#bruins practice

[chuckschippedchomper]

when studs and freddie play together on the same line

[pitchingcheese]

Ristuccia Arena, November 2015:

Tuukka Rask gets into a fight with a goalie training dummy. 

~pitchingcheese

[pitchingcheese]

Could you explain a little bit about how Bruins open practices work, and can you meet the players while you're there?

A REAL QUESTION! HAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHA IT’S A NEW YEAR’S MIRACLE!!

Pardon. I don’t normally get questions, and this is a big moment for me.

I actually have been meaning to make a post about the practices at Ristuccia Arena, and I am always happy to inform people as to how they work. This may be a long post, but I like to explain things thoroughly.

So, Ristuccia Arena is an awesome ice arena that is used by a few different organizations which include: two women’s hockey teams, a youth hockey team, and a goaltender training organization which may or may not still be there. Ristuccia started facilitating Bruins practices in the 1980’s. Unfortunately, the Bruins have recently elected to move their practice facility to the Allston-Brighton region of Boston, as they apparently felt an upgrade was needed. However, construction of the facility won’t be completed until Fall of 2016, so there will still be a year-and-a-half of practices to be watched and enjoyed by Bruins fans at Ristuccia. 

I’m not sure of the exact number, but I’ve probably been to about 10 to 15 practices at Ristuccia. You can find out when the practices are being held by a few different sources. You can check the Bruins’ news feed, where you can click on the most recent “Bruins Week Ahead” posts, or you could go to ristucciaarena.com and check the actual practice schedule that is updated monthly. 

This is all pretty straightforward, but it does come with some challenges:

CHALLENGES:

- The folks that run the Ristuccia website don’t always post the updated schedule at the beginning of every month. In fact, I have seen them go an entire month without posting it at all. They have been pretty good about doing it lately though. I post these schedules monthly once I see that the website has posted them.

-The “Bruins Week Ahead” posts only show one week, which makes it very difficult to plan ahead if you are driving to Wilmington from a distance.

-And the biggest challenge of all is when they schedule a practice, and it becomes an optional practice with only a few players appearing on the ice, or worse- the practice is cancelled altogether with absolutely no warning. This has happened to me many times. The main signs that a practice has been cancelled include: 1) The ice is clear of anyone except for a zamboni driver during the time when the practice was set to begin, or 2) the lights are off, or in the process of being shut off. In this case, there is nothing you can do but come back during another practice.

WHEN A PRACTICE ACTUALLY HAPPENS:

The other two-thirds of the time when a practice isn’t cancelled or made optional, they provide a fantastic opportunity to see some of the behind-the-scenes action of how the Bruins play, and how the coaches work with the players to achieve success. 

Here are a few important facts:

-Injured players skate first, often prior to the start of the scheduled practice, arrive about 15 minutes early.

-The practices usually last about an hour to a half-hour. There are a variety of different things that the team does, including shootout-style practice and face-off drills. The defencemen are dressed in black, while the forwards are dressed in colored shirts; the 1st line is white, 2nd line is yellow, 3rd line is grey, and the 4th line is red (hence the “Merlot line”). Different players can be on different lines depending on the practice.

-Pictures are always allowed, and you can get the best shots with a digital camera by sitting in the second or third row of seats. It’s the difference between this kind of shot:

 And this kind of shot:

-The arena is kept at a very low internal temperature for optimal ice quality, so dress for Winter-type temperatures. If you are going to be doing a lot of photography, gloves are recommended. 

-For reasons that I am unsure of, there isn’t any cellphone coverage in the arena, so you have to go outside to make calls.

AFTER THE PRACTICE:

The players and coaches will slowly start to leave the ice and head towards the locker room. Usually the defencemen will stay on the longest, as will the players that need the most practice. 

Now, onto the question you were wondering about. MEETING THE PLAYERS. There is a section of the parking lot which is roped off and reserved for the players and coaches. (I parked there once on a quiet day JUST TO SAY THAT I COULD HAHAHA)  It’s just beyond this sign, which warns people not to wait for autographs.

Everyone seems to ignore it, and I have only heard one story of Peter Chiarelli yelling at someone to go away. People congregate there to wait for the players to emerge from the arena, which can be anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes after they leave the ice depending on whether or not the do interviews or have discussions with the coaches and things like that. Some players will stop, and others won’t. Sometimes it depends on who is driving the car. For example, I had never seen Patrice Bergeron stop to meet with the fans, but a few weeks ago he was in the car and Torey Krug was driving, and Torey tends to stop for fans. 

WHICH IS HOW THIS HAPPENED HAHAHAHA. ITS ALSO CONSIDERABLY FUNNIER IF YOU DON’T SMILE BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE BRUINS PLAYER WILL BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL REALLY FRIENDLY. I’m only joking here, I didn’t smile in the photo above to give my cousins a laugh. I thanked Patrice afterwards, and congratulated him on his success during the Olympics last year, as I am a huge team Canada fan.

Anyway, regardless of the face you make, it will be pretty cool and funny to meet one of the players. Always be considerate, and don’t push the other fans out of the way or act rude towards the players. Anyway, under normal conditions, the ones who stop will usually take a photo with you, and sign an autograph or two. 

The best opportunity to meet the players that I have observed is during the season ticket holders practice which was held in March last year, where almost every player came out and took pictures or signed autographs. I am not sure when it is held this year, but I will try my best to find out.

Anyway, hopefully this ridiculously long post was helpful to you (I noticed that you asked for me to “explain a little bit about how practices work, so I’m sorry). Best of luck going to a practice and meeting the players!!!

[pitchingcheese]

GOING TO DEVELOPMENT CAMP TOMORROW WITH MY LITTLE BROTHER.

*PRESEASON INTENSIFIES*

[pitchingcheese]

Boston Bruins Practice, March, 26, 2014 - Wilmington, MA

It was a full and intense practice today, as I had expected. All non-injured players were present on the ice, and there was a great deal of work done on the power play unit. 

It was apparently season ticket holder's day at the practice, and the Bruins' Mascot, Blades, was present. (My brother and I got to high-five him. 10 points)

In the middle of the practice, Tuukka Rask came out with a miniature goalie, and was teaching her a few skills. Apparently she is a recipient of the Make A Wish foundation, and her and Tuukka had picked out goalie equipment at a previous occasion. For only a little kid, she did really good out there!

Towards the end of the practice, most of the players stopped outside to sign items, and take pictures with the fans. I got to meet many of the players, and ask Torey Krug what his favorite animal is. He turned to me a bit surprised and said, "Turtles". I found out that when he was younger, he had a Red-Eared Slider for a pet. The museum that I work at used to have one as well, so it was an interesting talking point!

Adam McQuaid and Dennis Seidenberg were both present during the autograph signings, but they weren't on the ice. They both seemed in a positive mood nevertheless.

Photographs of the practice will be posted later on.

[pitchingcheese]

Chad Johnson stopping to have a drink of lemon-lime Gatorade during Monday's practice.

3/2/14

[pitchingcheese]

There was a school group of over 100 little first graders at the Bruins Practice on Monday, and this was the conversation while waiting in line for the bathroom:

Little first grader girl: Wow, that was a cool practice!

All of the other little first grader girls: *Loudly agree*

Little first grader girl: Just think, we could be sitting on the same toilets that Shawn Thornton has sat on.

The whole class: "HE'S NOT A GIRL"

Me: *Laughing uncontrollably*

[tuukkarasksass]

More Bruins practice pictures! (1/31/14)