Zach Hamill, Center, was the number one draft pick for the Boston Bruins this summer, and he just finished a four-year career with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL.  This past season Hamill notted 26 goals and 49 assists for 75 points in 67 games.  The Silvertips did not qualify for the playoffs which allowed Hamill to be signed this quickly.

Penner, a 20-year old defensemen from Steinbach, Manitoba, played this past season for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.  In 35 games this season Penner scored 5 goals and 7 assists.

Expect both Hamill and Penner to  get quite a bit of playing time if the Providence Bruins clinch the Atlantic Division soon.  (Which could happen as soon as Sunday.)

In retrospect they pale in comparison with the “victory” he posted on Nov. 19 - three days after he collapsed during the third period of a game against the Worcester Sharks at The Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Sigalet, who was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis in 2004 while playing at Bowling Green, came up “big” because he was able to wiggle his toes.

“When I went down that night I didn’t have any feeling from the waist down,” he said. “At first I didn’t know if my legs just went out from under me and I hit my head and passed out. Then, It took three days (after he was transported to Providence’s Rhode Island Hospital) before I could wiggle my toes. It was exciting.

“Slowly, I got movement back in my legs but my left one was behind my right. Eventually I was in a wheel chair for two weeks and then a walker, and then a cane and then nothing. It’s been a long road but I’ve progressed upward.”

How true.

The 26-year-old Sigalet has gone from wondering if he would be paralyzed for life to thinking his hockey career was over to resuming practice with the P-Bruins - which he did on Dec. 16.

“As soon as I realized I couldn’t move anything I was scared,” he said recently. “I wasn’t thinking hockey. I thought hockey was over for me.

“Now, I haven’t set a time frame for a return. I’m working on getting my wind back. On (Dec. 18) I was in full gear and was seeing some shots. I’m taking it day by day. I want to come back when I can help the team but I don’t want to be a hero.”

Not that Sigalet isn’t a hero of sorts to people afflicted with a variety of diseases. But even one month after his collapse, he still doesn’t know what triggered this incident.

“It’s hard for doctors to pin-point anything with this disease,” he said. “People go through relapses but this is the only one I’ve had in four years. Since I’m young, I’m told you get everything back 100 percent.”

Of course that doesn’t happen just by waving a magic wand.

After spending two weeks at Rhode Island Hospital, Sigalet was transferred to the rehab center at St. Joseph’s Hospital where, in a sense, the staff worked its own “magic.”

“The physical and occupational therapists were awesome,” said Sigalet.

At first, though, the occupational therapist was concerned about helping Sigalet master “every-day life things” like waking up at 7 a.m., getting out of bed and taking a shower.

“It was hard at first to put my clothes on and get to shower,” he said. “But eventually I got to do it own my own.

“Then, when the physical therapist came in we threw around a medicine ball and I took steps walking along while holding onto parallel bars. We worked on that for an hour and after lunch we worked on my upper body for a half hour and then there was an hour of physical therapy.

“Every day,” continued Sigalet, “I took baby steps to get my muscles stronger.”
Indeed.

Eventually, Sigalet “convinced” his therapist that once he got stronger he wanted an exercise bike in his room - and a computer.

“The bike helped for obvious reasons,” he said. “And with the computer I was able to watch our games on line. It almost was like I was playing again.

“It’s hard now but it’s not as hard as it could have been. And (trainer) Mike (Poirier) even has me running steps at The Dunk. It hasn’t been fun doing that but it’s been a help.”

What has been fun, to an extent, is watching his teammates carve out the best record in the AHL.

“Fortunately, guys like Tukka Rask, Mike Brown and Andy Franck are stepping in and getting big wins so I don’t have to worry about it as much,” added Sigalet. “I think things are going straight forward. But you can bike and run as much as you want. You have to get on the ice and you must see shots in order to get back into game shape.”

Which was the farthest thing from his mind on Nov. 19.

Just some clips I threw together.GO GO BLACK AND GOLD!

The Providence Bruins skated to a 2-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday. It was the B’s only game of the weekend. Matt Hendricks, who spent last year with the Hershey Bears, scored both goals for the Bruins.

Much like Providence, Worcester also finished the weekend 1-0, defeating division rival, Springfield, 4-2. The Sharks had four different goal scorers in Nate Raduns, Riley Armstrong, Graham Mink, and Lukas Kaspar.

The Portland Pirates had a crazy home opener. A home opener which was delayed twice. The game against the Springfield Falcons was scheduled to start at 7:05, but there was a small problem. The teams didn’t have their jerseys. They were scheduled to be delivered in time for the game, but the jerseys were stuck in traffic in Boston. The teams skated the first period with their practice jerseys. What a head ache the announcers must have had, because the practice jerseys don’t include numbers. After a scoreless first period, the teams finally received their jerseys, and came on to the ice for the second period with the right jerseys on. During the second intermission, the Zamboni broke down. There was a 45-minute delay for that, and that drove away most of the fans that were in attendance. The final score of the game was 3-2 Springfield. The team rebounded in their second game. They defeated the Lowell Devils 4-1 thanks to two goals by Stephen Dixon.

