The Boston Bruins will have the summer to reflect on the 2011-12 season and their first-round exit to the Washington Capitals, which all followed after an arduous Stanley Cup championship run in 2011.

But for Boston Bruins forward Rich Peverley (and undoubtedly the rest of the team), he’d rather be playing.

Canada is rounding out its roster at the IIHF World Hockey Championship with defenceman Kris Russell. The 25-year-old is expected to arrive in Helsinki on Thursday.

Sharks Fans, SharksAHL.com will be checking in with Worcester Sharks players throughout the offseason! Our first victim is forward Curt Gogol! Curt skated in 53 games for the Sharks, scoring six goals, four assists, 167 penalty minutes, and led all AHL rookies with 19 fighting major penalties. #13 checks in with us from Calgary, Alberta.

Holzer scored once and set up another with a rocket drive that ricocheted off Abbotsford goalie Danny Taylor. Holzer along with partner Mark Fraser made the Marlies’ end failsafe as the locals evened their playoff series with Abbotsford with a  5-1 win.

Apologies to Nick Merkley’s teachers at Nickle School in Lake Bonavista. But as hard as the 14-year-old Grade 9 student attempts to concentrate on Thursday, his mind will be on the 2012 Western Hockey League bantam draft, which happens to begin about the same time he’ll be starting morning classes.

Tyler Bunz has won the 2011-12 Del Wilson Trophy as the Western Hockey League Goaltender of the Year.
The award caps off another brilliant season for the Tigers netminder, who set career best marks in games played, wins and save percentage.  Bunz went 39-17-2-3 with 3 shutouts and a 2.57 goals against average in leading the Tigers to yet-another playoff berth.

Impressionnant ! C'est le premier qualificatif qui vient en tête quand on pense au jeune gardien de 16 ans Zachary Fucale des Mooseheads de Halifax. Depuis la blessure et la maladie qui a frappé le gardien Américain Anthony Terenzio, Fucale est devenu l'homme de confiance de l'entraîneur-chef recrue Dominique Ducharme. Êtes-vous bien assis ? Le jeune gardien, qui aura 17 ans à la fin du mois de mai, a amorcé 67 des 70 derniers matchs des Mooseheads devant le filet, séquence qui remonte au 22 octobre. On parle de 3 matchs ratés en 6 mois! Fucale n'a que 16 ans ne l'oublions pas. En fait, les seules trois rencontres qu'il a raté dans la période des fêtes c'était parce que ses services avaient été prêtés à Équipe Québec des moins de 17 ans pour le Défi mondial. La fatigue il ne semble pas connaître ca…!

The Coyotes, playing in the post-season for the third straight year, disposed of the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round in six games and now find themselves with a 2-0 series lead over the Nashville Predators in the conference semifinals. One of the working parts of the team that has made Dave Tippett’s bunch so formidable is former CHL defenseman and Presidents’ Cup champion David Schlemko.

Team Canada’s under-18 squad featured an excellent array of talent and many eyeballs were focused on 2012 draft prospects such as Matt Dumba, Brendan Gaunce and Matt Murray. But the 2013 kids on the roster were just as impressive and one name to remember is Prince Albert Raiders defenseman Josh Morrissey.

Dov Grumet-Morris has a degree in government from Harvard, a home in Milwaukee, a wife who is a surgeon doing a cancer research fellowship in Houston and a job as a goalie for the San Antonio Rampage, who open the American Hockey League playoffs at home Thursday night against the Wolves.

James Cameron should have produced something so epic as the night captain Critchlow and the Mooseheads had while completing their comeback with 5-4 Game 7 overtime win over the Quebec Remparts

On Saturday it was announced that the Calgary Flames defensemen, Chris Butler would be joining the U.S. Men’s National Team for the 2012 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

Austin Smith was one of the three "Hobey Hat Trick" finalists this year after a sensational season in which he led the nation in goal scoring with 36 and finishing third with 57 points (36 goals, 21 assists) in 39 games with the Colgate Raiders. Smith's excellent senior campaign earned him numerous honors, including the ECAC Player of the Year and a selection to the All-America East First team.

It’s been too long. Fucale may be an underager, but his play has been so good as a rookie that it bears mention, especially since he’s still hot in the playoffs. The Mooseheads netminder set a record for wins by a 16-year-old (32) and so far he’s perfect in the playoffs too, rocking a league-best 1.97 goals-against average after sweeping Moncton. Draft eligible in 2013.

 The American Hockey League announced today the individual team winners of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year awards, selected by their respective clubs for their outstanding contributions to the local community and charitable organizations during the 2011-12 season.

All this time, coaches had been wrong about Matt Frattin. They saw that the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie was a right-handed shot and naturally assumed that he should play right wing. It was a simple mistake of not being able to look past the obvious.

First Star: Kyle Brodziak, C, Minnesota Wild – Brodziak tallied two goals and six points over the last week, which helped the seemingly hapless Wild to two straight wins over division foes on Monday and Thursday. In addition, Brodziak also fired seven shots on goal over the Wild’s last three games and has been a +2 during that time. Brodziak is now second on the Wild in scoring with 40 points, and has set career highs in both goals and points this season within the past week, all adding up to a number one star slot.

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that goaltender Jussi Rynnas has been recalled from the American Hockey League on an emergency basis to replace James Reimer for Tuesday night’s game against Carolina.

Halifax Mooseheads goaltender, Zachary Fucale was awarded the Raymond-Lagacé trophy in a pre-game ceremony on Friday night.

Belleville Bulls Head Coach and General Manager George Burnett announced Monday that Aaron Berisha, the team's fourth round pick in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection is heading to Belleville for the 2012-13 season. The Mississauga native has spent this season playing at Salisbury Prep School in Salisbury, Connecticut.

The Dallas Stars made it official this afternoon -- they've signed forward Austin Smith, the team's fifth round pick (128th overall) in 2007 to a two-year, to a two-year entry-level contract.

While preparing his Massachusetts-Lowell team for its first-round game in the N.C.A.A. men’s hockey tournament Friday, Norm Bazin will not preach about seizing the moment or feeling lucky to be alive. Bazin has never used his personal story as motivation this season, his first with the River Hawks, who ended a 16-year drought by making the tournament.

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today that forward Travis Turnbull has been recalled on an emergency basis from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.

Peter Boyd of the Bakersfield Condors is the Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week for March 12-18. The 24-year-old left wing scored two goals and added six assists for eight points last week, helping the Condors go 3-1-0 for the week.