Horton
When the Bruins acquired Nathan Horton, they billed him as the sniper they were missing. On the season’s first weekend, he didn’t disappoint — as he scored three goals in two games.
Horton’s road to the playoffs starts now
Horton
WILMINGTON, Mass. — Six NHL seasons came and went with Nathan Horton in a Florida Panthers sweater and the playoffs starting without South Florida’s entry in the league participating.
Now that trend might finally end for Horton, who got a head start on his drive to compete in postseason play by taking part in the Bruins’ first captains’ practice of the 2010-11 season some 10 days before the official opening of training camp.
Horton’s arrival could mean show time or dog show
Horton needs to use his powers, not dog it
Until they hit the ice in Prague this fall and do some things to erase the memory of their springtime disaster against Philadelphia, the Bruins will be ensconced in the Boston sports doghouse.
After adding Nathan Horton via trade from Florida Tuesday, the club has to hope it hasn’t just added another dog to the pack.
Post-trade quick hits
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.
Horton has handle on history, now has to make some
Horton
While the majority of his charming of the Bruins fans will have to be done with his stick and his skates come fall, newly acquired winger Nathan Horton impressed many today during an introductory conference call when he read off a laundry list of Bruins greats – including Phil Esposito, Gerry Cheevers and his agent Bobby Orr – that he wants to make proud in black and gold.
Horton’s hoping that leaving the instability (five coaches in six seasons) and indifference of South Florida will help him get his NHL career back on track. The No. 3 overall pick in 2003 has seen his goal total decrease from 31 to 27 to 22 to 20 over the last four seasons.
McKeen’s take on Horton
Here’s what the McKeen’s Hockey Yearbook had to say about new Bruins winger Nathan Horton prior to last season:
“Skilled sniper whose prize weapon is a howitzer shot, accentuated by an ability to stickhandle and open up lanes … possesses excellent hand-eye coordination and a healthy skating stride … creates havoc when using his big frame (6-2, 215) to bully into scoring areas, though won’t play a mean ‘power’ game every night … comes up mysteriously short in the intensity battles and can lose focus defensively, exhibiting lazy body language and stick preparation … needs to operate at full passion on both sides of the puck to help compensate for a lack of elite game sense.”
