Bruins trade Kobasew, make roster moves

First the big news as forward Chuck Kobasew has been traded to the Minnesota Wild. In return the Bruins get a second round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the rights to unsigned draft choice Alexander Fallstrom, and forward Craig Weller.

Some info about Fallstrom and Weller:

Fallstrom, selected in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, began his freshman year at Harvard University in September, 2009. A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, he played for Brinken, Lindigo and Djurgarden in Sweden before moving to Minnesota where he attended Shattuck St. Mary's School from 2007-2009. A senior captain at Shattuck St. Mary's in 2008-09, Fallstrom led his team with 40 goals and 87 points (40-47=87) in 52 games. In his first season with Shattuck he had 67 points (20-47=67) in 62 games.

Weller, a fifth round selection of the St. Louis Blues in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (167th overall), has played in 95 NHL games with the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild and has 4-10=14 totals with 127 penalty minutes. This season, Weller has played five games for the Houston Aeros (AHL) and has one assist and seven penalty minutes. Last season, Weller played in 36 games for the Wild and earned 1-2=3 totals and 47 PIM's.
Source

I've seen Weller in some games when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild and he's more of a fourth line player, somewhat like Byron Bitz but not with the offensive upside of Bitz. But Weller will fight more and is a more experienced fighter than Bitz.

The Bruins earlier today loaned forward Guillaume Lefebvre to the Providence Bruins (AHL) for a game today. But later tonight they recalled Lefebvre and also called up forwards Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka. Also Milan Lucic was placed on the long term injured reserve with a broken finger. Hopefully Lucic's finger heals quickly and he can come back and play.

Bruins vs Hurricanes game 6 summary

Tonight the Bruins looked good, despite the end of the first period and the start of the second period, as they won 4-2 and have tied up the series 3-3 to force a game 7 on Thursday night. The scoring summary for game 6 is below.

In the first period, at 2:01, Mark Recchi scored (3) assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew, making it 1-0 Bruins. At 5:04, Steve Montador scored (1) assisted by David Krejci and Michael Ryder, making it 2-0 Bruins.

In the second period, at 2:49, Matt Cullen scored for the Hurricanes to make it a 2-1 lead for the Bruins. At 8:53, Marc Savard scored (6) assisted by Milan Lucic and Dennis Wideman, making it a 3-1 Bruins lead. The pass by Lucic was sweet. I will post this goal on the site when I get a chance. At 18:03, Chuck Kobasew scored (3) assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi, making it a 4-1 Bruins lead.

In the third period, at 7:20, Sergei Samsonov scored to make it a 4-2 game. The game would end at 4-2.

Tim Thomas made 31 saves on 33 shots against him. Cam Ward made 15 saves on 19 shots against him.

Hopefully Marc Savard will be ok enough to play in game 7 on Thursday as in the third period, Chad LaRose hit Savard with a knee-on-knee check. No penalty on the play but Savard went off the ice. He tried coming back on but couldn't and went to the locker room when there was a TV timeout. The Garden on Thursday is going to be jumping. I can't wait to watch that game on TV.

Hey look bandwagon Hurricanes fans holding up stupid signs like "Aaron 'One Punch' Ward", and another sign saying something about Zdeno Chara.

Photo courtesy of Getty. Hosted by Imageshack.

I guess moron Hurricanes fans enjoy sucker punches and approve of them. And wow Aaron Ward was a big part of their Cup champion season a few years back. Wow how quick they forget or maybe they didn't even know he was on their team. Don't you hate bandwagon and dumb fans? :)

Bruins vs Hurricanes game 4 summary

The Bruins lossed 4-1 in game 4 to the Hurricanes and will be facing playoff elimination on Sunday when game 5 takes place in Boston at 7:30pm EST. The stats for game 4 are below.

In the first period, at 4:54, Eric Staal scored a power-play goal to make it 1-0 Hurricanes.

In the second period, at 2:37, Marc Savard scored (5)  a power-play goal, assisted by Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder to tie the game 1-1.

