By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Bruins had near perfect attendance in their first day back at Warrior Ice Arena for training camp 2.0, as wingers Ondrej Kase and David Pastrnak served as the club’s most notable absences.
Their absences didn’t blindside the Bruins, really, as the duo recently returned to the United States from the Czech Republic and were following the necessary self-quarantine guidelines. General manager Don Sweeney alluded to this being the case during his Sunday conference with the media, and B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed as much after their first skate back.
“I think with Kase and Pastrnak — we talked about the timing of when they got here — they have to have enough tests,” said Cassidy.
With Pastrnak absent from the first line, Karson Kuhlman skated to the right of the Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand combination, while Anders Bjork got a look with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci on Boston’s second line.
Other absences from Monday’s session included forwards Anton Blidh and Trent Frederic, defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, goaltender Daniel Vladar, and assistant coach Kevin Dean.
The NHL is going to be incredibly vague about these absences, as Cassidy essentially acknowledged, saying that any player who did not make it to the rink would be labeled “unable to practice or unable to be here” per the league’s protocol.
But even without a full group at his disposal, Cassidy felt the Bruins had a “really good” first day back.
“I thought our guys had excellent pace,” said Cassidy. “Execution was pretty good for a first practice. I know a lot of guys have been working, skating, but still, as a group, a lot of bodies out there. I thought the willingness to work was excellent.
“It reminded me a lot of our practices during the year where guys are working hard, taking care of business, but enjoying themselves, having fun and chirping each other. It was like kind of where we left off in terms of the mood [of the team].”
The Bruins will continue to work at Warrior before making the move to Toronto later this month and beginning their round-robin tournament play on Aug. 2 against the Philadelphia Flyers.