It would make sense that he would not cue it up until he hangs up his skates for good.
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Like the documentary NESN produced for
Patrice Bergeron’s 1,000th game, “Krejci at 1,000″ is well worth the watch for any Bruins fan.
David Krejci understands this. Many of his friends have told him so. But right now, it’s too much of a look back for his taste.
“No, I haven’t watched it,” he said after practice recently. “I’m not a big guy with these things. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely going to watch it. I don’t think I’m going to watch it this year, or this hockey season. Just going to get it over with and focus on this season.”
It would make sense that he would not cue it up until he hangs up his skates for good.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Definitely after this season, for sure. Whatever happens next season, whether I play or not, I’ll definitely watch after the season, sit back, probably watch with my family and make a nice little evening out of it.”
Krejci rarely telegraphs his intentions — not with the puck on his stick, certainly not on the topic of his future plans — but there is little doubt that we are nearing the end of an all-time great Bruins career. Krejci, who turns 37 in April, could return on another one-year deal. Maybe follow that with another. Or he could call it quits and return to South Carolina, where his wife and two children have been living this season.
He was not asked about that recently, because he has made it clear that he isn’t interested in the topic.
Most players like to discuss their craft, and this conversation with Krejci began with a question about passing detail.
“I think it’s the chemistry you have,” Krejci said. “Obviously the Sedin brothers, they had probably the best chemistry in hockey, right? It’s all about chemistry. Me, if anything, I try to take the spin off as much as I can, so that way the player can just catch it and shoot it right away. He doesn’t have to slow down the spin.”
A pass with a lot of spin, Krejci explained, can jump off a stick haywire no matter if it’s “favorable” or not.
“For a one-timer, I could see it, so you get a little help, a little more power,” he said. “I could see that. Other than that, I hate when you receive a pass when it’s spinning. It goes up the wall, it’s deflected and it’s spinning, you get it and it hits the blade and just moves. You have to take a half a second — and I like to take a half a second to keep my head up.”
His chemistry with Pastrnak and
Pavel Zacha, his Czech mates, has been one of the most entertaining parts of this highly watchable Bruins team.
Zacha had a run of seven goals in 11 games, from Jan. 16 against Philadelphia to last Tuesday in Dallas. Krejci had the primary assist on five of them, delivering silky feeds. Eight of Krejci’s assists have been direct setups to Pastrnak, including four one-time rockets and an ankle-busting breakaway on Colorado netminder
Pavel Francouz.
How does Pastrnak want the puck to arrive?
“He’s a special shooter, special player, right?” Krejci said. “He can shoot it from anywhere. He likes to shoot from the toe. His blade helps him. He can shoot from his heel, from anywhere. His wheelhouse is so big, so wide. You always want to put it in that spot where he can shoot it, but if not, he can still get it off pretty hard.”
Krejci and Pastrnak have mastered the fake-a-shot-and-slide-it-over technique.
“Because I’m a righty, it’s easier for me to look away and give a pass to Pasta,” Krejci said. “With Pasta, I’m already looking this way, my stick’s this way. With [a lefty] on the right, I have to turn back, and give that half a second. You don’t have the momentum of surprise.
“That’s why I always like a righthanded guy on my line, especially if they have a good one-timer. A lefthanded shot or a guy who doesn’t have a one-timer, he stops it, and then the momentum that I’m trying to create, take the goalie out this way, then the guy stops it and the goalie has enough time to get over.”
“I don’t look too much at the positives or the negatives,” Krejci said. “I’ve learned over the years to block out the outside noise. It’s kind of harder now with social media, there’s so much out there. It’s hard to escape from, and I don’t have any social media.
“It’s too out there. I grew up in a different world.”
