Saturday's Bruins...

[the mugs]

These games scare me. These "new" expansion teams. Atlanta, Minnesota, Nashville etc. The good guys play like garbage when facing them. I know it's a new season but tread lightly tonight boys. I can just see Atlanta winning their first one tonight.

ATLANTA THRASHERS at
BOSTON BRUINS
Saturday, October 26, 2002
FleetCenter; Boston, Massachusetts
7:00 pm (ET) - Gametime
6:30 pm (ET) - Boston Globe Pre-Game Report
NESN
Tonight's Game
The Bruins host the Thrashers tonight in the first of four games between these clubs this season and the first of two games between these teams this season at the FleetCenter. The Bruins are 4-1-2-0 overall this season and are 0-0-1-0 on home ice thus far this season. The Thrashers are 0-6-0-1 thus far this season with a 0-4-0-0 record on the road. The Bruins are playing their first game of the season vs. a Southeast Division opponent tonight and they are 1-0-1-0 overall vs. Eastern Conference foes. The Thrashers are playing their first game of the season vs. a Northeast Division opponent tonight and they are 0-6-0-1 overall vs. Eastern Conference foes.

Lifetime Series
The Bruins are 6-4-1-1 lifetime vs. the Thrashers with Atlanta holding a 42-39 scoring advantage in those 12 games. On home ice, the Bruins are 2-2-1-1 lifetime vs. Atlanta with the Thrashers holding a 26-21 scoring edge in those six games. The Bruins won their last game over Atlanta with a 3-0 victory in Atlanta on Mar. 8, 2002. They lost their last home game vs. the Thrashers with a 3-2 overtime defeat on Dec. 18, 2001 and their last home win over the Thrashers was a 4-3 overtime victory on Oct. 6, 2001.

Recent Bruins Games
The Bruins are unbeaten in their last six games at 4-0-2-0 with a 2-1 victory in Colorado on Oct. 14, a 6-3 win in Vancouver on Oct. 16, a 3-3 tie in Calgary on Oct. 17, a 4-3 victory in Edmonton on Oct. 19, a 4-1 win in Toronto on Oct. 21 and a 2-2 tie with Ottawa in their home opener on Oct. 24. That follows a season-opening 5-1 loss in Minnesota on Oct. 11.

Recent Thrashers Games
The Thrashers are looking for their first victory of the season with an 0-6-0-1 record thus far. They have suffered losses to Carolina (5-3 Oct. 11), Florida (5-4/OT Oct. 12 and 3-2 Oct. 21), Pittsburgh (3-2 Oct. 16), Tampa Bay (8-5 Oct. 18), NY Islanders (5-4 Oct. 19), and New Jersey (2-1 Oct. 23).

Upcoming Bruins Games
The Bruins next travel to Washington to face the Capitals on Oct. 30 (7:00 p.m.; NESN & WBZ Radio) and will close out the month hosting the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on Oct. 31 (7:00 p.m.; NESN & WBZ Radio).

Upcoming Thrashers Games
The Thrashers next return home to host Los Angeles on Oct. 29 and they will close out the month in Toronto on Oct. 31.

Bruins Injuries
John Grahame: Separated shoulder suffered Oct. 16 in Vancouver; out indefinitely.
Martin Lapointe: Fractured foot suffered Oct. 17 in Calgary; out indefinitely.
Sergei Samsonov: Wrist injury; day-to-day.

Bruins Recent Transactions
Oct. 5: Jay Henderson and Tim Thomas assigned to Providence/AHL.
Oct. 7: Shaone Morrisonn assigned to Providence/AHL.
Oct. 8: Joe Thornton named 17th captain in team history.
Oct. 10: Colton Orr assigned to Kamloops/WHL; Carl Corazzini assigned to Atlantic City/ECHL.
Oct. 17: Tim Thomas recalled from Providence/AHL.

