As part of the website’s year-long commemoration of the Providence Bruins’ 20th anniversary season, Daniel’s Den has selected 20 former P-Bruins and assembled an all-time all-star squad.
To qualify, a player must have been on the P-Bruins roster for the full length of one season or otherwise seen action in at least 80 games (a full season’s worth) in a Providence jersey. Accordingly, the likes of Dave Capuano, Todd Elik, Matt Hunwick, Steven Kampfer and Glen Murray―to name only a few memorable players―were not considered.
In addition, players make the final cut based specifically on their contributions to the P-Bruins and not necessarily on the success they went on to in the NHL. Therefore, you won’t see any mention Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Mark Stuart or Brent Thompson.
Even with those criteria, the selection process was still patently painstaking, hence the populous taxi squads listed at the bottom of the column.
But on this opening weekend of training camp, the final cuts are ready for release. And so, here is Part I of the P-Bruins All-Time All-Star roster with top two goaltenders and top six blueliners.
Starting Goalie: John Grahame
During the glory years that saw them make three straight appearances in the Eastern Conference finals, the P-Bruins had their answer to Patrick Roy. Like Roy, Grahame occasionally let his passion boil over the top, most notably in an unsavory stick-throwing incident during a March 2001 game against Syracuse.
But the rest of the time, Grahame let his proficiency and determination translate onto the stats sheets and scoresheets. He not only earned credit for 54 of the 1999 championship team’s cumulative 71 victories, but also backstopped eight playoff series wins in a span of three years. No other P-Bruins goalie has even won half as many rounds.
And Grahame’s reliability was there in clutch situations of each kind. During the dominant 1998-99 season, the most tantalizing he did to an opponent was letting Fredericton reduce a 3-0 difference to 3-2 before curtaining the conference finals in Game 6.
On the flipside, in 2001, Grahame backstopped a scrappier squad to six straight wins in elimination games. His last great highlight with the Spoked-Ps was a 1-0 shutout of the Worcester IceCats in Game 6 of the division finals, which stole the momentum and led to Providence upsetting the regular-season champions.
Backup goalie: Tuukka Rask
Like Grahame, Rask had a behavioral episode late in his final year before earning a permanent spot on Boston. After some disputed goals gave Albany a shootout win at his expense, he smashed his stick, stormed down the tunnel, then re-emerged to heave a milk crate onto the ice.
But there are more memorable common threads as well. Rask was the consensus starter for the 2007-08 season, when the P-Bruins won their second regular-season title and came within three points of tying the AHL record set by their ancestors from 1999.
In addition, Rask has fared better in the postseason than any Providence goalie not named Grahame. Between his two AHL campaigns, he won three playoff rounds and participated in five.
Starting defenseman: Brandon Smith
There’s a reason why Smith was named the team’s top blueliner in consecutive years. It should not be considered a 100 percent coincidence that each of his three years in Providence saw the P-Bruins go to the conference finals of the AHL playoffs. In those three years, he saw action in all 50 of the team’s playoff games, scoring 25 assists.
In both the regular season and postseason, Smith averaged more than half a point per game with the P-Bruins. And his 104 regular-season assists surpassed those of all Spoked-P forwards until Andy Hilbert claimed the crown as the P-Bruins all-time prolific playmaker.
Starting defenseman: Jeff Serowik
The Providence College alum put the “wonder” in “one-year wonder” during the 1994-95 campaign, his only year in the Bruins’ organization. Playing all but two regular-season games, he pitched in 28 goals (then a tie for an AHL record) and 62 points while also serving 102 minutes worth of penalty time.
By season’s end, he was the first P-Bruins player to lay hands on an AHL trophy, accepting the Eddie Shore Award as the circuit’s top blueliner.
Second-unit defenseman: Kevin Dallman
Like Smith, Dallman was a two-time recipient of the team’s best blueliner prize in 2003-04 and 2004-05. And like Smith, Dallman showed some valuable offensive flair during a lengthy postseason run in the latter year.
Playing in all 17 games as the Cinderella P-Bruins ventured into the Eastern Conference finals, Dallman pitched in four goals and six assists, an output identical to forward Pat Leahy’s.