In the third period, at 2:52, Jussi Jokinen scored a power-play goal to make it 2-1 Hurricanes. At 14:31, Sergei Samsonov scored to make it 3-1 Hurricanes. At 15:41, Eric Staal scored to make it 4-1 Hurricanes.

Tim Thomas made 27 saves on 31 shots against him. Cam Ward made 20 saves on 21 shots against him.

Chuck Kobasew and Rod Brind'Amour got into a semi-fight at the end of the game. I'll post that up on the site when I get a chance to create video clips of the other fights from this season and playoffs. I'll also be posting other stuff like some goals and hits from this season and playoffs from the Bruins so stay tuned for that.

Eric Staal and Zdeno Chara roughing
Photo courtesy of AP

I'm just in total shock of this series as the Bruins have not looked like themselves in this series. I don't know what is wrong, but they got to bring it in game 5 on Sunday night or they are out. The Hurricanes are just playing great and mistake-free. The Bruins got to get back to their ways from the season.

Looking at the playoff stats for the Bruins, I found some interesting numbers. Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard, and Stephane Yelle are all a -2. P.J. Axelsson is a -4 in the playoffs. Blake Wheeler has no points in the playoffs (8 games played).

Bruins vs Hurricanes game 3 summary

The Bruins lossed game 3 in overtime with the final score 3-2. The Carolina Hurricanes now lead the series 2-1. Game 4 will be on Friday at 7:30pm EST. The stats for game 3 are below.

In the first period, at 8:43, Milan Lucic scored his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Dennis Wideman and Marc Savard.

In the second period, at 16:39, Eric Staal scored to tie the game at 1-1. At 17:58, ex-Bruin Sergei Samsonov scored to make it a 2-1 lead for Carolina.

In the third period, at9:03, Mark Recchi scored his first goal of the playoffs, to tie the game 2-2. Recchi's goal was assisted by Chuck Kobasew Steve Montador.

In overtime, at 2:48, Jussi Jokinen scored to end the game.

Tim Thomas made 38 saves on 41 shots against him. Cam Ward made 21 saves on 23 shots against him.

One thing to note, defenseman Andrew Ference did not play in the third period.

Ference, who missed the final eight days of the regular season and then the Montreal series with a lower body injury, had to leave last night's Game 3 against Carolina with what appeared to be either a new lower body injury or a re-aggravation of the old one.

Early in the second period, Ference was checked hard by the Hurricanes' Scott Walker in the corner of the Bruins defensive zone. He got up slowly and skated gingerly to the bench.
Source

So it seems that Ference will be out for Friday's game 4. Then we would see Shane Hnidy probably dress and play in game 4 for the Bruins.

Bruins vs Canadiens game 3 summary

The Boston Bruins won 4-2 in game 3 against the Montreal Canadiens. Game 4 will be on Wednesday. I will be doing a live game post update as well for that game. The stats for game 3 are below.

In the first period, at 11:52, Christopher Higgins scored. At 18:35, Phil Kessel scored (3) to tie the game 1-1, assisted by Dennis Wideman.

In the second period, at 3:36, Shawn Thornton scored his first goal in the playoffs, assisted by Byron Bitz and Stephane Yelle. At 5:16, Yannick Weber scored to tie the game 2-2. At 17:21, Michael Ryder scored (2) assisted by Dennis Wideman and Mark Stuart.

In the third period, at 19:23, Chuck Kobasew scored (2) an empty net goal, assisted by David Krejci and Zdeno Chara.

Game 4 is tomorrow night. Get ready Bruins fans!

Montreal's GM and coach Bob Gainey tells Montreal fans to not boo the American National Anthem.

"I feel like there's a confusion there with our fans," Gainey said Tuesday. They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the anthem represents the Boston team."

"And I think if they could separate those two things, then we could respect the anthem of the United States of America and they could still participate loudly in whatever way they want to disrupt the Bruins."
Source

I thought this was only the second time that this has happened recently but I was wrong.

