Training Camp Preview

Here it is! Only my second post of the month is the first in over two weeks. I've said before that I was hoping for some help on the Patriots blogging, but even the so-called "biggest Pats fan alive" won't blog about them because A.) he's too lazy, B.) he's too big of a homer and can't be objective, and C.) he does not know enough about football to blog with conviction. Well, as promised, I'm gonna be posting my Training Camp Preview, as well as my Regular Season preview for the Bruins. Hopefully the readers will fire back after I post this Preview and give me their thoughts (but they mostly don't because they're lazy and afraid to disagree with anything, Bmal excluded).

Four of us went to the Rookie Scrimmage the other day (Night 2) to get a first glimpse of guys like Tyler Seguin, Jordan Caron, and Joe Colborne. Unfortunately, Colborne suffered a mild concussion the night before and was not able to show off his skills to the crowd of over 14 thousand. Colborne's absence was a bummer, but it was still a successful night for the B's rooks, as they swept the Islanders with a 2-1 overtime win.

Despite Colborne not being in the lineup, the game offered a good glimpse of the B's future, and gave us a benchmark of what to expect in Training Camp. Now, many of the guys on the ice the other night were simply fighting for ice-time in Providence, and they know it. But there are a handful of guys that will be given a legitimate chance to play with the big club to open the season, and those are the guys I keyed in on when watching from roughly the 10th row (not bad for five bucks). The obvious one is Seguin. I'm guessing that roughly 12 of the 14 thousands fans that were there showed up solely to watch the team's new #19 skate. Seguin potted 2 assists the night before, but he was largely a non-factor in the 2nd game. He had a few nice rushes and let off a few quick wristers, but nothing close to a game changing play. The Islanders keyed in on him from end-to-end, and the pressure of having 14,000 show up to watch him must have watered down his performance. The one scary moment came when he was flung head-first into the boards in the first period, only to hop back up and get right into the play.

The most impressive guys on the night were the one's that most of the 14,000 in attendance had no idea about. The teams two second round picks (Jared Knight and Ryan Spooner) showed why the B's and Peter Chiarelli are so high on them. For one, they both have speed to burn...moreso Knight, who was blowing around dmen and winning battles for the puck in the corners to boot. For such a smallish and speedy guy, Knight seemed to play with an edge in his game and was much more physical than anticipated. While Knight played a very strong game, the most impressive players on Thursday night were Spooner and Maxim Sauve. Spooner had two goals and was all over the ice for 3 periods. He's not as fast as Knight, but he's got the hockey smarts and was probably 70 or 80% on faceoffs from my count. But moving on to the most impressive player in my eyes, Sauve. I was hoping that Sauve would break training camp last year with the big club. He had a very, very impressive training camp and was probably their best all-around player in the preseason. He'll never be mistaken for a guy like Marc Savard, but he's got a well-rounded game and never gives up on a play. Sauve was a stud on the few penalty kills that the B's had, and he helped set up Spooner's two goals (including the OT winner with a bullet pass cross-ice for the breakaway). Sauve was one of two guys I wanted to focus on for the game, and he reinforced my belief that he could possibly break camp with the B's.

The other guy I focused in on from the start was Yuri Alexandrov, the Bruins' second round pick from 2007 that has spent the last few years in the KHL. Alexandrov was in camp with the B's last season, and he was a huge disappointment, which ultimately lead him to sign an extension with the KHL and delay his Bruins debut for another season. The biggest problem, from what the Bruins are saying, is the Russian's work ethic. In 2007, Alexandrov fell to the beginning of the 2nd round (a projected top 15 pick) for that very reason, despite being compared to Sergei Gonchar at the same age. During the game, Alexandrov had a few plays that were enough to get excited about. He made a great pinch in joining the rush that led to an excellent scoring opportunity of the stick of Spooner, only to be robbed by the Islanders goalie. Then Alexandrov sparked a 2 on 1 from behind his own net with a tape-to-tape pass put on the stick of Jamie Arniel. Despite the few good plays offensively, Alexandrov made some stupid plays that might have made some fans say "send him back to Russia." The frustrating thing to watch with him was how often he put himself out of position. He's too "puck-focused" and seemingly doesn't pay attention to anything else. The best defensemen are those who compose themselves when the puck is elsewhere and position themselves accordingly, and Alexandrov is very clearly nowhere close. He showed some flashes, but he's still a year away from the NHL...at least.

