This post’s main image (via Getty’s Jana Chytilova) comes from March 2013, a simpler time. Politics were still gross, sure, but there wasn’t the same level of vitriol as today. David Krejci had more teeth, and endured fewer trade rumors. And Johnny Boychuk was his Bruins teammate.
Times change, but changing jerseys doesn’t always mean shedding friendships. (Especially when it’s not your call, as it was management’s call that Boychuk was traded to the New York Islanders.)
Boychuk was a real sport on Thursday, as he picked up Krejci’s tooth(!) from the ice with his bare hand after his Islanders teammate leveled Krejci with a hard hit. Krejci missed some time after that check, so hopefully he thanked Boychuk later:
So much for any of us bragging about being great friends. Even Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was taken aback at the expression of true loyalty.
“I love Johnny,” Cassidy said, via 98.5 Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson. “He’s a good guy ... but that’s weird.”
The bigger direct-hockey-news is that Tuukka Rask was brilliant during the overtime period, snubbing Mathew Barzal and other Islanders to help the Bruins secure a 2-1 shootout win on Thursday. But you’re unlikely to find a bigger story of friendship on this day.
(Note: dog videos count as cheating.)
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.