Praise for B's scouting staff

I just realized that I didn't say anything about it in my post-draft recap, but I think that the Boston Bruins amateur scouting staff did a nice job at the 2010 draft. (Cue up G. Love and Special Sauce's "Thanks and Praise" here)

GM Peter Chiarelli has surrounded himself with some smart hockey people: Jimmy Benning and Scott Bradley were a big part of the success with their expertise and experience as amateur scouting chiefs for Buffalo and Boston respectively, on top of their duties as assistant GM and director of player personnel. Scouting is in their blood, and they are invaluable to what the Bruins are doing for the future.

I think Boston's amateur scouting director Wayne ("Smitty") Smith, collegiate scouting director John Weisbrod, and regional scouts Dean Malkoc (Western Canada/WHL), Mike Chiarelli (Ontario), Scott ("Fitz") Fitzgerald (New England, Quebec), Jack Higgins (Ontario), Denis LeBlanc (Quebec), Mike McGraw (Minnesota/Midwest/USHL), Svenake Svensson (Europe) and Jukka Holtari (Europe) (Plus anyone I may have inadevertently missed) did well to bring in some legitimate talent.

We can't always agree on all of the picks, and not every prospect can play for the big club. But the bottom line is-- scouting is more of an art than a science and at first blush, the team came away with a solid haul.

I've been honored to come to know and learn a bit about the major sacrifices these guys make for love of the game. They're rarely acknowledged or appreciated, so here's a hats off to them as we get ready to check out some of the fruits of their labor next week.