Zhamnov bright for White

The Bruins opened their exhibition schedule last night with the annual Black and White intrasquad scrimmage at BU's Agganis Arena. An enthusiastic crowd of 4,695 welcomed the team (or most of it) back after a 16-month absence because of the NHL lockout.

Team White, led by veteran center Alexei Zhamnov (one assist), scored four power-play goals in a 4-1 victory that featured two 25-minute halves. In the first half, veteran defenseman Ian Moran potted the first two White tallies against goalie Jordan Sigalet, sandwiched around a Jonathan Sigalet power-play strike against Hannu Toivonen for the Joe Thornton-led Team Black.

In the second half, left wing Zdenek Blatny scored off a rebound of a Jiri Slegr shot to beat Mike Ayers, and center David Krejci closed out the scoring, after Patrice Bergeron relayed the puck to Blatny, who dished it to Krejci.

''I thought it was a good pace," said coach Mike Sullivan. ''I saw some good things and I saw some not-so-good things. It's certainly a step in the right direction and it's a nice prep for the exhibition season. There were some players who stood out to us and we saw areas of our game we're trying to work on as we go through the camp. We've shown signs of progress, but we've got a long way to go."

Moran, who missed most of the 2003-04 season because of a foot injury, caught the coach's eye.

''I thought he played real well," said Sullivan. ''He's not a guy that finds the back of the net that often, so I'm sure he's excited about those."

The largest ovation of the night came when the signing of goaltender Andrew Raycroft was announced. Sullivan said he was thrilled to have the netminder back in the fold.

''All of us were hopeful a resolution could be found," he said. ''Fortunately for everyone involved, there was."

Frede joins studio set

Eric Frede will host NESN's Bruins studio programming for the coming season. He'll be the anchor for the pregame ''Faceoff" show, in-game intermission broadcasts, and the postgame ''Overtime." The pre- and postgame shows each will be a half-hour.

Frede will be joined by a quartet of studio analysts, all former Bruins. Rick Middleton and Barry Pederson will work the majority of the games in a rotation that also includes Gord Kluzak and newcomer Don Sweeney.

Early schedules have Middleton and Pederson working 20-plus games each with Kluzak and Sweeney at least 10 games.

For home games, the shows will originate from a new studio at the TD Banknorth Garden, with the ice and stands as a backdrop, a more traditional setting than the temporary studio in the Legends restaurant.

Frede, who started as a fill-in reporter and anchor on ''SportsDesk" after Fox Sports Net folded its ''New England Sports Report" in 2002, has blossomed as an all-around reporter/host at NESN.

Middleton and Pederson have proven their ability in the studio. Kluzak is moving from home-game analyst to the studio. Surely, though, there was some disappointment both at NESN and in the Bruins' offices because Ray Bourque and Cam Neely didn't want the jobs this year. Having Hall of Famers on the broadcast means a lot. Example: Dennis Eckersley on Sox studio shows, hopefully to be joined this winter by Jim Rice.

Kluzak and Middleton will double-team with Frede in studio for the Oct. 5 opener against the Canadiens.

Dale Arnold will work the opener on play-by-play with analyst Andy Brickley, who is on board as the team's analyst for all NESN games this season. Still to be named is a road play-by-play broadcaster.

Bob Neumeier and Gary Thorne are under consideration for the road play-by-play job.

Leetch scratched

Defenseman Brian Leetch was a late scratch. ''He was just tender so we want to make sure these guys, we don't push the envelope too hard on them and end up setting them back," said Sullivan. ''For me, the most important thing is these guys are healthy and ready on Oct. 5. We're trying to make the right decisions to make that happen." . . . Sullivan said right wing Glen Murray (ankle sprain) and left wing Sergei Samsonov (back strain) are coming along. ''[Murray], I think, is going to skate [tomorrow] and Sammy is more day to day. They're both making progress. I think Muzz will come around fairly quickly. Sammy, we certainly have to work to make sure he's conditioned and in game shape so he's a little bit longer term, but I think we have enough time to make sure he's conditioned."

Bill Griffith of the Globe staff contributed to this report.