P-Bruins journal: McGuirk injured, cuts coming Saturday
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September 25
By MARK DIVVER NORTH SMITHFIELD -- Former Boston University winger Brian McGuirk's quest to win a job with the Providence Bruins out of training camp ended on a check by a former Hockey East rival early in Thursday night's 2-1 shootout win over the Lowell Devils. McGuirk suffered a high ankle sprain when he was hit by ex-UNH defenseman Chris Murray midway through the first period, said Providence coach Rob Murray. "He might be out awhile. He got hit real hard,'' Rob Murray said. "A guy stepped up on him. Good hit. Clean hit. It was a suicide pass. . . . It was a decent hit. (McGuirk) just twisted his ankle.'' Providence's Brett Clouthier went after Chris Murray after the hit and the two drew five-minute fighting majors. The timing of the injury couldn't be worse for McGuirk, who came to camp on a tryout after playing for Syracuse last season. McGuirk had played well all week. "It's unfortunate because we liked him,'' Rob Murray said. Of Dalton, who led Bemidji State to the Frozen Four last spring, Murray said: "He had a hell of a game. He's engaged in the game. He's on his toes. He gets out, he gets pucks. Does a good job. He played very well.'' Footage of Clouthier's bout with Riley Emmerson of Springfield is up on YouTube. Thanks to reader Matt Stopa for sending along the link Thankfully, all is forgiven between the two, though not forgotten. "He's my roommate in the hotel, and we joked around about (their fights),'' said Fletcher. "You know, we were on rival teams and we both knew that. We're on the same team now and we're really good buddies now.'' MacDermid also fought Clouthier's younger brother, Andrew.
"He's raw. That's what's intriguing the organization and people in general about him. He shoots the puck well, passes like a man. You know, you don't have to tell him. He snaps that thing. No soft passes with him, almost to a fault sometimes. He needs to put a little more of a touch to it. "The skill level, the skating, he's maybe not the prettiest skater but he gets around OK. His first couple of steps backwards has to improve. He's one of these guys who's probably a long way away from the NHL right now, but he's a guy who's got size, offensive ability -- sees the offensive side of the game very well. There's a lot of things to intrigue you about him. "Basically, right now, he just has got to get better in all areas and play at this level. He's got to learn what he can and can't get away with. What he probably got away with in college or junior, he can't do that here. It's going to be a learning experience here. The tools are there, it's just a matter of shaping the right way and hopefully you end up with a player. "He's probably a guy you might see spend some time down in Reading just because the ice time he'll get there he wouldn't see up here. If our defense corps shapes up the way I expect it to, he'd be on the outside looking in right now . . . . "At the end of the day, he needs to play. He might be a guy who ends up going down and playing some games in Reading and kind of get his feet wet that way. Still too early to tell where he's going to fit into the whole thing.'' 
Read the rest, write another... September 24
NORTH SMITHFIELD -- Just back from Boston, Jamie Arniel and Andrew Bodnarchuk will be in the lineup tonight when the Providence Bruins play the Lowell Devils at Iorio Arena in Walpole. Sitting out tonight will be Jeff Penner, Rob Kwiet, Matt Marquardt, Scott Fletcher and Kevin Regan, according to coach Rob Murray. Arniel, Bodnarchuk, Penner and Regan were sent down by Boston on Wednesday. Regan will get the start in Springfield on Saturday night in the P-Bruins final exhibition game, Murray said. The former UNH star, who underwent surgery for a hip-flexor problem during the summer, appears to be ahead of schedule on his rehab. "He's cleared with the doctors and he's cleared with the training staff in Boston,'' Murray said. CUTS COMING? With Boston playing three games in three nights starting tonight, no reinforcements are expected for a few days. "I don't think we'll get anybody until after Saturday night,'' Murray said. "A lot of guys we're trying to get looks at showed well last night,'' he said. Pineault, Kwiet and Alain Goulet had the goals. "I played a third-, fourth-line role last year,'' McGuirk, 22, said on Thursday morning. "Energy guy, checking line guy, which has been my game for awhile. It wasn't a great year, last year, but it was a good learning experience, my first year as a pro. I learned what it takes to play at this level and what it takes to play at the next level.''
