WickedBruinsFan's Blog

Defenseman Andy Wozniewski to a one-year contract earlier today. Wozniewski, 29, was in the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins organizations last season playing for their AHL teams. He had 3 goals and 18 assists in the AHL last season. He played one game in the NHL with the Blues.

The Bruins probably wanted to add a little more depth behind the big six (Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, Andrew Ference, Derek Morris, Matt Hunwick and Mark Stuart) in Boston. Johnny Boychuck should be on the cusp of being the seventh defenseman in Boston (read: healthy scratch, plays when needed). However, there is risk recalling and re-assigning Boychuk to/from Providence. Boychuk could be plucked off waivers. Wozniewski gives Providence a little more depth on their defense.

It looks like Wozniewski was skating with the Chicago Blackhawks in their informal workouts.

One standout was Buffalo Grove native Andy Wozniewski. I had not seen him up close before today, and that's one big defenseman. At 6 feet, 5 inches and 220 pounds, he can't hide. Wozniewski is a journeymen who was traded in March from St. Louis to Pittsburgh for former Hawk (coincidentally, also a Buffalo Grove native) Danny Richmond. He reminds you that guys that can play the game at a high level at that size don't grow on trees. It's probably a reason he's still hanging around after not being drafted.

Depth is always a good thing to have. A team can never have enough of it because injuries always happen.

(Did you think I meant the Bruins signed Phil Kessel? Sorry.)

Posted at 9:51 PM in Providence Bruins, Signings | Permalink

Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien was signed to a contract extension on Friday. He had one year left on his contract and received an extension. The terms/years were not released. That bothers me a little bit. Terms and conditions always get disclosed at some point. I talked to a few other fans and sources and the majority seem to think it is a three year deal. I hope Julien sticks around for a while. There hasn't been a coach in Boston in a while that can get the absolute best from his players on a relatively consistent basis.

With that said, can you remember when Bruins fans hated Julien during the 2004 playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens? Seeing footage of that playoff series and the 2008 playoffs doesn't bother me so much anymore knowing that he's on the right side now.

Moving onto a different tangent now, I went to a couple of informal skates this past week. (Pictures can be found in the gallery.) There are no words to describe what it was like to see familiar faces (Dennis Wideman, Tim Thomas, Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic) and Providence Bruins (Andrew Bodnarchuk, Brad Marchand, Johnny Boychuk, Zach Hamill) back on the ice. And there are also no words to describe what it was like to see Andrew Ference with hair. (I'm sorry Andrew, but he hardly has any hair during the season.)

September is one of my favorite months and within reason. It doesn't even matter who is on the ice as long as I hear skates cutting into the ice and pucks hitting the boards. No other sound compares.

The rookies are up in Kitchener Ontario now. There are a few other teams holding rookie camps up there. Best of luck to the Bruins' rookies. I think informal skates will continue in Wilmington while the rookies are away. But I can't wait to see everybody at training camp on the 13th. It's crazy to think the regular season starts in less than a month.

Posted at 4:12 AM in 2009-2010 Season, Transactions | Permalink

If you have some free time this week, you might want to take a trip to the Boston Bruins' practice facility in Wilmington late some morning. The Boston Globe blog reported the Bruins will begin informal skates at Ristuccia Arena starting this morning. The skate will start at 11 a.m. and players are not known yet.

Informal skates are a precursor to training camp. Some of the full-time NHLers and some of the prospects that are "too old" for rookie camp who are returning the area should skate. It is worth checking out if you have the time and are craving hockey. You might see Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic or Tim Thomas.

I went last year and have gone in past years. You can check out pictures from last year in the gallery. You never know who you'll see or what you'll see when you go.

I am planning to go to a few skates since my schedule is wide open the next couple of weeks. I can't wait to freeze my butt off and watch the Black and Gold!

Posted at 3:17 AM in 2009-2010 Season | Permalink

The Boston Bruins rookies will open their camp on September 5th with off-ice testing in Wilmington. The rookies will travel to Kitchener, Ontario after that and return to Boston on September 10th. The complete schedule is here.

The rookies attending are:

Goaltenders (3): Adam Courchaine, Matt Dalton, Michael Hutchinson
Defensemen (7): Ryan Button, Scott Fletcher, Brad Good, Alain Goulet, Mark Isherwood, Rob Kwiet, Marc Zanetti
Forwards (13): Jamie Arniel, Chris DeSousa, Zach Hamill, Jordan Knackstedt, Jason Lawrence, Lane MacDermid, Taylor MacDougall, Jeff LoVecchio, Levi Nelson, Tyler Randell, Max Sauve, Peter Stevens, Jason Wilson
Will not participate due to injury (1): Jordan Caron

Brad Marchand, Mikko Lehtonen, Jeff Penner, Andrew Bodnarchuk, and Kevin Regan, who were first-year pros in 2008-09, will not participate in the club's rookie camp in Kitchener, Ontario. They will kick off with the big boys when training camp officially opens on Sept. 12 at TD Garden.

It's almost time for hockey again.

Posted at 3:11 PM in 2009-2010 Season | Permalink