Bruins’ Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy Detail Difficulties Of Playing In China

After a 10-day trip overseas, the Bruins are back in Boston.

It wasn’t an easy trip for many of the regulars. Aside from jet lag after a 16-hour flight to China, the Black and Gold’s equipment was held at customs, causing a shift to the practice schedule, thus making it difficult to get into a routine.

For Charlie McAvoy, he said finding positive takeaways from practice was difficult and the team struggled to find a rhythm.

“You just want to feel in the preseason like you’re always going up. Like every practice, you get out of it like, ‘Alright, I got better today. I got better today,'” McAvoy said, via MassLive’s Conor Ryan. “To the point where finally you hit a stride and you say, ‘Alright, bring on Washington. I’m ready to go.’ … It was so hard to pull good positives out of those practices over there because of how I was feeling.”

Brad Marchand wasn’t so much concerned about himself, but for the younger players who made the trip. The winger noted that although the experience was fun, it certainly was tough for them.

“The way everything kind of played out, it was a very tough situation, especially for a young guy to be in,” Marchand said. “I kind of feel bad for the guys that were there that are trying to make an impression on the group, having to go through everything that went on over there.”

Marchand noted the trip was easier for veterans such as himself because they are locks to make the roster. Young players like Jack Studnicka or Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, however, don’t have guaranteed spots in the lineup and are fighting for the open positions.

“As a young guy, trying to make an impression — the hurdles that we had to go through and how hard it was to feel good on the Olympic ice and bad ice, not practicing very much,” Marchand added. “It’d be very tough to feel good in a game. You’ve got to give those guys a lot of credit.”

Boston open its regular season Oct. 3 on the road against the Washington Capitals, so both the veterans and young players have some time to find their groove before the puck drops for the regular season.