Bruins News

"The Bruins announced individual ticket prices for 2008-09, designating 14 of their 41 dates at TD Banknorth Garden as higher-priced gold level games. For the 14 games (opponents include the Islanders, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Carolina, Montreal, Rangers, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, and New Jersey), tickets will range from $26.50-$199.50. For the 27 remaining games, tickets are $16.50-$189.50. Tickets go on sale next Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Garden box office and at www.bostonbruins.com."

"Looking to add veteran presence, in part to fill the leadership role vacated when Glen Murray's contract was bought out in July, the Bruins yesterday signed seasoned NHL forward Stephane Yelle to a one-year, free agent deal worth $750,000. A center/wing, Yelle, 34, is effective at faceoffs and also has been a key component on penalty-killing squads during his dozen seasons with Colorado and Calgary. He is not as slick or clever on offense as Glen Metropolit, but he has a more tenacious game and much of the overall versatility that Metropolit showed here last season before signing with the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent in July. "There is a defensive bent to his game," noted Bruins ..."

"The Bruins bolstered their strength up the middle yesterday by signing center Stephane Yelle. Yelle, who spent the last five seasons with Calgary after seven seasons with Colorado, has 85 goals and 239 points in 844 career games. As a rookie in 1995-96, he had career highs of 13 goals and 27 points. He was with Colorado when it won the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001."

"A lot of bench presses were overworked on the way to Milan Lucic becoming an NHL regular. Lucic, the former Vancouver Giant stalwart who's preparing for his second season with the Boston Bruins, says his off-ice fitness routine has been key to him making it to the highest level of hockey. He's willing to share. Lucic and former Giants teammates Brett Festerling and Spencer Machacek -- NHL prospects this season with the Anaheim Ducks and Atlanta Thrashers, respectively -- agreed to go through one of their regular workouts with Giants strength and conditioning coach Ian Gallagher Friday to give people an idea of hockey weight training. The exercises will benefit your regular recreational ..."

"During his first two seasons in San Jose, Mike Grier felt the progression that has become, fair or not, the underachieving Sharks' identity. They'd stock a fearsome roster. They'd roll through the regular season. Then they'd hiccup in the postseason and fall short of reaching the Stanley Cup - a goal, considering their talent, that has been a reasonable destination. Grier is hoping that in 2008-09, the last season of his three-year contract, the revamped Sharks can shed their collective millstone and make some postseason noise. "We've been a very good team in the regular season the last two years," said Grier. "But we've had our bumps and hit the wall in the playoffs, for some reason. "We ..."

"Despite a report yesterday on a Swedish hockey website, the Bruins aren't planning to see Carl Soderberg, their top European prospect, here in Boston when training camp opens Sept. 19. "News to me," said general manager Peter Chiarelli, when asked about the report on hockeysverige.se that quoted Soderberg's agent, Claes Elefalk, saying the 22-year-old center still planned to come to Boston. "I talked to Soderberg [approximately] 10 days ago, and he told me he's not coming. Just after I talked to him, I talked to Claes, and it seemed we all understood the situation: The kid wants to play another year over there, and we're fine with that." Chiarelli said he spoke yesterday with agent J.P. ..."

"Training camp is only a month away (Sept. 19), and there appears to be very little wiggle room on the Bruins roster for an all-but-unknown kid or two to walk out of camp wearing a Spoked B. "That's true," said general manager Peter Chiarelli, scrolling through his roster as the weekend began. "But I've told all of our younger guys the same thing: If they can make our team, I'll find room for them." Realistically, the short list of bubble guys includes forwards Nate Thompson, Martins Karsums, and Blake Wheeler, as well as defensemen Matt Lashoff and Matt Hunwick. Tuukka Rask, pegged for a second year as Providence's No. 1 goaltender, can make himself a part of the Boston roster discussion, ..."

