The Boston Bruins received a reinforcement to their defensive corps Friday, but it wasn't an easy process for Anton Stralman to rejoin the team.
The veteran defenseman had been working on obtaining his work visa while in Canada, missing four out of Boston's first five games besides the one contest played in Ottawa.
After jumping through hoops to get back into the United States, Stralman flew into Boston Friday morning and was on the ice with his teammates for practice soon after at Warrior Ice Arena.
"It was frustrating, obviously," Stralman told reporters following the practice session, as seen in team-provided video. "It had to be done and everybody was doing their best, obviously, to make it happen. With anything like this, you want it to go fast and obviously quicker than it did. It is what it is. I have to deal with it."
Stralman is certainly glad to be able to put the situation behind him. He felt the rust though while playing in Boston's lone loss this season, which featured a horrid defensive showing as the Bruins allowed the Senators to score seven goals. The 36-year-old, who is playing for his seventh team in his 16-year NHL career, finished as a minus-2 in the contest and played 18:29.
"It was nice to be out there playing again," Stralman said. "It was tough to get into a groove of things, but we're past that now. Now, it's just look ahead and prepare every day and get back into everything. It feels good."
Stralman finding his footing is now key as he looks to become a contributor on the blue line. Bruins first-year coach Jim Montgomery said it's "highly unlikely" Stralman will play Saturday against the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden, per The Boston Herald's Steve Conroy.
Getting him more repetitions is the main reason why Stralman hasn't had much time to build a foundation in Boston. The Bruins first brought Stralman in on a professional tryout agreement before signing him to a one-year deal worth $1 million just prior to the start of the regular season. Now with the visa issues behind him, Stralman's just looking for some consistency in his life on and off the ice.
"It's just been a lot of uncertainty with the PTO and then finally getting the deal and then have to go to Canada to figure that out," Stralman said. "It's hard to find a rhythm and hard to get into the every day of being a hockey player. But now I'm here, so I'm looking forward to it. Ready to go."
