CARON TO BRUINS, BOURQUE TO PROVIDENCE

Bruins Recall Jordan Caron From Providence, Bourque Clears Waivers and Assigned to Providence

Boston, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today, March 8, that forward Chris Bourque has cleared waivers and has been assigned to Providence and that the team has recalled forward Jordan Caron from Providence.

In 44 games with Providence this year, Caron has appeared in 44 games, tallying 10-5=15 totals, while racking up 38 penalty minutes. His ten goals this season with the Providence Bruins is tied for third on the team.

Caron has appeared in 71 career NHL games registering 10 goals and 12 assists with a plus/minus rating of +3. In 2011-12, Caron skated in 17 games with the Boston, notching seven goals and eight assists and skated in two playoff games.

The 6’3″, 204-pound native of Saybec, Quebec was drafted in the first round (25th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins.

Caron is currently in year three of a three-year entry level contract.

Bourque has appeared in 18 NHL games for the Bruins this season registering one goal and three assists during that time. In 51 career NHL games, Bourque has tallied 2-6=8 with 18 penalty minutes.

Bourque will rejoin Providence, where he has played in 32 games earlier this year, racking up eight goals and 20 assists with a plus/minus rating of +2. In 2011-12, Bourque led the AHL in scoring with a career-high 93 points in 73 games.

The 5’8″, 174-pound native of Boxford, MA was drafted in the first second round (33rd overall) of the 2004 Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals. The Bruins acquired Bourque from the Capitals in exchange for forward Zach Hamill on May 26, 2012.

Bourque is currently in year one of a two-year contract with an NHL cap figure of $550,000.

BRUINS MAKE IT SIX STRAIGHT – MONTREAL NEXT

BY KEVIN HARRIMAN

BOSTON SPORTS DESK PUBLISHER

Coach Claude Julien made some interesting moves in his teams’ game against the Lightning, Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

His team also  made some interesting moves during the game in which Boston beat Tampa Bay, 3-2.

The first came prior to the game when Julien sent Shawn Thornton to the 9th floor to watch the game and inserted Jay Pandolfo to the active game roster.

Next came moving Chris Bourque to the fourth line and inserting Daniel Paille to skate the wing on the third line. Inserting Pandolfo into the lineup seemed relatively normal. Pandolfo can provide great penalty killing while also giving you quality time on the fourth line.

Julien was quick to point out his rational for the Paille move.

“Well, Danny is a good skater. He forechecks well, and he’s a former first-round pick, ” said  Julien. “He’s a pretty good hockey player, and he’s a guy that’s capable of moving up and playing in those kind of spots and tonight was one of those situations where you take a guy like Thorny out, you do lose some toughness, but we’ve got other guys that could still do the job, but what we were trying to do is get a balance there with Piesy [Daniel Paille] on the third line.

” It allowed me to play any one of those three lines against their top two, and they utilize those lines a lot, and when you’ve got back to back games you’ve got to make sure that you don’t overtax your players. That gave us three good lines, and I thought even the Campbell line did a pretty good job tonight as well, so it had a little bit more balance, and those are opportunities for us to get some of those players in our lineup and move players around. “

OK…B’s fans can live with that. But sitting Thornton and allowing Bourque to skate the fourth line is a head scratcher. Bourque has struggled for much of the season. Granted, getting some rest is not a bad thing for Thornton, but in my opinion, Boston rolls out four better lines if Thornton skates and Bourque sits.

The Bruins themselves made quite a few strange moves in the first two periods of this game. Boston was whistled for six-first period penalties, two of which went to Milan Lucic.

Boston has prided its self on the penalty kill. Not in this game. Six Boston penalties turned into 2 first period goals. Very uncharacteristic of this team.

“ When you look back at the first, we missed two open nets where we couldn’t push the puck in,” commented Julien.

” I told the guys we had 40 minutes left and it was important for us to try to stay out of the penalty box. Five-on-five we could get ourselves back in the game. As odd as it may have seemed, I don’t think there was any panic in our dressing room, there wasn’t any panic as far as we were concerned; coaches were pretty happy with what we saw. Like I said, we just had to try and stay out of the penalty box.”

I’m guessing that the press version of his talk with the team was cleaned up quite a bit from the language  used in the lockeroom. Six penalties in one period for a team that prides itself on .solid two-way hockey is poor at best.

But a win is a win. Bring on Montreal. !

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN

On the team playing well in front of Anton Khudobin…

It shouldn’t matter to us who is in net. We want to play the same game no matter what. As far as Anton [Khudobin] was concerned, I thought he was good for us tonight. A guy who hasn’t played much, at first maybe he was trying to feel his way through. But he got better and better as the game went on, so we were really happy with his performance. Our team is going to play the same way no matter who’s there, we have confidence in both of those guys.

On what he liked about the power play…

It moved a lot better, we made better decisions, we were shooting pucks. It was one of those nights where we were better. It has been better lately as well, on the road trip I think we had a pretty decent power play on the road trip. We hadn’t scored at home yet, so it’s nice to get a couple. It’s a work in progress, we just keep working with it, trying to make it better. Tonight got us a winner.