Heading into camp, there are plenty of things to be excited about and several storylines to keep an eye on. The biggest story will be Marc Savard's post-concussion syndrome and how it effects the positioning of some prospects. Based on what the Bruins currently have, here is how I see the lineup panning out for their trip to Prague and Northern Ireland at the beginning of next month:

Line 1: Lucic - Krecji - Horton

Line 2: Wheeler - Bergeron - Recchi

Line 3: Ryder - XXXX - Seguin

Line 4: Paille - Campbell - Thornton

D1: Chara and Boychuk

D2: Seidenberg and Stuart

D3: Hunwick and Ference

7th defenseman: Adam McQuaid

We know who the goalies are going to be, barring injury that is. The first thing I notice from that lineup card (and again, that is all barring injuries and cap situation) is that the defensive unit is actually weak. Without Chara anchoring that unit, it's probably among the worst in the NHL. Chara happens to be good enough to make it one of the best, but it still has no depth to it. There is a reason Chiarelli talked with Calgary about Robyn Regehr and with Toronto about Kaberle. The Bruins are going to need to add a blueliner at some point during the season.

But the key to camp is the status of Marc Savard. The big XXXX represents his uncertain status. If Savard is able to come back, then it's an easy fill. But my gut tells me that the Bruins will play things extremely cautious with their center and that they may need to fill it with one of several prospects. If Savard is unable to make the trip to Europe, then filling that space relies on how they view the development of #19. They have a few options:

1.) If they want to move Seguin to the wing to start his career, they can plug the third line center hole with one of several talented youngsters. The first would be their 2007 first-round pick Zach Hamill. He played very well in his only NHL game against he Caps to end last season, and he was great last preseason. But his development has taken a long, long time and the Bruins still may not trust him. Hamill's playmaking skills and offensive-minded game probably make him the best parallel to Savard in the system. If Hamill isn't the choice, then they could look at two others to fill the spot: Spooner and Sauve. I would love to see Sauve make this team. For a Frenchman, he's got grit and he's well rounded. Spooner has the skills and the smarts, but I tend to think the Bruins want to leave him in junior for another year or two before exposing him to professional hockey.

2.) And now we have option two, which is probably more likely in the event Savard is unavailable. The two most NHL-ready prospects in the Bruins system lie on the wing, and the Bruins might be inclined to move Seguin to the middle in order to give one of these two a shot. Brad Marchand has grit and an offensive spark. He didn't show his offensive skills in his stint last year (only one point in 20 games), but the certainly showed he can skate with the big boys. He was a big part of their penalty kill when he was up, and showed that he wasn't afraid to mix things up despite being only 5'9". And then you've got the player who netted a hat trick in the first rookie game and has drawn comparisons to Patrice Bergeron for his two-way play...Jordan Caron. Like Sauve, it would be a shame to have to see Caron play an entire year in Providence. He's too NHL-ready and he's got too much promise. For a long-term fix (which might be necessary if they bury Ryder in the minors or just buy him out, and if Sturm never comes back), Caron is the easy choice. He's ready both physically and mentally, and has far more upside than Marchand.

Of course, Savard could be feeling great come October, and all of this speculation may be for nothing. But it will be this same group of players that Peter Chiarelli and Claude Julien consider when they inevitably have to replace Ryder or Sturm, or when the first storm of injuries befalls the Black and Gold. The competition for very few spots should make this a great preseason for the B's, and we should all look forward to what these players are able to showcase.

Until the end of camp...

Money Talks

I've got a few things on the blogging agenda I'd like to try and talk about this morning. A lot has happened over the last week, we've seen brawls, a Russian guy finally got signed, and the Patriots finished up their preseason. Since I'm going to talk about hockey for the majority of the blog, I'll start with the less important stuff.

