BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Monday, September 25, 2017 BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASS
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BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Monday, September 25, 2017 BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY On Malcolm Subban… You get limited viewing in training camp, you only get a game, a game and a half, so you have to make the best of it and he did tonight. He was very good. The first goal was a hell of a tip. He got caught pulling off the post a bit, but he was rock solid after that. The other goal that beat him was a great shot. We had some breakdowns at different times in the game. Specifically, late there where it could have been scary, but he did his job. He was good. Very pleased with him. On Ryan Spooner’s physicality… Yeah, he was a crusher on that one. Buried a guy. I don’t know if physicality is the proper term. What I want to see is compete. We’ve talked about that. I don’t expect Ryan Spooner to lead our team in hits. But he has to win his share of pucks. How you do that, hard on your stick, sometimes it is body position, sometimes it is knocking a guy off the puck. It was good to see, and it led directly to – we come back up the ice, he makes a play, [Matt] Beleskey passes it and we score a goal. Then the third period, specifically, put him out for a D-zone faceoff and he won one, he won maybe both. Just some situations that he knows he has to be harder in, I think the rest of his game will take care of itself. But I thought he was good in that area of the game tonight. On having 10 days left of camp… I think once you’re this far, you always want to get going. A, because you don’t want to have any injuries. But then once the games start, you realize, hey we need to work on some things. We saw that tonight. We had a great start, and it gets away from us a bit. I found our D got caught outside the dots against a quick transition team, so there is some teaching there. Now these are young guys who may or may not be here. That was an area of concern. Some of our situational plays where our D are up, and a forward has to recover for them. And the second goal, you break stride for half a second and they’re in. There’s always fixes. But we are getting closer. It looked like Pasta [David Pastrnak] had his legs tonight. Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] and March [Brad Marchand] were good, so some of the guys we are going to be relying on. Charlie [McAvoy] looked better, skating well. The guys that are in the lineup, you want them as close as possible. On if it looks like Anders Bjork belongs… Yes, it does. Again, the competition will stiffen for him. We’ll keep evaluating that. Still, he’s got skill, speed, and courage. He gets to the dirty areas. He’s hard to play against, second effort on pucks. It’s not one-and-done with him. And for a young kid, that’s special, to be able to hang in and there and battle for those turnovers. That’s usually the part of the game they have to continue to grind on them. But he’s got a lot of that. Maybe that’s Bergy and March’s influence, I’d like to think they have some of that, because that’s their game. Marchy never quits. Bergy never quits. They’re going to be a hard line to play against if they are that dogged on the puck every shift. On Anders Bjork defensively… That’s probably his instinct. I’d love to take credit for that, but that is probably just him being a smart player. I think what we are looking for is angles. Turning your back to puck in D-zone. Those little details that maybe you get away with before, I don’t know. I’m sure his previous coach, I think it was Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame probably tried to build those into him. It’s a constant process for young forwards where they want to get going, especially guys that can get going and play. Stick position, players are just going to be better. I think Bergy and March, playing with them, he’ll just learn playing naturally. We’ve seen it with Pasta [David Pastrnak], his evolution. It’s a good fit right now. To get back to your question, I do believe he’s ready if he continues to be able to play like this. We won’t get ahead of ourselves. There’s still a couple more games. We’ll see, I don’t know if he’ll play both, but he’ll definitely play one of them. On if a specific Bjork play was “too cute” or “creative”… I’d say probably a bit of both. I think guys in this league will send a message to him that, to be careful with it. You’ve seen David [Pastrnak] do it. I think that’s just part of their DNA, those guys. Marchy will try some stuff. He’ll have to figure out what he can get away with, what he can’t. On David Pastrnak’s linemates tonight… He was predominantly, I thought, playing with [Ryan] Spooner and [Matt] Beleskey. We did not change the lines a whole lot tonight. I assume he played most of his shifts there. Coming out of power plays or penalty kills, he doesn’t kill, so we try not to make him sit too long. He might have jumped in with – I don’t know, I thought for the most part he was with Beleskey and Spooner. On David Pastrnak playing without David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk… Yeah, they played on Monday, sorry Saturday in Detroit. They will most likely be a line Thursday again. I wanted to get Pasta an extra game, a little bit because he missed a couple days of camp, and he’s still younger than a Krech [David Krejci]. We talked about the balance of playing 3 to 4 games for most of our regulars, and I think we are on course for – the exception is Zee [Zdeno Chara], was a little under the weather. He has played a lot of hockey anyway, so I think he could be moved to the other end, but Bergy, March, Krech, those guys, Backes [David Backes], Adam [McQuaid], Kevan Miller. You’re probably looking at 3, maybe 4. On Jeremy Lauzon… He’s a fun kid to watch, because he’s got a lot of passion for the game, very competitive. He just has to learn what he can get away with, recovery wise. Like I said, he’s a guy that was talked about getting outside the dots at times where he’s got to work really hard to get back. He’ll give up the good ice sometimes. Good for him. He got his shot through, I thought he was a lot more under control tonight. Maybe less, you’d have to ask him, but he seemed less nervous as well and just wanted to play. Might just be a difference from playing a few more games. On Malcolm Subban playing in the remaining preseason games… We’ll have to discuss that, but Tuukka [Rask] is scheduled to start Thursday, and then Dobby [Anton Khudobin] needs work. We’ll have to talk about that. Without overreaching here, I’d have to say, outside chance Saturday. But right now we are looking at Tuukka, Thursday and Dobby, Saturday as kind of the way we would set it up. On Matt Beleskey… He’s come in in better shape. Lighter. So he’s taken that to heart. I think he understood that, that the way the game is going that the lighter is generally better for every athlete now in hockey. You certainly need some corner weight, for certain guys who play that way. He’s one of those guys that has some grit, tenacity to his game. There would be a certain level of compromise there, but I thought he skated well, competed hard, worked hard in practice, no complaints. It’s just there’s a lot of competition this year, some of these young kids that can skate, the way the game is going, they are really pushing. Go from DeBrusk to Bjork, to [Danton] Heinen and [Austin] Cznarnik, we are not disappointed with any of them. On Rob O’Gara… Hard around, he was battling, understanding that as a 6-4 player, that right now the best way for him to get in the lineup, he can’t go out there and think I need to be Torey Krug, to replace Torey Krug. He’s got to play his game. I think he’s mature enough to know that. He’s done a good job of that tonight. Really closing well, defending hard. He’s working on making that good first pass. I liked his game. I’ve liked his whole camp. I think his year down in Providence and the little time he had up here last year, he’s done some good things and taken an understanding of what he can get away with and what he can’t. Be solid in an area, and then work on the parts of his game, the offensive parts that you’d like to come along.