Goodbye Manny Fernandez

   As you may have heard, Manny Fernandez's agent has stated that he will not return to the Bruins for the '09-'10 season. Not too surprising of a move on either part.

    In 2 seasons with the Bruins, after spending 6 solid seasons with the Minnesota Wild and 5 seasons before that as a back-up on the Dallas Stars, Manny Fernandez will have a new home next season. Fernandez played fairly well in a back-up role for the Bruins, posted an 18-10 record over the past 2 years and posting a fairly impressive 2.59 goals allowed average this season. However, Fernandez is the caliber-player who deserves to search for a place where he can start on a consistent basis, possibly landing on teams who love playing musical chairs with their goaltending recently, such as Colorado or Tampa Bay.

    However, Fernandez will be turning 35 this August, and may not be hearing as many phone calls and high prices as he hopes to. Manny made $4.75 million last season, and teams certainly won't be looking to spend that money.

    The Bruins, if they are not completely confident on having Tuukka Rask as their back-up goalie next season, may look to sign another veteran goaltender. With the likes of Kari Lehtonen, Nikolai Khabibulan, Dwayne Roloson (Manny's former partner in crime in Minnesota), Joey Macdonald, Martin Biron, Manny Legace, Curtis Joseph and Olaf Kolzig headlining a long list of upcoming free agent goaltenders, the Bruins may think twice about solidifying Rask's position.

-Justin Bobo