The Bruins have had a few days off this week, and that couldn’t have come at a better time for players who want to keep an eye on the local baseball team.
The B’s will get back on the ice Thursday after what will be a four-day layoff, and during that time, the Red Sox have eliminated the Tampa Bay Rays and are moving on to the American League Championship Series. The B’s are certainly keeping their eyes on the Sox, and head coach Claude Julien is no exception to that. The Bruins coach said he watched Tuesday night as the club won Game 4 to move on.
Julien is no stranger to getting the most out of a team, which is exactly what manager John Farrell has done with the Red Sox this year. Taking over a team that lost more than 90 games last season, Farrell has been given a ton of credit for orchestrating a turnaround that has the Sox among baseball’s final four teams.
“He’s changed the whole chemistry of that team,” Julien said after Bruins practice Wednesday, according to the team’s website. “When we talk about chemistry, you can tell there’s good chemistry right now. I don’t think you saw that same chemistry last year. I think that’s made a big difference; his players want to play, they want to put themselves out there, and when players want to do that it’s because something’s changed in that room that makes them excited to go out there and play hard and I think John deserves a lot of credit for that.”
This is just the latest in an ongoing verbal love affair between all of the Boston sports coaches, some of whom have actually developed friendships away from their respective jobs. Perhaps one of the things that keeps that bond so tight is that all can relate to the rigors that come with coaching in Boston where success isn’t hoped for, it’s expected.
