.
March 23
Puck Daddy recaps Rask's nutty and looks at other over-the-top hockey meltdowns.
March 20
*** THE FIRING LINE: It's not like it's never happened before. Two seasons ago, with his New Jersey Devils leading the Atlantic Division and just a week left in the season, Claude Julien was fired by GM Lou Lamoriello. Twenty-nine years ago, with the Bruins in second place in the Adams Division and seven games left, Fred Creighton was fired by GM Harry Sinden. So when The Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa asked Peter Chiarelli at practice on Friday whether firing Julien was an option, it wasn't a question out of left field. "It's not possible. It's 100 percent not possible,'' Chiarelli answered. Nor should it be. Let's not get crazy here. A rocky streak on the heels of one of the greatest winning stretches in the franchise's long history shouldn't cost a coach his job. There are still 10 games left before the playoffs. There is time to get back on track. San Jose, another team that is running away with its division, has been stumbling, too. To his credit, Chiarelli delivered the right answer, loud and clear. Harry Sinden's not walking through that door.
All are former AHL coaches and long-time minor-league players. Click here to read Chris Iorfina of cbc.com's take on this trend. SI.com's Jim Kelley weighs in here.
"After that we had a couple of easy games. We played a couple of teams that weren't playing their best. We played UMass and the [second] game was over pretty quickly. Then we had the two Providence games. The first game down at Providence was way too easy. And the game here to win the championship was a cakewalk. So we haven't really been tested and we weren't tested this past weekend until [game three] ."
Hartford will be without two good players -- center and captain Greg Moore and goalie Matt Zaba. Moore suffered a concussion on Wednesday when he was blasted into the boards by Lowell's Mark Fraser on an unpenalized hit. Zaba has a finger injury.
Heading into Friday's game, the P-Bruins were averaging 6,037 fans a game. That's only 70 fewer than last season's average attendence of 6,107. That's impressive in a state with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
March 19
Dustin Brown's overtime goal lifted the Los Angeles Kings to a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden. More to come.
It hasn't been a great week for Marc Savard. On Sunday, he told Sidney Crosby he'd fight him if Crosby removed his visor. Crosby took it off, but Savard wouldn't go. Puck Daddy tells the tale here. Too bad the Bruins and Penguins don't play again during the regular season. On Tuesday, Claude Julien delivered a stinging critique of Savard's play: 'He does make mistakes,'' Julien told Stephen Harris of The Boston Herald. "He's a guy who turns the puck over with some forced plays at times. His competitive level is always there. He competes hard. The one thing he can certainly help this team with right now is (cutting down) those kind of turnovers that end up hurting us. "One of them was the empty-net goal in Pittsburgh. (That should have been) an easy pass to the strong-side point instead of trying to put it through guys. Those kind of things happen too often for Savvy. "Having said that, he still is the guy who leads us in scoring (76 points), so he brings a lot of positive. He competes hard, he cares, he wants to do the best for the team. When you have a player like that, you can't expect to make him perfect overnight. He just has to keep working on that part of his game.'' Wow. Julien sprinkled in enough compliments so that it wasn't a complete rip job, but he was unusually blunt. Nothing that a couple of wins won't fix.
An injury to Tampa's power-play quarterback, Cory Murphy, has cleared the way for ex-Bruin Matt Lashoff, who played 23 minutes in his debut with the Lightning on Tuesday night. "The job is his now," coach Rick Tocchet said. "I don't want to put a lot of pressure on him so he doesn't think he has to score or make a great play the first couple of outings. He's going to have a regular time on the power play to get used to it." To hear Lashoff tell it, he wasn't all that comfortable in Boston. "Just the way things were going in Boston, I didn't have my confidence," Lashoff told Erik Erlendsson of Tampa Tribune. "I was always second-guessing plays that I was making out on the ice. I think from the moment I got here, it was like a weight was taken off my shoulders. The moment I found out I was traded here, to be able to have that opportunity to come in and play right away, to have that all behind me, it's changed my whole demeanor. "It even started Tuesday during the pregame skate, I just felt more confident with the puck." In Boston, "every time you come up, it's an audition, but the way the Bruins were, it would be one shift and you thought you were going back down to Providence of the AHL, and with the way things are going for them this year they didn't have that leeway to give," Lashoff said. Read the story here.
March 18
Providence Bruins coach Rob Murray said Wednesday that backup goalie Kevin Regan is out indefinately with a torn labrum in his hip. Regan "might be able to finish the season,'' Murray said, if he can find the right treatment. A torn labrum is the same injury that has plagued baseball players Mike Lowell and Alex Rodriguez.
