Thomas

MONTREAL — Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas is going to face two giant challenges in the Gatorade NHL Elimination Shootout that will conclude the 2009 Honda/NHL SuperSkills Saturday night at Bell Centre.

One of those  challenges came through the luck of the draw and one he brought on himself by choice.

Prior to the Eastern Conference All-Stars’ media availability, Thomas and fellow All-Star goaltenders J.S. Giguere (Anaheim), Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota) and Henrik Lundqvist (NY Rangers) randomly picked up pucks with the names of All-Star shooters on the underside to set up the match-ups for the shootout. In the midst of the draw, Thomas selected Washington  super-sniper Alexander Ovechkin and threw his head back with an ‘oh my’ type of reaction. (more…)

Chara

MONTREAL — Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara came up with an idea prior to coming to All-Star weekend. And some lucky charity is going to reap the rewards.

Chara and the five other competitors in the Cisco NHL Hardest Shot contest, plus each player’s NHL team, have put up $1,000 a piece. And the league has also put up $6,000. So there will be $18,000 on  its way to  the favorite charity of the winning player once Saturday night’s competition is complete.

“It’s something that me and (Andrew Ference) came up with one night. We were having dinner and we were just talking about the whole skill competition and the All-Star weekend. And he said it would be a good idea and make it more interesting if we would make an extra kind of a bet. So I thought it was a really great idea,” Chara, the two-time defending champion in the event, said during the Eastern Conference All-Stars’ media availability today.

This year, Chara will be challenged by Mike Komisarek (Montreal), Sheldon Souray (Edmonton), Shea Weber (Nashville), Mark Streit (NY Islanders) and Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay).

“For a good cause it’s a great thing,” said Komisarek. “I asked immediately, ‘how far are they shooting out?’ That’s the first thing, you’ve got to hit the net. Any time you can take a competition like that, a little friendly wager and turn it into a positive, making a donation to a charity, it’s a good thing.”

Added Streit: “I think it’s a great thing. Obviously it spices up the whole thing a little bit and it’s going to be exciting to see who has the hardest shot.”

The stiffest competition for Chara might come from Souray, who registered a 106.7-mile-per-hour shot during the Oilers’ team skills competition. But Komisarek is hoping to hold his own.

“I’ve got a couple sticks from Bauer that are a little stiffer. But I don’t know if that’s going to make a difference,” said the defenseman, who added that maybe his hometown radar-gun operator would be willing to help him out.

So, is Chara ready to defend his title?

“That’s the whole point is to make it really exciting and more competitive,” he said. “For sure, I would like to win it. But if I don’t, still it’s nice to have guys committed to that competition and getting some money on the board … it’s fun and I’m sure it’s a win-win situation.”

St. Pierre

MONTREAL — Greetings from Montreal, where it’s so cold that my hair is frozen harder than P.J. Axelsson’s hands.

The Western Conference All-Stars will be available within an hour, and then the Eastern All-Stars will follow. Check back later for complete coverage.

One thing to note from beyond the reaches of Montreal: Bruins center Martin St. Pierre, assigned to Providence (AHL) yesterday, will not be participating in the AHL All-Star Game Monday in Worcester, the P-Bruins confirmed. St. Pierre, who currently ranks second on the P-Bruins with 38 points, had been selected to compete in the game. But his last few weeks spent with Boston made the AHL change its plans. As I’ve stated in the past, this is one All-Star Game St. Pierre will gladly miss, especially if it means he’s called up again after the NHL All-Star break concludes.

TheBruinsBlog.net is your source for complete coverage of All-Star Weekend in Montreal, from the players’ media availability Friday through the team practices and skills competitions on Saturday, and then the 2009 NHL All-Star Game at Bell Centre Sunday night.

Check back throughout the weekend for the latest on the Boston Bruins’ All-Stars and everything Bruins-related that happens in Montreal.

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. (more…)

Krejci

Everyone can see that there’s a link between Boston Bruins center David Krejci and winger Blake Wheeler when the two 22-year-old forwards are on the ice together.

Whether they’re skating as two-thirds of a line 5-on-5, hooking up on the power play or even killing a penalty together, both players seem to have a sixth sense that always allows them to find one another. That’s why they’ve been on a line together almost the entire season, and they’ve been a major factor in the Bruins’ tremendous start.

