Z returns to empty Garden
Faces B’s for first time in Hub tonight
It is hard to definitively determine just what the loudest fan response has ever been at the TD Garden. But if you had to narrow it down to, say, two or three of the tops, then it’s safe to say that 17,565strong roar heard on June 6, 2019, would be in there.
That’s the night of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals when former captain Zdeno Chara, his jaw shattered from a puck in Game 4 in St. Louis, defied all odds and expectations and improbably suited up for the contest. The sight, and the accompanying sound, of him standing on the blue line for pre-game introductions was spine-tingling.
Chara will hear nothing like that tonight when he plays at the Garden for the first time since signing with the Washington Capitals after a 14-year, Hall-ofFame-cementing career with the Bruins. Fans will not be allowed back in the Garden.
But that can’t break the bond he feels for the people of Boston, and he had a message for them when he met reporters on Zoom on Tuesday.
“I think from Day One in 2006 when I signed with the Boston Bruins, I feel really connected with the Boston fans and the city of Boston,” said Chara. “I developed so many great friendships and connections. We went through so many ups and downs together. We always felt their energy and support being with us and behind us in those times and the best moment that we can all share is to bring the Stanley Cup back to Boston in 2011. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate and how lucky and blessed I am to share these celebrations with the fans, everything they’ve done for me and my family, all these communities I’ve been a part of. So I just want to thank them for everything they’ve done for me and my family, for the support and for the love.”
A full building for Chara’s return would have been nice — one of the millions of moments, big and small, lost to the pandemic — but it’s a reality we’ve all gotten used to.
“I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing. I think it’s kind of it is what it is,” said Chara. “We have to respect the protocols, we have to respect the safety of the fans and the players and everyone working there at the facilities. It’s the most important things. Yeah, it would be great to have fans at the arena and cheering us on and experiencing these energy swings during the games. But it’s been quite some time that we are used to playing without the fans. We just have to create our own energy and feed off that.”
Despite no fans in the building just yet, the club will certainly find a way to acknowledge and honor Chara’s return. And his contributions to the culture that’s been established here is not lost on one of its main beneficiaries — coach Bruce Cassidy.
He remembers that Game 5 well.
“It was an unbelievable response from Z to be in the lineup. Just coming in that morning, I just assumed he wouldn’t be able to play. And he was ready to go,” said Cassidy.
“I know Bruins fans appreciate the blue collar and the effort. They love skill and they love toughness and they love a blend of both, but they appreciate effort. Z always gave you 100%. I do believe that had a lot to do with it for the Bruins fans, that he was willing to get out there and do his part whatever he was able to do that night. I think they also appreciate when he came here and put the C on his sweater that he had a goal in mind of how the Bruins were going to play going forward. And he achieved that. He made them a hard-to-playagainst, defensive-minded Stanley Cup champion. He was a big part of that team.
That’s where the fans appreciate Z and why they supported him that day. I’m sure if they were to be in the building (tonight), they would again.”
Studnicka remains at center
While Cassidy wasn’t ready to say so definitively, the B’s could get some healthy bodies back. Matt Grzelcyk, limited to just six games this year, and David Krejci, out since Feb. 18, were both full participants in Tuesday’s practice. Evaluations will be made in the morning.
If Krejci is back in, it appears that Cassidy will create a fairly significant change in the makeup of the team’s fourth line. Instead of shipping Jack Studnicka back to Providence or sticking him somewhere on the right wing, Cassidy has seen enough good things from him at his natural position at center the last couple of games to want to see it more. In Tuesday’s practice, he plopped Studnicka in between Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner.
“He played very well in the middle. More noticeable in the middle than he was on the wings for obvious reasons,” said Cassidy. “Looking back, we thought, ‘Is it better for Jack to go in the lineup on the wing or is he better to just go back to Providence and play center?’ We decided to put him on the wing, right or wrong, and now he’s back in the middle. And if Krech is healthy, we’re still going to keep him in the middle. We’ll move Kuraly to the wing and just re-evaluate our fourth-line role and see what it looks like and see where it goes. Is it ideal for Jack to be a fourth-line center? I don’t always like to number the centers. He’s got to play his game in the middle no matter what, no matter who his wingers are. He just might see different starts, more in his own end. He’s got Sean, who can take faceoffs on the defensive dot, so this is good for his defensive game as well. We’ll see how he adapts and we’ll go accordingly.”
As for Wagner, a healthy scratch on Saturday, it appears he’ll go back in.
“I guess the message was to play more like Chris Wagner hockey,” said Cassidy. “On the forecheck, I didn’t think he was finishing as many checks and he was a little bit hesitant. Some of it was reading off the other guys and not wanting to get caught. But at the end of the day, he has to play his game, be a straight-line, hard-nosed guy.”
Tinordi practices
Jarred Tinordi, claimed off waivers on Saturday from Nashville, cleared all his COVID protocols and practiced on Tuesday, pairing with Connor Clifton in what could be a third pairing, though Cassidy did not commit to putting him in the lineup tonight. He’s wearing No. 84.
Ondrej Kase, out since the second game of the season with a suspected concussion, skated prior to practice but Cassidy did not know when he could join the group.
Kevan Miller, battling recurring pain in his surgically repaired right knee, did not skate on Tuesday.