A 6-foot, 195-pound right-shooting defenseman, Bartley scored 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points with 97 penalty minutes for Regina.
Defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk, who has been out with an injury for a couple of weeks, should be ready to return for Friday's home game against Albany, according to Murray
Watching Martin Brodeur's record 552nd NHL win on Tuesday night brought me back to his first AHL game in Providence, which I was lucky enough to witness. Step into the time machine for a trip back to Nov. 12, 1992. On that night, Clarke Donatelli's goal with 2.4 seconds left in overtime lifted the P-Bruins, who were in their first season, over Brodeur's Utica Devils, 7-6, in a wildly entertaining game before 9,163 fans. Providence native Donatelli and Andrew McKim had hat tricks for Providence. Jozef Stumpel had the other goal. For Utica, Cranston's David Emma and Bill Guerin were among the goal scorers. At the time, Brodeur was 20 and in his first year as a pro. While he was a highly touted, first-round draft pick, there were no indications that he would go on to be the best goalie in the history of the game. That season he posted a 14-13-5 record in 32 games for Utica with a 4.03 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage. In Brodeur's second visit to Providence a couple of months later, he backstopped the Devils to a 3-2 win. The next season, Brodeur was the NHL's rookie of the year. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The Bruins, who are 6-9-3 since Feb. 7, haven't looked that good lately, and general manager Peter Chiarelli says the solution has to start with the players themselves. Speaking during yesterday's practice to The Boston Herald's Stephen Harris, Chiarelli said "I think there has been an area of complacency and an area of comfort that's set in here, and we've got to battle through it." He said he was concerned about an overall lack of focus, and cited several specific examples from recent Bruins games, including Sunday's loss against Pittsburgh. The Bruins remain the number one team in the Eastern Conference, but New Jersey and Washington are each within easy striking distance. Both of those teams picked up wins last night while Boston had the day off. The Bruins are preparing to return to game action tomorrow night at home against the Los Angeles Kings.
March 13
Read more here.
March 11
Milan Lucic in a Providence Bruins uniform? The young left winger's name was included on Providence's Clear Day roster -- players who are eligible for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs -- possibly for salary cap reasons. But P-Bruins coach Rob Murray says that he does not expect Lucic to play in Providence. AHL teams had to submit their rosters to the league by Wednesday at 3 p.m. Last season, Phil Kessel's name was on Providence's Clear Day roster. In addition to Lucic, the Providence roster includes Byron Bitz and Matt Hunwick. Murray said those two probably will play in Providence if Boston's season ends before Providence's.
Matt Taormina wasted no time in making a good impression with the Binghamton Senators. The former Providence College defensemen signed a tryout contract earlier in the day, then scored the game-winner as Binghamton beat the Portland Pirates, 3-1, on Tuesday night in Maine. Taormina scored on a slap shot at 4:14 of the second period and was plus-2. "(Goalie Kellen Briggs) wasn't even in there," Taormina told Dan Hickling, who covered the game for the Binghamton Press. "It was a wide-open net. If I had missed that I would have hurt myself." "It was amazing to come in for my first game with these guys," said Taormina. "It was a little nerve wracking at first. Until I really got to know them. They're great guys. I had fun."
March 10
After returning from one of the Providence Bruins longest road trips in recent memory, coach Rob Murray was on the phone in his office shortly after noon Tuesday "looking for players.'' The AHL's Clear Day deadline is Wednesday at 3 p.m. That's when all teams must submit their final 22-man rosters. Only those players listed on the Clear Day roster are eligible for the rest of the regular season and the Calder Cup playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. With three players on the injured list (Andrew Bodnarchuk, Peter Schaefer and Ryan Stokes) and two key players recently traded (Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums), Murray heads into the season's stretch run with a depleted roster that includes four players who are on tryout contracts (Kirk MacDonald, Dan Ryder, Brian Miller and Kevin Schaeffer). Murray said he didn't expect any big moves before the deadline. First on Murray's wish list is a top four AHL defenseman, possibly acquired on loan from a team that doesn't expect to make the playoffs. Other possibilities are Canadian juniors and American college players whose seasons either have ended or will end soon.
