One Boston Bruins player that not only knows how talented some of the Carolina Hurricanes’ top star are now but how much they’ve improved over the years is winger Chuck Kobasew.

The veteran spent the NHL lockout year of 2004-05 as a Calgary Flames prospect skating alongside the cream of Carolina’s farm crop with the Lowell Lock Monsters. The team was a joint farm team for the Flames and Hurricanes and was stocked with future NHLers like Kobasew, Eric Staal, Mike Commodore, Matthew Lombardi and future Conn Smythe-winning goaltender Cam Ward.

“I knew we were going to have a good team. That made it fun, made it competitive. And that was a big part of the reason I went there,” Kobasew recalled today after the Bruins practiced in Wilmington, Mass., in preparation for their Eastern Conference semifinal series against Staal, Ward and the Hurricanes. (more…)

Ference

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Defenseman Andrew Ference hasn’t joined his Boston Bruins teammates for a game since April 4.

But his undisclosed injury hasn’t bothered him since he started skating again more than a week ago in Montreal. Ference went through all the drills again today at Ristuccia Arena without a hitch. So the plan to get the blueliner back in the lineup for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with Carolina seems still intact.

“I think so. He feels good; we’ve talked to him. And again, it allows him every day to get into practice with our team and compete at the level where he’s going to have to compete more or less when we start the series,” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. “But right now I’d put him more on the yes side than the no side. Having said that, the decision hasn’t been made. And we’ll have to probably wait until game day to make our final decision. But we’re heading in the right direction and I feel more confident than not that he’ll be ready.”

Ference was limited by injury to just one game against Carolina during the regular season and he registered an assist in that contest.

Mark Recchi wants to do this in another uniform this season.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — The Boston Bruins swept the four-game regular-season series from the Carolina Hurricanes, but the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded club is predictably not letting its guard down before its conference semifinal series with the Hurricanes starts Friday.

“They’re a much different team than the one we played in the regular season,” said head coach Claude Julien after his team practiced at Ristuccia Arena. “They just compete so hard and they’re playing well as a group, they believe in themselves and have a lot of confidence going. Their goaltending has been outstanding, so we’re in for a good challenge and a good series here.”

Cam Ward has been tremendous in net and was one of the key reasons the sixth-seeded Hurricanes were able to defeat third-seeded New Jersey in seven games in the first round. Carolina was a work in progress all season long, first when they switched coaches from Peter Laviolette to Paul Maurice Dec. 4. All the Bruins wins over Carolina came after that date. But Boston has not seen the Hurricanes since they re-acquired Erik Cole from Edmonton March 4 at the trade deadline. That deal sparked the Hurricanes to finish the regular season 17-5-2 in their last 24, including a nine-game winning streak from mid to late March. (more…)

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Finally, the Boston Bruins know their second-round opponent.

Today’s the first day they can practice with the Carolina Hurricanes in mind.

Right now (10:56 a.m.), it’s just a handful of Bruins on the Ristuccia Arena ice. Assistant coach Geoff Ward is going over power-play stuff with the first unit of Dennis Wideman, Michael Ryder, Mark Recchi, Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara. A plank lying across the goal line is the only hindrance from the Bruins scoring.

Tim Thomas, Manny Fernandez, Andrew Ference, Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew, Steve Montador and Phil Kessel are also out early and are at the other end of the rink doing some drills with assistant coach Doug Houda.

UPDATE (11:01 a.m.): The rest of the team has joined the fray. Everyone is on the ice.

It's a Ducks-Wings series.

While the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes won’t really drum up much passion from a historical perspective (the two clubs have only met once before in the playoffs in the ‘Canes’ current incarnation and, although some won’t accept the fact, they are not the Hartford Whalers), it won’t take much to stir up the animosity when Detroit and Anaheim meet in a Western Conference semifinal series.

The Red Wings aren’t even pretending that they’ve forgotten what Anaheim-Detroit series of the the past have wrought.

