Blog of Ice

We Interrupt This Blog …

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Hockey, Sports | Leave a Comment

… to take a vacation — but not before passing along some items of local interest:

– Scott Stirling (Hull), son of ex-Islanders head coach Steve Stirling, is following his dad to the bench. Scott, after an excellent career as a minor league goalie, has joined the coaching staff at his alma mater, Brown University.

– Josh Hennessy (Rockland) was re-signed by Ottawa to a two-year contract. Chances to play have been scarce for Hennessy so far, but with the Sens in something of a state of flux and under a new coach (Craig Hartsburg) following last year’s roller coaster season, Hennessy may get a better shot to show what he can do.

– Mike Morris (Braintree), who has had terrible luck with his health, got a one-year deal from San Jose, which drafted him in the first round in 2002. After five years at Northeastern (one of them lost to a head injury), Morris finally turned pro last year, but played only nine games for Worcester (AHL) before season-ending hip surgery.

– Jim Fahey (Milton), who never got much of a chance to remain in the NHL after San Jose traded him to New Jersey early in 2006-2007, has decided to give Germany a try. Also in Europe: Mark Murphy (Duxbury), who has spent the last three seasons overseas (Switzerland, Finland, Germany), and possibly Doug Nolan (Quincy), who in late July received an offer to play in Russia.

— Still waiting on news regarding Mike Sullivan (Marshfield) and his former Providence Bruins assistant, Scott Gordon (currently the Baby B’s head coach), who have both interviewed for the Islanders’ vacant head coaching position. (Ironically, Dave Lewis, who was hired to replace Sullivan in Boston for 2006-2007, was dismissed from his assitant’s position in Los Angeles.)

— And yes, if you’re scoring at home, this was the Blog of Ice’s 100th post.

Looking forward to falling behind for a bit, then catching back up upon return.

Isles interviewing Sullivan, Gordon

Posted on July 29, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Hockey, NHL | Leave a Comment

No word on when they’d like to make their decision, but Newsday has reported that the Islanders’ search for a coach to replace Ted Nolan now includes ex-Bruins head coach Mike Sullivan and his former benchmate with the Providence Bruins, Scott Gordon.

Sullivan spent last season as an assistant to John Tortorella, who was fired by Tampa Bay in early June. Tortorella, who stumped for Sullivan to replace him on the Lightning bench (Barry Melrose got that job, then hired his own assistants), has already interviewed with the Islanders. Ahead of him were Paul Maurice, whom the Maple Leafs let go, and Bob Hartley, dismissed early last season by Atlanta.

Sullivan’s interview with Islanders general manager Garth Snow was scheduled for Monday. Gordon was to interview on Wednesday.

Camp notes; a look ahead

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Development Camp, Hockey, NHL | Leave a Comment

The big names — in this case, comebacking veterans Patrice Bergeron and Manny Fernandez, and high-end prospects Zach Hamill (first round, 2007), Joe Colborne (first round, 2008) and Blake Wheeler (Phoenix’s first-round pick in 2004) — got much of the attention during camp, but based on personal observations and post-camp comments from the Bruins’ hockey department, here are a few more names to remember when training camp starts sometime in September.

— Brad Marchand, F: Small (5-9, 187), but quick, skilled, tough, competitive, and not at all lacking in confidence. (GM Peter Chiarelli: “I think I remember (last) year, he thought have been on the team.”) Marchand scored a nice goal in Saturday’s scrimmage, and dealt a few solid, open-ice hits.

– Andrew Bodnarchuk, D: Also on the small side (5-11, 190), but he’s solid, and put up significant offensive numbers (26 goals, 100 points) over the last two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Size and skills-wise, he might remind you of Dennis Wideman, except he’s a left-handed shot.

— Matt Marquardt, LW: A seventh-round draft choice of Columbus is 2006, the Blue Jackets gave up on trying to sign him at the end of their two-year rights window, and traded him to the B’s for defenseman Jonathan Sigalet on May 27. Marquardt is big (6-3, 222), and he has scored 41 and 43 goals over the last two years in the QMJHL.

— Mikko Lehtonen, RW: Hasn’t played outside Finland yet, but Chiarelli said Lehtonen will play this year in North American. He’s got impressive size (6-5, 203), great hands and can skate, but seems a little too crafy for his own good at times. “He’s skilled, and we don’t want to take away from that skill,” Chiarelli said, “but he’ll have to play a little more north-south.”

These guys may not make the team to start the season, but if they come to training camp even a little better than they were in development camp, some incumbents may be threatened.