"Scott Gordon, the former Providence Bruins coach who Tuesday was hired to coach the New York Islanders, definitely has the resume to win a Stanley Cup. How to know? Well, it’s the same as Peter Laviolette’s - and he won a Cup. These days it is a major compliment to be compared to Laviolette, hired seven years ago to coach the Islanders, but bounced after two seasons. He nevertheless, ended up with his name on Lord Stanley’s Cup as coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. The similarities here are flat-out weird, starting with the fact that Gordon is an NHL neophyte but was the American Hockey League Coach of the Year with the Baby Bruins, just as Laviolette once was. This may not guarantee the ..."

"Unable to fit an old-school coach into their new-age, management-by-committee organizational plan, the Islanders now turn to a future-oriented NHL neophyte they hope can grow along with their many young players. The Islanders Tuesday night ended a month-long search for a successor to Ted Nolan by passing up several recognizable names - including three recent Stanley Cup winners - to hire 2008 AHL Coach of the Year Scott Gordon. Unlike fellow finalists Bob Hartley and Paul Maurice - not to mention early interviewees John Tortorella and Marc Crawford - the 45-year-old Gordon never has been behind an NHL bench. However, Gordon (Boston College) and Islanders GM Garth Snow (Maine) are ..."

"What is a Bruins offseason without a search for a new coach? This time, the hunt for a bench boss won't be in Boston, and it probably won't take very long. Scott Gordon, Boston's top coach in Providence (AHL) the past five seasons, has been selected as the new coach of the New York Islanders. Gordon, 45, was on a long list of candidates, including ex-Boston coach Mike Sullivan, under consideration for the job by Islanders general manager Garth Snow. According to reports over the weekend, Snow winnowed his list to Gordon, ex-Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice, and former Thrashers coach Bob Hartley. "For me, the bottom line was finding the right coach for our organization at this time," Snow ..."

"The four-person United States Hockey Hall of Fame's class of 2008 -- announced on Tuesday morning -- is appropriately Olympian, given the events of the day. It also is groundbreaking. Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Brett Hull and Cammi Granato officially will be inducted at a dinner and ceremony on Oct. 10, held in conjunction with the next night's University of Denver-Notre Dame Hall of Fame Game at DU's Magness Arena. The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum is in Eveleth, Minn. The three men were obvious choices for the selection committee, a group assembled by USA Hockey in the wake of its takeover of the voting process last year (Editor's note: Frei serves on the panel). The final slot -- a ..."

"Sometime in 2008-09, Scott Bradley might start his week scouting a Canucks game in his native Vancouver, then cross the border to take in a Seattle Thunderbirds junior match the next night, fly cross-country to Providence for a Friday night AHL tilt, then drive to Boston for a Bruins game the following night. Prep the double espressos! "That probably won't be every week," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said with a laugh. Providing he's not addled by travel woes, Bradley, officially promoted to director of player personnel Aug. 1, will be an even more powerful resource for the Boston bosses to tap when it comes to hockey operations decisions. Bradley, formerly director of amateur ..."

"Michael Ryder is still trying to make sense of what went wrong last season. The winger was coming off back-to-back 30-goal campaigns with the Montreal Canadiens entering the 2007-08 and expectations were high from the Bonavista, N.L., product. But Ryder never got going and ended up with 14 goals and 17 assists in 70 games. He was a healthy scratch for all but four Stanley Cup playoff contests. "A weird year, I'll tell you that," Ryder, who signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent, told the Boston Globe. "I started out on a line (with Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins), got pushed back in the lineup, and then all of a sudden, I was out of the lineup. "To be honest, I still don't know what ..."

"Icebergs, some bigger than the world's largest cruise ships, meander silently by the harbor here in late spring and early summer. Michael Ryder grew up in a fishing town to the north, Bonavista, roughly a four-hour drive, depending on the ploddings of the too-frequent interlopers with large antlers that have a way of fascinating visitors and ticking off the locals. "Moose," grumbled Ryder, the newest Bruin, who returns to his beloved province for a few weeks every summer. "They cause so many accidents. Can't kill enough of 'em." Ryder, 28, will travel south to Boston next week, checking out places to live after signing on with the Bruins as an unrestricted free agent July 1, getting a $12 ..."

