Julien Talks Iginla, Eriksson On Sports Final
BOSTON (CBS) - On Thursday, Bruins head coach Claude Julien talked about putting together the puzzle that is the 2013-14 Boston Bruins.
"It's about putting that puzzle together where our team is going to continue to be competitive and have a chance at the Cup again," Julien told reporters at the Bruins' Developmental Camp in Wilmington.
WBZ-TV's Dan Roche had a chance to sit down with the Bruins coach 1-on-1 for an interview that will air in Sunday night's Sports Final on WBZ, and Julien expanded on a few of the new pieces to that puzzle.
"Every team builds it's team in a different way, and we've built our team the 'Bruins' Way.' People like the 'Big Bad Bruins' where we are physical and gritty, and make it hard on teams to beat us every night. I think that's what we've done here with this team," Julien told Roche.
Gallery: Bruins Off-Season Additions and Subtractions
It's been a busy off-season for the Bruins, saying hello to new players and farewell to old ones. Gone are Tyler Seguin (traded to Dallas), Nathan Horton (signed with Columbus) and Andrew Ference (signed with Edmonton), but Boston has off-set those departures with forwards Jarome Iginla (one-year deal) and Loui Eriksson (acquired from Dallas in the Seguin trade).
"When you look at Iginla, where we lost an Andrew Ference -- a real good leader -- Iginla is a captain coming in that I know is also a good leader. You fill in that gap a little bit, but at the same time you have a winger, like a Horton, that is big and powerful who can shoot the puck really well and go to the net."
"Eriksson is another guy, he's probably like a Bergeron with a lot of skill and will play a two-way game and is going to have some good numbers. He's a real good professional and very well respected from what I'm told and a very likable teammate."
Read: Bergeron Hoping To Be A Bruin For Life
"People are going to be pleasantly surprised," said Julien. "Although we had to give things that I think a lot of people wished we could have kept, we also got some good things on our hockey club that is going to make our team real competitive."
Catch Dan Roche's full 1-on-1 interview with Bruins head coach Claude Julien Sunday night at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ-TV's Sports Final and Sports Final Overtime!
