But Thornton's not a top 10 player in this league!

(Edit to add some thought: Thornton definitely was not a top 10 player during his tenure with the B's, but he's been a monster for SJ.)

Thornton finishes as the league's leading scorer with 125 points.

I'm not sure if the improvement in his game in SJ should be to his credit, or that his mailing it in here in Boston is to his detriment. Probably both.

With Columbus' miracle comeback last night, the B's are presently sitting in the 5th slot for the draft. Tomorrow the draft lottery will be held, and Boston has about a 10% chance (if my math is right) of moving up to the #1 overall pick. The NHL lottery only picks one winner, and they move up to #1 if they are 1-5 in season finish, and if the are 6-14, they move up 4 spots. So, the Bruins will either pick 5th, 6th, or 1st. 5th or 6th should suit the Bruins just fine, they'll be quality players like Mueller, Frolik, Backstrom available, but with the B's scouting values differing a good bit from the ISS, they could be looking for someone like Okposo, Little, maybe Tlusty and Brassard is another good possibility. Or they could pull another Patrice Bergeron out of left field. I'm confident we'll have a good draft, though, the Bruins have a very good and unorthodox scouting department, which can help them not only early but in the later rounds as well.

Who knows, it's hard to blame a shitty team on one player, you can't expect him to do everything, but if you put a team around him that can "do enough"...well then you might just have something.

Great players make players around them great, I think that was the quote, congrats to his linemate Jonathan Cheechoo for winning the Maurice Richard Trophy for leading the league in Goals.

Joe hardly lacked for good linemates in Boston. Hell, one of the reasons the B's brought Murray back was because he and Joe worked well together. Sammy too. Joe didn't put the requisite effort in for many, many games here in Boston.

It's good for him that he's playing better and giving a better effort every night in SJ, but it's not a good thing that he was unable/unwilling to do that in Boston.

Sometimes I just like to give the play the benefit of doubt I suppose, that kind of "no one but the players actually know what goes on behind closed doors" views.

I don't think the Bruins have been tops on many players lists to play for a long time, Harry singling out players after playoff losses, the revolving door of coaches, a notoriously cheap owner, granted that is no reason not to give your best effort every night, but it can't help.

Joe flashed impressive talent when he wanted to play in Boston. He can complain about his wingers, but he had a supposed star player in Sammy, and for whatever reason he and Sammy never thrived together. He had his buddy Murray, and from some accounts it sounds like he basically made it clear his buddy Murray must be resigned or else Joe wasn't going to sign the long term extension.

Unfortunately Joe took way to many shifts off when he was in Boston.

Yay, it seems like he might have decided to become a great player in San Jose. Whoop De Fricken Doo. In that respect he reminds me of Roger Clemens circa 1996. Had Roger stayed in Boston, I have no doubt he would have been an inconsistent pitcher who flashed greatness, but could not consistently deliver, he needed to go to Toronto and feel the kick in the nuts to make him want to be great again. That is how I feel about Joe. I have no doubt that had he remained in Boston he would have remained the player he had been since his career began. Someone who would tease you with potential, and occasionally even dominate a game, but also someone who just played like he didn't care, and didn't want to be there more often than not

I agree 100% with both of those comments, Joe did take a lot of shifts off here, even a few whole games for whatever reason. It really is a shame, Boston was primed for it's next great hockey superstar and by all accounts it should have been Joe, he just never either cared or grew into the role. Who knows if he took less shifts off they might have spent more on the team, looked for one or two better trades, I guess we'll never know.

Not to go on a Roger rant here, but I have always felt if Duke resigned Clemens he would have been a middle of the road (eventually hasbeen) pitcher until the day he retired, which wouldn't have been that long.

For whatever reason Roger kicked it up about 12 gears in Toronto, I personally think most of it was to stick it to Duke, not so much the city of boston or the fans, but definately the GM. Oh well i'll be at his first game back with the Red Sox this season

Agree with both SMO and BigMike's comments above. What was most telling to me were those times when Joe did put in a full effort. He dominated those games; you'd look at him and think "My God, he's going to be a stud in this league." He didn't do it often enough however. In the games I'd attend in person it was far more obvious that he was floating around; he'd never take control of the game in the way he was capable.