"Last season, when the NHL rolled out new Reebok uniforms, the "upgrade" flopped. They were too tight. They ripped. Sweat rolled off the jerseys and drained into gloves and skates. This year, the NHL is hoping the next round of equipment tweaks will be more successful. On June 11, the Goalie Equipment Working Group - general managers Doug Risebrough (Minnesota), Garth Snow (Islanders), Jim Rutherford (Carolina), and Brett Hull (Dallas); goalies Martin Brodeur (New Jersey), Rick DiPietro (Islanders), and Ryan Miller (Buffalo); and skaters Dany Heatley (Ottawa) and Mike Cammalleri (then Los Angeles, now Calgary) - convened in Toronto to address what could be done to shrink goaltenders, ..."

"The Bruins made three front-office moves official yesterday, the most significant being the promotion of Scott Bradley from director of amateur scouting to director of player personnel. Bradley, who held his previous position for 10 years, is one of the few holdovers from the Harry Sinden regime. Some of Bradley's best draft picks include Milan Lucic (2006), David Krejci (2004), and Patrice Bergeron (2003), all second-round selections. Bradley will scout pro and amateur players in his new position. Head amateur scout Wayne Smith, who spent the last two years with the Bruins after working as a regional scout for Columbus for seven seasons, will take over as director of amateur scouting. ..."

"Patrice Bergeron seemed to recognize the play developing before anyone else. The opposition thwarted the attack and were heading up ice when Bergeron picked off a pass at the blue line. He moved back on the attack, dipping his right shoulder to fake the wrister and drop the goalie to the ice, went to the backhander, and, before the goalie could recover, quickly went back to the forehand to tuck the puck home. The pretty move was not met by the thunderous applause that such a maneuver would normally elicit, but rather just a simple regrouping of the players at center ice for the next faceoff. For Bergeron was not skating at TD Banknorth Garden for the Bruins, but at Arena 2 Glaces in this ..."

"The Bruins signed restricted free agent centers Martin St. Pierre and Nate Thompson to contracts yesterday. Terms were not dislosed. St. Pierre was acquired in a July 24 trade that sent Pascal Pelletier to Chicago. The 24-year-old St. Pierre played the bulk of last season with the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate in Rockford, recording 21-67-88 totals in 69 games. Thompson, a sixth-round draft pick of the B’s in 2003, spent the past three seasons with AHL affiliate Providence. In 75 regular-season games last year, the 23-year-old recorded career highs in goals (19) and assists (20)."

"Sure, Robyn Regehr and Zdeno Chara had pictures to show the children of Mozambique what hockey was like. The interpreters did their best, too, explaining a rink was like a soccer field covered in ice and they had sticks, pucks and knife-like blades on their boots to move. One place, during the NHLer's recent trip to Africa, had props for them to actually demonstrate -- branches that crudely looked like hockey sticks. So, using a lock for a puck, they demonstrated passing and shooting. "I don't know if the kids got it," Regehr says with a chuckle, "or if they just thought we were crazy." Crazy or not, the memories that the Calgary Flames defenceman re-turned with from Africa will last with ..."

"The Bruins completed the buyout of Glen Murray's contract yesterday, making the 35-year-old right wing an unrestricted free agent. The Bruins will shed $2,766,667 from their 2008-09 salary cap number. Murray's remaining $1,383,333 will apply toward the Bruins' 2009-10 cap number. "It was very difficult," said general manager Peter Chiarelli. "He was one of our captains. Whenever we had to talk to our leadership group, he was part of it. He was a good foil for the players in that room. It was a difficult decision. But that's the cold, hard reality of this salary cap system. It's one of the tools general managers use to get that flexibility. In talking to Muzz, I couldn't give him any ..."

