Off Wing Opinion
Off Wing Opinion


February 08, 2006

Crowded Crease


Here’s a bit of news that is bound to go unnoticed, but shouldn’t if you’re a Bruins fan:

The Lightning have acquired left wing Zdenek Blatny from the Boston Bruins in exchange for goaltender Brian Eklund, according to general manager Jay Feaster announced today. Blatny has been assigned to Springfield of the American Hockey League.

What this means is that Mike O’Connell is absolutely determined to send Andrew Raycroft packing before the deadline. In Eklund, the Bruins organization has effectively filled the hole that was left in Providence with Tim Thomas’ departure.

I speculated last week that Boston may elect to keep Hannu Toivonen in the minors for the remainder of the season while Thomas and Raycroft handle the goaltending duties with the big club, but with the addition of Eklund into the mix, that’s evidently not the plan.

Toivonen is supposed to be ready to return to the lineup after the Olympic break, at which point I would expect to see Raycroft being fitted for an Oiler jersey.



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