First off, I've added a new athlete to the list of "most hated." I never thought it was possible for fringe players and mediocre depth guys to be added to this list, but Nyjer Morgan managed to get on there. On a second note, Gaby Sanchez immediately inked himself on my "most loved" list for his spot-on impersonation of Mo Vaughn de-cleating George Bell. But back to Morgan. I don't know if that guy realizes he's barely Major League quality. Yea, you're fast, but do you realize that you're probably just the new Alex Sanchez? You can't play defense for shit (something he has in common with Sanchez), you have zero power to speak of, you weigh 128 pounds sopping wet, and your on the fucking Stephen Strasburg-less Nationals! I watched some clips of Morgan trying to run over various catchers a few weeks ago, and I guess I just started to hate the guy a little more. I'm all for competition, if you have to run the guy over to win the game, by all means run him down. But looking at Morgan against the Cardinals, he went after Yadier Molina when there wasn't even a throw made and Molina was standing a good 3 feet away from the plate! In fact, Morgan's attempt to run Molina over actually made him miss the plate and he had to run back to tag it. But back to the brawl. Yes, I would be pissed if I got hit once and then thrown behind in my next at bat. I'm not trying to place blame on Morgan for charging the mound, because I think he was completely justified in doing so. My beef with the guy is him coming off the field acting like he's 10 feet tall and strong as a ox! Dude, your 5'2" at best! But the funniest part of him coming off and raising his hands and taunting the crowd is that he got absolutely BLASTED in that brawl! First off, he charged the mound against a 6'9" giraffe in Chris Volstad. Mistake #1 because he actually had to jump to take a swing at Volstad. Then, when he did swing, he missed. Mistake #2 was landing back on the ground, because Gaby Sanchez absolutely destroyed him as soon as those cleats were planted. Then, after getting run over by the Marlins first baseman, the aforementioned giraffe got 2 or 3 good slugs right to Morgan's cheekbone. Moral of the story, Morgan got his ass absolutely handed to him during that brawl. Yea, you just got thrown at twice and you got the shit kicked out of you! Guy was coming off waving his arms like he had just defeated Floyd Mayweather, when in reality he probably needed a neck brace and most likely couldn't feel his face. Nice job, Nyjer!

Alright, now to the Patriots before I get all caught up in hockey talk. Preseason is finally over, and 8 days from now we'll be watching every football analyst say that they may have overrated the Bengals defense after Brady torches them for 5 TD's. I'm not kidding when I say that I think Brady could actually eclipse his TD record this year. Yes, Welker won't be 100% to begin the season, and Moss is 3 years older than he was in 2007, but Brady has so much depth! While Welker might not be himself just yet, Julien Edelman has a year under his belt and is on his way to being Welker-like in a few years. Add Brandon Tate to the equation, the guy moves faster than sound. Then you give Brady a two headed monster of Gronkowski-Hernandez at the Tight End position. Then, of course, you have Kevin Faulk out of the backfield. Moss might be aging, but he still makes DB's look like Pop Warner players at times, and he's in a contract year! The Patriots have had a few duds recently in terms of signing veteran wideouts to help the cause (Galloway and Holt), but wouldn't it be something if they went out and signed TJ Houshmandzadeh after the Seahawks cut him? Housh is guaranteed $7 mil this year by the Seahawks even if they do cut him, so chances are he'd come cheap. A receiving core of him and Moss on the outside, Welker and Edelman on the inside, Gronkowski and Hernandez at the TE postion, and Tate and Price as your flex options would be absolutely unstoppable! Now, Mr. Belichick might have other plans, and the Houshmandzadeh thing might just be a pipe dream. But it's fun to imagine how much damage Brady would do to this league if he had that core. Even without TJ, Brady is set to torch the league this year anyways.

But, now we get to the Patriots' Achilles heal, and it's something that was their strength during the Championship years...defense. We saw it at times last season that the defense was incredibly weak, and then it all culminated into one abominable showing in the playoffs, when there was absolutely zero answer for Ray Rice. Now, we're set to see the same struggles all over again. Yes, the defense is slightly improved from last year. Brandon Spikes is going to be a beast, I'm not sure how that guy lasted to us in the 2nd round this past draft, but thank you all 31 other GM's that passed on him. Then you've got McCourty, Pat Chung, and Tyrone McKenzie added to the fold. They don't lack athleticism, but they lack brains. If Brandon Meriweather knew how to play football, he's got the talent to be Troy Polamalu. Meriweather, much like the rest of the Pats D, does not have a brain...yet, and will be incapable of reaching that next tier until he learns how to harness his ability. I'm interested to see how guys like Darius Butler and Ron Brace will perform now that they'll be asked to do much more this season. We might not be having this conversation, either, if it weren't for injuries striking us already. Ty Warren stunk last year, despite a few solid games. But he was a valuable piece along that D-line, and his presence will be missed more than most can imagine. Then you've got Leigh Bodden, who I've never been a fan of, but he was still the veteran presence in that secondary and can absolutely bring the heat for a corner. They guy might be the slowest in the league at his position, but he can pop a guys helmet off no sweat. Bodden, while not a shutdown guy by any means, is a solid player and, once again, his presence will be missed more than most think (including myself). Here's to hoping that Brady and Co. can make up for our defensive shortcomings this year.

