Player Discussion Peter Cehlarik

[Mainehockey33]

Once upon a time, guys like Matt Bartkowski and Jordan Caron were one of the last cuts. Being 'one of the last cuts' is an interesting trivia question but means pretty much nothing in the grand scheme of things.

They did say Cassidy should be fired because he clearly had it out for the guy and purposefully was trying to ruin his career. Now we are going down a similar path with management not knowing what they are doing. There are some cases when that is true, but it is far more frequent when the player just is not playing up to snuff.

Like Czarnik stuck in Providence last season while Brian Gionta played games?

 

[UncleRico]

Well hopefully all this offense Donato is adding shows up tonight. 1 point this year and -3.

He’s played the majority of the season with backes. Putting cehlarik on that line isn’t going to make it produce either.

Also cehlarik is a -4 in 5 games in Providence.

 

[UncleRico]

He was one of the last cuts during preseason. This is nothing like Jared Knight lol. Cehlarik has actually played in the NHL and looked good, I watched Knight play for Providence and he never looked good to me. I don’t even think Knight fans were saying he should be playing on the Bruins at any point.

Kenny agostino was also one of the last pre season cuts last season and they both have very similar AHL numbers in their first two AHL seasons. They also have very similar NHL numbers in their short stints.

Cehlarik is a year or two away from being Kenny agostino 2.0

 

[finchster]

Like Czarnik stuck in Providence last season while Brian Gionta played games?

What's your point?

 

[BruinsNetwork]

He’s played the majority of the season with backes. Putting cehlarik on that line isn’t going to make it produce either.

Also cehlarik is a -4 in 5 games in Providence.

JFK, Zboril, Frederic, Senyshyn, Fitzgerald, Lauzon and Szwarz are all negative on the season as well in Providence. Why is plus/minus being used as a negative unit of measure for Cehlarik? Plus/minus is a flawed stat in general, let alone in the AHL which is primarily a developmental league.

For those who care, Cehlarik played well last night after being scratched and picked up his feet more. Cehlarik has pace in the NHL, but sometimes lacks the urgency to be a driving-force behind the play— it’s a work in progress. He’s only played a handful of games.

I’m a firm believer in Cehlarik and I really do think he will be a good player in the NHL once given an opportunity. Not to mention I really thought he looked and played well next to Krejci before his knee injury last season.

Being a healthy scratch in the AHL to watch the game and learn is never a bad thing for a young player. Anyways, Cehlarik is playing well in Providence and if anyone wants to see visuals of that, go check out my twitter as I’ve uploaded some clips of him recently. I’ll be uploading some more in the next couple of days as I sift through film.

 

[Mainehockey33]

What's your point?

That maybe if a player is stuck in Providence or benched it’s not always because the player isn’t playing up to snuff.

 

[UncleRico]

JFK, Zboril, Frederic, Senyshyn, Fitzgerald, Lauzon and Szwarz are all negative on the season as well in Providence. Why is plus/minus being used as a negative unit of measure for Cehlarik? Plus/minus is a flawed stat in general, let alone in the AHL which is primarily a developmental league.

For those who care, Cehlarik played well last night after being scratched and picked up his feet more. Cehlarik has pace in the NHL, but sometimes lacks the urgency to be a driving-force behind the play— it’s a work in progress. He’s only played a handful of games.

I’m a firm believer in Cehlarik and I really do think he will be a good player in the NHL once given an opportunity. Not to mention I really thought he looked and played well next to Krejci before his knee injury last season.

Being a healthy scratch in the AHL to watch the game and learn is never a bad thing for a young player. Anyways, Cehlarik is playing well in Providence and if anyone wants to see visuals of that, go check out my twitter as I’ve uploaded some clips of him recently. I’ll be uploading some more in the next couple of days as I sift through film.

The only reason I used plus/minus is because mainehockey used plus/minus to point out donato was -3 in the nhl. So I just told him cehlarik was -4 in the AHL.

Also I highly doubt that someone who is playing well gets benched by the coaches for a game for what sounds like a lack of effort in the dirty areas.

You can spin zone it however you want, but getting benched for poor board play isn’t just a part of his game he has to learn. If he was actually putting in the effort in those areas, I highly doubt they would ever sit him. In all likelihood it’s an effort and/or attitude problem because if the effort was there they would keep cehlarik in the game to work through the kinks.

 

[finchster]

That maybe if a player is stuck in Providence or benched it’s not always because the player isn’t playing up to snuff.

Well the issue with Czarnik is that he sucked and wasn't doing anything. He lost his place due to immense suckatude. Even though Gionta was collecting a pension at the time, he only played one playoff game.

