BOLTON, Mass. -- Even though Bruins forward David Krejci just returned to the Boston area from his native Czech Republic this past Sunday, thanks to the Internet and Twitter, he was well aware that his name had been bandied about repeatedly in trade rumors this summer. However, based on conversations he had with the Bruins coaching and management staff in exit meetings last April, Krejci is confident they were just rumors.
“I heard even if I don’t read papers because people talk and you’re going to know,” Krejci said of the trade chatter. “But I didn’t pay too much attention because at the end of the season we had meetings with the coach and with Peter (Chiarelli). So I know what those guys think about me and I know they want me here. I didn’t pay too much attention to it.”
Speculation that Krejci might be dealt arose from his poor playoff performance against the Capitals, when he had just three points in his team’s seven-game first-round exit. Krejci matched his 62-point regular-season performance from the 2010-11 season, but he a bad start to the 2011-12 season and multiple lengthy stretches of futility. And his play in the playoffs didn’t even come close to the 23 points in 25 playoff games during the 2011 Stanley Cup run.
Krejci knows he must come out and make an immediate impact this season (whenever it starts) and he is determined to silence the rumors.
“I worked hard this summer and I can’t wait for hockey to start again so I can show everybody on the ice,” Krejci said. “I had a bad start last season and it’s a long season, but after that I tried to go to every game and leave everything out there. I’m going to do that and even if I have a bad game and I leave everything out there, there won’t be any regrets. Stay positive and have a good start. That’s what I am going for.”
Krejci also is hoping he'll finally be able to play with old linemate Nathan Horton, who has had a healthy summer rehabbing from his second concussion in a calendar year, which caused him to miss most of the second half of last season.
“I talked to him this summer so I’m excited to get back with him on the ice,” Krejci said. “I don’t know what the coach’s plans are and if I am going to play with ‘Luch’ [Milan Lucic] and Nathan, but I would hope so. I’m just really excited because we have so much fun and he’s just such a great player. I’m looking forward to it.”
One player Krejci won’t be playing with this upcoming season, and maybe never again, is goalie Tim Thomas, who is taking the season off for personal reasons and forgoing the final season of his contract with the Bruins.
“I was in shock a little bit just like everybody else, I guess,” Krejci said of Thomas’ decision. “But you’ve got to respect his personal life. If he wants to take a year off, then he should do what he feels is right for him and his family.
“I respect that, but I hope he’s going to come back. I think he left too early because he’s still one of the best goalies in the league. It would be bad for everybody; for the league, for the fans, for himself and for us if he wouldn’t (resume) his career. I haven’t talked to him this summer, so I don’t really have much to talk about.”