The roughly hour-long skates were high intensity, with a quick pace and a noticeable jump from the captain's skates that had been taking place for the past month.
"There are jobs on the line and everyone's just competing and pushing one another," said Adam McQuaid, who will enter his 10th season with the organization in 2016-17. "And you want to do well, so all of that usually will result in the pace picking up quite a bit."
"Obviously you're working a few kinks out, but I think all in all, guys were feeling pretty good out there," said the defenseman. "It was pretty crisp, all things considered, and it's a good day to build on."
With Head Coach Claude Julien back in Toronto for the World Cup of Hockey (after his quick stop in Boston for the opening of camp on Thursday), the skates were run by assistant coaches Joe Sacco, Jay Pandolfo and Bruce Cassidy, along with Providence Bruins Head Coach Kevin Dean and Goaltending Coach Bob Essensa.
"I thought it was a good Day One," said Sacco. "I thought we went out there with a purpose today, trying to get some good pace to practice. We weren't out there overly long, about 50 minute to an hour, to get done what we needed to get done, which we did, so that was a good sign."
"The pace was high, the guys were working hard out there, so Day One was positive."
Both on-ice sessions mimicked each other, with a clear emphasis on what both Julien and General Manager Don Sweeney spoke about on Thursday when they addressed reporters - playing smart, and playing fast.
"We're trying to increase the pace, and that's something that we talked about as a staff and with Claude before he left," said Sacco. "So we don't need to be out there an hour and a half to accomplish what we need to do. It's going to increase the pace, and hopefully that will carry into our games."
The Bruins' first preseason game will come in a hurry, with Boston hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden on Monday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
"We worked on the offensive zone and set plays, and that kind of stuff - we only have three days here until the first game so I think the first day went well, for sure," said Ryan Spooner, who is poised for his second full-time season with the big club.
Nearly 60 players are participating in Boston's camp, with an average age of 25 years and two months. Suffice to say, it's a strong mix of rookies and veterans, even without Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask and David Backes in the mix yet.
"Whenever you come into camp, you always have to fight for your spot and that doesn't change now," said Spooner. "It doesn't really matter if you're 30 or you're 21. You have to come here and you have to play well."
