Playoffs begin tonight for Coyle, Bruins

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The Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight for Charlie Coyle and the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins begin their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at TD Garden. Coyle is coming off a career best season that saw him register 25 goals and 35 assists in 82 regular season games. It's the third straight season that Coyle appeared in all 82 games.

The 32-year-old has quite a bit of NHL playoff experience and is still looking for his first Stanley Cup. Tonight will be his 107th career playoff game.

Coyle is the only former Saint John Sea Dog in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. Julien Gauthier's New York Islanders have qualified but he is currently not on the team's roster. Joe Veleno and the Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

Here's a look at how Sea Dogs alumni performed in the NHL this past season.

Player	Team	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Charlie Coyle	BOS	82	25	35	60
Jonathan Huberdeau	CGY	81	12	40	52
Mathieu Joseph	OTT	72	11	24	35
Thomas Chabot	OTT	51	9	21	30
Joe Veleno	DET	80	12	16	28
Mike Hoffman	SJ	66	10	13	23
Julien Gauthier	NYI	27	5	4	9
Joshua Roy	MTL	23	4	5	9
Matthew Highmore	OTT	7	0	2	2
Yan Kuznetsov	CGY	1	0	0	0
Boko Imama	OTT	6	0	0	0

Julien Gauthier, Joshua Roy, Matthew Highmore, Yan Kuznetsov and Boko Imama all spent much of the season in the American Hockey League. William Dufour did not get called up by the Islanders this season. Jeremie Poirier very likely would have been recalled at some point by the Calgary Flames if not for an injury that kept him sidelined for most of the season.

It was another trying year for Jonathan Huberdeau in Calgary, who is just two years removed from a 115-point campaign with the Florida Panthers. On the flip side, Mathieu Joseph had a bounce back year after posting just 18 points in 56 games with Ottawa last year.