Prior to his award-winning seasons, Dallman made an impression as a rookie out of the Ontario League in 2002-03, leading the team with a plus-15 rating. Overall, in three full seasons with Providence, he saw action in 208 games, charging up 16 goals and 68 assists and elevating his numbers in each successive year.
Second-unit defenseman: Johnny Boychuk
In one full year with Providence in 2008-09, Boychuk placed second on the team in both points (65) and plus/minus (+19). His two-way proficiency made him the team’s first Eddie Shore Award winner since Serowik.
And just like Serowik, Boychuk could only hang around the Divine City for one year. His imposing presence on the home front and tireless puckslinging from his point in the attacking zone earned him a one-way ticket to Boston for the 2009-10 season.
He would return for a two-game conditioning stint that December, scoring a power-play goal on 14 shots in those two outings, but that only reiterated that he was ready to play at another level.
Third-unit defenseman: Adam McQuaid
The rugged stay-at-home defender endeared himself to the Dunk masses as the team’s penalty-minute leader in 2008-09. The year prior, he was one of Tuukka Rask’s most reliable praetorian guards in garnering the P-Bruins’ second AHL regular-season championship.
McQuaid’s presumptive third full year ultimately turned into a half-year. Five days after his 22nd fight in 175 games with Providence, he made his NHL debut and only played three more AHL games before becoming a permanent Boston constituent.
Yet in only 32 outings, he garnered enough penalty time to place fourth on the P-Bruins 2009-10 leaderboard and also posted a plus-10 rating, second only to Brad Marchand.
Third-unit defenseman: Jonathan Sigalet
In two out of three seasons spent largely in Providence, Sigalet placed second or in a tie for first among Bruins blueliners in the plus/minus column. And over a cumulative 1999 regular-season games, he pitched in 21 goals and 60 assists.
If not for season-ending surgery in 2006-07, Sigalet doubtlessly would have cracked double-digits in the goal column for the first (and so far only) time in his professional career. Additionally, he might have made a difference in the P-Bruins playoff run, which ended in a six-game, second-round defeat at the hands of the Manchester Monarchs.
Taxi squad: Bill Armstrong, Nick Boynton, Jeff Penner, Tim Thomas
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Post-game Pop-ups: IronPigs 3, PawSox 1
Swift summation
A combination of a single and throwing error by Lehigh Valley’s Kevin Frandsen from third base allowed Hector Luna to reach second as the leadoff man in the ninth. He subsequently stole third and then ran home to give the PawSox a long-awaited run ahead of Will Middlebrooks’ sacrifice fly to centerfield.
But the designated hitter only personified Pawtucket’s fatally delayed perk-up. Luna, who had broken up his playoffs-long Blutarsky average in his previous at-bat in the seventh, only whittled a deficit down to 3-1.
Two easy plays later, IronPigs’ starter Brian Bass cemented that 3-1 score, along with a complete game victory and a three-game sweep of the PawSox.
On an evening when the offense on both fronts was as barren as a Canadian cornfield in January, the PawSox outdid the Pigs in most every category except the key column with the “R” heading.
Lehigh Valley mustered only three hits as opposed to Pawtucket’s five. Meanwhile, the home defense committed no errors while Lehigh Valley made three on the night.
In all, the PawSox were allotted 11 baserunners versus the IronPigs’ four. But they only drove home one of those while Lehigh Valley had a sound 75 percent success rate.
In each of the first two innings, the IronPigs and PawSox had one baserunner apiece. Lehigh Valley scored each of its. The Sox stranded each of theirs.
For the second time in the series, model baserunner Rich Thompson flaunted his forte to grab a quick 1-0 lead. He leveled the first pitch of the game onto the shallow centerfield lawn, stole second base with Scott Podsednik at bat, then advanced to third and home on back-to-back sacrifice grounders.
Josh Barfield raised the IronPigs’ upper hand to 2-0 in the second, dropping a one-out, solo home run into the bullpen behind the left-field barrier.
