Bitz

BOSTON — Boston Bruins forward Byron Bitz didn’t just survive his first NHL game,  he made it one to remember today.

During the Bruins’ 5-1 win over Carolina, Bitz registered an assist for his first NHL point and threw four hits in 9:58 of ice time skating on the fourth line alongside Shawn Thornton and Petteri Nokelainen.

“I think I was more nervous yesterday than I was today. I got out there in warm-up and I felt pretty good,” he said after the game.

“I was just trying to keep it simple – just chip the puck in, chip it out and try to finish all my checks,” he continued. “And if I get a chance to shoot, shoot it.” (more…)

BOSTON — In his first extended stint in the NHL, Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Hunwick has registered a lot of career firsts.

Today in the third period of the Bruins’  5-1 win over Carolina at TD Banknorth Garden, he broke the seal with his inaugural fight in the NHL. It all started when he leveled Carolina forward Justin Williams at the red line. In an ensuing scrum, Williams made sure to find Hunwick, who decked the Hurricanes veteran with a right hook. Here’s a look at the hit and the fight:

After the game,  Hunwick was proud of his accomplishment. (more…)

Ryder

BOSTON — If it seemed like the first couple months of the NHL season Boston Bruins winger Michael Ryder was trying out centers like Larry King gives wives a spin, you’re right.

Ryder bounced from Marc Savard to Patrice Bergeron before Thanksgiving arrived. Then the day after Turkey Day, he landed on David Krejci’s right wing and scored two goals. To say Ryder has found a perfect fit would be an understatement.

Ryder has scored 14 of his 17 goals on the season in the 20 games since he was joined with Krejci and left winger Blake Wheeler. The Newfoundland native’s two goals today helped the Bruins down Carolina, 5-1 — and both were the result of feeds from Krejci.

“Last year when we were playing against him, I noticed him on the ice – the skill level that he has,” said Ryder, the former Montreal Canadiens sniper, about his current pivot. “And now playing with him, he’s real patient with the puck and he makes things happen and gives me and ‘Wheels’ time to get open and he finds ways to get pucks to us. It’s good when you have a guy that can hold onto the puck and give your wingers time and space.” (more…)

The Boston Bruins won their second in a row today, as winger Michael Ryder scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

You can get the recap at Yahoo!

The Bruins’ second line of Ryder, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler accounted for seven points and Boston chased Carolina starting goaltender Cam Ward, who became the eighth opposing goaltender yanked in a game against the Bruins this season.

Julien

BOSTON — The NHL today officially announced what thebruinsblog.net already told you a week ago — Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien will be the head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team in Montreal Jan. 25.

The All-Star coaches are selected from the teams in each conference with the best points percentage. San Jose’s Todd McLellan will be the coach for the West.

Prior to the official announcement, Julien had refused to comment on the inevitable All-Star berth. Today he couldn’t avoid reacting to the honor.

“I think it’s a great honor obviously,” Julien said before the game today at TD Banknorth Garden. “Those kind of things, honestly, it’s a great honor but it’s caused by the people around you. It’s the players. The head coach always gets the credit, yet his assistant coaches around him do an unbelievable job. And they make him look good as well. I think going there and representing our team is actually the right term – because it’s about everybody around me that I got the opportunity go to that game.”

The assistant coach slot on Julien’s staff will be filled by either Montreal’s Guy Carbonneau or Washington’s Bruce Boudreau, whose teams face one another tonight. The winner earns the berth. Either way, it’s hard to imagine the NHL not recognizing Carbonneau,  of the host Canadiens, in some way.

And in some way it’ll be a homecoming for Julien, who started his NHL coaching career in Montreal before he was fired in the winter of 2006.

“I know for a fact that I left there on good terms with everybody and whether it was the organization, the media, everything else, it was just one of those situations where you walk away from one job and jump into another one,” Julien said.

Detroit’s Mike Babcock,  McLellan’s former boss with the Red Wings, will be the Western Conference assistant coach.

Rask

BOSTON — Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien confirmed that Tuukka Rask has been recalled from Providence (AHL) to back up goaltender Tim Thomas today against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Julien said that Manny Fernandez is out with a minor ailment and his status is day-to-day. Fernandez practiced yesterday and didn’t show any signs of an injury.

This will be Rask’s first recall of this season. In 30 games with the P-Bruins, Rask has posted a 17-13-0 record with a .919 save percentage and a 2.42 goals-against average. Last night, he made 26 saves in a 4-1 win over Bridgeport.

Bitz

BOSTON — A great deal of the population of  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan will be tuning into today’s Boston Bruins game with Carolina with a little more intense interest this afternoon.

Winger Byron Bitz, recalled from Providence (AHL) for the first time today,  is scheduled to make his NHL debut against the Hurricanes. Bitz’s parents, Brendan and Louise, even made last-minute reservations to come to the Hub and take in the contest.

Now it’s up to Bitz to  represent his province well.

“Everyone competes so hard growing up, it’s almost bred into you – guys like Jeremy Reich,” Bitz said in the TD Banknorth Garden hallway before the game. “There’s a lot of guys from Saskatchewan that play a physical brand of hockey and I’ll try to live up that reputation, I guess.” (more…)

Karsums

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins made their two recalls from Providence (AHL) to supplement their forward corps this morning.

