Matt Beleskey was one of those players that took an instant liking to the city of Boston.
When some NHL players move, there is a sense of trepidation and/or temerity. Boston Bruins forward Matt Beleskey didn’t feel any of that. He seemed to be excited to come here on day one, and gave the fans a solid performance last season.
“It’s intense, but it’s fun. Boston, in general, is intense about all of their sports,” said Beleskey of his adopted home city via the Boston Bruins website.
“It’s passionate and that’s a fun thing. I’d love to be in the playoffs this year and be able to see the fans rally behind us. I got to see a couple Celtics games in the playoffs and the Garden’s a crazy place in that atmosphere, so it really shows how much they love their sports here.”
Beleskey and David Pastrnak represented the Bruins organization as they headed over to China earlier in the summer. They were helping to run youth hockey clinics in Beijing and Shanghai with the hopes of spreading the love of hockey to the world’s most populated nation.
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Beleskey became a fan favorite last year with his physical play. He’s been referred to as one of the ‘Bruins Bash Brothers’ for his very aggressive style of hockey. By the end of the season, Beleskey found himself as part of the Bruins’ top-six forwards playing on the David Krejci line with Pastrnak.
He was no slouch in the scoring department either. The former Anaheim Duck had a career-best season with the Bruins putting up 37 points (15 goals) for Boston.
Matt Beleskey is looking for a little redemption for himself and the team. The Boston Bruins have failed to make the playoffs for the last two years. The 28-year old forward thinks this year will be different for the Black and Gold.
“Me and my wife drove back yesterday, super excited to pull into town,” he said. “I think this season is going to be a great year for our team. I think we had a lot of guys that had some learning curves last year, me included, and, obviously, we’re looking at bigger and better things.”
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Those bigger and better things will start with making the playoffs.