Tyler Seguin: 'I Don't Think I Would Come Back' To Boston If Opportunity Arose
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Bruins drafted Tyler Seguin No. 2 overall in 2010, and he quickly experienced what it felt like to be a Stanley Cup champion in the city of Boston. But just two years after that championship celebration, Seguin experienced the other end of the emotional spectrum, when he was shipped to Dallas as the centerpiece in a seven-player trade on July 4.
The wounds are still fresh from having the franchise turn its back on him after three seasons, and the 21-year-old was as honest as possible about his feelings during his first trip to Boston as a visitor.
Seguin, along with Rich Peverley, scored in the shootout to lift Dallas to a win over the Bruins, and afterward, he admitted that this game had been circled on the calendar for some time.
"It was 100 percent, I have to say it's a special game. I knew where this was on the calendar. I knew my first time in Boston," Seguin said. "This has been in my head a little bit. You try and put it away when you are playing other games, but it's still there. You are still thinking about coming here to this town."
Seguin said the Bruins are a "very classy organization" when asked about the video tribute that played on the video board, but he said he probably wouldn't ever play for the Bruins again if he had the choice.
"I have been asked that question a few times today," Seguin said of returning to Boston some day. "If I got a contract or a trade to come back here or asked, I don't think I would come back. I think in the end you want to play where you are wanted. I have great relationships with our coach and the GM here, and I know how much they want me. It feels good to play here. I guess that is all I want to say on that."
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was asked about that comment on Toucher & Rich on Wednesday morning, and he said that's not atypical from how most players feel after being traded.
"I think if any player was traded, they would have feelings like that. So that's not really out of character or out of context, so that's not surprising," Chiarelli said.
As for the GM's feelings on seeing two former Bruins hand his team a defeat, Chiarelli said he's much more concerned with the now weeks-long slump he's seen from the Bruins.
"We've had Phil Kessel score on us, other players that we've traded have scored on us – the story lines are always there. I was just more pissed off because we lost and we're not playing well," Chiarelli said. "The other story lines make for good entertainment, and Tyler and Rich and those guys probably feel really good this morning."
Part of Seguin's reasoning no doubt is affected by the airing of the TV program "Behind The B," which showed unfiltered front-office discussions about Seguin, and why the Bruins' top decision-makers were so eager to trade him after the team lost in the Stanley Cup Final in June. Chiarelli, assistant GM Jim Benning, director of player personnel Scott Bradley, director of scouting Keith Gretzky and others commented on Seguin's lack of maturity, compete level and other factors that indicated to the front office that the player would not live up to the six-year, $34.5 million contract which began at the start of the 2013-14 season.
Seguin told NESN's Jack Edwards in an interview that aired between periods of Tuesday night's game that, obviously, he disagreed with their assessments.
" I haven't personally seen [the show], but I know the type of person and player I am and I think sometimes maybe I was getting accused more than [I was being] helped during my career here," Seguin told Edwards.
"Did it motivate me for the summer and the start of the season? One-hundred percent," Seguin continued. "Do I still think about it when I'm going out to the ice, every game even if it's not in Boston? Yeah, I think about what people have said about me and how I don't want to start a PR battle or use my words. … I just want to go out there and stick it to a certain amount of people on the ice. That's what I've been trying to do."
During his introductory press conference in Dallas, he claimed he gained his reputation as an immature partygoer because he was one of the only players on the team who wasn't married. When Edwards asked Seguin if he had any advice for a future top-five pick in Boston, he said with a hearty laugh, "I don't know, get married when you're 18?"
The fans in attendance on Tuesday let out loud boos when Seguin's name was introduced and whenever the forward possessed the puck, a treatment that's typically been used on Phil Kessel since his trade from Boston sent him to Toronto.
"Yeah, I heard a couple times. Going into the game, I said I didn't know what to expect. I heard some cheers and some boos," Seguin said. "I have seen a lot of players come back here -- you know, popular athletes, which I was in this city. I am sure that there are mixed feelings out there. I can only go out there and play hockey."
As for the whole experience, Seguin said, simply, "I'm glad it's over."
Rich And Rochie Discuss Seguin's Comments:
