Kobasew
came to the Bruins with Andrew Ference
in a four-player swap with the Flames on Feb. 10, 2007. He proceeded to charge
up a career-high 22 goals and 39 points, helping the long-suffering franchise
restore its playoff presence in 2008. As the black and gold made additional
strides, he tallied a personal best 42 points, including 21 goals, in 2008-09.
He
would not stick around for the rest of the resurgence. An Oct. 18, 2009 deal
saw him transfer to the Minnesota Wild for the rights to Craig Weller,
Alexander Fallstrom and a second-round pick in the 2011 draft.
He
has since donned Colorado and Pittsburgh crests and now the Penguins’
constraints have him lending a veteran presence to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Through
one postseason round, he tops the AHL club’s chart with a 3-3-6 scoring log in
a four-game dismissal of Binghamton.
With
the Providence Bruins raring for a conference semifinal rematch with the Baby
Pens, Kobasew will see Calder Cup playoff action in the range of his old
rooters.
As
it happens, he will thus face two of the players Boston’s organization
collected with his export. Fallstrom, a Harvard freshman at the time of the
deal, and Alexander Khokhlachev,
taken with the pick the Wild relinquished, are each rookies with the P-Bruins.
But
before five-and-a-half-year-old paths collide, here is a glance at the seasoned
striker’s top highlights with Boston, based on a combination of visual appeal
and impact.
Honorable Mention: April 20,
2009 at Montreal
There
was nothing spectacular about the play, per the general nature of empty
netters. But when Kobasew caught up with a clear and finalized a 4-2 victory in
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, he prompted a viral Jack Edwards call.
It
was Kobasew’s third point in as many career playoff games as a Bruin. He had
missed the previous year’s shortcoming seven-game epic with the Canadiens due
to a season-ending fractured left tibia.
Boston
raised the upper hand in the series to 3-0 and finished its sweep of the Habs
on the same Bell Centre pond two nights later. It was the franchise’s first
playoff series win under head coach Claude
Julien and first overall in a decade.
5. March 28,
2009 at Toronto
The
Bruins set up their role-reversal rematch with the Canadiens by barnstorming to
first place in the Eastern Conference. In the week between their division- and
conference-clinching games, they edged the host Maple Leafs in a 7-5 seesaw
barnburner.
Kobasew
supplied Boston’s first of three equalizers at the 5:40 mark of the first
period, 99 seconds after Toronto’s icebreaker. He absorbed defenseman Matt Hunwick’s pass, embedded himself
in a box of blue jerseys and chopped home a backhander.
That
secured the fourth installment of his six-game point streak and sparked the
second installment of the team’s six-game win streak. A week later, that sixth
win came against the Rangers to secure first place in the conference, where
Montreal had finished the year prior.
4. Nov. 10, 2007
vs. Buffalo
Fast-forward
to the 3:32 mark of the video (linked here) for Kobasew’s no-look, mid-air connection on a
decisive Boston power play. A mere 32 seconds after current Bruins fourth-liner
Daniel Paille drew a 1-1 knot
shorthanded, Kobasew broke that draw.
Upon
entering Buffalo territory on the next sequence, Kobasew dished a lateral feed
to Zdeno Chara and cut to a
congested porch. Chara dished to fellow point patroller Dennis Wideman, whose straightaway slapper generated an airborne
rebound. That rebound found the net with Kobasew’s sharp read and simple stick
work, spelling the difference in a 2-1 victory.
3. April 18,
2009 vs. Montreal
In
Game 2 of the opening playoff round, Kobasaw shuffled the biscuit behind the
goal line on two occasions, briefly handing it over to Patrice Bergeron in between. With or without the puck, he kept
moving his feet and ultimately positioned himself at the backdoor to backhand the
remnants of Mark Recchi’s distant slot
shot home.
That
augmented Boston’s lead to 2-0 in the contest and kept the Bruins on pace to
raising a 2-0 upper hand in the series. Kobasew would earn credit for the
clincher on his first Stanley Cup strike with the Spoked-Bs in a 4-1 final that
night.
2. March 8, 2009
at NY Rangers
This
was all but a thorough hodgepodge of the aforementioned and one highlight still
to come.
On
a rolling forward shipment from Chara, Kobasew bolted down the center
alley to beat Henrik Lundqvist. And he did it on yet another backhand bid.
The
only drawbacks for this play’s ranking purposes are the fact that no Rangers
pestered him and he maintained a conventional stature while shooting. Then
again, it is hard to beat a pure breakaway, which only one goal in Kobasew’s
Bruins vault can do.
On
that note…
1. Jan. 19, 2008
vs. NY Rangers
The
sequence starts to unfold at the 2:34 mark of the highlight package.
On
a Boston power play in the 16th minute of the second period, Kobasew absorbed
Chara’s blue-line-to-blue-line pass up the Broadway lane. With Blueshirts
blueliner Michal Roszival on his tail,
he involuntarily genuflected in the slot, but still scorched Lundqvist with an ice-kisser.
That
goal, which spotted the Bruins a 2-1 lead, did not absolve Roszival from a
hooking penalty because it converted an active man advantage with Brandon Dubinsky in the bin for the
Rangers. Later, with 10:30 to spare in regulation, Kobasew buried another
power-play tally for a 3-3 draw en route to a 4-3 shootout victory.
Videos from the
gwyshynski, theorynatural and NHL YouTube channels