“They swept us (in 2003) a year after we won the Stanley Cup,” said Wings forward Kris Draper in Drew Sharp’s column in the Detroit Free Press today. “That’s something you don’t forget, and then they beat us in a hard-fought series (in ’07) in which they beat us here in Game 5 in overtime in a game that could’ve given us a 3-2 series lead. But they beat us in six. And we made a furious comeback in that sixth game, but we couldn’t get it done.” (more…)

Staal

The postgame reaction from both locker rooms ran the gamut from surreal to stunning (and I’m sure some words from the New Jersey side that couldn’t be printed) after last night’s Carolina Hurricanes comeback win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

The sixth-seeded Hurricanes, who will be the Boston Bruins’ next opponent, scored twice in the final 80 seconds, capped by Eric Staal’s goal with 31.7 seconds left, to complete a 4-3 win over the Devils at Prudential Center.

“That’s why he gets paid the big bucks,” ‘Canes winger Chad LaRose said about Staal in the Canes Now blog after the game.

If you can believe it, the Bruins kept Staal off the score sheet in four games this season. In 16 games prior to the current campaign, he burned them for 9-12-21 totals. Keeping him check won’t be easy in a best-of-seven series, as the Devils found out. Even future Hall-of-Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur had to tip his cap.

“Staal made a great shot. When you let him skate with speed … he got the shot he wanted and made the shot,” the goaltender said in the News & Observer. (more…)

Selke Trophy

Caught up in all the playoff hoopla yesterday, I forgot to relay the finalists for the Selke Trophy after they were announced. By now you know that last year’s winner Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit is a finalist, along with Philadelphia center Mike Richards and Vancouver forward Ryan Kesler.

Oddly enough, my ballot listed those three players as my top three. I ranked them Richards then Datsyuk then Kesler. Richards’ seven shorthanded goals tilted the balance.

I like to look at the Boston Bruins’ roster and determine with player would be the team winner of these trophies that no Bruins are finalists for. I think when it comes to Selke — “the forward who excels in the defensive aspects of the game” — you have to look at centers David Krejci (plus-37, 50.3 faceoff percentage) and Patrice Bergeron (plus-2, 54.5 faceoff percentage).

Well, the game times must have come out right after I hit the pillow.

Here are the game dates and times for the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes series:

Friday, May 1, 2009 7:30 p.m. Carolina at Boston VERSUS (JIP), TSN
Sunday, May 3, 2009 7:30 p.m. Carolina at Boston VERSUS, TSN
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 7:30 p.m. Boston at Carolina VERSUS (JIP), TSN
Friday, May 8, 2009 7:30 p.m. Boston at Carolina VERSUS (JIP), TSN
*Sunday, May 10, 2009 7:30 p.m. Carolina at Boston VERSUS, TSN
*Tuesday, May 12, 2009 7 p.m. Boston at Carolina VERSUS, TSN
*Thursday, May 14, 2009 TBD Carolina at Boston TSN

Below is the schedule for the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes Eastern Conference semifinal series, plus the schedules for the other series. Times and networks have not been announced yet:

SERIES I #1 Boston vs. #6 Carolina
Friday, May 1, 2009 Carolina at Boston
Sunday, May 3, 2009 Carolina at Boston
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Boston at Carolina
Friday, May 8, 2009 Boston at Carolina
*Sunday, May 10, 2009 Carolina at Boston
*Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Boston at Carolina
*Thursday, May 14, 2009 Carolina at Boston (more…)

There’ll be plenty of time to dissect every match-up of the upcoming Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series. For now, let’s take a look back at the four games these teams played during the 2008-09 regular season.