 

[missingchicklet]

Some of the crap I'm reading here is hilarious. Go back and read some of Dean's comments about Cehlarik's grit and hard work put in on and off the ice. Go back and watch what the guy can actually do on the ice in games, both AHL and NHL. He was tearing it up in Providence before he got hurt. He also, as several have pointed out, has played well in his NHL appearances. I'm not buying this board work crap. He plays stronger along the boards and in the dirty areas than Donato. He also makes his teammates better from what I've seen in his NHL chances, as he is a very good passer and finds the open man. Seems to me the one thing Cehlarik has done wrong is not get his father to change his name to Ted.

 

[Dr Hook]

The Czarnik comparison doesn't really work here in that Czarnik proved himself to be a top AHL scorer for the Bruins, but didn't bring much of anything positive in his call-ups. Cehlarik may not be the greatest of our prospects, but he showed a lot more than Czarnik did in his call-up. Agostino got callups and he basically another Czarnik- elite at a lower level, brought pretty much nothing to big club. Cassidy did cut Donato's ice time pretty heavily last night, so maybe he is starting to wear out his chances, last name or no. Cehlarik should be the one called for the LW spot if Donato goes where he needs to.

 

[Mainehockey33]

Well the issue with Czarnik is that he sucked and wasn't doing anything. He lost his place due to immense suckatude. Even though Gionta was collecting a pension at the time, he only played one playoff game.

He played a bunch of regular season games though. There was plenty of dead weight in the bottom 6 (due to concussions mostly) that calling up Czarnik made enough sense. He didn’t suck at the time in Providence and he doesn’t suck now, it made sense to call up the best player in Providence over Backes or both Nashes, they were terrible.

 

[Mainehockey33]

The Czarnik comparison doesn't really work here in that Czarnik proved himself to be a top AHL scorer for the Bruins, but didn't bring much of anything positive in his call-ups. Cehlarik may not be the greatest of our prospects, but he showed a lot more than Czarnik did in his call-up. Agostino got callups and he basically another Czarnik- elite at a lower level, brought pretty much nothing to big club. Cassidy did cut Donato's ice time pretty heavily last night, so maybe he is starting to wear out his chances, last name or no. Cehlarik should be the one called for the LW spot if Donato goes where he needs to.

I disagree, Czarnik didn’t put up a ton of points but he wasn’t aweful. He showed that he was better than a few guys that played in the playoffs last year, especially the ones coming back from concussions.

His last stint in Boston he put up 4 points in 10 games, I thought he was a pretty good, speedy playmaker. We only needed a decent bottom 6 player, not a top line center.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Yeah I couldn't care less that Czarnik has left the organization he is still JAG in general but the bottom 6 was putrid last playoffs he should have been given a shot. He was only left in Providence because of options and us not wanting to have to cut him in a number crunch (so that he could go a couple hours north and wear a toilet seat on his jersey.) We had already carried Vatrano on the roster for most of the season unable to send him down.

All this stuff should sort itself out but Donato might get a couple more tap ins and if he emerges with a .3 PPG stat line he'll cement his roster spot over someone else with mediocre production who can hit and help out defensively since there is an agenda and a rooting interest to make it work right now for whatever reason.

I'd really like to see Donato on the P Bs right now playing center in Caves spot and competing directly with JFK and Fredrick. Get him to work on shortcomings. We need centers and the prospects are still that and might not work out. He has NHL skill he doesn't need to work on or learn. But we aren't going that route we are OK that he can only play wing and are rewarding poor play with PP time.

There are a lot of guys on this team who I consider 100% unplayable in the playoffs. Headlined by Krug we are so f***ed if he isn't dynamic offensively like last playoffs he barely made up for being a turnstyle with all the points he put up. Cehlarik isn't tiny so hes not one of them and I want to see him.

 

[Dr Hook]

I disagree, Czarnik didn’t put up a ton of points but he wasn’t aweful. He showed that he was better than a few guys that played in the playoffs last year, especially the ones coming back from concussions.

His last stint in Boston he put up 4 points in 10 games, I thought he was a pretty good, speedy playmaker. We only needed a decent bottom 6 player, not a top line center.

I never thought he was bad, and wasn't saying that. Just that he was meh. Didn't really bring a lot, or look like he was ever going to do so. I would have played him over Gionta for sure. But at the end of the day, I feel like Cehlarik showed some upside potential in his NHL game that Czarnik never did. But I do want to be clear I didn't Czarnik was crap like Jimmy Hayes.

 

[Mainehockey33]

I never thought he was bad, and wasn't saying that. Just that he was meh. Didn't really bring a lot, or look like he was ever going to do so. I would have played him over Gionta for sure. But at the end of the day, I feel like Cehlarik showed some upside potential in his NHL game that Czarnik never did. But I do want to be clear I didn't Czarnik was crap like Jimmy Hayes.

