Pens vs. Bruins: A lesson in class

Stu feels no pain.

RAAR I'M A DINOSAUR.

One of these things is not like the other. One the one hand we’ve got a classy defenseman in Mark Stuart, on the other we’ve got a sometimes 3rd line goon in Matt Cooke. Stu’s record is impeccable; his fight card shows that while he picks his fights intelligently, he’s not afraid to back down from one, and has won or fought to a draw 6 times out of 6 this year. He particularly likes to beat on Flyers, which is endearing to everyone. Stu is so manly that he even played with a broken sternum – STU FEELS NO PAIN. (Turn this interview up and enjoy). Probably the only thing he has going against him is the fact that his hair seemingly grows at the rate of bamboo. Friendly caveman!

On the other side, we’ve got Matt Cooke. It goes without saying – if there was ever a repeat offender, it’s Matt Cooke; first a headshot on Artem Anisimov, then Public Enemy Scott Walker, and most recently, Marc Savard. Luckily the first two were able to get up and walk away. Not so with Savard. Surprisingly for all these awful hits, Cooke’s fight card is surprisingly empty! He actually let Ilya Kovalchuk beat on him, as well as two Rangers, probably defending their teammate Anisimov. The only guy he could beat was Rob Niedermeyer. Not impressed, sir. There is no sensible argument in favor of what Cooke did, and with the recent rash of flubbed suspensions and clownshoes wheel-of-justice shenanigans from Colin Campbell, it’s time for the Bruins to take this into their own hands – with intelligence.

Like I need to emphasize it any more – we’ve got an epic showdown on our hands tonight. Possibly the game of the season, aside from the Winter Classic. A very important question will be answered here tonight. Will the Bruins finally snap out of this seemingly season-long coma and start making teams answer for their failings, or will they just roll over and play dead? It very well might be on Mark Stuart’s shoulders to go out and pummel Cooke. If not Stuart, then Lucic, or Thornton, or even Chara. It’s not going to be a circus of constant fighting – but they need to set the tone of the game with hard hits and good goals, and an early challenge to Cooke. With the fall of Philly and the win-streak of Montreal right now, Pittsburgh could very well be who the Bruins see first-round, and this game needs to set the tone for that potential series – a lesson to the Penguins not to mess with this team. If the Bruins come into this game weak and looking like their inconsistent selves, and end up facing the Penguins in the first round? 4-game sweep, I’m calling it now. If the Bruins send a clear message with this game, well then – there’s a little more hope to be had.

180 minutes to game time. Go Bruins.

CLEAR DAY FUN!

It’s CLEAR DAAAAAY!

Unless you’re an AHL fan you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. But that’s okay! I am here for your benefit.

Clear Day occurs every season, shortly after the NHL trade deadline. Essentially, it’s the AHL’s version of the trade freeze, but it’s a little more restrictive. Every AHL team releases a Clear Day roster; only these 20 skaters and two goalies are eligible to participate in the remainder of the team’s season. This is the official ruling from the AHL bylaws:

Only the players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the 2009-10 regular season and 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after their respective junior or college seasons are complete.

Last year’s Clear Day roster included Milan Lucic, Matt Hunwick, and Byron Bitz, despite the fact that all three played all or most of their season with the Boston Bruins; the P-Bruins added several signed junior players to make their Calder Cup run, since all three of those players were still up with the big club when playoffs came around (just because you’re on the Clear Day roster doesn’t mean you HAVE to play for the AHL team, it just means that you CAN.) Because of that, it was expected that possibly Vladimir Sobotka and even maybe Hunwick or Boychuk would make the roster this year.

None of them are on it.

The roster consists of goalies Dany Sabourin and Kevin Regan, forwards Jamie Arniel, Zach Hamill, Jordan Knackstedt (learn this name, B’s fans – kid has been on FIRE lately), Drew Larman, Guillarme Lefebvre, Mikko Lehtonen, Jeff Lovecchio, Lane MacDermid, Kirk MacDonald, Brad Marchand, Levi Nelson, (BFF) Yannick Riendeau, and Trent Whitfield, and defensemen Andy Bodnarchuk, Alain Goulet, Adam McQuaid, Jeff Penner, Jared Ross, Cody Wild, and Andy Wozniewski. Nine of these guys have seen some NHL time this year, which is significant, but – where’s Sobotka, Peebs? What’s going on here?

Jeff Penner is the most recent P-Bruin to make his NHL debut.

