With temperatures rumored to hit 90 degree's today, it's hard to believe that the hockey season OFFICIALLY STARTS TODAY. #BOOM All the players hit up camp which means we have another exciting and hopefully successful hockey campaign upon us. Time to dust off my Lucic jersey and prepare my liver...
Now I'm not going to talk about the people we know. I don't believe there's such thing as a casual hockey fan. You know hockey or you don't. No pink hats allowed. We'll assume that everyone knows who Patrice Bergeron is and if you don't, leave this blog right now! LEAVE! That man is a saint, my vote for next mayor of Boston, and unanimous choice for the new Batman.
Instead, I'll touch upon other prospects that I'm intrigued to follow during camp:
1) Jared Knight (2010 Draft 2nd Round by Boston) : This was the third and final piece to the Kessel trade. Everyone obviously knows who Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton are, but I'm intrigued by Knight as well and I expect him to make some noise in the near future. He was the 2nd pick in the 2nd round, which is basically a late first round talent. He suffered some injuries last year, but hopefully this year if he plays well for Providence we'll see him for a few games in Boston. Who knows, if Caron goes Peppy Le Pew on us and stinks, we may see him earlier.
2) Alexander Khokhlachev (2011 2nd Rnd BOS) : You always have to worry a bit about Russian players (see Ily Kovalchuk), but I'm excited about this dude. Not because he has a sweet sounding last now (no idea if I pronounce it right but I say Cocoa-la-chev), but because he's dominated the OHL. Two years ago he scored 69 points in 56 games. Then he decided to take his skills to Moscow where he didn't fair too well in the KHL. He comes back to the OHL and BAM 48 points in 28 games. The jump to the KHL might have been too much at the time, so hopefully he joins the Baby B's this year and continues to develop in our system. If that doesn't happen, he could be part of a deadline deal to bring someone else in (he was originally part of the Iginla deal).
3) Reilly Smith (2009 3rd Rnd DAL) : Straight up, I know nothing about this guy. I'll send you over to Stanley Cup of Chowdah for a nice recap of him. The reason I'm putting him on this list is because he was part of the Seguin/Peverley trade. I'm hoping that at least 2 out of the 3 prospects we got in return will play some quality minutes for the big boys at some point. If that happens, I'll be much happier about the trade.
4) Joe Morrow (2011 1st Rnd PIT) : Just like Smith, I don't know much about this guy. I remember when the Penguins trading him to the Stars for Brenden Morrow he was one of their top D-prospects. To get another first round defensive prospect is pretty exciting. Besides Eriksson, Morrow was probably the most important piece of the Seguin/Peverley trade. With the likes of Hamilton, Krug, and Bartkowski, to have another solid defensive prospect would have to make the Bruins defensive pipeline one of the strongest in the league. Again, here's the Stanley Cup of Chowdah's take.
5) Niklas Svedberg (undrafted) : The Providence Bruins rookie had a stellar regular season for the Baby B's, earning Baby Vezina Award for best goaltender in the AHL. With first round pick Malcom Subban playing well, and obviously Rask playing like an elite goaltender, the B's have some SOLID goaltending depth. If Svedberg plays well, he will earn the backup spot in Boston allowing Subban to be the main guy in Providence.
Here's too a good season and my on again off again blogging of it!!
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