Back to the original point though, I think Cehlarik will be an upgrade to Donato. Meh is better than what Donato is playing like. Even if Cehlarik doesn’t have a ton of potential, I think they can play him 13 minutes a night and he won’t hurt them and chip in offensively every now and then.

 

[Saxon Eric]

Notes on Kovar, Cave and a P-Bruins win

Similarly, Jacob Zboril sat out a game a couple of weekends ago, and Cehlarik was a scratch on Friday.
“We’ve been doing that with some of these guys. We’re trying, A., to take advantage of when we have numbers and, B., if we think a guy needs to work on certain things in his game, that’s what we’re going to do,’’ Leach said on Saturday morning.
“We wanted to take advantage of having healthy bodies. It’s really more of an organizational approach, with the amount of three-in-threes that we have. Last year, I think we got away from it a little bit. It’s a fine line.’’

 

[BruinsNetwork]

The only reason I used plus/minus is because mainehockey used plus/minus to point out donato was -3 in the nhl. So I just told him cehlarik was -4 in the AHL.

Also I highly doubt that someone who is playing well gets benched by the coaches for a game for what sounds like a lack of effort in the dirty areas.

You can spin zone it however you want, but getting benched for poor board play isn’t just a part of his game he has to learn. If he was actually putting in the effort in those areas, I highly doubt they would ever sit him. In all likelihood it’s an effort and/or attitude problem because if the effort was there they would keep cehlarik in the game to work through the kinks.

With all due respect, you’ve admitted you haven’t watched the player in Providence, but now you’re making assumptions about this player’s attitude and effort? That’s quite irresponsible. He’s a 23-year-old player in a developmental league, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him being scratched. Read the comments from Jay Leach over the weekend and you’ll see that it was simply a learning experience while they have plenty of capable bodies on hand. Cehlarik came back and played well in his next game, while improving this “poor board play” you speak of, although you’ve yet to watch it for yourself.

On the subject of Cehlarik and his alleged “effort and/or attitude problem” cited by UncleRico, here’s a good story about him from last season.

While covering the P-Bruins last season, I remember one specific night that stood out to me. It was after a really bad loss (cant remember the team) where nothing was going right, I saw Cehlarik outside of the locker room while all his teammates were in the locker room, showering, changing, listening to music and joking around like hockey players do. What was Cehlarik doing outside in the hallway, with most of his gear still on, almost 30-minutes after the game ended? He was standing in the middle of a few members of the media, minding his own business and working on his stick with a blowtorch and hand-saw on the work bench. He must have been working on his gear for a solid 20-minutes and was the last player to leave the rink that night.

 

[UncleRico]

With all due respect, you’ve admitted you haven’t watched the player in Providence, but now you’re making assumptions about this player’s attitude and effort? That’s quite irresponsible. He’s a 23-year-old player in a developmental league, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him being scratched. Read the comments from Jay Leach over the weekend and you’ll see that it was simply a learning experience while they have plenty of capable bodies on hand. Cehlarik came back and played well in his next game, while improving this “poor board play” you speak of, although you’ve yet to watch it for yourself.

On the subject of Cehlarik and his alleged “effort and/or attitude problem” cited by UncleRico, here’s a good story about him from last season.

While covering the P-Bruins last season, I remember one specific night that stood out to me. It was after a really bad loss (cant remember the team) where nothing was going right, I saw Cehlarik outside of the locker room while all his teammates were in the locker room, showering, changing, listening to music and joking around like hockey players do. What was Cehlarik doing outside in the hallway, with most of his gear still on, almost 30-minutes after the game ended? He was standing in the middle of a few members of the media, minding his own business and working on his stick with a blowtorch and hand-saw on the work bench. He must have been working on his gear for a solid 20-minutes and was the last player to leave the rink that night.

I haven’t seen him play this year but I’ve seen him play in Providence probably 10+ times, numerous pre season games and saw pretty much every game he played on the nhl level. His game without the puck and in the corners/ along the walls has been a knock on him throughout his career and I’ve seen that in his play.

Leach isn’t about to come out and say he has an effort problem to the media. That’s something they keep internal. That’s something you have to read between the lines of someone with his skill set being healthy scratched as opposed to being allowed to play through it and grow in game.

You really think of the effort was there, but it just wasn’t clicking that he would have been sat. Or do you think that he was sat because the effort along the boards wasn’t there? Come on.

 

[elMatador]

I haven’t seen him play this year but I’ve seen him play in Providence probably 10+ times, numerous pre season games and saw pretty much every game he played on the nhl level. His game without the puck and in the corners/ along the walls has been a knock on him throughout his career and I’ve seen that in his play.

