Maroon wants another long run
Pat Maroon has been through plenty of battles in his 13-year NHL career, and Bruins fans know him all too well from heated playoff series when he was with the Blues and Lightning.
“I feel like I’m hated here,” Maroon said with a smile before the Bruins defeated the Penguins,
5-1, Saturday afternoon at TD Garden, a day after the big winger was dealt to Boston from Minnesota. “But I’m super excited. Original Six team, a great opportunity, heard nothing but good things about the locker room and a great opportunity for us to go achieve our goals . . . So, another chance to play in the playoffs and have a great run here.”
Maroon, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, is about five weeks removed from disk surgery and it’s unclear when he will make his Bruins debut.
“Just going to talk to medical staff, see where that goes,” said Maroon, who added he “gets chills” thinking about pulling on a Bruins sweater. “But right now, there’s no real timeframe. All I can give you is I’m skating a little bit.”
Maroon thanked Wild general manager (and former Bruin) Bill Guerin with helping to facilitate the trade.
“Yeah, me and Billy talked,” said Maroon. “He asked me if I wanted to go to a contender, so kudos to him for coming up to me and asking me if I want to go try to win another Stanley Cup. And why not? That’s the ultimate goal when you leave this game is to win and put a stamp on your career. So, he gave me that opportunity and he worked hard for me to give me a chance to go on a nice playoff run around here.”
Maroon is expecting a smooth transition to his new club and said any bad blood from previous scraps, big and small, are forgotten when players change addresses.
“I think once I see everyone it’s going to be fun, and obviously there’s been a lot of chirps and a lot of fighting in the past with these guys, so it’s going to be good to be on the other side with these guys now, so I’m really looking forward to it,” said Maroon, who will wear No. 61 when he does suit up.
Jim Montgomery noted Maroon plays with “moxie,” and that is not a teachable quality.
“I think people either have it in them or they don’t,” said the coach. “It’s like if you’re in the schoolyard and a fight breaks out, your friend’s in a fight, you either jump in or you don’t.”
Peeke ready to roll
The club’s other trade deadline acquisition, Andrew Peeke, has no previous connection to the city, but he feels like he has.
“I’ve heard about Boston for the past three years from Sean [Kuraly],” Peeke said of his Columbus teammate and ex-Bruin. “He told me everything. It’s an unbelievable spot and the organization speaks for itself with the amount of playoff runs that this place has gone through in the past years. And everyone said that the guys in the room are unbelievable, and that’s what I’m most excited about.”
The defenseman often found himself as the odd man out in the Blue Jackets’ rotation, so he was looking forward to a fresh start.
“Obviously, the past two years I played pretty much every game, and not that you get comfortable, but you get in a routine of doing that,” Peeke said. “So, obviously with how the year went, you just wanted to play hockey. And then obviously finding out the news yesterday that I was coming to a place like Boston, being able to compete for the playoffs, I think all you can ask for as a player and something I haven’t had yet, so I’m super thrilled about that.”
Asked for a self scouting report, Peeke described a player that should endear himself to Bruins fan.
“I like to play physical, work hard in the corners, battle, win those, and use my feet and move the puck up the ice,” said Peeke, who will wear Kuraly’s old No. 52 in Black and Gold. “Defending has always been one of my strongest suits as a player.”
Lindholm returns
Hampus Lindholm retuned after a nine-game absence with a knee injury and played 20:41, second only to Charlie McAvoy (22:16) among Boston blue liners. Lindholm had a pair of assists to eclipse the 300-point mark for his career. “It’s never fun sitting in the locker room watching the guys playing, putting their heart on the ice, but the training staff do such a good job getting me healthy and strengthening me to come back in good shape. So, it was nice to be out there again,” he said . . . Montgomery said defenseman Derek Forbort, who was placed on long-term injured reserve, was never really at full strength this season with the exception of “maybe the first 10 games.” . . . The Bruins alumni team will play Sunday against the Swedish national team alumni at The Rinks at Exeter, N.H. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. with Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, Reggie Lemelin, Ken Linesman ,and
Bruce Shoebottom among the Bruins alumni expected to lace ’em up . . . Sign of the day: “I’ll trade you my brother for a stick.” . . . Song of the day: “Firestarter,” by The Prodigy.