National Hockey League training camps open in a little more than two weeks and surprisingly, there are a fair amount of unrestricted free agents (UFA’s) who are still looking to put their names on the dotted line.  Some are veterans, who probably need to look in the mirror and realize that it’s over. The game has become a young man’s game, thanks largely to the salary cap, and for some, the ship has sailed. As a fan of the game, I’d like to say, thank you for your years of entertaining brand of hockey and congratulations for making it to the pinnacle of the sport. Having said that, looking at the forward, defenseman, and goaltender positions and those who are still available for the taking, three stand out and make this writer say, “Why are they still free agents?”

There are twenty-four days until the Boston Bruins open training camp. Here some observations from Beantown:

As of today, goaltender Tim Thomas and center Marc Savard are still employed by the organization. This is good news as the team needs an experienced, quality, goalkeeper waiting in the wings should Tuuka Rask go down with an injury or worse, suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump. Thomas faltered last season after winning the Vezina Trophy but looks to rebound back into trophy winning form this season. It says here, that he will. Not to mention, there are no backup goaltenders with the resume Thomas possesses.

Fans have been waiting, on a daily basis, to see where Savard will end up playing in the 2010-2011 season. His contract has been under investigation by the National Hockey League since it was filed with the league by the Bruins. If the NHL finds that the contract violated league rules then the centerman will become an unrestricted free agent and no team wants to risk losing a player they just traded for. Other factors that may have teams wary of acquiring Savard are the concussion he suffered this past season, the length of the contract extension, and the salary itself. The extension runs for seven years at a total of $28,050,000 or a cap hit of $4,007,143 per season (according to www.capgeek.com.) Most teams do not want to commit to a seven year deal to a player who is thirty-three years old. In a recently published article, (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Bruins-star-Marc-Savard-hurt-by-summer-of-trad?urn=nhl-262507) Savard said his feelings were hurt by all of the trade talk. Hopefully, the player and the organization can sit down and work out any negative feelings that may exist before the start of the 2010-2011 season. The crafty pivot has been the team’s best offensive weapon since acquiring him and they will need his skills and leadership to make a return to the playoffs.

Forward Trent Whitfield suffered an Achilles tendon injury while training this past week and is likely lost for the season. Last season, he played in 16 games for Boston, scoring 1 assist while used primarily in a checking role. He spent most of last season with the Providence Bruins, for whom, he scored 43 points.

On August 19, 2010 and the following day, August 20^th, Bruins net minder, Tuuka Rask and forward Shawn Thornton took part in the 9^th annual NESN/WEEI Jimmy Fund radio-telethon. The telethon raised over $2.9 million dollars for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Principle Charlie Jacobs, son of owner Jeremy Jacobs, donated $25,000 on behalf of the Boston Bruins Foundation. This writer, who lost both of his parents to cancer, applauds the Jacobs family and the Bruins for stepping up to the plate.

The Belfast Giants select team is preparing for their exhibition game against the Bruins in Belfast, Ireland on October 2, 2010. The Giants named four players, two forwards and two defensemen, to their team for the pre-season match. Those players are Luke Fulghum, a forward, who grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado and played collegiately at the University of Denver. The other forward is Colin Shields. Shields’ name will be familiar to Hockey East fans, as he played at the University of Maine and was drafted 195^th overall in 2000 by the Philadelphia Flyers. The defensemen named to the Giants are Jonathan Weaver and Jon Gleed. Weaver captained the British team at last springs World Ice Hockey Championships. Gleed hails from Milton, Ontario, Canada. He played his NCAA hockey at Cornell University and was drafted in 2004 by Montreal. The defensive defenseman played for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League before crossing the pond to play in the U.K. Elite League. It appears the B’s will be taking on a quality team in Ireland.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Blake Wheeler. The recently married forward will turn 24 on August 31, 2010.

Finally, best of luck to former B’s defenseman Aaron Ward. The steady blueliner announced his retirement yesterday. Ward was a leader in every sense of the word, on and off the ice. He leaves the game with three Stanley Cup rings which he won as a member of the 1997 Detroit Red Wings, 1998 Detroit Red Wings, and the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes. Ward played three seasons for Boston, 2006-2009, before being dealt in an ill-advised trade with the New York Rangers. The black and gold’s defense corp was visibly weakened with his departure.

(Source: Yardbarker.com)

I’m a baseball fan; a BIG baseball fan. And as I continue to watch the Red Sox battle through a multitude of injuries this season, I continue to find myself thinking, “Haven’t I seen this before?” Well, as a matter of fact, I have…while watching the Bruins last season.

Watching the Red Sox play a good chunk of games this season without guys like Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez and Josh Beckett is similar to watching the Bruins play without Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, Mark Stuart and Andrew Ference. It has instilled the same “wait until we get healthy” mentality that I seemed to have while watching the B’s drop the gloves with the injury bug last season.

The Red Sox have probably been more affected by the injuries. After all, they may miss the playoffs entirely because of them.

