Neely On Felger & Mazz: About 'How They React To Us' In Buffalo
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Bruins are the hottest team in the NHL, and while he could see the success brewing, team president Cam Neely is surprised at the current streak.
"To rattle off nine in a row, yes," Neely told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger and Massarotti Tuesday afternoon. "We certainly needed to play better, and I think it was a wake-up call for us after that home-and-home with Montreal…. It was a mental wakeup call. We didn't like where we were in the basement looking up at everyone and the guys took charge."
The Bruins find themselves back near the top of the standings, sitting in third place in the East and tied for first in the Northeast Division.
Without going into detail, Neely said the Bruins changed things up a bit in practice after falling to 3-7, trying to give the offense a little more confidence.
Bergeron: 'Was Just A Matter Of Time' For Bruins Turnaround
"We tweaked it a little bit to create more scoring chances and just to give the guys some confidence about putting the puck in the net," said Neely. "I think there is a correlation about doing that and what we're doing."
"We all know we aren't scoring six a game, but like anything in life, if you have confidence you tend to do better at it."
Next up for Boston is a grudge match in Buffalo on Wednesday night. The last time the two teams met, Milan Lucic crashed into Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, leaving him with a concussion. Miller has not seen the ice since, and has made it known he is unhappy Lucic was not suspended.
The Sabres did not retaliate in Boston and are not known as a physical team. But what are the Bruins expecting when they take the ice in Buffalo?
Read: Bruins-Sabres Preview
"We're going to be ready for our game and how we have to play. We always say have teams react to us, we don't want to react to other teams," said Neely. "I know this is going to be talked a lot about; I'm sure it started today in Buffalo and will continue tomorrow. It's really about how we play our game and how they react to us."
Listen to Cam Neely on Felger & Mazz in its entirety, including Cam's thoughts on goaltender Tim Thomas...
98.5 The Sports Hub is the only place to hear every game of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins 2011-12 NHL season with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes before the puck drops, with Postgame coverage following each game.