On there being no panic when down 2-0 is due to the team being able to come back from deficits all season…

Maybe, but it’s also about confidence in our team. Some times, you’re down 2-0, but you’re not playing well. As a coaching staff, you tell yourself we’re in trouble tonight if we don’t turn things around. But I really felt our guys had good jump, we were moving the puck well, we were doing a lot of good things, even thought we were down 2-0.

On if Brad Marchand’s start is a result of him doing something different this season…

Well, he’s got some good linemates and, at the same time, he’s got a quick release. He’s got a good shot and he utilizes it. He’s, I guess, ‘Johnny on the Spot’, if we can put it that way; when we need a big goal he seems to be able to find it. I think that’s his fourth game-winning goal, or something. He’s a clutch player and that’s the kind of player you like to have on your team.

On Tyler Seguin scoring…

I think both those guys got their one-timers going right. To me, it’s just another situation of our guys that haven’t scored much that are starting to come around. We’ve talked about that for a while now, about certain guys being able to give you a little more and with time it’s going to come. It’s nice to see those guys score and hopefully get more confidence in doing it more often.

On how much of a weapon the Tyler Seguin one-timer can be on the power play…

Well, that’s one of the reasons we put him there. He’s one of those guys on the half wall that’s got a good shot, and he’s capable of taking those one-timers. Also, he’s a good skater, capable of moving, which our half wall guys did better tonight, they were moving a lot more. Instead of being stagnant there was a little bit more motion out there and it certainly helped our power play. His one-timer and [Rich] Peverley’s is going to be important, we’ve been working a lot on that lately, as well.

On if the shortened season put more of an emphasis on having a solid 1-2 goaltending punch…

It does, it does. I think every team is going to tell you the same thing. When you get into the heavy schedule, you’re certainly going to need both of those guys playing well for you. There’s no doubt that in this situation, it’s more magnified just because of the fact that you’re playing every second night.

On how important it was to come back with a back-to-back situation…

I think it sets ourselves up for tomorrow now. We’ve got a pretty interesting game tomorrow that’s going to probably matter more than if we would have lost. It’s great to be in that position. Right now, to me, it was a real good character win tonight. For where we were after the first period and how it ended.

On how he viewed the game-winning play with Marchand trailing behind…

He was just setting himself up. That’s what good goal scorers do. They set themselves up, and they get the right gap, and he was in the right place at the right time.

On dealing with all of the penalties…

Well, I mean it was one of those games tonight where there was a lot of penalties called. It’s tough. I think it was mentally tough for everybody, but we had to stay composed, and then deal with it, and I think we killed almost, a third of the game was our penalty killers, so it’s one of those nights where you don’t want to over-utilize players, but we had to at times.

On why the team is so good at not letting the other team draw them into fights…

We’re just poised. That’s why I talk about character. It would have been easy for us with all of the different things happening with what you mentioned, some tough calls and everything else, to get away from our game. But the one thing I mentioned to our guys after the first period is that I didn’t want us to stop finishing our checks. I didn’t want us to get away from our game because this is what we are, and whether they’re good calls or they’re questionable calls, it didn’t matter. We just had to try and stay out of the box, and not get away from our game, and that’s what our guys are trying to do. So at one point you’ve got to trust that your game will get you where you want, and that’s what we’re doing right now.

On what he expects for tomorrow night’s game…

There’s going to be a really good game. There’s no doubt about it, they’re playing real well. You watch them, they’re moving the puck well, they’re scoring goals, offensively they’re good, the goaltender is playing well, so you’ve got a lot of the same things that are going for them right now that we do. So it’s going to be a real good game. Last time we had to come out in the third period and score a couple of quick ones to get the win over there, and they always play a pretty good game in our building as well, so I’m looking forward to it. I like those kind of games.

On whether Brad Marchand has the skill to be at the top of the NHL…

I don’t see that he can’t. Again, we’re a team that really likes and appreciates our two-way game, and for him to be able to score the way he has, he kills penalties as well, so it’s not like he’s just an offensive player. He’s pretty impressive, I think, and in my view, what he’s shown over the last couple years and improving his numbers every year, possibly.

JULIEN TALKS FOURTH LINE, HAMILTON AND POWER PLAY

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN PREGAME

On seeing the Rangers for the third time already this season…

I think we know each other pretty well by now, there’s no doubt about that. But this is a situation where early in the year, it can be very different from where teams are right now. Maybe in our case, we had a very familiar club, they didn’t. I think they’re probably getting a little bit more familiar with each other. They’re definitely going to be a better, harder team to play against.

On if this game will be another close, tough matchup that will test the team’s character…

Yes, I think you’re right. This is a team that when you play then – and there are certain teams in our conference that really test your character, as far as both teams are pretty big teams, both teams like to work along the walls, like the gritty game. It’s about competing hard, it certainly makes you a better team by the end of the night if you’re ready to take that challenge the proper way.

On if he thinks the team has any room to improve, despite the strong start…

I think, if anything, we’ve been pretty consistent. There’s no doubt that we’re going to get better. I think there’s still some guys that aren’t at the peak of their game, yet. That’s pretty indicative, too, of how hard we’re working to score goals. We’re a better goal scoring team than what we’ve shown so far. I think we’ve shown that we’re capable of creating the chances, but right now the finish isn’t there. There’s certainly room for improvement, but I like where we are at this stage of the season and how we’ve handled those type games, those types of situations. But, certainly, there’s a lot more in our hockey club than what we’ve shown so far.

