CHARA HAPPY WITH OUTCOME

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA
On being up 2-1 in the series…
Yeah, I mean it’s 2-1, and we’ve just got to get ready for the next game.

On what he thinks they did well tonight…
We were playing with a lot of energy and I thought we were managing the puck better.

On what happened in warmups…
Just lost an edge.

On Daniel Paille’s play…
He made a nice shot. It was a quick release. It was a good shot by him.

On not enjoying this win for too long before they begin thinking about Game 4…
Well you’ve got to get ready for the next one. Like I said, it’s 2-1.

On how important puck possession was…
It was important for us to manage the puck better. I thought we did. We’ve just got to continue to do that.

On whether they had the start they wanted…
Yeah, I mean we played in front of the home crowd, so for sure we want to play with a lot of energy.

On whether he can hear the crowd…
I think we can hear it, but obviously our focus is on what’s going on, on the ice.

On Tuukka Rask’s performance…
Very strong. He made some big saves especially when we needed it, so for sure a big performance by him.

On Dennis Seidenberg receiving the Ranger jacket…
He very much deserves the credit. He logs a lot of minutes. He plays a physical game. He’s willing to play whatever role we ask him to do, and for sure he’s a warrior.

On how much they relied on shutting down the Blackhawks’ power play to be successful…
We just tried to work very hard. We take a lot of pride in that so we’ve just got to continue to do that.

On what happened with himself and Brian Bickell at the end of the game…
Just a battle in front of the net. [It’s] part of the game.

On the team’s defense…
Yeah we work really hard defensively. We want to play a tight game and just work really hard.

On whether he felt like they were able to get the matchups they wanted…
It’s a little bit easier when there is a whistle to get maybe certain people against different people, but sometimes it’s not always a perfect scenario so we need to play.

On the challenge of shutting down Toews…
It’s a challenge. They are good players.

BERGERON NAMED GAME 3 #1 STAR

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD PATRICE BERGERON
On the team’s effort tonight…
I think it was a good effort. Obviously they’re a great team, they’re relentless. They’re first on pucks, so we need to make sure we’re really hard and finding ways to get it. I thought it was a solid effort.

On winning faceoffs…
Definitely something that we take a lot of pride in and we talk about a lot. We have some really good centermens, so it’s not just about the four centers, it’s about everyone on the ice chipping in and helping to get those battles.

On the pass from Jaromir Jagr on his goal…
It was a great pass. I was expecting the puck to come. It was a perfect play. I had to kind of settle it down a bit because it was a hard pass, it was a great pass. I just had to put it in. Thankfully, I did that.

On Zdeno Chara getting nicked up in warmups and still playing well…
Yeah, it tells a lot about him. It just shows the type of person he is, the type of leader he is, the character that he has. Obviously we’re happy to have him and just feed off of his intensity and his will.

On team’s start…
Yeah, especially against a team like Chicago, obviously you’ve got to go hard every shift, you can’t take a shift off. Our start was something that we talked about and carried that on into the second and third period, as well. I thought we did a decent job. Obviously it wasn’t perfect by any means, but at this point of the year you’ve got to take the wins and move on and focus in on Game Four, the next game.

On the power play goal being a spark…
Well, we had 11 seconds on the five-on-three, so we had to make something happen quick and we talked about the play and it worked.

On the team’s confidence, especially in the defensive system…
We’ve said it a lot, it’s about, I guess, trusting the system and making sure we have layers and we communicate on the ice. I think we definitely got to do that even more against them. They have so much talent and great transition. There’s some room to get better, but obviously we’ve got to feed off that system and do it to the ‘tee’.

On when he knew Marian Hossa was not playing…
Just before going on for the first period.

On the difference of playing at home…
It’s definitely great, you feed off the fans. Can’t try to do too much out there, you’ve got to keep playing the same way, keep on the system. They were great again tonight. Game Four we’re expecting the same thing, keep feeding off the crowd.

