Bruins Training Camp in full swing: First impressions, quotes, and suspicions about the 2013-2014 NHL season

* From now until October 3rd when the Bruins regular season begins, I will author a series of general preview articles and collections of notes regarding this impending 2013-2014 NHL season. These articles can be viewed as a full collection by clicking the tag "Bruins season Preview." at the bottom of all these posts. 

The 2013 Boston Bruins preseason starts on Monday. 17 days after that, the Bruins will host the Lightning as they look to satisfy their one goal. Win, win, win.

Following the Bruins' Game Six loss in the cup finals, I wrote "For the first time since January 19th there is no tomorrow." The Bruins had lost, their season was over and while most fans cowered in a cloud of misery trying to forget those terrible 17 seconds in which Chicago scored twice and won the Stanley Cup, the Bruins front office did not. For almost 2 months, they continued to dominate the headlines, signing Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask to long term contracts while losing Nathan Horton to free agency. Before long, Andrew Ference was gone as well but with all the added cap space, the Bruins were able to finally bring Jarome Iginla to Boston. 

But that was not all. 

As more and more came out about the frowned upon habits of Tyler Seguin, he was traded only to be replaced by the already proven Loui Eriksson. 

As crazy as all this is, as crazy an confusing as all these turnover has been it is hard not to understand that by sheer numbers this hockey team iced by the Bruins in 2013-2014 may be even better than that assembled last season. 

On June 24th 2013 the Bruins had lost, for the foreseeable future, there was no immediate next game that could serve as a night of redemption for all of Boston's shortcomings in Game Six of the Cup. For the Bruins they got no alleviation from their pain an instead were forced to sit on the loss for the reminder of their short off-season. But as was profiled before, the changes were made, Seguin was sent packing, Iginla was brought in and while on the 24th there was no tomorrow, over 80 days later there is. 

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With the calendar currently reading September 14th, the Bruins are now 2 days into training camp. They have done all their conditioning, they have made all their quotes, logged all their hours lifting weights in the gym and running at home but as the sun rose on Thursday, the focus of the sweat, blood and exertion of this Bruins turned from a tune of self-strengthening to one of answers delivered and camaraderie built. 

That later part was emphasis more than any other in these first few days of camp. 

With so many new faces, 2 lines seemed to beg the most attention. With Seguin gone, the Bergeron/Marchand line that served as such a driving force last season was left incomplete. In addition to that the second line that included both Milan Lucic and David Kerjci was also suffering from a similar loss of skill named Nathan Horton. As it stood there was no question who would initially come in and replace the voids left by Seguin and Horton, but what was under scrutney was how Bergeron and Marchand would mesh with Loui Eriksson and how Lucic and Krejci would do the same with Jarome Iginla. 

According to Coach Claude Jullian, there was no problem with chemistry or conditioning. 

"The one thing I can say is everybody came in really good shape, and that’s a real plus because when even the Providence players come in shape, the way we’ve asked them to come in shape, that’s a good sign," Claude reportedly said when asked for his impressions on the first days of camp. 

"That’s what was probably more impressive, is that we've got some really good players that seem to understand what it takes and what we expect from them - and it showed on the ice, I thought we had pretty good pace today for the first day."

As for his thoughts on the top 6 offensive players on this Bruins squad, Jullian's words were nothing but approving. 

"We traded for those guys not to say ‘you guys are on a tryout’ but to put them in spots where we think they can fit in. This is what training camp is for; we’re going to give them that opportunity to maybe build some chemistry, get to know each other a little bit better and at one point we are going to have to make a decision whether it’s seems to suit our needs or not."

These line parings are obviously not final. This is mainly because of the structure of these camp sessions. On each day, the entire team consisting of starters and bench-warmers is split into 2 groups. The first skates for 1 or 2 hours fighting through a high tempo practice before they leave the ice, allowing it to get refurbished and cleared to allow for the second group to come on. Of course, all the projected lines were placed in the same group as each-other and in fact most of the starters played in group one. 

But as was said before the attention was not placed on guys like Carl Soderberg or Jordan Caron. For those watching from the Garden grandstand seating, all eyes were on the top 6 and while coaches can give their impressions, only the players can really tell you what THEY think of their situation. But good news Bruins fans, when you compare the statements made by Bergeron to those made by his coach they are both based off of nearly identical skeletal bases. All be it, Bergeron did slightly elude to the fact that there is no way that you can build much chemistry in 1 simple skate.

"Felt pretty good - you can tell, obviously that Loui is a great player and he has great speed and great skill, so I'm very excited to have him with us," Bergerion said. "It's obviously the first practice, so we've got some work to do on the chemistry but still, I thought it was pretty good and fun to see these two guys on my side."

"I think we're all smart players and can figure out where to be on the ice and read off of each other, so I think [chemistry will take] a little bit of time, but not that much; games will be the best indicator of where we stand and help us the most."

Last season, Loui Erikkson used the same speed that Bergeron noticed to his advantage scoring 12 goals an 17 assists as he served as one of the few bright spots on a pathetic Stars team. 

"It's great to have this time right now to get used to each other and learn how each other play," Brad Marchand eventually added "Who knows if this is what they'll be during the season, but for right now, we're going to use this time to our advantage and really get to know each other."

"He's a great player, he's shown that in the past and you can see that just by watching him out there on the ice so it will be a lot of fun playing with him…I'm sure he'll complement us very well." 

Stats are not tracked in training camp but according to the accounts of Bruin writer: Caryn Switaj it seemed that at least judging by levels of chemistry, Bergeron, Marchand, and Eriksson won out as the best line overall. 

You hope that [the chemistry] is there immediately, but obviously it's something that no matter who you play with, it's something you have to work at," Milan Lucic who skated with newcomer Iginla said. "I think all three of us are determined to make it work and find that chemistry. As you know, its a guy I've looked up to as a teenager and the way that he plays. It's pretty cool to be sitting here talking about him being my linemate," 

But as cool as it is, with Iginla essentially replacing Nathan Honton, the kind of play that Lucic had become accustomed to from the right side of the ice will not be there in 2013-2014. Iginla is a guy who historically wants the puck alot more than Horton did. Iginla has often been known to score 30+ goals in a season while Horton is more often than not a 20 goal guy. In addition to that Iginla likes to lead and use his speed and agility to get around guys rather than run through them. This is both good and bad for the Bruins. It means that he takes a few fewer penalties than Horton did but by default that means that without hitting as much, this limits the number of odd man rushes played by this Lucic/Krejci/Iginla line by not taking as many guys out of specific plays. 

Before long, hockey will be back, the blood will return to the ice and the fists will still fly out of the Bruin's gloves. The goals will still flood forth of the sticks of men dinning black and gold jerseys and all will be right in Beantown. The Bruins will still contend for the Stanley Cup and while some members of this Bruins team have come and gone, the core that has revived the culture of winning on Boston ice the will STILL be there.