Projo Bruins Blog

September 13, 2009 - September 19, 2009 Archives

The Canadian Press

Phil Kessel is excited about playing in hockey-mad Toronto.

The 21-year-old forward met the media for the first time Saturday, a day after being acquired by the Maple Leafs for three draft picks.

"Toronto is the best hockey city in the world, the fans are great and the Leafs are a first-class organization," said Kessel during a press conference at Air Canada Centre prior to Toronto's pre-season game with the Philadelphia Flyers.

"They just know their hockey here in Toronto. I want to be a part of it and be a part of this organization."

The Leafs sent their first-round picks in 2010 and 2011, plus a second-round pick in 2010 to the Bruins after Boston was unable to re-sign the speedy winger. After the trade, Kessel signed a $27-million (U.S.), five-year contract with Toronto.

"Obviously there's going to be pressure, but I'm going to work as hard as I can and try to help get this team into the playoffs," said Kessel, who scored 36 goals in 70 games last season. "I want to be considered a great player in this league, and I'm going to work as hard as I can. I'm here to help this team win."

Kessel isn't expected to play until November because of off-season shoulder surgery, but said his recovery is on schedule.

"My shoulder is doing well," said the native of Madison, Wisc. "I started skating again about a week ago, and shooting the puck around, and it's been good. I'm going to check with the doctor (Sunday). It looks like a month or a month-and-a-half".

Leafs GM Brian Burke added the Leafs have high hopes for their new sniper.

"We look at the 36 goals he scored last year as a platform to what he can accomplish, not a peak," Burke said. "The way we play, it's like someone wrote a script that this is the team he'd want to be on."

Earlier Saturday, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said he did his best to keep Kessel.

"This is not about frugality," Chiarelli said in Boston on Saturday. "There were some significant (contract) offers made."

Chiarelli added Kessel told him in July he no longer wanted to play in Boston.

The Bruins were less than $2 million under the salary cap and re-signing the restricted free agent would have required moving one or two players.

Kessel disputes Chiarelli's claim he wanted out of Boston.

"I never once asked to be traded," he said. "It became a mutual thing for both parties, it was time to move on."

Chiarelli, who cited the trade request and "threat of an offer sheet" as the two reasons behind the trade, said Kessel had ``concerns" about his status with the Bruins.

It is believed Kessel's problems with the team started when coach Claude Julien benched him for part of the first-round 2008 playoff series against Montreal. Julien was unhappy with Kessel's two-way play, something the coach said improved last season.

"My first year here (2007-08) was really trying to convince him that we were really trying to make him a better player and that he needed to just understand that," Julien said on Saturday. "Obviously, he did because he scored 36 goals the next year (and was a plus-23), but I even told him in a conversation that I didn't get a bonus for making him a bad player, so that he had to understand that everything I did was to try and make him a better player and I think that message was understood."

The Bruins had several options with Kessel. Besides trying to sign him, they could have waited for him to sign an offer sheet elsewhere and either matched it or accepted three drafts picks: a first-, second- and third-rounder. They also could have put him on the long-term injury list as they worked out the roster situation.

When Toronto GM Brian Burke came forward, the Leafs were the only team involved, Chiarelli said. Another, unidentified club came in late, but didn't match what Toronto was offering. The Bruins now have five picks in the first two rounds of what is projected to be a strong 2010 draft.

For now, though, Boston loses a 36-goal scorer, a young talent, and it traded him within the division.

"He's going to score goals," Chiarelli said.

While Julien labelled Kessel as a player with "superstar" talent, the coach added, "We just gotta really focus on moving forward here without him and not thinking for a second that now we've turned from a good team into a bad team because I think we'll be just fine."

The Bruins will look elsewhere to replace Kessel's offence. Marco Sturm, who is returning from injury, is a likely candidate.

The players were ready to move on, too.

