Bruins are in self-help mode

There is no shortage of ways or at least ideas on how to fix the Bruins. General manager Peter Chiarelli knew that before he took the job about a year ago. He still knows it now, after only a modest 2-point wiggle up the point ladder in 2006-07, followed by a steady stream of e-mails and myriad face-to-face encounters with Black-and-Gold fans offering him expert advice.

"Yes, I've heard from many of them," Chiarelli said. "I've been getting a good dose of what I should do for next year."

Topping the list among vox populi?

"Most of all, they tell me it's that we have to get guys who are harder to play against," said Chiarelli, who won't argue the point that his team often played without an edge. "And you know, they're right. It's not rocket science -- that's what I've been trying to do from the start."

The rest of the unsolicited list, according to Chiarelli, has included the following:

Get a better goaltender. "After Tim Thomas had a breakout year," mused Chiarelli.

"We're not sure what's going to happen, but yes, it's fair to say we've made contact," said Chiarelli. "Players over there now make real money, big money, and this is a guy who makes big money. But the agent has led me to believe that he might take less than expected in order to get the one year here, then try to maximize that into free agency."

As for the goaltending, Chiarelli wants to improve that, too, but isn't yet certain how to achieve that with the market yet to be fully developed. It seems certain the Wild will part with veteran Manny Fernandez (cap hit $4.33 million the next two years), but far less of a lock that the Sharks, disappointed by yet another early playoff dismissal, will part with either Evgeni Nabokov (their postseason workhorse) or Vesa Toskala. Tampa Bay will aggressively shop Marc Denis, once considered a wunderkind, or perhaps even buy him out.

No knowing what Anaheim does with Ilya Bryzgalov, in part because there is also no knowing whether it can re-sign J.S. Giguere, who is now in the enviable position of possibly wearing a Cup ring, along with lugging his '03 playoff MVP award, into the unrestricted free agent market.

"My sense right now is that there are more goalies, that supply will exceed demand at this point," said Chiarelli. "Now, it depends on the supply, right?"

Will Eagle dare to turn pro?

Boston College goalie Cory Schneider, a member of the US squad that reached the World Championship quarterfinals in Russia, will take the next 2-3 weeks to decide where he'll play next season.

His agent, ex-Bruin Brian Lawton, laughed when a reporter last week suggested there was zero chance of Schneider turning pro with Vancouver, where he would be faced with a protracted apprenticeship behind the growing legend that is Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo. Think of the graveyard full of backup goalies in New Jersey, where Martin Brodeur has rarely taken a night off since the end of the 1994-95 season.

"No decision has been made," said Lawton, the former Mount St. Charles star. "I understand the thought, you know: What's the hurry with Roberto there? At the same time, Vancouver's not pressuring him on it at all. He's going to come home, think it through, and decide some time in early June."

Schneider, 21, could opt to remain at The Heights, or turn pro, which undoubtedly would place him with the Manitoba Moose (AHL) for at least a year or two. If he were to go back to college, he could turn pro with the Canucks after the 2007-08 NCAA season, or opt not to sign and become an unrestricted free agent as of Aug. 15, 2008.

For Ference, charity work will be child's play -- in Africa

Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference spends his summers in bucolic British Columbia, in the lush Okanagan region, but he'll pack his bags at the end of June for an eight-day stay in Tanzania, joining fellow NHLer Georges Laraque as an athlete ambassador for the Right To Play charity organization.

Ference, 28, began working with Right To Play (see: righttoplay.com) a few years ago, and eagerly awaits his first work in the field. The organization was founded by legendary Norwegian speedskater Johann Olav Koss, a three-time gold-medal winner at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer.

"At the end of the day," noted Ference, "the aim of the program is to provide an opportunity for kids just to be kids. It's really a cool thing. There are so many kids around the world who, by the ages of 12 and 13, are dealing with some adult problems. But this gives them the chance, through sports, kind of to regain their childhood and be with friends."

Ference and Laraque will head north to the Serengeti, where they will play soccer with local kids.

"They gave us a short list of places we could go," said Ference, noting that Haley Wickenheiser, Canada's most famous female hockey player, is currently volunteering in Rwanda for Right To Play. "But Georges and I both wanted to see Africa."

Ference, expected back as a key component on Boston's blue line in 2007-08, initially got involved in the charity during offseason training in Canmore, Alberta, a popular spot near Banff where many NHLers and other athletes train in the summer. A number of the athletes, said Ference, encouraged him to get involved, and it was ultimately a BBC documentary on Right To Play that hooked him.

"I sat there watching and said, 'Gee, I've got to get involved in this,' " he recalled. "It's easy for me to get what they're doing, easy to relate, because I know what an important part sports has played in my life."

As for accommodations up in the Serengeti, Ference is prepared for them not to be the equal of the comfy digs the Bruins enjoy while on the road.

"Not sure what's in store there," said Ference. "All I know is what the e-mail said, and I quote, 'I don't think we'll have to tent it.' "

Etc.

Arrivederci, Milano
Eric Frede, NESN's talented host for Bruins games, will fly home from Milan tomorrow after some three weeks of calling play-by-play of the World Championships for wcsn.com . "To say it was a professional challenge would be an understatement," said Frede, who called the games, played outside Moscow, off a 13-inch TV monitor at a cubicle in Milan. "The good news is, with so many games, of course you're going to hit a few into the woods, but you've got a lot of chances to get it right, too," he said. "It was truly an invaluable experience." In the end, Frede figures, he will have worked 32 games, providing play-by-play for 28 of them, and acting as color man to Steve Schlanger (St. Louis) for four others, including today's gold-medal game. "Two men on an island in Milan," mused Frede. "All part of the new media." During his stay, Frede got only two days off, and used one of them to view Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper" in Milan. "As much as I love the North End," said Frede, "it will be a long time before I feel like having pasta again anytime soon."

The executive file
Agent Brian Lawton, as well as Bruins assistant GM Jeff Gorton, made the trip to Phoenix last week to interview for the Coyotes GM job, vacant since the end-of-season firing of Mike Barnett. Lawton interviewed for the Boston job last spring and impressed team owner Jeremy Jacobs, elevating his profile around the league to the point where his name makes most every team's list come interview time. If not Phoenix, he'll likely land in a front office somewhere in the next year or two. Another top GM candidate, though not rumored in Phoenix, is ex-Senators boss Rick Dudley, perhaps the hardest-working exec in the game. Dudley last was a GM in Sunrise, Fla., following a stint when he positioned the Lightning to be a Cup winner. Now Dale Tallon's top aide in Chicago, Dudley, 58, would be free to take a top job with anyone. His only drawback: He's not versed in the fine art of self-promotion. If he won the Cup, he'd stash it in the hall closet if guests came over.

Rask-and-reward strategy
Tuukka Rask's three-year deal with the Bruins could bring him as much as $3.2 million a year, approaching the kind of salary structure the Penguins put in place for Sidney Crosby and the Kings rolled out for Jack Johnson. "Odd," said one front office executive. "It will hurt other teams negotiating with picks." The high number also could extend Rask's stay in the minors, if the Bruins find themselves too snug against the salary cap and essentially can't afford to bring him up. However, the CBA contains a 7 percent buffer -- a margin of, say, $3.36 million against a $48 million cap -- that allows day-to-day flexibility in computing and managing the cap. The high offer to Rask is somewhat reminiscent of the Bruins breaking the Entry Level Salary model in 1997 to sign Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov. Years later, those deals led NHL exec Bill Daly to say the Bruins accelerated the financial meltdown of the game.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.