Cassidy plans for quicker pace on ice
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
BOLTON — Bruce Cassidy turned up the pace of play during his 18-8-1 run as interim head coach of the Bruins last season.
Hired for the full-time job April 26, Cassidy now will have a full training camp to see just how fast the Bruins can play.
And they better bring their skating legs when they report to training camp, which officially starts Thursday but won’t feature on-ice practices until Friday.
“Through the neutral zone, we’d like to get on pucks quicker if we can, not get sort of into retreat mode . ... But that’s something we’re going to try to build in, to take away a little more time and space,” Cassidy said before teeing off at the Bruins’ charity golf tournament at The International yesterday.
“We started doing that last year defending the blue line. We’ll try to introduce a little more of that concept defensively where we’re a little more aggressive in a lot of situations,” he said. “You have to have the legs to do it and that’s why we’re trying to skate a little more and get the guys thinking that way.”
Cassidy’s strategies worked as the Bruins averaged 3.37 goals per game, compared to 2.56 under Claude Julien, while still playing stingy defense on their way to their first Stanley Cup playoffs berth since 2014.
Another dose of youth to the lineup could aid the Bruins’ pace increase. Cassidy was in Buffalo watching the Bruins’ top prospects compete in the Prospects Challenge, and while he saw some promising signs he wasn’t ready to write anyone into his lineup yet.
“A couple of games you see some of the stuff that was talked about, but it’s too soon,” Cassidy said. “They have to do it against NHL competition. And even though exhibitions are getting a half-and-half lineup, it’s still NHL competition. So it’ll be a bigger evaluator there.”
Cassidy’s first training camp could be complicated by the absence of restricted free agent forward David Pastrnak, who’s still unsigned. Cassidy’s trying to not let Pastrnak’s situation affect the coaching staff ’s preparation.
“Listen, for the coach you coach the guys that are there,” Cassidy said. “You’re putting lines together throughout the whole summer. Now in this particular moment, you’re thinking of guys, who’s going to be on David Krejci’s right side if Pasta’s not here. And that’s about as far as it’s gone in that regard.”
Limits on Bergeron
Center Patrice Bergeron, who had sports hernia surgery in May, said he’s painfree when he skates and won’t have any restrictions in practices or scrimmages. But he still has to have the repaired area regularly treated.
“It’s more lingering stuff, scar tissue and restriction that I guess needs to clear out. But it’s just time that will do that,” he said.
Head’s up move
Second-year defenseman Brandon Carlo’s rookie season ended because of a concussion suffered in the regular-season finale. Despite resuming skating, he didn’t make it back for the playoffs. Carlo said it took about a month after the season to be symptom-free, but he’s 100 percent heading into camp.
“When I was getting back on the ice, I transitioned for a puck and felt a little dizzy as I kind of spun around in that way. So in a game that would’ve put me in a bad position,” Carlo said. “So just little things like that throughout the month. And then just feeling completely back to normal.” . . .
Weight and see
Center Ryan Spooner, who signed a one-year contract worth $2.825 million this summer, is entering a crucial season in his career at 25 years old. That’s part of the reason he bulked up from last year’s playing weight of 184 to around 190 for this season. He wants to protect the puck better.
“There’s some guys in the league that can get away with it because they’re so skilled,” he said. “But I’m not a top-tier kind of guy, so I thought it would help if I had a little bit of weight behind it too.”