On how he would evaluate the play of the fourth line so far this season…

They had a great start, after that it’s hard to evaluate because both Thorny [Shawn Thornton] missed some games, [Daniel] Paille’s missed some games, Soupy’s [Gregory Campbell] moved up. It’s hard for me to evaluate where they are at this moment, but certainly pleased with the start of their season. They obviously showed early on that they were back to what they were before. They scored some important goals for us, certainly gave us the energy they used to. It’s a matter now of seeing that they continue doing that throughout the whole season.

On if there is one game in particular that stands out in regards to the fourth line…

That’s a good question. I know that one game the fourth line scored two goals, I don’t remember, honestly, which one. Was it the Islanders? They played really well that game. That’s probably the game that would stand out to me.

On what he has thought of Dougie Hamilton’s play over the past few games…

I think Doug is going through what a first year player would go through. He was outstanding at the beginning, certainly not poor now. But to expect this guy to be outstanding the whole season is not being realistic. I know he set the bar pretty high with his early play, but he’s certainly not a poor player for us. The points may not be coming as much as they did at the beginning, but he’s still a pretty poised player. Whatever mistakes he makes, we’re working with him and showing him those kinds of things. He’s going through exactly what we expected him to go through: being a good player that’s learning along the way. But, we certainly can’t complain about the way he has handled himself. He is 19 years old and the amount of ice time that he’s getting and how well he’s playing is pretty impressive for us anyways.

On how coachable Dougie Hamilton is, and whether he picks up on things quickly…

He does, and he’s already caught onto coming in on his own, and we’ve got some computers out there that guys can look at their shifts, and he does that on his own. He wants to see things, and if he’s got some questions he’s not afraid to come and ask, and we’ve built that relationship with him that he feels comfortable coming to see us with some issues or questions or whatever it may be, so we’re really working with him as best we can because we see the potential in him.

On Chris Bourque’s performance in the power play…

Well, we’ve only seen him the one game. You guys are asking me to assess things that are just kind of new and stuff like that, so maybe after a while, if it stays that way, or if we see it changing, you’ve got a pretty clear answer that we’re either looking to do something about it or vice versa, so, as you know, there’s a lot to like about our game, but we still feel and we still know that our power play is still a work in progress, and we keep working on it, keep encouraging guys to have better execution, quicker puck movement, and it’s by practicing it and keep repeating it to them, that it’s going to happen. So sometimes we’re moving players around trying to find a different answer because something’s not happening in an area, and we try somebody else.

On Chris Bourque’s past college and AHL power-play performance…

Yeah, we obviously haven’t put him there blindly saying, ‘Let’s take a chance on this guy.’ We knew he’d played there. We saw him play there in Providence, and he feels pretty comfortable there. We always talk to players before we put them in situations and try and find out as much as we can in regards to his experience there, so, no doubt, he was a guy that we wanted to try there, so we’re going to keep working on that and see where it takes us.

On how he views switching Tyler Seguin and Nathan Horton…

Interchangeable, absolutely. There’s other guys, too. Like I said, I said it before even after they came out and did a great job in Montreal, I said, ‘Listen, this could be temporary. This could be for a while. It depends.’ And, again, there are some players there that are very interchangeable and gives us some different options.

On whether he feels the third line is putting too much pressure on themselves to perform…

They started with a new player again, and Chris [Bourque], as you know, has been feeling his way through, also. Kells [Chris Kelly] probably hasn’t had the start he had last year. He had a really good start last year where he scored a lot, and that’ll come. I think you look at how that line is getting more chances now, and Peverley’s getting some really good looks, and I think it’s just a matter of time before that line starts to produce, and that goes back to what I said earlier when I answered your question about, ‘Can we be better?’ – absolutely. There’s lines that will start producing a little bit more, and we’ll be a better team down the road, but there’s still some guys that aren’t at the peak of their game, and that can be said about every player on every team in the league, around the league. Not everybody’s going at 100 percent yet.

BOURQUE TO SIT TONIGHT, PAILLE SKATES THIRD LINE

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN PREGAME
On Buffalo coming in and playing a tougher game than in the past…
Yeah, I have no problem with anything. I think that’s their choice to build a team they want. As far as I’m concerned, speculations are speculations, until it happens that’s all they are. We’ve played our style of game forever and we don’t plan on changing that, so there’s nothing, as far as we’re concerned, that is something to be worried about.

On the rough style of play bringing out the best the Bruins have to offer…
Well, I’m going to say the same thing that I said earlier. Right now, everybody’s speculating, so we’ll just leave it at that.

On the hype going into games sometimes turning into nothing at all…
Well, that’s why I’m answering that way, I think they’re speculations. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, so you can waste a lot of time thinking about it and answering questions, but you deal with it when it happens – if it happens.

On if there will be any carry over from the Milan Lucic/Ryan Miller incident from last season…
I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them that question. You’re asking the wrong coach.