Leach isn’t about to come out and say he has an effort problem to the media. That’s something they keep internal. That’s something you have to read between the lines of someone with his skill set being healthy scratched as opposed to being allowed to play through it and grow in game.

You really think of the effort was there, but it just wasn’t clicking that he would have been sat. Or do you think that he was sat because the effort along the boards wasn’t there? Come on.

I like how you try your own assumption to declare as a fact with no any other possible explanation.
I could try the same: The way how Leach has structured the line up in the first 5 games was dumb. They had no chemistry and there was no logic not to use Cehlarik on Frederic's wing. Go watch the second Frederic's goal from Saturday just posted in Providence thread. It says it's JFK assist however I can clearly see no. 22 on the back of the jersey dropping the puck to Frederic.

Your rant about the lack of effort along the boards on Cehlarik. Does it have something to do in connection with Donato? If yes, it's pretty clear to anybody Donato is not able to outmatch along the boards rookies let alone veteran NHL players so far this season.

 

[Dr Hook]

Here would be a fun experiment: throw a puck along the boards or into the corner and see which of Ryan Donato or Peter Cehlarik come away with it. My money would be on PC to win it 8 out of 10 times.

 

[UncleRico]

I like how you try your own assumption to declare as a fact with no any other possible explanation.
I could try the same: The way how Leach has structured the line up in the first 5 games was dumb. They had no chemistry and there was no logic not to use Cehlarik on Frederic's wing. Go watch the second Frederic's goal from Saturday just posted in Providence thread. It says it's JFK assist however I can clearly see no. 22 on the back of the jersey dropping the puck to Frederic.

Your rant about the lack of effort along the boards on Cehlarik. Does it have something to do in connection with Donato? If yes, it's pretty clear to anybody Donato is not able to outmatch along the boards rookies let alone veteran NHL players so far this season.

I’m not here advocating for donato, I don’t like his board play or his defensive game at the moment either. The only reason donato is on this team right now is because last year when he was paired with Krejci and debrusk he tore it up offensively in a short stint. Cehlarik couldn’t even do much offensively in his two short stints, much of which was spent on a line with Krejci and only has 4 points in 17 games.

Is cehlariks defensive game a better than donatos? Ya probably a little bit, but donatos offensive game is much better. Unfortunately for donato he’s been on a line with his centers being either backes or Kuraly who are two black holes of centers offensively this season. Cehlarik coming up isn’t going to improve that 3rd line situation.

However there is something to be said for cehlarik going from a top 6 role his first two games in Providence, to a 4th line role then being healthy scratched after.

Overall I think the bruins problems are much more due to backes being garbage so far this year and so far they’ve only had fourth line center quality players in Nordstrom and Kuraly to step up in that situation. Though I did like the bjork-Nordstrom-Wagner line, but realistically over a much larger sample size that line probably won’t pan out.

Bruins need to go out and get a center who can actually still perform. The center position on the 3rd line is a much bigger issue than the wing positions.

 

[Friar85]

Here would be a fun experiment: throw a puck along the boards or into the corner and see which of Ryan Donato or Peter Cehlarik come away with it. My money would be on PC to win it 8 out of 10 times.

Not really Cehlarik's issue, despite the board work quote. His issues are getting there and then not turning it over in a bad spot. I still think he has a shot to play in the NHL. When I first saw him, I didn't think he could ever skate well enough to make it. He's improved in that area, although his first step can still be painful to watch at times, but obviously not enough for the way Butch wants to play.

 

[Dr Hook]

Not really Cehlarik's issue, despite the board work quote. His issues are getting there and then not turning it over in a bad spot. I still think he has a shot to play in the NHL. When I first saw him, I didn't think he could ever skate well enough to make it. He's improved in that area, although his first step can still be painful to watch at times, but obviously not enough for the way Butch wants to play.

He kind of reminded me a bit of Glenn Murray with that painful first step. I remember Muzz could skate fine once he got going, but it took a minute to get there. I am pulling for Peter to make it, I like his hands and his vision, at least what I've seen of them.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

He kind of reminded me a bit of Glenn Murray with that painful first step. I remember Muzz could skate fine once he got going, but it took a minute to get there. I am pulling for Peter to make it, I like his hands and his vision, at least what I've seen of them.

Muzz had a great one timer and also had great chemistry with Big Joe and Knuble back in the day (my day)

 

[Dr Hook]

Muzz had a great one timer and also had great chemistry with Big Joe and Knuble back in the day (my day)

That was my day too, at least one of them - loved that line. Too bad there wasn't a lot to love about the team as a whole in spite of some good players. The goalies carousel comes to mind from those days, as does the coaching carousel.

But to keep on topic: go Peter! Tear it up in Providence and make them HAVE to call you up!