P-Bruins journal: Weller looks like a good fit
10:35 AM Sat, Oct 31, 2009 | Permalink | Write the first
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October 31
By MARK DIVVER PROVIDENCE -- Craig Weller wasn't caught completely by surprise when he got the call two Sundays ago that he'd been dealt to Boston in the Chuck Kobasew trade. "The management in Minnesota told me when they put me on waivers (late in training camp) that they might try to move me, give me an opportunity somewhere else. It just happened a little quicker than I thought it would,'' said Weller. For a player who is looking for another chance in the NHL, the Boston organization might turn out to be a good fit. The Bruins haven't hesitated over the last few seasons to find a place for veteran role players such as Shawn Thornton and Jeremy Reich. "That's encouraging to see. I'm just going to have to work hard and prove myself. I'm definitely going to try to make it back to the NHL,'' said Weller, a right wing who has 4-10-14 career numbers with 127 penalty minutes in 95 NHL games with Phoenix and Minnesota. Weller spent four seasons with Hartford before moving up to the NHL. At the time of the trade, he was with Minnesota's AHL affiliate in Houston. The 28-year-old brings size -- he's 6'4'', 220 pounds -- and physical presence. He knows what is expected of him. "My role is to be a veteran guy playing with poise every night, somebody the coach can rely on in a bunch of different situations. To show leadership through hard work,'' he said. Providence coach Rob Murray is glad to have him. Last weekend, Murray put Weller on a crash line with Drew Larman and Lane MacDermid, and the trio was Providence's best line last Saturday in a 2-0 loss at Manchester. "I know what to expect from him. He's an intelligent guy, he understands. He asks the right questions. That's probably one of the reasons he was captain in Hartford for a few years. His skating has improved from what I remember. He gets around better. And when he hits, he really catches guys,'' said Murray. Fighting is also part of Weller's game. He had seven fighting majors in the NHL last season, and 13 fights in both 2004-05 and 2005-06 while with Hartford. According to Murray, Weller knows "when to try and change the momentum of a game. He'll go out purposely and try to do that by getting in a fight. That speaks to his hockey IQ, because some guys don't pick up on that, when the right time is to do that kind of thing.'' For the P-Bruins, Friday night's 2-1 defeat in Manchester on a penalty shot by Oscar Moller with 1:51 to go in regulation definitely left a mark. Murray said that the call by referee Chris Cozzan -- Adam McQuaid tripped Moller, who had a breakaway -- probably was legitimate. But that didn't make it any easier to swallow. Penalty shots have become "the flavor of the month for referees'' over the past couple of seasons, Murray said. Murray conceded, though, that "if the situation is flip-flopped, we'd be expecting a penalty shot.''
October 30
By MARK DIVVER PROVIDENCE -- Former Harvard captain Jimmy Fraser has been recalled from Reading and will be in the P-Bruins lineup tonight in Manchester. Fraser, 22, was a late cut in Providence's training camp. Not known as a scorer, the 5'11'', 185-pound center had 15-39-54 totals in 118 career games at Harvard. "I'm not necessarily looking for him to contribute offensively very much,'' said coach Rob Murray. "That's not necessarily his game. But he skates well enough and he gets himself in position, hopefully he can help in that aspect. "He gives me another centerman. We've had three natural centermen in (Drew) Larman, (Jamie) Arniel and (Zach) Hamill. Somewhere along the line you're going to get a guy in the penalty box or hurt, and then there really wasn't another potential centerman in the lineup,'' said Murray. Before college, Fraser was the captain of the U.S. National Development Team's U-17 and U-18 squads that featured current NHL stars such as Phil Kessel, Jack Johnson, Peter Mueller and Eric Johnson. Fraser flew to Providence this morning after playing Thursday night in Reading's 2-2 tie with Toledo. He has an assist in 6 games with Reading and is minus-5. "We'll see about Sunday,'' Murray said.
October 29
After last night's 4-1 loss at home to Buffalo, New Jersey coach Jacques Lemaire is giving future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur the night off in Boston tonight. Former Brown All-American Yann Danis will make his Devils' debut in goal. Danis hasn't played since a Sept. 23 preseason game. He had a 2.86 goals-against average and a 10-17-3 record for the Islanders last year. Danis hasn't started a regular-season game since April 12, when he was pulled early in the second period after giving up 4 goals on 15 shots to the Bruins in a 6-2 loss.
By MARK DIVVER PROVIDENCE -- It's been a quiet week at The Dunk. Too quiet. About the only nugget of news is that Yannick Riendeau and Levi Nelson have been cleared to start skating. They have been told not to do any puck-handling or shooting yet. Riendeau and Nelson were on the ice on Wednesday for the first time. Skills coach Victor Teleguine skated them hard after the team practice was over. Coach Rob Murray said both players probably are at least a couple of months away from being cleared to play in games. Riendeau had shoulder surgery over the summer. Nelson had surgery after breaking his collarbone during a rookie tournament in early September.
He was suspended for four games "as a result of his actions in a game at Portland on Oct. 10. Fata was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 29.1 (supplementary discipline)," according to the league. That's the AHL's way of saying that he cross-checked Portland's Brad Larsen in the jaw.
Kirk MacDonald (groin) skated Thursday, but is questionable for the weekend.
October 26
By MARK DIVVER PROVIDENCE -- It was a slow morning at The Dunk, with the team going through a rare Monday practice after having Sunday off. The highlight of the day came at the end of practice when Doug Smith, the team's unofficial fight coach, got together with Brett Clouthier, Lane MacDermid, Guillaume Lefebvre and Craig Weller to work on some of the fine points of fighting. Smith, 45, is a police officer in Hanover, Mass. He was a minor-league enforcer before retiring in 1998. The four P-Bruins players took turns punching the padded mitts held by Smith, first working on right-left combinations and then punching with one hand while holding Smith's jersey with the other. At times, Smith, who was 6'2'' and 210 pounds in his playing days, grabbed a handful of the player's jersey and tied them up. After about 15 minutes, all four of the players, as well as Smith, were laughing, dripping with sweat and breathing hard. Kirk MacDonald is still out with a groin injury. He'll skate on his own on Tuesday, said coach Rob Murray. "There's an outside chance he might be ready for the weekend,'' Murray said. Early on Sunday, the P-Bruins released Reading callup Ben Gordon from his PTO and returned Jared Ross to Reading. The two were able to catch a flight to Michigan in time to play in Reading's 4 p.m. game in Kalamazoo. So far, Reading has a win, two regulation losses, an overtime loss and a shootout loss. Kevin Regan has played every game in goal for the Royals. He has a 4.10 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage. "We had trouble generating much sustained offense,'' in the 3-0 loss in Manchester, Murray said. "Our best line was Larman, Weller and MacDermid. They were on the puck, they got it deep, they had some chances. Along with Dany Sabourin, they were probably our best players. "We've just got to squeeze a little more out of some of the other guys. You've gotta grasp your opportunity. It might come and go real quick. You've got to take advantage of it.''
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