Wingers Martins Karsums and Byron Bitz will join the club in time to face the Carolina Hurricanes in a matinee at TD Banknorth Garden.

Karsums, who appeared in his first and only NHL game with Boston Dec. 13. He leads the P-Bruins in scoring with 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists). Bitz will make his NHL debut if he cracks the line-up. In 37 games with Providence this season, he’s posted 3-7-10 totals.

These moves were necessary because of the demotions of Martin St. Pierre and Vladimir Sobotka, as well as the undisclosed injury to Milan Lucic.

Consider this game the tune-up.

With a grudge match with Montreal awaiting the Boston Bruins Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes come into TD Banknorth Garden with hopes that the Bruins might make the mistake of looking too far ahead.

Of course, life isn’t getting any easier for the Bruins these days. Already without Patrice Bergeron (concussion) and Marco Sturm (knee), the Bruins know they’ll take the ice without Milan Lucic (undisclosed) for a second straight game. Their depth, which has sufficed all season, is truly being tested now — hence the shuffle of two forwards to Providence (AHL) and two to Boston, plus the move of Chuck Kobasew to Marc Savard’s line Thursday. (more…)

At this hour, the Boston Bruins still have not provided any information on the two forwards they’re going to recall in time for Saturday’s matinee with Carolina at TD Banknorth Garden.

Forwards Martin St. Pierre and Vladimir Sobotka were assigned to Providence (AHL) this morning, and Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said that two different forwards would be recalled.

A glance at tonight’s game sheet from Providence’s 4-1 home win over Bridgeport reveals that Byron Bitz, Peter Schaefer and Martins Karsums were not in the P-Bruins line-up. Expect two of those three to be on their way to Boston. If the Bruins do an emergency recall, Schaefer would not require waivers to get called up.

By the way, St. Pierre notched two assists and Sobotka scored a goal in the victory.

Savard

The Boston Bruins’ forward corps possesses plenty of star power. Center Marc Savard will head to his second career NHL All-Star Game later this month and he currently sits fourth in the NHL with 52 points (14 goals). His right winger Phil Kessel sits fourth in goals with 24. And Savard, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci are all in the top five in the league in plus/minus.

But the Bruins didn’t build their 30-7-4 record by relying on just one line or a quintet of forwards. Their offense is third at 3.58 goals per game and their power play is third at 23.9 percent.

All four lines have contributed at one point or another during the season’s first half, and each group has held its own in the defensive end, despite injuries to some key players.

So here it is, my midseason player-by-player grades for the Bruins’ forwards: (more…)

Chara

Once thought of as Zdeno Chara and The Pips, the Boston Bruins defense corps’ members have managed to make a name for themselves since head coach Claude Julien’s system sunk in about midway through last season.

It’s rare that the Bruins have an off night in their own end, as evidenced by their league-leading average of just 2.17 goals allowed per game. Sure the goaltending has been All-Star caliber, but both Bruins puck-stoppers would be quick to tell you how much easier their lives have been made by the solid blueliners, who stick to the system and support each other up and down the ice. The backline crew also gets a lot of credit for the Bruins’ penalty kill’s improvement and climb from the bottom of the league to 10th.

Without further ado, here is my player-by-player report card for the Bruins’ defensemen: (more…)

Fernandez

There’s hardly been anything to dislike about the way the Boston Bruins’ netminders have performed this season. Through the season’s first 41 games, Tim Thomas — an All-Star for the second straight season — and Manny Fernandez have been the preeminent tandem in the entire NHL. Some might even give them the bulk of the credit for the team’s astounding 30-7-4 start.

Here’s my midseason report card for the Bruins’ goaltenders: (more…)

Lucic

BOSTON — Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien today had a brief update on both injured winger Milan Lucic and defenseman Andrew Ference, neither of whom practiced with the team today at TD Banknorth Garden.

Lucic, who missed last night’s game with  Ottawa and didn’t practice Wednesday either,  is out with an undisclosed injury. Julien said he’s improving and remains day-to-day.

Ference, out since Nov. 13 with a broken foot,  was once ahead of schedule. He’d joined the team for practices and morning skates last week but he left the ice early Jan. 5 and hasn’t skated since.

“He’s pretty close,” Julien said. “We had to pull him back a little bit here. So we’re back to the original  schedule.”

Initial doctors’ forecasts had Ference not returning until next week or the week after.

Wheeler

The NHL today announced the rosters for the 2009 NHL YoungStars Game that is scheduled for All-Star Weekend in Montreal.

Boston Bruins rookie winger Blake Wheeler was named to the rookie squad. He’ll square off against teammate Milan Lucic, who was named to the sophomore squad one year after he competed for the East team in Atlanta.

Wheeler currently is tied for second among rookie scorers with 25 points (13 goals,  12 assists). He shares the rookie goals lead.

Lucic, currently out of the Bruins’ line-up with an undisclosed injury, has produced 11 goals and 15 assists in 40 games, following an eight-goal, 19-assist rookie season with Boston.

Also notable by his addition to the rosters for the YoungStars Game, former Bruins draft pick Kris Versteeg, now of Chicago. The Blackhawks winger, traded to Chicago for Brandon Bochenski in Feb. 2007, has put up  13-20-33 totals in 37 games this season.

You can check out the complete rosters at NHL.com. The game will be played Jan. 24.