September 23
By MARK DIVVER NORTH SMITHFIELD -- Phil Kessel. Patrick Kane. Eric Johnson. Jack Johnson. Peter Mueller. All are Americans. All were high draft picks. All are expected to be NHL and international superstars for years to come. But when this collection of America's best and brightest young players were together in the U.S. National Team Development Program, they looked to Jimmy Fraser for leadership. Fraser, who is trying out with the Providence Bruins, was captain of the U-17 and U-18 teams. "It was really an honor to play with those guys and to be elected captain was the best achievement of my life,'' Fraser said Wednesday morning. "That was a great group of guys. Still keep in touch with most of them, and a lot of them have gone on to have successful NHL careers. It was a pretty special time.'' At 5'11'', 185 pounds, Fraser doesn't have great size. And with 15-39-54 totals in 108 career games at Harvard, he doesn't have a scorer's pedigree. What Fraser brings to a team, he says, is "a little bit of everything.'' "I've always prided my self on being a defensive forward, taking care of my own zone first. And the last couple of years at Harvard I've tried to develop a little more offensive skill. Teddy Donato did a great job teaching me all aspects of the game. I've always been an all-around guy, so hopefully I can contribute at both ends of the ice,'' he said. A native of Port Huron, Mich., Fraser played in the powerhouse Honeybaked youth hockey organization from mite through bantam. He majored in psychology and government at Harvard. When asked about that unusual pairing of majors, Fraser smiled and said, "Who knows what's going to happen after hockey?'' P-Bruins coach Rob Murray said Fraser was one of the better players in Monday's practice, but the undrafted free agent faces an uphill climb to make the team. Providence should be strong at center, with Zach Hamill, Jamie Arniel, Drew Larman and Trent Whitfield projected to be in the lineup, though Hamill is having a strong camp with Boston. For now, Fraser said that he is not thinking too far ahead. "I'm just trying to concentrate on this right now and take care of the rest when it comes,'' he said. "I think he'll do well. He's the type of kid who just loves to play the game. Obviously there's a lot of pressure on him after signing a five-year contract and going to Toronto, the capital of the hockey world. I think he'll have a lot of pressure on him, but he's the type of guy, he won't even realize it at the time. He'll just play the game and contribute to the team. He's going to have a great career (in Toronto) and it's going to start as soon as he recovers from his shoulder surgery.''
Turns out Providence Bruins coach Rob Murray was right when he said this morning that he thought he might get some players back from Boston today. The parent club has sent goalie Kevin Regan, defensemen Jeff Penner and Andrew Bodnarchuk, and center Jamie Arniel to Providence. All played either all or part of last season in Providence. Regan is till rehabbing from hip surgery and won't be ready to start the season.
The Providence Bruins worked on special teams during a 40-minute skate at 146 Wednesday morning. The team will hop a bus to Marlboro this afternoon for tonight's preseason opener against Springfield. Coach Rob Murray said that Adam Courchaine will start in goal and play the entire game. Matt Dalton gets Thursday night's game against Lowell in Walpole. Tonight's lines and D pairings: Jimmy Fraser, Jordan Knackstedt and Adam Pineault Alain Goulet and Rob Kwiet J.F. Boucher is still sick and will not dress tonight.
September 22
By MARK DIVVER NORTH SMITHFIELD -- Lane MacDermid says that his first Bruins training camp has been a good experience so far. The youngest player in Providence's camp -- he turned 20 a month ago -- was unable to play in the rookie tournament in Kitchener, Ont., in the first week of September because of an ankle injury, but is healthy now. He's been skating on a line with free agents Brian McGuirk and Brett Clouthier, and coach Rob Murray has liked what he's seen of the trio in the first two days of camp. "That's a big, strong line,'' Murray said. MacDermid, a fourth-round draft pick in June, and his teammates will get their first taste of game action Wednesday night at 7 when Providence plays the Springfield Falcons in Marlboro, Mass. A 6'3'' 205-pound left wing, MacDermid is billed as a banging forward who is willing to fight. He had 15-20-35 totals with 197 penalty minutes in 64 games with Owen Sound and Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League last season. He is eligible to go back to the OHL if the front office decides he's not ready to play in Providence. MacDermid spent about a week in Boston's camp before being sent down. "The opportunity to play with the guys from the (Boston) Bruins, that was pretty neat, to see how they go about things at the rink,'' MacDermid said after Tuesday's practice. MacDermid mentioned Byron Bitz as a player that he would like to emulate. "He is a guy that works hard. He's the type of player I should look up to to make it to the next level,'' MacDermid said. Asked to pinpoint parts of his game that need improvement, MacDermid said he wants to be "more patient with the puck. Making the right plays.'' MacDermid's father, Paul, who played nearly 700 NHL games with Hartford, Washington, Winnipeg and Quebec, had some words of wisdom for his son while driving him from Ontario to Boston for camp. "He gave me a little bit of a lecture on the way down. He gave me some pointers on how I should go about myself, during the games, what I should watch for. He just gave me advice on how to be a pro, I guess,'' MacDermid said.
