Friend’s death shakes Acciari
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Coaches love Noel Acciari. The Bruins forward plays with heart, fearlessness and he’s always ready to go.
But that was not quite the case Saturday night in the team’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Acciari heard the news that morning that his close friend and former Providence College teammate Drew Brown had lost his long battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
Acciari was devastated. But when the puck was dropped that night, the rugged winger was in the lineup and last night scored the B’s second goal late in the 4-2 loss to the Ducks.
“It was probably the toughest game that I’ll ever have to play in, but I had talked to his dad that morning and he said, ‘Drew would want you to play.’ I said, ‘I know,’ ” Acciari said, the emotion still raw. “All the way up to the end, he didn’t want to tell me what the issue was or how bad it was. His dad told me he never wanted me to know how bad it was. He just wanted me to keep going. That just shows his character and what kind of person he is and how tough he was.”
Acciari and Brown were teammates and roommates both at PC and in prep school at the Kent School. Acciari flew to Michigan for the funeral on Tuesday, and then flew on to the West Coast that night to meet up with the Bruins for yesterday’s morning skate in advance of last night’s game against the Ducks.
“It was amazing all the people he touched,” Acciari said, noting that 20-30 Providence players were there. “The amount of people who showed up was unbelievable. No surprise. He was a great guy. He’s a tough kid, touched a lot of people with his smile, never complained. All the respect that everyone had for him, he will be missed. It’s tough for me and it’s tough for his family right now. But they’re a tough group.”
In Saturday’s Hockey East home game against UMass, Providence hung Brown’s No. 7 jersey behind the bench in tribute. The Friars then potted seven goals in a 7-2 victory.
“There were a lot of different signs that he was looking down on us,” Acciari said. “His dad showed me a video. (Drew) was a big hunter of geese, and flocks of geese were flying around their house — a big flock around three times. And they got a picture of this big beam of light through the geese. It was really cool and it just shows you he’s looking down, he’s in a better place and he’s happy now. I’m going to miss him.”
Heavy load for Bergy
Patrice Bergeron entered last night’s game averaging 21:28 of ice time this season. For his career, he’s averaged 18:51. That’s not usually the way playing time trends when you hit age 32, but the B’s injury situation has forced that.
Bergeron said it has not ely affected him so far.
“It’s about managing the time you can take off and figuring that out,” said Bergeron, who skipped yesterday’s morning skate along with Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug. “The ice time has increased a little bit and you need to be fresh for games and have as much energy as possible.”
Coach Bruce Cassidy said Bergeron does a good job of keeping his shifts short so that he doesn’t “empty the tank” every time he’s out there, allowing him to recover quickly. . . .
The B’s might get an important player back for tonight’s game against the Kings as Cassidy said David Krejci could return to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 15.
Night off for O’Gara
After a tough-luck minus-2 against Toronto, Robbie O’Gara was scratched and Paul Postma returned to the blueline. Kenny Agostino, brought up from AHL Providence Tuesday on an emergency basis, was a healthy scratch up front.
With Tuukka Rask in net last night, Anton Khudobin will get the start tonight in Los Angeles. . . .
Cassidy said rookie winger Anders Bjork has been ruled out through the weekend, while Brad Marchand, who is not with the team, has not yet been ruled out for Saturday’s game in San Jose, Calif.