The Spokes are a little bigger, there’s a new shoulder patch with a much grittier-looking “Pooh Bear” and cool throwback “Boston Professional Skating Club” patch and the ‘B’ is a little different, but all in all the new Boston Bruins sweater looks pretty similar to the old varieties -- except for the tighter, more streamlined look that each NHL team is taking on next season with the new RBK-1 line of “lighter, cooler and more water-resistant” jerseys first introduced at the NHL All-Star game last season.

The B’s unveiled the new sweater during a soiree at the Underbar in Boston last night and players Aaron Ward, Andrew Alberts, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Patrice Bergeron and Mark Mowers all showed up in Black and Gold Lamborghinis for a red carpet entrance to the event.

A welcome departure from the normal Bruins events of the past if you asked me…

Anyway, a few of the players stopped by to chat about yesterday’s announced hiring of Claude Julien as head coach and here’s a few thoughts from Bergeron – the 3rd longest tenured member of the Big Bad Bruins these days behind only Glenn Murray and P.J. Axelsson.

Another interesting side note that 890 ESPN radio’s Mike Salk passed along last night in a conversation with Tim Thomas during the event: the B’s goalie was playing golf with Dave Lewis just one day prior to his firing by the Bruins and definitely did not see the move coming.

Anyway, here are some thoughts from Bergeron:

What are your thoughts on the new coach?

PB: “Obviously it’s pretty interesting. I had a chance to know him a little bit at the World Championships [in 2006 in Riga, Latvia where Bergeron finished as the second leading scorer in the tourney with 15 points in nine games just behind teammate and linemate Sidney Crosby] and he’s a great coach; he’s a players’ coach and he wants us to be a difficult team to play against and it should be fun. I don’t know much about him but I’m excited to work with him to help turn things around.

I didn’t have time to know him and if he was [a disciplinarian] but I think he’ll tell you if you’re doing something wrong and not playing within the system he’s showing us and that’s good. At the same he doesn’t take away your creativity out there on the ice while also being responsible defensively.

Sometimes you think you’re doing the right thing but if you’re a little off and you need to adjust things and you need a coach that’s willing to tell you that.

What did you remember about him for the World Championships?

PB: I remember he was a great guy and he was an assistant coach there and he made us all comfortable, but at the same time he made us all accountable and wanted us to work hard and be hard to play against.

What makes him the right guy?
PB: It’s up to Peter [Chiarelli] to answer that question, but his mentality is to make us harder to play against and he wants to bring that to us. Everywhere he went he’s had success and that tells you everything right there.

He’s won in junior, he won in the American League and he’s had some very good records in the NHL, so I think he’s the right guy but it’s also up to us as players to help him. We’re all in the same boat. It was disappointing last year and we don’t want to do that three times in a row.

Now it’s up to us as players. You can’t put all the blame with the coach and say it’s his fault. We’re all together and it’s up to us as players to be better.

Was it disappointing that Lewis wasn’t brought back, or did you feel a change was coming?

PB: It’s disappointing but at the same time it’s the business that we’re in. It’s tough. Lewwy was a great guy and Habby was a great guy too and I wish them well in whatever they do next. But we’re with Claude now and we’re hoping to get to the playoffs and we’re going to need everyone from coaches to players. I’m excited for next year and it’s going to be fun.

Is this a fresh start for you guys?
PB: I hope so…we said that last year and it didn’t work out for us last year. We hope it’s a fresh start and we have all of the ingredients in the locker room to be a great team and it’s a matter of being consistent and playing together.

I'd also like to give a big thank you to CN8's multi-talented Jeb Fisher, who not only is a left-hander capable of "bringing it" at the Boston/New York media game but is also a gifted artist that created the sketch that's now the banner for my blog. In a former life, Jeb used to do caricatures at the mall and it looks like he hasn't lost his touch. (for those that click on the link, Jeb is the third one down on the left)

Also for those Middlesex League sports fans out there, it looks like Burlington High School baseball coach Jim Curtin will return for his 49th season of coaching the Red Devils and will continue to build on his amazing 561 career wins.

With the NHL draft set to start in a half-hour or so and goaltenders Manny Fernandez and Ilya  Bryzgalov still with their respective teams at this point, here's my pick for the Bruins selection with the 8th pick. The 6-foot, 180-pound Angelo Esposito, who said in interviews that he models his game after 50-goal scorer Vincent LeCavalier, was the top-ranked skater at the mid-point of the season but "tumbled" to the 8th spot in the final NHL Central Scouting Rankings this season.

The scouting report for the lefty shooter: A skilled forward with excellent skating ability… his top-end speed and mobility backs off defenders…sees the ice well and has the ability to make pin-point passes… not afraid to go to the net… needs to increase his physical presence and his play in traffic… needs to show more consistency.


Part of the drop was due to a lack of production this season with the Patrick Roy-owned Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after a standout 2005-2006 season, and part of the drop-off this season was due to no longer skating on the same line with Alexander Radulov. Radulov graduated from the junior team after the 2005-2006 season and instead made an impact as a rookie forward with the Nashville Predators in the NHL last season. Questions began to arise about Esposito being able to create things on his own...we'll see.

Not only does Esposito have the right name to make it with the B's, but he might be a little closer to NHL-ready than some of the other potential players in the draft.

That's it for good NHL talk...More in a bit, and I'd like to say a big hello to all my fans in Tapanga Canyon...