When you’re having the historic season the Boston Bruins are having, it’s hard not to enjoy every minute of it. The team is loose and having fun but still focused on achieving the goal they set out to capture at the beginning of the season — winning the Stanley Cup.
Boston has dominated every stat from wins (64), goal differential (+127), points percentage (82.1%) and points (133). It’s literally absurd, and center Charlie Coyle is enjoying every minute of it.
Coyle was a guest on NHL Network’s show “NHL Now” on Wednesday to discuss the season, his teammates, the goalie love and David Pastrnak’s style.
“It’s been such a blast,” Coyle said. “In previous seasons, it’s like you win a few games, you lose a few games, and the games you lose, you come in the next day, and it’s kind of dull, it’s kind of like the clouds are in the sky, it’s raining. It’s just been fun every day coming to the rink.”
Coyle said going back to training camp in September, the Bruins heard the noise about the club missing key players to start the season and that they’d be lucky to be .500 when they were fully healthy. They wanted to prove those naysayers wrong.
“We have a guy named Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci coming back and playing huge on your team,” Coyle explained of the team’s mindset. “When you have centers like those guys down the middle and what they’re still capable of at their age is awesome.”
But it wasn’t just the veterans returning for another season wearing the Spoked-B.They had new guys like Pavel Zacha and A.J. Greer stepping up, while Trent Frederic and Nick Foligno also improved. Coyle added one big X-factor has been their goalie tandem.
“It is very special to watch. … These guys take care of each other. They root for each other. You can just tell, they literally love each other, and that’s what it’s all about,” Coyle said. “I think that’s why they are doing so well. They know they have each other’s backs.
“They’re both playing just unbelievable hockey this whole year and how lucky are we to have one of them but two of them? It’s pretty insane to think about, but they’re such good buddies off the ice. It’s not a charade. That’s how they are just good, solid people, and they’re, of course, great goalies and were lucky to have them. It’s cool to watch.”
Coyle said that having such an outstanding goalie tandem has spoiled the Bruins this season, not just the fans.
“We have those two guys back there when we break down during games we’re not even panicking like we should be,” Coyle said. “But these guys come up huge on a number of occasions. We’re so lucky and it’s just an awesome thing to see two guys like that playing the same position, rooting each other on. It can’t get much better than that.”
Beyond having a great goalie tandem, the Bruins have also been lucky to have David Pastrnak reach the milestone of 60 goals and more than 110 points. Pastrnak not only leads the Bruins in points, he is also leading the way with his eccentric style.
“I don’t know if I envy it or not, because some of the stuff he wears I just can’t see myself doing that,” Coyle chuckled.
“But he pulls it off and it’s one thing to dress like that but then to go out and he puts up 60 goals and 100-somehting points, he backs it up 100 percent.”
Coyle added that as great as the regular season has been with all the team records and individual milestones, they have one goal in mind.
“It’s been good, a lot of success so far,” Coyle said. “But we’re definitely looking for more … and the playoffs kick off in a week here.”
The Bruins don’t know who they will face in the first round yet. Both the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders have clinched the two Wild Card spots, but with only one point separating them and Florida having one game remaining Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston will have to wait another day.
