November 15, 2007

Oh, and last night makes me 6-0. If I were any cooler, I'd have to wear shades.

TRANSACTIONS

Previously, the Matts Lashoff and Hunwick were both recalled to Boston, and both were returned to Providence in time for the home opener. Phew. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to get mad at Lashoff's usually-streaky defensive play. (He made some excellent plays last night, though. Everyone was being a good goalie, which was convenient for Rask.)

Rask was recalled from Providence today because -- shocker -- Manny is still broken.

Maybe now it's not just me who is seeing the ludicrosity of trading a fantastic, talented prospect (Petr Kalus) for a goaltender who hadn't played a drop of game time (at the time of the trade) for more than half a year because of an INJURED KNEE.

I might not have gone to medical school, but I have interned with some of the best -- the doctors House, Hawkeye Pierce, Ross, and Doogie -- and I have to say... injuries of the joints are chronic. And if I could see that the trade wasn't maybe one of the wiser ones (without my contacts in, even), then maybe, just maybe, someone who had some pull in the matter could have seen that this wouldn't be the wisest way to spend a prospect.

I want to like Fernandez; I really do. He's probably a delightful person. But because I still believe that Kalus was too steep a price to pay for an aging goaltender with a knee issue, I'm going to continue to flat-out refuse to see any positive in the transaction that brought him here, and I'm certainly not going to see any silver linings in the fact that so far, he's sat out more games than he's played. Where's that number one goalie that we were supposed to garner from this trade? We're right back to Tim playing lead in Boston, and as much as I like Timmy, this can't last. Neither can recalling Rask every six days.

Of course, the fact that Manny's 2-2 in four games, with none played since Oct 22... that doesn't really scream "positive outlook!" to me, but I can be quite the Debbie Downer when I want to be.

THE DUNK'S RENOVATIONS

Providence opened their home season at the Dunk last night, and while it's certainly more complete than the construction I saw over the summer led me to believe it would be by this time, I'm still kind of torn on the renovations. The spiffed-up bathrooms are awesome, but it'd be nice if there was a bathroom in the lobby, too. Sometimes, waiting until the gates open is just NOT AN OPTION. The roominess of the new concourse is also delightful, though the new, jacked up prices at the concession stands are not. $3.50 for water is ridiculous. It's a renewable resource, people. Let's not be so stingy. I'm happy to report that the music hasn't changed AT ALL, and I'm so happy to see that Ben Schwartz didn't spend ANY TIME AT ALL this summer getting acquainted with any new/other musical stylings. There are so many great songs out there, and they're all going to waste because Ben ::hearts:: Coldplay. Which: ew.

Overall, positive review for the improvements to the Dunk. The only other thing I dislike is the low lighting at warmups. That's got to go, and that's got to go with a quickness. Low light = pictures that are crap = Heather on the warpath. And if this the Dunk's new way of passively trying to dissuade me from bringing my camera ... nope. It's not going to work.

PROVIDENCE 3, PORTLAND 2 (SO)

If you can tell me what's wrong with this picture, you win a prize. I don't know what that prize will be, but it'll be something fabulous. Not as fabulous as the $100 million dollars that Jess won off me a few weeks ago, but, y'know, it'll be something just as titillating.

Oh Capt'n, my capt'n.

That's right, ladies and sirs, your captain for the 2007-2008 season is none other than Nateful.

The captaincy wasn't announced prior to the first home game, but woman's intuition had me suspect that it was him. The fact that he was polite and nice to evvvvvvvvvvveryone (specifically: me) at the Meet The Players party last week was the biggest tip-off. And also surreal.

I have to admit, though, that his play has stepped up considerably. I noticed that back at the start of the month when I went to a game in Portland. I do not know if the captaincy is what pushed him, or if he came into camp a changed man, but right now, it looks good on him. If he'd just start scoring on his breakaways, I might stop kvetching about him completely. Then what would we all do?!? (I still would have preferred Nate DiCasmirro or Sean Curry for the C before Nateful.)

Matt Hendricks had an A (I approve), as did Jeff Hoggan (I sort-of approve. Again; wouldn't have been my first choice for last night).

Rask started in net, which: no surprise. He's rapidly degenerating into my least-favorite goaltender in Providence. Fortunate, then, that I'm biased towards Mike Brown and Jordan Sigalet.

Providence scored first (Sobotka from Pascal and Dave Krejci), and second (TJ! Trevelyan from Dave K). Portland halved the score in the second period and then TIED IT UP WITH FORTY SECONDS REMAINING IN THE THIRD. I was, suffice to say, NOT PLEASED. It went into overtime (scoreless) and then into the shootout. Providence went first. Dave Krejci scored the only goal for Providence, but fortunately, it was all we needed, because Tuukka stopped all five of Portland's shooters. Good thing, too, because it's really too early in the season to get on my bad side.

I'm awfully glad that the home season has started. I was starting to forget how much I love having hockey halfway through my commute home. Tomorrow, I get to enjoy the pBs hosting ex-pB Dennis Packard and his teammates, the Worcester Sharks.

God, I missed Friday night games.

by Heather | 9:49 PM | 6
filed under: 07-08 season || boston bruins || providence bruins || transactions