Projo Bruins Blog

November 1, 2009 - November 7, 2009 Archives

By MARK DIVVER
Assistant Sports Editor

PROVIDENCE -- The Providence Bruins couldn't help but notice Guillaume Lefebvre last season. How can you miss a guy who keeps trying to punch you in the face?

Lefebvre fought 20 times while playing for the Springfield Falcons in 2008-09, and five of those bouts were against Providence. Lefebvre didn't pick on any pushovers, either, trading punches with Jonathan Tremblay (twice), Jeremy Reich, Johnny Boychuk and Byron Bitz.

So when Bruins management surveyed the free-agent market last summer, Lefebvre got a ringing endorsement from Providence coach Rob Murray and assistant Bruce Cassidy.

After coming to Bruins camp on a tryout, Lefebvre earned himself a one-year contract that pays him $67,500 in the AHL and $500,000 in the NHL. He may have sealed the deal with a lengthy bout in which he bloodied the face of Montreal's Greg Stewart in a Sept. 24 preseason game.

"We identified Guillaume last year and developed an appreciation for what he brings to the table, playing against him, and felt like he would be a big piece of (Providence's team) and our depth up in Boston,'' said Don Sweeney, Boston assistant general manager.

"He's a hard-nosed kid that plays a responsible game. He's been nothing but a professional with our younger players and acquitted himself great in training camp and has earned his opportunities in Boston.''

Lefebvre, 28, has been recalled by Boston three times already, but has played in only one game. In Providence, heading into Saturday night's game at Lowell, Lefebvre had a goal and an assist in nine games, along with four fights and 78 penalty minutes.

At 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, Lefebvre isn't a heavyweight, but he's willing to take on anyone.

"He plays hard and he's hard to play against. He seems to get under guys' skin,'' said Murray. "Every game so far, there's a lot of jawing (at him) out there. I like him. He knows his job.''

Lefebvre has scored two goals in 39 NHL games with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. As a pro, his career-high in goals is 19 with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2001-02.

"I've been trying to reward him with more ice time in offensive situations,'' said Murray. "He deserves it and he's a decent enough player he can play some extra time on the power play when other guys aren't getting the job done.''

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Heading into Saturday night's game with Buffalo, Boston's power play was the NHL's worst, at 10.9 percent. The parent team's coaching staff could do worse than to ask the P-Bruins' Cassidy for his opinion on the situation. Cassidy, a former NHL head coach with Washington, is in charge of the Providence power play, which was fourth in the AHL before Saturday night's games, at a 22 percent success rate.


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Montreal acquired defenseman Jay Leach, a Providence College grad and a former P-Bruins captain, on waivers from New Jersey. Now NESN's Kathryn Tappen, Leach's wife, will get to experience the Boston-Montreal rivalry from the other side.


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Alex Fallstrom, 19, the Swedish winger acquired from Minnesota along with Craig Weller in the Chuck Kobasew trade, is taking a regular shift as a freshman for Harvard coach Ted Donato.

"We're happy about being able to acquire this player,'' said Sweeney. "He's a big, strong kid that has a little finish and plays a North American style down below the tops of the circles in the cycling game, and has a real good release.''

PROVIDENCE -- The Hartford Wolf Pack scored three goals in just over seven minutes midway through the second period then withstood a 16-shot Providence barrage in the third to hang on for a 5-3 win over the P-Bruins before a crowd of 6,746 at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Mikko Lehtonen, who was returned by Boston Friday, scored twice and Jamie Arniel added his first goal of the season for Providence.

The P-Bruins took a 1-0 lead on Arniel's goal at 5:02 of the first period.

Taking a pass from Adam McQuaid, Arniel broke in alone and beat Hartford goalie Chad Johnson from 15 feet. Andrew Bodnarchuk also received an assist.

The Wolf Pack tied it just 1:23 later when Brodie Dupont beat Providence's Dany Sabourin with a screened shot. Ryan Garlock was credited with the lone assist.

The P-Bruins retook the lead at 6:48 mark of the second period. After a pass from Andy Wozniewski, Jeff Penner sent Lehtonen in on a partial breakaway down the left wing. He beat Johnson for his fourth goal of the season.

The Wolf Pack tied it at the 8:39 mark. Jordan Owens netted his second goal of the season, with assists from Corey Locke and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau picked up the assists.

Hartford took its first lead of the game at 13:40 on Evgeny Grachev's fourth goal of the season, with Brent Henley and Dale Weise getting the assists. The Wolf Pack grabbed a two-goal advantage at 16:22 on Dupont's second goal of the game and third of the season, from Grachev.

The P-Bruins pulled to within a goal at 10:52 of the third period, on the power play. Wozniewski took a shot from the blue line and the rebound went to Penner in the right face-off circle. He passed it to Lehtonen, who scored his second of the game and fifth of the year from the left face-off circle.

The Wolf Pack added an empty net goal at the 19:16 mark. Parenteau tallied his ninth goal of the season, while Owens and Locke recorded the assists.