It's frustrating for Bruins fans that Joe's tenure here was ultimately a disappointment; the team won only one playoff series with Joe here (although he took unfair and unwarranted criticism after the last series against the Canadiens; he was badly injured and would not have been playing had those been regular season games).

Giving him the "C" was a terrible mistake. He doesn't have the personality for it, he never did. That's not a bad thing; he's just a laid-back guy who doesn't talk too much and doesn't play with a ton of fire. Ftorek might have hoped giving him the C would develop leadership and effort qualities in Joe, but it was the backwards way to do it and put far too much pressure and attention on Joe. If Joe's not wearing the C then KPD doesn't stick the shiv in him in 2004 and call for the title to be stripped from Joe in the playoffs merely because Joe didn't speak to KPD following a tough loss. It was a shitty situation all the way around and should never have happened. Say what you want about Marty Lapointe's on-ice talents, but for my money Lapointe should have been the captain of that team (note Lapointe's getting in the face of the despicable Mike Riberio several times during that series and again just after the final game had ended when Riberio decided to do a bit of taunting.)

there wasn't really much inprovement on his game in SJ, + .11 points per game difference. he scored 33 points in 23 games for the B's in only four of those games he failed to register a point. he was making things happen. 33 in 23 works out to around 115+ points for the season at that rate. had the B's figured a way to get Sturm over here and keep Thornton, Sturm would be the 50 goal scorer not Cheechoo.

The Bruins do not win the NHL lottery. St. Louis did. B's pick 5th overall.

Yah and the Pens pick up the #2 pick, gee sure sucks to be them, Crosby last year and a #2 this year ..

It worked for Ottawa.

Evgeni Malkin the year before, too. As bad as Pittsburgh was, they are a powerhouse in the making.

And no more Craig Patrick to kick around either, eh? Does he get a look in Boston? He's not my favorite executive, but I can see how Sinden would respect and recommend him to Charlie Jacobs.

Did folks see the new Central Scouting rankings? Team rankings, of course, differ wildly, but it's interesting to note that Phil Kessel fell to 5th overall among North American skaters. I see no way he drops past the top 4.

Did you catch Jeff Gorton's comments in the Globe today? He said that the draft goes 5 deep, so he was happy to get pick #5 (instead of moving down to #6, which was a possibility).

So it does not sound like the Bruins will move up.

On the other hand, I would not be surprised if they make a draft day deal to move down a pick or two - if there is more than one of their top 5 left when their pick comes up.

Completely irrelevant post to the thread, but didnt warrant a new one...

I am blocked at work from pulling up sites like sportsbook.com - can anyone post the 1st round SERIES odds (not game 1 odds, but odds for the series)?

Would be much appreciated... thanks.

NEHJ has a piece up with a few quotes from Gorton on a number of subjects

http://www.hockeyjournal.com/bruins/200604...006Notebook.htm

Interesting to see he'd like to at least make a run at Zino.

They definately sound thrilled to get #5; although, I am just betting at least one of the Common knowledge top 4 is not in the bruins top 5

Seems they have a funky problem with their site, all the NHL odds pages time out, if no one posts them i'll try again in a bit.

bodog only has tonights games up ..

Got this from http://www.nine.com/nine_live_lines.asp?Sport=Hockey&Sub=NHL

Fri 4/21 470 NHL SERIES PRICE
470 (BEST OF SEVEN)
471 Lightning(Best of 7) +400
472 Senators(Best of 7) -500
473 Oilers ( Best of 7 ) +450
474 RedWings(Best of 7) -600
475 Sharks ( Best of 7 ) -175
476 Predators( Best of 7 ) +155
477 MightyDucks(Best 7) +170
478 Flames ( Best of 7 ) -200

That what you're looking for?

Yep. Thanks Nap... and thanks Skrubber and SMO for providing these via PMs as well.

3 responses to a somewhat more obscure thread in about 5 minutes. Don't you people work???

