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The Boston Bruins are taking care of just about everything you’re not really thinking about.
A week after making a handful of minor signings -- the club re-signed minor leaguers
Tommy Cross,
Craig Cunningham,
Tyler Randell,
Zach Trotman along with
Justin Florek -- the club has addressed two other areas of need with the signing of
David Warsofsky to a one-year, two-way contract and hiring of assistant coach
Joe Sacco.
On the Warsofsky front, this was basically expected given the club’s recent praise of the Marshfield, Mass. native. They think he’s ready to contribute at the National Hockey League level, and after a six-game sample of what Warsofsky brings to the rink, it’s hard to argue that point.
Striking with a goal and one assist for the Bruins last year, the 5-foot-8 defenseman moved the puck with the speed and poise of a
Torey Krug, but also battled hard in his own zone, and didn’t necessarily look like an undersized defender in the process. This went hand in hand with another successful year down on the farm, as the 24-year-old recorded six goals and 32 points in 56 regular season games before tallying two goals and nine points in 12 postseason contests for the Providence.
“I think in my own end, I wanted to be really good defensively. I’m obviously not the biggest or strongest guy, so I think my position is really important and I didn’t want to get caught on the wrong side of guys, so I worked on that a lot,” the Boston University alum said. “And then at the offensive blueline, I tried to work on my game and getting my shot through and creating things down low. It doesn’t always have to be the perfect shot or the perfect pass, but just making things happen up there and getting the puck down low more often and going back and playing defense.”
The 2010 return in the trade that sent
Vladimir Sobotka to the St. Louis Blues, Warsofsky’s a talent that the Bruins could undoubtedly use in 2014-15, but there’s just one problem with plugging him into the NHL equation. The Bruins already have seven NHL defensemen signed to their roster and that’s still without a deal in place for Krug. And though he looked strong in his cameo with the Black-and-Gold last year, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Warsofsky and Krug (5-foot-9) are in the lineup at the same time on a regular basis given the organization’s love for size on the blue line.
The good news for the club in this regard is that this is yet another two-way contract, meaning that Warsofsky doesn’t have to start his season with the big club. But if he’s as ready as they think he is, another year riding buses in Providence only seems detrimental to his development.
“I think going into this year’s training camp, I think that comfort level is going to be even higher and my expectation is to try to make the team out of camp,” Warsofsky said. “And that’s what I’m working toward this summer, and that’s what I’m trying to achieve come September.
“I think when the management and the coaches say [you’re ready to compete for an NHL job], it pushes you even more,” he added. “You know that they think you’re capable, and I think I am capable of it also, so I kind of want to go out there and prove them right. And every kid’s dream is to move up from the AHL to the NHL on a regular basis, so that’s what I’m shooting for this year.”
People are on the way out, and we know this. But just who remains to be seen.
But hey, with all this talk about moving extra parts out of town, one less hole the Bruins have to fill? Behind their bench, as the club announced the hiring of Medford, Mass. native Joe Sacco as an assistant coach, replacing
Geoff Ward, who left for a head coaching job in Germany.
Sacco’s move to Boston comes after a 2013-14 stint with the league-worst Buffalo Sabres as an assistant, which came on the heels of a four-year tenure with the Colorado Avalanche as a head coach. Though a Jack Adams Trophy finalist in 2010, Sacco’s tenure behind the Avs’ bench came with mediocre results, compiling a 130-134-40 record and making the postseason just once in four years as the team’s head coach. So, naturally, this move comes with some questions from the fans.
Can Sacco step in and replace the highly respected Ward, an assistant coach whose main focus came around the Black-and-Gold, which was downright lethal this past season?
“I had a number of real good interviews, and at the end, Joe [Sacco] really stood out for us because of a number of reasons,” B’s head coach
Claude Julien said. “He’s got some great experience, not only as a hockey player but also as an assistant coach, whether it’s been in the American League or NHL. He’s also been a head coach in both leagues as well, so I think just the fact that we’ve been able to have a guy who has that much experience coming into our group, and to come in with — I guess, also the fact that he’s been a player for such a long time, we all know that he’ll have instant respect from our players. For me, it was important to get one of those kind of coaches because of the fact that I give them a lot of responsibilities, as you guys all know, and it was important to have somebody that I felt real comfortable and that I could trust extremely well. So Joe was that guy.”
Known for an up-tempo style as a head coach, it’ll be interesting to see just what Sacco brings to the B’s bench as an assistant, and just what his responsibilities will be.
“I think a lot of those things will be resolved in the next little while here. I haven’t really decided exactly what Joe is going to do versus what some of those guys — Jarvy [Doug Jarvis] or Doug Houda — are going to have different responsibilities. Those are things that I’ve got a couple of different options that I’m going to kind of contemplate and make that decision,” Julien said.
“But as I told Joe when I spoke to him, is that every one of my assistant coaches has just as much responsibility as the other. So everyone has a fair amount of that responsibility that will keep them busy and give them some work to do as far as being accountable for, and that’s the way I like to do my work and, at the same time, validate these guys. They’re good people. They’re good coaches and you give them some responsibilities and you make sure they take advantage of it.”
Sacco, who spent 13 years in the National Hockey League before starting his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Lowell Lock Monsters (RIP) of the American Hockey League in 2004, knows that this is a place where his message can be heard by veterans he knows quite well. The 45-year-old Sacco played with
Zdeno Chara during Chara’s rookie season with the New York Islanders. He was a teammate of then-rookie
Dennis Seidenberg with the Philadelphia Flyers. He even coached top-four defenseman
Johnny Boychuk when Boychuk was in the Colorado system.
Plus, Sacco’s back home in Boston. But that’s just a bonus according to him.
For now, anyways.
HockeyBuzzCast with Eklund, Mike Augello, and Josh Rimer
Today I appeared on the HockeyBuzzCast to talk some Bruins with the guys. I'll be appearing every Friday. Easy way to remember it-- Fridays are Ty-Days.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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