 

[the mugs]

Atlanta Injuries
Chris Herperger C Concussion day-to-day
Uwe Krupp D Back I-R
Per Svartvadet C Wrist Out indefinitely

Boston Injuries
Sergei Samsonov RW Wrist Ques Sat
Martin Lapointe LW Foot Out 4-6 weeks
John Grahame G Shoulder Out 1-2 weeks
Kyle McLaren D Holdout Out indefinitely

 

[the mugs]

Last 3 years

Last 3 years

Recent Meetings

Date Home Away Line ATS

3/8/2002 Atl. 0 Bos. 3 0,220/6 Bos./U
12/18/2001 Bos. 2 Atl. 3 -1.5,-120/6 Atl./U
12/4/2001 Atl. 2 Bos. 3 0,220/5.5 Bos./U
10/6/2001 Bos. 4 Atl. 3 0,-250/5.5 Bos./O

3/10/2001 Bos. 5 Atl. 7 0,-280/6 Atl./O
2/9/2001 Atl. 5 Bos. 1 0,200/5.5 Atl./O
12/4/2000 Atl. 5 Bos. 4 0,-110/5.5 Atl./O
11/4/2000 Bos. 3 Atl. 8 0,-280/6 Atl./O

1/19/2000 Atl. 3 Bos. 4 0,160/5.5 Bos./O
1/17/2000 Bos. 3 Atl. 3 0,-300/5.5 P/O

 

[the mugs]

Recent Trends

Recent Trends

ATL is 0-7 ATS to start off the season.
The under has played in the past three meetings.
The over is 6-3-1 in ATL's last 10 games.
BOS is 5-1 ATS in its last six games overall.

 

[the mugs]

From today's Boston Globe

From today's Boston Globe

Some real gems here...

Rolston, Berard join wounded

WILMINGTON - If this keeps up, there will be more wounded than walking in the Bruins' camp.

Bryan Berard and Brian Rolston, both of whom played in Thursday night's 2-2 tie with the Senators, didn't participate yesterday in a brief on-ice workout and coach Robbie Ftorek said he doubts Berard will suit up tonight with the Thrashers in town.

''Let's put it this way,'' said Ftorek. ''It's a better chance that Rollie will play.''

Ftorek didn't disclose the injuries, but made a point of saying he didn't expect either to be sidelined very long.

''Just a day of rest,'' said Rolston, who connected for his second goal of the season Thursday, salvaging the tie. ''How will I spend it? Good question ... with my son, I guess.''

In fact, Rolston spent part of yesterday at the doctor's office, according to Ftorek. Clearly, the club is adopting a tighter-lipped policy on divulging bumps and bruises. The coach only categorized Berard's injury as ''leg stuff.''

If they're both KO'd tonight, Berard and Rolston will join Black-'n-Gold brothers John Grahame(shoulder), Sergei Samsonov(wrist), and Martin Lapointe(foot) on the black-'n-blue committee. Samsonov skated again on his own yesterday but his sore and swollen right wrist didn't allow him the luxury of much stickhandling.

''It's getting better, but it's still sore,'' said the Moscow Magician, sidelined now for three games. ''Right now, I'm shooting for Wednesday [when the Bruins face the Capitals in Washington].

Samsonov figures he'll have to have his wrist tightly taped to be effective.

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Power outage

The Boston power play, among the worst in the league in 2001-02, again is floundering at the bottom of the Original 30. In seven games, the Bruins have but three strikes on the man advantage for a lowly 8.8 percent. Only two teams (Montreal and New Jersey) are worse at scoring with the advantage.

''The numbers aren't there, but I feel OK with it,'' said Rolston, an effective point man on the power play. ''I think it's just a matter of, when is it going to come? It's good that we are still winning without it, but that won't go on forever. It's going to be the difference of winning and losing hockey games - special teams - it always is.''

Ftorek doesn't sound panicked about the anemic power play, either. He has seen his squad adequately move the puck up ice, advance over the blue line, set up around the box. If he has a criticism, it's a familiar one held over from last season: not enough shots. That's true both during the man advantage and when his squad is playing at even strength.

''For me, we never shoot enough,'' said Ftorek. ''If you work hard and don't get a shot ... it's a mistake not to take it if it's there. I enjoy watching shots and crashing the net. Obviously, I'd like to see more production overall from the power play, but overall the execution's been good and I like the chances we've been getting.''

