If there’s one thing you can say about the Bruins, it’s that they traditionally get the most out of their goalies.
The last three No. 1 netminders for the B’s have all won Vezina Trophies and have pieced together an impressive continuity run for the last 15 years with Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask and Linus Ullmark manning the pipes while nearly every backup has enjoyed some of their best career work in Black and Gold whether their name was Chad Johnson, Manny Fernandez, Jaroslav Halak or Anton Khudobin.
They also have the next great goaltender to continue the tradition once Jeremy Swayman is signed, sealed and delivered after a summer where the restricted free agent and Boston have experienced a really difficult time finding common ground. Obviously, Boston’s attention to detail defensively has always gone hand-in-hand with the elite level of goaltending, but another giant factor over that long span of time has been “Goalie Bob” otherwise known as Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa.
It's a big reason why confidence is high that new B’s goalie Joonas Korpisalo can come in and more than adequately back up Swayman once the season gets going, even if he is coming off a year in Ottawa for a poor Senators club that was well below his standards.
"Seeing how the Boston goalies play here, I'm really excited to see Bob, and get to work with him and see what's on his mind to make my game better," said the 30-year-old Korpisalo, who has played in 276 NHL games over his nine-year NHL career for the Blue Jackets, Kings and Senators. "We've been talking a lot. He's not here yet, but we've been catching up with each other throughout the summer."
The .890 save percentage and 3.27 goals against average for a non-playoff team in Ottawa were well below his usual standards, and even below his career average of a .901 save percentage through a long career stopping pucks. One of his best stretches was also playing for the best overall team he was on after arriving in Los Angeles with the Kings a couple of years ago where the Kings nearly pulled off a first-round playoff upset, and he finished with a .921 save percentage in 11 games after putting together a .913 save percentage in Columbus that season as well.
"It happens. Everyone did their best. Sometimes it just doesn't work out," said Korpisalo of the down season in Ottawa that he’s looking to bounce back from this season. "It certainly wasn't that no one tried enough, but that was last season. We've got a new season coming up.
"The trade [to the Bruins] came by surprise. But as the days went by, I was really happy and excited to get back here. Just get to work with the boys. Things happen for a reason. I'm here now and super excited."
The excitement is understandable as it’s arguably the best situation that Korpisalo has ever been in during his NHL career. Still, it’s going to be a legit battle in training camp as the Bruins also have a legit goaltending prospect in Brandon Bussi that’s a cheaper cap hit than the $3 million that will be due Korpisalo for each of the next four seasons.
The Bussi situation still leaves the door slightly ajar that Korpisalo could spend time in Providence this season, particularly if the veteran struggles at all while the youngster performs to the high standard he’s shown with the P-Bruins in each of the last seasons.
More than likely, though, Korpisalo is going to flourish with a better team and one of the NHL’s top goaltending gurus, and he’ll be exactly the kind of backup goaltender that playoff teams like the Boston Bruins need even if Swayman is fully expected to be “the man” between the pipes for the majority of games next season.
ONE TIMERS
*Good luck to Claude Julien, who has hooked on with the St. Louis Blues coaching staff as a veteran voice added to a new group running the show there that’s a little low in the experience department, including new head coach Drew Bannister.
"Right now, and I'm being very honest, I am just happy where I am," said Julien back when he was hired on for the gig. "I accepted this. Being a head coach is not a priority for me. If it was, I wouldn't have accepted this job, and I would have probably waited for an opportunity. At the end of the day, a coach is a coach.
"I know when I was a head coach, I really relied on my assistant coaches, their opinions, their observations, everything else. As I've often said, you're as good as the people that surround you. Being in this situation and being an assistant coach, it doesn't mean you don't do as much. It just means Drew is the head coach with the last decision and at the end of the day, I'm really happy just to be part of a coaching group again and go behind a bench."
There’s no way to overstate how helpful a voice like Julien can be as a Cup-winning head coach with a Jack Adams Award on his resume along with 11 Stanley Cup playoff experiences during his time as bench boss for the Bruins, two stints with the Montreal Canadiens and a time running the New Jersey Devils as well.
*Speaking of the Blues, best of luck as well to Torey Krug as he's facing an entire season-long layoff due to an ankle surgery that's been a chronic issue over the last few seasons dating back to his Boston Bruins days. He got very emotional speaking about the injury, which speaks to the heart and emotion that he's always played with throughout his career and made him the extremely effective player that he's been despite being a truly undersized dog in the fight.
Torey is a guy that's in the NHL because he's a highly skilled D-man, but also because he plays always with a full heart and full emotion. Hope this surgery allows him to bounce back strong next season https://t.co/UzDeybT36Q
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 4, 2024
*It was great to see Chris Wagner mixing it up with the Bruins players at last week’s captain’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena as the Colorado Avalanche forward is looking to stay in shape ahead of his own training camp with the Avs. The pride of Walpole is signed to a one-year, $775,000 contract for the 2024-25 season after splitting time between the NHL (13 games) and the AHL (8 goals and 14 points in 21 games for the Eagles) for the Avalanche organization, and showing he’s still got plenty of game while running through drills with the Bruins skaters.
The Pride of Walpole, Chris Wagner making a cameo at captains practice at Warrior Ice Arena all geared up in his Colorado Avalanche stuff pic.twitter.com/9Tv7Vdblmy
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 3, 2024