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When the puck drops for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, it will be the Bruins first game in 11 days.
Not ideal for a team as hot as the Bruins.
After playing in 13 of a possible 14 games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins made quick work of the Carolina Hurricanes, sweeping their Eastern Conference Finals series with the ‘Canes.
With the St. Louis Blues victorious in Friday’s Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, tying the series at two, the Stanley Cup Final schedule has been set. Game 1 is scheduled for Monday, May 27.
Is that too much time off for the Bruins?
“I think in the short term it’s really beneficial for our group,” general manager Don Sweeney said Saturday morning at Warrior Ice Arena. “The players themselves, seven-game series, six-game series – we were fortunate to close out quickly against Carolina. But we’ve been peddle to the metal here mentally and physically for a while. I do believe in the short term it will help us a lot.”
One person the long break will benefit will be captain Zdeno Chara who missed Game 4 Thursday with an undisclosed injury. Following Game 4, head coach Bruce Cassidy admitted he expected Chara to be ready for Game 1 whenever that may be.
Now that we know the date of Game 1, Sweeney expects the same.
“Yeah, yeah. But again, we’ve got a lot of time to make the absolute right decision and give him the proper time to get over something that’s been nagging him,” Sweeney said. “We’ll cross our fingers that that will be the case, but we’re confident it will be.”
As for the Bruins two other injured players in Chris Wagner and Kevan Miller, the long break between series may not be as helpful for them, as it will be for Chara.
"I don’t expect Kevan, had a little bit of a setback, so I don’t expect him to be ready to play," said Sweeney. "And I would be very surprised if Chris is ready to play, but we’ll wait and see where that goes."
Thanks to their bye week, combined with the NHL’s All-Star break, the Bruins went nine days without playing a game in late January.
Once the Bruins returned from their break, they dropped the two following contests. One a shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the other an overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. In the seven games following their nine day break, the Bruins went without a regulation loss, going 4-0-3.
After the Columbus Blue Jackets swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first round series, the Jackets went eight days between games, before taking on the Bruins in Game 1 of the second round.
After the Bruins picked up an overtime win in Game 1, Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella addressed their first period struggles which he attributed to the time off.
“Yeah, you saw our struggles in the first. We couldn’t handle the tempo of the game, or we just weren’t thinking quick enough. I don’t know how you can get that. We just couldn’t simulate that as far as trying to get ready, and you’ve got that team coming on a high,” Tortorella said.
After the Bruins victory in Game 4 over Carolina Thursday, Cassidy mentioned picking up the phone and picking some brains on how to handle the long break between games. On Saturday, Sweeney went into further detail on that plan.
“There’s different sports, there’s crossovers that we’ve all sort of identified that we’re gonna tap into,” Sweeney said. “There’s a local team that’s had time between when they’re going to the Super Bowl. We are gonna look at different resources that have done it and done it well.”
Sweeney went on to admit he does not have a personal relationship with Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick, but it’s a guy he has a ton of respect for.
“Do I personally? No. I have a hell of a lot of respect for the man, that’s for sure. But I think we’re gonna reach out to their group and tap into every different – we look at everybody’s assets in that way and hopefully they’ll be able to share some information with us,” Sweeney said.
It’s not really a concern of staying fresh and keeping your body in game shape. Nice hard skates can maintain that. It’s the mental and physical game that the Stanley Cup Playoffs bring that is nearly impossible to replicate.
“We do have black aces, a group, would we scrimmage, you know, one day to try to keep the edge. But even then if you scrimmage, are guys really going to be physical against one another? They're not. So you know, I don't have a great answer right now,” Cassidy said Thursday night.
As the remaining Bruins from the 2011 Stanley Cup season, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask and even Steven Kampfer found themselves in a similar situation in the 2011 playoffs.
“That's why we'll have to sit down internally, see what the best fit is, and ask the guys in the room,” added Cassidy. “They went through it in '11, they swept Philadelphia I believe in the second round before they played Tampa, so they might have a good idea of how it affected them and what the best course of action.”
After sweeping the Flyers in the second round, the Bruins went seven days before kicking off the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals.
“I’m not concerned about it. I really believe our team has earned the right to be here. They’re in the moment. If you really listen to our leadership group – and there’s a lot of microphones in and around the game now – you can understand how dialed in they are,” added Sweeney. “The series is spread out in the Final. You’ve got days in between and two days for travel. It’s a game by game, shift by shift, and guys need to live in the moment. I think we recognize that.”
A big reason as to why the Bruins are four wins away from their second Stanley Cup in nine seasons is because of how well Tuukka Rask has been in goal for the Bruins. He’s had arguably the best run of his career.
....More on that later this week.
But once again Sweeney does not seem too concerned with the time off for Rask.
“I’d have to go back and look, but I think Tuukka missed, when he was concussed, I think he missed quite a bit of time then came back and played well,” Sweeney said. “He’s in a really good place, a really good place mentally and physically and his routines.”
Thanks to the above-mentioned nine day break, Rask only technically missed one game. But with the concussion suffered in the January 19th loss to the New York Rangers, Rask went 11 days without appearing in a game.
In the seven games following his return, Rask went 6-0-1 with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. In those seven games, Rask had a game where he allowed four goals in an overtime win against the Kings, and a five goal game in an overtime win against the Sharks. Two games that inflate those numbers a bit.
It sounds like in the days leading up to Game 1, rest and practice will be key.
“We have to give guys the appropriate time to recover and then go to work. I think our guys know how to practice. We’re a team that likes to practice, except for Krech [David Krejci], who has publicly stated that he doesn’t like to practice,” Sweeney said with a smile.
“But I think this time of the year he’ll show up and practice accordingly.”
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