Savard/By S. Bradley
The Bruins signed 32-year-old Marc Savard to a seven-year contract extension with the intention that he probably wouldn’t play out the entire term of the deal but would at least be a perennial offensive force (at a friendly salary cap hit) for no less than half of that time.
So hopefully Savard’s injury-ravaged 2009-10 season got all those ailments out of the way and wasn’t a sign of things to come for the playmaking center. (more…)
Satan/By S. Bradley
General manager Peter Chiarelli’s after-Christmas shopping paid off well this season.
When Chiarelli completed a free-agent contract with Miroslav Satan for the rest of the season Jan. 3, the GM saw it as a low-risk, high-reward sort of deal to get a 14-year veteran for less than a million dollars. As far as bang for the bucks, Satan fit the bill.
Ryder/By S. Bradley
We’re still waiting for Michael Ryder’s hot streak.
The veteran right winger, who was supposed to be a major part of the committee that would make up for the loss of Phil Kessel’s scoring touch, never scored a goal in consecutive games all season long en route to an 18-goal campaign in 82 games. (more…)
Recchi/By S. Bradley
When he was acquired from Tampa Bay by the Bruins at the 2009 trade deadline, Mark Recchi was considered a solid, supplemental player for a team gearing up for a championship run. When he re-signed with Boston in the aftermath of that failed effort to secure a title, Recchi still looked like just a piece of the puzzle.
However, in 2009-10, during a season that saw him turn 42 years old, Recchi emerged as one of Boston’s best and most reliable players in all three zones. (more…)
Leighton
It’s no consolation to the Bruins now, but we learned Saturday night that Philadelphia goaltender Michael Leighton is not, in fact, some modern-day incarnation of Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden.
The journeyman netminder, who finished off the Bruins after taking over midway through Game 5 of the second round, was actually pulled in Game 1 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final in Chicago, as the Blackhawks went on to win a barn-burner, 6-5. (more…)
Rask/By S. Bradley
If as a fan you enjoyed watching Tuukka Rask’s rookie season, imagine how the Bruins scouts and player personnel people felt as the star goaltender dominated the NHL with a league-leading save percentage and goals-against average.
Someone like Director of Player Personnel Scott Bradley was in on the decision to trade for Rask and watched his closely from his time with Finland at the World Junior Championship all the way through his breakout 2009-10 season. (more…)
Paille/By S. Bradley
Officially, Daniel Paille joined Boston in October in the first-ever trade between the Bruins and Buffalo (the official classification of Peter McNab for Andre Savard in ’76 notwithstanding).
That wasn’t the only history made in that deal however. Paille’s arrival with the Bruins also gave backers of the boys in black and gold a new “Aww” player. You know the type. He has the speed and knowledge to get free for breakaways and golden opportunities only to miss the net or shoot the puck into the goaltender’s midsection and incite a collective “aww” from the hometown crowd almost every time.
Two things that I think are interesting came out of yesterday’s combine stories from Toronto:
1. General manager Peter Chiarelli continues to insist that Tyler Seguin can play on the wing. (more…)
I admit it, I’m hooked. The Philadelphia Flyers’ amazing run through the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs has me more sucked in than “Treme,” “Breaking Bad,” and “Friday Night Lights” combined.
And I don’t want it to end any other way than a happy finale. That doesn’t mean emotions are the only thing influencing my pick. With Jeff Carter healthy, the Flyers are now three lines deep at both ends of the rink. Ian Laperriere’s return has made Philly even more dangerous on the penalty kill and given then an added dose of toughness Chicago might have a tough time handling. (more…)
Asham
When the Bruins aren’t in the Stanley Cup final, they can sometimes use the NHL’s marquee event to get a last look at a free agent or two before summer.
However, Chicago and Philadelphia — who open the 2010 Stanley Cup final at United Center Saturday night — aren’t really boasting many players the Bruins would be interested in come July 1. In fact, only Philadelphia forward Arron Asham might fit the bill as a future Bruins.
Milan Lucic/By S. Bradley
There were times two years ago that we thought nothing would stop Milan Lucic from becoming a dominant power forward and ascending to elite all-around status in the NHL.
This season, we found what it would take to slow Lucic — injuries. The bulky left winger was barely getting his legs back after returning from a broken finger in November when he suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain, which has been the bane of many a hockey player at every level for decades. (more…)
Krejci/By S. Bradley
A season that earned David Krejci the ultimate respect from his country of the Czech Republic should’ve also been the year he declared his position as one of the top two-way centers in the NHL.
However, a slow start to the 2009-10 campaign due his continued recovery from offseason hip surgery delayed his ascension to elite status and hindered the Bruins’ intentions of boasting the best three-center depth in the league on their way to a solid regular season. (more…)
Hunwick/By S. Bradley
Except for only the most elite defensemen, the second NHL season for after a promising rookie campaign can often be filled with growing pains. After this year, Matt Hunwick might as well be an adopted member of the Seaver family.
There are a lot of different factors you could combine to come up with excuses for Hunwick’s decline. But the fact is, in a season when the Bruins need help from their back end for a weak offense, and suffered some key injuries to their blue-line corps over the course of the season, Hunwick skated in 76 games and didn’t step up to fill a void. (more…)
Andrew Ference/By S. Bradley
Ultimately, Andrew Ference will be graded on how smart he makes the Bruins look for signing him to a three-year contract extension worth $2.25 million per season some two months before hernia surgery and four months before unrestricted free agency.
All we have to assess him on now is another injury-plagued year that saw him emerge as no better than a third-pair defenseman who, based on his salary and experience, is going to be counted on to play in the top four for the rest of his stay in Boston.
