Projo Bruins Blog

By MARK DIVVER
Assistant Sports Editor

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.''


****UNFAMILIAR FACES: The Providence team that opens the season Oct. 4 against Springfield won't look much like the squad that took the ice Monday.

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.


****HOW MANY? Most of Providence's roster will be filled by players already under contract. So how many jobs does that leave for free agents looking for work?

"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.


****HERE AND THERE: Mike Stuart, older brother of Boston's Mark Stuart is in camp on a tryout. Mike Stuart, 29, has played in Austria for the past two years. . . . Two former Boston University players are in camp -- Jason Lawrence and Brian McGuirk. . . . So are three players from Providence's new ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals -- Danick Bouchard, J.F. Boucher and Chris Stevens. . . . The two goalies are Matt Dalton and Adam Courchaine. . . . The Bruins will skate from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at 146. All sessions are open to the public.

 Tags  Boston Bruins Providence Bruins

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