When told of Gainey’s statement, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas said "that sounds like a very classy thing he did." Thomas, of Flint, Mich., was not put off by the booing.

"The same thing happened last year and it happened just about every time I've played here," he said. "I was prepared for it. I knew what was going to happen and I just ignored it."
Source

Bruins vs Canadiens game 3 live update

Game 3 between the Bruins and Canadiens will be starting soon. Stay tuned to this post as I'll be updating it as the game goes along. Here are the lineups for game 3:

Bruins lines:
Axelsson-Savard-Kessel
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder
Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew
Bitz-Yelle-Thornton
Chara-Ward
Montrador-Wideman
Stuart-Hnidy
Thomas

Scratches: Ference, Hunwick, Lucic


Canadiens lines:
Kostitsyn-Koivu-Kovalev
Stewart-Plekanec-D'Agostini
Latendresse-Lapierre-Kostopoulos
Higgins-Metropolit-Laraque
Hamrlik-Komisarek
Gorges-Dandenault
O'Byrne-Weber
Price

Scratches: Schneider, Tanguay

Classless Montreal fans boo and chant "Go Habs Go" during the American National Anthem. What a suprise, eh?

1st period
[11:52] Higgins scores and Montreal gets their first lead of the series. 1-0 Montreal

[18:35] Phil Kessel scores assisted by Dennis Wideman. Game is tied 1-1.

2nd period
[3:36] Shawn Thornton scores on a nice wrist shot. Nice pass by Byron Bitz. Bruins lead 2-1. That is Thornton's first NHL playoff goal.

[5:16] Weber scores and it is tied 2-2.

[8:57] Laraque, Stewart, Bergeron, Stuart all get 2 minutes each for a big scrum.

[13:20] Montreal to go on the power-play with Bitz getting two minutes for tripping.

[17:21] Michael Ryder scores and it is 3-2 Bruins.

[18:28] Mark Recchi gets two minutes for holding.

3rd period

[19:23] Chuck Kobasew scores an empty net goal to make it 4-2 Bruins.

The Bruins win game 3 with the score 4-2 and now lead the series 3-0. Game 4 is on Wednesday.

Bruins vs Canadiens game 2 summary

The Boston Bruins won 5-1 in game 2 against the Montreal Canadiens. Game 3 will be on Monday. I will be doing a live game post update as well for that game. The stats for game 2 are below.

In the first period, at 9:59, Marc Savard scored a power-play goal assisted by Steve Montador and Phil Kessel. It was Savard's first goal of the playoffs. At 15:12, Chuck Kobasew scored his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron.

In the second period, at 0:46, Alexei Kovalev scored. At 5:45, Shane Hnidy scored his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by P.J. Axelsson and Marc Savard. At 8:13, Marc Savard scored a power-play goal, his second goal of the game/playoffs, assisted by Michael Ryder and Dennis Wideman. At 19:57, Michael Ryder scored a power-play goal, his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Marc Savard and Tim Thomas.

No scoring happened in the third period.

Tim Thomas made 30 saves on 31 shots against him. Carey Price made 21 saves on 26 shots against him. Jaroslav Halak came in at the start of the third period and made 5 saves on 5 shots against him.

Who knows, maybe Halak will get the start in game 3. We saw Halak get a start in the playoffs when Price was a little shaky in the Bruins-Canadiens series last year.

Bruins vs Canadiens game 2 live update

Game 2 between the Bruins and Canadiens will be starting soon. Stay tuned to this post as I'll be updating it as the game goes along. Here is the lineup for the Bruins for game 2 (source):

Bruins lines:
Axelsson-Savard-Kessel
Lucic-Krejci-Ryder
Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew
Wheeler-Yelle-Thornton
Chara-Ward
Montador-Wideman
Stuart-Hnidy
Thomas

Scratches: Bitz, Ference, Hunwick


Update @ 8:16 PM
Lots of back and forth action. Some good hits as well.