"We are all happy with what we have, the group of guys we have in this room," captain Zdeno Chara said. "I can't really make comments on Phil's behalf, what he felt, why he decided not to be part of it. It's absolutely Phil's decision. It's part of the business."

With files from The Associated Press

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BOSTON (AP) -- Prospect Artem Anisimov had a short-handed goal and an assist Saturday, leading the New York Rangers to their first preseason win, 5-2 over the Boston Bruins.

Ales Kotalik, who signed a three-year, $9 million free agent contract during the offseason, and AHL All-Star P.A. Parenteau also had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who got two assists from veteran Vinny Prospal, another free agent signee.

The 21-year-old Anisimov's second two-point game in as many days featured a highlight one-man effort that capped a three-goal first period against Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas, who was making his preseason debut.

Anisimov's second two-point game in as many days featured a highlight one-man effort that capped a three-goal first period against Tim Thomas. The Vezina Trophy winner gave up the five goals on 19 shots in his preseason debut.

Kotalik opened the scoring with a power-play goal and assisted on Enver Lisin's second-period goal, while Parenteau assisted on Anisimov's goal and then closed the scoring with a late goal. Sean Avery also scored for the Rangers while Marc Savard and Zach Hamill scored for the Bruins.

Thomas went all the way, yielding five goals on 19 shots.

Stephen Valiquette and Chad Johnson split time in the Rangers' goal, with Valiquette giving up the two goals on 14 shots. Johnson stopped 12 shots.

Boston's Milan Lucic was ejected for spearing New York's Michael Del Zotto at 16:06 of the second period.

The game was played the day after the Bruins shipped restricted free agent Phil Kessel to Toronto for three high draft picks.

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BOSTON (AP) -- The Bruins did their best to keep restricted free agent Phil Kessel before acceding to his desire to be traded and making a deal with Toronto.

"This is not about frugality," Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli said on Saturday. "There were some significant offers made."

Chiarelli said Kessel told him in July he no longer wanted to play in Boston, and the Bruins traded the rights to the 21-year-old former first-round pick to the Maple Leafs for Toronto's first-round picks in each of the next two drafts plus the Leafs' second-round pick in 2010.

Kessel, who isn't expected to play until around Thanksgiving because of offseason shoulder surgery, then signed a five-year, $27 million deal with the Maple Leafs.

The Bruins were less than $2 million under the salary cap and making room for Kessel would have required moving one or two players. But it didn't come to that because the right wing "did not want to play in Boston," Chiarelli said.

Even so, the GM said Kessel expressed disappointment after being traded.

"I spoke to him last night. I wished him luck," Chiarelli said. "I said, 'Look, Phil, for whatever reason it didn't work out.' We had a brief chat and he was disappointed at the outcome, but he was happy to have a new location."

Chiarelli, who cited the trade request and "threat of an offer sheet" as the two reasons behind the trade, said Kessel's "concerns" about the Bruins weren't unusual.

It is believed Kessel's problems with the team started when coach Claude Julien benched him for part of the first-round 2008 playoff series against Montreal. Julien was unhappy with Kessel's two-way play, something the coach said improved last season.

"My first year here (2007-08) was really trying to convince him that we were really trying to make him a better player and that he needed to just understand that," Julien said on Saturday. "Obviously, he did because he scored 36 goals the next year (and was a plus-23), but I even told him in a conversation that I didn't get a bonus for making him a bad player, so that he had to understand that everything I did was to try and make him a better player and I think that message was understood."

The Bruins had several options with Kessel. Besides trying to sign him, they could have waited for him to sign an offer sheet elsewhere and either matched it or accepted three drafts picks: a first-, second- and third-rounder. They also could have put him on the long-term injury list as they worked out the roster situation.

When Toronto GM Brian Burke came forward, the Leafs were the only team involved, Chiarelli said. Another, unidentified club came in late, but didn't match what Toronto was offering. The Bruins now have five picks in the first two rounds of what is projected to be a strong 2010 draft.

For now, though, Boston loses a 36-goal scorer, a young talent, and it traded him within the division.

