Tyler Seguin’s first season in the NHL proved to ultimately be a great one. Winning the Stanley Cup in your rookie season is something not a lot of players can claim to have done but for Seguin, his first season was one loaded with ups and downs. Seguin didn’t exactly blow people away with his stats scoring just 11 goals and adding 11 assists in the regular season. Being the #2 pick overall in the draft comes with huge expectations and while Seguin fought hard to get ice time and take advantage of the opportunities coach Claude Julien gave him.
Heading into his second season with the defending champions, there are big chances for Seguin to seize the day. With Mark Recchi’s retirement and Marc Savard unlikely to play this season while dealing with concussions, Seguin has the chance to become one of the Bruins’ top scorers.
CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty caught up with Seguin to find out how he’s preparing for the season and how earning respect is high on his list of things to accomplish.“I want to earn more respect from the coaches and the players, and with that get more ice time. That should lead to more production and it comes down to taking advantage of every advantage that I get,” said Seguin. “Team-wise the word being whispered around everywhere we go is repeat, and I think we’re definitely the team to do it after we won last year. There’s that term ‘Stanley Cup hangover’ but we want to fight through it to get back there again.”
So how does Seguin go about earning all that respect?
“It really has to be everything,” said Seguin. “It has to be on the ice. It was to be on the bench. It was to be in the dressing room. Public appearances, you know? I think with hockey players and a team like the Bruins you have to have good character, and you have to represent the Bruins well no matter where it is.
“When you do that that’s when you get respect from the boys and from the staff, and that’s what I want to go about doing this year.”
Getting respect from the guys in the room and earning it from the coaches would go a long way for Seguin. Seguin averaged just 12:13 of ice time last season and while he had one highlight game in the playoffs against Tampa Bay scoring two goals and two assists in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Being able to do that once in a while during the season is nice for legend building, but being able to be a consistent offensive threat is far more important to the Bruins.
Without Recchi and Savard as well as departed Michael Ryder, getting goals could prove to be a bit more difficult for the Bruins. While the B’s rely on goaltending and defense to win games, goals certainly help. While the Bruins are going to have their top line of David Krejci, Nathan Horton, and Milan Lucic there to pound the net, they’ll need a bit more. Tyler Seguin having a breakout season would do just the trick for Boston on their quest to repeat as champions.