On if he wants to get Lane MacDermid some game action…
Yeah, he’s got to play a little bit. As you guys saw, Chris [Bourque] spent a little bit of extra time on the ice and he’s a player that we’re going to sit out tonight. I had a good talk with Chris this morning. I think he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself right now, certainly not the Chris that we know. I’ve seen him enough to know that he’s a really good skater, he’s a really good playmaker, but I think right now he’s putting way too much pressure on himself. Hopefully, we can help him through that and once he takes that extra weight off his shoulders you’re going to see a player that can certainly be a much more efficient player than he’s shown so far.

On if using Dougie Hamilton with different partners, so far, is a way to find out which defenseman he matches up best with…
No, not really. I think it’s just been – everybody’s going to play with everybody and I said that at the beginning of the year and we’re sticking with that. It depends, sometimes, on who we’re playing against and what kind of matchups you want. Sometimes he’s a better fit with Seidenberg, sometimes he’s better with Zdeno and you’ve seen him with Ference a few times. So, it’s really not a matter of seeing where he fits, he’s a good player, he can play anywhere. I think that’s certainly not an issue, it’s more about making D pairings for matchups against other teams, just like we try and sometimes match certain lines with other lines. It’s as simple as that.

On if Danny Paille will moved up to take Chris Bourque’s spot on the third line…
Yes.

On if Rich Peverley is playing a good two-way game…
Yeah, it has been good. He has been playing really well, he’s creating things, he’s got a lot of chances. Right now, the only thing it hasn’t shown is the points on the score sheet. When you talk about competitiveness, he’s been a lot better. From the first couple of games to these last games that we’ve played, he’s been very good, so we’ve got to hope that he keeps playing that way. I think the results are going to follow soon.

On having Chara and Seidenberg around to help Hamilton being a plus…
Well, it’s a big factor. We’ve all been through it if we’ve played the game, at one point we were young, at one point we were old. So, we got some good advice as younger players and we, hopefully, gave good advice as older players. He’s coming into this league and I think we have  some pretty good people who are in that dressing room every day. We know what kind of guys Zdeno and Dennis Seidenberg, the Ferences, and others are. We’ve got a good group of guys, they’re great. I think Zdeno said it best when he said he’s not a rookie, he’s just a new player in our locker room. We don’t necessarily look at those players as rookies and treat them like rookies, we believe in treating everybody fairly. By doing that, those young players respect the older players for doing that and they do what they have to do.

On Hamilton getting off on the right foot and developing the right way because of how the guys look at rookies…
There’s no doubt, that his surrounding is going to help him obviously develop even quicker than probably, normal and because he has that surrounding and I guess, that safety blanket, if you want when he’s on the ice, he can really rely on those guys to help him through it, at times cover up. So he’s certainly in good company.

On what he has seen from Chris Kelly in the first six games …
Well, probably like a lot of guys that haven’t played, I think he’s working hard, I think he’s been a decent player, but I think Chris Kelly’s like anything else, you look at Brad Marchand, I know he’s scored goals but how many times has he fanned on shots because again, the timing and everything is not necessarily always there. I think Chris Kelly is just another guy going through those adjustments and game by game he’s gonna get better because he works hard, he’s committed, and still makes some pretty reliable, what you saw the other night in Carolina, I don’t think he’s ever done that in his hockey career, so that was probably something very unfortunate for him.

On how important it is to have success in the next couple of games after winning the first six…
Well, it is, I understand the fact that it’s about your division, but at the same time I think when you look at this short schedule, every game is important. That’s what we talked about the other day, we beat Carolina in Carolina, you’re down one nothing after two periods and I said to the guys, these two points here have to be as important as they were last night. You have to look at it that way, not just division but also conference, the games mean so much right now, that every one has almost equal meaning.

On what he has seen from Buffalo…
They’re playing the same way they always have, they love to get their D’s involved in the attack, they’ve got good goaltending they’re a pretty solid team. And the one thing you don’t want to do is necessarily look at the standings and look at the records because every night is a different night, and when you’re in a quick training camp like every team has any team can come out and explode at any time. Right now we’re really focusing on ourselves, making sure that we continue to have consistency in our play and then play our game and hopefully that’s good enough to win the most hockey games.

On Chris Bourque being out on the Power Play and who takes his spot on that…
We’ve lots of guys, you’ll probably see that tonight. We’ve got Seidenberg that can go in there and then Peverley he is a guy that you can put on the back end, front end, there’s some guys that can step in there.

On giving the guys practice off yesterday and if it was a result of the physicality of Tuesday’s game or the schedule…
It’s about managing this schedule, we had played two and two, with travel and this is gonna be basically another two games in three nights and so I think it’s important that, like I said, you get out of your comfort zone as a coach and then make decisions based on what you think is right.

Bruins-Islanders: Coach Julien Talks Post-Game

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN 

On if the fourth line is the Bruins’ best line…

Tonight it has been. They played an extremely good game for us. I thought they allowed us to stay in the game for two periods, until we got ourselves going a little bit.

On how pleased he is with the start the team has had…

Obviously happy we haven’t lost in regulation yet. But, I don’t think we’re extremely happy with  our game tonight. For 40 minutes, I didn’t think we were on top of our game, we didn’t seem to be in sync, we didn’t seem to have the energy that we usually show. So, it was a struggle for us tonight, but the last 20 were a little bit better, we found a way to win. A lot of times, that’s what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to push through those kind of nights and we did. So, you take the two points and you move on.

