For those who missed it last time, I’ve put my contest details (worst contest ever details) at the bottom of the blog again.
The Bruins have traded Brandon Bochenski to the Anaheim Ducks for Shane Hnidy and a sixth round pick. Hnidy is locked up for this season and the next one and he causes a cap hit of $757,000. Bochenski accounted for only $600,000 of cap space and is set to become an RFA this summer.
I can understand that Peter Chiarelli thought the team needed another veteran along the blue-line. Considering all of the injuries the team has been dealing with and the defensive troubles as of late, it makes total sense that Chiarelli would want to pick up a veteran d-man. That being said, I’m pretty sure that Hnidy is not the answer and I’m not happy that Bochenski is gone, especially considering the Bruins’ inability to score.
Hnidy is 32 years old and has only played in 369 games. Bochenski is just 25 and I don’t think he’s been given a fair shake based on the game he plays. Bochenski is a Glen Murray type of guy (before Murray decided he wanted to play defense this year) who skates around and looks to get open so he can be fed the puck. He looked good last year when he was used that way and he hasn’t looked as good this year but he also hasn’t been used in the same manner. Unless there are other issues related to attitude (the supposed pounds of “muscle weight” he put on in the off-season aside) or chemistry, I just don’t understand giving up a guy with Bochenski’s potential for a d-man like Hnidy who is essentially peaking now at 32, has never played a full NHL season, has a season point high of 12, and is not known for being the most solid defensively. I don’t understand this move especially considering the Bruins need offense every bit as much as they need defense.
Bochenski was acquired from the Blackhawks in exchange for Kris Versteeg. Versteeg is still putting up solid numbers in the AHL and is only 21. Granted Versteeg may well never turn into a solid NHLer but trading a 21 year old who is always near a point per game in the AHL in exchange for, essentially, a 32 year old d-man who has one good year under his belt (last year) just does not make a lot of sense to me.
All of this being said (I would rather the team retained Bochenski unless he has been a real problem and I would rather give Lashoff time on the blue-line than Hnidy), I do think Hnidy can contribute positively to the club as he brings some solid attitude to the game. Now that he’s here, I’m looking forward to seeing him in action more and hopefully he will be the same type of player that fellow ex-Thrasher Glen Metropolit has been for the Bruins (by that I mean solid and dependable). Also, I’m happy when the team receives draft picks no matter what round they’re in. Hnidy is expected to be available for Thursday’s game against the Washington Capitals.
As a side note, let’s all congratulate Brad Marchand on his continuing international success. He scored the game winning goal today in the Canada vs. Finland match-up. I simply cannot wait until Marchand is out of junior and playing with the big guys (AHL or NHL). I think there’s something about this kid that will make him a really solid NHLer.
Ok, on to a quick pre-game for the Caps vs. Bruins game.
On Thursday, the Boston Bruins (19-16-4) take on the Washington Capitals (16-19-5) in Boston. While the Caps seem to have the Sens’ number, they don’t seem to have had the Bruins’ number over the past couple of seasons. In the last ten contests between these two clubs, the Bruins have gone 8-0-1-1. Not too shabby.
The Bruins are still missing Alberts, Ward, Allen, and Murray. The Caps are fairly healthy but Alexander Semin is day-to-day with a tailbone injury that he suffered against the Sens on New Year’s Day. Tim Thomas should get the start on Thursday and I have no doubt that he will be very dependable in the net. The Caps will likely respond with Ollie the Goalie.
The Caps have been on something of a tear lately since they made a coaching change and hired Bruce Boudreau (who clearly does not spell or pronounce his last name the proper way). Also on a tear is Alexander Ovechkin who has spent the last two games taking the Ottawa Senators to school. The Segway using Russian is entertaining both on and off the ice and I can’t wait to see him leave Boston because of it. All the Bruins need is Ovechkin to pop in a hat-trick to put the Bruins straight back into a rut.
The top things I will be watching for during this game are David Krejci settling into the number two centre slot (who along with Hnidy and maybe Lashoff on the back end could give the Bruins a nice new look), Lucic hasn’t pasted anyone in a while and I think some Cap has a big Vancouverite knuckle-sandwich waiting for him, the play of Hnidy in his first game with the Bruins (make me a fan of this deal please), Marco Sturm scoring a goal and whether or not Matt Lashoff is really maturing as a player.
Keys to the game:
1. AO must absolutely not be given room to move. The Caps have several other guys on the team who are decent players but if I’m forced to choose, I would let any of them shoot on Thomas five times before I let Ovechkin shoot on him once.
2. That being said, the Bruins shouldn’t underestimate the caps. Past performance is not indicative of future performance and the Caps should not be taken lightly. Obviously Nylander, Backstrom, Kozlov and Green aren’t exactly chopped liver (what the hell does that expression really mean anyways?)
3. The Bruins have been getting into way too much penalty trouble lately. They were so good for so long at not taking penalties for huge stretches of the game. Now it seems like whenever their feet aren’t moving, they end up in the box. That trend has to be reversed.
Prediction: 4-2 Bruins. Marco Sturm tallies two goals.
THE CONTEST (it’s not like the one from Seinfeld)
In the comments of my last blog, I promised that I would organize some sort of contest. I did this because my readers deserve only the best (and because I’m tired of being hassled about the lack of contests). Well here it is:
Gerry Bourdeau is proud to present the Gerry Bourdeau contest for excellence in commenting on Gerry Bourdeau’s blog. The commenter who leaves the funniest comment (any topic will do as long as it’s funny, clever and fairly tasteful but hockey comments are encouraged) will win a brand new Boston Bruins beer mug, a Batman PEZ dispenser, a VHS copy of Don Cherry’s Rock ‘em Sock ‘em 5 and a VHS copy of the Third Annual WWF Survivor Series, which I would date to around 1988. The main event on that is the Hulkamaniacs (Hulk, Jake the Snake, and Demolition) vs. the Million $ Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus and Powers of Pain). I know it sounds too good to be true but that package can be yours for absolutely free if you just leave the funniest comment. The comment can be a one off or it can come as a result of conversation. It doesn’t matter.
The comment will be judged by me and possibly a panel of rag-tag Hockeybuzzers that I will arrange at a later date. The contest will run until I feel there is a good enough sample of funny comments or mid-January, whichever comes first. If there is an absence of comments then your chances of winning go up (assuming you leave one).
This contest is open to fans of any team and people of all ages, makes and models, though I will be totally biased towards the Bruin fans. I will be even more biased towards attractive female Bruin fans with their own source of income. This is why I think I’ll need a panel of judges. If you are a fan of another team and you win the contest, you’re still getting a Bruin mug so don’t ask me to change the prize package.
Let the games begin.
-Gerz
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