Sean Kuraly hasn’t had much luck over the last couple of years.
If we’re talking about his fortunes on the ice? Well, that’s a different story.
After all, the 27-year-old forward has seen his stock soar from AHL call-up in 2016-17 to the primary driver of a vital Bruins fourth line in 2019 and beyond.
But off the ice — and namely, on the tarmac — Kuraly has whiffed the last couple of seasons when it comes to finding a dependable seatmate on the numerous chartered flights the Bruins set out on every year.
“I sat with Riley Nash my first year — and he left,” Kuraly explained. "I had Noel Acciari my last year, and he left. Now it's (Jake) DeBrusk — me and JD sit together. And he's a good seatmate. He knows to leave me alone. I don't want to be bothered. No, we get along. We're good buddies.”
In DeBrusk, Kuraly might have finally found ended the perpetual search for a reliable flight buddy. But in the totally unbiased and impartial view of DeBrusk, Kuraly doesn’t quite know how good he has it.
When it comes to the battle for vacancies on team flights, DeBrusk believes he holds sway over the top piece of real estate — the figurative “Boardwalk” on the Monopoly board that is the B’s chartered flights.
Well, you see, it’s a competition,” DeBrusk told BostonSportsJournal of the battle for seatmates on B’s flights. “And I’ve got the hot seat.”
It doesn’t take all that much to get the competitive juices flowing on an NHL roster.
Even outside of on-ice practices and games, the Bruins are often finding ways to claim bragging rights over one another when it comes to multiple challenges and games — both impromptu and regularly scheduled contests.
The most popular off-ice fixture is a boisterous game of “sewer ball” — a two-touch showdown with a soccer ball that has become a regular pregame routine for multiple NHL clubs. If it’s not that, the Bruins are embroiled in a game of knockout, or vying to finally unseat Zdeno Chara for the most chin-ups recorded during conditioning tests.
(No one has seized the crown from the B’s captain yet.)
As such, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the competition to capture open seats on the team flights can really ramp up at the start of a new season.
After all, there are only so many seats available, given that many veterans and regulars on the roster have already settled into their tried-and-true configurations years ago.
“I always play cards, so I always sit across from Marchy (Brad Marchand) at one table,” Chris Wagner said. “And then Torey (Krug) sits diagonally across from me and Krech (David Krejci) is next to him. Pasta (David Pastrnak) is on my right side.”
Photo Courtesy: Brian Babineau/Boston Bruins
Bruins
NHL Notebook: Inside the 'competition' that comes with choosing seatmates on Bruins' team flights; Kreider injured
Photo Courtesy: Brian Babineau/Boston Bruins
"We usually have pretty much assigned seats,”
Matt Grzelcyk
added. “Everyone is in the same seat every time. So me and Heino (
Danton Heinen
), we sit right behind the cards table. It's nice to kinda have that same routine. Sometimes we'll compare stuff that we watch and things like that.”
“
A lot of guys have come and gone from that seat,”
Charlie McAvoy
said. “Used to be me and JD. Who else? It’s kinda been a revolving door for my seat next to me.”
When he first earned the call up to the NHL ranks in 2017, DeBrusk and
Anders Bjork
were regulars on flights together. But when injuries knocked Bjork out of commission, the open seat next to DeBrusk became another carousel of skaters until
Rick Nash
became the regular there for the stretch run.
But when Nash ultimately retired the following year, DeBrusk was again once stuck with a revolving door in his aisle, especially with Bjork’s 2018-19 season halted once again due to injuries.
But this year, things were going to be different — or so DeBrusk and Bjork thought.
“I had Bjorkie when we first came in. Me and Bjorkie decided we were going to stay together no matter what. ... I actually had my own spot for a bit, but then when Bjorkie came back, he wanted that spot. This year Sean came in and was like, ‘Hey is anyone sitting here?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it's going to be Bjorkie's spot.’
“He goes, ‘Oh, it's Bjorkie's spot? I'm sitting here for the rest of the year.’ So we've been sitting together now. And, Bjorkie sits right in front of us. But he was so upset with me. He was so mad. I was just like, ‘Dude, it's a hot seat.’
“Even Charlie McAvoy was there (sitting next to DeBrusk) too, but he plays cards sometimes. … Jaro Halak is across from me and he always sees this stuff happen and he's like, ‘How many guys do you have here? It's like, I don't run the show, man. I'm sticking with my spot, so they gotta figure it out."
"I used to sit next to JD a lot, and now I'm sitting with the C-man, Charlie McAvoy," Bjork said. "I lived with him the past few years, but I don't anymore. So that's kind of our roommate time. It had been for a little bit."
"The past two years I've been next to Nordy (Joakim Nordstrom)," Brandon Carlo said.
“I kind of just offered that seat up when he came to the team last year. And he's a good guy to have on a long flight. He's courteous, doesn't fart a lot, so it's all good.”
“I mean I'll take the easy route, I think I like everyone,” the Bruins defenseman said when asked if there was anyone he wouldn't want to sit with on a long flight.
"Um, I think there's a couple guys who are a little stinky," Carlo said.
"Wags, for sure," DeBrusk retorted days later.
"I'm a smaller guy so I'm not going to have too much trouble. I think a lot of guys wouldn't mind sitting next to me because I'm not going to take up too much space," Grzelcyk joked. "But no, the one thing about this team is I think everyone feels comfortable to either talk to anyone and go out to dinner with anyone. If you're on the road and you'd go and grab dinner with anyone, it's not awkward or weird. So especially as a younger guy, I think that means so much more to you, makes you feel more comfortable around the room, and I think that has a direct impact on how you play on the ice."
OTHER NHL NOTES:
Chris Kreider
David Quinn
Marc Bergevin
Ilya Kovalchuk.
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