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Above Photo Credit:  www.nhl.com

By: Mark Allred   ( @BlackAndGold277 )

The Boston Bruins announced yesterday that they’ve recalled goaltender Anton Khudobin from his conditioning assignment with the AHL’s Providence Bruins and sent goaltender Zane McIntyre to the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.

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This news sent shockwave’s through Bruins Nation and had many fans asking why a prospect goaltender like McIntyre who’s been with the NHL Bruins as the team’s backup for the last four week’s would all of a sudden be demoted to the lowest level of minor-pro hockey? Believe it or not, this was a smart move by Bruins management to get the 2010 sixth-round draft pick (165th overall) much needed playing time.

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See, when the transaction happened yesterday the Baby B’s were already fourteen hundred miles away in St. John’s, Newfoundland Canada for this weekends back-to-back games against the St. John’s IceCaps and the team isn’t to return to the United States until sometime Sunday. With McIntyre unable to join the Bruins on the road, the next best thing is to place him in the ECHL where he’ll presumably get the start on Sunday when the Atlanta Gladiators host the South Carolina Stingrays from the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia at 2:05pm.

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Once the Providence Bruins team is back in the country, look for McIntyre to join the Baby B’s and prospect goaltender, Dan Vladar to be sent down to Atlanta for continued development in his first year of semi-professional hockey. Again, because the 24-year-old McIntyre is currently in his last year of his entry-level contract, he doesn’t have to go through the waiver process, and getting him involved in playing time no matter what league he’s placed is important in his development and will keep him fresh with practice and game action for his return to the AHL.

After tonight’s game two of the back-to-back series against the IceCaps, the next game for the Providence Bruins will be on December 2, 2016, when the B’s host the Binghamton Senators from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.