Projo Bruins Blog

April 2008 Archives

The Bruins today assigned center Vladimir Sobotka to the Providence Bruins for the balance of the Calder Cup playoffs. With the move, Providence now has 27 players on its roster, including 15 forwards, eight defensemen and four goaltenders.

Sobotka, 20, returns to Providence for the first time since being recalled to the NHL on January 11. The rookie center split the season between Boston and Providence, appearing in 48 regular season games with the big club while amassing seven points (g, 6a), plus another six Stanley Cup Playoff contests, where he scored two goals. Boston’s season came to an end Monday night, falling in the seventh game of its first round series with the Montreal Canadiens.

Sobotka enjoyed a 14-game NHL call-up from November 23, 2007 into late-December, making his NHL debut on the road against the New York Islanders on November 24, 2007. The forward’s first NHL point came on December 12, 2007, recording an assist against the Atlanta Thrashers. During Sobotka’s second call-up, he enjoyed several other NHL firsts, including his first goal at the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 13, his only multiple-point game with two assists April 4 versus the Ottawa Senators, his playoff debut at Montreal on April 12 and the first of two playoff goals five nights later.

A native of Trebic, Czech Republic, Sobotka comes back to Providence, where he had 20 points (10g, 10a) and a plus-12 rating in 18 regular season games. His best offensive stretch came during an eight-game points-streak (4g, 7a) from October 27, 2007 to November 18, 2007. He is presently riding a three-game points-streak at the AHL level, amassing three goals and six points during that time. Prior to going pro, the Trebic, Czech Republic, native spent the past four seasons playing for the Slavia and Slavia Jr. teams in the Czech Republic. Sobotka was also a member of the Czech Republic’s team that competed in the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championships. At the 2007 tournament, Sobotka was named the Czech Republic’s Second Star by a panel of coaches. He was drafted by Boston 106th overall in the fourth round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames are the three finalists for the Norris Trophy in 2007-08, awarded "to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position."

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association submitted ballots for the Norris Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters announced as finalists. The winner will be announced Thursday, June 12 during the 2008 NHL Awards Television Special, which will be broadcast live throughout Canada on CBC and the United States on VERSUS from the historic Elgin Theatre in Toronto.

Chara enjoyed a career year this season, establishing career highs in goals (17), assists (34) and points (51). He led the B's and ranked eighth in the league with 223 hits and finished a team-best +14 on the year.

This marks the second Norris nomination for Chara as he finished second to New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer in 2004.

MONTREAL (AP) - Mark Streit has a hip injury and will sit out the Montreal Canadiens' playoff game against Boston on Thursday.

Coach Guy Carbonneau said Streit was injured in the second period of Game 4 on Tuesday in Boston and is day to day. Michael Ryder will replace Streit.

Montreal leads the best-of-7 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series 3-1 and can wrap it up with a victory Thursday.

Streit splits his time playing defense and left wing and the right point on the power play. Patrice Brisebois will likely take over the point.

Defenseman Francis Bouillon (ankle) and captain Saku Koivu (fractured foot) are also missing for Montreal. Neither is expected to play in the series.

Reversing practice so far during the NHL playoffs, NESN will be carrying the Red Sox-Yankees game tomorrow night -- meaning that the game will also be available on high definition -- while the Bruins-Canadiens game 5 will be pushed to Cox.

Providence Bruins coach Scott Gordon has been named the 2007-08 recipient of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award honoring the American Hockey League’s outstanding coach. The award, voted upon by coaches and media members from the league’s 29 cities, was instituted during the 1967-68 season in tribute to Pieri, a long-time contributor to the AHL as owner of the Providence Reds.

Gordon, 45, is in his eighth season coaching in Providence and his fifth full year as the P-Bruins' head coach. Since taking over for Mike Sullivan late in the 2002-03 season, Gordon has compiled a record of 219-139-20-14-13 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) in 405 regular-season games and has guided Providence to the Calder Cup playoffs each year, including a trip to the conference finals in 2005.

This season has been Gordon’s best behind the bench as Providence sits atop the AHL standings with a record of 53-16-3-4 for 113 points. With four remaining regular season contests, Providence can still eclipse its franchise marks of 56 wins and 120 points, both set during the club’s 1998-99 Calder Cup championship season. The P-Bruins are three points away from clinching the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s overall regular season points-champion, which would give them home-ice advantage throughout the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs.

On the year, Providence ranks second in the AHL in offense, averaging 3.55 goals per game, and the club is first in both shots on goal taken (34.24) and fewest shots allowed (25.55) per contest. The P-Bruins are also a perfect 32-0-0-0 when leading after two periods, the second straight year they have posted an unblemished record in that situation.

Gordon, the PlanetUSA head coach at the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Reebok, began his coaching career with the International Hockey League’s Atlanta Knights, serving as both the head coach and as an assistant from 1994-96. He also spent two seasons as both the head coach and an assistant of the IHL’s Quebec Rafales from 1996-98. When Gordon was named the head coach of the Knights on January 5, 1996, he became at 32-years-old, the youngest head coach in the league’s 53-year history. Gordon’s next move came in 1998-99, when he was named the head coach of the Roanoke Express of the East Coast Hockey League. He led the club to consecutive first-place finishes in the Northeast Division while compiling an 82-42-16 overall regular season record. The 1999-2000 Express set franchise records for wins (44), points (94) and fewest goals against (181).

Prior to entering the coaching ranks, the native of Easton, Massachusetts, enjoyed a four-year playing career as a goaltender for the Boston College Eagles from 1982-86, posting a 64-35-3 record over that span. He backstopped the Eagles to a NCAA Final Four appearance in 1985 and was named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star in 1986. Following the completion of his collegiate career, Gordon began his professional playing career in 1986-87 when he signed a contract with the National Hockey League’s Quebec Nordiques. Along with parts of six seasons in the AHL from 1986-92, Gordon appeared in 23 career NHL games, all with the Nordiques.

Providence last boasted a Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award winner when Peter Laviolette, now the head man on the bench for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, received the award in 1998-99 en route to guiding the club to its only Calder Cup championship.