For each of the next three innings, the PawSox once again put one man on base and stranded him each time. Then, in the sixth, Thompson led off the road half with a double, hustled to third on yet another Podsednik sacrifice grounder and made it 3-0 on what was scored a fielder’s choice that caught Frandsen at first.
The indefatigable Bass went into the ninth already having thrown a full eight, shutout innings, throwing 107 pitches and allowing nine baserunners, including two by way of the hit-batsmen. The second of those, Lars Anderson, placed himself on first and Joey Gathright on second with only one out in the eighth.
But on the next play, Drew Sutton redirected the first pitch he saw to IronPigs shortstop Freddy Galvis, who initiated an inning-ending twin killing. And, for all intents and purposes, a dream killing.
PawSox pluses
For the better part of the night, Bass had a higher pitch count than his Pawtucket counterpart, Alex Wilson. A major reason for that was Che-Hsuan Lin, who reached base on a hit-by-pitch and gave the Sox their first hit of the night with a rolling single in the third.
At that point, Bass had thrown a cumulative 41 pitches at 10 challengers. In two plate-appearances, Lin had summoned 14 of those and worked up a pair of full counts. Lin proceeded to steal second base after drawing two pickoff attempts with Daniel Nava at bat. Gathright pulled a similar stunt in the eighth after leading off that inning with a single.
Wilson, meanwhile, mustered his longest of five total outings at the Triple-A level this season. In the regular season, the hasty call-up from Portland did not last any more than an even six innings per night. On Saturday, he was pulled after seven full stanzas, having thrown 80 pitches and allowed a mere three runs on three hits while striking out six IronPigs.
In relief of Wilson, Trever Miller was perfect with a pair of 1-2-3 stanzas, striking out two while inducing a pair of grounders and flies.
Sox stains
Luis Exposito was Bass’ only strikeout victim and he was benched in that exact fashion twice in three confrontations with the Lehigh Valley starter.
Nava entered Game 3 having hit 2-for-6 with a run-scored, an RBI double and two walks in the first two games. But the No. 3-slotted batter went an acrid 0-for-4 on elimination night. He was one of four hitters who stranded a teammate in scoring position.
The cleanup man Anderson also fizzled after being one of the few to cultivate multiple hits during the first two games at Lehigh Valley. His only trip to the basepaths was courtesy of the ball hitting him.
Jose Iglesias went 0-for-4 failed to get the ball into the outfield until he flied to Thompson in straightaway center, ending the game and the season.
IronPigs notes
Despite failing to reach base, Frandsen was credited with two RBIs, having knocked in Thompson for both of his runs on a sacrifice grounder.
Barfield was charged with a fielding error in the fifth as Iglesias reached first base. It marked the second time in as many nights that Iglesias reached on an error. Moss was charged with Lehigh Valley’s first error in the opening inning when he caught Gathright’s fly, then overthrew the ball back into the infield, allowing Lin to take a free ride to second base.
Between the regular season and postseason, Bass finished with a 2-1 record in five starts against the PawSox in 2011.
Miscellany
Lin was the only PawSox player with a hit in each of all three playoff games, finishing the bada-bing, bada-boom postseason with a .308 batting average. Gathright and Sutton were the only others to finish the run on the north side of the Mendoza Line.
Wilson struck out Brandon Moss and Domonic Brown two times apiece as the No. 4 and No. 5-slotted IronPigs each went 0-for-4 on the night.
A combination of a single and throwing error by Lehigh Valley’s Kevin Frandsen from third base allowed Hector Luna to reach second as the leadoff man in the ninth. He subsequently stole third and then ran home to give the PawSox a long-awaited run ahead of Will Middlebrooks’ sacrifice fly to centerfield.
But the designated hitter only personified Pawtucket’s fatally delayed perk-up. Luna, who had broken up his playoffs-long Blutarsky average in his previous at-bat in the seventh, only whittled a deficit down to 3-1.
Two easy plays later, IronPigs’ starter Brian Bass cemented that 3-1 score, along with a complete game victory and a three-game sweep of the PawSox.
On an evening when the offense on both fronts was as barren as a Canadian cornfield in January, the PawSox outdid the Pigs in most every category except the key column with the “R” heading.
