So what will be it — rest? Rust? A bit of both?
For their efforts in dispatching the Hurricanes in a four-game sweep during the Eastern Conference Final, the Bruins have earned themselves an 11-day break before battling either the Sharks or Blues in the Stanley Cup Final.
It’s a nice break from a frantic schedule that has seen the Bruins largely battle every other day for the past five weeks. But for some, Boston’s short series against Carolina should be viewed as much more of a curse than a blessing.
Boston is on the wrong side of history when it comes to its long layoff — as 10 of the last 13 teams that have won the Stanley Cup were the clubs that entered the final round with the shorter turnaround.
But speaking on Saturday at Warrior Ice Arena, Don Sweeney opted to focus on the short-term benefits of the break, rather than look down at the road at some potential big-picture issues.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Sweeney said. "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. They recognize the finish line and they want to get there.
“It’s a long way between there. But I think there are so many different momentums. The series is spread out in the Finals. 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.”
With the Sharks/Blues series out west not set to be resolved until Tuesday at the earliest, the Bruins will have to get creative with their preparations ahead of Game 1 of the Cup Final.
Regular practices are Warrior will be the standard itinerary for the club, but it looks as though both Sweeney and Cassidy will be ready to turn to outside help in an effort to hit the ground (or ice) running on May 27.
The Bruins have a battle-tested veteran core that has already taken Boston to a pair of trips to the Stanley Cup Final, but stalwarts such as Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask and Brad Marchand can’t be expected to have all of the best practices drummed up to keep this team fresh over the next week.
But another franchise about 30 minutes south of Boston might have a couple of ideas.
“We’re gonna tap into some outside resources that have gone through some layoffs and some situations, just try and do the best we can to simulate,” Sweeney said, adding: “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.”
The Patriots are no strangers when it comes to making the most of an extended layoff — with Bill Belichick’s team more often than not having to make the most out of a two-week break between the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.
Hockey and football might be drastically different sports, but Sweeney believes that there’s plenty of value in picking Belichick's brain — especially when it comes to maximizing an inactive window with situational drills and full scrimmages.
“Do I (know Belichick) personally? No. I have a hell of a lot of respect for the man, that’s for sure,” Sweeney said. “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.”
Of course, any advice that Belichick and the Patriots will impart on the Bruins will need to be translated from the gridiron to a sheet of ice, and Boston is going to need some additional bodies in order to simulate whichever foe the Western Conference is set to throw at it.
Enter the Black Aces.
Dubbed by former Bruins great Eddie Shore for the apparent unfortunate circumstances that would require an NHL team to call up one of these players — the Black Aces are a group of skaters/goalies that are essentially added insurance for a team during its Stanley Cup run.
They are comprised of players whose season has already ended — whether it be in the AHL, college, junior, etc. — and largely practice independently from the usual NHL roster. But when needed, they serve as part of the club’s expanded postseason roster, and are often the next men up when needed due to injuries.
The group comprising Boston’s Black Aces corps this year includes: Peter Cehlarik, Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, Trent Frederic, Jack Studnicka, Jordan Szwarz, Zach Senyshyn, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jeremy Lauzon, Kyle Keyser and Zane McIntyre.
“We’ve tried to make them understand that they’re not out of sight, out of mind,” Sweeney said of the Black Aces. “At any point in time, a player can find himself in that moment, in that stage. We were going into Game 4, and Zee is all of a sudden not going to play. Things change quickly, and all of our guys are here for a reason. They deserve to be here, and they’re part of it.”
Aside from the added insurance that these players bring on the injury front, Sweeney believes that the Black Aces will provide plenty of value for later in the week, especially if Cassidy opts to incorporate scrimmages into the mix during prep for the Cup Final.
“At this stage, it’s all hands on deck,” Sweeney said. “We’ll be integrating some players in and Bruce will map out really how he wants to, whether or not he’ll simulate some scrimmage stuff. We have enough players.”
It may not be enough for a full team vs. team practice bout, but the Black Aces offer more than enough to give Boston a challenge during whatever drills and situations that Cassidy and his staff drum up over the next week.
"Add them from where at this point in time? I have not been on the ice,” Sweeney said with a smile when asked if more players could be added to the Black Aces. “Butch is on the ice. Jay (Pandolfo) might. Jay might be able to. He’s in the best shape of anybody.”
Injury Updates
Given the extended time off before the Cup Final, the Bruins have a bit of a window for its injured crop of skaters to lick their wounds. However, Sweeney did note that even with a long break, B’s fans may not see Chris Wagner or Kevan Miller for any matchups against the Sharks/Blues, especially at the start of the series.
Miller has not resumed skating since suffering a serious lower-body injury back in early April, while — based on multiple sources —it seems as though Wagner’s season is over after blocking a shot in Game 3 vs. Carolina and injuring his arm.
“We’ve got some time to continue to evaluate where guys will be,” Sweeney said. “I don’t expect Kevan, had a little bit of a setback, so I don’t expect him to be ready to play. And I would be very surprised if Chris is ready to play, but we’ll wait and see where that goes.”
Boston’s GM might be keeping his cards close to his chest, but he did note that Zdeno Chara has a good chance — barring any setbacks — to be cleared for game action by the time Game 1 rolls around. Chara was a late scratch for Game 4 against the Hurricanes due to a nagging injury.
“I expect he’ll be fine, but I’m not going to sit here and make a proclamation, make promises,” Sweeney said. “I do believe the time will be used effectively, and he’ll be fine. But sometimes those are out of your control.”
Even if Boston held a commanding 3-0 series edge against Carolina going into Thursday’s clinching contest, Sweeney added that Chara’s absence was not a decision predicated on any breathing room that Boston had managed to make for itself. After all, Thursday stood as the first time that Chara has missed a playoff game since all the way back in 2011.
“Nope, no factors, game-to-game, decided that he wasn’t going to be able to be at his best in Game 4,” Sweeney said. “Next man up, Johnny (Moore) goes in, fortunate to have the guys waiting in the wings that way and well prepared. We would’ve made the same decision going into a Game 5, to tell you the truth. We’re living in it day-by-day, trying to give our team the best chance to win, and I think Bruce has picked his lineup that way. We’ve made all our decisions that way, and we’re going to continue to operate that way.”
Lauko making his mark at Memorial Cup
Studnicka might be helping the Bruins prep for the fourth and final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but another one of Boston’s top forward prospects is also still in the midst of a Cup run of his own.
Jakub Lauko, Boston’s third-round selection (77th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft, has had quite the start to his hockey career in North America, with the Czech native’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) team standing as the league representative for 2019 Memorial Cup — which determines the overall champion of the Canadian Hockey League.
So far, the 19-year-old winger seems to be doing just fine on the biggest stage of junior hockey, as he buried a pretty nifty goal during the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies’ 5-2 loss to the Guelph Storm on Saturday.
Tabbed as a potential steal when he was snatched up by the Bruins last June, Lauko has lived up to the billing as a dynamic, scoring winger up in Canada — tallying 21 goals and 41 total points over 44 regular-season games with the Huskies, including 13 points over 19 playoff games.
It will be interesting to see the strides made by Lauko with another development camp under his belt this June.
Don't count these @HuskiesRn out just yet! @NHLBruins prospect Jakub Lauko(#NHLBruins) gets the puck and uses a power move to take it to the net and score!#MemorialCup2019 pic.twitter.com/4TvnRbSMgP
— Eliteprospects (@eliteprospects) May 18, 2019