"These are supposed to be the days when executives ponder training camp and players bolt for 18-hole afternoons following morning workouts. But as the Bruins proved this past week, jettisoning Glen Murray and re-signing Dennis Wideman to a four-year, $15.5 million extension, the NHL has been plenty active, with even the sleepy time of August expected to be stuffed with action. There are two primary forces in play to explain what should be a busier-than-ever summer. First, the free-spending general managers of the league - some NHL personnel consider Boston boss Peter Chiarelli among this bunch for throwing $12 million at Michael Ryder - have put some clubs over or near the $56.7 million cap ..."

"The Bruins officially parted ways with 16-year NHL veteran Glen Murray yesterday, as general manager Peter Chiarelli announced that the team bought out the final year of the right winger’s contract. Murray, 35, is now an unrestricted free agent. The move saves the organization $2.7 million of the $4.15 million that Murray, who cleared waivers Friday, was due to make for the coming season. With a total payroll of approximately $55 million, the Bruins now have some breathing room under the league’s $56.7 million salary cap. The final decision to buy out a valuable locker room presence like Murray, who had just 17 goals and 13 assists last season and was held without a point in the ..."

"The Boston Bruins announced on Saturday that they have bought out the final year of right winger Glen Murray's contract. Following the buyout, Murray becomes an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any other NHL team. Murray had 17 goals and 13 assists in last season's injury plagued campaign that saw him play only 63 games. The two-time All-Star missed 19 games with a hip flexor and struggled through his least productive season in a decade. In 1009 career games the Halifax native has 337 goals and 314 assists."

"As expected, veteran right winger Glen Murray cleared waivers yesterday, getting the Bruins over the last hurdle before they can exercise their option to buy Murray’s contract out, which should happen within the next 48 hours. When the buyout is complete, the B’s salary cap number will be about $55 million, which puts them below the $56.7 million limit. Meanwhile, the B’s swapped unsigned restricted free agent minor leaguers with the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday. The Bruins shipped winger Pascal Pelletier to the Blackhawks for 5-foot-9, 185-pound center Martin St. Pierre, who has played a total of 21 games with Chicago, tallying a goal and three assists."

"As expected, Glen Murray, who was placed on unconditional waivers by the Bruins Wednesday, was not claimed by yesterday's noon deadline. If a team had claimed Murray, it would have assumed the $4.15 million remaining on his contract. The Bruins can buy out the right wing today, shaving two-thirds of Murray's salary off their 2008-09 cap number. They must complete the transaction before the buyout window closes Sunday. The team also announced it acquired center Martin St. Pierre from Chicago for left wing Pascal Pelletier, a swap of high-producing AHL forwards. The 25-year-old Pelletier had a breakout season in 2007-08, setting career highs with 37 goals and 38 assists as Providence's ..."

"The Boston Bruins have swapped forwards with the Chicago Blackhawks, getting Martin St. Pierre in exchange for Pascal Pelletier.

The trade was announced Thursday. St. Pierre played five games with the Blackhawks last season and spent the most time with Chicago's AHL affiliate Rockford. He led the team in scoring, finishing with 21 goals and 67 assists in 69 games. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said St. Pierre will provide depth at the center position."

"The Bruins locked up one of their younger players in 25-year-old Dennis Wideman yesterday, signing the defenseman to a four-year, $15.5 million extension that translates to a $3.875 million annual cap hit. On the same day, in a salary-clearing transaction, the Bruins took the first step in buying out and saying farewell to one of their veterans, placing 35-year-old Glen Murray and his $4.15 million salary on waivers. "It was really, really difficult," said general manager Peter Chiarelli. "Muzz is a very good person. He meant a lot to the room. It's something where you have to make hard decisions in this new system. Being put on waivers, it means that if you get taken by somebody else, ..."

