Letter 3

Dear Internet,

I have been posting anonymously to you about Bruins hockey for sometime. However I want you to know, I am a real person and, Internet, I make you this promise: If my Bruins make the playoffs and win one round, I will de-cloak. I will no longer change in a phone booth from my Clark Kent to Nebpusman. I will let all cyberspace into the nebcave and show you around. I will throw away these letters that I hide behind and show you the real Neb behind the keys. My tangled web will be revealed to the intermingled web. So that you live up to your end of the bargain and propel my Bruins into the second round, because as we all know you THE INTERNET are all powerful I will slowly start pulling away the layers behind which I hide. So, Internet here is your first hint to my real identity. I am 37.

Yours forever,

neb

Bruins Keep Lucic?

Word on the street over at TSN is that the Bruins management has decided to keep Milan Lucic past the 9 game try-out. This means that although Chiarelli has the option of sending Lucic back to the Vancouver Giants, the Bruins will lose a year off his three year entry level contract. The TSN article is contrary to a report in today's Boston Globe which says that no decision has been made on whether or not to keep him in Boston.

General manager Peter Chiarelli said there's been no decision on whether to keep
Lucic beyond nine games. "If he stays past nine, I am not ruling out returning
him," Chiarelli wrote in an e-mail.

It is my opinion that Lucic should stay with the team, as he has shown he can handle the big leagues. As long as he is not overused and put in too many situations where he is left vulnerable his development shouldn't be stunted. It would also be great to see the team release him to play in the upcoming World Juniors tournament at Christmas. This should be a tournament where he will dominate the opposition, and give him another opportunity to gain experience as captain.

I'd Vote For Him....

So it looks like the Bruins are getting closer to finding a front office position for Cam Neely. The latest story has Neely up for newly vacated President position. You may remember that was the post Harry Sinden held FOREVER. Neely is suggesting that he might need to gain some experience before taking on such a role. Regardless of what position he takes it is obvious how much the Jacobs family likes him. Wicked news for sure.

Sigalet Close

Chiarelli has announced that the Bruins are close to re-signing goalie Jordan Sigalet. Sigalet, 26, was 15-5-2 with a 2.39 goals against last year with Providence. I personally thought Jordan was the best goalie in Providence last year but never seemed to be given the chance to be the teams number one. Every time he had an opportunity to be the goalie, management would pull off a trade or pick someone up off waivers. With all the free agents this year and the trade of Hannu it looks like he may at least be the back-up to Rask.

PC Wants Emery?

God I hope not. I mean it one thing to WANT Emery, but it is another to blow your whole wad on the guy. TSN (via the Ottawa Sun) is suggesting that that Chiarelli would need to offer around 3.5 to 4.7 million per to land Emery. Now, even if Ottawa decides not to match, this would mean Boston loses their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd draft picks for next year (likely good ones too). I am banking that the Bruins will do horrible so we can get a shot at Tavares (assuming the league will change the rules of eligibility for him).

Tavares or not, that kind of payout is a little to hard to swallow. I'm sure we can get a goalie for cheaper than that as a UFA. Again, I will re-iterate that Thomas was not our problem last year, and if we continue to waste our cap space on a goalie the new guy will be just as screwed as Thomas. Let's take Scott Clemmensen as a backup for Thomas.

Oh yeah, in other news the cap has increased to $50.3 million.

Rumour Has it...

that Boston is going for Manny Fernandez. There are reports all over the place regarding this one and it is being said there might be a flop of 1st round picks and then a player from Boston of a significant cash value. Meaning Murray or someone of a lesser dollar value. This could be Axelsson, Ference or some other person. Also, I would not be surprised to see MacDonald thrown in as well. I highly doubt they will take Murray so look for two players if this does go through.

