When the Boston Bruins hosted defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh in their March debut, it didn’t take long for a smattering of "We want the Cup" chants to rain down from the TD Garden balcony.
The start of the National Hockey League postseason was still more than a month away when they were first heard, but Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and the team’s brass went to work at the Feb. 26 trade deadline, pushing all the right buttons to make sure the Boston club — with its great mix of young and old — would have all the right pieces and be in the best position to make a deep run.
"They’ve fit in seamlessly," head coach Bruce Cassidy said of forwards Brian Gionta, Tommy Wingels and Rick Nash and defenseman Nick Holden, who all joined the Bruins for the final full month of the year. "I think our young guys have really helped it as well because they bring a lot of energy as acquisitions near the deadline.
"They all have their own personality, but they’re respectful. They want to learn from these veteran guys. … I think they all just want to come in, do their part; so they’re good people as well."
Perhaps the acquisition of Gionta following the Olympic Winter Games was the most surprising given the great deal of veteran talent already in the fold for Boston, but it turned out that Patrice Bergeron and David Backes were two of several Bruins who would miss time with injuries over the following weeks. Thus, his arrival has turned out to be an important move for the here and now.
Gionta had not played in a game at the NHL level (and just one total in North America) all season before captaining Team USA at the Olympics and then donning the "Spoked B" for the first time in his professional career. He signed a $700,000 free-agent contract for the remainder of the season, made his debut on Feb. 25 and logged points in four of his first five games with the team.
"I’ve been going at it all year. It’s not like I’ve been sitting at home, so I knew coming in that I was going to feel comfortable, but obviously you want to get out on the right foot," said Gionta, who spent much of the season prior to the Olympics training with his hometown American Hockey League team, the Rochester Americans. "You’re coming into a good situation with a good bunch of guys, and whatever role is asked, I’m willing and happy to play that part."
A Boston College alum and veteran of more than 1,000 NHL games, Gionta has fit in nicely with his new club, seeing time as a net-front presence on the power play while sliding into a variety of line combinations while several regulars were out of the lineup due to injuries. In addition to Bergeron and Backes, fellow forward Anders Bjork underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on Feb. 21, while Jake DeBrusk and Nash both sustained upper-body injuries that kept them out during the second half of March.
Gionta — who played with fellow Bruins newcomer and Scituate, Mass., native Ryan Donato, who just completed his junior year at Harvard, during the Olympics — offers a veteran presence, but even Cassidy was initially left impressed with how quickly the transition to his new team came, especially as those around him adjusted to new roles in the wake of injuries.
"Gio comes in — a true pro and looks like he hasn’t missed any time," remarked Cassidy. "I don’t know how you do that at this level, any professional hockey level, not being rusty. … He’s been around and knows the everyday battles that go along with being an NHLer, time and space, little plays. It looks like he hasn’t missed a beat at all."
Wingels made his Bruins debut just a game earlier after being acquired from Chicago on Feb. 26. At such a key juncture of the season, there was no time to make adjustments. But from playing the Bruins through his first 400-plus NHL games with San Jose and the Blackhawks, he knew there wasn’t a lot he needed to do to put himself in a position to succeed with this club.
"It’s a skilled team that plays physical, that works hard, that’s tough to play against and that’s well-coached," said Wingels, who played for the AHL’s former Worcester Sharks during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. "When you have that combination of skill and skill that works, that’s a tough combination to play against. So, whenever you play the Bruins, you knew you were in for a game.
I think that’s as good of a compliment as you can give." Holden echoed similar sentiments after seeing the Bruins as an Eastern Conference rival with the New York Rangers over the past two seasons. He’s happy to jump into the fold with a club that has been one of the NHL’s most consistent, having lost just 10 games in regulation since mid-November.
"Come the deadline, they made the moves they did because the team is doing well," said Holden, who was also teammates with Nash in New York beginning last season. "They just want to solidify their team because they think it’s playing well enough to have a shot at going all the way. The way they were playing and the consistency they showed all year was nice to step into, so I’m just trying to help add to that."
After making the moves last month, it’s just about time to see how far they’ll take the Bruins this spring … and summer.