Update @ 8:24 PM
Bruins to go on the power-play. Kostitsyn for hooking.

Update @ 8:26 PM
Bruins score on the power-play. Marc Savard with the goal. Bruins lead 1-0.

Update @ 8:34 PM
Bruins with a few more good scoring chances.

Update @ 8:37 PM
Bruins score and it's 2-0. Chuck Kobasew scored.

Update @ 8:39 PM
Bruins to go on the power-play. Higgins for high sticking.

Update @ 8:41 PM
Wow Carey Price just robbed Chuck Kobasew on a great scoring chance. Bruins did not score on the power-play.

Update @ 8:45 PM
Big scrum with everyone involved. Phil Kessel and Tom Kostopoulos were roughing and so were Zdeno Chara and Maxim Lapierre.

Update @ 8:49 PM
The first period is over as the Bruins lead 2-0.

Update @ 9:07 PM
The second period just started.

Update @ 9:09 PM
Kovalev scores and it is 2-1 Bruins.

Update @ 9:16 PM
Montreal has come out strong getting some good scoring chances. Montreal's Francis Bouillon will not return. Bruins score and it is now 3-1 Bruins. Shane Hnidy with the goal.

Update @ 9:20 PM
Bruins to go on the power-play. Metropolit with the penalty.

Update @ 9:22 PM
Bruins score on the power-play. Marc Savard with the goal and it's 4-1 Bruins.

Update @ 9:32 PM
Bruins to go on the power-play. Tanguay for hooking.

Update @ 9:39 PM
Bruins did not score on the power-play but they are going on another power-play. Kovalev for hooking.

Update @ 9:41 PM
Michael Ryder with a power-play goal to make it 5-1 Bruins.

Update @ 9:43 PM
The second period is over. Bruins lead 5-1. Kostopoulos with a classless late shot that missed the net at the end of the period. Good for the Bruins to keep their cool and not let Montreal get under their skin. Montreal put back their Tanguay-Koivu-Kovalev line in that period as they finally realized Georges Laraque can't play for shit.

Update @ 10:01 PM
The third period has just started. Montreal has put in Halak for Carey in net.

Update @ 10:10 PM
Kostopoulos tries to hit Chara and he goes down instead. How many times has that happened to Kostopoulos including last season. I remember seeing it quite a few times. Mark Stuart with a big hit on Koivu. Stuart is having such a good game tonight.

Update @ 10:16 PM
Seems like the Versus channel is not showing the scrums much and after the whistle stuff much. I get a feeling like Montreal might try and do a stupid cheapshot. Just as I'm posting this, Patrice Bergeron sends Josh Gorges down to the ice with a big punch. Wow. That is Bergeron's first ever fight I believe. Remember Gorges was the guy who cross-checked Bergeron in the back after he scored in the last regular season game between these two teams.

Update @ 10:30 PM
Big scrum with Milan Lucic and Maxim Lapierre with Komisarek coming in to double team Lucic. Everyone comes in, big scrum.

Update @ 10:33 PM
Lucic got a 5-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct.

Update @ 10:37 PM
The game ends and the Bruins win 5-1 and the Bruins now have a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 at Montreal is on Monday at 7pm EST. We will have to wait and see if Lucic gets suspended for the 5-minute cross-checking major. He shouldn't but hey who knows with the NHL, as a player gets eye gouged and no suspension for that, so Lucic shouldn't be suspended.

Bruins-Canadiens game 1 summary

The Boston Bruins won 4-2 in game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens. Game 2 will be on Saturday. I will be doing a live game post as well for that game. The stats for game 1 are below.

In the first period, at 13:11 Phil Kessel scored his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by David Krejci and Chuck Kobasew. At 14:41, David Krecji scored his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Michael Ryder and Milan Lucic. At 16:19, Christopher Higgins scored to make it 2-1 Bruins.

In the second period, at 17:37, Alexei Kovalev scored to make it 2-2.