Around the hockey world

• My opinion on the Savard headshot shouldn’t need to be written out, but here it is anyways. I believe the hit was a deliberate headshot and therefore should have been classified as intent to injure, especially considering Cooke has done things like this before. I believe that a player who significantly injures another should be made to sit out until the player he’s injured is okay to return. I do NOT believe that my team should be ashamed for not retaliating on the spot; that’s a shock, to see your star player go down like that, and I believe that trying to win the game instead of going after Cooke’s head was a good call. That being said, if Cooke isn’t bleeding SIGNIFICANTLY by 9:30 PM EST on 3/18, I give up.
• Did you know that Matt Hunwick has a hockey-playing little brother? And when I mean little, I mean LITTLE (he’s 5’6). Check out this awesome article about Michigan’s underdog goalie, and why bleeding Blue runs in the Hunwick family.
• Tuukka Rask is the first goalie off for the Flyers game tonight. NO PHILLY NO. Go B’s.

A PSA for Montreal

I bet you all thought I’d forgotten about this, didn’t you?

No, as much as I’d like to pretend that I never wore a barberpole striped Carey Price jersey during the mother of all Bruins games, the Winter Classic – I did, and I am ashamed. What I’m not ashamed of, though, is the fact that we’re still raffling this mother off. Yes, the Epic Charity Wager is still very much alive and kicking unlike the Bruins this year.

You all have until March 20th, the date of the East Meets West Habs Tweetup in Montreal, QC, at which time a winner will be selected. Raffle tickets are $5 each (and don’t worry, those of you who donated previously – I’ve got your names all written down) and can be purchased here.

Whyyyy are you like this :(

I’m sure there’s proof, somewhere on the internet, that I actually did wear this, but I don’t have any photos, sorry – feel free to post in the comments if you have one. Also, a little story – I didn’t wear it during the first period of the Classic, put it on during the second, the Flyers scored, and then I persuaded the Habs fans present to let me take it off and put my Tim Thomas jersey back on for the third – true to form, I did that and Recchi scored, and we won. THIS JERSEY IS CERTIFIABLY BAD LUCK FOR THE BRUINS. All the more reason to try to win it, right Habs fans?

Terrier Watch: Kenny Roche

When this appeared in my twitter feed a little while ago, I maybe did a double-take and then a few fistpumps. Kenny Roche! 2006-2007 Boston University alternate captain! Contributor to the epic moment in my life that was BU taking the 2007 Beanpot! Oh, memories.

Roche, Sean Sullivan, and the-one-the-only John Curry with the Beanpot, 2/12/07

Roche was drafted in 2003 by the New York Rangers, but has not as of yet seen any NHL time. He logged three games with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford at the end of the 2006-2007 season, signing with the Lake Erie Monsters for 2007-2008. He split time between Erie and the Johnstown Chiefs that season, then spent all of 2008-2009 in Germany’s second-tier Bundesliga, with the Lausitzer Foxes. This season, Roche has spent the majority of his time with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers, playing 14 games for the Wolf Pack and 3 games for the Providence Bruins; he’s been called up again by Providence tonight, for their game against the Isles affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. With injury striking Mikko Lehtonen and the big club calling up Brad Marchand, the P-Bruins are lacking bodies, so here’s another good chance for Roche to show his stuff.

Interesting coincidence, discovered via Hockey Database and On Being a Sports Girl (read this post): Kenny Roche was reunited with former BU teammates Kevin Schaeffer (Class of 07, sometimes P-Bruin) and Jason Lawrence (class of 09, given a tryout contract with the Bruins, but assigned to the ECHL after not producing much for the P-Bruins) on the Charlotte Checkers this year. Lawrence, however, was traded from Charlotte to the Gwinnett Gladiators (why are so many ECHL teams in southeast states? Gwinnett is in Georgia, and is the ECHL affiliate of Columbus and Atlanta) in November. His first game happened to be against – you guessed it – his former team, and not only did the teams combine for 47 penalty minutes, but Lawrence and Roche got into a fight halfway through the second period! Scandal!

Jason Lawrence (white) vs Kenny Roche (blue). Photo courtesy of flickr user amanda_hertel.

So now Roche has beaten Jason Lawrence in a fight AND usurped his coveted spot on the Bruins’ AHL team. Oh, J-Lo, you just can’t win. The P-Bruins are tied for 8th place in the conference, and need this win, so here’s hoping Roche can contribute to the team.

Starting the road trip right

Who has puck? I has puck. Yes.

Huge game today for Tim Thomas, who’s shutting up the haters as of late. The Bruins have won six of the last seven, two of those coming in the last three days with Timmy in net while Rask battles a knee injury. Timmy made 35/37 saves (also bolstering my fantasy team, thank you sir.)

