Bruins roster taking shape ahead of season opener

October 7th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

In the past week or so, the Boston hockey universe has been abuzz with talk of trades, demotions and contested promotions. 

On Friday, Johnny Boychuk was traded to the Islanders. Just a few hours after the Boychuk trade was finalized, the remaining Bruins took the ice in Detroit as they provided their final auditions for parts on this year’s starting roster. Guys like Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak were tested hard and often in the game that culminated in a shootout in which the two were Boston’s only shooters.

Members of the Providence blue line made their case to be picked to fill the role of Dennis Sidenberg’s defensive pairing left by Boychuk while many other players who had since been cut watched from afar.

By Tuesday night, just under 24 hours before the regular season kicked off, the roster had begun to take shape.

Perhaps the most talked about young prospect in this year’s preseason, David Pastrnak, was informed of his destination for the 2014 season Tuesday afternoon. In short, he has none; at least not now.

“We’ll have a little more time to watch and assess him,” Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli said.

Pastrnak missed much of the preseason with a shoulder injury making the Bruins indecisiveness understandable.

“We'd like to see him down there and play some games. It’s a good opportunity to have him on our soil and close by to watch him,” Chiarelli said. “In two or three weeks we’ll look at it and make a decision as to what the next step is.”

Thanks to a team friendly rookie contract, the Bruins have the freedom to have Pastrnak play in the AHL, send him back to the Swedish Elite League where he spent last season or call him up to Boston. Furthermore they could foreseeably toss Pastrnak into an awkward back and forth transit between Providence and Boston. Basically they have very little that they need to commit to in regards to Pastrnak.

Beyond him however, the Bruins shook things up in much more unexpected way Tuesday when they announced that 33 year old Bobby Robins had earned himself a roster spot.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Robins said. “It definitely proves that sticking to the game plan and the program of just working hard every day, and getting a little bit better every day and over the course of a long time -- nine years actually -- so over the course of that long time you can improve and get better and accomplish your dream.”

Robins’ is a long story. 9 years in the AHL have spawned 81 fights and a painful list of concussions and upper body injuries for him. His massive 220 pound frame is a mix of the hard skating power of Milan Luchic and the fists-flying ferocity of Shawn Thornton. The latter of those two established NHL’ers just so happens to, by no instance of coincidence, be the sole reason Robins made the cut this year.

In the wake of Thornton’s signing with Florida, the Bruins needed an enforcer. 9 years in the violent street fight league that the AHL can sometimes periodically become have made it so that Robins can be that.

“In Providence he was a great forechecker. As Claude said, he finished all his checks, he’s a hard player,” Chiarelli said. “Right through this camp he’s shown that he’s belonged, and it’s a great story.”

Robins does not deny that his place on this roster was not earned through skill but rather through physical power. He literally fought his way to where he is now.

“When you’re playing that style of hockey, fights are going to happen,” Robins said. “I’m going to be playing that style. I’m looking to hit guys and get on the forecheck. Then when somebody challenges you, that’s when you fight. All the stage fights are getting weeded out of the game, but when you’re playing with passion and fury, fights are going to happen and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Between the decision to not do anything drastic with Pastrnak and the impressive leap of faith to bump Robins up to Boston, the Bruins were praised by fans. Though they had not yet erased the confused pain solicited by the loss of Boychuk, the front office proved that they were doing what was best for the team.

But not everything was so fun in Boston Tuesday.

Former Edmonton Oiler, Simon Gange lost his battle with Ryan Spooner for the title of 3^rd line right winger. Also, highly touted goaltending prospect Malcom Subban lost a close race with Niklas Svedberg for the backup goalie spot late last week. He will start 2014 in Providence.

Lastly, the Bruins were dished a major blow when it was deemed that 2^nd line center, David Krejci would be unable to make Wednesday’s start.

Krejci missed Tuesday’s practice following an injury suffered when he collided with the boards in last weekend’s preseason finale. He was placed on IR Tuesday afternoon meaning that he would have to sit out at least 7 calendar days following the injury.

After the missed practice, Krejci was non-descript in regards to the actual injury and how it was suffered.

 “I don’t really want to talk about exactly what happened. It didn’t feel good enough to finish the game, so I was just being cautious,” Krejci said. “Obviously, I wasn’t on the ice today. It didn’t heal as fast as I would like to, so I would say it’s kind of day-to-day. We’ll see when I wake up tomorrow and how it feels tomorrow.”

His veteran presence on the back half of the Bruins 1-2 offensive punch will be sorely missed verses Philadelphia. However at the same time, if the injury is to his upper body, starting a game like this, against a team as physical at the Flyers could be greatly detrimental to his long-term health.

After an offseason of roster turnover, there are many questions being asked of the Bruins ahead of their opener. Those questions cannot be answered with words, rather, they must be and they will be answered by actions in Wednesday’s game. 

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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. 

--

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. 

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