Saturday, Dec. 20: Bruins 4, Hurricanes 2
At TD Banknorth Garden

Winger Shawn Thornton’s second goal of the season proves to be the game-winner at 11:54 of the third period. Thornton called for the puck as Carolina defenseman Joe Corvo skated out from behind the Hurricanes’ net and Thornton skated to the front after the steal and buried the biscuit. Patrice Bergeron suffers a concussion in a second-period collision with Dennis Seidenberg that sidetracks the center’s comeback season. (more…)

His name is Eric Staal. You’re going to get sick of hearing that name for the next 10 days or so. He’s going to be a thorn in the Boston Bruins’ sides in the second round of the playoffs.

Just when it seemed safe to plan for an Eastern Conference semifinal match-up with Pittsburgh, Staal and his Carolina Hurricanes pulled a miracle in Newark. Jussi Jokinen tied the score with 1:20 left and Staal shocked the Garden State with a goal with just 31.7 seconds left in Game 7 to raise Carolina over New Jersey, 4-3, at Prudential Center.

The Bruins will now square off with the sixth-seeded Hurricanes in a best-of-seven series starting at a date to be determined. Boston swept the four-game season series from Carolina in 2008-09. The other conference semifinal will pit Washington against Pittsburgh. I will post the schedule as soon as it becomes available.

Reich

I interrupt this wait to see who the Boston Bruins’ next opponent will be to inform you that the Providence Bruins, who are already in their second round, grabbed a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven Atlantic Division finals series with Worcester by prevailing 3-2 in overtime tonight at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Jeremy Reich scored the game-winning goal at the 6:19 mark of the extra session. Martin St. Pierre and Brad Marchand also scored for Providence, which squandered a 2-0 lead before taking down the Sharks. Tuukka Rask made 35 saves for the P-Bruins.

Game 2 of this series is not until next Wednesday, May 6, at DCU Center in Worcester.

The Boston Bruins still don’t know their second-round opponent, but the New York Rangers are no longer in the running.

Washington prevailed, 2-1, in Game 7 of the Capitals’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Rangers and clinched the series.

The Bruins can now only face Carolina or Pittsburgh. If the Canes, down 3-2 after two periods at New Jersey, come back and win, they’ll be headed to the Hub. If the Devils hang on, the Bruins will host the Penguins.

More to come.

Just a couple of quick notes for you before settling in to watch Game 7 of the Carolina-New Jersey and Washington-New York series and finding out which team will be the Boston Bruins’ next opponent:

•Forgot to mention this afternoon that we got the details on Zdeno Chara’s new daughter. Her name is Elliz Victoria and she was born last night.

•Winger Marco Sturm, out since December with a knee injury, reports that his rehabilitation is going well.

“I’m doing a lot of stuff,” he said today after an off-ice workout. “Now I’ve just got to make sure my strength comes back. It’s not sore or anything. Right now, I’m doing side to side. It takes time, that’s the only tough part.”

Sturm is growing a playoff beard just like his teammates. And, of course, his biggest contribution right now are those “Stay Hungry” hats he and his friend Mike, who runs Ironhead sports apparel, distributed at the start of the playoffs.

“I just wanted to have something for the guys, just to make sure they always have it in their heads,” said Sturm.

•Want predictions for tonight? Ok, how about New Jersey, 2-1, and Washington, 4-1, with an empty-netter. Enjoy!

The Sharks got trapped by Anaheim

I chatted with a couple of Boston Bruins players today in the Ristuccia Arena dressing room after practice about the downfall of the San Jose Sharks, who not only earned the top seed in the Western Conference but also captured the Presidents’ Trophy for compiling the largest point total in the NHL. The Sharks fell to Anaheim in six games after losing Game 6 Monday night.

Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward is able to feel the Sharks’ pain. Although he wasn’t playing for Detroit at the time and was just one of the club’s “Black Aces,” Ward had a front-row seat for the Red Wings’ shocking loss to eighth-seeded San Jose in the 1994 postseason.

“It is the most deflating thing because you think you’re on the cusp of doing something special and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘No, sorry. Enjoy your summer.’ You have an extra two months to start training. It’s demoralizing,” said Ward about the feeling of losing in the first round as a top seed. (more…)