Lehigh Valley mustered only three hits as opposed to Pawtucket’s five. Meanwhile, the home defense committed no errors while Lehigh Valley made three on the night.
In all, the PawSox were allotted 11 baserunners versus the IronPigs’ four. But they only drove home one of those while Lehigh Valley had a sound 75 percent success rate.
In each of the first two innings, the IronPigs and PawSox had one baserunner apiece. Lehigh Valley scored each of its. The Sox stranded each of theirs.
For the second time in the series, model baserunner Rich Thompson flaunted his forte to grab a quick 1-0 lead. He leveled the first pitch of the game onto the shallow centerfield lawn, stole second base with Scott Podsednik at bat, then advanced to third and home on back-to-back sacrifice grounders.
Josh Barfield raised the IronPigs’ upper hand to 2-0 in the second, dropping a one-out, solo home run into the bullpen behind the left-field barrier.
For each of the next three innings, the PawSox once again put one man on base and stranded him each time. Then, in the sixth, Thompson led off the road half with a double, hustled to third on yet another Podsednik sacrifice grounder and made it 3-0 on what was scored a fielder’s choice that caught Frandsen at first.
The indefatigable Bass went into the ninth already having thrown a full eight, shutout innings, throwing 107 pitches and allowing nine baserunners, including two by way of the hit-batsmen. The second of those, Lars Anderson, placed himself on first and Joey Gathright on second with only one out in the eighth.
But on the next play, Drew Sutton redirected the first pitch he saw to IronPigs shortstop Freddy Galvis, who initiated an inning-ending twin killing. And, for all intents and purposes, a dream killing.
PawSox pluses
For the better part of the night, Bass had a higher pitch count than his Pawtucket counterpart, Alex Wilson. A major reason for that was Che-Hsuan Lin, who reached base on a hit-by-pitch and gave the Sox their first hit of the night with a rolling single in the third.
At that point, Bass had thrown a cumulative 41 pitches at 10 challengers. In two plate-appearances, Lin had summoned 14 of those and worked up a pair of full counts. Lin proceeded to steal second base after drawing two pickoff attempts with Daniel Nava at bat. Gathright pulled a similar stunt in the eighth after leading off that inning with a single.
Wilson, meanwhile, mustered his longest of five total outings at the Triple-A level this season. In the regular season, the hasty call-up from Portland did not last any more than an even six innings per night. On Saturday, he was pulled after seven full stanzas, having thrown 80 pitches and allowed a mere three runs on three hits while striking out six IronPigs.
In relief of Wilson, Trever Miller was perfect with a pair of 1-2-3 stanzas, striking out two while inducing a pair of grounders and flies.
Sox stains
Luis Exposito was Bass’ only strikeout victim and he was benched in that exact fashion twice in three confrontations with the Lehigh Valley starter.
Nava entered Game 3 having hit 2-for-6 with a run-scored, an RBI double and two walks in the first two games. But the No. 3-slotted batter went an acrid 0-for-4 on elimination night. He was one of four hitters who stranded a teammate in scoring position.
The cleanup man Anderson also fizzled after being one of the few to cultivate multiple hits during the first two games at Lehigh Valley. His only trip to the basepaths was courtesy of the ball hitting him.
Jose Iglesias went 0-for-4 failed to get the ball into the outfield until he flied to Thompson in straightaway center, ending the game and the season.
IronPigs notes
Despite failing to reach base, Frandsen was credited with two RBIs, having knocked in Thompson for both of his runs on a sacrifice grounder.
Barfield was charged with a fielding error in the fifth as Iglesias reached first base. It marked the second time in as many nights that Iglesias reached on an error. Moss was charged with Lehigh Valley’s first error in the opening inning when he caught Gathright’s fly, then overthrew the ball back into the infield, allowing Lin to take a free ride to second base.
Between the regular season and postseason, Bass finished with a 2-1 record in five starts against the PawSox in 2011.
Miscellany
Lin was the only PawSox player with a hit in each of all three playoff games, finishing the bada-bing, bada-boom postseason with a .308 batting average. Gathright and Sutton were the only others to finish the run on the north side of the Mendoza Line.
