Lovell is battling to be a Bruin
By Paul Harber, Globe Staff, 09/11/99
 
 
OWELL - Tim Lovell took the ice for the first time as a Boston Bruin at
the Tsongas Arena last night and you can bet he enjoyed every shift during
the annual season-opening Black & White scrimmage.
 
 
He beat Joel Prpic on a faceoff in his own zone as he centered Joel
Trottier and Ryan Milanovic.
 
 
Lovell is the hometown kid trying to make the hometown team. Today he is
lacing it up with some of his boyhood idols. He was starting the first
grade in Norwood the same time Ray Bourque was taking his first shifts at
the Boston Garden.
 
 
''So far, so good, I've played in a couple of game situations and it's
been great,'' said Lovell. This time last year Lovell didn't expect to be
at the Bruins camp. He was simply trying to prove he could play at the
professional level.
 
 
He had a decent senior year for the University of Massachusetts (21 goals,
19 assists, 40 points in 35 games), but it was disappointing for Lovell,
who had 51 goals and 57 assists in three seasons for Maine. The highlight
of his years at Orono was earning MVP honors as a sophomore in the NCAA
Eastern Regionals.
 
 
When the season ended, he had a four-game tryout with Cincinnati of the
International Hockey League, but didn't make much of an impression.
 
 
Last year he hooked on with Tacoma of the West Coast Hockey League, hoping
to impress some NHL scouts. And he certainly did. He had a banner year and
the WCHL coaches made him a unanimous choice as Rookie of the Year. Lovell
put up impressive numbers with 33 goals and 43 assists for 76 points in 54
games as the Sabercats unseated the San Diego Gulls for the league
championship.
 
 
''Having a good year in the West Coast Hockey League really helped. It was
a confidence builder,'' he said. ''I didn't have a very good senior year
at UMass. I really didn't play well. There was a lot of pressure on me.''
 
 
At 5 feet 10 inches and 170 pounds, Lovell is the smallest player on the
Bruins. He's also trying to make the team as a center, competing against
Joe Thornton, Shawn Bates, Sean Pronger, Prpic, and Andre Savage.
 
 
''The players here are bigger and they are stronger,'' said Lovell. ''But
it's the same game. I think I can hold my own.''
 
 
You can bet he had a strong rooting section at Tsongas last night. He
comes from a hockey family.
 
 
His father, Richard Sr., was a star at Boston State College years ago
before the school was absorbed by UMass-Boston. He later coached hockey at
Xaverian in Westwood. His older brother Richard played collegiately and
professionally in Belgium and another brother, Ryan, also played at
UMass-Boston.
 
 
After graduating from Norwood and before enrolling at Maine, he played one
year for the Boston Junior Bruins in the New England Junior Hockey League.
He says his stint with the junior Bruins elevated his game. ''I could have
gone straight to college,'' he said. ''I had a few scholarship offers and
I did well in the classroom. But I'm glad I played Junior A. It's a tough
grind but it prepared me, made me a lot tougher physically.''
 
 
He says the same about his experience at Tacoma last year.
 
 
Lovell's tryout in Boston was a pleasant surprise. ''I thought I would be
going to training camp with the Providence Bruins, so this is a bonus,''
he said.
 
 
If he doesn't make the Bruins, he'll play either for a Bruin farm team or
somebody else. ''I think I can play at this level,'' said Lovell.
 
 
The White team, coached by Peter Laviolette and Daniel Dore, prevailed,
2-1, in the annual Black & White scrimmage. A crowd, estimated at 4,000,
saw a 50-minute, two-period contest with only a pair of matching penalties
called.
 
 
The winner was scored by Eric Nickulas, who broke a 1-1 tie at 5:22 of the
second period by jamming home his own rebound past Kay Whitmore. Thornton
and Sergei Samsonov assisted.
 
 
Savage gave the White team a 1-0 lead 3:51 into the game by stuffing in
his own rebound past goalie Rob Tallas. Rob DiMaio and Dave Andreychuk
assisted. The Black, coached by Bill Armstrong and Ken Baumgartner, evened
the score when Shawn Bates found the five-hole against John Grahame at
20:06.
 
 
''Hey, it's good to play against someone wearing a different jersey,''
said coach/bystander Pat Burns. ''After three or four exhibition games,
they'll be chomping at the bit for the regular season.'' Burns was happy
with the play of goalie Andrew Raycroft, who had seven saves for the Black
team. The Bruins are at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., tonight
to face the Buffalo Sabres. The game is on WBZ radio (1030).
 
 
This story ran on page G08 of the Boston Globe on 09/11/99.
 Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.