What is it about Dougie Hamilton’s poise…

There’s a couple of things that’s happened to help him along the way here. He’s been playing since September with his junior team, he’s gone to the World Juniors, so he’s played in high-caliber tournaments. So, he’s got that experience and he’s come in here with a good jump, having played four months of hockey and right now he’s playing with a lot of confidence. The guys that he’s playing with have been extremely helpful with him on the ice. I think that’s why our [front office] guys drafted him, because they saw a lot of things we’re seeing right now. We liked his size, we liked the way he moved on the ice, but at the same time, we thought he had real good hockey sense. He sees the ice well, he finds the passing lanes and you saw on that goal, breakout out of our own end. You see the guy scoring, but it all starts from our end, and that was from his pass to [Brad] Marchand and to Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] for the breakaway. Those kind of things is what our scouts saw in him and those kind of things he’s demonstrating right now. You have to be pleased and impressed with a young player playing the way he has been.

On the role the fourth line plays in a game like this…

Well it is, and they’ve always taken pride in doing that for our team in the past. And again, tonight they’re the ones that were doing the right things. And both goals that they scored they had somebody in front of the net. So you know, Thorty [Shawn Thornton] on the first one, and Soupy [Gregory Campbell] on the second goal. So things that our others lines weren’t doing for two periods, and you know once we got ourselves going we were a lot better. They set the example I guess for the rest of the team for the third period.

On Chris Bourque’s performance…

Well I thought tonight was probably his best game. I thought he made some good plays, I thought he was skating better. And again, his confidence with our team is coming around and we’re seeing him getting better. And that’s why you have to be patient sometimes, and give those new players an opportunity to fit in and feel their way through. Like I said, we’ve seen him enough to know what he’s capable of doing and our confidence is certainly with him. So I thought he played well tonight – the best game of the season for us so far, so that’s a good sign.

On whether the third line as a whole isn’t “firing on full capacity”…

It’s hard to make that assessment because, you know, we’re in the fourth game of the season. And I watch some games on TV, and you know I could be a lot more disappointed in situations I’ve seen from other teams. But we’re hanging in there, and we know it’s just a matter of time for certain guys to turn it around. You know, I think we’ve got enough players here to score some goals that are going to make us a better team along the way – when you look at Tyler [Seguin], who’s got zero goals, we know he’s going to start scoring a lot more, so is Horts [Nathan Horton] and Peverley and those guys, they’ll get it going. Right now, you’ve just got to maybe show a little patience as far as the finishing touch is concerned, but as long as they work hard and are progressing you keep pushing them in the right direction.

On what he’s liked from the penalty kill…

Everything. I mean, like I said we took the decision of being a little more aggressive this year with that and we started that a little bit last year. You know, our guys are pretty confident right now and like anything else confidence plays a really big role. Right now we’ve got a group that’s proud to not have given up a goal yet and they’re going to try to make it last as long as the can.

Claude Julien Talks B’s Pregame

BOSTON BRUINS COMMUNICATIONS TRANSCRIPTS

BOSTON BRUINS VS NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Friday, January 25, 2013

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN PREGAME AT 11:15 A.M.

On how Chris Bourque and Dougie Hamilton have contributed so far…

Both have done a decent job. Obviously, Hamilton being such a young player, 19-years-old, has impressed us a lot with his play and seems to be getting better and better every game because of the experience and the confidence he’s getting. Chris Bourque is a great player, skilled guy and I think he’s been an important part of our power play, as far as giving us that left shot that we need right now. He’s been pretty decent there, I think he’s another guy that’s been feeling his way through our hockey club. The one thing that you want out of players that are coming in for the first time is that they don’t hurt your hockey club and both those guys haven’t.

On defensive skills taking longer for Dougie Hamilton to develop…

He’s got it in him to start with. I think our message was pretty clear to him from the get go, that we want him to play his game. We didn’t want him to hold back and be afraid because mistakes are part of the game. If we needed to make some adjustments, we’d rather make them after he gives what he’s got and not holding back. It’s about giving players confidence to go out there and do those kind of things, knowing that the coaches understand there’s mistakes in games and we’ll help correct those. He’s a player that can do a lot of things and we want him to do a lot of things.

On Seidenberg’s status…

He’ll be game-time. I can tell you I’m more optimistic than pessimistic, though. Again, game-time for the right reasons in that we want to make sure that he is ready to go.

On what he sees in the Islanders…

A lot of things. This is a young hockey team that has a lot of skill, obviously up front. Their back end also has some guys that can move the puck well, not only that, but can shoot the puck very well, also. They’ve had some pretty good goaltending since the beginning. We say that because there’s so much unknown right now, at the beginning of the season, with the different positions. I think they’ve done a good job, they seem to have their guys playing fairly well. Watching the game last night, they’re certainly capable of scoring goals.

On why the Bruins have had so much success against the Islanders over the years…

I would say more, probably our experience versus theirs was what helped us along the way. The other part, too, is I don’t think we ever disrespected that team because we obviously see the firepower and the skill level that they have. They have some great players, they’re going to be a great team moving forward and right now they’re a good team and I anticipate them being a great team down the road.

On if everything has gone as he expected for his team so far this season….

