A website dedicated to bring you the most accurate news and information about the Boston Bruins organization from a fans perspective. This site is not affiliated with the NHL club in any way.
By: Patrick Donnelly | Follow me on Twitter @PatDonn12
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has suspended Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy for one game for his illegal hit to the head of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson. It was reported earlier today that the 21-year-old would receive a hearing for the incident, which occurred in the second period of last night’s 3-0 Game Six victory to eliminate Columbus.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy has been suspended for one game for an Illegal Check to the Head on Columbus’ Josh Anderson. https://t.co/17QswFLyfI
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 7, 2019
McAvoy was only given a two-minute minor penalty for an illegal check to the head during the game. Anderson was injured on the play, but returned for the third period. The young defenseman has been among the best players for the Bruins through the first two rounds of this year’s playoffs.
In the video explanation of the suspension, which can be viewed by clicking this link, the DoPS cited Anderson’s head being the principle, yet avoidable, point of contact as the main reasoning behind the decision. The video also noted how the angle of approach that McAvoy took caused him to drive into and up through the front of Anderson’s body, rather than his core or shoulder. This comes as the first discipline that the Long Beach, New York native has received from the league through 117 career regular season games and 31 playoff games.
With last night’s win, the Bruins advance to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. McAvoy will miss Game One, which will take place in Boston on Thursday night at 8:00 pm, making an already intriguing series much more interesting.
By: Yanni Latzanakis | Follow Me On Twitter: @yanlatz
On Monday night, the Boston Bruins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in game six of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series by a score of 3-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2013. However, the Black ‘N Gold might be without Charlie McAvoy to begin the series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
With 20 seconds to go in the second period, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy illegally laid out Blue Jackets’ forward Josh Anderson. McAvoy leaned into Anderson and finished the hit upwards in which McAvoy’s shoulder made contact with Anderson’s head and leaving the Columbus forward on the ice in pain.
Bruins’ McAvoy lays out Blue Jackets’ Anderson with a controversial hit late in the second period of Game 6
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) May 7, 2019
After a lengthy discussion between the referees, McAvoy was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for an illegal hit to the head. As a result, McAvoy will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Tuesday and could be suspended for the hit.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy will have a hearing today for an Illegal Check to the Head on Columbus’ Josh Anderson.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 7, 2019
Fans and members of the media believed that the hit was worthy of a major penalty but instead was only called a minor. Many believe that because it was the playoffs and the recent controversial major penalty call on Cody Eakin in Game Seven between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights that the referees refrained from calling a five-minute major on Charlie McAvoy.
Stay tuned for the Department of Player Safety’s ruling on the Charlie McAvoy hit.
By: Patrick Donnelly | Follow me on Twitter @PatDonn12
General Manager Don Sweeney announced this morning that the Bruins have inked forward prospect Oskar Steen to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal runs through the 2020-21 season, carrying an annual NHL cap hit of $809,167.
Steen, who was drafted in the sixth round (165th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, has spent the last three seasons playing for Farjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League. This season, the 21-year-old had a career year, tallying 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points in 47 games to go along with a plus-17 rating. His 37 points were good enough for second on his team and 10th in the SHL. In 14 playoff games this year, Steen recored 2-5-7 numbers.
Last season, Steen registered four goals and two assists for a total of six points through 45 games. In 2016-17, the 5-foot-9, 186-pound forward recorded five goals and six assists (11 points) in eighteen games for Sweden Junior’s Farjestad Jr. in addition to four games for Sweden 2’s MoDo. Also, Steen had a goal and an assist in one game for Sweden 3’s Forshaga in the ’16-17 season.
The Karlstad, Sweden native represented his country at the 2018 World Junior Championships, where he won a silver medal after registering two goals (both coming as game-winners), two assists, and a plus-five rating in seven games. In 2016, Steen won a silver medal at the U18 World Junior Championships as he notched 1-1-3 in seven games.
It is not yet confirmed whether or not Steen will make the jump to North American hockey next season, although it would make sense for him to join the Providence Bruins to become acclimated to the smaller ice and different style of play.
By: Mark Allred | Follow Me On Twitter @BlackAndGold277
Our Black N’ Gold Hockey Podcast and affiliated blackngoldhockey.com website is looking to fill several open positions on our Boston Bruins related digital content team. We are seeking enthusiastic individuals that are team oriented and willing to participate in group discussions. Applicants don’t need to have sports a journalism degrees to join our team but we do ask that you either have previous writing experience or possess decent punctuation and writing skills. Knowledge of the media program WordPress is preferred but not required. We do offer a training program for those who might not be familiar with WordPress.
