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November 24, 2007

Things.

RASK, FERNANDEZ, AND YOU

I'd had a fantastic rant all prepared about how blah blah blah, Rask in the NHL is kind of dumb at this point in his career, and didn't you people watch the development of this kid named Andrew Raycroft and how we pretty much screwed him up, and then we repeated the same mistakes with this other kid named Hannu Toivonen, and why do we have to exact the same history on tender goalie prospects and then I took a deep breath.

You know what?

Good for Rask.

The fact that he was called up when Manny turned into a predictable bust means that Mike Brown gets to stay in Providence. With Rask in Boston, it means that Jordan -when healthy- gets to play more. With Jordan out of commission temporarily, it means that Mike Brown gets to play more.

Manny being hurt might have cost me a prospect I was excited to anticipate in a Bruins uniform, but it's it's paying off in dividends because it means I get to see goalies I care about playing in Providence.

Well done, Chiarelli.

SPEAKING OF GOALTENDERS...

Jordan Sigalet issued a statement yesterday:

"I want to thank everyone for the support they have shown me over the past week," said Sigalet. "It makes things so much easier knowing that I have the support of the fans, my teammates and great work from the team doctors.
"I am staying positive, keeping in good spirits and feeling better each day. Again, thank you to everyone for your well wishes, support and privacy you have shown myself, Jonathan and our family at this time."

PROVIDENCE IS AWESOME.

Providence has compiled a 13-2-1 record in the 16 games they've started this season. They're first in the division. They've shown up for this season like they just came to get some beer and kick some butt, and they just found out we're all out of beer.

Love!

PS. Matt Hendricks? This is coming out of YOUR paycheck:

THREE LETTERS

Dear Mike Brown;
You've started four games so far, and you've won all four. I'm immensely pleased. You've come far since I first saw you at camp lo those many years ago.

Those final seconds of a period are killer, I know. I am also generally mentally out of the game and looking forward to the bathroom break, but you've got to stop allowing those final-minute goals. I love being on the edge of my seat as much as the next person, but that's not the kind of drama I want.

Love,
Heather

Dear Nateful;
I enjoy your stepped-up play this season. I enjoy it so much, I've removed you off the "ON NOTICE" whiteboard I have in the kitchen. I know, I was shocked, too.

But let's be clear on one thing: I really, really, really, REALLY want you to score on those breakaways, and I want it badly. I know you can do it. Practice throwing darts at my picture if it will help improve your aim. I'll even provide the picture.

Looking forward to celebrating a goal from a breakaway,
Heather

Dear Pascal;
Hell-llllloooo. You too, have stepped up your play, and high holy moly, it's incredible. You're top twenty in the league for scoring, You've only played 16 games so far, and you're almost halfway to meeting your numbers from last season. You keep this up, and you'll break 100 points before the season is over. I think that's fantastic.

You keep this up, and then break my heart by signing somewhere else in June, and I'll have to hunt you out and deliver unto you sharp kicks to the shins.

Wondering if I should find some steel-toed, pointy-toed shoes,
Heather

MUSIC AT THE DUNK

Ben Schwartz is looking for your suggestions. From previous comments at SVO:

"I desperately try to inject new songs into the lineup, but 75% of the time they get shot down before I get a chance to play them again! So I've been rather timid as of late with trying out new stuff. Anything new I play, I usually get from watching the Boston games on NESN...kinda my template. ...

I have actually been all but prohibited from playing anything on the organ other than the "clap-along" stuff and "chant" stuff, of which there are about 7-10 variations. Gets pretty boring after (3 periods) x (40 games) = 120 periods of hockey in a typical season.

Once again, I invite everybody to suggest music you haven't heard at the games before which you think are better than the stuff I have to play currently. I will try to play each suggestion at a game this weekend."

So, if you have suggestions, you can certainly leave them here, you can send them to the Dunk, and you can contact Ben at his website: http://www.benschwartz.net (More info on what he does with Providence specifically is here: http://www.benschwartz.net/music/bruins.html) I just ask that there's no more Baha Men. Who let the dogs out? Me. I did. We can stop asking the question now.

by Heather | 3:39 PM | 3
filed under: 07-08 season || providence bruins

Comments

Rick Marnon said:

Kudos to Sigalet for fighting back. This is a difficult thing to live with, but my thoughts, and prayers are with him and his family.

November 25, 2007 4:01 AM

Dan Patrick said:

Raycroft wasn't screwed by the Bruins, he screwed himself.

He has a huge ego coming out of the lockout ( a lockout which he played about 4 games and Finland and looked like an ECHL goalie) and decides he'll hold out for more money.

He misses most of training camp and the Bruins call his bluff by signing Tim Thomas.

Maybe if he wasn't such a greedy punk with a misplaced sense of entitlement, things might have worked out better for him.

Have you seen this guy lately? He's one of the worst goalies in the league and he completely brought it on himself. He should call Tim Thomas up for pointers on working out and having the discipline needed to be a goalie in this league.

November 26, 2007 11:16 AM

Heather said:

Addressing your comment Dan, point by point:

He has a huge ego coming out of the lockout ( a lockout which he played about 4 games and Finland and looked like an ECHL goalie) and decides he'll hold out for more money.

Andrew Raycroft played 18 games in Finland. His numbers, when adjusted for the differences in number of games, are actually very very close to the ones he posted in Boston his rookie year.

Why shouldn't he have held out for more money? Coming out of the lockout, he'd just won the Calder Trophy. He had everyone in Boston convinced for YEARS that he could do no wrong; that the sun rose and set out of his bum. In that position, I too, would have wanted more cash than league minimum.

We spent years refining Andrew's talents within our system. He was the Golden Boy of Goaltending for at least two years that I know of (for sure because I was there to hear the nonstop praises sung of him). He had a rookie campaign with us that won him the Calder Trophy. As someone who looks for the teeniest flaw in him so that I can stoke the rabid flames of my dislike for the kid, even I have to say that it's my opinion that Andrew Raycroft got a raw deal in Boston, from what he didn't do on his own part (training) to the team that was put in front of him to the way the goaltending tandem was handled.

Could Andrew Raycroft have trained better in the two offseasons? Yes. Did management mess with the team too much between the choices of UFAs and various trades? Yes. Did one feed the other, leading to Andrew's downward spiral within Boston? They certainly didn't help each other. Is Armageddon on its way because I defended Andrew Raycroft? Absolutely. Tie down your shutters and find refuge in your basements.

He misses most of training camp and the Bruins call his bluff by signing Tim Thomas. Maybe if he wasn't such a greedy punk with a misplaced sense of entitlement, things might have worked out better for him.

Maybe. Maybe that's who he is. Maybe Boston fed his ego by spending three-plus years crowing about how he was the Next Big Thing. Maybe he's genetically predisposed to being an asshole. Either way, he is who he is, through both a combination of his environment and a combination of his DNA.

If you're going to suggest ANY goalie for him to call for pointers, perhaps he should look at places OTHER than Tim Thomas. Tim is not a wholly awful goalie, but he's a positionally unsound one, and he's sloppy. Maybe he and Andrew could trade tips. Andrew could tell him what "positioning" is, and Tim could tell Andrew what "humility" and "dedication" are.

November 26, 2007 6:25 PM