So it looks like the hockey is getting real. But we’ll see on Sunday afternoon just how real it will be for the Bruins.
The National Hockey League kicked off its 24-team Stanley Cup tournament Saturday with a noontime tilt, the first game of the Rangers-Hurricanes best-of-five play-in series. Within just a couple of minutes, there were several thunderous hits, a goal was scored and the Scotiabank Arena ice crew was scraping blood off the ice, courtesy of a Justin Williams-Ryan Strome bout.
It felt like playoff hockey, because it was. But the Bruins and Flyers will be playing in a round-robin game that will not hold the same stakes as the one between the Blueshirts and Canes. Still, it’s a good wager that there will be a lot more juice flowing between the two teams than there was in the B’s-Blue Jackets exhibition on Thursday.
Coach Bruce Cassidy was on the ice for his team’s practice while the New York-Carolina game was going on, but he caught some highlight snippets after he was done.
“I’m not surprised by the Rangers-Carolina game,” said Cassidy. “Our game (Sunday), my guess, is it wouldn’t be as intense as a play-in game simply because there’s not the same at stake. There’s obviously a lot. There’s getting your game in order, getting ramped up to play playoff hockey and then there’s seeding. But that would just be a guess. I would expect our guys to play a lot harder than they did against Columbus on Thursday night. To what degree Philly plays, I can’t predict. But I expect us to be a lot more competitive than we were the other night.”
With the building empty of fans, it will be up to coaches and players to manufacture some of that emotion, especially early in a game. Williams is not a habitual glove-dropper, but he is one of the ‘Canes leaders and there was surely at least some ulterior motive behind his early bout.
Whether or not the the B’s utilize some fisticuffs to get going remains to be seen. But Cassidy believes constructive chatter will be necessary.
“It’ll be interesting because as coaches sometimes buildings are loud so you can verbally try to challenge players in terms of trying to get them going and getting them fired up. But with nobody in the building and everyone can hear you, will coaches do that? Will they go down that road? We’ll see,” said Cassidy.
“As for guys on the bench, we have guys that talk more than others. I wouldn’t say we’re a loud group on the bench in terms of rah-rah, but we talk about plays. Guys will give guys a shout on the ice if they need to keep their head up near a bench if they’re looking down for a pass. But our guys talk amongst themselves a lot and I think we communicate well on the ice.
“I was told that the other night after the game, they thought our bench was alive, so that’s a good thing. We ask certain guys to bring a little more of that if they’re not playing much and that could depend from night to night. But in general, we do need a little more chatter to get us going. Bergy (Patrice Bergeron) will talk, but he plays a lot of minutes … everyone (needs) to bring that chattiness. Jake (DeBrusk’s) not a loud guy on the bench. (Brad Marchand) definitely is but that’s Marchy. It’s directed at the other team. It’s just him staying in the game by chirping. But we’ll see how it goes. … Coaches and assistant coaches are going to have to encourage guys maybe a little bit more than when it’s a packed house.”
Charlie McAvoy said the leadership group is good at verbally stepping up when needed, but he also said the floor is always open.
“The playoffs, the best part about it is the whole experience and the atmosphere, the emotion and the passion of the fans, really just the entire setting. So it is different this time around. You’re going to have to manufacture your own energy,” said McAvoy. “Our leaders do a great job of always being vocal and they always seem to step up at the right time. Going into (Sunday) I’m not really worried about that. I know they’ll have the right things to say and we can lean on them. They come through for us in that regard. Personally, I have my voice and I like to use it when I feel appropriate. I think that’s one of the best parts about our team. It doesn’t matter where you are, how many years you’ve played or whatever your age is, we all lean on each other for energy. Sometimes it’s other guys that are bringing it. Especially now in this atmosphere, having guys step up and be vocal and leading with actions is going to be big for us.”
And the real action is finally upon us.
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August 02, 2020 at 04:58PM
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It’s go-time for the Bruins - Boston Herald
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