What not many get to see is the way the American and the Czech teammates get along once the skates and sweaters are off. Often kidding around with each other and discussing any number of topics, Krejci and Wheeler have become close friends.

“We have the same girlfriend,” Krejci recently joked when asked why he and Wheeler get along so well. (more…)

Kovalev

The NHL today announced the captains for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, and it is no surprise that Montreal Canadiens winger Alexei Kovalev will wear the ‘C’ for the Eastern Conference and San Jose center Joe Thornton will do the same for the Western Conference.

The game is scheduled for Sunday night at 6 p.m. EST. Thebruinsblog.net will have complete coverage from Montreal all weekend.

Kovalev, voted as an All-Star starter mostly by the over-zealous Montreal fan base, has recorded just 12 goals and 21 assists this season. He’ll be appearing in the All-Star Game for the third time in his career. He has experience wearing the ‘C,’ as he’s had it on his Habs sweater during Saku Koivu’s injury absences. One thing’s for sure, Bruins head coach Claude Julien, who will coach the East, probably did not have much say in this matter. Julien and the enigmatic winger didn’t always see eye to eye during their time together in Montreal.

Thornton, an alternate captain to Patrick Marleau in San Jose, was the Bruins’ captain from Oct. 8, 2002 until his trade from Boston Nov. 30, 2005. This season, he’s tied for second in the league with 43 assists and also has scored 12 goals.

Sobotka

The Boston Bruins this morning announced that forwards Vladimir Sobotka and Martin St. Pierre, and defenseman Matt Lashoff have been assigned to Providence (AHL).

With the team now in the All-Star break, this gives the club some cap relief for the next few days. It also could allow the three players to skate with the P-Bruins in their lone game before the AHL All-Star break Saturday at Springfield.

Expect at least one of the two forwards to be recalled after the break because Milan Lucic could be back active by the time the Bruins return to the ice Tuesday against Washington, but it’s not expected that Patrice Bergeron would do the same.

Thomas

The NHL has decided to take the All-Star goaltenders off the hook this weekend.

The league, as reported earlier this week by Greg Wyshynski of the Puck Daddy blog at Yahoo!, has opted to go with a “junior-level” goaltender at this year’s Breakaway Challenge during the 2009 Honda/NHL SuperSkills in Montreal Saturday as part of the All-Star weekend festivities.

Last season, Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas and the other All-Star netminders were subjected to the fancy moves of some of the top snipers in the NHL. New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro was even injured during the event.

So the Bruins can thank the NHL that Thomas’ psyche and limbs and joints, will not be slapped with a bulls’ eye until the actual All-Star game (during which even Thomas can accept getting scored on by the league’s elite).

MK: Wyshynski makes some celebrity suggestions for goaltenders the NHL could use. Wouldn’t an event like this be the perfect time to try out Islanders owner Charles Wang’s sumo-wrestler idea?

Ryder

The Boston Bruins snapped their two-game losing streak tonight with a 4-3 comeback win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The Bruins won a shootout, 3-2, with Michael Ryder scoring the clinching goal. Boston trailed 3-1 after two periods.

You can read the complete recap at Yahoo!

While Ryder doesn’t get credit for an eighth game-winning goal on the season, his score against Leafs netminder Vesa Toskala had the same effect. Ryder has certainly been a bright spot for the Bruins during the pre-All-Star break portion of the schedule.

Some other notes:

• Blake Wheeler did a heck of a job bouncing back from his lousy Monday performance. The rookie, back on a line with Ryder and David Krejci, scored a goal (to end an 11-game drought), created a great screen on a Dennis Wideman goal and scored in the shootout.

• Montreal lost, 5-2, so the Bruins lead the Northeast Division by 11 points.

• Maybe it was the element of surprise, by Martin St. Pierre getting the call inthe shootout worked — yet another stroke of “genius” by head coach Claude Julien.

• And by the way, Ryder was 0-for-2 on the season and just 1-for-11 in his career in shootouts before his big goal.

Wheeler

When Boston Bruins rookie Blake Wheeler heaped all the blame for Monday’s loss to St. Louis on his shoulders, he might have also been venting his frustrations over what has been his least productive stretch of play in his first NHL season.