“You look around and say ‘Hey, there could be some guys knocking at the door here, pushing others,’ ” said head coach Claude Julien. “That’s what you want when you’re a coach. You want that competition within, to make your team better.”

Looking forward:

Coming this week, for sure: The regular-season schedule, most likely on Wednesday, when MLB, the NFL and the NBA are all dark.

Coming this week, possibly: The Bruins’ pre-season schedule, and a new contract for Wideman.

The latter has filed for arbitration, but Chiarelli said Saturday he’d “like to get that settled before” a hearing. More Chiarelli: “We’ve made some good progress the last couple of days. It’d be nice to not go to that hearing, but still, we have to get a fair deal … We pretty much know what number (salary) he’s going to get. We’re working on term.”

Wideman’s contract will push Boston above the $56.7 million salary cap. If they want to buy out any deals to get beneath the cap, they’ve got 48 hours after Wideman signs to do it.

On the former: Scuttlebutt and hearsay at development camp left the impression that a trip to Canada (Maritimes?) is on the schedule. A significant portion of training camp is believed to be taking place in Vermont, as well.

So … another newsy week or so lies ahead, and then it’s mostly dog days ’til September.

Bruins Development Camp: The Early Days

Posted on July 9, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Development Camp, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment

Not much hard news through the first two days of camp.

— A couple of prospects, Tommy Cross (2007, 2nd round, No. 35 overall) and free agent Jeff LoVecchio, aren’t skating.

Cross, a BC-bound defenseman, isn’t even at camp after knee surgery, making it two development camps in a row in which he hasn’t been able to participate. (He was hurt last year, too, but was able to test and train at camp.) LoVecchio, a forward who played three years at Western Michigan University, has a wrist injury. He signed as a free agent after the college season ended, and played a fair bit at Providence (14 regular-season games, 6 in the playoffs) at the end of the year.

— Patrice Bergeron and Manny Fernandez, as you’ve no doubt read and heard, are on the ice. Tuesday, they had it all to themselves; Wednesday they joined the prospects.

Veteran or not, Bergeron is still only 22 (at least, until July 24), so he’s not all that much older than many camp participants, and at 6 feet, 190 pounds, he’s certainly not the biggest. The contact/battle drills, therefore, are a test after last year’s Grade 3 concussion, and he seemed to weather them well.

“He’s kind of putting himself through paces and tests and stuff,” said Don Sweeney, who’s stepping from behind his hockey ops/player development desk to put his skates back on and run the camp.

— It’s great to hear Sweeney’s much-missed take on things again.

A prospect who mistakes his down-to-earth demeanor and thoughtful advice for a soft touch would be making a serious mistake. Sweeney’s not out to strike fear in hearts, but he does have clear ideas and plans for each prospect to take away from this camp, and expects results when players return for training camp in September.

As just one example, here’s Sweeney on Blake Wheeler, the 21-year-old ex-Phoenix first-rounder (and Patriot Ledger feature subject in Wednesday’s editions) who signed as a free agent on July 1: “I would expect him to go back (home, to Minnesota) between now and then and really make a concerted push to get physically stronger, and get very, very prepared physically to come in and make an impression.”

And there’s Sweeney’s message to prospects attending camp for the second time: “There should be a progression … They know we’re going to compare their test results (with last year’s results) … and see whether or not they’ve applied some of the things we’ve been watching, and communicating to them about what we’d like to see them implement in their games.”

— Speaking of Wheeler: Although he said he’d keep his Twins cap in his pocket while at Fenway for Wednesday’s game, he wore it out of the dressing room for the trip to Boston.

Hey, if you’ve got the intestinal fortitude to turn down a contract offer from Wayne Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes, wearing a non-Sox cap at Fenway isn’t so dangerous. Unless, of course, it’s one of those dark blue, “NY” deals.

The Lone Ryder

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL Free Agency, Sports | Leave a Comment

Now that there’s been a chance to process the information, a few observations on Day 1 of the NHL’s free agent market — which, on Day 2, pretty much becomes a discount store.

— Michael Ryder, $4 million per year. Many thought Ryder, who made $2.95 million in 2007-2008 on a one-year deal after back-to-back 30-goal seasons, would have to take less in free agency, after scoring only 14 goals last year and getting benched for most of the playoffs.

Guess not.

After one bad offensive year in four NHL seasons, Ryder is certainly worth signing. If he gets back into 25- to 30-goal range, or even better, $4 million a year could turn into a bargain.