Wilson struck out Brandon Moss and Domonic Brown two times apiece as the No. 4 and No. 5-slotted IronPigs each went 0-for-4 on the night.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Iglesias taking less painful shots for PawSox
Joey Gathright has been flaunting his speed on the basepaths in recent outings, especially with his infield bunt single in Game 1 of the International League postseason on Thursday. As a result, one had to wonder why PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler opted to let him be the odd man out when rotating Tony Thomas into the batting order for Game 2.
But the way Jose Iglesias filled in Gathright’s No. 2 batting position was wholly immune to blame as the Sox fell into a two-games-to-none crater with a 3-2 walkoff loss at Coca-Cola Park. In both of the last two losses to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Iglesias has demonstrated his share of quickness when given the chance, giving him tangible and intangible roles in what little offense the PawSox have cultivated.
Carrying over from the climactic phases of the regular season, Iglesias’ outing on Friday (two sacrifice grounders, a run-scored and an RBI) gives him seven runs-scored and six batted in over the past 12 games. He crossed the plate to draw an initial 1-0 edge and later knocked in a stimulating equalizer in the eighth, forcing Lehigh Valley to take an extra inning for the win.
In addition, on Thursday, Iglesias stole his fourth base in the last five games, upping his combined regular-season and postseason total to 13 pilfers.
For the longest time, everything Iglesias was on defense, he wasn’t on offense. But a sound homestretch on both sides of the ball earned him an elevation from his customary No. 9 slot to go up between Che-Hsuan Lin and Daniel Nava.
All the more astounding when one recalls that Iglesias is going on a mere 10 weeks since he was the center of a frightful scene in the McCoy Stadium batter’s box.
In the eighth inning of a July 3 tilt with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, the prized prospective Red Sox shortstop was biffed in the lid by Andrew Brackman’s delivery. In turn, the PawSox placed him on the disabled list three days later with a diagnosed concussion.
All things considered, Iglesias recovered ahead of schedule. He was reactivated after a mere 15 days on the DL and proved to be back in his old form at his shortstop post, assisting on each putout in a 1-2-3 first inning against Lehigh Valley July 21.
Not long afterward, he began to accelerate his batting prowess in a most timely manner as the Sox hustled after their first divisional crown in eight years.
Most notably, in Part I of an Aug. 26 doubleheader at Scranton, Iglesias hit his first professional home run in nearly two four years and a cumulative 596 at-bats over four different levels.
From there, he curtained the regular season hitting 9-for-30 with three walks, three extra-base hits and six runs-scored.
In his first 89 games of the season, leading up to Aug. 24, Iglesias had batted .223 with only eight extra-base hits and 26 RBIs. Over the final 12 games of the regular season, he elevated his average a solid 12 points to .235, going 13-for-39 in the final lap and adding five RBIs.
Of his last five games, Thursday’s 4-2 shortcoming to open this semifinal series has been the only outing where Iglesias failed to notch a hit.
However, when he reached first base on pitcher Dave Bush’s fielding error in the fifth, he opportunistically stole second base, then advanced to third on Lin’s sacrifice grounder, through he was ultimately stranded.
On Friday, he was one of only three PawSox to mooch a hit off of Lehigh Valley starter Ryan Edell and scored Pawtucket’s only run at Edell’s expense. In the top of the first, he sent an 0-1 pitch rolling into left for a one-out single, then hustled home in a direct round trip from first base with the help of Lars Anderson’s double to the right-centerfield gap.
Iglesias’ second at-bat was a fairly productive out in the third. Lin, who had deposited a one-out double, advanced to third when Iglesias grounded to short. Iglesias’ effort went to waste though, when Nava hit another grounder to short to end the inning and failed to drive in what otherwise would have given Pawtucket a 2-1 lead.
Iglesias would sacrifice himself once more in the eighth, dropping a crisp bunt in front of the mound to again send Lin to third. This time, the potential tying run dropped the “potential” tag as Nava leveled a ground-rule double to left-center, allowing Lin to draw a 2-2 knot.
