FOXBORO — Gillette Stadium may have been transformed into a hockey arena Thursday, but there was still plenty of football in the air — and a little on the ice, too.
Bruins coach Claude Julien, who was invited to Patriots practice Wednesday by head coach Bill Belichick, returned the favor Thursday. Before the B’s practiced at Gillette Stadium, Julien took Belichick onto the ice for a low-speed spin that included a fall (knee first) of the Pats coach.
“It was not only a nice skate, but a nice time with (Belichick),” Julien said. “There’s a lot of admiration for the way he works, and being able to spend time with him on the ice, on my terms, where I looked a little better, was nice.”
The Bruins did their best to respect the Pats and their legacy. Goalie Tuukka Rask’s Winter Classic mask is Patriots-themed.
“We wanted to pay homage to their success and some of their players, and make most of the Pats mask,” Rask said. “It’s a special event, so we wanted to do something special – some sort of keepsake or memento that you can keep for yourself afterwards.”
Zdeno Chara was impressed that Belichick stopped by the Bruins locker room.
“I saw Mr. Belichick this morning in our locker room as we were leaving the ice,” the Bruins captain said. “It was a pleasure…and an honor to meet him.”
Unlike the 2010 Classic at Fenway Park, where there weren’t many Red Sox, the B’s have to interact with the Patriots.
“Our seasons are happening at the same time, and seeing these guys here when they’re in uniform, it’s pretty cool to interact,” Patrice Bergeron said. “You can definitely feel the professionalism they bring – all the guys and the coaches. It’s a great experience.
INS AND OUT: Seth Griffith could have spent Thursday riding a bus to and from Portland, Maine, with the rest of the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Instead, he was training online with Bergeron and Loui Eriksson, preparing for today’s Winter Classic.
“During warmups, or when we get here (today), it’s really going to sink in,” said Griffith, who was recalled from Providence on Tuesday after the Bruins lost center David Krejci to injury. an upper body injury. “It’s pretty crazy. It’s definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
Griffith got off to a rough start in 2015-16. He injured his knee in the Bruins’ preseason opener against the Devils on Sept. 20 at Dunkin Donuts Center and missed time in Providence with a concussion. However, in just 24 games, he was the P-Bruins’ top scorer with 10 goals and 27 points.
“When I got healthy, I got confidence in my game again,” said Griffith, who played 30 games in Boston (6 goals, 10 points) last season. “I was just waiting for my opportunity.”
Alexander Khokhlachev also got an unexpected opportunity to play in the Classic. He was recalled Thursday morning to help the B’s cover the loss of Brad Marchand to a three-game suspension.
This transaction, however, was bad news for rookie defenseman Kevan Miller. On the Bruins roster since the start of the season but healthy in the last two games, he was assigned to AHL Providence to bring the B’s down to the 23-man limit.
AROUND THE FIELD: Ray Bourque scored the shootout winner, and everyone around the line from Marco Sturm, Mark Recchi and Sergei Samsonov scored a goal, as the Bruins beat the Canadiens in the alumni, 5-4, Thursday. Sturm, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Flyers in the 2010 Classic, said: “Fenway was incredible. It’s a great story… (but) Fenway was all about points. We can’t really enjoy what’s happening outside. All day today I was looking out and enjoying it a little more because we don’t have to play for points. …The exhibition between Boston Pride of the National Women’s Professional Hockey League and Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, which ended in a 1-1 draw, was delayed while Denna Laing of the Pride was removed on a stretcher and transported to Mass General Hospital. in the boards. The NWHL had not updated his status as of Thursday evening.
