Boston Bruins Training Camp: Top Twelve

Sunday September 15, 2013

TD Garden

Section 139, Row 15

Jimmy's Jottings

“What do you want to know?” my wife asks me from her seat fifteen rows from the blueline. “You don’t have your glasses.”

I can’t read the roster, but I can the see the names and numbers on the ice and scribble notes.

“Any Newfoundlanders?” I ask.

1.    No Newfoundlanders. Two mainstay Maritimers, though: Brad Marchand (Halifax, NS) and Adam McQuaid (Charlottetown, PEI).

2.    Four Swedes: Loui Eriksson, Alex Fallstrom, Niklas Svedberg and Carl Söderberg

3.    Whenever I say Söderberg, I think of Irish soda bread.

4.    There are no players representing the Republic of Ireland, but we do have a Kelly (Chris) a Shawn (Thornton) and a Reilly (Smith).

5.    Dennis Seidenberg is from Germany (Schwenningen) not Quebec (Shawinigan).

6.    Bruins blogger Caryn Switaj stands in the players bench area, chucks a puck at the goal…and scores. The crowd cheers as Bon Jovi’s “Have a Nice Day” blares.

7.    ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” introduces the Bruins, led by Big Zed.

8.    The Bruins do not appear to have adopted my arena music proposal. (ZZ Top is Texas and Bon Jovi is oh so Jersey)

9.    The new black jerseys contain too much silver and not enough gold. The Bruins look more like LA Kings than Boston hockey royalty.

10.  Malcolm Subban is quick, and I don’t mean Jonathan. The new B’s backstop seems to possess explosive lateral speed.

11.  Torey Krug is strong with and without the puck—dumping David Krejci into the boards, retrieving pucks behind the net, and scoring on a slap shot that causes the Causeway crowd to ooh.

12.  Boos may greet Brad Marchand in opposing arenas, but here at TD Garden I like his spunk. In the skate-around before the second session, he steals the puck from an unsuspecting Patrice Bergeron, and then shoots—scoring into an empty net.