Welcome to Eat Like a Bruin. I'm Lizi and I'll be your waitress today. Our specials today are the Confident Coach Souffle, the Blogging Defenseman Gumbo and a tall glass of Reunited Minors Kid and His Coach. Okay, so that might have just been the most pathetic introductory sentence ever, but yes, that's what's going on in the world of the Boston Bruins today.
Claude Julien spoke to Bruins reporter John Bishop today, and, as always, he had a lot to say. Here are something that jumped out at me.
Now down to 23 men, Julien wished that number were higher.
“I would have liked to have kept some of the other guys as well, because, no matter what, they were deserving of being here,” said Julien. “At the same time, on the selfish end of it, the guys that have to clear waivers, you hope that they clear them, because that means they give you depth and you can see those guys back in your lineup.
“If they get picked up, you’ve just lost probably a player that you would’ve loved to keep in your organization."
My impression here is that he was referring to Jeremy Reich. Reicher was nothing if not solid for us when he came up. Probably not the first person you'd think of when looking for offense, no, but he always brought something to the table, whether it be scoring touch (because he did score a few for us last season) or his innate capability to kick rump and take names, Jeremy Reich is a solid asset to any team. Good fourth liners who both know how to fight and how to score are few and far between. You usually end up with one or the other, but never both, so any team who manages to nab him is lucky beyond all sense of reason. So, yeah, Claude and I are both wishing that the number was higher. Maybe something like 26, so we could have kept Reicher
and kept Vladimir Sobotka and Petteri Nokelainen in the big club. But sadly, that's not in the cards, I suppose. Just bear in mind (heh...bear) that whoever ends up with this gem of a player will be happier than a pig in a garbage dump...gross pun aside.
And now onto our next item. The most dangerous thing that our web guy has done was probably to give Aaron Ward
a blog. But I sense fun times in the future with this. His first entry was about the business of hockey, and he really impressed me with his insight into the mind of our management staff. Will we see Aaron Ward as a GM or Assistant GM when his career ends? Well, I'd like to wittness it, at least. Let's see what he had to say, shall we?
The game is essentially a business. There’s a part of it that’s played on the ice, but behind the scenes, you have to really separate yourself from the emotional attachment to your teammates, the relationships you have, ‘cause it’s ever-changing.
As someone who attaches herself to players (it's impossible to avoid, really. You see these people on your TV screen every other day for the majority of fall, winter and spring), I think this really struck a chord with me. Wardo gets our attachment, and that was kind of his way of reminding us that stuff happens. You may not want it to, and you may not like it when it does, but it's more or less an inevitability. This team is the epitome of that, I think. We've essentially gone through a wholesale change over the course of three seasons (remember the days of Glen, Joe and Sammy as the top line? I remember them fondly...), and it takes a lot to find a group of guys that gels together. We're just managing to find that after two seasons of flopworthy attempts. Good thinking, Wardo.
I think I’m just preparing myself for the fact that the season is upon us. As much as it’s the same game of hockey, to go from pre-season to regular season, you really have to turn that key in your mind.
Aaron Ward: defenseman, blogger...philosopher? Seriously, could this guy get any brighter? Because, once again, he's reminding us of a crucial fact. The preseason? Just that.
Before the season. Statistically in the past, the Bruins may have flopped in the preseason, but then they came around and made people take notice in the regular season. Think of it this way. Your team when you're playing preseason games is
not the team you're going to play with when the regular season starts. You have a bunch of guys who aren't going to be ready yet. Trim them aside and you have exactly what the Bruins are putting forth here: a group of NHL caliber guys who know what they're going for. Good on Aaron Ward again for pointing it out to us.
And now for our final line of business today. Nate Thompson is playing under his coach from Providence again. He was plucked off waivers by the Islanders and guess where former Providence Bruins coach Scott 'Flash' Gordon ended up? It's really kind of cute, I think. Much like the Michael Ryder and Claude Julien story, only reversed. Earlier this year, when Flash was hired by the Islanders, Nate had this to say:
"Flash is a very, very good coach, as you see through his record and what he's done. For me, in my first couple years of pro, he molded me into the player that I am now -- what I am as a player and what I'm supposed to do out there. He and Rob Murray stressed consistency, bringing it game in and game out. I learned that from them. He's developed a lot of guys that came from Providence. [Patrice] Bergeron, [David] Krejci, they've done really well. It's a big credit to Flash and Murray down there. I would not be surprised at all if he got an NHL job anytime soon. I would say he's ready."
I, for one, think the two of them will flourish over there. Nate has always fit Flash's play style, and it'll be good for him to play under a coach he's familiar with. Best of luck to both of them.
That's all for now, kids. Tomorrow's opening night! So, expect to see exactly how things are going to go down in this blog!
I, for one, will miss you like crazy.
