Category — dennis wideman

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was unable to discuss the Nathan Horton trade with the media today because of his travel schedule heading to Los Angeles for this weekend’s draft. Until I get some questions answered by him, I’m going to postpone my full-blown analysis of the deal.

But here are a couple quick thoughts:

•The Bruins were victimized by a roster with “too many passengers” (still love that Mark Recchi quote) last season. Horton has been accused of riding shotgun a little too much in Florida. Head coach Claude Julien has been known to work wonders with guys like this, but it has to be a two-way street. So when it comes to working hard every night, Horton is in Missouri — show me! It’s going to be great to watch this unfold.

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Wideman/By S. Bradley

No one was a bigger poster child for all of the Bruins’ struggles this season than Dennis Wideman. Sometimes unfairly, and mostly fairly, Wideman was targeted by fans and media alike for his costly, lackadaisical play at the defensive end.

In some ways, Wideman was a victim of his own success. When a player returns from a 50-point, plus-32 season and drop off to 30 points and a minus-14, it’s extremely frustrating to watch in light of that athlete’s proven ability to be a better contributor to his club’s success.

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Ryder has to go/By S. Bradley

BOSTON – They are the two Bruins that most let the team down for the better part of the 2009-10 season.

Now Boston has to hang out the “for sale” sign and hope someone decides to bite. If Peter Chiarelli’s lucky, P.T. Barnum was right and his adage about suckers applies to NHL front offices as much as the rest of the world.

Where the Bruins might’ve gone during the regular season and then the playoffs had defenseman Dennis Wideman and right winger Michael Ryder played up to their potential and lofty salaries is anyone’s guess. All we know is that both were utter failures for too long and it cost Boston a chance at a higher seed and then a chance to avoid an historic collapse. [Read more →]

Ryder & Wideman celebrate

BOSTON — What are we to make of Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman’s contribution to his team’s success over the last few weeks, including Monday night’s Game 3 victory over Buffalo in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals?

Do we call it a revitalization, renaissance, resurrection or comeback? Well, how about a revolution? A revolution is defined as “a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.”

Well, it wasn’t all that long ago that Wideman was practically booed off his own home ice at TD Garden and was the epitome of a disappointing regular season for a Bruins team that started out as Cup-contenders and had to fight down to the wire to make the playoffs. Suddenly he’s playing with the type of pizzazz and confidence that’s bumped him back up the depth chart from third-pair mess-up to Boston’s No. 2 defender, where he was ensconced just last spring. [Read more →]

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Contrary to what fans might think, Dennis Wideman’s teammates haven’t taken up the Garden faithful’s new hobby of booing the defenseman.

In fact, they’ve had his back when necessary during the course of his tumultuous season.

“It’s not like we talk about it much,” he said after the Bruins’ last regular season practice at Ristuccia Arena today. “But when things have needed to turn around, the guys have been good.” [Read more →]

BOSTON — Former Bruins defenseman, coach and assistant general manager Mike Milbury, who knows a thing or two about being booed by the Bruins faithful, stood up for current blueliner Dennis Wideman during the first intermission Thursday night.

“They’re doing him and themselves a disservice,” said the outspoken NESN analyst about the fans’ decision to boo Wideman every time the veteran touched the puck right from the start of the game.

To be fair to the fans, their displeasure with Wideman has been well-earned by the blueliner and his minus-15 rating. However, by the end of Boston’s 3-1 win over Buffalo, the TD Garden rooters reversed course and actually started to cheer Wideman when the puck landed on his stick.

To read the rest of this story, log on to ESPNBoston.com.

Wideman

Bruins fans can take some solace that Vice President Cam Neely isn’t going to sugarcoat the abysmal season Dennis Wideman has had. Appearing on the “Felger & Massarotti” show on 98.5 The Sports Hub one day after Wideman was a minus-3 in a home loss to Buffalo, Neely didn’t mince words when asked to explain Wideman’s struggles.

“I can’t even recall a player having one year to the next as dramatic a change as Dennis has had from last year to this year,” Neely told the show.

Neely went on to classify Wideman’s season as “awful.”

Wideman

If you’re always wondered what Dennis Wideman’s Boston condo is like, Christopher Muther of the Boston Globe has a short story about the defenseman’s bachelor pad today.

Of particular interest is the bit about Wideman installing a pool table instead of a dining room table. Now we know how Wideman relaxes away from the rink. No word, however, on whether opposing players continually steal the cue ball after he shoots it.

Wideman

While no one expects the Boston Bruins to abandon their attempts to have the most suffocating defense possible, the swap of Aaron Ward for Derek Morris in their defense corps means there should be added emphasis on offensive production for the back end.