September 21
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins announced Sunday that Adam Courchaine, Matt Dalton, Jordan Knackstedt and Matt Marquardt have been assigned to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League, who also are receiving Scott Fletcher and Rob Kwiet (who have been released from their tryout agreements with Boston) and Alain Goulet and Lane MacDermid (unsigned draft choices) from Boston's training camp. In other roster moves, Ryan Button, Jordan Caron, Michael Hutchinson and Tyler Randell are unsigned draft choices who are being returned to their respective junior clubs. The Bruins also released Chris DeSousa, Brad Good, Mark Isherwood, Jason Lawrence, Taylor MacDougall, Peter Stevens, Jason Wilson and Marc Zanetti from their rookie camp tryout agreements.
By MARK DIVVER NORTH SMITHFIELD -- A decade ago, Adam Pineault was the talk of New England youth hockey. Pineault -- who is trying to earn a contract in training camp with the Providence Bruins -- was the leading scorer for the '86 Minuteman Flames team that reached the semifinals of the world-famous annual international pee wee tournament in Quebec City. At 14, he was playing for the Boston Junior Bruins against players as old as 20. After a couple of seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program, Pineault appeared to be on the fast track to stardom. Heading into his freshman year at Boston College, he was touted as a possible first- round pick in the 2004 NHL draft. But after scoring 4 goals in 29 games at BC, Pineault slipped to the middle of the second round as the Columbus Blue Jackets selected him with the 46th pick. Trying to get back on track, Pineault left BC to play for Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. A 6'1'' 201- pound right wing, he helped Moncton reach the Memorial Cup in 2006 and was selected as a tournament all-star. Pineault turned pro in 2006, and though he has never blossomed into a prolific scorer, he has developed into a physical, two-way forward in the AHL. His best season was 2007-08 when he had 21-27-48 totals in 74 games with Syracuse, and earned a three-game NHL callup to Columbus. After two and one-half seasons in Syracuse, Pineault was traded to Chicago in January, and he finished the year with Rockford of the AHL. Now 23, Pineault is a free agent looking for a fresh start. A native of Holyoke, Mass., he is without a contract, but for now he's happy to be much closer to home. Pineault said that he had other offers but welcomed the opportunity to come to Providence when it was presented by his Warwick-based agent, Jerry Buckley. "When I heard the Bruins were involved, I jumped all over it as fast as I could,'' Pineault said Monday morning after skating for two hours on the first day of camp. Pineault described himself as a power forward. "I'm going to bring the more physical role. I'm going to definitely use my body often and stick up for my teammates, and hopefully put the puck in the net as much as I can,'' he said. Of his short stint in the NHL, Pineault said, "Like they say, it's something you'll never forget. So that memory kind of motivates me to get back there someday.'' Of the 21 players -- 12 forwards, 7 defenseman and 2 goalies -- in attendance Monday, only two skated a regular shift last season, Jordan Knackstedt and Matt Marquardt. Most of the players who will spend the winter in Providence are still up with the Boston Bruins. Coach Rob Murray said that Boston is keeping extra players for a stretch of four exhibition games in five nights this week. Murray said he has plenty of bodies for Providence's exhibition games, which start Wednesday night against Springfield in Marlboro, Mass. "We got enough to make a team down here, so I'm not concerned about it,'' he said. "There's going to be a few,'' said Murray. "I don't know whether it's going to be one, two or three, but something can come up all of a sudden. You look at Levi (Nelson). He's not going to be back until well after Christmas (broken collarbone suffered in Kitchener, Ont., rookie tournament), so there's a roster spot right there that maybe wasn't available two weeks ago. Things change real quick. . . . I really believe there's gonna be some spots open. It's not all cut and dried as far as contracts go.'' ****FIRST-DAY STANDOUTS: Murray said he was impressed by defenseman Tyson Marsh and forwards T.J. Fox and Jimmy Fraser on Monday. Last stop for Marsh, 25, was Alaska of the ECHL. Fox, 25, played in Worcester last year. Fraser, 22, was a Harvard co-captain last season.
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