We’re seeing Seidenberg get a little more comfortable too, which is good to see; the awkwardness from the game against the Leafs on Thursday seems to be dissapating. Perfect timing, too, as tomorrow’s game against the Pens is not going to be an easy won. The Pens beat the Stars 6-3, and although some of that can be blamed on a faltering Dallas squad without their starting goaltender to rely on, the Pens’ performance behind Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal today was scary good.

A goal from David Krejci always feels nice and familiar, but goals from the seemingly snakebitten Marc Savard and the $4 million letdown Milan Lucic were just the icing on this game. Little things are improving slowly, the lack of Wideman-Hunwick as a D-pair gives Julien a lot more credibility as a coach, we’ve got the #1 penalty kill in the league yet again, and it’s always good to see Patrice Bergeron lighting it up with hits and steals. All in all, this was a fantastic way to start the road trip; let’s keep the ball rolling in Pittsburgh. Go Bruins.

The Tea Party’s Three Stars:

1. Tim Thomas.
Clearly, the man works best when people doubt him. Feels good to shut up the haters, I bet.

2. Dennis Seidenberg.

He's just so...GERMAN.

I can’t count the number of times a good clean hit or a blocked shot or just general dirty work down low in our end lead to a breakout for our team or at the very least an easing-up of pressure on Timmy. Plus, GERMAN. What’s not to love?

3. Patrice Bergeron

Go Bergy go!

In his first game back post-Olympics, Patrice Bergeron shined – he may not have scored a goal, but he, like Seidenberg, got down to work making space and smart passes. Having him back, especially tomorrow, will only be beneficial.

And the first ever Black Hole Award goes to….

black hole. n.

1. a region of space resulting from the collapse of a star
2. a great void; an abyss
3. MICHAEL RYDER.

Regardless of whether that hit was dirty or clean, it was a hit from behind and in today’s league, that’s avoidable and unacceptable. Ryder should know better, and he cost his team a lengthy 5 minute power play, which luckily they were able to kill off. He also received a game misconduct and will potentially face suspension; aside from that, as soon as he left Krejci and Wheeler’s line, they’ve started producing, which speaks volumes about both Ryder’s ineffectiveness and Satan’s usefulness. Congratulations, Ryder: you’re today’s Black Hole. See you in a few games.

The Aftermath: Trade Dud-line day

The Bruins went into trade deadline day looking for two things: goal scoring ability, and offloading at least one of the awkwardly huge contracts they’d acquired over the past season (read: Ryder.)

Neither happened.

The B’s dealt away Derek Morris to the Coyotes for a fourth-round pick (amazing how his stock has dropped since the last trade deadline, when the Rangers acquired him in exchange for Dmitri Kalinin, Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes). The final move of the day came at 11:30 AM, when Dennis Seidenberg and Matt Bartkowski were traded from Florida for Byron Bitz, Craig Weller and the 2nd-round pick in the 2010 draft which the Bruins acquired from Tampa Bay last year on trade deadline day, in the trade that brought Mark Recchi to Boston.

Those primary colors do wonders for you, Bitzy-Cat.

It’s projected that Seidenberg will be paired with Chara in lieu of Morris; on Florida’s side of things, a source has said that Bitz will wear #12. Apparently this is a point of contention, since Olli Jokinen wore #12, and he’s either loved or hated by Panthers fans. (Any Panthers fans want to step up and confirm or deny this?) He’s slated to play 3rd-line minutes, which is infinitely better than he ever did in Boston, with the exception of those few strange games where he played on the first line.

Craig Weller will likely become a Rochester American, playing with the Panthers’ AHL affiliate there.

Matt Bartkowski is a 21-year-old college defenseman at Ohio State (I wonder if he and ex-Michigan player Matt Hunwick will get along?) who is an incredibly physical player – he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, but his skating could use work. Definitely a prospect to keep an eye on.

So this is interesting and all, but hey, Chiarelli, where’s our top-6 forward?

The Bruins are sitting in 8th place in the East, barely clinging to a playoff spot, we’ve got the worst goals-per-game average in the entire league. Luckily we’ve got the fourth-best goals-allowed-against per game, but I honestly don’t think at this point that the Bruins are a solid contender for the playoffs this year. It’s not time to completely give up on the season, but….

113 days until the NHL draft. I’m just saying.

Other deadline deals of note: Where are they now?

• Petteri Nokelainen, former Bruin traded to Anaheim at the last trade deadline, is now a Phoenix Coyote.
• Public Enemy Scott Walker is a Capital. I am not a huge fan of this.
• Aaron Ward, relatedly, is now a member of the Anaheim Ducks; here’s hoping he comes back east after the season.
• Andrew Alberts, another former Bruin, is now a member of the Canucks.
• Stephane Yelle has returned to the Colorado Avalanche. And there was much rejoicing in Denver.