"He's going to score goals," Chiarelli said.

While Julien labeled Kessel as a player with "superstar" talent, the coach added, "We just gotta really focus on moving forward here without him and not thinking for a second that now we've turned from a good team into a bad team because I think we'll be just fine."

The Bruins will look elsewhere to replace Kessel's offense. Marco Sturm, who is returning from injury, is a likely candidate.

The players were ready to move on, too.

"We are all happy with what we have, the group of guys we have in this room," captain Zdeno Chara said. "I can't really make comments on Phil's behalf, what he felt, why he decided not to be part of it. It's absolutely Phil's decision. It's part of the business."

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Peter Chiarelli will hold an 11 a.m. news conference on Saturday to discuss the Phil Kessel trade. In the mean time, let the puck pundits weigh in:

*****Greg Wyshynski of YahooSports! says Kessel is now Toronto's potential locker-room problem.


*****Scott Cullen of TSN says the Bruins got good value for Kessel and wonders how he will fare without Marc Savard's slick feeds.


*****James Mirtle says that Boston made out well and points out that Kessel is "coming off a serious injury, is smallish and not a wonderful defensive player. His attitude, too, could at times use some improvement.''


*****Matt Kalman believes the Bruins have enough offense on the roster to replace Kessel and have "two first-round and three second-round picks in next June's draft. They also have two first-round picks for 2011. That's a real position of strength for Chiarelli if and when he determines he needs to bolster his crew.''

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The Phil Kessel soap opera is over.

The Boston Bruins traded the 21-year-old sniper to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night in exchange for a first- and a second-round draft pick in 2010, and a first-round pick in 2011.

The Leafs and Kessel quickly agreed on a five-year, $27-million contract, according to TSN.ca.

Kessel and the Bruins, who are just under the league salary cap of $56.8 million, were never close to a new contract.

Toronto general manager Brian Burke targeted Kessel, a restricted free agent, early in the summer.

Friday night's trade came after reports in the last few days that Burke planned to force the issue by signing Kessel to an offer sheet at a cost of a first-, second- and third-round draft choice.

Boston GM Peter Chiarelli said he had ownership approval to match any offer sheet, but would have had to move contracts to get under the cap.

Kessel, who is not expected to play until November after undergoing shoulder surgery, scored 36 goals last season.

Kessel is likely to play for the U.S. Olympic Team in February. Burke and Toronto coach Ron Wilson, teammates at Providence College, are the GM and coach, respectively.

Kessel was the fifth pick in the first round in 2006 out of the University of Minnesota.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs seemed more interested in winning the fights than winning the game against the Bruins last night. Ron Wilson and Brian Burke dressed knuckle-draggers Andre Deveaux, Jay Rosehill and Phil Oreskovic, who knocked around a few Bruins but didn't dazzle anybody with their skating and puck-handling.

The Bruins got a 3-2 win on goals by Brad Marchand, who's in the running to start the season in Boston, Steve Begin and Andy Wozniewski.

Dany Sabourin went the distance in net for Boston, and gave up a soft goal to Victor Stalberg. On the heels of Tuukka Rask's sharp performance in New York on Tuesday night, Sabourin will need to do better if he wants to win the Boston backup job.

Here are game stories from the Toronto Sun and Toronto Star.

The Phil Kessel rumors continue to swirl. Nashville reportedly has offered a package of prospects and draft picks. Peter Chiarelli would no doubt love to wrest former BU stud Colin Wilson from the Preds.

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A few Bruins-related odds and ends from around the Web:


***** Elliotte Friedman of the CBC labels tonight's Boston-Toronto exhibition the Kessel Bowl. While Toronto GM Brian Burke, who covets Kessel, and Peter Chiarelli, Boston's GM, will presumably be in the house, Kessel's agent Wade Arnott will not. Too much hype, Arnott says.


