Cornelius is another great friend of the blog. He's contributed to numerous CLS events, including his work for a couple of our playoff mini-blogs. You can check out his Bruins (and more) related blogging at Cornelius Hardenbergh and the Hockey Blog Adventure.Thanks for everything, Cornelius. Make sure to follow his work as the Bruins go through a pivotal off-season that will determine whether or not the last season was a fluke or "just the beginning."
The following are his "stream of consciousness" responses to our draft related questions. Keep in mind that the posts regarding teams with lower picks might be more general and historical.
1. With guys like Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler developing rapidly, one must wonder about the condition of the Bruins' farm system. How do you feel about the Bruins' remaining minor league talent?
Well, losing Coach Gordon to the Islanders (and then Nate Thompson)isn't great for the Bruins, but they did lose in the eastern conference finals to the Calder Cup champs, so I'm not THAT worried about it. However, it could all be a bunch of career minor leaguers. However, most of the callups we've seen this season have at least impressed me. Matt Hunwick and Byron Bitz especially, and who could forget as-tall-as-Pedroia-at-least-according-to-the-media-guide Martin St. Pierre? Oh and Vladimir Sobotka's impressed me as well.
That said, we did trade some good prospects at the deadline this past year, including Nokelainen. Tuukka Rask should get called up, but might not due to cap concerns.
2. Do you expect the Bruins to make any draft-day moves? Obviously, there are some Kessel/Bergeron trade rumors going around. How likely could such a move be? Do you think the Bruins should be pondering a Kessel move?
If the Bruins trade Kessel, he will light it up for some other team. He got 36 goals this year and was out with Mono (haha, oh kessel...) to boot. The only guy who got within 10 goals of him was Ryder. I worry that they're going to make a move like trading Kessel or Bergeron, but both are excellent. Depending on how contract negotiations go with Kessel, I could see him moved.
Then again I was convinced Thomas was going to get big money with another club next year, so what the hell do I know?
3. Looking back, what are some of the highest points in the Bruins' history of drafting? Are there any moments that stand out as absolute "steals" or shrewd moves?
Uh...hmmm. Well, let me see... googling "bruins draft history"...
They got Ken Dryden in the third round, that ended up working out pretty poorly for him though. Versteeg was a 5th rounder and Hunwick was a 7th rounder. Andrew Alberts and Milan Jurcina went in the 6th and 8th. And of course, Stanley Cup Champion Hal Gill was an 8th round pick.
hahahaha, hold the phone. Mark Stuart was drafted before Bergeron? hahahahahaha
P.K. Axelsson (yes, it's really P.J. for Per-Johan. go with it) got picked in the 7th round, as well. I'd say that worked out pretty well. However, there are a lot of Bruins fans who hate him for some stupid reason. I hope he comes back this year, he's a UFA and getting old though.
4. Conversely, a team with a lengthy history like the Bruins obviously must have some low moments too. What are some of the biggest bonehead moments? Are there some plaguing "what if" type decisions?
Well, they traded away a lot of good players over time, including Ken Dryden.
My favorite What If is what if bobby orr had known about the 18% ownership stake and stayed with the bruins? I'm envisioning a Mario Lemieux/Penguins sort of thing. For those not stuck in the distant past, though....
Kris Versteeg for Brandon Bochenski was probably one of the worst moves the Bruins have made recently.
Soap box time If you'd like, feel free to share some Bruins/NHL thoughts. Should the B's go after Dany Heatley?
Hahahaha, no. No thanks, Mr. Heatley. Really, the Bruins should have tried harder to lose the case against Glen Murray so they could get back another 1.3 million in cap space. Sweet merciful deity-of-choice, we could use that space.
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