Projo Bruins Blog

By MARK DIVVER
Assistant Sports Editor

Army Second Lt. Zach McKelvie thought he'd be playing defense for the Providence Bruins by now.

McKelvie graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in May with a degree in management/systems engineering. Like all graduates, he is required to serve five years on active duty in the Army.

But McKelvie received permission from his commanding officer to play one year of pro hockey under the Army's alternate service program. He signed a one-year contract with the Boston Bruins in July.

McKelvie was in Boston's training camp in late September when the Army apparently had second thoughts.

The 24-year-old from New Brighton, Minn., was recalled unexpectedly to West Point. That is where he's been since. He is serving as a graduate assistant for the hockey team, breaking down video and helping with recruiting.

Is the Army concerned over possible public relations fallout from allowing a soldier to play hockey, while others are being sent to war in Iraq and Afghanistan?

No one has told him that, McKelvie said, though he concedes that it could be a legitimate concern.

He points out, however, that representing the Army as a pro athlete and spreading the word about the possibilities that come with military service would reflect positively on the Army.

While playing in Providence, McKelvie possibly would work with the National Guard or speak to high school students about the benefits of joining the Army.

For now, it is unclear whether McKelvie is going to get a chance to realize his dream of playing professional hockey.

"It's definitely up in the air,'' McKelvie said. He remains hopeful that the Army will allow him to play this season.

"Some officers (at West Point) are really trying to help me out right now,'' he said.

"I wish we could work it out, and we still may be able to,'' he said.

"I have absolutely no problem serving in the military,'' he said. "I just wish they would say yes or no'' to allowing him to play for the Bruins.

"If they want me to serve, I'll go to Afghanistan or Iraq tomorrow,'' he said.

"There's plenty of more important things going on with this country than one athlete who wants to play professional hockey.''


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With Zach Hamill questionable for the weekend with a lower-body injury, former Providence College star Jon Rheault met the P-Bruins in Syracuse Thursday night, signed a tryout contract and was in the lineup on Friday night.

A 5'11'' 200-pound right wing, Rheault had been leading the ECHL's Ontario (Calif.) Reign in scoring with 9-6-15 numbers in 13 games.

Rheault, 23, is "fast and has good skill,'' said coach Rob Murray said. He's "another guy who can maybe spark a little offense,'' he said.

Rheault played at PC from 2004 to 2008, leading the Friars in scoring in his final two years. He is tied for 42nd on PC's all-time scoring list with 56-49-105 totals in 142 games.


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Adam Pineault, a late cut after a strong training camp with the P-Bruins, recently joined Pardubice of the Czech pro league, according to Jerry Buckley, his Warwick-based agent.

Pineault was caught in a numbers game with the Bruins, said Buckley. NHL teams can have no more than 50 players under contract, and Boston already had a number of players signed and ticketed for Providence.

Among Pineault's teammates in Pardubice are Dominic Hasek, still playing goal at 44, and former Mount St. Charles All-Stater Jeff Jillson of North Smithfield.

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The Bruins sent goalie Matt Dalton to Reading of the ECHL to get more playing time.

Kevin Regan, who started the year in Reading, is Dany Sabourin's backup. Sabourin will continue to play the bulk of the games.

"(Management in Boston) wants (Dalton and Regan) to get as much playing time as possible,'' Murray said.

By MARK DIVVER
Assistant Sports Editor

PROVIDENCE -- With Zach Hamill questionable for the weekend, former Providence College star Jon Rheault is joining the P-Bruins on a tryout.

Hamill suffered a lower-body injury in practice on Tuesday and might not be available for this weekend's three road games in Syracuse, Lowell and Worcester, coach Rob Murray said Thursday shortly before the team left by bus for Syracuse.

Rheault will meet the Bruins in Syracuse.

A 5'11'' 200-pound center, he is leading the ECHL's Ontario (Calif.) Reign in scoring with a 9-6-15 line in 13 games. He is a plus-5 and has 12 penalty minutes.

Rheault, 23, is "fast and has good skill,'' Murray said. He's "another guy who can maybe spark a little offense,'' he said.

Murray coached Rheault on a team in the Bridgewater, Mass., summer league a few years ago that also included current pros Colin McDonald, Reid Cashman, Mike Hoffman, Dan Ellis and Brian Boyle.

Rheault played at PC from 2004 to 2008, leading the Friars in scoring in his final two years. He is tied for 42nd on PC's all-time scoring list with 56-49-105 totals in 142 games. He played 24 games for Manchester of the AHL last season with 2-3-5 totals.

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Goalie Matt Dalton has been sent to Reading of the ECHL to get more playing time. Kevin Regan, who started the year in Reading, will be Dany Sabourin's backup. Sabourin will continue to play the bulk of the games.

"(Management in Boston) wants (Dalton and Regan) to get as much playing time as possible,'' Murray said.

By MARK DIVVER
Assistant Sports Editor

PROVIDENCE -- The Bruins are 1-7 since Vladimir Sobotka, Brad Marchand and Trent Whitfield were promoted to Boston three weeks ago.

With no major personnel changes expected right now, it's up to the players in the locker room to turn it around, coach Rob Murray said after practice Tuesday.

"We've got to make it work with the group we've got. Right now, we're not, and it's disappointing. But things will get better.''

The P-Bruins went 0-3 last weekend. They had a lead against Hartford in the second period on Friday, but Murray said his team "handed the game away'' with some critical mistakes. The Bruins played reasonably well in Saturday night's 3-0 loss to Lowell, he said.

On Sunday, the Bruins got a goal on the first shift against the powerful Hershey Bears, but were overmatched the rest of the way in losing 5-1.

"We could have used a rainout on Sunday,'' Murray said, borrowing a line from Bull Durham.

This week Murray and assistant Butch Cassidy are looking for a way out of the slump.

"Maybe with the group we have there's a better way to play as far as systems go. What worked for us last year maybe with the group we have isn't going to work. Maybe we have to change things up a little bit. We're going to try to tweak a few things this week, nothing major, to see if it can help us out this weekend," said Murray.

"We've got to get more out of everybody. We've gotta get ourselves out of this.''


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The Bruins will play outside New England for the first time this season on Friday when they meet Syracuse. The team will bus to New York on Thursday.

The Bruins will drive back after the game, not arriving home until the wee hours of Saturday. They play at Lowell on Saturday (7 p.m.) and at Worcester on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m.)


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Two weeks ago, Jeff LoVecchio was out sick and missed practice for most of the week. Last week, it was Drew Larman. This week, Kirk MacDonald is ill. The team has had seasonal flu shots. When the H1N1 vaccine becomes available, most of the players will probably be eligible to receive it. Thirteen are under age 24.


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After practice, former center Murray worked on faceoffs with Zach Hamill, Jamie Arniel, Larman and Jordan Knackstedt. Winning draws, especially on the power play, has been a problem.


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Boston assistant GM Don Sweeney was on the ice for practice.


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Some 400 fans attended last Wednesday's skate with the players at The Dunk.


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Levi Nelson and Yannick Riendeau continue to work on their conditioning. The two did stops and starts between the blue lines after practice.

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).