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  • Refreshed and refocused, Bruins hope for big year from David Krejci

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    Refreshed and refocused, Bruins hope for big year from David Krejci

    Tim Rosenthal October 7, 2015
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    Like many Bruins who are remaining from last year’s team, David Krejci had a frustrating season.

    Following a year where he tallied 69 points on a line with Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla in 2013-14, Krejci spent a good chunk of the 2014-15 season on the injured list. He spent the first half of the year nursing a hip injury. In the second half, he went on LTIR after partially tearing his MCL in a late February game against the St. Louis Blues.

    Although he was a solid contributor when healthy, Krejci only played in 47 games — tallying 31 points (7 goals, 24 assists). He also had stints where the Bruins had a revolving door of wingers skating with him and Lucic before David Pastrnak earned that spot in January.

    Following that frustrating season, Krejci is heading into the 2015-16 season healthy, and hopes to put last year’s injuries behind him.

    “It’s a long season; 82 games plus playoffs and some preseason games, so I’m just looking forward to taking things day by day,” Krejci said after practice on Wednesday. “Even practices, I have to make sure that I’m ready for practice as well. So far it’s been really good and like I said, go game by game.”

    A healthy Krejci is one of the important keys to the season if the Bruins have hopes of returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Two years ago when he played in 80 games, the Black and Gold went 39-5-3 in the 47 games that the Czech center recorded at least one point. Those 47 games were the same amount he played last season.

    Whether Krejci has the same kind of ability to produce as he did in the 2013-14 season is unknown. But it’s clear that the Bruins are better with the 29-year old in the lineup than they are without him.

    “I think he’s looking forward to having a bounce back year,” head coach Claude Julien said about Krejci. “He’s definitely disappointed in how little he was able to play last year and he made sure he worked on those things to be fresh and obviously healthy and he’s maintained that. To me, you got a healthy David Krejci, you got a different team.”

    This year, Krejci will return with Pastrnak on the Bruins’ scoring line. Joining them to start the 2015-16 campaign is former Anaheim Duck Matt Beleskey fresh off signing a 5-year deal on July 1.

    Following a good training camp, Krejci hopes that translates into the regular season that is full of uncertainty for the Black and Gold and begins Thursday night versus the Winnipeg Jets.

    “I thought training camp went pretty well, not just for me but for the whole team,” Krejci said. “We have a good group of guys and we’ve created some chemistry both on and off the ice already. It’s been good, it’s been fun and the first game is tomorrow, so I can’t wait to get it started.”

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    Tim Rosenthal

    Tim Rosenthal serves as the Managing Editor of Bruins Daily. He started contributing videos to the site in 2010 before fully coming on board during the Bruins' Stanley Cup run in 2011. His bylines over the last decade have been featured on Boston.com, FoxSports.com, College Hockey News, Patch and Inside Hockey. You can follow Tim on Twitter @_TimRosenthal.

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