On a lot of teams taking Dennis Seidenberg as their number one D-man…
For sure. You don’t hear about him that much, but all the little things he does out there goes a long way, especially at this time of the year. We recognize it in this room and I’m sure that’s all that matters to him.

STATS FROM THE FIRST PERIOD…….

FACEOFFS…

PATRICK SHARP 3-FOR-3 AND PATRICE BERGERON 10-OF-11 ARE KILING IT RIGHT NOW

Boston is leading 17-5 overall….David Krejci is 3 of 4

TOI…

Andrew Ference leads both teams with 8:32 and 13 shifts… Zdeno Chara an uncharacteristically slow period with 6:58…Ference, Dennis Seidenberg  and Johnny Boychuk all played more minutes than Chara who took stitches to the back of the head with a collision with Milan Lucic..

Boston leads 12-9

MEDIA DAY IN CHICAGO

Boston and Chicago to clash in Game 1 on Wednesday.

By: Mark Harriman, Senior Editor

CHICAGO- It was a festive affair on the concourse at the Untied Center as the Boston Bruins took the stage for the annual Stanley Cup Final Media Day this afternoon. Old hat for some. A totally new experience for others (your BSD reporters included in both categories).

And one that about 560 NHL players would give their eye teeth for right now. That is unless that sacrifice was previously made courtesy of a fist, a stick, a puck or what have you over the years. But you get the idea.

Bruins players meandered out in measured waves to their designated spots–though with tight direction from Bruin and NHL media staffs- wearing their light-weight gray Reebok hoodies, with “Bruins Hockey” and the spoked B emblazoned on the front and their numbers perched up on their left shoulders.

There was definitely a stratification to the whole affair, with the more experienced players (Zdeno Chara , Shawn Thornton, Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ference, Brad Marchand, Dennis Seidenberg, Tuukka Rask) all drawing their own skirted tables and microphone.

Then there were shared table for the muckers (Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid) and high top pub tables for the rest (Kaspars Daugavins, Matt Bartkowski, Jay Pandolfo).

About 300 media types spent the afternoon peppering the players and front office (Cam Neely, Peter Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien) with questions ranging from in-depth hockey strategy, to game prep to the best (and worst) playoff beards.

At one point, an obviously bored Anton Khudobin grabbed the NESN microphone from Naoko Funayama and jumped around from table to table interviewing his teammates on the subject of the aforementioned playoff facial hair.

When called out by a reporter for his own opinions on the subject, he held back nothing, in his thick Russian accent.

“In my opinion, I think Zee (Zdeno Chara) has a pretty good one. Lot of guys have thick, good ones…..what comes in my head first, I think, is Zee,” the backup goalie disclosed.

But he was quick to take himself out of the running for the Best-In-Class award, not through lack of playoff preparation but more through his genes.

“I just never had big, thick beard, so my one is just a little mess,” he admitted.

As for the winner of the Worst-In-Show category, he was quick to throw rookie defenseman Torey Krug under the bus.

“Torey has a pretty funny one,” he said while trying to keep a straight face. “Marchy (Brad Marchand) has a little more hair than Krugs has. Tuukka (Rask) doesn’t have much. Other than that everybody has a little bit (of hair growing on the chin).”

As for the concept of post-season facial hair, he wasn’t exactly sure of the origins, but he was relying on the superstitious ramifications of NOT growing one.

It isn’t really a big bonding thing in his eyes.

“It’s kind of like a big sign for (the fans). If you see a bearded guy, he might play hockey or whatever or something like that. So beard’s beard. We’re just stuck with these rules.

“I don’t mind to do that. It’s kind of fun, though.”

For Khudobin, this is his third entry into the Hirsuit Club for Playoff Hockey Players and while he may have achieved failing scores on the male version of the Ferriman-Gallwey Scale, if it means another Stanley Cup ring on his hand, he’ll give it a heck of a try.

