Bruins play numbers game

WILMINGTON -- The Bruins took a major step toward finalizing their opening-night roster yesterday when they whittled a dozen players from the mix.

General manager Peter Chiarelli sent the 12 to Boston's top American Hockey League affiliate in Providence, leaving the Bruins with a much more manageable 25 players in camp.

Assigned to the minors were forwards Martins Karsums, David Krejci, Pascal Pelletier, Tyler Redenbach, Nate Thompson, Kris Versteeg, and Ben Walter; defensemen Bobby Allen, Matt Lashoff, Jay Leach, and Jonathan Sigalet; and goaltender Brian Finley.

Coach Dave Lewis said the reduced roster means workouts can run more efficiently as the Bruins prepare for the opener Oct. 6 in Florida against the Panthers.

``It's just good to get to a number where you can start to do a lot more things with them as a group," said Lewis, whose team has two exhibition games remaining -- at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers tomorrow and a rematch against New York at the TD Banknorth Garden Saturday.

Lewis said the trims were the result of a staff consensus.

``That conversation is ongoing all the time," he said. ``Even at practices, looking at the test results, all that stuff. You don't just sit in a room and say, `This guy I'd like to have,' or `That guy we'd like to have.' We just try to evaluate them on what we see, for the coaches, anyway."

As difficult as the decisions can be, Lewis said the final ones are the hardest.

``When you cut somebody, you're putting a stall onto their dream," Lewis said. ``When I say stall, I think that's a good word because you're not ending their dream, you're just putting it into a phase where they still have an opportunity to get back up because every player who came to this camp wants to play in the NHL. They don't want to go back to junior, they don't want to play college hockey, they don't want to play in the AHL. There is that part of it that's difficult."

Center Patrice Bergeron, a fourth-year veteran at just 21, said he feels very confident.

``I'm very excited about the upcoming season," he said. ``So far, I love what I'm seeing. Our depth is very good and also our speed. I think we're a very fast team. In the exhibition games so far, we've used our speed very well. Also, I think the transition game from [defense] to offense has been very good."

Bergeron, once an 18-year-old phenom himself, said he's impressed with rookie Phil Kessel, who turns 19 Oct. 2. The two have played together part of the time in camp and could wind up as a potent combination with right wing Brad Boyes.

``He's playing good," Bergeron said of Kessel. ``You can tell he's got some talent. He's got great speed, he gets better each and every day.

``That's how I felt my first year. I was getting confidence each and every day when I was going back to the rink and learning from the guys. I think he's doing that. I think he wants to learn and that's always a good thing.

``I played against him in the World Championships at the end of last year when we played the US and I thought he was one of the best players. That showed that he has a lot of talent."

Newcomer Zdeno Chara said he likes the look of the revamped roster.

``We want to be a very hard-working team," Chara said. ``That's what we want to establish, and we want to be a fast-skating team as well. So far, it's been slowly getting there. We have to improve a few things but we have another two weeks to go.

``When you look around the room, we have balance. We have experienced guys, younger guys, guys who can play a grinding game, we have very skilled guys. It's only a positive when you have that many different players on the team."

During practice yesterday, Lewis had Kessel at wing on a line with Bergeron and Boyes. Other lines featured (from left to right): Marco Sturm-Marc Savard-Glen Murray; P.J. Axelsson-Wayne Primeau-Shean Donovan; Petr Kalus-Yan Stastny-Petr Tenkrat; and Jeff Hoggan-Mark Mowers-Wade Brookbank. On defense were Chara, Paul Mara, Milan Jurcina, Brad Stuart, Nathan Dempsey, and Jason York. Andrew Alberts sat out because of a sore groin but is expected to practice today. Mark Stuart continues to recover from a knee injury. The goaltenders are Hannu Toivonen and Tim Thomas. The Bruins have until Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. to get down to the 24-man roster to start the season . . . The most comical line of the day went to Chara, albeit inadvertently. After practice, the team was scheduled to participate in yesterday's WBZ-sponsored golf tournament. When asked if he played golf, Chara said, ``I can't afford to," which caused the media contingent to roar with laughter given his $7.5 million-per-year contract. Chara, an avid cyclist, took note of the reaction and clarified that it was a time issue, not money; after biking for six hours, he didn't have enough hours left to put into golf.