"Changing course in the face of a lawsuit, TD Banknorth picked a new new name to use following its merger with Commerce Bancorp Inc. of New Jersey - TD Bank. Previously the combined banks were to be known as TD Commerce Bank. The bank has not decided what name it will put on the Boston sports arena now known as the TD Banknorth Garden, where it owns naming rights. Bank officials said they expect to decide on a name for the arena later this year. Any final name would include the word "Garden." TD Bank chief executive Bharat Masrani said he switched to the new name for his institution because of a lawsuit brought by Commerce Bank & Trust Co., a 12-branch company in Worcester. In a federal ..."

"Glen Murray’s days with the Bruins appear to be over. With the team avoiding arbitration and coming to terms with defenseman Dennis Wideman on a four-year, $15.75 million deal that sent the B’s over the NHL salary cap number of $56.7 million, Murray was placed on waivers yesterday, which is the first step toward buying out the remainder of the right winger’s contract. If Murray clears waivers today, starting tomorrow the Bruins will have 48 hours to complete the buyout. The move would save the B’s approximately $2.7 million of the 35-year-old’s $4.15 million salary against the cap. The club would also carry a third of the single-season number, just under $1.4 million, on the 2009-10 ..."

"Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced Wednesday that the club has signed defenseman Dennis Wideman to a multi-year contract extension. Per club policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed. Wideman posted a number of career high totals this year, recording career bests in games played (81), goals (13), assists (23), points (36) and plus/minus (+11)."

"Glen Murray’s agent Anton Thun confirmed that the Bruins’ have placed his client on waivers, which is the first step toward buying out the veteran right wing. “He’s fine,” said Thun. “If he had his druthers, he’d want to remain with the Boston Bruins. But he’s a big boy and he understands the rules of the game and understands the potential for something like this happening and he’ll move on.” With the B’s signing of Michael Ryder to a three-year $12 million deal on July 1 and the expected signing of Dennis Wideman to a four-year $15 million-plus deal, the B’s had to get rid of some salary to get under the league salary cap of $57million."

"Signing analyst Mike Milbury to a multiyear contract rates as Hockey Night in Canada's most important acquisition in years. The deal — two years plus an option — was announced yesterday after Milbury failed to reach a contract extension with TSN. In just one NHL season with TSN (and also NBC), Milbury has developed into a top studio analyst, largely by mixing humour with hard-hitting commentary. "I think it's a huge acquisition," Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said. "If he's not the best, he's one of the top two or three [studio analysts] in the business.""

"His summer job in the steel mill was hard, physically challenging, and sometimes brutally hot. Molten steel rods, some 60 feet long and 780 pounds, would arrive at his spot in the warehouse at temperatures of around 800 degrees, so hot, Shawn Thornton recalled the other day, that one day the soles of his boots dissolved while he swept the floor around the cooling beds. "They melted right down to the steel lining," Thornton said last week, during his first visit back to the Gerdau Ameristeel plant since working there in the summer of 1997. "Hey, we were kids . . . what did we know?" Thornton, who will turn 31 Wednesday, will return for a second season with the Bruins in 2008-09. His ..."

"Let the record show that constructing a core around young defensemen can take half a decade. In 2002, Nashville Predators management (general manager David Poile, assistant GM Ray Shero, and director of player personnel Paul Fenton), with input from amateur scouts, recognized a once-in-a-generation opportunity. The 2003 draft projected to be one of the deepest ever, prompting Nashville to stockpile 13 picks. "We made a game plan to try and get a core group of defensemen that could go out and play," said Fenton, the ex-Boston University Terrier who is now Poile's assistant."

"The Bruins, who play an NHL-high eight regular-season games on the road in October, will be spending significant time away from home during the exhibition season as well. The Bruins will play six of eight preseason games away from TD Banknorth Garden, with three in Atlantic Canada - Sept. 22 against Montreal in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Sept. 23 against the Islanders in Moncton, New Brunswick; and Sept. 25 against Detroit in Halifax."

