Colborne/By S. Bradley
If the five days of the Bruins’ 2010 development camp proved anything, it’s that the fans have forgiven the franchise after blowing that 3-0 playoff lead, as evidenced by the crows at the camp; the Bruins have some decent talent that they’ve drafted the last few years; and everyone’s overreacting a little bit to the club’s depth.
Battling in the scrimmage/By S. Bradley
WILMINGTON, Mass. — The Bruins’ prospects finished up the 2010 development camp at Ristuccia Arena today by going through some drills and then scrimmaging. The scrimmage included 5-on-5, 4-on-4, 3-on-3 and then a shootout. I’ll have some video up later today.
The stars of the scrimmage were far and away the line of Tyler Seguin, Jared Knight and Jordan Caron. Knight’s laser wrist shot from the slot that nearly ripped through the netting top shelf was one of the highlights of the day.
Florek/By S. Bradley
WILMINGTON, Mass. — Justin Florek knows a little something about achieving postseason glory with a long-suffering hockey team.
Last season, the 6-foot-4, 194-pound forward helped Northern Michigan reach the CCHA title game and the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999. This week he has been trying to show the Bruins he could be part of the solution to their 30-year-plus Stanley Cup drought at some point down the line.
Donald/By S. Bradley
WILMINGTON, Mass. — There’s a precedent for a player attending Bruins development camp on a tryout to earn a contract with the organization.
Just last summer Rob Kwiet and Zack McKelvie accomplished the feat.
So it’s with good reason that Ryan Donald made the trek from his native Edmonton to be part of this year’s Boston development camp at Ristuccia Arena.
Cunningham/WHA.ca
WILMINGTON, Mass. – Milan Lucic advocated for the Bruins to draft his former Vancouver Giants teammate Craig Cunningham at last month’s NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles.
The club’s scouts obviously also looked favorably upon the 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward because when it came time for Boston to give a name with the 97th overall pick, Cunningham became the club’s fourth-round draft pick.
Cunningham’s been trying to prove Lucic and the Bruins’ brass right this week during the team’s development camp.
Defenseman Marc Cantin is in the Bruins’ development camp on an invitation basis this week. The 20-year-old was part of the Memorial Cup-winning Windsor team that featured Taylor Hall and beat Bruins prospect Tyler Seguin’s Plymouth team in the OHL playoffs.
Now that he has seen both players up close, maybe he could end the Taylor vs. Tyler debate?
LoVecchio
Restricted free agent winger Jeff Lovecchio has accepted his qualifying offer and will return to the Bruins on a one-year deal, according to CapGeek.com.
Lovecchio will make $605,000 if he’s in the NHL and $62,500 in the AHL. Last season in his first full pro year, Lovecchio posted 15-9-24 totals in 65 games for the Providence (AHL) farm club. Lovecchio was one of the last cuts at last fall’s NHL camp and will compete for a fourth-line role again when the Bruins report for the upcoming season.
Knight/By S. Bradley
WILMINGTON, Mass. – Two years ago, Bruins prospect Jared Knight spent half a season as teammates with eventual 2009 NHL overall No. 1 pick John Tavares with London in the Ontario Hockey League.
Knight skated some on Tavares’ line and even let the junior hockey sensation and future New York Islanders star drive him to school a couple mornings.
“Had to put the windows up so no one knew who he was,” Knight recalled today after the first on-ice workouts of Boston’s development camp at Ristuccia Arena.
Seguin holds off Florek/By S. Bradley
WILMINGTON, Mass. — For those who couldn’t make it out to the first on-ice day of Bruins development camp at Ristuccia Arena, you missed Tyler Seguin’s first dramatic skate strides as a member of the organization.
You also missed two hours of intense drills, battles, shots and saves.
But here’s a photo gallery, courtesy of Sharon Bradley Photography, including tons of Seguin action shots, so you can feel like you were there.
Sauve
WILMINGTON, Mass. — After the rest of the Bruins’ prospects went through two on-ice sessions totaling around two hours, forward Max Sauve went onto the Ristuccia Arena sheet for a few twirls on his own.
It was the first time he skated since he had the pin removed from his broken ankle at the end of his junior season.
Bartkowski
WILMINGTON, Mass. — Here are some quick-hit notes after the Bruins’ prospects went through their off-ice testing on the first day of development camp at Ristuccia Arena.
•When I spoke to defenseman Matt Bartkowski in the spring just after his season at Ohio State, he said he was 90 percent committed to staying in school.
Colborne
We won’t really learn much about the Bruins’ prospects at the 2010 development camp Tuesday because the players will be doing their off-ice testing away from the view of the media and fans.
However, Wednesday they’ll start their on-ice drills and then we can see how some of these guys, including 2008 first-round pick Joe Colborne, have progressed, and how this year’s draft picks, including No. 2 overall selection Tyler Seguin, look in black and gold.