For now, though, he’s No. 5 on Boston’s salary list, No. 4 among forwards — $150,00 less than the ever-maligned Glen Murray (whose days may truly be numbered if the B’s plan to use Ryder as a right wing), and a full half-million more than Marco Sturm, the Bruins’ goal-scoring leader (27) last year. Sturm scored 27 in ‘06-07, too — one fewer than Murray’s team-best 28.

— Interesting stat on Ryder: He scored 25 and 30 goals in a season-plus under B’s coach Claude Julien while in Montreal, and was a combined plus-5. Under Guy Carbonneau in ‘06-07, Ryder scored 30 goals again — but was minus-25.

— There’s some irony in Glen Metropolit’s decision to take a two-year offer from Philadelphia, reportedly at $1 million per year.

Metropolit made the most of the tryout Boston gave him last year, earning a fourth-line spot to start the season. At the 10-game mark, however, his role expanded because of the season-ending concussion Patrice Bergeron suffered as the result of a blind-side hit from Philly’s Randy Jones. The Flyers at least temporarily rival Montreal as the Bruins’ most detested opponent.

— While adding Ryder won’t be considered a big move, the Bruins’ Northeast Division opponents weren’t so active, either. Ottawa lost (Wade Redden) more than it gained (Alex Auld), Toronto’s addition of Nik Hagman (ex of Dallas) isn’t a a big move any more than adding Ryder (the Leafs also signed the somewhat anonymous Jeff Finfer away from Colorado) and so far, Montreal and Buffalo have essentially sat the thing out.

— Let the record show that Blake Wheeler turned down the chance to play for Wayne Gretzky in Phoenix to sign with Boston as a free agent. Wheeler had decided three years at the University of Minnesota was enough, and when he didn’t sign with the Coyotes by June 1, he could sign wherever he wanted.

Though he’s not going to finish school right away, Wheeler has learned how to say the right things — especially around these parts. During a conference call on Tuesday, he said he looked forward to moving back to wing from center so he could play a “big man’s game” (he’s 6-4, 215 pounds), and was attracted to Boston in part because it will afford him the opportunity to pick the brain of team VP Cam Neely — whose game Wheeler wants to emulate.

– Ryder’s on a conference call Wednesday, and the B’s are also expected to officially announce that Petteri Nokelainen has been re-signed to a two-year deal.

You’ll find news here, and in Wednesday’s Patriot Ledger.

Post-Draft Thoughts: Bruins

Posted on June 22, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Entry Draft, Hockey, NHL | Leave a Comment

Day-after thoughts on the Bruins draft class of 2008:

— Well, if there was ever any doubt about whether they really do select the guy they consider “the best player available,” this should prove it. Of 6 picks, 5 are guys whose primary position is center. (The other pick is a goalie.) That comes a year after using 4 straight picks (Rounds 2 through 6) to select defensemen.

Not that all the players drafted Friday and Saturday in Ottawa are likely to play for the B’s or even reach the NHL, for that matter, but down the line, you’d have to expect some movement — either via trades, or people switching positions. The B’s seem pretty set at center for several years (Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Vladimir Sobotka are the projected middlemen next season), with the status of free agents Glen Metropolit and utility man Petteri Nokelainen still to be determined (expect at least one to re-sign) to be determined and 2007 first-rounder Zach Hamill in training.

— Interesting that GM Peter Chiarelli discussed winger Kyle Beach, who has had some perceived attitude/behavior issues in Everett of the Western Hockey League (Hamill is a teammate), at length before the draft, and that Boston ended up selecting a player some felt had character issues.

It wasn’t Beach, whom Chicago drafted at No. 11 overall, but Jamie Arniel, whom many projected as a first-round pick but lasted until the fourth round — likely because of a disagreement with his coach in Guelph, Ont., that led to him going home to await a trade.

The Bruins took Arniel, who was ranked No. 20 in North America by NHL Central Scouting, at No. 97 overall. They got the pick from Columbus, in exchange for Boston’s fourth- (No. 107) and fifth-round (137) choices.

In a phone call from Ottawa late Saturday afternoon, Bruins scouting directory Scott Bradley said Arniel “was one of a couple of players we had in mind” when Boston made the trade — i.e., that the B’s didn’t make the deal specifically to grab Arniel. But the fact remains that a potential first- or second-rounder became Bruins’ property in the fourth round, at little cost, so Arniel’s development bears watching.

— Except for second-rounder Maxime Sauve, who was born in France (he’s played all his hockey in Canada), Boston didn’t select any Europeans.

