Not willing to chance it with such a young lineup, the Bruins organization has signed center Wyatt Smith for Providence. Smith adds even more veteran depth at center to a Providence lineup that only previously had Jeremy Reich as a veteran forward, and he'll serve as Trent Whitfield's replacement of sorts.

Smith is from Thief River Falls, Minn., the same town goalie prospect Zane Gothberg hails from. He's floated around the NHL and AHL since being drafted by Phoenix in 1999, scoring 10 total career NHL goals through 211 games and 160 goals through 550 career AHL games. He spent the entirety of last season with Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate, Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

Although the signing of Smith means less playing time for one or more younger players, it's likely the team will benefit overall from Smith's presence on the team in Providence. Smith served as captain last year in Wilkes-Barre and served as a mentor to the younger players, so that part of Whitfield's missing role will be filled as well. It also gives the Bruins more options when callups are necessary.

Details of his contract to follow, but likely he's on a two-way, one-year deal worth league minimum.

Shawn Thornton has proven himself to be quite the athlete this summer. And none of it has to do with his efforts on the ice.

Earlier this month, Thornton played a stellar first base at Milan Lucic’s Rock ‘n’ Jock Celebrity Charity Softball game, hit third and smacked the ball all around Lowell’s LeLacheur field. When approached after the game, both he and Lucic offered their services to the Red Sox. Per sources, Theo Epstein is yet to make contact with them.

Just three days later, at his own Putts and Punches event he drove the ball all over the golf course - not such a promising turn of phrase as it is in baseball - while raising money for more charitable causes.

Thornton signed an extension at the beginning of the offseason that will keep the gritty winger in a Bruins sweater for another two seasons. His veteran presence will surely be a welcome addition to a team that will fill out with young talent over those two seasons, but Thomas isn’t worrying about that just yet.

When Something’s Bruin caught up with Thornton before Lucic’s softball game, he was deferential in discussing his baseball skills, excited about helping the community but most of all, looking forward to hockey season.

Although it’s been a rocky off-season for the Bruins and Thornton was saddened by the trade of his good friend Dennis Wideman, he remained enthusiastic about the year ahead.

"That's the hard part of the business that you have to put up with every year," Thornton allowed.

He spoke candidly about the rumors surrounding Marc Savard, saying that “it’s part of the game, and until it happens there’s no reason to fret.”

“I haven’t seen them play yet,” he said when asked about Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron, “but I had dinner with Tyler when he was in town after the draft and he seems like the real deal.”

Thornton has always been willing to go the extra mile for his teammates, and reaching out to Seguin is just another example of his capacity to be a leader on a team chock full of them. While potting goals has never been his strength, having his teammates’ back has, and it seems that Thornton is making every effort to let his fellow Bruins know that they can count on him.

More than Thornton’s sporting accolades this summer, he’s managed to improve upon a team chemistry that many think was lacking last year. His ability to keep building and defending that chemistry will go a long way to the Bruins’ success in the year ahead.

With Stamkos giving Recchi his praise and telling media that Recchi really taught him what it's like to be in the NHL, many believe that it will be Recchi's role to take youngster Tyler Seguin under his wing. Seguin, drafted number two overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, hasbeen linked to having the same playing style as Stamkos. Milan Lucic, Recchi's linemate last season, didn't shy away from praising Recchi when Something's Bruin caught up to him at his Rock 'n' Jock Charity Softball Event.

"We know what we're going to get from Rex," said Lucic. "He wouldn't be out here if he couldn't go 100% every day, I mean he's the Recching ball. What his role is is up to coach, but I think we'll have another big year from him."

The 42-year old, 21-year veteran will look to lead a familiar core into unfamiliar territory. The Bruins have been unsuccessful in getting to the Conference Finals, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in 7 games in 2008-2009 and losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in 7 games in 2009-2010. While Recchi's leadership will never be in question, expecting a 42 year old to produce similar stats from 2009-2010 or 2008-2009 is a little unrealistic. It should be noted that despite his age, Recchi has played 65+ games every year after the 1994-1995 season where he played 49 games (39 in Montreal, 10 in Philadelphia). At some point, his body has to break down, doesn't it?

Last season the Bruins saw Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Mark Stuart, Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg - even after being acquired in a trade - all miss significant time due to injuries. Recchi, Ryder and Wheeler were the regulars on the ice. This season will be no different for the elder statesman in the Bruins locker room. Another year brings another challenge for the former Stanley Cup Champion; bringing a cup to Boston.

The AHL released their 2010-2011 schedule today, including the P-Bruins schedule. Along with the usual division rivalry games, the baby B's will play in a home-and-home with the Springfield Falcons to start the season, wearing their Providence Reds throwback jerseys. The Falcons will wear their vintage Springfield Indians jerseys to commemorate the AHL's 75th season.

Games of note at "The Dunk" include the following: the P-Bruins will host the new Albany Devils at the end of October, Abbotsford of the North division (Calgary's AHL affiliate) for two games in November, and the newly created Charlotte Checkers (Carolina's affiliate, formerly the Albany River Rats) in December and again in March. The reigning Calder Cup champs, Washington's affiliate Hershey Bears, swing through Providence in February.