Alberts Re-signed

Andrew Alberts was re-signed yesterday to a 2 year, $2.5 million contract. Set to become a restricted free agent, the Bruins decided to give him a significant raise from last year when he made just over $650,000. Against the cap, the deal will cost the team $1.25 million for the next two years. Alberts was one of the more agressive Bruins on the roster, and was 3rd ont he team in hits and blocked shots. Andrew, along with the rest of the team, tailed off during the second half of the season and at times was moved down to the 3rd defencive pairing.

With the signing of Alberts the Bruins now have aproximately $38-39 million commited to the cap. Based on last years cap level this is not the best of news for the Bruins. There are rumors though that the new maximum could be increased to around $48 -52 million for the coming season. This is significant as it represents a potential increase of $4-8 million or one or two significant free agents.

I guess the next question to pose is; Is the Bruins ownership willing to spend at the top of the cap level each year? There can be no doubt that the Bruins are losing money, and we are quickly becoming a "small market" team. That said, I expect they will come close to the maximum cap this season and then see how things go. Another losing season with poor attendance may spark a cost cutting move though. For me, the most important RFA on the team is Brandon Bochenski and I will be thrilled if he weas re-signed.

Back From the Dead

So I was browsing TSN the other day and came upon this article. I figured it might be good if I wrote a post every month or two. I should apologize for not being on the site lately, but I have little time; with things like a job, wife, 3 kids and a girlfriend. Hopefully, by the time the season starts I'll have my life in order and possibly become a regular contributor. Thankfully, neb is single handedly keeping the site running. I am sure any day/week/month Buff will get a computer working as well.

So this article basically lays out the present and future situation, outlines gaps and possible fillers from the upcoming free agent period and draft. While the article doesn't bring up anything particularly new it's nice to have everything summed up. On forward, I would be all over picking up Mike Peca. This team would improve over night defencively, especially on the penalty kill. With Peca though you are just waiting for his next injury to occur.

On defence, I think the Bruins should pick up at least one defencman (Scott Hannan) via free agency, re-sign Bobby Allen, and maybe take a chance on one of the young Providence blue-liners. This will become clearer later in the summer as free agency begins. I'm not sure how good Murray would be for trade bait. While many teams would like to have him, it is unlikely many would spend the dough to get him. San Jose is an obvious destination for him, because with Thornton, Murray played some of his best years. Thomas as bait doesn't make a lot of sense to me personally, because we have no one ready to replace him. Also, we would not get a goalie in return for Thomas and we certainly would not be saving any money by dumping him. We just cannot trade Thomas! If Toivonen or Thomas were offered up the most we might hope to get are some 2nd or 3rd round picks. Useless...

I want Niklas Backstrom! Could you just imagine the one two punch from Thomas and Backstrom!

What do you guys all think?

NHL.com posted another good article for your reading pleasure, this time on Ben Walter.
Enjoy!

Brad Boyes, Brad Boyes what ya going to do...

Brad Boyes has been traded to the St-Louis Blues for offensive defenceman Dennis Wideman. This is after earlier reports today that Boyes had been taken off the market. I have to go on the bus now so I will discuss more when I get back home.

Mara Shipped to Broadway

Paul Mara was shipped to the NY Rangers this afternoon for defencman Aaron Ward. This is nothing too exciting. It will save the Bruins $250,000 in cap space for next year, and will make the Bruins better defencively. Mara, although better lately, has never lived up to last years offencive output. This fact was amplified by his poor defencive play in the first half of the season.

Ward, on the Bruins, will likely be a top four defencman. He is not a power play specialist, but should see a lot of time on the penalty kill. The key with Ward is that he has played 78 career playoff games and has three Stanley Cup rings (2 Detroit, 1 Carolina).

I will post tonight after everything dies down, to discuss the other trades in the NHL. At them moment I believe the Bruins have improved, but other teams like the Islanders, Buffalo, Atlanta, and Ottawa have improved more.

Bruins Resign Sturm

The Boston Bruins made it official today, as they announced that Marco Sturm has resigned with the team to a four year $14 million contract. The cap hit over the four years will be $3.5 million, but I'm not sure if that affects the team in any way this year. This deal was leaked to the public a few days ago, and yesterday Chiarelli and Sturm confirmed that a deal was in place contingent on Sturm's decision. With Sturm the Bruins get a speedy, offensively gifted forward that could score 30 goals in the right circumstances. He has the ability to play either the first or second line with comfort, and works well on the power play.