Prospect-watchers, therefore, will have an easy time tracking this year’s group. In the coming season, first-rounder Joe Colborne (Denver) and sixth-rounder Nicholas Tremblay (Clarkson) will play at U.S. colleges, while Sauve, goalie Michael Hutchinson and Arniel will probably play Major Junior in Canada. Seventh-round pick Mark Goggin has another year before he gets to Dartmouth.

– With Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez entering the final year of their contracts, Tuukka Rask probably needing another year in the NHL, and no other highly-touted netminders in the pipeline (one never knows how Kevin Regan will develop, though), it seems wise that Boston took Hutchinson in the third round — whether they were targeting a goalie at the time, or whether he was simply that good ol’ “best player available.”

More in Monday’s Patriot Ledger, in print and online.

Entry Draft: Blues select Marshfield’s Warsofsky

Posted on June 21, 2008 by Mike Loftus
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David Warsofsky of Marshfield, the highest-rated prospect with South Shore ties eligible in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, didn’t have to wait long for his name to be called on the second day of the proceedings. Warsofsky, a defenseman, was selected by the St. Louis Blues with the fourth pick of the fourth round, at No. 95 overall.

Warsofsky’s selection seems to reflect a couple of things — a fine second half of the season with the U.S. National Development Team Program’s Under-18 team, and the NHL’s continued willingness to draft smaller players. Warsofsky is 5-9, 170 pounds.

Warsofsky was ranked at No. 103 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting halfway through the season, but rose to No. 81 in the final ratings. Considering the amount of European talent and goalies who are also in the mix, being selected at No. 95 in one of the deepest drafts in years is a terrific accomplishment.

Since Warsofsky attended the draft at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa (he interviewed with several teams on Thursday), he got a little post-pick TV time on the NHL Network (the interviewer, unfortunately, mispronounced Warsofsky’s name), then met Blues scouts, coaches and managers in the team suite.

While he went to Ottawa expecting to be selected somewhere in the middle of the draft (Rounds 3-5 seemed most likely), Warsofsky said in a phone call from the Ottawa airport on Saturday night that he didn’t expect to be picked by the Blues.

“I talked to a lot of teams before the draft, but St. Louis wasn’t one of them,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting to hear my name when it was their turn to pick in that round. It was pretty exciting.”

Warsofsky, who’s trying out for the U.S. World Junior team in August, hopes he can attend part of the Blues’ training camp. That’ll depend on his schedule at Boston University, where he’ll be a freshman this fall.

Check Monday’s Patriot Ledger, in print and online, for more on Warsofsky’s selection.

Over, out and forward

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Hockey, NHL, Playoffs, Stanley Cup finals | Leave a Comment

Didja hear?

The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. More than a week ago. Meant to mention it before this, but was often otherwise assigned or occupied. You don’t think I get to watch hockey 24/7, do you? (Although, with the NHL Network, that may be possible … )

Good series — much better than last year’s Anaheim-Ottawa mismatch — and revealing in some ways, too: Who knew, for instance, that the Red Wings had such a good second line, or that Chris Osgood was still so good?

Impressions on Pittsburgh: Marc-Andre Fleury may have broken into Elite Goalie territory; Scituate’s Ryan Whitney stepped up in the playoffs (especially during the final) after a regular season he found unsatisfactory, and Marian Hossa is not a $10 million hockey player. Expensive? Yes. Ten million bucks? Don’t know about that.

And now, since the NHL awards have all been handed out, the 2007-2008 season is officially history.

Come to think of it, so is the first season for Blog of Ice. Rest assured, all the rookie mistakes are being reviewed, and an upgrade for ‘08-09 is … mandatory.

Thanks to all who read this season.

And now: Bring on the Entry Draft, and free agency, and Bruins development camp, and the release of the schedule, and …

Cup finals: No sweep

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Hockey, NHL, Playoffs, Stanley Cup finals | Leave a Comment

Here’s the funny thing about Game 3: Pittsburgh finally scored, and got back into the series with a 3-2 victory, but the Penguins probably need the extra day between games to make adjustments (Game 4 is Saturday) more than Detroit.

— The Pens and their fans will take the win, of course, but in addition to praising Sidney Crosby for his 2 goals and other assorted two-way contributions, they ought to be genuflecting in front of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. He had to face 34 shots in Game 3 — 16 in the third period, when Pittsburgh was allegedly trying to close out a one-goal game — and there’s no way the Penguins win this game without him. Detroit, at least in this series (but probably most of the time) is one of the few teams for which shots and scoring chances are about equal.