Hey, it's the Stanley Cup we're talking about, here.

I wouldn't doubt it (and I find Jonathan Toews to be kind of uninspiring)! That's the thing about the Bs drafting, when they take a guy it's usually "well, he was only ranked 37th by THN and CS", and then he turns into a solid pick. Still, it invites questions as to whether or not they'd be better served by trading down if the guy they want is someone other than the Common Knowledge Top 4 or a Mueller/Backstrom/Brassard.

Gorton's comments were especially interesting because he referred to a clear cut Top 5. I'm not connected or knowledgeable enough to even guess, but it seems pretty muddled to me after that 4th pick.

Does Joe hoist the cup this year?

Would it make sense to hire Craig Patrick as a consultant to the Bruins? His father, Lynn, was the general manager of the Bruins for a decade; Craig grew up in Wellesley on Radcliffe Road and played at Wellesley High.

NEHJ should have a good draft preview up Monday, I'll try to check it out and get it up here. Right now I really like Nicklas Backstrom and Kyle Okposo, pretty much every part of their game. Maybe the Bruins can move down to get one of them, but I don't know. We've seen the Bruins grab players from left field in the later picks, because their ratings do differ significantly than the ISS and CSS, but with the very early pick of #5, maybe they go with one of the consensus players that will make an impact. It's the top talent, how many solid, underrrated players that they have a knack for finding are worth taking over safe, impact picks, or sky-high reward picks? Anyway I'm comfortable with the position they're in, they'll be some great players available, and if they do pick a guy out of left field, I guess they must have pretty damn good reason to pick him over the other guys. I guess the only close to certain thing we know is that the B's will not draft a Russian player.

Backstrom and Okposo are my two top choices as well. I think either one will be available at 5, possibly both. I think Backstrom is a guy who could come over next year and play with the big club and that in itself could be appealing to the Bruins.

Yeah, Jeff Gorton was quoted as saying that two draft prospects are NHL ready, and from what is understood about the top players available, those two are Johnson and Backstrom. Backstrom's got a fantastic all around scouting report, great two way player, excellent play making center, fantastic hockey sense and hands, never takes a shift off, excellent motivation, work ethic, and leadership qualities. He's the best forward on a playoff bound team for the SEL in Sweden, the "big leagues" over there, and he's got great stats playing on the first line. He could very well be taken over one of the big 4, hell most people consider him the tail end of the big 5, so if he's not there maybe Staal or someone is available. Brassard seems like a favorite too.

Exactly. Best postseason in sports.

Backstrom seems to have some momentum, while some in the Top 4 seem to be losing such. I do wonder if we'll see one of the top 4 guys slip into Boston's lap at 5. And, if that happens, whether or not the Bs then decide to trade the pick and move down to get a Tlusty or a Brassard while gathering in additional assets.

The one question, to me, about Backstrom is his willingness to come over from Sweden (especially to, say, play in the AHL for a bit) and his contract situation w/ his SEL team. I don't know if that's pertinent or not, but with only 2 years to get him signed (with the new CBA), the Bruins have to be sure they can actually get him in a uniform.

Backstrom is already playing on a #1 line for a playoff team in the SEL. I can't see the Bruins bringing him over to play in providence.

Brassard is the only guy I would consider moving down for, and honeslty I wouldn't drop part #7 under any circumstance.

I'm in agreement here, if the B's move down, it should be at least a single digit pick, whether they get Brassard or Okposo, but they they need to keep the asking price high.

I don't think they will move down, however, because if Backstrom is not there at 5, that means that it's probably Toews or Staal that drops. Bruins are definitely in a good situation here.

According to a thread at HFboards, the Bruins have signed 2005 second round pick F Petr Kalus to a three year deal.

This is excellent news. According to Kirk L., Kalus was very close to making the Bruins out of training camp this year, but was sent down at the last minute because the B's brass felt he would be better served by a year in the WHL.

During his year in juniors, he scored 36 goals and added 22 assists.

I saw him in rookie camp. Good size, fast, has a shot and seems to play with an edge.

Excellent that he is under contract.