Patrice Bergeron Moving The Boston Bruins Forward
The Boston Bruins are continuing to have informal practices at Ristuccia Arena. Chris Kelly has returned to Boston and is now skating with the team. Even Shawn Thornton was on the ice for the practices. There a lot of new faces on the ice, and it will make for a very interesting season.
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The Bruins core leadership will have a lot of work to do getting the newest incarnation of the Bruins ready for the 2015-16 season. While a lot of eyes are on captain Zdeno Chara, alternate captain Patrice Bergeron knows a lot will be expected from him as well.
“It’s going to be different from the past few years,” said Bergeron to the assembled media following this morning’s informal skate. “I’ve been here a little longer, and there’s been some years before where [there] was complete change, so it is going to be different from the past few years — but still, I’ve been through that before, and I think it’s just about getting to know the guys on and off the ice and taking the time to do that.”
“When you come out of a disappointing year like we did last year, you have to expect changes,” said the defending Selke winner. “It’s definitely unfortunate. You don’t want that to happen, and it’s tough to see guys go, but at the same time, it is unfortunately part of the business, and I’m excited with the guys coming in.”
The Bruins moved a third of their roster during the offseason. The B’s will need to start finding the right combinations for forward and defensive lines, and these informal skates will be helpful in helping the new players find their legs in Boston. Bergeron let the assembled press know that he was in contact with Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, and that they’re in sync for the season.
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“Don reached out to me a few times during the summer just to go over some things,” said Bergeron. “[To] ask for my opinion on some things, but also just [to] ask about my summer and stuff like that. He’s been very open with that, and I think he wants to be close to the players and I guess get to the bottom of all the issues that could affect the team.
“We’re all in this together, I guess we should say, and we’re trying to you know be a better team.”
Inconsistency was the buzz word on the Bruins last season. The Bruins would play a strong, passionate game one night, and then fail to have a full sixty minute performance the next. It was the biggest reason the Bruins failed to make the playoffs last year. It’s certainly been in the back of Bergeron’s mind this summer, and he wants to do all he can to eradicate it this year.
“If you look at the end of the year,” he said, “[there were] too many points that we let slip by by being inconsistent — not just during stretches, in weeks, but in games also. It’s not just during the year, but also during games [when] sometimes, we were lacking consistency, and it was costing us huge points at the end that could have been the difference to get into the playoffs.”
Bergeron later talked about what he thought might have been the problem last season, and how he wants to correct it moving forward.
“I think focus might have been part of it, but it’s hard to really pinpoint one thing that really caused that inconsistency, and we definitely have to fix that,” he said. “I think it’s going out in games and wanting to be the difference for the whole game, and I think it’s definitely something that we need to accomplish and resolve, I guess, early in order for us to be a better team.”
Right now, Bergeron is focusing on getting to know his new teammates. He’s also doing his part to integrate them into a squad that has nearly a century of tradition and excellence. For him, it’s about moving forward.
“They’re happy to be here, they want to be here, and … I guess I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting to know the new guys, and we still have a great group of veterans and guys that are still here who have been here over a lot of years, I guess, and we just need to jell quick, and find a way to do that.
“We can’t really rush it. Everyone’s got to feel comfortable, and it’s also our job as leaders and veteran guys to make guys feel comfortable, off the ice and even on, and make everyone realize that it’s about everyone. It’s not just one guy or two guys here. It’s about everyone going towards the same direction, if you want to have some results.”