The Bruins are in hibernation, but they will be ready once the puck has fallen in the Stanley Cup final.

The layoff is long for the Bruins with the Stanley Cup final on the horizon, but Boston has made every effort to stay prepared before Monday's first game.

Bruce Cbadidy|John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe via Getty Images

BOSTON – By the time the Boston Bruins reach the ice for the Stanley Cup final on Monday night, they will be away 10 days between games. For those of you who score goals at home, this ties them to the Anaheim Ducks in 2002 for the longest post-season layoff of the NHL. (And we're going to pick on a member and speculate that it's the longest of all times.)

Charlie Coyle used the time between the Carolina Hurricanes' sweep and the final to find family and friends after being handed out to his hometown team on the trade deadline. Bruins coach Bruce Cbadidy had the chance to attend his son's baseball game on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins tried to keep up the pace of the competition with an intrasquad scrum in front of 16,000 spectators on Thursday night when Brad Marchand scared everyone by clashing with Conor Clifton. When the puck is released, the Bruins will probably have to get rid of the rust, but that is not a big problem.

"I think our team has been prepared most nights of the year," Cbadidy said. "I think they were prepared in the playoffs. There are always exceptions, but I think we'll be ready to go on Monday night. You are always afraid to miss something, you do not want to be caught. But you want to keep a lot of that internally. You do not want to give too much information to players who think too much. You are a coach, so your brain never really stops, you always think of things. But for the most part, it's a nice hike. "

If the choice was made at this time of year, any team would take the risk of having to get rid of rust early in a series to have the opportunity to take an extended break. Remember that before sweeping the Hurricanes, they had played seven games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and six others in the second game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the last of which was a very close series of men's hockey. this has had harmful consequences. And it also allowed the Bruins to give David Krejci, who missed Thursday's game and practice Saturday with flu symptoms, time to recover.

"I think we'll see it (Sunday)," said Cbadidy about Krejci. "That's the plan. If it is not absent (Sunday), there is now a little worry. But for the moment, I think he will practice (Sunday). He said he did not like to practice, so here we have granted him his wish. At the end of the day, he has been around for a long time and he is a very cerebral player. This part does not concern me. He can take things quickly. It's rather when you miss two or three days, do you have your legs, do you have your stamina?

The physical side of the game is another thing that can not be reproduced during a layoff. Although the Bruins have taken the pace in this area in the last two days, it's not even in the same area that they will live when the puck drops. The Blues are a heavy and physical team, especially in the back end. And while the Blue Jackets tried to charge the Bruins physically every time they touched the puck and the Maple Leafs were, surprisingly, the most physical team in the first round of the playoffs, Cbadidy knows that the final of the Stanley Cup much bigger challenge. Cbadidy expects the Blues to target her smallest defenders, Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk.

"I think (the Blues) are more systematically physical," said Cbadidy. "Columbus was some lines and Carolina the same thing.I think this is more of a line after another that will finish the checks.That's what I'm waiting for.Even their brand line of (Brayden) Schenn, (Jaden) Schwartz and (Vladimir) Tarasenko, I know that they will be more physical than (Artemi) Panarin, (Cam) Atkinson and anyone by rotation in the center (usually Pierre-Luc Dubois). You must be prepared, you must be agile before you put yourself in the line of fire, and you must take it. (Grzelcyk) He had big success and bounced back.

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About the author

Ken Campbell

Ken Campbell, Hockey News's lead writer, is on his second tour with the brand after eight years as a Maple Leafs fan for the Toronto Star. The Sudbury native has already tried the Wolves League of Ontario at 30 years old. Needless to say, it did not work.