***** John Bishop of Bostonbruins.com reports that Boston will ice the following lineup tonight:

Forwards: Steve Begin, Patrice Bergeron, Drew Larman, Jeff LoVecchio, Michael Ryder, Shawn Thornton, Jamie Arniel, Byron Bitz, Guillaume Lefebvre, Brad Marchand, Vladimir Sobotka, Blake Wheeler,

Defense: Derek Morris, Mark Stuart, Dennis Wideman, Andy Wozniewski, Matt Hunwick, and Adam McQuaid.

Goalies: Dany Sabourin and Tuukka Rask.

The game will be broadcast on the NHL Network at 7 p.m. Sabourin will get the start in goal and is scheduled to play the entire game.





***** One of Fred Cusick's greatest traits was his complete lack of ego. To Fred, the game and the players were the story. In a Sports Illustrated article written in 1994, Stu Hackel captures the spirit of Fred Cusick's work.


***** The ravenous Toronto hockey media never tires of rehashing the Leafs disastrous Tuukka-Rask-for-Andrew-Raycroft trade.

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BOSTON (AP) -- Fred Cusick, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Boston Bruins, has died.

Cusick's son, Ted, says his father died at his home in Barnstable, Mass., early Tuesday after suffering from cancer. He was 90.

Cusick called Bruins games on radio and television for more than four decades, beginning his career with radio broadcasts in 1952.

He called Boston's Stanley Cup championship in 1970, when Bobby Orr scored the winning goal in overtime. He would later call that season and that play among the greatest highlights of his career.

Cusick moved to television in 1971 and retired from calling Bruins games in 1997.

Cusick was scheduled to be inducted Wednesday into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

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Tuukka Rask will start in goal when the Boston Bruins play their first exhibition game tonight against the Rangers in Manhattan at 7 o'clock.

The game will be televised on the MSG Network.

Here's the B's lineup:

Forwards: Jamie Arniel, Byron Bitz, Chuck Kobasew, Mikko Lehtonen, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Max Sauve, Vladimir Sobotka, Marco Sturm, Blake Wheeler, Trent Whitfield

Defensemen: Andrew Bodnarchuck, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Matt Hunwick, Adam McQuaid, Jeff Penner.

Goalies:
Tuukka Rask, Dany Sabourin

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The Providence Bruins have released their training camp schedule, including three preseason games. All practices will be at the Rhode Island Sports Center in North Smithfield and are open to the public:

Monday, Sept. 21 -- 10 a.m. - Noon

Tuesday, Sept. 22 -- 10 a.m. - Noon

Wednesday, Sept. 23 -- 10 a.m. - Noon.
Preseason game vs. Springfield @ NE Sports Center, Marlborough, Mass., 7:05 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 24 -- 10 a.m. - Noon
Preseason game vs. Lowell @ Iorio Arena, Walpole, Mass., 6:05 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 25 --10 a.m. - Noon

Saturday, Sept. 26 -- 9:25 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.
Preseason game at Springfield @ MassMutual Center, Springfield, Mass. 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 27 -- Off Day

Monday, Sept. 28 -- 10 a.m. - Noon

Tuesday, Sept. 29 -- 10 a.m. - Noon

Wednesday, Sept. 30 -- 10 a.m. - Noon

Thursday, Oct. 1 -- 10 a.m. - Noon

For information on tickets for the Sept. 23 preseason game, call the New England Sports Center at (508) 229-2700.

Tickets for the Sept. 24 game are $10 and can be purchased by visiting the Iorio Arena or emailing Chrissy Bartletta at chrissy@rbhockey.com.

Providence opens the regular season at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 4:05 p.m. against Springfield. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the P-Bruins ticket office at (401) 273-5000 or log on to www.providencebruins.com.

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WEEI.com's Joe Haggerty reports that Boston Bruins center David Krejci describes himself as doubtful for the team's season opener, Oct. 1 against Washington. He gave his chances of playing in the game as 10 percent. Krejci skated with teammates today for the first time since offseason hip surgery.

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