The Bruins wrapped up two days of team-building exercises in Brattleboro, Vermont on Monday, and they came away confident that the time spent together off the ice will pay dividends this season on it.
"We've had a great couple of days here with some team-building activities that we not only hope, but know will help our team grow in a lot of areas," said Bruins coach Claude Julien in a conference call on Monday. "We really feel like we have a good group of guys and we really feel confident that our team can be successful this year."
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and assistant captain Patrice Bergeron also took part in the conference call to discuss the experience.
"I think it really helped being in Vermont and having a chance to really get to know all the new faces on the team right now," said Bergeron. "It gave us a better chance to get to know some of the guys and have a better connection with them. That was great to bond not only as a group, but also with some of the individuals."
Chara added that the Bruins weren't exactly strangers before the two-day excursion to Vermont, but the various team-building projects undertaken did bring the guys closer together.
"It's not like we didn't have any chemistry going into Vermont," said Chara. "It's just one of those things that the heavy schedule in training camp doesn't give you the chance to spend that quality time with your teammates. This way we get to spend two or three days away from the city, away from the hockey rink and really spend time with your teammates. You do these exercises and it's not that you've never seen them before, but it's one of those things that really helps you go deeper into your mind and explore yourself and really open up to your teammates."