Sturm has been tagged as having an off year but as of late has turned it on. The new deal may help him relax enough so he can go up another notch. He has been saying for weeks that he wanted to stay here and he reiterated it again yesterday. I am very happy with this signing, and of the three from the Thornton trade, Sturm is the one I wanted to keep this year. Now here is a video of all of Sturm's goals from last year.

In other news, the Bruins claimed goalie Joey MacDonald off waivers form the Detroit Red Wings. While this will only cost the Bruins a little over $100,000 dollars I am not sure why they claimed him. The good thing is he seems to be a solid prospect and he is a restricted free agent at the end of this year. I am sure Heather will comment on this in the near future.

Well since we have a game tonight I may as well write on it now and save myself another post. The Bruins are taking on the Florida Panthers tonight in Florida. While this SHOULD be an easy win, Florida seems to have our number this year. Look for Tim Thomas and Ed Belfour to face-off in nets, and out on injury are; Bergeron, Alberts, Murray, and Tenkrat. This means that the Bruins will need to call up a warm body from Providence, and I hope it is Ben Walter.

***Update*** Fluto just posted that the Bruins are not recalling a forward meaning that Bergeron might be ready to go tonight.

It's Official - Edmonton Has Exited the Playoff Race

Edmonton has just pulled off a trade dumping defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron to the islanders for former 1st round pick Denis Grebeshkov. Grebeshkov, a defenceman as well, is currently playing in Russia for the Lokomotiv and has gone into obscurity after playing 29 games in the NHL.

This trade does nothing for the Oilers so we can assume they will continue to lose and lose badly. Too bad we won't be playing them again this year.

What to do with Brad Stuart...what to do...

So with the Bruins in dead last in their division...yet still six points out of a playoff spot...the Bruins have to decide what to do...if anything...before the 2/27 trade deadline.

The person of most mention right now is soon-to-be free agent Brad Stuart, acquired in the Joe Thornton trade last year. While he hasn't been a fantastic defender this year, he's been somewhat steady (at best). However, there is still some potential there being a former #3 overall pick, although eight seasons after being drafted, you have to wonder if that potential will ever fully be realized.

Where it still hurts, though, is the lingering sting of the Thornton trade. With the Bruins needing a quality defenseman last year, Stuart was the biggest return from the deal. Having him walk away after a season and a half would leave the Bruins with only Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau to show.

However, I think that trading Brad Stuart might be inevitable. He's been non-committal about re-signing in the offseason and rumor has it that his Californian wife isn't crazy about living in New England. So, like it or not, he's more than likely signing elsewhere next year. Seeing him move before the trade deadline wouldn't surprise me. Hell, at least they'll get something in return...and hopefully more than a Yan Stastny or Marty Reasoner.

Rumors: Kessel has testicular cancer

According to the Boston Globe and CBS 4 in Boston, the mysterious medical issue hounding Phil Kessel may be testicular cancer. The Boston Globe was unable to get confirmation from Peter Chiarelli on the matter.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, when reached by the Globe at approximately 9 p.m., dismissed the notion that Kessel's issues were drug- or alcohol-related, but when asked if he cared to address whether Kessel had been diagnosed with either testicular cancer or depression, Chiarelli offered only, "No, I don't."

Wow. Assuming the testicular cancer rumors are true, that's a big one. First of all, any time you mention the "C" word, it's always a scare no matter how treatable it is. Second, as a male, you never want any kind of illness in that area "down thar" ever. Especially if it could result in the removal of any parts of that said area. A buddy of mine had a scare in high school when he found a lump on one of his testes, resulting in it's removal. Fortunately, the growth was benign and he's been able to father two kids since, but still. That's one of those things that make me cringe when I think of it.