Senior defenseman Matt Taormina was an assistant captain and one of the better players on a bad Providence College hockey team this season. Now that PC's season is over, Taormina has signed a tryout contract with the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's AHL farm team. Taormina, 22, reportedly will join his new team in Portland today. A native of Washington Township, Mich., Taormina played four seasons at PC, notching five goals, 15 assists for 20 points in 34 games this season. For the second year in a row, he is a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award, given annually to the top U.S.-born college hockey player in New England.
March 9
''Now, after a decade in which the Patriots, the Celtics, even the Red Sox have won championships, the Bruins have a chance to step up and do the same, but to do so knowing that there remains a reservoir of support here that exists in few other places in the country. In Boston, there are Red Sox fans, but baseball doesn't permeate the city. Little League diamonds go vacant all summer, and the high school and college seasons are necessarily truncated by the weather. The Patriots and Celtics have experienced great waves of popularity, but there is no deeper culture of football and basketball present here, the best efforts of Boston College notwithstanding. In the other three major sports in Boston, there is a spectator culture of interest at the top, and very little beneath that. For all the ribbing hockey takes on sports-talk radio, for all the easy dismissals of it as a kind of charming local anachronism, like the swan boats or Jack Williams, people seem surprised to notice, again, that hockey, even after the Bruins all but vanished for nearly 40 years, still holds a place in this city and this region that football, basketball -- yes, even baseball, which is more than just the Red Sox -- can only envy.''
March 6
It's no secret that guys from Rhode Island know how to work the system, whatever the system might be. Whether it's pensions, workers' comp, fixing a ticket, a job for a cousin or a low-number license plate, Rhode Islanders find a way to get it done. So who could be surprised that a guy from Providence and a guy from Cumberland teamed up on a deal at the NHL trade deadline that smelled a little fishy? Tampa GM Brian Lawton, of the Cumberland Lawtons, traded goaltender Olie Kolzig, defenseman Jamie Heward, minor-league defenseman Andy Rogers and a 2009 fourth-round pick to his Toronto counterpart, Providence native Brian Burke, in exchange for minor-league defenseman Richard Petiot, In an interesting twist, all of the players headed Toronto's way are injured. The bottom line is that the Leafs provided the Lightning with a few hundred thousand dollars in salary cap relief, in trade for a minor-leaguer. Read more about the deal here. It should surprise no one that the last guy who pulled off a stunt like this was New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello. In 2006, Lamoriello gave the San Jose Sharks a first-round draft pick to take suspended defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, allowing the Devils to get under the salary cap. Lamoriello -- of course -- grew up in Johnston.
Tough one last night for Mount St. Charles alum Brian Boucher. His San Jose Sharks were cruising along with a 3-0 lead before the Minnesota Wild rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory. The Wild's tying goal was a dump-in from the red line that skipped between Boucher's legs. Ouch. Watch the video here.
"It's a trick shot," said left wing Dan Fritsche, laughing. "He works on it in practice all the time." Nobody in the opposite dressing room was joking around with San Jose goalie Brian Boucher, who might not live down this humiliating blunder for a good long while. After Boucher allowed Zidlicky's backhand from mid-ice to skitter between his legs for the tying goal and an instant blooper-reel lowlight, Mikko Koivu scored his second goal with 13.3 seconds left in overtime to finish the Wild's 4-3 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night, snapping Minnesota's four-game winless streak. Zidlicky had no idea he was about to complete Minnesota's comeback from a 3-0 deficit with 7:37 left in regulation when he dumped a backhand into San Jose's zone from just past the center line. The puck somehow bounced sideways between the legs of Boucher, who whiffed with his glove like a nervous shortstop. "I just threw the puck there," said Zidlicky, who was just about to leave the ice when the Shark Tank crowd erupted in groans. "I was ready for a change, and I heard the bench saying we scored. It was a surprise for me." Boucher made 32 saves in his fourth straight start in place of Evgeni Nabokov, but the San Jose backup goalie couldn't stop the night's easiest shot. His mistake was the biggest factor in the Sharks' fourth loss in five games, although San Jose still moved back into a tie for the overall NHL lead. "The third one was a bad bounce, and it kicked to the side and snuck through my legs," Boucher said. "I'm pretty upset about it. As much as the fans don't like seeing that, you can bet I don't want to let one like that in. That's hockey sometimes, and it's a bad break."
"That happens once a year, once every two years," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "Tough one for the goalie."
March 5
The Boston Bruins' recent slide continues, as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Phoenix Coyotes Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden for their 9th loss in 12 games. More to come . . .