In seven games, the Bruins have unloaded 192 shots, scoring 22 goals (11.5 shooting percentage). If the Bruins kept up the shots and the shooting percentage, they would finish with 2,249 shots and 257 goals. Nothing counts more than goals, of course. To that point, 257 goals would be Boston's best output since connecting for 282 in 1995-96. Even absent Bill Guerin's 41-goal scoring touch, they are on a pace to score about 5 percent more goals than they did last season (236).

''Yeah, I think we should shoot more - be more semi-selfish out there,'' said Rolston, who leads the squad with 31 shots, a pace of 363 - a rate better than his impressive 331 last season. Leaguewide he's behind only Markus Naslund(40) and Alexei Kovalev(35). ''We've got to throw the puck on net more, have the goalie make saves, maybe give up rebounds. Goalies are going to make mistakes.''

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An `Ax' to grind

Based on the workout, it looks as if P.J. Axelsson will move to left wing on the No. 1 line with Joe Thornton and Glen Murray. Marty McInnis, previous on Jumbo Joe's left side, worked on the No. 2 trio with Jozef Stumpel and Ivan Huml...

Call it a senior moment: Ftorek forgot to work on a four-on-four drill that he had planned to the point of jotting it down on a note he found crammed in his pocket after the workout. ''I forgot a drill!'' he said, as defenseman Don Sweeney made his way through the dressing room. ''Must have been geared for us,'' Sweeney shot back. ''Too many tangents.'' Ftorek can carry one thought to the next, but compared with Scotty Bowman, he's a model in mental focus ...

If Rolston is out of the mix tonight, look for Nick Boynton to pick up some extra time on the power play. If Berard is out, look for Jarno Kultanen, a taxi-squader thus far, to see his first action...

Thornton will be looking to break a three-game scoring malaise ...

Hal Gill's second goal of the season Thursday night brought his career total to 15. Boston blueliners already have scored five goals, for a pace of just below 60 for a season. Bruins' defensemen scored only 18 goals, approximately three a month, last season ...

Goalie Steve Shields, tonight's likely starter, is 2-0-2, with an impressive .927 save mark and 2.09 goals-against average. A very strong start for the ex-lame Duck. ''I feel fine with the way I played,'' said Shields, chagrined only that he couldn't find a handful of Patriots-Broncos tickets for tomorrow's matchup in Foxborough. ''We've been playing well, and I think my numbers are where they should be.'' ...

Asked if he would consider a special teams consultant - the way Paul Coffey is helping out the Coyotes - Ftorek said, ''I think we'll be all right ... but that doesn't mean we wouldn't consider it.'' Ray Bourque would be one obvious candidate ...

Tom Barrasso, once considered a possible hire if Boston's goaltending didn't work out, reached a contract agreement with St. Louis yesterday. The Blues broke word of it on their Web site, not unlike how the Bruins released word two years ago that coach Pat Burns got the gate.

 

[the mugs]

From today's Boston Herald

From today's Boston Herald

Samsonov closes in on return

WILMINGTON - Sergei Samsonov most likely won't be available for tonight's game at the FleetCenter against the Atlanta Thrashers, but the Bruins' creative left winger hopes to be ready for a return Wednesday night in Washington.

Yesterday, Samsonov skated under the tutelage - and harassment - of strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides, who at one point had Samsonov skating in tight loops inside a faceoff circle while he tried to simulate the clutching and grabbing the player might encounter in a game.

``He's been keeping me in shape and I've put on a lot of miles in the last couple of days,'' said Samsonov. ``It could have been worse, where I'm just sitting. At least I can get my skating in and when I come back I won't have to worry about my conditioning.''

Samsonov, sporting a brace while he skates, has been icing the wrist and taking anti-inflammatories for the swelling. He said he's starting to see results.

``It's coming down and there's a little bit less pain, too, but it's still not good enough to go out there and go in the corners and battle or shoot,'' Samsonov said. ``It's just common sense I guess to stay off a couple of extra days and see how it goes. I'm still probably going to end up taping it when I come back.''

