Bruins Choose Zach Hamill With 8th Overall Pick

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=11095&hubname=

The Bruins have picked Zach Hamill with their first round pick. TSN has him seen as a bit of a reach, ranking him 16th of thier top 60 prospects. Though Central scouting had him ranked number 9 among North American skaters.

From TSN's Top 60 Prospects:

In the post-lockout NHL, there is obviously room for the smaller, skilled player
and Everett Silvertips' forward Zach Hamill certainly fits the bill. After all,
he was the WHL regular season scoring champion this season, playing on a team
which went into every game hoping to win 1-0 or 2-1.

From this Central Scouting:

http://bluejackets.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=318487

A playmaking forward with good stick-handling ability... very good on special
teams, especially effective on the power-play... sees the ice well and sets up
his linemates with his good passing abilities... needs to work on his
acceleration and breakaway speed... sometimes needs better puck pursuit

At 5'11, 190, he doesn't seem to be too undersized, 93 pts in 69 games in the WHL show him to have a scoring touch. He also won a Gold for Canada in the Under-18 Juinor Cup.

Here are two videos of Hamill from youtube:

A nice between the legs shootout goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTOr_mBnPiE

A higlight package of goals set to shitty music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVpneQeJavE&mode=related&search=

I'm not any sort of prospect maven, so I can't really make a judgement call on this.

New Uniforms

http://www.hockeyjournal.com/Article.php?ArtID=857547

The Bruins are getting new jerseys to go wth their new coach. I think they are quite good looking, very subtle changes that make it look almost vintge, like the 70's uniforms. I suppose if you can't put a championship team on the ice you culd at least dress them like a chamionship team.

Apparently these are the new Reebok jerseys that are supposed to be sleeker with a tighter fit. I suppose you wowuldn't be able to tell unless they were actually on a player, but the fit doesn;t seem as drastic as originally rumored. In fact, I had original wrote something about how the new uniform might have meant the Reebok uniforms had been scrapped. I'm glad they toned down the drastic changes.

All 30 teams will be getting new uniforms and I can't wait to see the other 29.

Its Official: Julien Will Coach the B's

http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=319883&page=NewsPage&service=page

"Julien, a 47 year-old native of Kanata, Ontario, will be formally introduced to
the Boston media today at a 10:30 a.m. ET press conference to be held at the TD
Banknorth Garden.Julien has four years of National Hockey League (NHL) head
coaching experience and most recently served as the Head Coach of the New Jersey
Devils. In his lone season with New Jersey, he held a record of 47-24-8 before
being replaced on April 2, 2007 with three games remaining in the 2006-2007
regular season. At the time he was replaced by the Devils, Julien's club was in
first place in the Atlantic Division."

I'm not sure what to make of his hiring. I would have prefered the Bruins to just promote Scott Gordon from Peovidence, he seems to work well with the young guys and Beregeron gave him a ringing endorsement a week or so ago.

He is the Bruins' 17th coach in 30 years.

A good note from this TSN article: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211393&hubname

Julien said he wants to establish a more physical style of
play in Boston, ''not with a few players but will the whole group.''
''You
want to be gritty in all areas,'' he said.

Also the Bruins owner, Jeremy Jacobs, has been named chairman of the NHL Board of Governers.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211402&hubname=nhl

Well This Was NEEDED

Boston Bruins Press Release

"Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has relieved Head Coach Dave Lewis and Associate Coach Marc Habscheid of their coaching duties, and will reassign them to other positions within the club.

"Since the season has ended I have completed a thorough review of the team and the coaching staff, and I have determined that Dave Lewis and Marc Habscheid are not the proper fit for the Bruins at this time," said Chiarelli. "I have a short list of candidates in mind, and I hope to have a new Head Coach in place in the near future.""

Bruins Want To Get Giggy With It?

Oh god. I'm so sorry for headline. I hope that's a phrase that will die out soon.

But this is from the latest John Buccigross article on ESPN:

"The Bruins' roster is still a mess. As a result, quality goaltending is a must. The chances of getting Giguere are as good as anyone if Anaheim doesn't sign him before July 1. He has to wait because you never know what kind of offer you'll get. With Giguere's style and age, I would be very aggressive if I were the Bruins. I'd offer him an eight-year deal for $50 million. That's where I would start."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=2902151


That's a crazy contract for anyone. 8 years? Besides, I don't think that Giguere would be the best solution. He wouldn't make the Bruin's an instant contender. Remember, despite his two brilliant playoff performences, he has been somewhat inconsistent in the regular season-struggling and even losing his starting job to Ilya Bryzgalov just a year ago. He might end up being a waste of money for whoever does get him.

Given that the Bruins are still rebuilding with youth, and have 2 quality goalie prospects, I don't think its a great idea to lock up a veteren goalie for 8 years and saddle the team with a huge contract.

I think the Bruins need an upgrade in goal, I'm not comfortable going in with Thomas as the starter, especially if that results in Toivonen sitting on the bench. If Hannu doesn't play consistently, he can't develop. I'd be happier and think the Bruins would be better off with a shorter term sloution. Perhaps signing Manny Fernandez or Curtis Joeseph to a one or two year deal?

More breaking news

Nate Dempsey signed with European team SC Bern-Swiss National League

Just around the corner

The Bruins, with the No. 8 pick in the upcoming amateur draft, this weekend summoned to town five top prospects, including Angelo Esposito, touted the last couple of years as a surefire top three (if not No. 1) pick. However, the Central Scouting Bureau's rankings had the Montreal-born center slotted No. 8 among North American skaters. Factoring in Europeans and goalies, he could end up going in the middle of Round 1. Why the fall from grace? "He didn't have as good a year as the year before," noted Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli,