Bruins update

The Bruins next game is on Friday at the Buffalo Sabres who are in first place in the Northeast division with 67 points. The Bruins (23-20-8) are currently in fourth place in the Northeast division with 54 points, only ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs. There has been word that Marc Savard is trying to come back into the lineup on Friday against the Sabres. Hopefully he does as the Bruins need some scoring. Savard and Byron Bitz were at practice Monday morning. Marco Sturm and Steve Begin are day-to-day and likely out on Friday.

Here are some interesting stats of the Bruins so far this season. The Bruins have only scored 127 goals this season, which is last in the league and have allowed 131 goals. They are13-11-3 at home and 10-9-5 on the road. In their last ten games, they are 2-7-1.

Tim Thomas is 13-14-6 with a 2.53 GAA, and a 91.5% save percentage this season. Tuukka Rask is 10-6-2 with a 2.14 GAA, and a 92.5% save percentage this season.

On Monday the Bruins sent forward Drew Larman back to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Bruins sign Miroslav Satan

Today it was announced that the Bruins have signed forward Miroslav Satan to a one-year contract.

The 35-year old Satan is a veteran of 1012 NHL games and has potted 354 goals with 367 assists in his NHL career. Satan won the Stanley Cup last year as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and registered 1-5=6 totals in 17 postseason games to go along with 17-19=36 totals in 65 regular season games for the Pens. In his 13 NHL seasons, Satan has hit for 20-plus goals 10 times, including a career high 40 in 1998-99. His best season statistically came in 2002-03 when he tallied 75 points on 26 goals and a career best 49 assists.
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I personally think this could be a good or bad signing, of course depending on how Satan plays. Satan has been known for taking shifts off and not working as hard as he can, but hopefully he learned something when he won the Stanley Cup last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. You can check out Satan's career stats on his NHL.com profile. I have a feeling that Satan will get a chance to play on Marc Savard's line and move Steve Begin back to the fourth line when Satan is ready. Then when Milan Lucic is ready to return, Marco Sturm can move to Patrice Bergeron's line where they always seem to have success together.



Bruins coach Claude Julien on Satan:

Of his new forward Miroslav Satan, Julien said, "He's in pretty good shape actually. I think we've seen that through testing and he's really taken care of himself for a guy who hasn't played yet. That's one thing. The other thing is getting up to NHL speed," he said.

Both Satan and B's GM Peter Chiarelli put the timetable at about 7-10 days.

"We'll go from there," said Julien. "He needs some time to practice at this pace and we've got a healthy team right now and I don't think we need to throw him in and rush him. Well he's a skill player," said Julien. "I think everybody knows that. He's had success at scoring goals and making plays. Around the net he's got a real good stick, as far as finding those seams, and he's good in tight. He's more of an offensively skilled player, which everybody seems to know we could use," he said.
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John Bishop on his blog on BostonBruins.com says that we probably won't see Satan in a game for at least 7-10 days. Lucic is day-to-day and is practicing with light to no contact. Mark Stuart has been skating but is not close to practicing yet.

Bruins player moves

Here is the latest on player moves by the Bruins and some players they have already lost to free agency by signing with other teams.

On June 30th, the Bruins bought out the contract of forward Peter Schaefer.

On July 1st, the Bruins re-signed forward Byron Bitz to a multi-year contract. The Bruins signed ex-Montreal/Dallas forward pest Steve Begin to a one-year contract. If you remember Begin was the one with that cheapshot on Marc Savard which broke a bone in Savard's back. Hopefully Begin can be that same kind of pest for the Bruins against Montreal and everyone else. He's also known for dishing out some big hits. The Bruins re-signed defenseman Johnny Boychuk to a one-year contract. Martin St. Pierre signed with the Ottawa Senators.

On July 2nd, the Bruins re-signed veteran Mark Recchi to a one-year contract. This will be Recchi's last season playing hockey. Forward Jeremy Reich signed with the New York Islanders. Defenseman Steve Montador signed with the Buffalo Sabres. Defenseman Shane Hnidy signed with the Minnesota Wild.

Looking at some Bruins opponents in the Eastern Conference, Montreal and Toronto have changed their team much. Montreal has added forwards Brian Gionta, Mike Cammalleri, and Scott Gomez (through a trade with New York), and defensemen Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill so far. Toronto has added a lot more toughness with defensemen Mike Komisarek, Garnet Exelby (through a trade with Atlanta), and enforcer Colton Orr. So now we'll be watching those Toronto games more closer with Lucic and Komisarek going at each other again.