With our team, yes, and maybe more – as I’ve mentioned the last couple of day – positive surprises. We talked about Nathan Horton not playing for a whole year, we didn’t quite know what to expect from him early on, how long it would take. To me, he’s been a real pleasant surprise and so has Milan [Lucic]. We talk about big bodies and those big bodies sometimes take a little longer, but those guys have been great. David [Krejci], who’s played since the beginning of the year, hasn’t missed a stride and has been a good player for that line. They’ve been great surprises. Dougie Hamilton is opening a lot of people’s eyes, we knew what he could do, again, not knowing how he would adjust to this level or how quickly he would adjust, more so. His transition’s been pretty smooth, so far. And Tuukka’s Tuukka. A lot of pressure on him to replace the guy that left us, but he’s doing the job and so far, he’s been really good for us.

On Kelly and Peverely’s face-off success…

It helps a lot. I think especially during penalty kills in our own end. If it’s on the strong side, the guy takes it. But if he gets kicked out, you’re not worried about it necessarily being a winger taking that draw. Sometimes I end up putting two centers because of that reason. Those guys do a great job on face-offs, they read off each other well, and they’ve becoming pretty good linemates reading off each other as well.

On the Islanders being a team that benefits from a shortened season…

Well, I didn’t mention any teams because I think it’s politically correct to do that—if you want me to say it that way. There’s certain teams that we know are in more of a rebuilding mode than others. I’m not sure that the Islanders are in that situation because I’m not sure they’re in the rebuilding mode more than they’ve got their nucleus of players that are fairly young, and that you can see are getting better every year. They’ve done a great job with their roster. Again, I’m being honest here when I say our team respects the New York Islanders because we know what they have. They’ve got a great lineup and some good players that, if you don’t respect them, they’ll make you pay for it.

On Dougie skating with three different partners in the first three games…

It’s been more about circumstance. As you know, the other night with the Rangers lineup, they put all their eggs in a basket. We certainly wanted experience and certainly didn’t want to expose Dougie to that yet, although the way he played he probably could’ve handled it well. Our team—and I’ve said that from the beginning—our pairs aren’t necessarily set in stone. A lot of that from our backend is related to the other team’s lineup sometimes, and sometimes it’s related to certain players playing better with certain partners. [Dougie] has had that experience of playing with all three guys, and so far he’s passed the test.

On Marchand’s performance despite not playing during the lockout…

That’s the one thing I said about guys like Marchand. They’re smaller; they seem to be able to catch up a lot quicker. They don’t have as much body mass to carry around and stuff like that. Normally, smaller players will bounce back a little quicker. We weren’t as concerned about Brad as we were about our bigger bodies. That’s why I keep mentioning those other two guys, because they were, to me, the biggest challenge and they’ve answered that call. Brad is a guy who has always been in pretty good shape, and we know he’s a pretty dynamic in his own way. Right now, he seems like his preparation to games and his conditioning was good enough that he seems like he hasn’t missed a beat.

- Steve Falzone

CLAUDE JULIEN PRESS CONFERENCE: WINNIPEG

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN

On a 2-0 start being important in a shortened season…

Well, I mentioned that to the players just before the third period that those next 20 minutes were probably just as important as the last 20 we’ll play [on] this regular season schedule. We had to do whatever we could to come up with two points, and I think that kind of answers your question. We realized how important a good start and a quick start is for every hockey club. We need to continue to think that way.

On how much Tyler Seguin has improved defensively and how he sees plays develop…

I think that’s a little bit of a good instinct, he showed that even last game. We had a four-on-four and he cut off a pass just inside the blue line as well. I think those kind of things, in his situation, pay off because of the skill level. Once he turns the puck over and gets going on the offense, he becomes a dangerous player. That was a great pass, too, to Brad [Marchand] and Brad made the best of it.

On what’s most impressed him about Dougie Hamilton in the first two games…

He was put in a tougher position today than he was in his first game, with [Dennis] Seidenberg out and Aaron [Johnson] coming in and playing his first game. He had a bigger role to play, and I thought even in the second half, noticed that he was making better plays with the puck than he had so far. I think that’s confidence coming around and experience, and he’s starting to feel his way through these games, and that’s pretty impressive for a young player.

On Dennis Seidenberg’s health…

Day-to-day, lower body. I think you read that, didn’t you? But, yeah, there’s a good chance he’ll be on the ice tomorrow. We’re very, very hopeful that he’ll be in next game. This is a situation, early in the season you want to sacrifice one game so that it doesn’t become a two-week situation. We’re just getting going here, it’s such a condensed schedule that sometimes if you take those chances, you’ll make it worse than better. We took a precaution and we were willing to live without him today. Hopefully, that’s all it’s going to be.

On how impressed he was with the two penalty kills in overtime…

That’s what made the difference today. I thought our penalty kill has been good the first two games, five-on-three the last game against the Rangers, and then two four-on-threes today. Especially in overtime, it was a tough call. To have to kill that to finish the game, our guys did a great job. The two D’s that were out there, but also Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] and Kells [Chris Kelly] switching out front. They were breaking up a bunch of plays once they got over the blue line. Again, probably a good reason why we’re sitting here today with a win.

On Aaron Johnson’s play…

I think, with him what I noticed tonight was probably working on his gap. But, he’s an experience defenseman and probably, he wanted to play safe. I thought he did a good job. He’s been in the league for a while, he’s played a fair number of games in this league, so we have to rely on his experience and I think he filled in well today.

