Most of the Bruins were happy to return home after Sunday's 3-0 win over Phoenix in Prague wrapped up their 12-day tour of Europe. There's plenty to be said for getting sleep in your own bed again and reconnecting with your family, but Nolan Schaefer would be excused if he was not quite as excited about returning home.
Schaefer, 30, accompanied the Bruins as their third goalie on the trip. The NHL allowed the six teams opening the season in Europe to carry an extra goalie that didn't count against the 23-man roster limit while overseas, as it would be almost impossible logistically to call up a replacement goalie if an injury struck during the trip.
But now that the Bruins are back in Boston, that roster exemption no longer applies. As a result, the Bruins announced on Monday that Schaefer has been placed on waivers for the purpose of being assigned to their AHL affiliate in Providence. If he goes unclaimed by another NHL team, Schaefer will head to Providence, where he will be that club's No. 1 netminder.
Providence could use the help in goal, as current netminders Matt Dalton and Michael Hutchinson got off to a bit of a rocky start this weekend.
Dalton drew the start in the season opener against Springfield on Friday but was pulled after two periods, having allowed four goals on 16 shots. Hutchinson came on and gave up a goal on the only shot he faced in the third as the Bruins fell 5-1.
Providence won the rematch in Springfield 6-5 on Saturday, but Hutchinson allowed five goals on 36 shots and the Bruins almost squandered a 5-1 lead.
One of those goalies will likely be assigned elsewhere once Schaefer joins the club, but Providence coach Rob Murray said after Friday's game that no decision on who would stay in Providence had been made. Adam Courchaine had already been assigned to Reading (ECHL) last week.
"It's part of the game. They're part of the team. These guys have to perform too," said Murray of the goaltending after Friday's loss. "Don't read anything into it. These are the guys coming out of training camp we felt played the best and that was a very small window of opportunity with the two rookie games and two exhibition games here. Matt Dalton, the only game he's played was [an exhibition game] Wednesday night against Worcester in Marlborough. So these guys are not necessarily game-ready.
"We still haven't made a decision," added Murray. "It's yet to be determined what's going to happen when Schaefer comes back."
Schaefer could be a little rusty himself as he did not appear in any of Boston's games in Europe, but he should still help settle Providence's goaltending situation when the AHL Bruins return to action on Friday by once again hosting Springfield.
He was signed by the Bruins in July after spending last season in the KHL with CSKA Moscow. Prior to that, the former Providence College star spent six seasons in the AHL, compiling a 102-99-4 record with a 2.63 GAA and a .907 save percentage in 225 games with Cleveland, Worcester, Hershey, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Houston.
He also made it up to the NHL for seven games with San Jose in 2005-06, going 5-1-0 with a 1.87 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
He is the younger brother of former Bruin Peter Schaefer, who signed with Vancouver last week after earning a job with the Canucks as a tryout in camp. Peter Schaefer had not played in the NHL since the Bruins sent him to Providence before the start of the 2008-09 season and did not play anywhere last season after the Bruins bought out the final year of his deal.