That could mean that Dennis Wideman, coming off a career year statistically, could see his numbers increase beyond those levels. [Read more →]

The progression of Dennis Wideman from mistake-prone, risk-taking “offenseman” into a legit No. 2 defenseman on a contending club continued this season, Wideman’s first as a multi-millionaire who was expected to serve as a two-way force for the Boston Bruins.

Healthy for most of the year, Wideman was able to find a level of consistency that made him not only a threat to score and make big defensive plays, but also earned him enough average ice time to finish second to Zdeno Chara on the Bruins’ roster in both the regular season and playoffs. [Read more →]

Wideman

The groin and hip problems that hampered Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman last season, and had him contemplating surgery last summer, disappeared about one month into this season.

And all it took was a tweak to his equipment.

“It came down to actually a pair of skates and that was it. As soon as I switched my skate, I never had any issues again with it,” said Wideman today. [Read more →]

Wideman

BOSTON — The first two minutes of Game 1 of last spring’s Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between Boston and Montreal at Bell Centre were two minutes members of the Bruins would like forget. Unfortunately, stuff like that has a way of sticking in one’s mind.

I asked Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman, who made his NHL playoff debut in that game, how he’s more prepared for Game 1 this time around. And his thoughts went round and round before landing on the pain that was that opening two minutes.

“I think last year I was — it’s tough to say right now — but I remember in the morning last year before the game I was a lot more nervous last year than I am this year. This year is more excitement and just being ready to go,” he said after the Bruins’ morning skate at TD Banknorth Garden. “I think last year I just didn’t know what to expect. It was the first game and it was in Montreal and how loud it was going to be, I don’t think I knew what to expect — as you could tell. I think they scored two goals in the first two minutes, something like that.” [Read more →]

Wideman

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Having missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman is looking forward to shaking the rust off in at least one of the Bruins’ last two regular-season contests this weekend.

Both Wideman and P.J. Axelsson, who has also missed the last two games, were part of a small band of Bruins that hit the ice for a light practice and then a hearty skate at Ristuccia Arena this morning.

“The next two games I need to get the timing back and get going,” said Wideman as he caught his breath after the workout. “I basically took four or five days off there. So it takes a bit to get going. You’re used to being on the ice every day and then just to sit for four days, you get pretty rusty pretty quick.”

Last season, Wideman played most of the second half of the season with a severe groin injury. When the playoff rolled around, he had to miss Game 2. The Bruins’ comfortable position in the standings has afforded the Bruins the luxury of taking it easy on some of their banged-up players in hopes that an absence from a playoff game won’t be necessary.

“I think we were probably extra cautious with it being in the situation that we were in,” said Wideman. “If we were in a place where we were fighting for the eighth place in the playoffs or something like that, I probably would’ve been playing. I think we were just making sure I was 100 percent before I get back out there.”

Axelsson said he came through today’s session fine. But he’ll be a gameday decision tomorrow in Buffalo. All the Bruins are making the trip, except for Andrew Ference (undisclosed) and Patrice Bergeron (foot). Bergeron is day-to-day.

Winger Mikko Lehtonen was recalled from Providence (AHL) on an emergency basis and will probably make his NHL debut this weekend.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — In a positive sign for the Boston Bruins, defenseman Dennis Wideman — some 20 minutes before the team is scheduled to practice at Ristuccia Arena — is on the ice by himself skating and shooting without any sign of what’s been ailing him.

Wideman has missed the last two Bruins’ games.

UPDATE: P.J Axelsson, Vladimir Sobotka, Byron Bitz and Blake Wheeler have joined Wideman (11:24). UPDATE II: Milan Lucic, Chuck Kobasew, Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas have also joined the fray.

Wideman

Despite 31 points and a plus-26 rating, Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman will not be at Sunday’s 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

But he’s fine with that.

“I guess I didn’t really think about it,” Wideman replied when asked this week about the snub. “The guys that are on there deserve to be there and it’s a great accomplishment for the guys that made it and they played really well. I think every guy that’s on there is deserving of being there.”

He’s tied for eighth among NHL blueliners in points and tops in plus/minus, so Wideman is definitely just as deserving. His progression from a bottom-of-the depth chart defenseman to the Bruins’ No. 2 has continued this year where it left off last season. And one national columnist even lauded Wideman with the half-season Norris Trophy. But as much as Wideman has matured on the ice, he’s grown up off it as well. And part of that is a humbleness that won’t allow him to brag about his emergence as one of the league’s upper-echelon defenders. [Read more →]