But injuries also played a significant role in the eventual playoff downfall of the Bruins. Savard didn’t look the same, Dennis Seidenberg’s blue line presence and Sturm’s speed and athleticism were missed, and the Bruins were essentially escorted out of the postseason by David Krejci’s dislocated wrist.

Injuries are simply a part of the game. It’s cliché but true.

There are few measures that teams can take to avoid such a lack of luck, but as NESN.com’s Douglas Flynn points out, spending a little extra money on fourth-liners could go a long way towards easing the pain when injuries or fatigue begin to take a toll – which is almost a certainty throughout an NHL season.

Flynn discusses the Bruins’ likely fourth line this season of Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille, and their just-under $3 million cap hit combined. None of these guys are going to light up the scoreboard or be highly regarded throughout the league as prominent players, but they comprise a formidable fourth unit that undoubtedly fits the “tough to play against” mold that Peter Chiarelli has constantly preached.

Paille even saw time on the first line last season, showing the confidence that Chiarelli and Claude Julien have in him. Throw in the penalty kill reputation of both Paille and Campbell, and Thornton’s ability to wear down opponents, and it’s clear why Chiarelli preferred to go a little bit beyond the NHL minimum to round out the Bruins roster.

Rather than boast a top-heavy team salary-wise, with veteran minimum salaries and entry level contracts filling the final spots, the Bruins are going against the NHL norm and taking on what Flynn called a “more balanced approach.”

Hey, if you can put quality players on the ice every shift and minimize the team’s weaknesses, it certainly sounds like a solid recipe. However simple or logical such a strategy sounds, it is often overlooked. But by giving a few extra bucks to players outside of what could be regarded as the “nucleus,” the Bruins should be –as Chiarelli puts it – tough to play against this season, no matter how they end up resolving their current salary cap issues.

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Boston Bruins general manager, Peter Chiarelli, announced Wednesday that the team has hired Doug Jarvis as the newest assistant coach on head coach Claude Julien’s staff. Jarvis joins Doug Houda and Geoff  Ward keeping the number of assistants at three as it has been throughout Julien’s tenure in Boston.

Jarvis had a record breaking career in the NHL. He was drafted 24^th overall in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs and was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. The centerman never played a game with the Leafs. Jarvis played in 964 regular season games during a 13 year career that also included stops in Washington and Hartford. The most impressive thing about his playing in those 964 games is that he played in every game he could have possibly played in during his career; making Jarvis the NHL’s all time ironman. His 964 consecutive games played is an NHL record. Many agree this record may never be broken. He added 105 Stanley Cup playoff games to his resume, as well. While playing in those 105 playoff games, he added 4 Stanley Cup championships to that resume. Doug Jarvis’ name is on the Frank J. Selke trophy. He was awarded that for being the best defensive forward in the NHL in 1984. In 1987, he was the recipient of the William Masterton Trophy for his qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Indeed, a very impressive playing career.

Jarvis joined the coaching staff of the Minnesota North Stars and remained on the staff when the Stars pulled up stakes and moved to Dallas. He spent 14 years with the Stars, winning his first Stanley Cup as a coach and fifth overall of his hockey career in 1999. After his tenure with the Stars, he signed on with the organization that gave him his start as a player; he took over the reigns of the Canadiens American Hockey League affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2003. In 2 seasons as Hamilton’s head coach, Jarvis’ teams compiled a record of 79-54-10-17. He was promoted to associate head coach in Montreal in 2005 serving until the conclusion of 2009. While with Les Canadiens, the club made three playoff appearances and finished the 2007-2008 season with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Doug Jarvis will be just as important to the Bruins as any new player who has been brought in to help improve the organization’s chances of winning the Stanley Cup. His experience, as a player, will be invaluable as he will, not only, show the team’s veteran players what it takes to win a Cup but also to help the young players and rookies persevere through a long season and prepare for the second season. He and Claude Julien have a history together as he served under Julien in Montreal in 2005.

Julien addressed the media via telephone and is very excited to have Jarvis join his staff.

“I want to tell you how thrilled we are to have Doug Jarvis join our staff,” Julien said. “I think when the job became available, the one thing we wanted to do was replace some of the experience we lost with Craig Ramsay. Having known Doug for a while, having worked with him briefly in Montreal, his experience in coaching and playing was very valuable in our decision-making.”

“The fact that he is a very loyal — and not just loyal to the head coach, but also loyal to the cause in which he believes our team is a good candidate to win the Stanley Cup and would like to be part of it,” Julien said. “When he showed some interest in wanting to join the staff, it was something that really excited us because of all of those reasons.”

“He knows a lot about the game,” Julien said. “You look at how long he has coached and he’s been through a lot. He knows the situations and how to deal with them. You can see that and I was able to see that firsthand. I had him in Montreal and really enjoyed his loyalty and dedication. He’s one of those guys that will work hard and won’t be counting the hours as far as what needs to be done. People that do that are very passionate people and Doug is passionate about his job.

