BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS VANCOUVER CANUCKS Thursday, October 19, 2017
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BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS VANCOUVER CANUCKS Thursday, October 19, 2017 BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY On Patrice Bergeron… I think it was self-evident out there that the play on the ice, first of all, built a matchup against whoever we really want. Powerplay obviously, big impact there. I think it’s just morale as much as anything, on the bench and in the room. Those intangibles, leadership, first shift of the game, he’s standing up. They had scored a goal and kind of settling the troops down, talking about the details of the game. Finishing your routes on the forecheck, reloading all the way to our zone. Stuff that coaches preach a lot, but goes in one ear and out the other sometimes. And when you hear it from the leaders of the group, it means so much more. To have that back in the room and along with David Backes, those are guys that are just vocal players that bring a lot in that aspect. Generally, a quiet group. That doesn’t mean you can’t be effective and win as a quiet group, it just help sometimes to have a little bit of that energy. On the power play… We addressed it this morning. [WEEI beat writer] Ty [Anderson] had asked me about the timing of the power play, been ok, but that’s what I’m talking about. If you can make a team pay, you’re hoping on a major to get one, maybe two. All of a sudden you get three in there and especially at home, we need a little juice. We come off the road not playing how we wanted to, and it gives us a lead it’s always so much easier. Great response by the guys, both units. On Kenny Agostino on the power play… Yeah, he was going in on [Ryan] Spooner’s spot. We’ve lost Ryan for a stretch here so we need to – I don’t want to use the word audition, because you hate to say that word when the season is going on, but that’s what it is a little bit here. We have some guys internally we could also look at. But he is a left stick that has done that in the past. We’ve talked about that at a lower level very successfully, we’re going to give him that opportunity at this level. I thought he did a good job with it. We’ll see going forward how it plays out. On the transition from the AHL to the NHL… I think it’s guys – the discussion I had with him, coming from that, spending a lot of time in that league, is guys here take better angles and they have much better sticks. So if you’re going to make seam plays – I’m talking about the powerplay now – so over there if you’re going to make your seam passes they have to be that much quicker. The lanes will be smaller and they’ll close quicker. So if you’re going to make it, make it in a hurry. And obviously, getting your shot through to the net. The better shooting lane defending as well, and they’re harder on pucks. They are just a bit older. There’s guys in the American League that skate well, shoot well, they just, that part of the game I find there is a difference. The stick position and the angles. They just learn to defend better. Or they’re better defenders up here. On Adam McQuaid… Adam [McQuaid] has been doing that for years around here. He’s one of the unsung heroes in that locker room. Doesn’t get a lot of credit for what he does, the tough parts of the game, blocking shots, sticking up for your teammates. He actually manages the puck very well. He’s not a flashy player. He’s not a guy that just throws it away either. He makes good decisions with it, and every team needs Adam McQuaid’s, and we’re certainly fortunate to have him. On the team’s attitude after allowing two goals late in the second… We were ok, we really were. We got away from it a bit. They would get a push. Usually that happens in the third. Obviously we would have liked to get out of that second period with that big lead. We still had a two-goal lead. We addressed it. We have champions in the room. In terms of our D corps, it usually starts there. If they’re solid, defend well, make a good first pass, then you’ll have your opportunity to join. Because I found we were getting a little ahead of ourselves in terms of getting up ice and aggressiveness, which we’ve tried to coach into our game, but at the right time. We don’t want to be reckless, and we got a little bit away from it, and our forwards got trapped low. So we talked about that, having a good high forward. So just some basics so that you don’t get yourself in trouble. You might lose some puck battles, but the worst you get is you don’t get odd man rushes. I thought once we got the penalty kill we got back to it. And then sometimes, when a team is coming at you – basically throwing the kitchen sink – you get some opportunities to transition. They’re ok with trading chances because they want to get back in it. They figure, we get up the ice, get trapped, they get their chance, if we score, well, we’re behind anyway type of mentality. So you get kind of caught up in that game where you don’t want to temper going on offense and putting the game away. Yet, if you miss the net with one your odd man rush chance, there is a pretty good chance they’re getting one the other way, so that’s what you battle. On David Krejci’s status... He has an upper body; he had to leave. He wasn’t feeling too terrific today, and then he got, I think there was a cross-check there. So, he tried it, couldn’t continue. I think he had some spasms. So, but I don’t think there’s anything long-term there at all. On handling David Krejci’s absence... We’re getting used to it around here. On if there is an Adam McQuaid’s status... No, he blocked a shot – lower body – and he’ll get evaluated tonight or tomorrow. I don’t know how serious – he blocks a lot of shots. This one stung him obviously so we’ll see how it turns out. On forming an identity on each line with Patrice Bergeron back... Yeah, I mean, we’ve been going through that here, just dumb luck each game a guy leaves, so you’re trying to piece together – and you’re incorporating [Sean] Kuraly, [Jake] DeBrusk, [Anders] Bjork, now [Kenny] Agostino – guys that don’t have a big history here. Sean had a bit in the playoffs, obviously, he did a real good job for us. So, you’re trying to fit them into the best spot, so at some point obviously it’s nice to see it all fall into place. We started that way tonight and like I said, hopefully our guys are fine tomorrow, and we continue that way and continue – because it makes a big difference. I told you, we’re not in the excuse making business, but when you lose some of your top players, they’re hard to replace. That’s why they’re top-end players. On his reaction to David Pastrnak’s goal... Well, you know, Torey [Krug] scored one of those in here last year on the power play against Ottawa, went through the whole team, so it was another one of those. But, we had to look at it in the room after the second period; it was almost the first move he made on the forward where he kind of turned him inside out, but that’s David. He’s high-end talent. On getting the Marchand-Bergeron-Bjork line back together... Yeah, we were going to try to get that. It’s something we stuck with in training camp and wanted to see how it would play out. You know, a number of different things goes into it, one of them is Bjork gets to learn from two world-class players, and then DeBrusk would learn from David [Krejci] and David has won a Stanley Cup championship and Pasta [David Pastrnak] has become a world-class – so that’s, in an ideal world, they’re learning from good players. Didn’t work out that way but today it did, so I mean again, we’re going to try to stick with it. We’ll see how everything shakes out. On David Pastrnak’s standout play... Well I think he already is when it comes to the talent and the one-on-one game. For David, it’s just growing the rest of his game. Like a lot of these young guys, how much do they value playing away from the puck when the highlight reel goals kind of aren’t happening for them, or the puck’s not finding it for the big one-timer, and that’s the challenge we’ll have with him. He’s very receptive, he’s a great kid, he wants to win, he wants to play the right way, its just a matter of going through that maturation process for him.