In this October 9, 2014, picture, Boston Bruins’ Zdeno Chara (left) and Reilly Smith (right) congratulate Patrice Bergeron after he scored a first-period goal against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. (Detroit Free Press/MCT)
By Steve Conroy/Boston Herald (TNS)
For some Bruins players, the changes in the offseason must have been jarring. It’s not every season the general manager gets fired and two top-six forwards and a top defenseman get traded.
But Patrice Bergeron has lived through upheaval like this before. Even more drastic upheaval, in fact. In his second NHL season (2005-06), franchise center Joe Thornton was traded, GM Mike O’Connell and coach Mike Sullivan were fired and club icon Harry Sinden was kicked upstairs.
Compared to 2005-06, this offseason seems like a simple retooling. But Bergeron knows how to deal with transition, no matter how subtle the moves.
“It is going to be different from the past few years, but I’ve been through a lot before, and I think it’s just about getting to know the new guys on and off the ice,” Bergeron said yesterday after an informal workout at Ristuccia Arena.
“We can’t really rush it. Everyone’s got to feel comfortable. It’s our job as leaders and veteran guys to make guys feel comfortable off the ice and even on. We have to make everyone realize that it’s about everyone, it’s not about one or two players. It’s about everyone going in one direction.”
Though it took yet another coach firing (Dave Lewis) before the Bruins finally went in the right direction after that turmoil in 2005-06, sometimes a little change can immediately breathe life into a team.
Bergeron is interested to see how newcomers Matt Beleskey, Jimmy Hayes and Zac Rinaldo (all three have attended at least one of the Ristuccia practices this week) fit into the Bruins dressing room.
“When you come out of a disappointing year like we had last year, you have to expect changes. It’s definitely unfortunate and you don’t want to see that happen. It’s tough to see guys (Milan Lucic, Dougie Hamilton, Reilly Smith) go, but at the same time, it is unfortunately part of the business,” Bergeron said. “I’m excited with the guys that are coming in. They’re happy to be here, they want to be here. I’m excited and looking forward to know the new guys. . . . We just need to jell quickly.”
In the 2014-15 season, the Bruins looked like they needed a shakeup, if not a full culture change. It happened. Now they have to regain their hallmark consistency that disappeared last year, causing them to squander easy points and miss the postseason.
“(Consistency) is something that we lacked last year. If you look at the end of the year, we had too many points slip by being inconsistent, not just during stretches (of the schedule) but within games also. During games sometimes we were lacking consistency, and it cost us huge points at the end that could have been the difference in not making the playoffs,” said Bergeron, adding he felt the team played too passively at times.
“I think too many times we were comfortable having a goal lead and stuff like that. It’s hard to really pinpoint one thing that really caused the inconsistency, but we have to fix that.”
Bergeron said new GM Don Sweeney reached out to him several times during the summer to ask his opinion about things.
“He’s been very open with that,” Bergeron said. “I think he wants to be close to the players and get to the bottom of all the issues that could affect the team. We’re all in this together.”
The issue of Bergeron’s new right winger has not come up. Bergeron and Brad Marchand certainly will stick together, but nobody knows who will replace Smith, who succeeded Tyler Seguin and Mark Recchi. Loui Eriksson is one option. David Pastrnak could blossom in that spot. Maybe Brett Connolly’s career finally could take off. And don’t forget the big-bodied Hayes.
“It’s definitely up to them, (Sweeney) and especially the coaching staff,” Bergeron said. “I’m open to anyone. We’ve had a few guys on the right side there. I’m guessing the left side’s going to be the same guy. We’ll see what happens.”
