BHN Puck Links
BHN Puck Links: Bruins, World Juniors, Trade Rumors

The Boston Bruins returned to the ice Sunday but COVID continues to back up the 2021-22 NHL regular season as the league will resume games now next Wednesday, instead of Tuesday.
The holiday break usually begins on December 24 and ends on December 27 but after a league-wide COVID outbreak that had over 60 NHLers in COVID protocol last Tuesday, the league and the NHLPA felt it would be best to break early. More players have entered COVID protocol since then and throughout the break, so the puck – as of now – will drop again on Wednesday. COVID-permitting, NHLers were set to return to the rinks and practice tomorrow.
The Boston Bruins were originally slated to resume play on Monday and host the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden but will now start the post-Christmas slate of their schedule against the Senators in Ottawa on Wednesday night. As for the Boston Bruins games that were postponed, the plan now is to get as many of them played as possible during what would have been the two-week February Winter Olympics break.
“We’ve sent out communication with clubs and we’re trying to confirm their open building dates, which we have a sense of from earlier communications earlier in the season,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday. “We obviously will work very close with the Players’ Association. I do think we’ll have to build in some off time during that three-week period for the players as they had anticipated previously. There are a lot of boxes to check there, but I expect that we’ll be able to portion some portion of that break period to various clubs to get their players rested, and I hope to make full utilization of the period so that we can make up the games that we’ve missed.”
Now onto the rest of your Boxing Day BHN Links:
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins were scheduled to reconvene for practice at Warrior Arena at 3 PM ET with head coach Bruce Cassidy slotted to address the media after. Here’s more on how another postponement affects your Boston Bruins. (BHN)
As they always do – and not just at the holidays – hockey players give back to the community, especially kids. Not surprising that the Boston Bruins and their wives and girlfriends stepped it up for Tony’s Place, a vacation home for kids fighting cancer and their families in Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod.
Decking the halls. 🎄
The #NHLBruins wives and girlfriends recently teamed up with @StopandShop to spread some holiday cheer at @TommysPlace_ on Cape Cod. pic.twitter.com/wLdTWmIJB2
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 24, 2021
Now, not to be The Grinch Who Stole Christmas from Boston Bruins fans, but I was sitting at home in isolation on Christmas and watching plenty of TV. I stumbled upon a replay of the 2017 World Juniors Gold medal game between USA and Canada. That was one of the first moments where Boston Bruins fans got a glimpse of the Norris Trophy candidate that Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has become.
That was also a game that showcased what they could’ve been if they didn’t absolutely botch the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. That’s the draft where the Bruins picked 13th, 14th and 15th overall and passed on Canada defenseman Thomas Chabot and forwards Mathew Barzal and Anthony Cirelli. Imagine a Boston Bruins blue line with Chabot and McAvoy the last four seasons?
What could’ve been for the #NHLBruins?
🤦🏻😡 pic.twitter.com/Qvx7BSs2MP
— Boston Hockey Now (@BOSHockeyNow) December 25, 2021
Instead, the Boston Bruins drafted defenseman Jakub Zboril, who has struggled to stick in the NHL, and forwards Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn, who in the last month, both requested trades.
Speaking of the World Juniors, they kicked off today and you can watch Boston Bruins prospect Fabian Lysell (Sweden) at 4:30 PM ET today. The sad thing is, that’s the only Boston Bruins prospect you’ll see in this tournament. (NHL)
National Hockey Now
Speaking of Barzal, since being placed in COVID Protocol on Dec. 14, the New York Islanders star has been MIA but was found recently. (NYI Hockey Now)
DeBrusk cracked the Top 5 of our man in Pitt, Dan Kingerski’s Top 5 Trade Bait list but what players could the Boston Bruins acquire in exchange for DeBrusk or in another trade? (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
Pretty cool piece by our man in San Jose, Sheng Peng who got to go one-on-one with Sharks prospect William Eklund while Eklund critiqued his own game film. (San Jose Hockey Now)
NHL
The NHL is working on providing some roster and cap relief for teams given the predicament COVID has once put them in again. (Sportsnet)
I don’t understand why you’re bothered by Jake DeBrusk not wearing a mask in his own home on Christmas. Guess you have to do something for the clicks during the slow news days…
I don’t understand why you’re not bothered by a player openly breaking protocol by having a maskless social gathering in the midst of an outbreak and games being postponed. Guess you have to flaunt that you’re a COVIDIOT.
Tell me specifically which part of the protocol DeBrusk is breaking.
The 27-page Protocol pdf published by the NHL says that even unvaccinated players are allowed to be with their families, provided they undergo Covid tests every 72-hours.
A.) DeBrusk lives alone so having guests over is against protocol
B.) You nor I even know if he’s at home unless you’ve been there. Otherwise, kindly shut up.
You nailed the first half of point B: Neither of us know for sure, yet you were the one who posted the speculation as news, in certain terms as if you did know.
Maybe you should rebrand the website as Bruins Tabloids
Maybe you do you and I’ll do me. Move on and know that JD could care less how much you blindly defend him.
My thoughts exactly. A snipe at DeBrusk because he asked to be traded? A guy not wearing a mask in his own home. The horror!
Who says it’s his home and go read the protocol. Leaves his teammates to answer to his immaturity and then puts them at risk today at practice. Tone-deaf to say the least but you keep being a COVIDIOT like him because that’s got the NHL and society so far. Thank you! And yes, COVID continues to produce horror!
Can I be a writer for BostonHockeyNow? Just like you Jimmy, I have a real imagination when it comes to interpreting a family photo!
Maybe next time stick to Bruins news and not your own assumptions
Jake DeBrusk is Bruins news but thanks boss. Happy New Year and good health to you!
Please fire Sweeney he has destroyed this team, Forbort!?!? Red
light Ullmark, never score again in this lifetime Foligno, Nosek and Huala three goals between them. What a mess! No more dressing room personalities…. GET A SCORER!!
SCAMDEMIC !!!!!!
Over 800,000 dead Americans is a scam? Are they all part of a secret actor’s guild? Please shut up idiot!
Its not a scam. However, the ongoing hysteria over what the data shows is nothing more than a mild flu is insanity.
The mild flu didn’t and has never killed over 800,000 Americans in less than two years. That the data you’re referring to? or you pulling your data from a YouTube doctor or OAN? Get a clue!
Hmmm. You do realize Omicron is a different variant than what killed 800k? Much milder symptoms which is PROVEN in several studies. The hospitalization rates in S. Africa where Omicron first emerged are very low. Another recent study conducted in Hong Kong shows that Omicron does not infiltrate lung tissue like previous variants but is confined to the nasal passage and throat. But you just keep believing the lies the media spews to keep people scared.
[…] cap hit from Kessel’s contract. If the Bruins can somehow grant Jake DeBrusk’s trade request, despite all he continues to do to decrease his trade value, could Kessel replace him in the middle six forward group and become that scoring threat they so […]
[…] cap hit from Kessel’s contract. If the Bruins can somehow grant Jake DeBrusk’s trade request, despite all he continues to do to decrease his trade value, could Kessel replace him in the middle six forward group and become that scoring threat they so […]
how hammered were you when you wrote this
Sober as water. Stand by it, every word of it!
[…] source […]