On the defensemen picking up where they left off last season…

Well, they did. I think our team as a whole has been pretty good at getting back to the basics. I thought today, maybe a little less than against the Rangers a couple of days ago. D-zone we got a little bit loose at times and we had to reel guys back in. But, our D has done a great job. Again, they try to give shots from the outside and that gives Tuukka [Rask] the best chance possible to see those pucks and make the saves. And Tuukka’s come up big for us as well. Defensively, I think we’re starting to play more through our identity and because of that we’re getting some offensive opportunities, as well.

On the chances the team generated, even though they didn’t score goals…

Yeah, that wasn’t an issue. I think, you look back, we hit four, maybe five posts. Really a little unlucky there in regards to that. When we look back, we were looking in between periods at our team and, positionally we were good, we were in the right places, pucks were coming to us. But, somehow pucks were, either going by us or bouncing. It was one of those games where I think we were a little snake-bitten on the offensive [end]. We weren’t able to capitalize on our chances.

On the David Krejci line…

Yeah I like their play. I think you know, we said it before the season started they were maybe a question mark because of the situation – one being out for a whole year and another not having played big bodies, and it can take a little bit longer to get yourself going. But that line has been really good. David’s [Krejci] done a great job in the middle, and those other two guys are using their speed their strength and they’re making things happen. I like their play. I think they’re very focused right now, and bringing something positive to the hockey club, and they’re making it happen.

On special teams…

Yeah like I said, that to me was the difference why we were able to win this game today with some big penalty kills when we needed them especially in overtime and late in that third period. So it was nice to see our special teams do well, and even the power play again hit a post so we’re still a little snake-bit looking for that break. And if we can get that break, and get a goal, [we] get that monkey off our back.

On defensive depth…

Well if there’s one area I would say that our depth is extremely good it’s on defense. You see those seven guys that are here, and then you put [Matt] Bartkowski, [David] Warsofsky, [Torey] Krug, just to name a few. There’s some guys down there that are doing extremely well and getting better and better as the season goes on. So I think that bodes well for our hockey club. And there’s a lot of guys we could bring up right now besides those seven from Providence and they could fit in just as well.

On the “Let’s Go Bruins” chant following the Patriots loss…

Well you know, our team has I think climbed up the ladder a lot in the last few years and we’ve regained a respect that we once had and we lost. And I think regaining it has been pretty important. And what you’ve got to do in order to get that is give the fans the type of hockey that they deserve to see. And you know, we’re a gritty team we like to think we’re a hardworking team, and you know our guys are pretty focused on making sure we give the fans what they want and give the city what they deserve. And that’s helped us a lot. And you know, we’re all big fans – yesterday afternoon I sat in front of that television all afternoon watching football, and I was a big fan like everybody else and just as disappointed. But you know, you turn around and say ‘okay now it’s our chance here to try and do something for this city.’ We’re fortunate to have some good sports teams here in Boston. No doubt the fans get spoiled, but they’re such good fans and they fill every building up that they deserve it.

On Chris Bourque…

Chris [Bourque] is a good player. My impression of him goes farther than those two games that he’s played. I look back at how he was in Providence and then what he’s done [in the past]. He’s a player capable of making a lot of good plays. I think he’s going to feel his way through our team right now, and he’s been good he made some good plays again today to create some three-on-twos. Production-wise, I think it’s just a matter of time and I had no hesitation using him in the shootout because he’s capable of scoring on those and we have a lot of confidence in him. You’ve got to give those young guys a chance to fit in. He’s young and he’s new to the organization, and what I’ve seen like I said in Providence it takes all of the doubts out of my mind whether he’s capable of being here or not.

On Dougie Hamilton’s five-game contract…

I think in my mind I’ve got him as a player and right now he’s a player. You know, when we get close to that five-game number I think if there’s any question marks I’ll certainly hear about it. But right now there’s been no talk from my end of it. I’m sure they do their job downstairs in this building here, but they do their job and they certainly talk about what the options are. But to me he’s on our team, he’s a player I’m relying on until they tell me that he’s not going to be here anymore.

BSD INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS BOURQUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1kWWdFeZjQ

CHRIS BOURQUE FOLLOWING BRUINS WIN OVER RANGERS

BRUINS FORWARD CHRIS BOURQUE

On how it felt to wear the Bruins jersey for the first time in the regular season…

Oh, it was great. You know, I think I’ve said a couple times this week, but it kind of felt a little bit surreal. Obviously it was a moment that I’ve been dreaming of as a little kid and to finally get that first game out of the way was really exciting for me.

On how he improved leading up to tonight…

Yeah, you know, this team prides itself on being defense first. If you want to play on this team you’ve got to focus on that, and I tried to really focus on the small details, chipping it out, chipping it in, and they’re playing really solid. I think everyone did that pretty well tonight, and that’s probably why we won.

On how different playing for the Bruins tonight was from what he experienced in Washington…

Yeah, I mean I haven’t seen the stats sheet, but that’s definitely the most I’ve ever played in a game, so getting in that rhythm and getting the good opportunity to play with different kinds of players and on a power play, I think it was, it was real exciting for me.