In the third period, at 11:15, Zdeno Chara scored his first goal of the playoffs, a power-play goal, assisted by Marc Savard and Phil Kessel. At 19:46, Phil Kessel scored his second goal of the playoffs into an empty net, assisted by Milan Lucic.

Tim Thomas made 26 saves on 28 shots against. Carey Price made 35 saves on 38 shots against.

Here is a video summary of the game, which shows some of the scrums at the end of the game.

Update @ 2:04 PM on 4/17/09
You can watch highlights of the game and video of the scrums at the end of the game on ESPN.com.

Bruins-Habs what a game last night

Well if you missed last night's game between the Bruins and Canadiens, you missed one hell of a game. It looks like these two teams may meet in the first round of the playoffs and this game sure had playoff intensity. The first period was wild, but not as wild as the second period. In the first period, rivals Milan Lucic and Mike Komisarek had a little scrum after the whistle, with both guys falling down to the ice wrestling around with the linesmen trying to break them up.

The next incident was right after Patrice Bergeron scores a goal, Josh Gorges hits him from behind sending Bergeron into the net. So all the Bruins came in and a little scrum ensued. At the end of the first period Mike Komisarek took some cheap shots at David Krejci so Zdeno Chara came right after Komisarek and they exchanged gloved punches, before Chara dropped his gloves and threw two big uppercuts with Komisarek trying to duck for his life. Watch the replay of that incident, and watch Komisarek's face when Chara is roughing with him, it's hilarious.

Now in the second period things got heated between Shawn Thornton and Ryan 'I score on my own team' O'Byrne as between line changes O'Byrne skates into Thornton and pushes him. Thornton doesn't like it, it looks like Thornton says 'you wanna go?' and then drops the gloves and O'Byrne turtles and goes straight down to the ice. Maybe O'Byrne should stick to taking women's purses instead of playing hockey.

The next scrum was more like a line brawl which started because Byron Bitz hit goalie Carey Price, nothing major but you would expect a reaction to it either team you're on. Everybody got in on this scrum as Lucic was trying to get at Maxim Lapierre because Lapierre did something that I can't remember right now when the scrum started. Shane Hnidy and Josh Gorges paired off as Gorges pulled Hnidy away from everyone but once they got to the boards he wanted nothing to do with Hnidy. Not sure how they got fighting majors as no punches were thrown, just a lot of wrestling and Hnidy trying to get Gorges to actually fight, but Gorges just wanted to hold him.

Next was Komisarek hitting Lucic in the numbers (from behind) near the boards. Thornton came right after Komisarek dropping his gloves ready to fire a punch at Komisarek's face, but of course Komisarek didn't do anything. Lucic, being upset about the dirty hit no doubt, went after Komisarek and tackled him from behind which then a big scrum ensued.

And that was it for the rough stuff as the third period went on with back and forth scoring chances. The game went into overtime, which gave Montreal a point which backed them into the playoffs. In overtime Mark Recchi scored on a nice pass from Bergeron.

Wow what a game that was. It will be interesting if these two teams meet in the playoffs. Last year it was reversed with Montreal as first place and Bruins at eighth place meeting in the playoffs. Get ready for playoff hockey. Some pictures are below from the game. Source: AP

Mark Recchi scoring the game winning goal



Two pictures of the scrum in the second period after Byron Bitz hit goalie Carey Price.






Update on 4/13 @ 1:14 AM
Well I saw this article about the Habs-Bruins game on a Canadien News site and wanted to point out some things that they were wrong about. Go figure a Canadien News site embellishing about a Habs-Bruins game.

One part in the article says:

And as the horn blew to end the first, a scrum saw colossus defenceman Zdeno Chara raining blows on a hapless Komisarek - who clearly featured as the top target in the Bruins gameplan.

Though Chara sought out Komisarek, who was exchanging angry words with another Bruin, he received only a double-minor for roughing.

