Bruins Doing Best to Adapt with Top Players in COVID Protocol

BOSTON - The Bruins' battle with COVID-19 continued on Wednesday morning with captain Patrice Bergeron the latest member of the organization to land in the league's virus protocols. Bergeron joined linemate Brad Marchand and winger Craig Smith, both of whom entered protocols on Tuesday ahead of Boston's 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at TD Garden.
"You just hope it doesn't keep spreading," said Charlie Coyle, who met with the media at Warrior Ice Arena following an off-ice workout for the club. "You never know what's gonna happen, right? You hate to see that. You want everyone to be healthy and playing and have your full team. Hopefully it's limited and we can keep moving."

The Bruins are slated to take on the New York Islanders on Thursday night in their first visit to the new UBS Arena, before heading back to Canada for a weekend back-to-back with the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators. It is that Canadian portion of the trip that is creating an added level of anxiety for the Black & Gold, who would have to deal with stricter COVID-19 restrictions north of the border should anyone test positive for the virus while in the country.
As such, the Bruins will limit their time in Canada by staying over on Long Island after the game against the Islanders and traveling to Montreal on Friday. Cassidy added that he was not aware of any plans for the Canadian portion of the trip to be postponed.
"I know that there's discussion about players that test there [and the challenges that would follow]," said Cassidy. "I know we've discussed staying in New York Thursday after the game as opposed to going right to Montreal so that we test and if anybody does pop, they're in New York and they can get back a lot easier than Montreal. That has been discussed. But going to Canada, I'm not aware that we're not going."
As the pandemic rears its head once again, the NHL and other sports leagues across North America are being forced re-implement restrictions and more stringent protocols, all of which the players have gotten used to over the past couple of years. Despite the challenges that come with enhanced COVID procedures, Coyle said it's important to maintain some perspective.
"Things can always be worse," said Coyle. "You've got to do another test or two - it's not ideal but we've got to do it and follow the protocols and do what you can and do your part in trying not to spread this thing even more especially throughout your locker room and your team."

Cassidy knows firsthand how difficult this situation is to maneuver, having recently missed two weeks with his own bout of COVID-19, but said the team must attempt to stay focused on their jobs as long as there are games on the schedule.
"We've been dealing with it for two full years now," said Cassidy. "It's there, it's real. I just lived it. I know some other players have. Will that solve the problem if you shut down [the league] for two weeks or are you going to go through the same thing [later on]?
"Those are things that go through your head but at the end of the day you've got to focus on the task at hand, do your best to stay within the protocols and healthy. I think the more you're staying out of crowds and those things and away from opportunities when you will get infected, you've got to be smart in those areas as best you can…at the end of the day, this is our job and we've got to be prepared to do it."
With Bergeron, Marchand, and Smith all out of the lineup, there will be plenty of opportunity for others to step up given the amount and the importance of the situations those players are relied upon to play in each night.
"You hope the guys still play within themselves and tighten up in other areas," said Cassidy. "Other guys that get the opportunity have to step up a little bit and create a little more. There's a lot of different things that go into it. I don't think you can ever replace Marchy, Bergy, high impact guys in your lineup, just by plugging someone there.
"It's got to be more about how the team performs as a group than one individual. That will be the case here. We're going on the road playing against some teams that have had some of issues of their own. The Islanders have gone through having to replace players. Other teams have had to battle through it, that's what's in front of us right now."
"At some point, you've got to say, 'Here's my opportunity, here's my moment,' and have at it."

Jack Studnicka, recalled from Providence on an emergency basis along with Oskar Steen on Tuesday night, is one player that Cassidy said could step in to fill those significant minutes. Boston's bench boss added that it's also a chance for the 22-year-old to get his game back on track after what he called an "uneven" stretch down in Providence.
"Jack was good at training camp," said Cassidy. "That is the last viewing I saw of him other than the few games he's played here and there. But the most consistent stretch of two or three weeks he was here for was camp. For me, I do remember a guy that was playing better here. That matters as well.
"We'll make a decision accordingly…We'll huddle up and do what's best for the group. But yeah, I think we'd all like to see Jack go in and play well. He's a guy that we've talked about for a while in the middle, just like [Trent Frederic]. He's had an opportunity in the middle. We'd like to see some growth there as well."
On the whole, Cassidy is not yet sure how the lineup will shake out. With two-thirds of the top line and another top-six winger sidelined, he said the Bruins will aim to spread the offense around as evenly as possible.
"I don't know. We've loaded up a top line here, obviously, but we've had good underneath support with [Taylor] Hall, Coyle, different people, Smitty when he's going, [David Krejci] in the past," said Cassidy. "[If we put] Coyle up with Hall and [Pastrnak], how does affect the next three lines? We have to have a conversation about that, what's best for the group."
Cassidy was pleased with the trio of Coyle, Erik Haula, and Jake DeBrusk on Tuesday night against Vegas and could opt to keep them together and play a more defensive center between Hall and Pastrnak.
"They got going a little bit, Jake on the right, maybe there's something there," Cassidy said of the Coyle line. "But then there's a big hole in the middle [on the top line]…sometimes put a defensive center in there and let Hall and Pastrnak do their thing and have a good solid defensive center down there to take care of business at the other end. There are different ways we could do it. You might see a variety of them this week until we see what it looks like."