Decision time now for Julien
The Bruins are now more than a week away from a meaningful hockey game, and they?ve earned the right to rest some players.
But as the B?s, who secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 win against the Rangers on Sunday night, bide their time while waiting for the real season to begin, coach Claude Julien must figure out just how much rest to give his players and to whom.
?We?ll take it one game at a time and manage it that way,? Julien said. ?There are a lot of things we have to think about in the next day or so. We?ll try and manage ice time and manage some rest, but there are still important games to be played. We?ve got Pittsburgh in the next game (tonight), Ottawa (Thursday) could possibly be a first-round playoff opponent, and Buffalo (Saturday) is battling for the playoffs.
?We have to take care of our business, but we also have to think it through before we make those kinds of decisions.?
One thing Julien has to be a little concerned with is, if he eases off too much, what team will show up when the playoffs arrive. For more than two months, the B?s simply could not find their game. It showed up in spurts, but just when you thought they?d turned a corner, they would lose another game they shouldn?t have.
From Jan. 14-March 15, the B?s went 12-16-2, winning back-to-back games only once in that stretch. But starting with an emotional shootout win against the Flyers on St. Patrick?s Day, the B?s have gone 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
?Our goal is to get better and better as we build toward the playoffs, and I think we?re headed in the right direction,? goalie Tim Thomas said. ?With the remaining games we have left, we should continue to do the same thing. Now we?re not actually playing for position in the conference, but we?re still playing for our own momentum and our own confidence going into the playoffs.?
More than any player, Thomas? play dictates the Bruins? success. It?s no coincidence the two-time Vezina Trophy winner?s game struggled during the B?s two-month stretch of sub-.500 play. Now that he?s looking like his old self, so too are the Bruins. Funny how that works.
?I feel like I?m headed in the right direction,? Thomas said. ?I?m starting to see the puck through traffic and find the puck, and that?s important.?
One of the team?s chief concerns entering the season was to manage the soon-to-be 38-year-old netminder?s playing time, given the fact he played 25 extra games into mid-June on the Stanley Cup run. That proved a bigger challenge than expected. When the schedule picked up after Christmas, backup Tuukka Rask began to struggle to the point he had to be pulled from a game in Buffalo. Then, just when Rask?s play began to come around, he suffered a groin injury March 3.
With Providence goalie Anton Khudobin on the shelf at the time, the B?s signed Marty Turco, who just finished his season in Austria. Turco wound up getting the B?s four big points in wins against the Kings and Islanders, but it took time for him to get reacclimated to the NHL.
Although things didn?t go exactly to plan this season, Thomas played in just one more game (58) than he did last season. The guess here is that he?ll get one more game, perhaps Thursday in Ottawa. But if he has a preference, Thomas wasn?t sharing it.
?I don?t really think about that,? Thomas said. ?I let the coach do his job and do the planning for those type of situations. I?ve said it repeatedly, but I don?t want the coach?s job.?
It looks like Thomas will get some rest anyway. With Rask not yet ready, Khudobin was recalled yesterday. In 44 games with Providence, he has a 21-19-3 record, a 2.61 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Patrice Bergeron, one of only two players to play all 79 games (Chris Kelly is the other), would be another logical choice to get a night off. But he?s not lobbying for it, either.
?I?ll keep going out there, but I don?t know what?s going to happen. I know the past couple years, I took one (game off). Well, he gave me one. I didn?t take one,? Bergeron said with a laugh. ?But we?ll see. To be honest, I don?t really care. We?ve got three games left and we have to play all of them anyways, so I?m fine playing all three. After 79 (games), what?s three more??
The Bruins are now more than a week away from a meaningful hockey game, and they?ve earned the right to rest some players.
But as the B?s, who secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 win against the Rangers on Sunday night, bide their time while waiting for the real season to begin, coach Claude Julien must figure out just how much rest to give his players and to whom.
?We?ll take it one game at a time and manage it that way,? Julien said. ?There are a lot of things we have to think about in the next day or so. We?ll try and manage ice time and manage some rest, but there are still important games to be played. We?ve got Pittsburgh in the next game (tonight), Ottawa (Thursday) could possibly be a first-round playoff opponent, and Buffalo (Saturday) is battling for the playoffs.
?We have to take care of our business, but we also have to think it through before we make those kinds of decisions.?
One thing Julien has to be a little concerned with is, if he eases off too much, what team will show up when the playoffs arrive. For more than two months, the B?s simply could not find their game. It showed up in spurts, but just when you thought they?d turned a corner, they would lose another game they shouldn?t have.
From Jan. 14-March 15, the B?s went 12-16-2, winning back-to-back games only once in that stretch. But starting with an emotional shootout win against the Flyers on St. Patrick?s Day, the B?s have gone 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
?Our goal is to get better and better as we build toward the playoffs, and I think we?re headed in the right direction,? goalie Tim Thomas said. ?With the remaining games we have left, we should continue to do the same thing. Now we?re not actually playing for position in the conference, but we?re still playing for our own momentum and our own confidence going into the playoffs.?
More than any player, Thomas? play dictates the Bruins? success. It?s no coincidence the two-time Vezina Trophy winner?s game struggled during the B?s two-month stretch of sub-.500 play. Now that he?s looking like his old self, so too are the Bruins. Funny how that works.
?I feel like I?m headed in the right direction,? Thomas said. ?I?m starting to see the puck through traffic and find the puck, and that?s important.?
One of the team?s chief concerns entering the season was to manage the soon-to-be 38-year-old netminder?s playing time, given the fact he played 25 extra games into mid-June on the Stanley Cup run. That proved a bigger challenge than expected. When the schedule picked up after Christmas, backup Tuukka Rask began to struggle to the point he had to be pulled from a game in Buffalo. Then, just when Rask?s play began to come around, he suffered a groin injury March 3.
With Providence goalie Anton Khudobin on the shelf at the time, the B?s signed Marty Turco, who just finished his season in Austria. Turco wound up getting the B?s four big points in wins against the Kings and Islanders, but it took time for him to get reacclimated to the NHL.
Although things didn?t go exactly to plan this season, Thomas played in just one more game (58) than he did last season. The guess here is that he?ll get one more game, perhaps Thursday in Ottawa. But if he has a preference, Thomas wasn?t sharing it.
?I don?t really think about that,? Thomas said. ?I let the coach do his job and do the planning for those type of situations. I?ve said it repeatedly, but I don?t want the coach?s job.?
It looks like Thomas will get some rest anyway. With Rask not yet ready, Khudobin was recalled yesterday. In 44 games with Providence, he has a 21-19-3 record, a 2.61 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Patrice Bergeron, one of only two players to play all 79 games (Chris Kelly is the other), would be another logical choice to get a night off. But he?s not lobbying for it, either.
?I?ll keep going out there, but I don?t know what?s going to happen. I know the past couple years, I took one (game off). Well, he gave me one. I didn?t take one,? Bergeron said with a laugh. ?But we?ll see. To be honest, I don?t really care. We?ve got three games left and we have to play all of them anyways, so I?m fine playing all three. After 79 (games), what?s three more??