"The Bruins open the 2008-09 season on the road Oct. 9 against Colorado. The Bruins last played at the Avalanche's home rink Dec. 7, 2005, a 4-1 Boston loss. The Bruins will play Oct. 11 at Minnesota, then return to Boston for two days of practice before playing Montreal at the Bell Centre Oct. 15 and concluding their season-opening road schedule Oct. 18 at Ottawa. The Bruins play their first home game Oct. 20 against Pittsburgh, the defending Eastern Conference champion. The home opener is scheduled for the same night as the Patriots-Broncos "Monday Night Football" game."

"The Boston Bruins released their schedule today. The B’s will open with a four-game road trip, kicked off with the season-opener at Colorado on Thursday, Oct. 9. After trips through Minnesota, Montreal and Ottawa, the B’s will take the TD Banknorth Garden ice for the first time on Monday, Oct. 20 against the Pittsburgh Penguins."

"In a little more than 11 weeks from today, the Avalanche will play its first regular-season game, at home against the Boston Bruins. The Avalanche's 2008-09 schedule was released this morning by the NHL. The team will open at The Pepsi Center on Oct. 9 against Boston, followed by a two-game road trip Oct. 12 and 14 through Alberta, against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. The season will conclude April 12 with a home game against St. Louis. The longest road trip of the season for the Avs will be a six-game Eastern trip from Feb. 20-March 2. The longest homestand is from Jan. 16-Feb. 5, an eight-game stretch."

"The Bruins' 2008-09 home opener will be Monday, Oct. 20, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game at TD Banknorth Garden will be played the same night as the Patriots-Broncos game in Foxborough. The Bruins will start the season on the road. Since the NHL only announced each team's home opener, it is known that the Bruins' second game of the season will be at Minnesota Oct. 11. Boston's regular-season opener, along with the rest of the schedule, will be released today."

"While the Bruins' prospects twirled around the Ristuccia Arena ice last week, rumors once again swirled around the Hub that Jeremy Jacobs, chairman of the Black and Gold, had his hockey club up for sale. "He's shopping it to his billionaire buddies," said one non-team source who deals on a regular basis with members of the Bruins' front office. Not true. At least according to Charlie Jacobs, the family's point man on Causeway Street, and according to his father. "I can say with great confidence that it's not on the market," said the junior Jacobs. "My dad enjoys operating the team and having a say in what happens here, as do I.""

"In a previous NHL era, the closest a player like Brad Marchand might have gotten to the big league was something like a rookie development camp, or maybe a cursory and hopeless look for a few days of training camp. Marchand is a guy with a lot going for him - speed, skill with the puck, grittiness and a knack for making big plays - but also has what once would have been seen as one giant black mark: The right winger is only about 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds. With the changes in rules enforcement the last three years, sheer size no longer is as important as it was. With the interference and clutching and grabbing cut way back, and ice more open, the game now is as much about speed and ..."

"Pole’ pole’ (pronounced “poe-lay”). It’s a phrase repeated over and over by head guide Aloyce Manyango throughout Bruins captain Zdeno Chara’s 37-mile trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Pole’ pole’ means slow and steady, because moving too fast up Africa’s highest mountain, ascending too quickly, brings certain failure via altitude sickness. The goal is to reach the 19,340-foot summit of Uhuru Peak, with an initial reward about 800 feet below that, on the volcano’s crater rim, at Gilman’s Point. Chara and myself, along with Mark Brender from the international humanitarian organization Right To Play, and a two-man crew from NHL Productions, spent six days together in late June ..."

"Over the last two years of his hockey career, Kevin Regan appeared in 67 of the University of New Hampshire's 77 games, earning the trust of coach Dick Umile as an ace NCAA goalie. According to the Bruins' blueprint, however, Regan might not be as busy in his first year as a professional, which the South Boston native acknowledges. "I love playing in a lot of games," said Regan, who turns 24 later this month, making him the oldest at this week's Bruins development camp at Ristuccia Arena. "In college and juniors, I played a ton. Going into this season, that most likely won't be the case. It might be every other game. Or it might be in one in three or one in four. It'll be a big ..."