Now I move onto hockey. Kovalchuk finally signed! The NHL backed itself up against a wall when they reportedly gave the Players Association (now headed by Donald Fehr) an ultimatum when it came to long-term deals. Had they rejected this new deal for Kovy (which, by the way, does not circumvent the salary cap), it would have sent the league into a tailspin heading towards the beginning of the season. Donald Fehr and a stern negotiator, and the league must know it. Had they vetoed this deal, it would have been a certain lockout in 2012. Thankfully, like most people with common sense, they were able to see that this new deal for the Russian sniper was indeed legit and did not circumvent the CBA. The reason the first deal was rejected is because Ilya would have made $650,000 for the last six years of the deal. In that scenario, it's hard to fathom that he would still play in the NHL for peanuts. So, the Devils intent with that deal was two things. The first being the lowered cap hit. Rather than have a cap hit exceeding $7 million, they were able to get it under $6 million and make it far more manageable in the short term. The second idea for NJ was that Kovalchuk would retire as soon as his paycheck dropped down into 4th-liner territory. By him retiring, it would not be $650,000 that the Devils recovered, it would be the entire cap hit. They would have recouped just under $6 million in cap space when Kovalchuk retired, despite his salary being almost $5 million below that figure. Yes, the NHL treaded into dangerous territory when they rejected that initial deal, but they were able to come to amends and make things work for everybody. Had they, however, rejected this deal, it would have been an absolute shit storm that would have sent Kovalchuk to Russia and the NHL into a tailspin for the next several years.

Now that the Kovalchuk debacle is a thing of the past, the rest of the NHL can stop standing still and we can finally see some activity. It will start with the Devils freeing up cap space, because they'll need to trade either Danius Zubrus, Travis Zajac, or Bryce Salvador (or any combo of the 3) by the end of September in order to be in compliance with the salary cap. And it's not only the Devils who are over the cap and need to make adjustments, because there are several other teams that need to move money around (the B's and the Canucks to name two). The Canucks will try to move Kevin Bieksa in order to get under the cap, and I'm sure the Bruins will talk to teams about Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, and maybe even Savard. The Bruins are in a funky situation, though. They don't need to make their move until the middle of November or early December, when Marco Sturm will come off long-term IR and go back on the books. At that point, if Ryder hasn't moved and is still performing at last years pace, he'll probably just be buried in the minors and they'll take a chance on Jordan Caron or Brad Marchand at wing.

Also, the NHL goaltending situations have begun to iron themselves out. As predicted by BSP, Anti Niemi ended up in San Jose, where he'll be in a timeshare with Antero Niittymaki, and Carey Price ended up back in Montreal. No surprises on either end. Doug Wilson had to have known that Niittymaki wasn't a 60 game goaltender for a contending team when he signed him, and Niemi will help take some of the load off his fellow Finn. Then you have the curious case of Carey Price, who, by all means, could still become the best goalie in the league if he screws his head on straight. Again, him staying in Montreal comes as no surprise. If Pierre Gauthier had let him get away after they sent Jaroslav Halak out of town, he would have never made it out of Montreal alive. He basically had no choice but to come compromise with Price. The Canadiens are another team now financially strapped to some degree, so they might have to work on a deal to get one of their overpaid defensemen out of town (Roman Hamrlik).

Anyways, that's all I have for now. Believe me, the NHL is about to heat up in terms of trade talk and the rest of the free agents finding their homes, so I'll be back and buzzing about all of that. Rumor even had it that the Bruins were looking to bring Steve Begin back to Beantown for the veterans minimum, which would be money well spent if they're able to make it happen. For now, we have to wait.