BOSTON BRUINS MEDIA DAY PHOTOS

Pictures by KEVIN HARRIMAN 

SEIDENBERG FOLLOWING CLINCHER

Gregory Campbell struggles with a broken leg during penalty kill

 

 

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN DENNIS SEIDENBERG
On his feelings after tonight’s win…
It’s a great feeling especially how it went throughout the regular season; it was all up and down. But we came through again in the playoffs, but our jobs not done. We still have one series to go and hopefully we’ll be going just as much.

On if he is surprised with the outcome of the series…
I didn’t really have any expectations. I mean we knew we had to play our best hockey in order to win against those guys. But it went four straight I guess it’s a little bit surprising, but that just shows how hard those guys worked and how well we played defensively and scored when we had to.

On Adam McQuaid’s game winning goal…
I guess that’s what the playoffs are all about, different guys stepping up at different times. Tonight it was Quaider [Adam McQuaid]; it was an unbelievable shot from the blue line. It’s nice to see a shot going in from him, especially with the way he works and how hard he works and how he sacrifices his body every game.

On the team being happy for McQuaid after his injuries and setbacks in the past…
Yeah again we are really happy for him that he scored such a big goal. It’s so rewarding for him because he went through such a tough – like all that sickness or virus I don’t know what it is, but for him to come back like that and play solid hockey and score that goal it’s big.

On Tuukka Rask’s play the past two games…
Well he saved us again, I mean especially at the end it seemed like there were 10 guys out there for our shift. They were throwing pucks everywhere and he seemed to just find the lane and find the puck and get his glove or a body part on it. I mean Zee [Zdeno Chara] I think, at the end I thought the puck was in, and Zee stretches his arm and somehow it hits his arm. We did have a little bit of luck but again we played a good team defense and having Tuukka [Rask] back there definitely helps.

On if this feeling is reminiscent of beating Tampa two years ago…
To be honest there’s not too many memories. I mean it’s such a crazy time, there are so many emotions going on, but this feels good. But again, it’s not over yet and we still have another series to win.

 

SEIDENBERG CAN RELATE TO PENS SITUATION

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN DENNIS SEIDENBERG

On whether he can relate to the position the Penguins are in…
We’ve been in the same position a couple of years ago. We were down 2-0 and we came back, so we know what can happen, so we know not to get too high either… so we’ll see tomorrow.

On how important it was to get Andrew Ference back for this round…
Very big. He’s a very solid defenseman. He keeps it simple. He calms everybody down and makes smart plays, so to get him back is a big help.

On whether they knew what their defensive pairings would be before the game…
We didn’t know either the whole week of practice. I mean, we’ve heard the talk about who’s going to play with who, but we didn’t really know who we were going to go with, and we practiced with different partners too, and we didn’t know until the day of the game… and it doesn’t matter with us. We’ve been rotating pairs the whole season, so it doesn’t really matter with us.

On whether having depth helps keep them ready for the games…
It definitely helps. If you have everybody going you can do that, so not having to play too many minutes keeps you fresh and ready for the following games.

BRUINS BACK LINE KEYS SERIES WIN OVER RANGERS

Bruins rookie Torey Krug

 

BY KEVIN HARRIMAN

BOSTON SPORTS DESK PUBLISHER

BOSTON – In this crazy, shortened NHL season, just when you think you have a handle on things, something happens to  turn things in a different direction.

After Boston resurrected its season in Game-7 with Toronto, the Bruins  came into their series with the New York Rangers down three veteran defensemen.  Gone were Andrew Ference, Wade Redden and most importantly, Dennis Seidenberg.

Who could have predicted that Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien would roll out Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton and not miss a beat.

The trio, especially Krug and Bartkowski, have made coaches and players around the NHL take notice of the impact that they had in Boston taking their semi-final series 4-1 from New York.

Count Ranger’s Head Coach John Tortarella of those impressed.

