Boston Bruins’ Tyler Seguin excited for first Play-off experience against Tampa Bay Lightning
It might seem like a big job for such a young player but it surely will be an experience of a life time as the Boston Bruins have selected to play Tyler Seguin, their 19-year-old rookie in the opening match-up against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern
Conference finals.
Seguin was drafted in the 2010 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft as a second overall pick in the first round. Since his induction into the Boston Bruins line-up, Seguin has played regularly in the 82-game season but has not seen action for over a
month since the begging of the play-offs. As their only back-up centre, the Bruins have decided to test him out in place of their experienced Patrice Bergeron who went out last Friday during their last match-up against the Philadelphia Flyers with symptoms
of a mild concussion and is most likely to miss the opening match against Tampa Bay.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen to [Bergeron] . . . It’s a hard mental and emotional state to a get a grasp on, but it was an unfortunate bounce that happens in the game of hockey. It was my job to stay physically and mentally ready, and I’ve been
able to do it. I’ve been working hard and trying to keep as sharp as I can. Over the last week I’ve been feeling as good as I have in a long time,” he said talking to the media after announcement of his induction into the starting line-up.
During their practise session on Monday in Boston, the Bruins management now have high hopes after seeing his performance. It was back in March when Seguin made a huge goal of the Nashville Predators when he slap shot the puck and through one of the league’s
best goalies, Pekka Rinne. It just goes to show that no matter how big of a force in front of him, Senguin is capable of tackling it without a problem.
The Bruins agree that Seguin is a lot like Steven Stamkos as he was in the beginning but a little better as he could not even handle the puck properly during main events. Playing him in the play-offs at this time of year will certainly build him into a top-notch
player for Boston in the future even if he is unable to perform extraordinarily in the first match on Saturday.
“[Seguin] can almost look at this year’s playoffs as a microcosm for Stamkos,” said Boston’s General Manager Peter Chiarelli. “Stamkos really struggled [in his first year]. He couldn’t hold on to a puck . . . he was stripped. Then you just saw him get a
little bit heavier, a little bit harder on the puck and then it all just switched like that for him.”
Despite the criticism coming from Tampa Bay, alleging that they will have an easy time racking in the goals, Seguin remains confident, after all, over a month of watching his team perform in tight situations might have had some affect on his game-play which
he will show on Saturday.
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