BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins, who are 2-0-0 on the season, haven't played since they beat the Detroit Red Wings at home last Saturday.
That's given the players some time to practice and make community appearances, and it freed up some time for coach Claude Julien to prepare for a visit by the Colorado Avalanche -- in more ways than one.
Julien was asked Thursday after his team's morning skate if the time off gave him a chance to think about the Olympics. Julien is scheduled to be an assistant coach for Team Canada.
"Yeah, the Olympics," he said. "And then I spent the last couple of days solidifying the glass between the benches."
The Bruins coach was referring to the outburst that earned Colorado coach Patrick Roy a fine last week after he exchanged words with Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau and then pushed the glass between the benches nearly down onto Boudreau.
"I don't expect any problem with Claude Julien, to be honest with you," said Roy, who met Julien when he coached the Montreal Canadiens. "I have so much respect for him and he's a great coach. When you're in the finals of the Stanley Cup two years … you deserve a lot of credit and respect. Every time I spoke to him, at the time I asked him a few questions, he was always available. He said any time you want to talk to me. It's fun to see guys ending up with this with the junior coaching, and I respect that and I'm happy to see him be successful here in Boston."
Julien and Roy also share the experience of starting their coaching careers in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Now they'll be foes, as the Avalanche put their 3-0-0 record on the line against the Bruins.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BRUINS
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Loui Eriksson
Jordan Caron - Chris Kelly - Reilly Smith
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton
Dennis Seidenberg - Dougie Hamilton
Scratched: Matt Bartkowski
Injured: Carl Soderberg (ankle)
AVALANCHE
Steve Downie - Matt Duchene - Ryan O'Reilly
Gabriel Landeskog - Paul Stastny - Alex Tanguay
Jamie McGinn - Nathan MacKinnon - PA Parenteau
Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Patrick Bordeleau
Scratched: Nick Holden, Matt Hunwick, Marc-Andre Cliche
Injured: Ryan Wilson (knee)
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