“Yeah, they played real well reflected Tortarella, ” It’s funny how it works, huh? You get worried about this, that, and the other thing, and especially the kid there, [Torey] Krug, they got a lot of offense from their back end. That was another difference in our series, getting offense from the back end, and he led the way. It’s funny how it works, as guys come into lineups.”

Krug, along with Johnny Boychuk, are tied for the playoff lead in goals scored by defensemen with 4 goals each. Without Krug, I’m guessing that the Bruins-Rangers series is still going on. Krug is also the first rookie defensemen to have 4 goals in his first 5 games.

Listening to Krug talk, its’ hard to think of him as a rookie. He’s as poised off the ice as he is on it.

Krug talked about his confidence level following his teams’ 3-1 win in the series clincher. “It’s pretty high,” reflected Krug.

“It’s a good feeling out there, and the more the coaching staff puts me out on the ice, the better I feel. It’s a great feeling when your teammates are coming up to you, patting you on the back, and all the credit in the world to everyone.”

Krug made the most of his playing time.. Julien rolled him out for 19 shifts and 15:40 in  TOI. He finished with a goal on only 3 shots. That goal came on the power play and turned momentum around in Boston’s favor.

The Bruins rookie blue-liner summed up the importance of his goal.

“Yeah, I think obviously that was the turning point for us. Getting the shots through, trying to cause havoc in the crease,” said Krug, ” I think that was a point of emphasis coach made between the first and second [periods]. I think that power play was the turning point for the game.”

Bartkowski had a great series himself logging heavy minutes throughout this series. In tonight’s game, the rookie and Pittsburgh native took 27 shifts  the B’s. Julien has used Bartkowski liberally.

He had just one shot on goal, but his importance to the Bruins came in the corners and in front of Tuukka Rask. Bartkowski  added four hits to his stat line. His lone mistake came when he got turned around and the Ranger’s Ryan Callahan went in alone on Rask.

Bartkowski was philosophical looking back on the play. “The first thing, me and Johnny [Boychuk]—I probably should have backed off the line there, and gone to the middle. And then I was like, ‘oh crap, come on, this isn’t actually going to happen.’ Then Tuukka [Rask], like he always does, comes up huge for us. That was big.” Bartkowski was asked if he may owe Rask a steak dinner for that miscue.  ”I owe him probably more than that; probably a weeks worth. That would have been a back-breaker if that went in.”

The way the Bruins are playing now, their mistakes are covered up  by veterans as well as the rookies.

So, as I said earlier, just when you think you have things figured out, somethings happens to turn it around on you. Pittsburgh is a tremendously talented team. They will be favored against the Bruins.

So my pick in the Eastern Conference Finals…..Bruins in six……

 

 

 

SEIDENBERG A WARM-UP DECISION

 

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN PREGAME 

On if there will be any lineup changes today…
Probably see after warmup. [Dennis] Seidenberg is going to dress for warmup and we’ll make that decision after that.

 

On the recall of Niklas Svedberg…
I think it’s pretty obvious, in the playoffs if you want to give your starting goaltender a bit of a break along the way, whether it’s morning skates or optionals, at least it gives you a couple goaltenders to work with in practice. He’s always here in case anything would ever happen, as well. He’s here, he’s had a great year, and he deserves to be here with us. Certainly he’s going to help us along the way here give Tuukka [Rask] some rest when needed.

 

HOCKEY GODS MAY BE LOOKING DOWN ON BRUINS; KRUG CONFIDENT ON ICE

pl

 

BY KEVIN HARRIMAN

BOSTON SPORTS DESK PUBLISHER

BOSTON – Call it lucky if you will. You might even call it the hockey gods evening out score.

But, however you look at it, the Boston Bruins are headed to Madison Square Garden with a 2-0 series lead in their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series with the New York Rangers despite major questions coming into the series.

Here is what the Bruins were  facing prior to Game 1 of this series:

1) Defensemen Andrew Ference, Wade Redden and Dennis Seidenberg all come up lame and can not play in the  first two games of the Rangers series.