“He’s got a wealth of Stanley Cup championships as a player and as a coach, and that becomes valuable when you have a fairly young team.”

“We had good chemistry and I know for a fact that Doug coming into our situation, with the coaching staff being there since I’ve been here, he’s going to blend in perfectly. He’s got that personality and I think it will be a smooth transition.

“There’s a lot of great coaches out there but there’s certain coaches you feel you have great chemistry with, and Doug fit into that category.”

Julien’s words sum it up. Doug Jarvis is the right man for this job. For the players, he is a fresh face, a new voice. There will be no reason for anyone to say when/if the team hits a bad patch during the 2010-2011 season that the players will have turned off the coaches due to familiarity. Doug Jarvis, the NHL’s ironman, may just be that missing piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle that management has been looking for

Shawn mentioned the Rock and Jock softball event that Milan Lucic will be hosting Wednesday night in Lowell. Here is a video that I thought I would pass along from NESN.com, with Lucic not only discussing the event and his opportunity to take a few cuts on the Fenway Park field, but also his road back from a wrist injury, the Bruins’ upcoming trip to Prague, and the additions of Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin.

http://www.nesn.com/2010/08/milan-lucic-feeling-healthy-takes-aim-at-fenway-parks-green-monster.html

This one is worth checking out as well; if for no other reason than to see how David Ortiz and Lucic stack up in size. Ortiz looks a bit larger than Lucic in these videos, mostly in height.

http://www.nesn.com/2010/08/david-ortiz-serves-as-milan-lucics-personal-hitting-coach.html

Here is the real tale of the tape, though, according to the team websites, which reveals that the two are nearly identical:

Milan Lucic- 6’4”, 220 lbs
David Ortiz- 6’4”, 230 lbs

Also, I just want to tip my hat to Shawn Thornton. For what it’s worth, the guy always seems to be in the middle of every Bruins charity event. I mean, I can’t say I blame the guy. Why would you not want to bowl in the Beckett Bowl or play in a softball game on a nice Summer night? But I’m sure the guy obviously has a busy schedule, so it is definitely a testament of the kind of character player that he is. I am shocked, though, that he’s never swung a bat before.

Let’s hope, though, that Lucic and Thornton will at least take it a little easy in tonight’s charity game. We don’t need any fluke injuries (see former Patriots running back Robert Edwards)

 Let the Seguin era begin! Tyler Seguin, the 2^nd overall selection in this past June’s NHL entry draft, has officially signed his first National Hockey League contract with the Boston Bruins. It is the customary three year entry level deal. It is similar to 1^st overall pick, Taylor Hall’s contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Between salary and bonuses, Hall could earn up to $3.75 million while Seguin could earn up to $3.55 million. Bruins general manager, Peter Chiarelli has been quoted as saying that although Seguin is a center, he will most likely begin the season playing wing, which Seguin has done in the past and has said he will do so for the Bruins. Playing wing makes sense for the young star. As of this writing, the B’s have three veteran centers in Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci, which would make Seguin the team’s fourth line center and seeing as Seguin is not a fourth line defensive specialist, he needs to be converted to the wing. Playing wing will also help Seguin make the transition from junior hockey to the NHL easier. He will have fewer defensive zone responsibilities as a wing than he would as a center and he will learn how to play the centerman’s position by observing. It will bode well for the young man’s future.

 In other Bruins news, the team signed winger, Blake Wheeler to his salary arbitration awarded 1 year, $2.2 million deal. Both sides, management and Wheeler, himself, said the arbitration process was “professional” and there are no hard feelings between the two. Each side has had nothing but positive things to say about each other. With both signings, the organization is over the NHL salary cap of $59 million. Chiarelli told listeners in a conference call that the team is all but through exploring trades with the purpose of getting under the salary cap. He plans on putting winger Marco Sturm on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). Sturn injured his knee in the Stanley Cup playoff series versus the Philadelphia Flyers. With Sturm on the LTIR, the team does not need to absorb his contract towards the cap number.

Bruins bruising winger, Milan Lucic will be seen playing in a softball game on Wednesday August 4, 2010 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts.  LeLacheur Park is the home baseball stadium for the University of Massachusetts Lowell and to the Lowell Spinners, the Single A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The game will be raising funds for the Health and Education Services of Greater Boston. The game called, Rock and Jock Softball, will see star athletes such as, former Bruins captains, Rick Middleton and Ray Bourque, along with Lyndon Byers, playing beside former New England Patriot, Max Lane. Current Bruins, Tim Thomas, Shawn Thornton, and David Krejci will participate as well. They will be playing against a team full of Boston television and radio personalities. The game is scheduled to be the highlight of the evening but fans will also be entertained by games and infield entertainment. Tickets prices are $10.00 per person or VIP tickets can be purchased for $150.00 and can be obtained at the door. Fans can go to http://www.celebritiesforcharity.org/events/rockjock/index.html for more information.