Samsonov hasn't had to go back to the doctors since the original diagnosis.

``They're pretty sure it's just a sprain and from what I've been told it takes 2-3 weeks to heal so that I feel confident to go out and play,'' he said.

Samsonov hurt the wrist in Calgary on Oct. 17.

Samsonov, a Moscow area native, said he was trying to keep abreast of the happenings in his home city, where Chechen rebels were holding some 600 hostages in a downtown theater. Samsonov's parents live approximately 30 miles outside the city.

``I try to keep up with it, watching the news, but I haven't been back home (since 1996) so it's really hard to understand what's been going on there,'' he said.

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Rolston, Berard take breather

The B's were a couple of men short in practice as Brian Rolston and Bryan Berard were given the day off to rest what coach Robbie Ftorek called minor dings. Expect to see both players in the lineup tonight.

Ftorek said Berard was going through ``some leg stuff'' and if the defenseman couldn't go tonight, Jarno Kultanen would see his first action of the season. . . .

=====

Many Bruin players got a kick out of the Terry O'Reilly ceremony on Thursday night, but none more than Sean Brown.

Like O'Reilly, Brown grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, and his picture hangs near O'Reilly's in the Civic Auditorium where the junior Oshawa Generals play. Brown had never met O'Reilly prior to Thursday.

``I went into the lounge afterward to shake his hand and congratulate him,'' said Brown. ``There were a lot of people around, so maybe I'll be able to talk to him more some other time.''

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Dafoe left singing Blues

Another potential landing spot for former Bruins goalie Byron Dafoe dried up when the Blues announced on Thursday night they had reached a tentative agreement with 37-year-old Stowe native Tom Barrasso.

It was reported that Barrasso's price tag for one year was $900,000, considerably less than what it would cost to land Dafoe.

 

[the mugs]

Again, the Herald...

Again, the Herald...

Grahame heals quick

WILMINGTON - For most hockey players, a third-degree (most severe) shoulder separation requires a 4-to-5 week recovery period. Bruins goaltender John Grahame aims to return from just such an injury in two weeks.

Feeling much better already, Grahame hopes to be able to play either next Wednesday in Washington against the Capitals - which would be exactly two weeks from when he hurt his right shoulder while making a save in Vancouver - or at the FleetCenter the following night vs. the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

``For some reason my joints tend to heal pretty quickly,'' Grahame said yesterday after an off-ice workout at Ristuccia Arena that included a session of punching the speed bag with both hands. ``The other thing is that as a goalie, I don't have to worry about getting hit, like someone else does. That's why it might take longer (for a position player). I really just have to be comfortable with my reactions, that's the biggest thing, being able to move fast without pain.

``It feels good. Only in certain positions do I notice it more than in others. But being able to do some things is good. The trainers say this can normally be a four- or five- week thing. The fact it's coming along this well so soon is a good sign.''

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Lapointe works out the details

Martin Lapointe hobbled through an off-ice workout, two days after learning he probably would not require surgery to set a broken bone on the outside of his left foot. The injury does not require a cast.

``It's still broken, but it's good news that they don't have to open me up,'' said Lapointe. ``(Team physician Dr. Bert Zarins) just said, `Let it heal by itself.' ''

Lapointe will have another X-ray next week to ensure the fracture is healing properly. If there were to be any signs of instability in the bone, he could get have a pin put in in surgery. . . .

Center P.J. Stock will be playing for the time being with a full face mask, after suffering a nasty, 30-stitch-plus cut at the right side of his face when he was struck by the skate blade of Toronto goalie Ed Belfour.

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Multiply by the No. 24

As part of Terry O'Reilly Night, all of the B's will don No. 24 sweaters - with their own names on the back - for the pregame skate. The sweaters will be auctioned off for charity at a later date. . . .

Goalie Tim Thomas, who made a fairy tale NHL debut in beating Edmonton on Saturday, has no idea whether he'll play tonight, or anytime again before Grahame returns.

``Today I'm here, so enjoy it. That's what I try to do every day,'' Thomas said.