Related
Whether they just didn’t want to give the St. Louis Blues any credit for possibly getting a rise out of them, the Bruins on Friday to a man pretty much downplayed the arrival of the defending Stanley Cup champions on Causeway Street for a Cup final rematch at TD Garden on Saturday.
“It’s just another game. It doesn’t change anything that’s happened in the past, we’re not going to get any retribution by winning the game tomorrow,” forward Brad Marchand said. “At the end of the day, it’s two points. I’m sure the fans are excited. I think it will mean more to them than us, but again it’s two points, so that’s what we’ve got to worry about.”
Said defenseman Torey Krug: “I think it’s just another game to be honest. I didn’t even know they were on the schedule until after we played Toronto on Tuesday. So I guess that speaks for itself, I guess.”
We won’t know until the Bruins take the ice if they were telling the truth after Friday’s practice. The sight of the Blues could make the Bruins see red and we might have donnybrook. Probably not.
Even in the seven years since the Bruins and Vancouver Canucks had their 2011 Cup final rematch in January 2012, the NHL has become tamer and meeker. The odds of Matt Grzelcyk dropping his gloves to get revenge on Oskar Sundqvist were slimmer back then than in the ‘70s or ‘80s and are miniscule now compared to 2012.
The Bruins and Canucks combined for 107 penalty minutes that afternoon at the Garden, with players like Dale Weise, Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic, Alexandre Burrows, Maxim Lapierre and Shawn Thornton looking for the pound of flesh. Who will ever forget four Canucks players trying to pummel Thornton?
This is a kinder, gentler NHL, and the bad blood probably doesn’t run as deep as it did with Boston and Vancouver.
“I think more or less maybe some of the matchup rivalries that we had, whether it was guys you were on the ice against almost every shift … guys you have a little more distaste for. But again, once we’re on the ice we’re just trying to win a hockey game,” Krug said in response to maybe the sight of the Blues bringing out the hate.
Coach Bruce Cassidy wouldn’t really want his players to approach this game any other way. Who needs a team that’s too fired up trying to earn a late-October win against a non-conference opponent? Costly penalties and injuries could ensue if the Bruins get away from their game to send some sort of message that they would’ve won a best-of-nine series.
That’s why Cassidy’s preparing his team for the Blues the same way he did for Toronto on Tuesday and will for the New York Rangers on Sunday.
“Well we’re going to prepare for St. Louis, who we know a little bit better because we just had a series with them, so nothing should surprise us. Every team makes some adjustments, so we’re watching a bit of what they’re doing right now. Doesn’t look a whole lot different, why would it be, right?” Cassidy said. “But in terms of preparation, motivation … that ship sailed. We’re out to get two points and I think our guys will be ready to go simply because we’ve been playing good hockey.”
Mic miscues
Bruins players are often asked to wear microphones during the game, whether for the team’s Behind the B documentary series or for nationally televised broadcasts. In the NHL, teams and players get editorial control over what makes it over the air so there won’t be a Sam Darnold situation.
A couple of the chattier Bruins players were sympathetic to what happened to the New York Jets quarterback during the Monday Night Football loss to the Patriots.
“I can’t believe they aired that. I don’t know if he even knew what was going on, so I actually kind of felt bad for him as a player,” Jake DeBrusk said. “If I was to say something like that and it gets out and you don’t even know about it, but then after the game he’s probably been asked about it 100 times, and it blows up.
“I mean it’s a funny quote in a way. And I think he’s a good quarterback. That’s probably the least luck or the worst game he will ever play. But in saying that I just kind of felt bad for him for the fact that it got out. The only reason I knew is because I went on Twitter and then I look and there’s like 15 straight memes of Sam Darnold, I’m like ‘what just happened?’
“I guess he’ll never probably do that again, No. 1, or he’ll be very self-conscious, even if he is seeing ghosts.”
As recently as the Bruins’ last game Sean Kuraly was wearing a mic, and he knows that without being able to edit what he says during a game, there’d be some things he’d be embarrassed to have the rest of us hear.
“You could make fun of me somehow I’m sure. I couldn’t think of it, but if I listened to the whole thing, you could get something every game,” Kuray said.
Infirmary update
David Krejci (upper body) skated with the Bruins on Friday but will probably miss his fourth straight game Saturday. Joakim Nordstrom (upper body) practiced and should return after missing two games. … Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body) did not travel to Boston with the Blues and won’t play.