Archive for September, 2007

Posted in Transactions No Comments September 27th, 2007

Mowers traded to Ducks for two defensemen not named Pronger, Niedermayer

Well, of course, I guess hoping for either Pronger or Niedermayer WOULD be a reach…saunders.jpg

As transactions go, this is barely noteworthy. Mowers is 33 and wasn’t a major force on the team last year. The prospects they got for him…Nathan Saunders and Brett Skinner…are also not expected to be major players either. In fact, with Mathieu Schneider hurt and Scott Niedermayer’s retirement status up in the air, you wonder why the Ducks would move any defensemen at all.

Saunders is described by Hockey’s Future as a “big, physical, defensive defenseman” (Chara Lite?) and Skinner as a “offensive defenseman who is blessed with impeccable passing and playmaking abilities”.

Skinner sounds like the better prospect of the two, but Saunders gets brownie points for the condition of his left eye in this photo. If he ever makes it to the NHL, the Dropkick Murphys may take notice.

Also of note….

Posted in Zdeno Chara 2 Comments September 20th, 2007

Chara drops gloves! (also of note: Bruins win)

In a shocking development in the game to kicking off the Bruins’ ‘07-’08 exhibition season, Zdeno Chara actually dropped his gloves in a move that was unrelated to him heating a Cup O’ Noodles in the locker room during the second intermission.

Also of note, the Bruins beat the Islanders (thanks in part to two Jeff Hoggan goals).

But enough about that, let’s get back to that fight by Chara. According to the Globe article, “Chara had been jawing with Chris Simon on the preceding faceoff, then went toe-to-toe with Brennan, throwing several punches before the two fell to the ice.” According to ESPN, it appears the fight was a little more in Brennan’s favor. “Tension boiled over several times, and Islanders enforcer Kip Brennan took down hulking Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara in a fight.” Yeah, thanks for the “hulking” reference.  I’m sure every beat writer will be sure to cram a size adjective into every story that involves a Chara fight this year (and hopefully there’ll be more than just this one).

Hopefully, this will be a sign of things to come for Chara, who didn’t drop the gloves to fight at all last season…perhaps due to Dave Lewis, perhaps due to his captaincy title and the responsibilities with it. Either way, it’s good to hear that he let loose for once…even if it’s just an exhibition game. This team needs a re-energized Chara since the defensive corps behind him (Dennis Wideman, Mark Stuart and the Awesome A’s: Andrew Alberts, Andrew Ference, Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference, and Bobby Allen) all have a lot to prove this season.