The Manchester Monarchs also played two games in the first weekend. The first one was their home opener, in which they dropped to the Providence Bruins 2-1. Gabe Gauthier was the lone scorer for the Monarchs. The next day they traveled to Springfield to take on the Falcons in a game in which they ended up losing 3-2 in OT.

Hartford dropped their one and only game of the weekend. The Wolfpack lost to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3-2. Returning goalie Al Montoya allowed three goals on 22 shots, while Jordan Owens, and Corey Potter scored the goals for the ‘Pack.

The Lowell Devils finished in the bottom half of the Atlantic Division standings last season, and it looks like that is where they will end up again due to the team not filling many of the holes that they had last season. They skated to a 4-1 loss against Portland on Saturday.

On Friday October 12th the Hartford Wolfpack will take on the Manchester Monarchs in an Atlantic Division tilt. Portland will also play Springfield on the same night. The Lowell Devils will take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers the next night, Springfield will play Manchester, Portland will play Worcester, the Wolfpack will take on Western Conference foe, the Syracuse Crunch, and the Providence Bruins will also play a team from the Western Conference when they travel to Rochester. On Sunday the Portland Pirates will take on the Lowell Devils, and the Springfield Falcons will take on the Norfolk Admirals.

The Bruins jumped on the board early in this one. Matt Hendricks scored his first goal in a PBruins uniform just 1:55 into the game. Karsums and Hoggan recieved the assists. The Monarchs tied it up six minutes later when Gabe Gauthier put one past new net-minder, Tuuka Rask. Peter Harrold, and Teddy Purcell were credited with the helpers.

Matt Hendricks netted his second goal of the game 11 minutes into the 2nd period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead, a lead that they wouldn’t squander. This followed an alltercation earlier in the 2nd period which resulted in Nate Thompson of the Providence Bruins, and Petr Kanko of the Manchester Monarchs recieving game misconducts.

The Monarchs had a few more scoring chances, but couldn’t put the puck behind Tuukka Rask.

Tuukka Rask stopped 27 out of 28 shots in his first game with Providence.

The Bruins now travel to Rochester, where they will take on the Americans next Saturday night at 7:35.

Scoring Summary
1. PRO Hendricks, (1) (Karsums, Hoggan), 1:55
1. MCH Gauthier, (1) (Harrold, Purcell), 7:38 (PP)
2. PRO Hendricks, (2) (Lashoff, Collins), 11:13 (PP)

Three Stars
1. PRO - 19 Matt Hendricks
2. PRO - 30 Tuukka Rask
3. MCH - 28 Gabe Gauthier

Attendance: 8827
Start: 7:41 PM
End: 10:10 PM
Length: 2:29

Nathan Saunders split time last year between the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL, and the Portland Pirates of the AHL.  Brent Skinner played for the Portland Pirates, and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights of the AHL, and the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL. Both players will help solidify Providence’s defense. 

Both Boston and Providence was affiliated with the Long Beach Ice Dogs last year, but the franchise ceased operations and left Boston with no secondary affiliate.

“I am looking forward to working with the Bruins this season,” said Chiefs Head Coach Ian Herbers. “They have several good young players in their organization that we will help develop. This affiliation can also open the door for many of our own players as well.”

The Providence Bruins training camp runs from  September 22nd through October 2nd, with pre-season games against Springfield at Boss Arena in URI, Bridgeport at the Connecticut Sports Center in Shelton, CT, and Worcester at the New England Sports Complex in Marlborough, MA. All practices are open to the public and a full schedule can be found  here.

American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that all 29 AHL teams will use Reebok’s new Rbk EDGE Uniform System™ beginning with the 2007-08 season. After more than two years of research and testing, the Rbk EDGE Uniform System will debut this fall in only two leagues worldwide: the NHL and the American Hockey League.

 I think they are alright.  The black one is fine, but I’m not so sure about the white one.

Also, here are the actual jerseys White
Black
CPU Image

Sorry for not being able to have the pictures on this post, but the formatting made it look kind of wierd.

The Bruins wont open at home until Wednesday, November 14th when the Bruins host the Portland Pirates at 7:05pm. The Bruins will be away from home for the first ten games of the season due to construction to the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Providence will play their busiest month in March as the Bruins will play 16 games in the 31 day month, which includes nine of them on the road. Providence will again play a very heavy division schedule, which includes 56 of the teams 80 games against Atlantic Division Opponents. The black and gold will also face all East Division teams with exception to the Eastern Conference Champion Hershey Bears.

For the first time since 2003, the baby B’s will face Western Conference Opponents. Providence will face Rockford, Rochester, Chicago, Milwaukee, San Antonio, and Houston twice each in the 07-08 campaign. Providence will face each of those teams once at home; November 30th vs the Rockford Ice Hogs, December 1st vs the Rochester Americans, December 7th vs the Chicago Wolves, December 16th vs the Houston Aeros, February 6th vs the Milwaukee Admirals, and  March 15th vs the San Antonio Rampage.