That being said, the positive is that it is highly treatable when detected early. The hope is that it was detected early and that having a full medical staff at his disposal only further helped Kessel's case.

Right now, a return to the ice is an afterthought. You hope it's soon, but Phil's got bigger things to worry about. My prayers are with him.

If anyone out there has had testicular cancer or knows someone who did, please chime in.

Note: A big thanks to number4bobbyorr who tipped GotG off last night on the comments field of another post.

NOTE***
TSN is reporting that Kessel has underwent cancer surgey. Phil's agent, Wade Arnott, did not name the type of cancer, but said he is resting in Boston.

Phil Kessel being treated for medical issue

I am sure more is to come on this story, but for now the family is asking for privacy in this non-hockey related medical issue.

UPDATE: news link here

Amidst the chaos, trade rumors

Well some of us here might back Toivonen and some of us might back Thomas, but after a 2-4-1 start to the season, trade rumors are circulating that the Bruins might not be backing either and could be looking to trade for the Shark's Evgeni Nabokov, possibly for Glen Murray.

Apparently, people must think the Bruins don't feel they were raped enough by the Sharks in the Thornton deal last year.

Look, I have nothing against Nabokov, it's just that the bulk of the blame for the Bruins goaltending problems this year needs to be placed on the poor play of the supporting cast. Thomas and Toivonen can only be expected to work so many miracles.

I can't see this rumor as being legit. Acquiring Nabokov for Murray would create a glut of goaltenders (assuming one isn't involved in the deal) while also sapping the team of it's best goal scorer. And if you can't stop the puck from going in the net, the last thing you want to do is trade away the guy who can at least even the score on the other end of the ice.

I ain't buying this one.

Cory Lidle May Have Been On The Plane

The small plane that crashed into the downtown luxury apartment was said to be registered to Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. It was reported that his passport was found on the street below. The NY state Governor released a statement reporting that there were two occupants; an instructor and student, but would not release any names.

There are conflicting reports that say up to four people have died and possibly only one person on the plane. Very sad for all families involved, and sad the MLB will lose a good journeyman pitcher as well.

News, Rumours, Thoughts...

The Bruins take on the New York rangers tonight At Madison Square Garden, New York. According to the Globe the starting line-up for the game tonight will be:

Kessel-Bergeron-Boyes
Sturm-Savard-Murray
Axelsson-Primeau-Donovan
Tenkrat-Mowers-Brookbank

Chara-Stuart
Mara-York
Alberts-Jurcina
Timmah! "The Man" Thomas

I know Alberts groin pull was only minor, but I would be happier if they left him out tonight so he would be fresh for the start of the season. I am sure he has made the team, so what's the point?

Did anyone notice Kessel is still on the first line with Bergy and Boyes? It seems the rumour is that Kessel will remain on the 1st line when they season starts. Here's hoping he makes a good Sturm replacement because he's looked good with Savard and Murray so far this pre-season.
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In practice today they set up line combinations with wearing different coloured jerseys :

Kessel-Bergeron-Boyes (gold)
Sturm-Savard-Murray (red)
Axelsson-Primeau-Donovan (white)
Brookbank-Mowers-Hoggan (gray)
Tenkrat-Stastny-Kalus (teal)

These combinations speak for themselves. The top four lines are virtually a lock for beginning the season with the Bruins. How many additional forwards will they take is still unknown. It is possible they will take one or two extra. In my opinion the only reason Kalus is in camp is because it is unknown whether the Bruins can send Kalus to Providence.

Typically they would be forced to send a player of his age back to his junior team, but there seems to be some extenuating circumstances with Kalus. The NHL is due to make a ruling this week. Look for the Bruins to send Kalus to Providence if the NHL agrees. Kalus will definitely develop faster in Providence.

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Does anyone know what position Wade Brookbank spent the majority of his career playing?? The Bruins and hockey DB list him as a forward but Yahoo and EA NHL 07 lists him as a defenceman. If he is both that's great because he can fill in both positions while not in the penalty box ;)

Sound off!