Donato’s homework not just on the ice
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
ST. LOUIS — Rookie Ryan Donato, allowed to miss the team flight here on Tuesday morning to take care of some prior commitments for his schoolwork at Harvard, made a late flight Tuesday night and was in the lineup for his first NHL road game here last night.
Donato is trying to finish his junior academic year, as he looks to complete his degree in sociology.
“I don’t think it should be too difficult,” said Donato. “I’m just making sure I’m on the same page with my teachers. I’m lucky to have such great teachers at the school and I kind of got a relationship to start the school semester, so I learned how to deal with doing school work on the road and hopefully it all works out.”
Donato, who signed with the Bruins on Sunday after Harvard was eliminated from the ECAC tournament on Friday, said he has most of his classes on Tuesdays, so that’s why he stayed back in order to speak to all his teachers in person.
“I’m just going to do all the school work I need and turn in every paper on time,” said Donato, who scored the B’s lone goal in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Blues last night. “I’m going to do all the work on the road and hand it in at the same time as every other student, and they’re really not going to make exceptions for me. I don’t want them to have to be flexible for my circumstance, so I’m going to do everything I can to make it as easy as possible for them.”
Most folks would look at what Donato is doing and see it as admirable. But that did not stop his new teammates for chirping him a bit.
“Most guys skip class to play sports, he skips sports to take classes,” cracked one player.
Donato, of course, grew up in a hockey family and he knew the barbs would come.
“Oh yeah,” he said with a grin. “You’ve got expect that a little bit, but the guys have been pretty good about it so far.”
Feeling it again
Danton Heinen got the monkey off his back by breaking a 15-game goal-less streak last week in Carolina, but then went point-less in his next two games. But he picked up two assists in the B’s 5-4 overtime loss to Columbus on Monday, and coach Bruce Cassidy believes that he’s ready to break out offensively again.
“He’s around the puck more, winning more battles again,” said Cassidy. “Physically, he said he was fine. Maybe it’s just a mental hurdle, over-thinking certain things when you’re not scoring and you’re used to doing that your whole life.
“It’s good for him. A good line to be on. The puck found them a lot (Monday night).”
On Monday, the left-shooting Heinen was moved to the right side as the left-shooting Donato was dropped in on David Krejci’s left. Heinen had played on the right side at Denver University, so he was accustomed to it.
Heinen is looking more like the player that helped spearhead the B’s rise up the NHL standings.
“You never want to go through stuff like that. You want to be as consistent as you can. It’s not always easy. But it was nice to get one there and you just want to keep it going,” said Heinen. “It’s a weight off your back and as much as you don’t want to, you’re thinking about it.”
Like just about everyone, Heinen was impressed with his new linemate Donato.
“He was good. He brought a lot of energy, he was obviously excited in his first game. It was fun to have him on the line. He’s got a great shot as you saw on the goal,” said Heinen. “But he competes well in front of the net, too. He had a few chances in front, so he’s a good allaround player.”
Battered & bruised
While the B’s remain shorthanded — Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Backes, Charlie McAvoy, Rick Nash and Jake DeBrusk are still out — the Blues were without Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body) last night . ...
The B’s signed Harvard senior defenseman Wiley Sherman, a fifth-round pick (150th overall) in the 2013 draft, to a two-year entry level contract that will kick in next season. The 6-foot-7 Sherman will join Providence and finish the season on an amateur tryout contract.
‘I’m just going to do all the work I need on the road and hand it in at the same time as every other student.’ — RYAN DONATO On finishing school work