Hi all-- Transplant from the Philly.com boards, glad to have a place for relatively sane discourse again. I was just marveling to myself about how far Bourdon has come. At the end of last season they had sent him down to the ECHL, and it seemed like he (and Marshall) was utterly failed draft picks that never had a chance of playing for the big club. And while he's pretty firmly below our top 4 d-men, he plays a solid game, and is a nice fill-in in the absence of Pronger. When he's on the ice I don't find myself cringing like I did when Ryan Parent, Bartulis were here, or Marshall was this season. He probably has earned a spot over Lilja when Gus comes back (though I'm not sure they'll give it to him). And while I suspect his play still won't be enough for Homer to be content not making a move for another defenseman before the trade deadline, based on Bourdon's play so far, I wouldn't be too upset going into the playoffs with him as the 6th guy. Also, side note, even before Pronger went out, our best defenseman has been and has continued to be Mez. I hope they extend him--he's emerging into a really all-around force back there.