Umm, did this writer actually watch the game? Mike Komisarek tried to rough up and intimidate David Krejci while Krejci was down on the ice. So Zdeno Chara saw this and came in to protect his teammate and proceeded to rough up Komisarek. Komisarek being the 'man'? he is, hid behind linesmen and wanted nothing to do with Chara, but if it was Krejci I bet he would go right at him. Chara threw two uppercuts at the turtling Komisarek who then went down to the ice to hide.

Next the article says:

And on another occasion, Montreal defenceman Ryan O'Byrne took a double-minor and a 10-minute misconduct after bumping Thornton during a stop in play and dropping to the ice to protect himself as the Bruins player dropped his gloves and began punching him. Thornton got two minutes for roughing.

Again, did this writer watch the game? Shawn Thornton did not throw punches, he cocked his fist and was ready to pound away but Ryan O'Byrne turtled like the chicken he is. Remember O'Byrne was the one who elbowed Chuck Kobasew in the head at the end of the game, in the last game at Montreal this season. It takes a real man to do that eh? Or real purse stealer to do that?

Bruins clinch Northeast Division title

With the Bruins 4-1 win today over the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins have clinched the Northeast Division title. Michael Ryder (25th goal), Chuck Kobasew (18th goal), Marc Savard (23rd goal), and Milan Lucic (14th goal) all scored for the Bruins. Tim Thomas made 41 saves and got his 31st win of the season.

The Bruins are 7-9-4 in their last 20 games, and they don't play their next game until Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here's an interesting statistic: the Bruins are 22-0-0 when they lead by three goals (source).

Bruins acquire Steve Montador

The Bruins have acquired tough defenseman Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Petteri Nokelainen. Montador can also play some forward. Montador is good friends with Andrew Ference from their days with the Calgary Flames. Chuck Kobasew and Stephane Yelle also know Montador from their Flames' days.

The 29-year-old Montador skated in 65 games this season for Anaheim, compiling four goals and a career-high 16 assists. The 6-foot, 211-pound Vancouver, BC, Canada native was signed as a free agent by the Ducks on July 11, 2008.

Before joining the Ducks, Montador played two-plus seasons for the Florida Panthers from 2005-2008 and three-plus seasons for the Calgary Flames from 2001-2005. A veteran of 355 career games played in the NHL, he has registered 18 goals and 49 assists. Montador has also appeared in 20 postseason contests- all during the 2003-2004 postseason -- and was a member of the Calgary Flames club that was defeated in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2003-2004.
Source

Bruins explode vs Islanders

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving day. It seemed like the Bruins did as they started slow today against the New York Islanders, but then exploded and dominated the Islanders. The Bruins had a slow first period, which ended 1-0 Islanders. In the second period, Chuck Kobasew scored his 4th goal of the season, a power-play goal to tie the game. Later in the period, Michael Ryder scored on a nice wrist shot, his 4th goal of the season too. In the third period, the Bruins just broke it open. Blake Wheeler scored his7th goal of the season on a one-timer, from a nice pass by David Krejci. Ten seconds later David Krejci fought his way to the net with the puck and roofed it, to get his 6th goal of the season. A little later, on the power-play, Dennis Wideman scored on the power-play, his 6th goal of the season. The Islanders managed to score on a power-play to make it 5-2. But the Bruins didn't let down as Michael Ryder scored his second goal of the game, his 5th goal of the season. Phil Kessel finished the scoring with his 12th goal of the season, from a sweet pass by Milan Lucic.

Kessel, Krejci, Wheeler, Wideman all finished the game with a goal and an assist. Marc Savard finished the game with two assists. Manny Fernandez started and finished this game in net for the Bruins making 22 saves on 24 shots. There were two fights in this one as Milan Lucic and Brendan Witt fought, and Shane Hnidy took on Tim Jackman.

