Karsums, Sobotka Get the Call

The Boston Bruins dipped into their minor-league pool this morning and called up Vladimir Sobotka and Martin Karsums from Providence.

The call is no doubt linked to the disappearances of Petteri Nokelainen and Chuck Kobasew in Monday's game. No word yet on how long either player will be out for.

Calling up some Baby B's serves as a decent stop-gap while Peter Chiarelli and friends continue to assess what trades could help the team out. I wouldn't look at Sobotka or Karsums as longterm fixes, but it should be enough to hold us over for maybe a week or so.

I also have a feeling this will be Sobotka's last chance to prove himself to the club this season. He's been called up a handful of times already and hasn't shown the brass anything substantial. Now is his chance.

The call-ups also bring new lines into question. Seeing as this team hasn't seen an offensive spark in weeks, I'd consider shuffling the lines to:

Lucic-Savard-Bergeron
Wheeler-Krejci-Kessel
Axelsson-Sobotka-Karsums
Thornton-Yelle-Bitz

Or something like that. Those lines give every slumping player a shot at rejuvenating a bit and finding their offensive game.

But alas, the Boston Globe reports that Julien executed different lines in this morning's practice. Sobotka fanatics will no doubt be pleased:

Lucic-Savard-Kessel
Sobotka-Krejci-Wheeler
Axelsson-Bergeron-Karsums
Thornton-Yelle-Bitz

The B's also switched up the power play in today's practice. Instead of manning the point, Bergeron has shifted to down low. Great move -- Bergy hasn't been effective from the point for most of the season.

In other B's news, Michael Ryder will be back earlier than expected. The winger will only need 2-3 weeks to recover from his orbital fracture suffered last week. Think of his return as just another trade deadline acquisition for Boston.