Hub Hockey

Big Z Finalist For The Mark Messier Award

Yesterday the NHL announced that Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is one of three finalists for this years Mark Messier Award. The award itself honors players who lead and motivate in a positive light on the ice, while also showing great dedication to their community and charitable causes off the ice. Along with Chara, Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla were also nominated. The winner will be decided by none other than Mark Messier himself on June 18th at the NHL Awards ceremony where Chara will also be in the running for this seasons Norris trophy.

"Last offseason, he visited Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to focus attention on Right to Play, the international charitable organization that uses sport and play to enhance child development in areas of disadvantage. Chara also raised $24,000 for Right to Play by winning the Hardest Shot competition at 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend after getting his competitors, the competitors’ respective NHL clubs, the NHL and the NHLPA to contribute to a pot to go to the victor’s charity of choice. Chara won the competition with a record-setting 105.4 MPH blast.

The winner will be announced Thursday, June 18, during the 2009 NHL Awards that will be broadcast live from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel Las Vegas on VERSUS in the United States and on CBC in Canada." -Bruins Official Press Release

B's Re-Sign Krejci To 3-Year Deal Worth $11-Million

"BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has signed forward David Krejci to a multi-year contract extension. Per club policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed. Chiarelli and Krejci will be available to the media via conference call on Wednesday, June 3.

Krejci established a career high in games played, goals, assists and points this season with 22-51-73 totals in 82 games. His 51 assists ranked him second on the team behind Marc Savard, and he led the NHL with a plus/minus rating of +37. In 2009, Krejci also received the Bruins Seventh Player Award, given to the player who performs above and beyond expectations.

In his three-year NHL career, Krejci has recorded 28-72-100 totals in 144 regular season games. He appeared in all 11 playoff games for the Bruins this season contributing two goals and six assists." -Official Bruins Press Release

Hub Hockey: So even though the deal was officially announced by the team on Tuesday, the terms have yet to be disclosed. But there has been some pretty creditable speculation going around that the 3-year deal will consist of $3.5-million during the 2009-2010 season, $3.75 during the 2010-2011 season and $4 million during the 2011-2012 season.

This is a huge re-signing by the Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. Going into the offseason there has been much debate around the re-signing and status of both young stars Krejci and Phil Kessel. Anyone can sit here and debate on which is the more valuable piece to the B's puzzle so I will save you that drama. But in my opinion Krejci was the first priority for the team. And how could anyone not be happy with this deal, especially seeing how early into the teams offseason the B's perused and signed him. Not to mention the fact that they didn't overpay either. Which has become a common tradition for the Black & Gold in the past.

So whats next for Krejci and Chiarelli? Word on Krejci is that he will undergo surgery tomorrow (June 4th) to repair his hip and then will be on the long road to recovery. As for Chiarelli, he still has a lot of work ahead of him with the possibility of re-signed restricted free agents Phil Kessel, Matt Hunwick and Byron Bitz and even a few unrestricted players. This deal though I believe is a good sign of things to come. The B's don't have a lot of wiggle room left but I still think they can keep Kessel and maybe even Hunwick if they play their cards right. But the real question is at what cost. Time will tell and until then, congrats Krejci.