Julien reunion is afterthought
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
Bruce Cassidy wasn’t ready to give his full roster for tonight’s preseason opener against the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec City, but promised it would be on the young side.
He and his staff naturally won’t be doing a lot game-planning for the Habs, instead focusing on the internal competitions throughout his roster, so facing old Bruins coach Claude Julien for the first time is not exactly on the forefront of everyone’s mind.
Still, there can be only one first time, and tonight at Videotron Centre is it.
“Oh, I’ll go over and say hello and we’ll have a chat about training camp, like we did at the draft. I don’t think for this game it’s as much of a storyline, other than it’s the first game for both teams and they’re probably evaluating their talent,” said Cassidy. “Obviously in the regular season, it’s different.
“This one, I’ll be spending a lot more time looking at our guys and not looking at matchups. Hopefully, the result goes our way, but we’re looking for how we are looking as a team. Are we playing with energy and pace, and the individuals we’re evaluating, how are they able to do what they’re asked to do?”
It hadn’t even dawned on Matt Beleskey that he could be facing Julien for the first time since the Bruins fired their Cupwinning coach in early February.
“It’ll be fun to see him across there,” he said.
Said Kevan Miller: “I don’t know what (that would be like). I have no idea. Obviously we wish him well. I enjoyed playing for him. I think it will be interesting seeing him on the other bench.”
Pick up the pace, kid
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson is centering what could be a third line with David Backes on the right wing and Frank Vatrano on the left. While Cassidy likes some of the things he’s seen from JFK, a cerebral two-way player, he also would like to see him play a little more instinctively when he’s on the attack.
“I think JFK’s focused on thinking the game through out there, and we’re going to encourage him to play a little more,” the coach said. “I think he’s a very analytical player. It makes him a good player. We’re going to ask him to get out of that zone a little bit and just play some hockey, blend the two. Attack a little more, want the puck a little more, those type of things.
“He’s a center iceman and center icemen need to make the wingers around them better. We do believe he’s got a very good hockey IQ for the defense part of it. We need to see how he is with the puck. How’s he going to handle it and can he be strong? Every day we’re reminding him of that.”
Backes feels the line’s pace is a work in progress.
“Working with JFK, Frankie and I both try to communicate that the less you’re thinking out there, the quicker you’re moving,” he said, “so the quicker we can get some chemistry going, know where each other is going to be and communicate through that, the pace is going to continue to go up.”
As for his personal pace, Backes — whose offseason training regimen was focused on getting a bit lighter and quicker — is where he wants it to be.
“There’s a comfort. I know my training was good this summer. I know it has changed toward being a little quicker and sustaining pace and playing a little more with the puck. That’s not to say there are not the physical elements,” said Backes. “The real test will be getting in competition and playing in the games. We’ll see how it works out.”
Planning ahead
Cassidy said he’ll coach tonight’s game from the bench as opposed to evaluating from the press box, as some coaches do in the preseason games.
While he didn’t have the full roster yesterday, Cassidy said Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre will be the two goalies traveling for the game. He expects that he’ll cut down the camp roster sometime after tomorrow’s home game against the Red Wings.