Kalman: Boastful Bruins Have To Prove Conditioning, Chemistry Will Translate Into More Wins
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Bruins reported to TD Garden for the first day of training camp and their off-ice testing Thursday.
After their testing they took the usual song and dance about everyone being in the "best shape of their careers" (see how many times that term is used around the NHL over the next couple of days) to newer heights of absurdity.
"Maybe this is the most fit team and group of guys that I've been part of since I've been here," captain Zdeno Chara said.
Typically tight-lipped about off-ice matters, Chara actually puffed out his chest and presented evidence in favor of his theory. The King Kong-strong defenseman revealed that fellow defenseman Zach Trotman, who led the team with 41 pull-ups, was one of several players to outperform him. Suddenly it was OK to give the public a peek behind the curtain of the Bruins' world without making them tune in to NESN for a reality show.
As with the three rookies that failed their run tests last week, these feats of strength on a bar mean little in the grand scheme of things in terms of the Bruins playing better hockey and returning to the playoffs. But at least from the outset of training camp we know the Bruins have seemingly backed up their words about wanting to turn the franchise around with exuberance in their off-ice workouts.
"Well we definitely had a long summer, so there's no excuses that we played too much hockey last year and stuff like that," Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask said. "So everybody looked committed and looked like they were ready to go and it says a lot when everybody passed the running test. That doesn't happen every year. Good to see guys being committed and ready to go."
So we know the Bruins can run and pull themselves into the air with the best of them. We'll find out in the weeks ahead if they can skate, shoot and play defense. We'll also find out if they're able to forge team chemistry quicker than they've had to in the recent past because of the new faces that have been imported. It's certain that Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes will be newcomers up front. There will probably be a new face or two lower down the depth chart at forward and there could be a new face or two on defense.
Chara and alternate captains Chris Kelly, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron will bear most of the responsibility for making Boston's newbies fit in, not just because they wear letters but their part of the small portion of the old guard from the Stanley Cup championship and Eastern Conference finalist days.
Kelly believes the assimilation will be as smooth as Trotman launching his chin above a bar.
"I think the guys came in early, so we got to know them for the last two weeks in a more relaxed setting, I think, than today," Kelly said. "But it's been good. I think you just try to make them as welcome as possible as quickly as possible. The guys seem to want to fit in and seem like nice guys. So I think that the transition will be pretty seamless."
More than anything, the Bruins' talent and systems will make the difference when it comes time to have enough points to play in the postseason. But the level of commitment and sacrifice that can make a slight difference gets amplified when teammates play well together and like one another. The Cup championship team of 2011 not only had a lot of skill but also had an us-against-the-world attitude that led to more blocked shots, more bone-crunching hits and more trust between linemates and partners.
The Bruins were done in last season by their injuries, their lack of enough players that could finish up front and dearth of defensemen that could move the puck and limit their mistakes in the defensive zone. A lack of solidarity only accentuated the Bruins' flaws, and only became a public issue once the team failed to achieve its goals.
If the failures of last year inspired the Bruins' players to work extra hard in the offseason, that's great. If they want to take that frustration with them on the ice this season and translate it into more goals and more great defensive plays in front of Rask, even better.
They're not going to be able to shuttle run or pull up themselves into the playoffs though. They're going to have to prove that they're a better hockey team.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.