So much for competition, as Bruins assign Caron to Providence
Caron/By S. Bradley
Well, at least the Bruins’ Providence (AHL) farm club is being thrown a life preserver here.
The P-Bruins have dropped six in a row and are on the verge of losing their season. Now they’ll have both Zach Hamill and Jordan Caron back with them in time to skate Wednesday night at Portland.
Boston, meanwhile, is now back to just 12 forwards, so all the talk about competing for playing time goes out the window.
Hamill was assigned after the game yesterday, while the Bruins assigned Caron today. Daniel Paille is scheduled to return to the lineup tomorrow night after his four-game suspension.
In three games, Hamill recorded one assist while centering Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler — no one’s idea of the type of snipers that can help a rookie elevate his game. Since his return to Boston, Caron skated in three games and failed to record a point while spending his time on the fourth line. Caron did not play in the third period Sunday in Detroit.
I would argue that neither player was given much of a chance to prove himself in the NHL. Even if you disagree, you have to admit that keeping at least one spare forward always seems to work in Boston’s favor.
Paille was playing well before the suspension, and rookie Tyler Seguin looked slightly better Sunday against Detroit than he did prior to spending two games as a healthy scratch. But there’s no reason to write them in the lineup in permanent. The Bruins under head coach Claude Julien have always been a better team with a spare player up front and on defense to push for spot in the lineup.
The Bruins still have seven defensemen. After Sunday, it looks like rookie Steven Kampfer might be the one waiting his turn for a while after Mark Stuart played that role for eight games. Up front, however, there’s no one to light a fire under some of the forwards who are much too apt to get complacent.
One would have to think that this will be a one-game thing, and the Bruins might recall someone after Providence’s game Wednesday and before Boston’s game Thursday on Long Island. That game with the Islanders starts a string of six straight on the road, including three in Western Canada next week.
This also could be a ploy to keep the average cap space used as low as possible so the Bruins can maximize their room between now and the Feb. 28 trade deadline.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how the Bruins’ nonchalant forwards respond to knowing they’re guaranteed to play Tuesday night.
I thought Hamill deserved to stay and play a little more. Showed me more than Wheeler does
i thought both guys showed some game.. but we have to remember with any young guy that they arent going to get enough minutes to get them feeling comfortable on the ice.. thats what i hate most about claude and his system . they call it “giving the kid a chance” then they intermittenly give them 9 minutes of ice time and tar n feather them if they make a mistake.. im so sick of claudes system .. it makes vet shine when they are actually antiques and it hinders increased learning for all the young guys.. i wish they lost ten in a row earlier in the season and he was fired.. better yet i wish they fired him in the off season and gave the reigns to ramsay while keeping the asst. coaches so all defense didnt go out the door. getting real sick of their mundane style of play and then we light guys up ( horton, ryder, wheeler) because they dont play a boring type of hockey as well as other guys.
I thought Caron showed some fight and energy in the corners, and I think he will be an interesting player to watch going forward. I was also surprised, given that he was their last spare forward, that he was designated. Could be that, with Paille penciled back into the lineup, the Bruins were looking to keep Caron in rhythm by letting him get in a full practice tomorrow (P-Bruins play Wednesday at Portland) since he wouldn’t be playing anyway, play the Wednesday game, then potentially join the team for the road trip. That way, even if he ended up sitting for the trip, he wouldn’t have quite as long a layoff.
The only other thing that seems to make sense (aside from cap concerns) is that the Bruins anticipate making a move in the next couple of days to bring in a forward and don’t need Caron up with the big club at the moment. I’d tend to go with the keeping players fresh theory, however, since all has been quiet on the Boston trade rumor front even amidsts other teams’ shuffling.
See you at the game Jay! I’ll also be cheering for the B’s in a group of Oil fans!
Please don’t sit Seguin anymore!
I am going to Edmonton with my brother, who is an Oilers fan, so we can watch the first Taylor VS Tyler game in history and it would be very embarassing if my end of the rivlary was in the press box.
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I thought Hamill looked ok, think it may have been more of a showcase than anything. I thought Seguin had a strong game yesterday, looked like he had some jump that was missing from his game before. I hope and expect he’ll be more engaged going forward.
not unique for a rookie that is.
matt, this is exactly the problem i have with know nothing critics. not everyone is patrice bergeron. no matter how badly you’d like them to be. the kid is only going to get better (given more opportunity to) and possesses a set of skills that NOBODY else on this team does. it is not at all unique to the bruins or seguin to have a learning curve defensively and in the physical department. enough with hamill the guy can’t skate well enough to hack it and that’s why he’s gone.
Brian, if you read this blog then you read Seguin’s quotes about not being engaged, not going in the corners and dirty areas enough. That is what I & all Seguin’s critics are talking about. He didn’t exactly do that yesterday after the shift where he scored. In Hamill against Montreal and San Jose, I saw a guy willing to at least go to the front of the net even if the puck wasn’t getting there.
Sauve’s nowhere near ready at this point. He’s cold as ice in Providence, so why reward him/ stunt his growth by bringing him up to the big show too soon?
meh. more worried about who chia’s gonna snag with 2 weeks to go before the deadline.
Scott Burnside commented today on the possibility of Boston dangling TOR’s pick in a package for Richards or Iginla… interesting that these possibilities, which seem pretty unlikely, are garnering national analysis now. I wonder if there’s something the ESPN “insiders” have heard that we don’t know.
I agree with MeanE, too’ I’d be interested to see how Sauve would respond up here.
“In three games, Hamill recorded one assist while centering Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler — no one’s idea of the type of snipers that can help a rookie elevate his game.”
when it’s seguin he is no good but when it’s hammil it’s the linemates. don’t make this sound like it’s all forwards competing for a spot. nobody is going to supplant horton, krejci, and wheeler no matter how bad they are. the competition was designed for one guy who julien was pleased with sunday, even if you still aren’t.
Caron & Hamill didn’t do enough to remain up with the big club. They were not competition for any of the Bruins forwards right now. I want to see Sauve and his speed in Boston.