Providence will also travel to Abbotsford, BC to square off against the Heat for two games.

You can view the entire Providence (and AHL) schedule here.

The drive from Boston to Providence isn't an unpleasant one.

There's traffic if you hit it at the wrong times; if it's warm out, you still have to deal with Cape Cod traffic for part of it and if you try to head out of Boston on 93 south at rush hour, you'd better hope you've got some good tunes on your MP3 player or stereo, because you'll be sitting around for a while.

The Bruins are lucky that traffic is the greatest of their problems when calling up players to fill in for injuries. It makes the 13th forward / 7th defenseman a completely optional situation; why make a guy sit in the press box if he can drive an hour south and get some actual playing time in? Although this isn't an option for players on one-way contracts, there are clearly some advantages to having two-way guys just a short drive away. For a team like San Jose, this isn't an option - they fly players across the country only to have them sit in the press box, stuck without a place to play.

Last season, there was never a question about who to call up as the 13th foward. Providence struggled offensively all season, and there were no prospects who were prepared to make the jump to the NHL. Brad Marchand was injured for part of the season, although he was used as a callup several times; behind him, Mikko Lehtonen and Zach Hamill were the two youngsters who may have been closest. Considering that they've both been busts in one-game callups in the past, Boston opted to go with veteran presence and use Trent Whitfield as the Boston-Providence floater.

Was that a good decision, in retrospect? Absolutely. Why throw an untested forward into the mix when he's not proven in the minor professional leagues - or worse yet, if he's a proven bust? Although Whitfield may not have scored a single goal in his time in Boston, he wasn't exactly on a scoring line - paired with Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton, their job was to fill minimal minutes and stir up the other team.

Trent Whitfield is out for the season rehabbing a torn achilles. Who will be the 13th forward in a season that starts brightly for both Boston and Providence, with Jordan Caron, Joe Colborne, Brad Marchand, and even Max Sauve chomping at the bit to get a chance to wear the spoked B?

Answer: none of the above. Remember this guy?

Jeremy Reich battles against the team he played for in 09-10

Jeremy Reich floated between Boston and Providence for the 2006-2007 season, before playing an entire season in Boston the following year and an entire season in Providence the year after that. He's familiar with the system, he captained the Baby B's to an Eastern Conference Final against the Hershey Bears two seasons ago, and he's widely regarded as one of the two best locker room presences the P-Bruins have seen recently. He played in the New York Islanders' system last season, although he spent a majority of it on injured reserve recovering from an injury to his wrist.

If disaster strikes and a forward goes out in October or November, you can put money on the fact that it'll be Jeremy Reich - or possibly Brad Marchand, if his season starts well - that will be driving up 95 to 93 to the Garden over Colborne or Caron.

Arguably, this is something that's been pretty standard for the Bruins over the last few years - giving veteran AHLers a spot on the big club over potentially stellar rookies. We saw it last year with the callups of Wozniewski and Larman, and in previous years with the callup of Pelletier; the Bruins seem to like to give new players a chance to simmer and develop in the Prov before giving them their shot. Matt Hunwick and Mark Stuart both went through it, Adam McQuaid is going through the process right now and will likely make it to Boston by the All-Star break, and the possibility is definitely there for Caron or Colborne to make the jump mid-season.

For now, though - it's all on Jeremy Reich, the former and future baby B's captain. Get ready for the return of number 53.

About two weeks ago I wrote about Johnny Boychuk and his chances to hit the dreaded sophomore slump. Although the article was well received, the feedback I got stated that a player can only hit a slump when there are expectations to be met. Taking that into consideration then, it's time to look at Boston's rookie phenom from last year, Tuukka Rask.

Rask didn't come into this world a Bruin. He was the first round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs (21st overall) in the 2005 and was traded to Boston on June 24, 2006 for Andrew Raycroft. Tuukka finally broke in to North American hockey during the 2007-2008 season when he played 45 games for the Providence Bruins, posting 27-13-2 record (W-L-T), a save percentage (S%) of .905 and a goals against average (GAA) of 2.33. In that same season, Rask played 4 games in Boston, went 2-1-0-1 (W-L-T-OT) posting a 3.26 GAA and a S% of .886.

The 2008-2009 season saw an increased workload for the Finn in Providence. Rask played 57 games for the P-Bruins, posting a record of 33-20-4, 4 shutouts, a GAA of 2.50 and a S% of .920. Unfortunately for Tuukka though, his time in Providence won't be remembered for his fine play but for an incident after a shootout against the Albany City River Rats.

From an ESPN.com article on March 24, 2009:

"With Providence leading 1-0 after the fifth round of the shootout, Albany's Jakub Petruzak skated in, appeared to lose control of the puck wide of the net after Rask poke-checked. But Petruzak collected the puck and shot it, scoring the tying goal.

The Bruins protested, arguing that the puck was not in constant motion forward before Petruzak shot it at the net, which is mandatory in a shootout.

Then in the sixth round, Harrison Reed launched a slap shot that Rask insisted hit the crossbar, but L'Ecuyer ruled went in.

