The NHL decided to be really good and schedule an 11 day rest for the Bruins in the middle of a playoff run. This is good for rest, but terrible for routine. NHL players don’t really go this much time without playing a game unless they’re injured, so I figured the Bruins would do something like this. I’m always right, so they are playing a full intrasquad scrimmage of two 25 minute halves tonight, May 23rd.
I was going to wait until after the scrimmage to give my thoughts but they aren’t televising it. By the way, there’s no way they wouldn’t get good ratings if they did televise it. The Red Sox played in the afternoon today so I don’t know why they wouldn’t show the scrimmage on NESN instead of In-Depth with Graham Bensinger Jesse Jackson, but I digress.
They’re doing this for two main reasons. One is for the routine of a game day. They’re going to do their pre-game routines just like they would for any other game, as well as time warm-ups and things like that. The other reason is for the pace of a real game. The tempo of changing in and out and battling for pucks is a little different than just taking rushes in practice. Bruce Cassidy has made it clear that while they will be battling hard for pucks and playing at a playoff pace, they will be avoiding turning the game into a physicality contest.
The Bruins sold tickets for $20 each and completely sold out the arena (we like hockey in Boston). Proceeds are going to the Bruins foundation.
In order to get two teams of three lines and three sets of defensemen, the Bruins are throwing their “black aces” into the mix for this scrimmage. Cassidy has also said that the game will be under a certain amount of control. The team wants to make sure they simulate important game scenarios like special teams and a 6-on-5 with the goalie pulled at the end no matter what the score is. Cassidy also wants to simulate different kinds of matchups like a top line vs a checking line or a mismatch like fresh legs vs. tired legs due to icing. If scenarios like this don’t occur organically, he’ll mix it up so that the players get true game experience.
Everyone is very excited to see how the Bruins players stack up against some actually tough competition. Word in the locker room is that this will be the toughest game the players have played in the entire playoff run so far.