"No one around the Bruins is ready to proclaim Zach Hamill the second coming of Patrick Kane. But the similarities between Hamill and Kane, the NHL’s rookie of the year this past season with the Chicago Blackhawks, are unmistakable. Kane, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, is generously listed at 5-foot-10 and 163 pounds. Yet he is also blessed with a lofty “Hockey IQ” - that sixth sense for seeing the ice and anticipating plays. Kane played all 82 games for the resurgent Blackhawks last season, posting 21-51-72 totals."

"Last fall, Hamill participated in his first pro training camp but did not look comfortable among the Boston big boys. Upon his return to his junior club, Hamill put up a line of 26-49 -75 for Everett in 2007-08, 18 points fewer than he recorded the year before, and the Silvertips were swept in the first round of the WHL playoffs - not exactly a welcome dip in the development curve of a No. 8 pick. "I think he would describe his year - and we would probably agree with it - as a little more up and down than it was the previous year, where he kept it there and led the entire league in scoring," Sweeney said. "If his production wasn't quite where it was the year before, it's not necessarily ..."

"Joe Colborne is big - so big, in fact, that even he is having trouble keeping up with the measuring tape that runs up his backside. Just some six weeks ago in Toronto, the NHL Combine calculated the now-promising Bruins center at 6 feet 4-3/4 inches. On Tuesday, when he checked in for Boston's weeklong development camp in Wilmington, the long and lanky kid from Calgary, Alberta, topped out at 6-5-1/2. "If I keep this up," said the amused Colborne, not sure whether to attribute the growth spurt to mathematical error, rarefied Boston air, or just good home cooking, "I'll be 7 feet tall by the end of the week.""

"Joe Colborne is big - so big, in fact, that even he is having trouble keeping up with the measuring tape that runs up his backside. Just some six weeks ago in Toronto, the NHL Combine calculated the now-promising Bruins center at 6 feet 4 3/4 inches. On Tuesday, when he checked in for Boston's weeklong development camp in Wilmington, the long and lanky kid from Calgary, Alberta, topped out at 6-5 1/2. "If I keep this up," said the amused Colborne, not sure whether to attribute the growth spurt to mathematical error, rarefied Boston air, or just good home cooking, "I'll be 7 feet tall by the end of the week.""

"The comparison is obvious with a pair of young defensemen, both listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, each adept at the invaluable skill of moving the puck out of the defensive zone. At the Bruins’ first development camp a year ago, former University of Michigan star Matt Hunwick took his first successful steps on a path that would lead to his playing 13 games with the Bruins in 2007-08, and quite possibly more than that this coming season. This year it could be Andrew Bodnarchuk’s turn. “He’s very similar to Hunwick,” Bruins director of player personnel Scott Bradley said. “Good puck-mover, can play the power play, good hockey sense.”"

"Patrice Bergeron turns 23 two weeks from tomorrow, which makes him 364 days younger than rookie goalie Kevin Regan and just a month older than first-year forward Jeff LoVecchio, two of the fresh faces at the Bruins' development camp that kicked off yesterday at Ristuccia Arena. But Bergeron, who will enter his fifth NHL season this fall, and 33-year-old teammate Manny Fernandez are the veterans among the youngsters this week, both having made the unusual but welcome request to share ice time with the prospects. "I think it spoke volumes of both Manny and Patrice asking to take the step to want to come here," said Don Sweeney, director of hockey operations and player development. ..."

"On June 21, Jamie Arniel experienced one of the memorable days of his life when the Bruins traded up to select the forward in the fourth round of the NHL draft. But subsequent events made it a day Arniel is sure never to forget. Early on June 22, Arniel was arrested and charged with impaired driving in his hometown of Kingston, Ontario, where he collided with parked cars and street signs. According to Kingston police, the 18-year-old had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. Arniel originally was scheduled to appear in a Kingston court yesterday, but he was at the development camp instead. "I definitely exercised awful judgment that night," Arniel said. "I ..."