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Tim Thomas Proves His Competitive Nature Never Wanes During Bruins’ Monday Scrimmage

BOSTON, Mass. – It was just the third day of on-ice workouts in training camp, but the Boston Bruins  were already finding ways to break up the monotony on Monday.

On the ice, the squad got in some scrimmage action, while off the ice the Bruins were working to get back into regular-season pranking form as well.

The second half of the Group A session in the morning featured a 5-on-5 scrimmage, complete with the score being kept on the main scoreboard above center ice. There was some hitting as the competitive juices got flowing, but goalie Tim Thomas downplayed that aspect, noting, "You can't be in battle mode constantly.

"This is the third day of camp," Thomas added. "Let's be honest, it doesn't mean anything."

Thomas didn't play like it was meaningless, though, as the Group A scrimmage came down to a shootout that included a scary scene when Thomas came out of his net to poke the puck away from rookie Alexander Khokhlachev. Thomas upended the youngster and sent him crashing into the boards.

"He lost the puck and I hesitated just a second, but I was like, 'I'm going to go get' and then I missed the pokecheck," Thomas said. "I'm just glad no one was hurt. We were just playing around there."

Thomas went over to check on Khokhlachev as the rookie collected himself in the corner. Both players skated away unscathed, but the incident did underscore the competitive nature that has helped make Thomas so successful.

"I don't think he was too eager to stay in net for a shootout," defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said, "but that's Timmy. What can you say? He never changes. He's always real competitive as you can tell. He doesn't want to lose, and that's what makes him so good."

Thomas wasn't perfect though, as Seidenberg managed to beat him with a long-range shot.

"That was lucky," Seidenberg said. "That was an open shot and it must have been a knuckle puck or something that slipped through.

"It's good to get a little bit of a game situation back," Seidenberg added. "We were down 3-0 and had another comeback win, but in the end all that counts is getting your gaps back, knowing where you are on the ice and knowing where to be on the ice. That's the most important thing."

Notes
After that practice, the mood was light in the Bruins locker room. Defenseman Andrew Ference had a little fun with Zdeno Chara, setting up for his scrum with the media in front of the captain's stall to prevent Chara from getting to his locker to get dressed for the afternoon session. Chara responded by tossing balls of tape at Ference, who tried to duck the tiny projectiles while answering questions.