Bruins beat Sabres, play Panthers tonight

Wednesday night the Bruins were down 4-3 after the 1st period to the Sabres. But the 2nd and 3rd periods were owned by the Bruins outplaying the Sabres in every way just like their previous meeting. The Bruins won the game 7-4. Zdeno Chara and Chuck Kobasew each finished the game with 2 goals apiece (Chara now with 4 goals and Kobasew with 3 goals this season). Marc Savard finished the game with a goal (his 7th goal of the season) and 3 assists. David Krejci had a goal (his 4th goal of the season) and an assist. Marco Sturm didn't play because of an upper body injury, so Petteri Nokelainen played. Manny Fernandez started the game not to good, but got better as it went on. He made 25 saves on 29 shots, getting the win and is now 5-1-1 with a 2.55 GAA and a 91% save percentage.

And it's a joke not seeing Tim Thomas on the All-Star ballot, being 7-2 with a 1.78 GAA and a 94.4% save percentage, with 2 shutouts also.

The Bruins host the Florida Panthers tonight at 7pm EST. Expect Sturm to be out tonight and Nokelainen to play again. Saturday the Bruins play at Montreal which should be a good one. On Monday the Bruins are suppose to unveil their new Reebok third jersey. Read more about the new third jersey unveiling.

Sobotka sent down; Kobasew may return

On Tuesday, the Bruins sent forward Vladimir Sobotka down to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Tonight the Bruins host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7pm EST. Bruins forward Chuck Kobasew could play tonight as his injury looks to be healed as he's been practicing. Tonight's game should be good as Toronto has been playing well. The Bruins last game vs Toronto, Bruins had a two goal lead but lost the game 4-2.

Chuck Kobasew injury update

On Monday, it was reported that Chuck Kobasew will be sidelined for three weeks with a fractured right ankle. I hope he heals up quick and is able to return and play well.

Tomorrow night the Bruins will take on the Ottawa Senators at Ottawa. Should be a good one. I'm wondering if ex-Bruin goalie Alex Auld will start for the Senators.

Bruins lose to Wild 4-3

Tonight the Bruins had a good start, then fell apart, and then almost came back but fell one goal short to the Minnesota Wild with the final score 4-3. In the first period, Phil Kessel scored on a nice wrist shot (his 2nd goal of the season). After the first period it was 1-1, but the Wild took over the game in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals making it 4-1. In the third period, Marc Savard scored two goals (his 2nd and 3rd goals of the season) to make it 4-3. Manny Fernandez played in this game and made 22 saves on 26 shots.

Some other notes about this game: Bruins winger Chuck Kobasew was scratched from the lineup as he broke his ankle in the game vs the Avalanche. Forward Petteri Nokelainen took Kobasew's place in the lineup. Michael Ryder had two assists in this game.

The next Bruins game is on Wednesday at the Montreal Canadiens, 7:30 PM EST.

Bruins sign Kobasew to extension

On Tuesday the Bruins signed forward Chuck Kobasew to a multi-year extension. This is good as Kobasew was a good player for the Bruins last season. If only he was not injured for the playoffs maybe things would have been different. Anyways, having him on the team for more than one year is good news.

Update on 5/20
Kobasew was signed to a 3-year deal.

Good and bad injury news

Well there is some news about the Bruins injuries and there is some bad news and some good news. First the bad news. Forward Chuck Kobasew who got hurt in the game against Toronto on Tuesday, has a fractured tibia and will be out anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks depending on how fast it heals. This is really bad for the offense-struggling Bruins as Kobasew has been a big offense provider for most of the season. Defenseman Andrew Ference is still day-to-day with a knee injury. No news on defenseman Andrew Alberts but don't expect him to come back this season or for the playoffs. Center Marc Savard will be evaluated after the weekend.

Some good news on Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron had a neuro-psych test earlier this week which he passed. There is still no timetable on when/if Bergeron will come back to play this season/playoffs.

Source

Bruins youngsters bring it vs Toronto

Tonight the Bruins won a big game against the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2. With Marc Savard and Andrew Ference already out for this one, Chuck Kobasew got hurt in the first period after taking a puck off one of his feet. But the Bruins youngsters and character players stepped up and helped the Bruins offense score six goals.

