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Bruins shuffle hockey ops, add Jamie Langenbrunner

September 12, 2015, 2:35 PM ET [12 Comments]
Ty Anderson
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Less than a month before the puck drops on the 2015-16 season, general manager Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins have shuffled the deck within their front office and scouting ranks.

Overall, the organization announced 10 moves within their hockey operations department, but the biggest comes with a shift with Jay Pandolfo’s role within the organization.

The 40-year-old Pandolfo, who has served as a development coach for the Black and Gold since his retirement from the NHL in Jan. 2014, will transition into Boston’s Director of Player Development.

It won’t be a drastic change from Pandolfo’s previously title with the Bruins, with the big change coming with Pandolfo’s workings with the entire B’s system, versus what he’s done in the past, which has mainly been working with the Providence Bruins. Pandolfo’s promotion seemed like an eventuality given his work with Boston’s prospects of late, especially with Sweeney giving Pandolfo the keys to lead the club’s annual rookie training and development camp in Wilmington, Mass. this past July.

The Bruins will also transition Jeremy Rogalski to Hockey Operations Assistant. Rogalski, who has been the B’s Video Analyst for the last four seasons, has been with the Bruins since the 2009-10 season after first breaking in with the club as an assistant to hockey administration.

Then came a slew of hirings.

At the pro level, the Bruins hired Dennis Bonvie as a pro scout. A scout in the Chicago Blackhawks organization for the past six seasons, Bonvie is most known for his pugilistic pro career which includes an AHL-record 4,493 minutes in penalties at the minor league level. Bonvie did skate in 92 games in the NHL, too, with all three of his career points coming during a 23-game run with the Bruins in 2001-02. Bonvie will be based out of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Within the amateur ranks, the Bruins made four additions to their scouting staff, beginning with Alain Bissonnette. A scout in the QMJHL for the past 18 years, Bissonnette began his scouting career with Baie-Comeau for two seasons before moving on to Acadie-Bathurst for four years, and then to Shawnigan, where he’s spent the last 12 years of his scouting career.

Staying within the CHL, the Bruins added two scouts with a focus on the Ontario Hockey League in Andrew Shaw and Bob Wetick. Shaw has over 20 years of scouting experience to his name between Owen Sound, Brampton, Sarnia, and Sudbury. Shaw also served as the regional amateur scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2000 to 2012. Shaw has also been the head scout for the Subury Wolves since 2012, and will be based out of Sarnia for the Black and Gold. Wetick, on the other hand, has been involved in scouting since 1993, and has served as the North Bay Battalion’s Director of Scouting for the past 17 seasons and will be based out of Toronto, Ont. with a focus on the OHL.

Overseas, Erkki Rajamaki will join the B’s scouting department as an amateur scout based out of Finland. Rajamaki comes to Boston from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.

Malden, Mass. native J.P. Buckley will join the Bruins as a Video Coordinator. Buckley served in that capacity for four seasons at Boston University, and spent last season with the Nashville Predators as the club’s Amateur Scouting Video Coordinator. Buckley is also a BU grad (Communications).

Julie Nicoletti was also hired by the club as a Sports Nutritionist. Nicoletti, the founder of Kinetic Fuel, is a certified sports nutritionist and registered pharmacist and will serve as a consultant for the B’s.

In a day of off the wall hirings, an interesting tidbit came with Boston’s hiring of Jamie Langenbrunner as a development coach. A veteran of 20 NHL seasons and resume including 243 goals and 663 points in 1,109 games, Langenbrunner comes to the B’s organization as a two-time Stanley Cup winner, and brings a wealth of experience to the table. While Langenbrunner seemingly has no connection to the Black and Gold, Langenbrunner was a teammate of Pandolfo during their tenure in New Jersey, so there’s a definite connection. Langenbrunner will aid in the development of prospects.

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
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