2) Jaromir Jagr,   acquired at the trade deadline ( and who may cost you a first-round draft pick) gave you nothing in the Toronto series and looks like he has lost six steps.

3) Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundquist was proclaimed the best goalie on the planet by the majority of the experts critiquing the series.

4) Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic did very little offensively in Round 1…

And here is what the Bruins have received from the Hockey Gods in the first two games at TD Garden…

1) Rookie defencemen Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton step in for Ference, Redden and Seidenberg and perform better than anyone could have expected. Krug plays a vital role offensively scoring a goal in each game.

2) Bartkowski , who was originally traded to Calgary for Jerome Iginla at the trade deadline and then not traded to Calgary when Iginla veto’d the deal so he could go to Pittsburgh, may have been Boston’s best trade deadline deal. Jagr, who was acquired at the deadline, has been a bust for Boston. Jagr scored a goal in his first game  in Boston when the puck bounced off his skate. Now he  couldn’t find the net with a road map. Thank the Hockey Gods for Bartkowski who has shown he belongs in the Boston line-up. Bartkowski has been steady and has earned quality minutes on ice from Claude Julien.

3) Lundqvist has been a disaster in net for the Rangers. The proclaimed best goaltender on the  planet looks like his mind is  on another planet. In Game 1, Lundqvist gave up two soft goals in a 4-3 loss. In Game 2, Lundquist gives up a season-high 5 goals. Tuukka Rask on the other hand has been steady in both games, limiting second chance opportunities. Lunqdvist is clearly not playing at his best. But is it the Bruins finally attacking the net or Lundqvist being over-rated ?

4) Marchand and Lucic are back on their games. Marchand is back to scoring  goals and being a pest. Lucic is hitting people and scoring goals. It was Lucic who keyed the Game-7 comeback over the Leafs. He has carried that play into Games 1 and 2.

What appeared to be a sinking ship a week ago during the third period of Game-7 against the Leafs is  now a ship that is being guided by the Hockey Gods.

How else do you explain the results after 2 games in this series ?

 

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN  TOREY KRUG  
On what happened with the puck when it was hooking through his legs…
Yeah, that’s a skill that sometimes you work on it after practice. You don’t have to work on it too much. It’s just a couple extra reps here or there at the end, picking up pucks with your feet. So, it’s just something that I try to do, and I was lucky enough that it bounced my way.

On the other play at the blueline…
Yeah, it’s the same thing. All that comes with confidence and being calm. If you’re freaking out, out there because the pucks not exactly where it is, you’re going to get yourself in trouble.

On if during that play he should be freaking out given the situation…
Maybe I should. I don’t know, but for me if I do that I’m going to get myself in trouble, like I said. I was just trying to go out there, not fear anything, don’t be scared to make mistakes and I was fortunate enough to help the team again today.

On how much playing in Providence has helped him adapt since it is somewhat similar…
Yeah, it’s been unbelievable, for my development it’s been very key. There were times when I struggled down there defending bigger bodies, now I’m up here in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against Boyle, who’s a huge guy and it’s really helped me learn how to defend and offensively I’ve grown to make plays at faster speeds as well.

On if it forces him to be sharper…
Yeah, absolutely. The stakes are a lot higher. The desperation level is the same. So, it does force you to be sharper.

On how comfortable he seems to be with not allowing situations to get bigger and playing like it is just another game…
Yeah, well I’ve said it time and time again, I come into this locker room, very comfortable, calm. I get to watch some of the best professionals in the world prepare for games like this, as if it’s any other game. So, I have a lot of guys to lean on and they all give me confidence back. So, it’s unbelievable.

On if his confidence with the puck is something he has always had…
Yeah, well I’m a player. I’m 5’9’’, I’m not very big, I have to play with the puck to be an impact player. So, for me you’ve got to be confident with the puck. If I’m not making plays, I’m not going to be effective and guys are going to go out there and they’re just going to find a 6’2 guy that can do the same thing without the puck. So, you just got to be confident and play with the puck.