The Bruins outshot the Pack 16-8 in the third period.

Sabourin stopped 22 of 26 shots for the P-Bruins, while Johnson made 29 saves for the Wolf Pack. The P-Bruins were 1-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

Providence hits the road Saturday to face the Lowell Devils at the Tsongas Arena at 7 p.m. The P-Bruins wrap up the weekend at home Sunday against the Hershey Bears at 4:05 p.m.

Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe reports that the Bruins and Tuukka Rask have agreed on a two-year contract extension.

Rask would have been a restricted free agent after this season, but the extension wraps him up until 2012. Terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, but it's believed to be in the range of $1.2 million to $1.6 million a season.

Here's the team release:

BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club's medical staff has confirmed a diagnosis of H1N1 for David Krejci. Based on Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations, Krejci will be isolated from the rest of the team until he is symptom and fever free for 24 hours.

"Like most people, we are taking many precautions to try to prevent our players and staff from contracting the H1N1 virus," said Chiarelli. "Our medical staff is working with David to get him healthy as soon as possible, and our players and staff will continue to take precautions with hopes of preventing the spread of the virus to others in the organization."

The Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET at the TD Garden in Boston (TV: NESN, RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub).

The Boston Bruins have recalled Mikko Lehtonen from Providence on an emergency basis.

The Finnish winger has 3-7-10 totals in 11 AHL games. Two of his goals have come on the power play.

Along with a team-leading 33 shots on goal, Lehtonen has a team-worst minus-6.

Lehtonen, 22, is 6'5'' and 196 pounds. He played his first NHL game with Boston last April.

PROVIDENCE -- Like the parent club in Boston, the Providence Bruins have been starved for goals since Vladimir Sobotka, Brad Marchand and Trent Whitfield were recalled.

Coach Rob Murray hopes that left wing Mark Derlago, brought in on a tryout from the Idaho Steelheads of the East Coast Hockey League, can help.

"We're looking for offense,'' Murray said.

In eight games for Idaho, Derlago has six goals and four assists for 10 points. He is a plus-six and has recorded 30 shots on goal. The 23-year-old winger is 5'11 and 197 pounds.

Heading into his second season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League, Derlago broke his neck in a preseason game in 2004 and missed the 04-05 season. After recovering, he played two more seasons in Brandon and put up 46-35-81 numbers in 72 games in 2006-07.

He scored 39 goals in 68 games for the ECHL Bakersfield Condors in 07-08, and had a 32-45-77 line in 49 games in Bakersfield last season.

Derlago also played a total of 25 games with the AHL Manitoba Moose over the past two seasons, with a 6-8-14 line.

Mark Derlago is the nephew of Bill Derlago, who is a footnote in Boston Bruins history.

After a contract dispute in the fall of 1985, GM Harry Sinden shipped promising center Tom Fergus to Toronto in exchange for Derlago, a former 40-goal scorer.

It turned out to be terrible trade for the Bruins. Fergus had several productive years with the Leafs, while Derlago put up a 5-16-21 line in 39 games as a third- and fourth-line center with Boston. Sinden later peddled him to Winnipeg for Wade Campbell.


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Jimmy Fraser was returned to Reading of the ECHL. He was scoreless in two games over the weekend.


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Adam McQuaid (upper-body injury) practiced today and should be available this weekend, Murray said.


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Don Sweeney was on the ice for practice. Afterward, he took first-year pros Alain Goulet and Jamie Arniel aside and chatted with them individually for a few minutes.

By MARK DIVVER
Assistant Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Defenseman Adam McQuaid is day to day with an upper-body injury that he suffered early in Sunday's 4-3 win over Bridgeport.

Coach Rob Murray said that McQuaid was hurt when "he got twisted up'' on his second or third shift on Sunday afternoon. McQuaid played sparingly after the injury.

Kirk MacDonald (groin) skated in practice on Tuesday and should be ready for the weekend, Murray said.


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After a tough 2-1 loss in Manchester Friday night on a late penalty shot, and a 7-0 debacle in Hartford on Saturday night, Murray was pleased with the win on Sunday in what he described as a must-win situation.

"Guys who hadn't been producing, did,'' he said.

Jeff Penner had a goal and two assists; Jeff LoVecchio had a goal and an assist.

Zach Hamill was credited with three assists, but Murray said that Hamill should have received credit for his first goal of the season on the winning goal, which credited to Jordan Knackstedt, who had his first points of the season.

"A lot of guys stepped up. As early as it is in the schedule and with the lineup we had, we had to have a win,'' Murray said.

"We found a way. That's one of the things we've been preaching. We've got to find a way to get points. It was a good character win.''


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Not much went right for the P-Bruins on Saturday night, but if you are a fan of fighting there was plenty to see. With thanks to Matt Stopa, here are the pugilistic highlights:

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Kevin Regan (34 saves) was the first star in Reading's 4-2 win over Johnstown on Sunday. Regan is 2-2-1 with a 3.76 goals-against average and a save percentage of .896.