Bittersweet Day for 1993 Bruins at Prospects

BITTERSWEET SUNDAY AT PROSPECTS 
Deep Playoff Run Ends in Semi’s

TORONTO, ONTARIO-Winning on Sundays at the Prospects tournament is not easy. Advancing deep into the playoffs is that much tougher. Playing every two hours in shortened games that magnifies mistakes and getting down early all but seals your fate. The 1993 Junior Bruins got to the semi final round, winning their first two playoff games, and were only 50 seconds away from a date in the finals when the party ended for the black and gold in Toronto.

The Bruins opened with the SK Wheatland Stars and picked up a 3-2 overtime victory. That moved them on to the quarterfinals where they had the Culver Prospects, the #2 seed, waiting for them. Culver went 4-0 in the round robin and scored an 8-0 1st round playoff win, so they were coming in hot.

The Bruins again needed overtime, but were able to score the upset and win, 3-2. That moved onto the semi finals and a rematch with the Minnesota Blades. The Bruins got up 2-1 and were winning by that score with less than a minute to play. The Blades pulled the goalie and were able to score a 6-5 goal to tie the game. Just forty seconds later a costly turnover led to another Blades goal that ended the Bruins’ playoff run.

“Making it this deep into this tournament is not easy. It is probably tougher to make it this far in this tournament than it was for the ’97′s to win in Montreal. You need to play very well on Sunday to win and you need to get lucky along the way,” Chris Masters commented.

The ’93′s wrap up their season in late June at the Icebreaker tournament where they were finalists a year ago.

(left to right)-Anthony Terenzio, Ben Foster, JP Burnside and Kurt Krotz

MOVING ON!!! 
Two Wins for Bruins Send them on to the Playoffs

TORONTO, ONTARIO-The Junior Bruins and Minnesota Blades took to the ice Saturday morning and it turned out to be a dandy. The Bruins shutout the Blades, 1-0, to improve to 2-1 and continue to control their own destiny in regards to the crossover.

Saturday night the blitzed the True North team, 6-1, to run their record to 3-1 and secure the #7 seed in the 16 team playoff round.

The win over True North capped a great two days of hockey for the ’93′s. They had a killer schedule and played two of the best teams in the tournament in the round robin. Not an easy road to travel to get to play on Sunday. The Bruins drew the SK Wheatland Stars in their first round playoff game.

1-1 FRIDAY FOR BRUINS 
Tournament Heavyweights Clash on Day 1

TORONTO, ONTARIO-The ’93 Bruins opened with a 6-0 win over the Express USA team to get off to a good start at the Prospects tournament. The next game was with the East Coast Selects, one of the pre-tournament favorites along with the Bruins, on Friday afternoon.

The ECS got the best of the Bruins this day beating them 3-2. That put the Bruins at a 1-1 record and meant they were still in control of their own destiny. A 3-1 record at Prospects guarantees moving on to the playoff round so as long as the B’s got it done on Saturday, they moved on. That would be easier said than done as the Minnesota Blades were on tap for Saturday morning. They are also a pre-tournament favorite and had two convincing wins on Friday.

93′s OPEN IN HOGTOWN 
Bruins Head to Prospects

TORONTO, ONTARIO-The ’93 Junior Bruins are on their way to Toronto for the final Prospects tournament of the year. This is also the first of two tournaments the ’93 Bruins will be at this season. In a month they play at the Icebreaker tournament in Marlboro.

The Bruins, while not winning a Prospects title this year, have had a good showing going a combined 14-7 with every team making the playoff round. The ’93′s will look to have the best showing of a B’s team at the prestigious tournament.

The forwards is a strong group that has equal parts size, strength and skill. Wearing the black and gold will be Jimmy Vesey (93 Middlesex Islanders), Alex Gacek (93 Valley Elite), Matt Manzella (93 Minuteman Flames), Colin Blackwell (93 Valley Elite), Stephen Brown (93 BU Jr. Terriers), Chase Anderson (93 Florida Flyers), Kurt Krotz (93 LI Royals), Ben Foster (93 Toronto Marlies) and Dan McGinnis (BU Jr. Terriers).

At the point are four returnees to the ’93 group in Zach Todd (93 Minuteman Flames), Derek Stahl (93 Valley Elite), Ross Scherma (93 Prospects) and JP Burnside (93 LI Gulls). Two ’93 Bruins rookies are Cory Scammon (93 Florida Flyers) and Connor Fallon (93 BU Jr. Terriers).

In the net will be Tommy Knox (93 Boston Jr. Terriers) and Anthony Terenzio (Shattuck St. Mary’s).

There will be five players who will be with the Junior Bruins next season with either the Junior Bruins (Empire) or the Little Bruins. Manzella and Todd will be with the program full time while Gacek, Yeodon and Vesey will be with the Little B’s.

The team gets the iron of the tournament in the round robin as the ’93′s have the toughest draw of any of the Bruins’ teams that played at the Prospects tournament. They drew Express USA, East Coast Selects, Minnesota Blades and True North.