Back from TD Garden

Well, it was an eventful day at the TD Garden at any rate.

By now, you've heard the news that Marc Savard recently (as of a few weeks) started feeling symptoms related to postconcussion syndrome. GM Peter Chiarelli announced that news to us today, and there's plenty out there on it, so I won't re-hash but rather will wish Savvy a speedy recovery and hope he checks out well medically this weekend. Head/brain injuries are serious things, and there is so much science/medicine doesn't know, so I hope you'll join this blogger in wishing him the best.

It was nice seeing Patrice Bergeron again and he looks to be in great shape; ready to get things going. I've known him since before he ever skated his first shift as a Bruin, so to think that he and Tim Thomas are now the longest-tenured members of the team is remarkable. It seems like yesterday that he was a rookie living with Marty Lapointe and filming license plate commercials while driving a Zamboni around Beantown with fellow rookie (and Calder Trophy winner) Andrew Raycroft but it's been seven years, and he just turned 25 in July.

Mark Stuart is also ready to go...not having him at 100 percent for the playoffs last year was a tough blow to the team, so here's to him returning to his iron man form. Speaking of iron men, I met the NHL's all-time consecutive games leader, B's assistant coach Doug Jarvis, last night. Heck of a nice guy, and when he played one of the best defensive forwards in the game-- just like his predecessor, Craig Ramsay. The Bruins are no doubt hoping to catch lightning in a bottle and that Jarvis can have the kind of impact and influence had on the team. Ramsay, is credited in hockey circles, with being the one most responsible for helping turn Johnny Boychuk from career minor leaguer to legitimate NHL defenseman and playoff stalwart.

Matt Delahey, Alain Goulet, Joe Pleckaitis, Yannick Riendeau and Walker Wintoneak were all released and not invited to main camp today. Goulet is on an AHL contract, so he'll go to Providence, as will Riendeau, who is on an NHL deal, but apparently wasn't deemed ready enough to seriously compete for a job in Boston, so he goes down as well. No word on the other three, as they were camp invites, but don't be surprised to see them at least get a shot in Providence, as Rob Murray is now familiar with them. If not, then you know where they stand with "Murr", at least.

Antoine Roussel, on the other hand, apparently showed a lot to the B's coaches, because he's the lone camp invite still standing, and is in Boston in lieu of one forward with an actual two-way contract (Riendeau). As advertised, Roussel plays like a young Steve Begin. Fights like him, too. He gave a good effort against Travis Hamonic the other night, but Hams tuned him pretty good. Still, I'm a little intrigued about this player. He scored 24 goals with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens last year...might the Bruins have uncovered a diamond-in-the-rough? Probably not, but hockey's funny-- there are no shortage of players who have been overlooked and undervalued yet gone on to have very good NHL careers. Begin wasn't one of them-- Calgary took him in the second round of the 1996 draft, which was one of the shallowest classes in history. But if Roussel turns out to be something, even a clutch performer in Providence, then the B's amateur scouting staff will have done it again.

Well, it's Friday in the middle of September and the long wait is over. Hockey is about to be back in Boston. It all begins tomorrow.