Hey, remember last week when Ryan Spooner was sent to the AHL? Yeah, cancel that. He’s back up with the Boston Bruins, filling in for injured center David Krejci.
Starting tonight versus the Flyers, the Bruins would like Spooner, 22, to show a bit more effort on both sides of the puck.
“They basically told me they want a winning team here, and if I want to be a part of it then I have to compete a little bit harder,” Spooner said, per CSN New England. “They believe that I can play harder, and that I can use my speed as an offensive asset as well as a defensive asset, too.”
Spooner has been a point-per-game player in the AHL, but his defensive play came under fire during the preseason -- and he still hasn’t won over B’s coach Claude Julien.
“This is not negative, but he hasn’t made the team,” Julien said, per the Boston Globe. “He’s here. He’s got to hang on to his spot. We’re giving him that opportunity. So we’ve said that before: Anybody who feels comfortable here certainly doesn’t have the right approach to our team. It’s about earning it.
“But the thing I liked about what he did was he had an average camp, he was sent down, and he came back and he showed us that he wanted a second chance and proved that he deserved a second chance. So he’s got it now.”
Spooner is expected to play on a line between Milan Lucic and Matt Fraser.
Bruins won't get Krejci back until after Saturday's game after having put him on IR last night. So he'll miss the first 3 games.
— Amalie Benjamin (@AmalieBenjamin) October 8, 2014
Related: Meet the 32-year-old blogger/enforcer that just made the Bruins