The Boston Bruins were back on the ice Monday.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara held his first “captain’s practice” of the fall, and was joined by eight other members of the team.
Here’s the full list of players who attended Monday’s optional skate:
Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Matt Beleskey, Zac Rinaldo, Noel Acciari
Defensemen: Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg
Goalies: Tuukka Rask
There were no real surprises besides Acciari, a former Providence College standout who will battle for a spot on the back end of Boston’s roster. Chara noted after practice he was glad to see new guys like Beleskey, Rinaldo and Acciari take the ice.
“It’s nice to see the new faces coming in early, settling down and making sure that they kind of start to fit in,” Chara told the Bruins’ official website. “Obviously, we try to help them as much as we can to make that transition easier for them.”
Let’s take a look at some other Bruins notes.
— Chara was excited to get back to business with his teammates. While it was a bit strange without some familiar faces (Milan Lucic, Dougie Hamilton, Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille, to name a few), he acknowledged that it’s just part of the business.
“Those (changes) are a part of the sport, or jobs that we have,” Chara said. “It’s something that we’re all used to, and they come with the territory. It’s tough to see guys being gone, but at the same time, we all knew — the management announced that they were going to make changes, and they’re going to try and improve the team.
“Anytime they make changes, you have to go with it. That’s the way it goes.”
— Chara says he’s totally healthy, including a full recovery from a torn PCL in his knee last October.
“The injuries are things that do happen,” he said, “but we all battle through different things throughout the season, and injuries are part of it. I’m just glad that I’m feeling better, and that’s the most important thing.
“As far as injuries go, they do happen, and you can’t control them. They come, and obviously you have to be dealing with them, and it’s always tough, and it’s not fun to be playing with injuries that are limiting you. I’m just glad to be healthy again to start the season.”
Chara also finished the season with a fracture in his leg, which he says changed his offseason conditioning and training.
“You make adjustments, but I wouldn’t say that you make major changes,” he added. “You always try to go back to what’s working for you and what’s been kind of (the) bread and butter, and you make some small changes. “But the biggest thing, I think, was I was just being smarter as far as taking some time off — you know, recovering — and do more quality stuff instead of quantity.
“Sometimes, less is more.”
The Bruins are expected back on the ice Tuesday.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@NHLBruins