David Krejci had a goal and an assist. Matt Lashoff had two assists. Phil Kessel scored the fifth goal of the game which came at a good time. Milan Lucic had two assists, one which was a nice pass to Shawn Thornton where Thornton deked around Vesa Toskala to score his 4th goal of the season. Jeremy Reich scored an empty net goal to end the game, his 2nd of the season. Glen Murray and Marco Sturm added the other two goals in the game for the Bruins. I will try and post the Shawn Thornton goal and the Jeremy Reich goal.

Vote for Bruins 7th Player Award

It's that time again Bruins fans, it's time to vote for your pick of who should win the Bruins 7th Player Award. You can vote on BostonBruins.com here. The top choices I think are: Milan Lucic, Chuck Kobasew, and Tim Thomas. My choice for the Bruins 7th Player Award is Milan Lucic. He has no doubt surprised everyone with how good he has played being a rookie at 19 years old and has passed everyone's expectations. So far this season Lucic has played in 57 games, has 7 goals (4 game winners) with 13 assists for 20 points. Lucic has 71 PIMs and a team leading 11 fighting majors.

Patrice Bergeron injury update

The BostonHerald.com has an article from today's paper by Stephen Harris with an update on Bruins' injured center Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron is hoping to come back this season, but I personally think it's kind of a long shot because of the severity of the injury, but if anyone can do it, it's Patrice Bergeron.

Bergeron took a small - but significant - step forward this week. He has been working out since Monday on the elliptical trainer, which basically combines a stair-stepper and a treadmill.

"It feels good so far," he said. "We're slowly but surely doing some more stuff. I started doing the elliptical for six minutes and now we're up to between eight and 12 minutes. It's getting there. It feels good just to do something, and to be around the players again and have a chance to see them more often. In my mood, I feel more happy. I want to do more stuff now.

"When you work out, at least there's something to look forward to the next day. You don't just get up and sit around, stay in bed all day. It feels like you're doing something."

Other Bruins Injury Updates
On Saturday night the Bruins play at the Toronto Maple Leafs. It also seems Bruins' defenseman Aaron Ward will be able to play Saturday even after sustaining a neck injury against the Penguins. Chuck Kobasew, who missed the game against the Penguins, might play against Toronto. Peter Schaefer still won't play because of a sliced bruised shin. Bobby Allen will play if one of the regular six defensemen cannot play.

Bruins trade Stuart and Primeau to Flames for Kobasew and Ference

It has been announced that the Boston Bruins have traded defenseman Brad Stuart and center Wayne Primeau to the Calgary Flames for winger Chuck Kobasew and defenseman Andrew Ference. Stuart and Primeau are set to be unrestricted free agents after this season, while Kobasew and Ference are signed for at least next season. Kobasew is signed for this year and for next year at $1.2 million. Ference is signed for the next three years (next year: $1.235 million, second year: $1.34 million, third year: $1.625 million).

Here is some more information about the newest Bruins. Chuck Kobasew is in his fourth NHL season. He is 24 years old, 6-0, 199 lbs., and he shoots right-handed. Kobasew's best season was last year when he played 77 games, scored 20 goals, had 11 assists, 31 points, and 64 PIMs. This current season Kobasew has played 40 games, has 4 goals, 13 assists, 17 points, and 37 PIMs. Kobasew is currently injured and will not play for the Bruins for a few weeks.

Some Bruins' fans may remember Andrew Ference when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins back from 1999-2002. Ference is in his seventh NHL season. He is 27 years old, 5-10, 189 lbs.,
and he shoots left-handed. Ference's best season was last year when he played 82 games, scored 4 goals, had 27 assists, 31 points, and 85 PIMs.

Andrew Ference vs Stars' Matthew Barnaby in one of the best fights of this season.

Andrew Ference sticks up for a teammate and fights Canucks' Kevin Bieksa.