Alumni in the Pros - March 2009

[adamw]

Iggulden just got an assist on a Sean Bergenheim goal, I believe

(oops - sorry for re-post)

[Jordan 04]

A nice minute or so of chat focused on Iggulden and Cornell during the Islanders broadcast, as Steve Jaffe did a couple of their games back in the CSTV days. Noted that Iggulden wasn't a big scorer playing under Schafer's defensive system. Jaffe further remarks that "the team had a lot of guys 6'5", 6'6" -- they looked like a basketball team."

And Howie Rose chimes in with the obligatory Nieuwendyk and Dryden references.

[Jordan 04]

With 2 assists in his Isles debut, Iggy gets the 3rd star of the game.

[CowbellGuy]

Also, last night against Atlanta, OB beat the bejesus out of the younger of the skating Bogosians. Of course he does have 6 years and about 40 lbs on Zach.

[ugarte]

[quote CowbellGuy]Also, last night against Atlanta, OB beat the bejesus out of the younger of the skating Bogosians. Of course he does have 6 years and about 40 lbs on Zach.[/quote]
Well then I guess Zach should have kept his yap shut.

[Jacob '06]

Well Bitz is back in the lineup for Boston and we got our Cornell shoutout on NBC after Byron produced a good scoring chance in the first period

[sah67]

I was at MSG this afternoon (practically morning with the time change), and Bitz played a very solid game in Boston's 4-3 loss.

Interestingly, he played center for most of the game on a line with PJ Axelsson and Shawn Thornton, and did decently on draws. He was also given a lot more responsibility than in the past, seeing significant time on the PK and in a 4x4.

Despite his time on the PK, Bitz looked not-so-great in his own end, and a failure to keep track of his man at one point led to a easy Rangers goal.

The 4x4 time was notable since Bitz set a beautiful screen in front of Lundqvist for Chara's goal.  They appreciated it enough to let Bitz skate at the front of the celebration line.

He also had a good scoring chance early on where he muscled his way past a Rangers defender and broke in along the goal line on Lundqvist who stoned him as he tried to pop it in short-side.

Despite the loss, I think he might have earned his spot back...but we'll see if they decide to keep Stephane Yelle out when he returns to 100%, as he apparently was kept out today after being a bit banged up yesterday against Chicago.

[sah67]

Islanders are up 2-1 on Phoenix in the 2nd and Iggulden already has another assist.

[BCrespi]

[quote sah67]I was at MSG this afternoon (practically morning with the time change), and Bitz played a very solid game in Boston's 4-3 loss.

Interestingly, he played center for most of the game on a line with PJ Axelsson and Shawn Thornton, and did decently on draws. He was also given a lot more responsibility than in the past, seeing significant time on the PK and in a 4x4.

Despite his time on the PK, Bitz looked not-so-great in his own end, and a failure to keep track of his man at one point led to a easy Rangers goal.

The 4x4 time was notable since Bitz set a beautiful screen in front of Lundqvist for Chara's goal.  They appreciated it enough to let Bitz skate at the front of the celebration line.

He also had a good scoring chance early on where he muscled his way past a Rangers defender and broke in along the goal line on Lundqvist who stoned him as he tried to pop it in short-side.

Despite the loss, I think he might have earned his spot back...but we'll see if they decide to keep Stephane Yelle out when he returns to 100%, as he apparently was kept out today after being a bit banged up yesterday against Chicago.[/quote]

I was also at the game this afternoon and was thrilled to see Bitz back in the lineup.  Of course I was more thrilled with the Rangers win.  I thought Byron looked quite good, especially on his strong move to the front of the net in the first.  The good board work that led to their 4-on-4 goal was also impressive.  Don't know if anybody else noticed this, but after Bitz led the line through the bench fist-bumps, he started to continue towards the net, as our Big Red do after a goal, only to reach the circle alone, and with Ferndandez's back to him taking a drink.  I got a little chuckle out of that as Bitz returned to the bench.

[sah67]

A pair of ECAC alums connected as Ryan O'Byrne picked up an assist on a Chris Higgins goal in Montreal's 3-1 win over Dallas tonight.

[Rich S]

Nice game by Bitz.  He learned well at cornell.  

I wouldn't be too hard on him for having contributed to a Rangers' goal.

Watching on TV it was easy to see that Fernandez was brutal in the Bruins' net and was weak on at least three goals.  As one of the announcers commented on NBC, "they have to get better goaltending than that."  Hmmm...that means we'll see a lot more of old friend Tim Thomas.

[RatushnyFan]

I didn't know that Sasha Pokulok has concussion problems (again).  Looks like he's been out since January.  Post this article, he hasn't played in a game yet.

Get well Sasha

[Josh '99]

[quote sah67]The 4x4 time was notable since Bitz set a beautiful screen in front of Lundqvist for Chara's goal.  They appreciated it enough to let Bitz skate at the front of the celebration line.[/quote]The NBC TV guys also commented on what a good job he did on that sequence, first winning the puck in the corner if I recall correctly, and then setting a screen and holding his position instead of moving out of the way of Chara's slapper.

[Killer]

More good press for Bitz in today's Globe:

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/articles/2009/03/09/bitz_is_front_and_center_after_respite/

[oceanst41]

[quote Rich S]Nice game by Bitz.  He learned well at cornell.  

I wouldn't be too hard on him for having contributed to a Rangers' goal.

Watching on TV it was easy to see that Fernandez was brutal in the Bruins' net and was weak on at least three goals.  As one of the announcers commented on NBC, "they have to get better goaltending than that."  Hmmm...that means we'll see a lot more of old friend Tim Thomas.[/quote]

Manny was indeed awful. ::pain::

And it's really a shame that Bitz didn't get an assist on the Chara goal. He did some great work along the boards and in front of the net, but unfortunately he was the odd man out when it came to points on that 4 on 4 goal.