We are looking for more contributors in the following areas:
Bruins Youtube Video Contributors ( Minimal Writing Required ).
Black N’ Gold Hockey Podcast Co-Host. We are looking to add another member to our show covering the Providence Bruins and B’s prospects in all delevlopmental leagues around the world. This is a weekly show during the regular season.
Editors and Copy Writers Are Needed! These Specialties Come With Reduced Article Publications Per Month. Workload Can Be Discussed During Interview Process.
If you are interested in any one of the open positions above, please continue forward with our website requirements below to see if you have the time and dedication to be a team member with us.
Must have a Twitter account or means of establishing one.
Article length is to be 500 words or more unless you have access to the “Breaking News” group where a maximum of 250 words is acceptable to get the news out faster. Deeper In depth articles are accepted but please stay under 2500 words because a majority of our readers are viewing from mobile devises
From September 1st to when the Boston Bruins regular season and playoffs are over, each member is required to post four articles a month. During the offseason the required total monthly posts to keep an account with us is two.
We have a Slack channel for team communication and activity on there is mandatory or at least please acknowledge important group announcements. Slack can be viewed via mobile phone app or on any PC.
We ask that you be a team player and take a few minutes to support other group members with the kind gesture of sharing everyone’s work on your social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter and so on. Everyone here at BNG is expected to have each other’s backs with the ultimate team support.
If an opportunity comes up to attend a Boston Bruins related events as a media member/guest, these privileges will go to those who go above and beyond. To be granted access under the BNG team umbrella, you must be a member that we can count on and show up to these events as a professional and not a fan. Bruins fan attire that will not be acceptable in any media situation include team jerseys, t-shirts, and so on. Please dress appropriately.
Besides original articles, if you happen to get an article idea from any member of “Big Media” you need to give those folks credit by hyperlinking their twitter account when mentioning the author and also hyperlink the article you got the information from. Plagiarizing other media members work without the appropriate mention from where the news came from will result in immediate termination.
Last but not least, please write your articles as a professional. This means do not bash any player or the Bruins organization for something that you don’t agree with. Bring respectful angles to your argument instead of this sucks and that player is terrible types of contributions.
If you’ve read through everything above and are interested in applying for one of the many open positions available, please send an email to blackngoldhockeyblog@gmail.com and tell us a little about yourself and provide a writing sample of your previous work if available. We hope to here from you as we look to grow our team! Take Care and Go Bruins!
By: Patrick Donnelly | Follow me on Twitter @PatDonn12
For the eighth-straight year, Patrice Bergeron has been named a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is annually awarded “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game” as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association at the end of the regular season. Ryan O’Reilly of the St. Louis Blues and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights are the other two finalists for the award this year. The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on June 19 at 8 p.m. on NBCSN after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The trophy was first presented by the NHL Board of Governors in 1977.
2019 Selke Finalists: Bergeron (BOS), O’Reilly (STL) & Stone (LV)
Bergeron has won the award four times in his career (2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017), which is tied with Bob Gainey for the most all-time. As the only active player to win the Selke Trophy four times, if Bergeron were to take home his fifth this year he would undoubtedly solidify himself among the all-time great Bruins and two-way forwards.
The 33-year-old certainly has a strong case to take home another Selke this season. Although he missed 17 games in the regular season, the Bruins’ alternate captain had his best offensive season of his career, totaling 47 assists, matching his career-high of 32 goals, and setting a new career-high in points with 79 in 65 games.
On top of his strong offensive output, Bergeron was the same stalwart defensively that everyone knows and loves. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound center was strong at the face-off dot once again, boasting a 56.6% success rate (sixth in the league); it was Bergeron’s tenth-straight season having a face-off win percentage of at least 56%. Bergeron also posted a Corsi rating of 56.77%, the eighth year in a row that he has posted at least 55% for a Corsi rating.
In his 13th season as an alternate captain for the B’s, Bergeron skated in his 1,000th NHL game versus the New York Islanders on February 5th. He finished the season with a plus-23 rating and 30 penalty minutes. The 45th overall pick in the second round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Bergeron finished with the second-best offensive-zone face-off win percentage in the league with a 59.7% success rate, the fifth-most total power play face-off wins with 162, and the 13th-most total face-off wins (786).
The Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec native scored the most short-handed goals on the Bruins this season with four, and tied Brad Marchand for the most-shorthanded points on the team with seven. Bergeron ranked first overall in the league in SAT, a team puck possession metric, with a percentage of 56.73% (minimum of 30 games played).
Bergeron is certainly up against stiff competition this year as both Stone and O’Reilly have had phenomenal seasons at both ends of the ice for their respective clubs. However, the Bruins’ best player has as strong of a case as he ever has, and we could see him add yet another milestone to his lengthy resume by the time the NHL Awards roll around this summer.
The National Hockey League’s Player Safety has officially suspended Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri for the remainder of the first-round series against the Bruins for a brutal cross-check to the head of Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk in the third period of Saturday night’s Game Two win over the Maple Leafs.
“This is not a hockey play. Instead, this is a player retaliating against an opponent by using his stick as a weapon to make forceful and direct head contact.”
Toronto’s Nazem Kadri has been suspended for the remainder of the First Round for Cross-checking Boston’s Jake DeBrusk. https://t.co/doqkyMVrLS
At the 14:03 minute of the final regulation period, already down 3-1 on the scoreboard, Kadri delivered the cross-check heard by everyone watching to an unsuspected Jake DeBrusk. Just seconds prior, DeBrusk laid a borderline dirty hit on Leafs forward Patrick Marleau, hitting him into the curved glass by the benches. Kadri was looking for retaliation but took his actions to another level.
It was not just that play from DeBrusk that drove Kadri to make that hit. All throughout Game Two, both DeBrusk and Kadri were involved in quite a bit of rough play with a lot of hits, battles, and pushing before, during, and after whistles. Part of the reason could be because of the style of game the Bruins came out playing.
For the first time in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Boston was hitting everything in sight, making hard strides on the forecheck, and getting into numerous scuffles in front of both Tuukka Rask and Frederik Andersen. Right in the middle of a lot of these war of pushing and shoving, was Jake DeBrusk and Nazem Kadri.
— Bruins (Guy Boston Sports) (@Bruins_GBos) April 14, 2019
Later in the game, Kadri skates out of the box after receiving a two-minute minor late in the second-period for hooking Brad Marchand, stealing the puck from David Krejci who was about to shoot the puck towards the goal. As soon as Kadri pickpockets Krejci, he collides hard with DeBrusk. In full speed at that time, it appeared to be a clean body hit, but slowed down the knee of DeBrusk was the point of contact and sent Kadri flying in the air.
Kadri stayed on the ice for a while, clearly shaken up by the collision, but also possibly looking for a penalty. Unfortunately for him and the Maple Leafs, no penalty was handed to DeBrusk whatsoever, ensuring some justifiable outrage by the Toronto fan base. Kadri ended up returning to the game for Toronto, scoring their only goal on a slick deflection off of a Travis Dermott point shot, beating Rask in the third period.
— Hockey Daily #StickTogether (@HockeyDaily365) April 14, 2019
Being it 3-1 in the third period, the Leafs were putting on some great control on Boston, gaining some in-zone chances and looking the best they looked all night long. For a moment in time, Toronto had a true chance at making a push for a comeback. We all know that a three-goal lead is not 100% safe in today’s NHL, even more so in the playoffs.
With six minutes left in the third period, Leafs forward Patrick Marleau attempts to bring the puck into the Bruins defensive zone along the boards right beside the bench area. The veteran forward is met by DeBrusk who finishes his check into the stanchion, (where the boards become smaller for the benches). The hit had similarities to the infamous hit by Zdeno Chara to former Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty.
Thankfully, Marleau was not injured on the play, but Kadri just happened to see the play from the view of the ice and quite possibly had the memories of seeing Pacioretty go down as did everyone else. Additionally, when Kadri saw the #74 on DeBrusk’s sweater, the anger of the missed knee-on-knee call as well as the frustration of the game could all have been motivating factors. However, NHL Player Safety said the following regarding the retaliation aspect, also noting the Marleau hit was legal:
“While we understand that Kadri took offense to DeBrusk’s hit against Marleau, players are simply not permitted to flagrantly violate league playing rules because they feel that retribution is justified.”
The Maple Leafs will be without Nazem Kadri for the remainder of the first round but will have his services back if they eliminate the Bruins in their best-of-seven series. Therefore, his suspension is a minimum of three games and a maximum of five games. Do you agree? Let me know via Twitter @tkdmaxbjj.
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