March 4
Allan Muir of SI.com has a quick take on Boston GM Peter Chiarelli's work at the trade deadline: Nokelainen to Anaheim for Montador Here's one of those deals that's going to look a lot more important in May than it does now. Depth forward Petteri Nokelainen's struggled to stick in the NHL this season, but he's a big body who projects as a solid checking line forward. That's exactly what the Ducks need with all three members of their third line eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer. Karsums and Lashoff to Tampa for Recchi and a 2nd round pick Great add for the B's, who desperately needed a top-six forward to replace Marco Sturm. His playoff experience will be hugely valuable for a team that relies so heavily on young and/or inexperienced players. If Boston wins the Cup then, hey, they win this deal in a walk. If not, it looks as though Tampa picked their pockets, adding two young players who can step in and contribute -- if not next year, then soon. Lashoff, a former first-rounder, is an offensive-minded blueliner. Great skater, great first pass, but needs to work on his decision-making in his own zone. With coaching, he could mature into a top-four defender. Karsums, a former second-rounder, is a feisty checker with some touch who should become a reliable depth forward. It's a lot to give up, but the Bruins were dealing from a position of strength. Lashoff had been passed on the depth chart by Matt Hunwick, and he didn't look to have a future with the team. Karsums looks like a lock to be a player, but the B's have Brad Marchand slotted into that role in the future.
With the NHL trade deadline approaching at 3 p.m., Canada's Sportsnet.ca says that teams are asking about Phil Kessel of the Bruins. Says Sportsnet: "Teams have been inquiring about Phil Kessel with the Boston Bruins, and the B's have been willing to listen. With Kessel scheduled to become a restricted free agent after this season, the Bruins fear the price to lock him up long-term may be too high.''
The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded left wing Mark Recchi, and a second-round draft pick to the Bruins for right wing Martins Karsums and Providence Bruins defenseman Matt Lashoff. Recchi, 41, is a two time Stanley Cup winner.
Mark Recchi, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, has been traded to the Bruins by Tampa Bay. What the Bruins have given up in return is not known yet.
TSN.com reports that the Bruins have traded forward Petteri Nokelainen to Anaheim in exchange for 29-year-old defenseman Steve Montador.
Fluto Shinzawa of Boston.com reports that Petteri Nokelainen of the Bruins was held out of practice this morning because he might be involved in a trade. Every other healthy Bruin participated in the practice. Read about it here.
Chris Pronger, 34, the Anaheim Ducks defenseman who has been rumored to be headed to Boston, among other contenders, by today's NHL trade deadline, reportedly has been taken off the market, TSN says. Read about it here.
March 3
The Philadelphia Flyers broke a 1-1 tie with three straight third-period goals and defeated the Boston Bruins, 4-2, Tuesday night. More to come . . .
With the NHL trade deadline just over 24 hours away, TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that the Bruins have offered Manny Fernandez to Phoenix in a bid to clear salary cap space. The Coyotes would then flip Fernandez to a third team. Read it here.
Former Boston Bruins goaltender and coach Gerry Cheevers is on a list of people expected to be mentioned in an upcoming mob trial involving sports gambling, The Boston Herald reports today. Although Cheevers' connection to the case is not known, the newspaper says prospective jurors will be asked if they are familiar with him when jury selection begins this morning. The 68-year-old Cheevers, a Hall of Famer who played on two Stanley Cup championship teams, acknowledged that he is "probably" the person who will be mentioned in the trial, but he said he does not know his relationship to the case. The defendants in the case, who include the brother-in-law of disgraced FBI agent John Connolly, are facing counts of racketeering, illegal gambling, arson, money laundering and attempted extortion.
March 2
The Providence Bruins acquired defenseman Matt Stephenson from the Manitoba Moose Monday in exchange for future considerations, according to the Moose web site. Stephenson, 24, has appeared in 53 games this season with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL, and has 27 points (5-22-27) and 127 penalty minutes. A first-year pro, Stephenson played four season at St. Cloud State. In other personnel moves over the weekend, the P-Bruins signed Daniel Ryder, brother of Boston winger Michael Ryder, and Dinos Stamoulis, who played four season at Providence College, to 25-game tryouts. Providence's next game is Wednesday in Toronto.
With the NHL trade deadline just over 50 hours away, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke has shot down reports that he has talked to the Bruins about trading puck-moving defensema Tomas Kaberle and center Dominic Moore to Boston for a first- and a third-round pick and Joe Colborne, the Denver University freshman who was Boston's first-round pick last year. Read about it here.
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