He's already acquainted with one Bruin, but rather than easing his transition to a new team, that previous encounter could have made things more awkward.
Pouliot has spent the past two years on the other side of one of hockey's most heated rivalries, playing for the hated Habs in Montreal. Pouliot and David Krejci added a chapter to that rivalry on Feb. 9, 2011, when they dropped the gloves in a fight-filled game at the Garden. Pouliot promptly dropped Krejci with one punch, which could have added some tension to their reunion in this year's camp after the Bruins signed Pouliot to a one-year deal as a free agent this summer.
But Krejci holds no grudges against his former sparring partner.
"It was nothing personal when we fought," Krejci said Friday at the first day of Boston's main training camp. "He wanted to fight. I wanted to fight him. So that's what happened. He won the fight and there's no need for him to apologize to me or anything like that. It's nothing personal. It's business. That's what happens in hockey. We talked about it, and he seems like a nice guy. I don't know him that well yet, but I'm sure he's a good guy."
Pouliot confirmed that he did speak with Krejci about the incident to make sure there were no hard feelings.
"We had a little chat," Pouliot said. "It's business. I was on the other team. I didn't mean any bad things for him. It's part of the game. We talked about it and now everything is perfect."
Pouliot also had a run-in with Andrew Ference in the playoffs, as Ference squared off with the big winger after Pouliot had delivered a questionable hit on Johnny Boychuk in Game 3 of the opening-round series. That proved Pouliot's final game as a Canadien, as he was benched for the final four games of the series. He hopes things will work out better on this side of the rivalry.
"It's going to be nice to see how the rivalry is from the Boston side instead of the Montreal side," Pouliot said. "It's going to be interesting. It's going to be fun. I'm excited. And I think things will go very well."
Pouliot stressed that he's been welcomed warmly by all the Bruins despite the past history from his time in Montreal.
"The first time you show up here, especially Boston when I was in Montreal before, it's not easy to jump in here and try to fit on the team, but the guys have been awesome," he said. "I can't complain."
While pleased with his reception in the Bruins locker room, Pouliot doesn't expect to be greeted as graciously the next time he returns to Montreal wearing a black and gold sweater.
"Oh yeah, definitely," Pouliot said. "I think every guy that goes back there gets booed. It doesn't really matter what you did or what you do. It could be the best player and you still get booed there."
