For new arrival Tomas Kaberle, this will be the first spring his season is extended since 2004, as his former team in Toronto has failed to qualify for the playoffs every year since the owners' lockout. Gregory Campbell and Nathan Horton have never played in an NHL postseason game. They came to Boston together this summer from Florida, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2000.
"For Nathan and me it's been a long time coming," Campbell said after Monday's practice. "Once you make the NHL, when you're younger and you're starting out it's more about just playing in the NHL and it's exciting to just be a part of this league. As your career goes on, it becomes more about winning and the chances of doing that become slimmer and slimmer."
Having waited so long to make the playoffs, Campbell wants to make sure this postseason run lasts as long as possible.
"I've been with Nathan for a while now, and for us to get that that first chance means a lot," Campbell said. "It's old hat here and we understand, both of us, that it's just the first step. Just because you play a playoff game doesn't mean anything. It's exciting for us to be in the playoffs officially, but I think this organization is keen on winning and not just satisfied with winning a round."
Bruins coach Claude Julien has guided Boston to the playoffs in all four of his seasons here, and he's glad that the newer arrivals will be able to experience the postseason as well. He's also glad that the high-pressure games the Bruins have been playing of late will prepare them for that experience.
"I think it's great for them," Julien said."Kabby's been in some, but not for a long time and the other two haven't experienced that yet. Some of those games that we're playing now, whether it was the Montreal game that had a lot of emphasis on it or the last couple of games against New York and the Flyers, which are the types of games we're going to see in the playoffs, it's good for them. It's good experience for them. And I think once we get into the playoffs they're going to realize that's the way it's played and they've had the opportunity to play in those types of games."
Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg was also happy to have the chance to finally play in the postseason with the Bruins. He came to Boston from Florida at last year's trade deadline, but missed the playoffs when a tendon in his forearm was sliced by a skate against Toronto on April 3.
"It's still three games to go to last year's point [when he was injured]," Seidenberg said, before literally knocking on wood beside his stall at Ristuccia Arena. "Hopefully I'll make it to then. I'm definitely excited to get there and hopefully everybody stays healthy. But everybody definitely feels the energy building up."
While a little superstitious about getting through the final seven games of the season unscathed, Seidenberg was proud of the team officially securing the playoff berth.
"Every time you win a game it's great and everybody's happy, but to clinch a playoff spot, it's an accomplishment," Seidenberg said. "By now it's time to polish up our game and get better at the little things and further prepare for those playoffs."
Julien agreed with that assessment, as he sees the final seven games of the regular season as important not just for locking up as high a seed as possible, but also to have the Bruins playing their best heading into the postseason.
"I think it's business as usual [in the final seven games], but it's nice to clinch with more than a game or two left in the season," Julien said. "The challenge now is to keep our game going in the right direction and not get complacent or comfortable and hopefully head into the playoffs with confidence and a team firing on all cylinders."
