hockeyjournal.com/Article.php?ArtID=810350COLUMBUS, Ohio – After he sat through the first round of the 2007 NHL Draft at the Nationwide Arena Friday, Tommy Cross wasn’t distraught over not hearing his name.
But once he got back to the hotel to rest up for Saturday’s unfurling of rounds two through seven, he didn’t need to have his opening-round snub thrown in his face.
“I got back to the hotel and turned on Sports Center and they had all the draft coverage, so I was like, ‘I can’t get away from this,’” the Simsbury, Conn., native said after the Boston Bruins selected him with the 35th overall pick. “But I got a couple of hours (sleep) with a couple of dreams about the NHL.”
The Bruins traded up with Chicago so they could pick Cross. Boston gave the Blackhawks the 38th overall selection and a third-round pick that was 69th.
“You hear they traded up, and you’d like to think that they traded up for you,” said Cross, who noted he grew up watching the Bruins on NESN. “But you hear teams before that trade up and then they don’t pick you, so you don’t know what to think. But then you hear Westminster School, and you get excited.”
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound defenseman put up 4-16-20 totals in 25 games for Westminster last season. This season, he’s scheduled to suit up for the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets of the USHL. This trip to Columbus, his first, gave him an opportunity to get acclimated in his future home city.
“It’s a great atmosphere to be able to be a part of this, meet the general manager and those gentlemen. I was able to see the rink, this is where we’re going to play, and see the locker room and all that,” Cross said.
He plans to hit the campus at Boston College in fall of 2008. With the Eagles, he’ll be right under the Bruins’ noses – following in the footsteps of current B’s blueliner Andrew Alberts and current Eagles forward Brock Bradford.
On thing Cross won’t be doing is hitting the baseball diamond. A slide into third base (he was safe) during an American Legion baseball game this spring sent him to the surgeon with a knee injury that probably cost him some spots in the draft. Cross said the knee is “as good as new” and the B’s brass agreed.
“We had the medical reports and everything turned out all right, so we were satisfied there,” said B’s Director of Amateur Scouting Scott Bradley.
Now pucks are in and bats and balls are out for the rest of the foreseeable future in Tommy Cross’s world.
“That’s what the guys at the Bruins table said. They said, ‘You’re retired from baseball.’ I’ll make that trade,” said Cross.
Bear Claws
By trading up to get Cross, the Bruins obviously showed they think Cross has more upside than Alberts. But there are still some close comparisons between the two large defenders. Cross might even be able to duplicate Alberts’ willingness to get into the occasional scrap.
“That’s very intriguing to me. I can’t wait for that,” said Cross when asked about the chance to fight in USHL competition. “That’s something that I welcome. It’s going to be a new element of my game that I’m going to have to add.” …
The Bruins obviously coveted Cross. But they could’ve traded up or just stayed with the 38th pick and added Vancouver Giants (WHL) right winger Michal Repik. On the way to the Memorial Cup title, Repik skated on a line with Bruins prospects Milan Lucic and Wacey Rabbit. In the end, the B’s felt they had to fill a need rather than attempt to keep the chemistry of the three Giants players in tact.
“That was the exercise we did (Friday) night. We got skill with (first-round pick) Zach (Hamill), so then we said let’s go to some size,” Chiarelli said. “We re-adjusted the list, and this was a guy (Cross) – we couldn’t believe that he was still there. … He’s a guy we really liked. There was one other forward and one other D that we moved up very slightly because we felt we needed to address the size issue.”
Repik stands just 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, but he put up 55 points in 56 games. …
The Bruins’ pursuit of a goaltender through a trade didn’t go anywhere Saturday.
“I really didn’t delve into that today,” said Chiarelli. “We were just trying to focus on that. I mean, I had a couple of discussions but my gut from today, from my discussions, that hasn’t changed much.” …
Now Chiarelli said he’ll turn his attention to potential restricted free agent Dennis Wideman and the Bruins’ potential unrestricted free agents – primarily defenseman Bobby Allen and winger Jeremy Reich. Chiarelli said he’ll chat with Wideman’s representatives Monday.
Matt Kalman is the editor New England Hockey Journal and hockeyjournal.com and he can be reached at editor@hockeyjournal.com.