On how the crowd was tonight…

It was awesome. I’ve been here in the crowd to watch these games, but to play in front of this crowd was a special moment for me, and it’s got to be the best crowd in the league. They’re so loud and so passionate. I grew up being in that crowd, so to be out there playing in front of them was real exciting.

On what it was like to play against Kreider…

It was good. We’re from the same hometown so a little bit of battle there, but I’ve played against him in the summers and all that kind of thing, so it was kind of fun.

On if tonight was everything he wanted…

Yeah, I think those are the kinds of games that the Bruins want. All four lines played really solid. Tuukka [Rask] played great, as usual, and we got some offense from almost every line, so I think it was a great team effort tonight, and that’s a great way to start off the season.

On the open net opportunity he had on the ice…

I don’t want my first goal to be an empty-netter. I want the goalie to be in there, but one of the defensemen’s stick was right in the way, so I tried to get it over and it kind of sailed on me there. Obviously I got a little too excited, but I would like my first goal to have a goalie in the net, so that’s my excuse why.

On the chemistry with Peverley and Kelly…

Yeah, I mean I think we had a good week of practice, and we had a couple good shifts out there tonight. They’re just really easy players to play with. You know where they are at all times and good skaters and they’re really good with the puck, so it makes it really easy on me.

On whether he had any nerves before the game…

Surprisingly, I wasn’t too nervous. Obviously I was excited, but I tried to keep an even keel there and not get too over excited because that’s when you kind of go out there and make mistakes, so I tried to keep it loose and kind of play my game and just have fun with it, and it was good.

On if it felt like any other game…

Yeah, after a couple shifts it kind of toned it down a little bit, getting into the rhythm there. After the first couple shifts, started to get comfortable there, and I think it was solid.

On the friends and family that came to watch him play tonight…

Too many to count. I know my parents were obviously here. Wife, little baby, sister, friends, a couple of family members from Montreal, and I’m sure there was a lot of people out there in the crowd that I just grew up with. I didn’t get them tickets, but I probably knew a bunch of people there, so I got a lot of text messages today and obviously I appreciate the support from everyone.

On whether he felt comfortable during the game…

Yeah, I really did. I really tried to focus on making the simple plays and chipping it out and being good and solid defensively, and if you do that then everything else will kind of fall into place. I maybe focused on a little bit more tonight, and as the season goes on I’ll get more comfortable hopefully, and that’s when plays happen. You’ve got to think defense first, and then everything else falls into place.

On missing the empty net shot tonight…

Yeah, I know. I need a goalie in there. There was a guy’s stick there I tried to get over and it just kind of sailed on me, so next time.

On the atmosphere of tonight’s game…

Yeah, it was a really good atmosphere out there, and both teams looked pretty crisp out there and making plays right off the bat. It didn’t seem sloppy to me watching from the bench and being out there, we mostly pass around the tape. Guys were in the right spots, so that’s a good sign for us that everyone’s kind of already going and nobody’s got to really knock the refs off, so everyone looked pretty good I thought.

On what the Thornton and Campbell fights did for the morale…

That’s huge. They really stepped up tonight and put it on the line for this team, so they really got the boys going and I think we responded after that. We had about five shifts had them hemmed in their own zone. We really built off that.

On how he feels about his journey since being drafted…

Everyone has their own different road to wherever they end up, and I’m not going to say it’s been a long road, but I’ve logged a lot of different miles. I’ve played in the American league. I’ve played overseas. Now here I am in Boston with a pretty good opportunity, so I’m going to keep going as hard as I can and hopefully just run with this opportunity. I think tonight was a step in the right direction where I think I played pretty solidly in all three zones, and the more games I get the more confident I’ll feel out there, so I’m pretty happy with the start. Obviously getting the win tonight is huge for us. That’s the exact way you want to start this season.

On what advice he gives to his brother about making it to the NHL…

He’s got all the goods to play up here. Honestly, it’s just a matter of getting the opportunity and cashing in on it. He’s going to get his opportunities. He’s a really good player, and the rest will be up to him.

BRUINS ADD TO THEIR ROSTER

BOSTON RECALL  SIX FROM PROVIDENCE

Bruins Recall Six P-Bruins as Training Camp Begins in Boston

Providence, RI – The Providence Bruins, in their 21^st season in the American Hockey League, announced today that the Boston Bruins have recalled forwards Ryan Spooner and Jamie Tardif and defensemen Matt Bartkowski and David Warsofsky. Forwards Chris Bourque and Lane MacDermid will also participate in Boston’s camp as their AHL standard playing contracts have expired.

Boston will began a six-day training camp on Sunday, January 13 with an on-ice session at the TD Garden beginning at 1 p.m. Training camp will run through Friday, January 18 and the Bruins will open the 2012-13 regular season schedule with a two-game homestand, first facing off on Opening Night against the 2012 Eastern Conference runner-up New York Rangers at the TD Garden on Saturday, January 19 at 7 p.m. Opening Night will be followed by a matinee against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, January 21 at 1 p.m.

The Providence Bruins will return to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Sunday, January 13 versus the Manchester Monarchs. The puck drops at 3:05 p.m. for Chip Clip Day with the first 2,000 fans receiving a free chip clip courtesy of Walgreens.