Auf gefrorenem Blog

Früh im dritten Joe des Periode Samstag Nachtcomcasts lehnte sich Reekie rüber zu mir und gesagt, „stellen Sie fest, wie weiter Chris Bourque ist weitergekommen in ein Jahr?“ Ich. And I should have told Joe that Dave Steckel’s progression the last two seasons under Boudreau has been even more impressive. And the list of the well developed under Boudreau hardly ends there.

Vogel and I were left slack-jawed a half dozen times Saturday night by the stick wizardry of Fleischmann. He’s going to play in the NHL, somewhere, we agreed. “He’s got the stuff you can’t teach,” Vogel told me. But I worry about Flash getting lost in the grand numbers game in D.C., particularly as we approach the high stakes ‘07-08 season and there’s seemingly less room for young guy minutes during the drive for spot no. 8 in the East. “I worry about us giving up on Flash and seeing another [Andrew] Brunnette slip out of our hands,” I told Vogel.

Many of the names on the back of the Bears’ sweaters change, but the postseason results remain the same. Should the Bears go on to oust Manchester, they will tie an AHL record in winning seven consecutive postseason series. Since Boudreau stepped behind the Bears’ bench they’ve lost just one series-opening game, to Milwaukee in last season’s Calder finals. They’ve played 32 postseason games overall under his direction, and they’ve won an astounding 25 of them. More amazingly, only four of the team’s seven postseason losses have come in regulation. I need to type that again for myself to believe it: four regulation losses in 32 playoff games over two seasons.

And many of those games have been contested against 100-pt. AHL foes.

Seemingly sixty guys have worn Bears’ sweaters this season as a regular rotation of callups and significant injuries ravaged the Hershey roster. No matter. Wins and line cohesion remained.

Boudreau has been named Coach of the Year in the IHL, he’s won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup, and he’s won a Calder Cup and may be on the verge of adding another. You have to wonder how much longer his extraordinary winning ways will last unnoticed by the NHL.

The East finals are being contested in a 2-3-2 slate, making Sunday’s quick turnaround rematch a must-win affair for the visitors. Mark Morris needs a Jason LaBarbera we haven’t seen against Hershey yet this season. And meaning no disrespect to the coach, but a lot of folks up in New Hampshire who witnessed first-hand Bruce Boudreau’s work there over four seasons would this morning probably tell you that having him back would help too.