Regrettably for Iglesias, though, few of his mates have been able to chip in similar plays. And in the tenth, he was the last of five strikeout victims for IronPigs reliever Justin De Fratus, who would soon claim credit for the win on the strength of old friend Brandon Moss’ RBI single.
But the way Jose Iglesias filled in Gathright’s No. 2 batting position was wholly immune to blame as the Sox fell into a two-games-to-none crater with a 3-2 walkoff loss at Coca-Cola Park. In both of the last two losses to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Iglesias has demonstrated his share of quickness when given the chance, giving him tangible and intangible roles in what little offense the PawSox have cultivated.
Carrying over from the climactic phases of the regular season, Iglesias’ outing on Friday (two sacrifice grounders, a run-scored and an RBI) gives him seven runs-scored and six batted in over the past 12 games. He crossed the plate to draw an initial 1-0 edge and later knocked in a stimulating equalizer in the eighth, forcing Lehigh Valley to take an extra inning for the win.
In addition, on Thursday, Iglesias stole his fourth base in the last five games, upping his combined regular-season and postseason total to 13 pilfers.
For the longest time, everything Iglesias was on defense, he wasn’t on offense. But a sound homestretch on both sides of the ball earned him an elevation from his customary No. 9 slot to go up between Che-Hsuan Lin and Daniel Nava.
All the more astounding when one recalls that Iglesias is going on a mere 10 weeks since he was the center of a frightful scene in the McCoy Stadium batter’s box.
In the eighth inning of a July 3 tilt with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, the prized prospective Red Sox shortstop was biffed in the lid by Andrew Brackman’s delivery. In turn, the PawSox placed him on the disabled list three days later with a diagnosed concussion.
All things considered, Iglesias recovered ahead of schedule. He was reactivated after a mere 15 days on the DL and proved to be back in his old form at his shortstop post, assisting on each putout in a 1-2-3 first inning against Lehigh Valley July 21.
Not long afterward, he began to accelerate his batting prowess in a most timely manner as the Sox hustled after their first divisional crown in eight years.
Most notably, in Part I of an Aug. 26 doubleheader at Scranton, Iglesias hit his first professional home run in nearly two four years and a cumulative 596 at-bats over four different levels.
From there, he curtained the regular season hitting 9-for-30 with three walks, three extra-base hits and six runs-scored.
In his first 89 games of the season, leading up to Aug. 24, Iglesias had batted .223 with only eight extra-base hits and 26 RBIs. Over the final 12 games of the regular season, he elevated his average a solid 12 points to .235, going 13-for-39 in the final lap and adding five RBIs.
Of his last five games, Thursday’s 4-2 shortcoming to open this semifinal series has been the only outing where Iglesias failed to notch a hit.
However, when he reached first base on pitcher Dave Bush’s fielding error in the fifth, he opportunistically stole second base, then advanced to third on Lin’s sacrifice grounder, through he was ultimately stranded.
On Friday, he was one of only three PawSox to mooch a hit off of Lehigh Valley starter Ryan Edell and scored Pawtucket’s only run at Edell’s expense. In the top of the first, he sent an 0-1 pitch rolling into left for a one-out single, then hustled home in a direct round trip from first base with the help of Lars Anderson’s double to the right-centerfield gap.
Iglesias’ second at-bat was a fairly productive out in the third. Lin, who had deposited a one-out double, advanced to third when Iglesias grounded to short. Iglesias’ effort went to waste though, when Nava hit another grounder to short to end the inning and failed to drive in what otherwise would have given Pawtucket a 2-1 lead.
Iglesias would sacrifice himself once more in the eighth, dropping a crisp bunt in front of the mound to again send Lin to third. This time, the potential tying run dropped the “potential” tag as Nava leveled a ground-rule double to left-center, allowing Lin to draw a 2-2 knot.
Regrettably for Iglesias, though, few of his mates have been able to chip in similar plays. And in the tenth, he was the last of five strikeout victims for IronPigs reliever Justin De Fratus, who would soon claim credit for the win on the strength of old friend Brandon Moss’ RBI single.
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