John Bishop is the beat writer for BostonBruins.com. He covers the Black & Gold hoping to offer a positive look at the team, not only from the stands and the press box, but also from inside the locker room. A graduate of Boston U. and Northeastern, 'Bish' grew up in Connecticut and moved to the Hub of Hockey in 1993. Since then he has made all four rinks at the Beanpot schools, as well as both Gardens, his icebound homes away from home. Prior to joining the TD Banknorth Garden staff in 2005, Bishop had written for several publications, with his primary focus being college hockey. He coauthored the book Bygone Boston in 2003 and hopes someday to pen a bio of Hobey Baker.

Just got back from the Caribbean and, not to rub it in, but what a great vacation!

One problem with the tropics, however, is that there was no hockey news in Aruba (save the NBC coverage of the Stanley Cup) and I am a little behind on my pux talk.

So, as I take a looksie at the clips that the Bruins media interns kindly saved for me, let's set the table for the rest of June.

Stories from the past week, besides Anaheim's taking the jug, included:

· Ray Bourque was amongst the honorees at the 2007 edition of The Sports Museum's big annual event, The Tradition.

· Former Bruins coach Mike Sullivan is now an assistant with Tampa Bay.

· USA Today reported recently that Boston GM Peter Chiarelli has gotten inquires from other clubs about some of the B's core group, but said, "I tell them all pretty much the same thing…They're our core guys and I'm not inclined to do anything."

· The Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont spoke with Chiarelli about the NHL's review of hits to the head. Chiarelli said, "The issue is hard to define, in terms of determining intent and defining the head area…It's definitely a concern, and there will be more discussion, but at the same time I'd say the majority of GM's want to be careful. They don't want to take hitting out of the game."

· On another note, that of making NHL nets bigger, the B's GM surmised, "It's not a dead issue. The goals have gone down during the playoffs, which is part of the reason it's come up again…But at the same time, I think the games have been exciting, so…it's the same discussion, should we make the nets bigger or maybe look at making the goalie equipment smaller."

· The Milford Daily News reported that last Thursday former B's John Carter, Bob Sweeney (now Director of the Boston Bruins Foundation), Gary Doak and Rick Middleton played as a foursome at the New England Country Club's "Swing for the Kids."

· The New England Hockey Journal reported that Bruins 2006 draft pick Andrew Bodnarchuk was named co-MVP of the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads.

· The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported that former Bruin Al Sims was named the head coach of the Fort Wayne Komets.

Perhaps the biggest news of the week came from Kevin Paul Dupont who reported that the Bruins were to have Tom Hickey, Angelo Esposito, Keaton Ellerby, Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Hamill in town.

"We'll put them through some tests, take them to dinner, show them the city," said Chiarelli to Dupont.

The testing was not open to the public.

And one more thing…

Bish is attacked by a stuffed iguana

Just wanted to say thanks to The General for dragging me to Aruba ("But it's the week of the Stanley Cup Finals!?") and setting us up for the vacation of my life.

As an aside, there is nothing like watching the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the Caribbean.

Not only did I enjoy the scenery and serenity, but I also made some new friends.

Yah, Jeannine, Bobby, Alexa and Jessica are Rangers fans. Booooo.

However, despite the Blueshirt connection, they were great people and kept this stress case in the right attitude while I was in the low latitudes. So, thank you guys!

Keep it here for the latest folks…