That apparently was the last straw for Rask, who slammed his stick against the crossbar, skated toward the still-closed door leading to the tunnel, threw himself against the glass, then hurled his stick across the ice."

The 2009-2010 season saw Tuukka Rask finally up in Boston, something he was clamoring for during the 2008-2009 season in Providence. In his rookie season, Rask posted fantastic numbers that no one expected. In 45 games (39 starts) last season, Rask posted a 22-12-0-5 record with 5 shutouts and led in the NHL in S% (.931) and GAA (1.97). Despite these numbers though, Rask was not in the running for the Calder Trophy as Buffalo's Tyler Myers edged out Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche) and Jimmy Howard (Buffalo Sabres).

With an amazing 2009-2010 season under his belt, what can be expected from Tuukka Rask in the 2010-2011 season? Tuukka will certainly see an increased workload and it should be noted that he has never played over 60 games in his career. With a quality back-up goaltender like Tim Thomas, it is okay to think that Tuukka Rask will only play about 60 games in the 2010-2011 season, but a starting goaltender should be pulling 65-70 games a season.

Last season 6 starting goaltenders played over 70 games (Martin Broduer [77], Miika Kiprusoff [73], Henrik Lundqvist [73], Jonathan Quick [72], Evgeni Nabokov [71] and Craig Anderson [71]) and 8 more goaltenders had over 60 games played. Anything less than 60, unless that number is not reached by injuries, should be considered a failure. For Rask to play 45-50 games next season means that he is not a clear #1 goaltender. Last season Tim Thomas played 43 games, 2 fewer than Tuukka Rask, and posted respectable numbers. In fact, Thomas' numbers are comparable to Rask's especially in terms of S%. Thomas ended the season with a 2.56 GAA (Rask, again, with a 1.97) and a S% of .915 (compared to Tuukka's .931).

So what kind should be expected from Rask in 2010-11? Unlike Johnny Boychuk, who might get by doing little more than hitting people and smiling, Rask is an integral part of this team. Boychuk has an allowance to slack a little bit and not have people notice, but when you lead the league in S% and GAA (two stats that measure the effectiveness of a goaltender) your margin of error is quite small.

A sophomore slump is born because of a few things:

1. The expectations of the player are so lofty that said player will never be able to exceed them.
2. The player sustains an injury and can not play.
3. The player gets comfortable and complacent in their setting and doesn't work as hard as he/she should

With a healthy Tim Thomas in the fold, Rask should be pushed by the ex-Vezina Trophy winner to play at a high level, but we've seen the sophomore slump before.

After a successful Calder Trophy campaign in 2003-2004 where he posted a GAA of 2.05 (6th in the NHL) and a S% .926 (5th in the NHL) in 57 games played. After the lockout where Raycroft went to play for Tappara Tampere of the SM-liiga league, Raycroft came back to the NHL and had a very disappointing season. Raycroft played 30 games and ended up winning 8 games before becoming a healthy scratch and demoted to thrid string behind Tim Thomas and Hannu Toivonen.

Even though Raycroft may be a negative extreme, there are very few goalies in the NHL who have saw an increased work load and also an increase in production. A great example of this is the LA Kings' goaltender Jonathan Quick. Quick played 44 games in his rookie season going 21-18-0-2 with 4 shutouts, a .914 S% and a GAA of 2.48. In 2009-2010, Quick saw an increased work load with 72 games played, a record of 39-24-0-7 with 4 shutouts, a .905 S% and a GAA of 2.54. Although Quick's numbers did not change drastically, would a decrease in save percentage and an increase in goals against average cause a panic in Boston?

Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets saw a spectacular rookie season fall to the way side as the dreaded sophomore slump hit him, hard. In 2008-2009, Mason sparkled in Columbus. He played 61 games and ended the season with a 33-20-0-7 record, 10 shutouts, a 2.29 GAA and a S% of .916. The 2009-2010 season, however, was not kind to Mason as he played 58 games with a record of 20-26-0-9, 5 shutouts, a GAA of 3.06 and a S% of .901. It's clear that Mason suffered a setback from his rookie season to his sophomore one, but would this be acceptable by Bruins fans?

In the end, if Tuukka Rask plays horribly and the Bruins make it into the playoffs, is there a cause for concern or is it still a young kid adjusting to life in the NHL? With Tim Thomas sitting behind him, holding that door open, does it really matter how Rask performs? Is there any leeway for a down season? Where are your expectations for this young kid?

A source familiar with the player today confirmed that Trent Whitfield has torn his achilles tendon and is likely to miss the entire 2010-11 season. The Providence captain had surgery to repair the tendon last week.

In seven games with the Bruins last season, Whitfield tallied one assist and seven PIM. He also played in four playoff games without recording a point.

Whitfield's absence will open up the competition for a center's slot in Providence, and it is likely that there will be multiple contenders for his vacated role. The aquisition of Jeremy Reich in free agency this summer should be highly beneficial to the P-Bruins, as Whitfield's leadership was a crucial part of his role on the AHL team.