The left winger, who missed an empty net and rattled a shootout attempt off the post in the loss to the Blues, hasn’t scored a goal in 11 games. That’s the first double-digit goal drought of his first pro season. Head coach Claude Julien made sure to have a heart-to-heart with his prized freshman Tuesday. And basically he wants the former University of Minnesota star to keep his head up.

“I thought maybe for me, it was about having a chat with him and making him understand he’s a first-year player, he’s had a great start. Hitting a bit of a wall at one point is normal for those players that are used to playing 40 games a year. … But they get out of it and they usually get their groove back again,” Julien said after Tuesday’s practice. “Right now, for him, he just has to take a step back, try to keep his game simple as best as he can and not get discouraged.”

“When I say hit a wall, you lose maybe that momentum that you had … and sometimes those guys put so much pressure on themselves that it takes them longer and it makes it harder,” Julien continued. “So for him, it’s just about him knowing that the coaches understand what he’s going through and we’re going to help him through at long as he stays positive and doesn’t get down on himself.”

Thornton

The death of Whitby Dunlops player Donald Sanderson as the result of hitting his head during a fight in a game in the amateur league has sent a ripple throughout the hockey community.

Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton felt the ripple. The Oshawa, Ontario native knows a number of Sanderson’s teammates, and he, like most people who love the sport, was sorry to hear about the tragedy.

Now there’s a renewed effort by many inside and outside the game to usher in more severe penalties for fighting and maybe even banning it completely. The junior Ontario Hockey League has taken the steps of instituting suspensions for players who remove their helmets before or after a fight.

Thornton knows that although he contributes to the Bruins’ cause in a number of ways, an NHL without fighting would make it nearly impossible for him to make a living in the sport. Fighting is part of the game, and Thornton’s willing to take responsibility for whatever results from in-game bouts.

“It’s our job, we sign up for it, we do it. It’s our decision,” he said after practice earlier this week. “I could quit tomorrow and become a cop if I wanted to. It’s my choice to fight. I know the risks involved, and knock on wood I hope nothing ever happens to me. But I know what risks are involved when I get into it.”

Life’s a grind. The seasons’ a grind. Everyone has to deal with it, but right now the Boston Bruins have to grind a little more than everyone else.

So says Bruins head coach Claude Julien, and it doesn’t take Toe Blake to look at the Bruins’ current line-up and realize that the time for beautiful goals and dazzling odd-man rushes are over until the team returns to some semblance of full health. With hard-nosed Chuck Kobasew skating on the top line and defensive maestro P.J. Axelsson locked into a top-six role because of injuries, the Bruins have to return to their roots starting with tonight’s date with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. (more…)

Van Ryn

This season, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins’ next opponent, have compiled an 8-5-4 record with veteran defenseman Mike Van Ryn in the line-up.

The problem is, the Leafs (11th in the East heading into tonight) don’t know when he’ll be able to suit up again. Van Ryn has actually been out since he suffered his second concussion of the season Dec. 18 as a result of a hit by Bruins winger Milan Lucic. Van Ryn hoped to return to game action Monday, as Kevin McGran in the Star reports, but he failed the neurological test he needed to pass to get the green light to play. Now his status is up in the air. Failing a test like that is basically the worst news a concussed player on the cusp of a return could get.

Also in The Star, Damien Cox marvels at the Bruins’ success in advance of their Wednesday night visit to Air Canada Centre.

Chara

Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara hasn’t won a Stanley Cup yet. But he does have one title to defend — he’s won the NHL Hardest Shot competition two years running.

Saturday in Montreal, Chara will go for a third straight championship, the NHL announced today. Chara will battle Edmonton’s Sheldon Souray, Montreal’s Mike Komisarek, Tampa Bay’s Vinny Lecavalier, Nashville’s Shea Weber and the New York Islanders’ Mark Streit in the 2009 Cisco NHL Hardest Shot competition as part of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills at the Bell Centre the night before the 2009 NHL All-Star Game.

The Bruins will also be represented in the McDonald’s NHL Accuracy Shooting competition by center Marc Savard, who was one of competitors — including defending champion Tomas Kaberle of Toronto — named by the league today.