— The Red Wings weren’t exactly robbed, mind you. Guys who’d had perfect series — namely goalie Chris Osgood and ex-Bruin defenseman Brad Stuart — made what might have been their first mistakes of the series in Game 3, and Pittsburgh scored its first goal as a result: Stewart put a breakout pass into a teammate’s skates, Marian Hossa pushed the loose puck to Crosby, and a relatively weak shot (for Crosby, anyway), got through Osgood’s feet. Osgood also got lost outside his crease in the third period, allowing Adam Hall to bank a shot off the back of his leg and into the net for what proved to be the winning goal.

— Speaking of that Hall goal: It was the second that Pittsburgh created with a big hit, this one made by Gary Roberts (and close to a charge, or a hit from behind) on Andreas Lilja to keep the puck in Detroit territory, where things became a big disorganized.

In the second period, Evgeni Malkin made his first truly positive contribution of the series. With Pittsburgh on a power play and Detroit’s Kris Draper a half-step ahead of him in a race for a puck on the sideboards, Malkin bumped Draper off that puck, and fed it back to the point to let the Pens resume their set-up. A few seconds later, Crosby had his second goal, and Pittsburgh had a 2-0 lead.

Still no points in the series for Malkin, though, and he continues to get killed on faceoffs. He was 3 for 10 in Game 3, on top of 8 for 24 over Games 1 and 2.

— Detroit probably doesn’t have tons to worry about — if they play the same game Saturday night, and Pittsburgh plays the same game Saturday night, you’d have to like the Wings’ chances — but they could probably use the two days off. Win or lose, they’ve been taking their share of hits, and first-line winger Tomas Holmstrom, for one, missed some shifts in Game 3. Ex-Bruin flipped Holmstrom onto his back as Holmstrom marched to Pittsburgh’s net, and Holmstrom reacted like he had a back or rib injury.

— Shout out to the Penguins’ Thayer Academy products, defensemen Ryan Whitney of Scituate and Brooks Orpik. The latter had 7 hits in Game 3, and Whitney is one of the few Pittsburgh defenders who can claim to have raised his game in this series: He’s standing up to rushes more than usual, and he’s done some nice things with the puck in the offensive zone. Game 3 was Whitney’s best; perhaps the fact that his defense partner, Kris Letang, was scratched in favor of veteran Darryl Sydor had something to do with that.

Cup finals: Wings perfect so far …

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Hockey, NHL, Playoffs, Stanley Cup finals | Leave a Comment

… or are the Penguins just really, really off their game?

No, Detroit leads the Stanley Cup finals, 2-0, because it has made everything Pittsburgh usually does so easily all but impossible.

Game 2 might have seemed a bit like Game 1, in that the Pens were within striking distance for most of the night, but the Red Wings’ 3-0 victory in Game 2 was actually a little more lopsided than the 4-0 decision in the series opener. Game 1 was scoreless until halfway through the first period, but Detroit had a 2-0 lead within the first 11:18 of Game 2.

Predictably, once they had that early lead, the Red Wings focused mostly on refusing to let the Pens play their game: Pittsburgh only had 6 shots in each of the first two periods, and Wings goalie Chris Osgood is playing way, way too well for 12 shots to make a difference.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock, who was able to slip Johan Franzen (12 goals in 11 playoff games) back into the lineup after the winger missed 6 games with concussion-like symptoms, got everything he could out of his ability to match lines and defense pairs at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings’ big line (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom) has been “held” to a goal per game, but more important, they’ve shut out different versions of the Penguins’ line centered by Sidney Crosby.

If that continues when the series goes back to Mellon Arena, then the heat is really on Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin, who has had a terrible series so far. (Crosby hasn’t been great, but he has at least created some scoring chances.) Like every Penguin, Malkin has been shut out, but his stats through two games leave him in non-factor territory: 1 shot, minus-3, 8 wins against 16 losses in the faceoff circle. Pens coach Michel Therrien shook up his forward lines for Game 2 (hard-hitting Gary Roberts played his first game of the series, and made his lines more effective), but for the second game in a row, Detroit’s Valtteri Filpulla-Mikael Samuelsson combo — backed by the Brad Stuart-Nicklas Kronvall defense pair — dominated Malkin’s line. Samuelsson had 2 goals in Game 1; Filppula had a goal and an assist in Game 2. Stuart and Kronvall, meanwhile, are both plus-6 in the series.

The Penguins are 8-0 at home in the playoffs, 17-0-2 in their last 19 overall at Mellon, where everyone inside and outside (giant screens are being set up for those who don’t have tickets) will wear white.

Starting with Game 3 Wednesday night, NBC has the remainder of the telecasts.

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