For Bruins, Krejci Has Been an 'Irreplaceable' Piece

BOSTON -Jim Montgomery acknowledged it took a little bit of time to fully understand David Krejci.
The long-time centerman can be tough to crack - an attribute that has served him well in 16 seasons on the ice - as he navigates the dressing room with a calm, cool, and sometimes unassuming manner.
But once Krejci lets you in, as Montgomery has discovered, the personality comes flowing out.
"It took a little while to break down the walls," said Montgomery. "He is very funny. When we were in Anaheim, he scored that goal where he snapped one. I told him, 'I didn't know you had a bottom-hand, forehand.'
"He said, 'There's a lot you don't know about me.' He's very quick witted. What makes him so much fun to be around is how good a person he is. His teammates love him."

What everyone who has watched his career with the Black & Gold does know about David Krejci is he's one of the greatest players to ever don the Spoked-B. The Czechia native ranks in the club's top 10 all-time in a number of categories: sixth in assists (535), seventh in games played (999), ninth in points (761), and third in playoff scoring (124 points).
And on Monday afternoon, Krejci will become the seventh player in team history to play 1,000 career games with the club.
"I'm not surprised that he's achieving this milestone because he's been able to be so successful and so elite for so long. Kudos to him for putting in the work all these years to be at his best," said Patrice Bergeron, one of the other seven players to suit up for 1,000 games in Black & Gold.
For the past decade and a half, Bergeron and Krejci have been side by side, forming one of the NHL's best 1-2 center combinations for much of that time. And while Bergeron acknowledges there has always been a healthy competition between the two, they have embraced the chance to push each other to be better.
"I think on a lot of teams, or whichever sport it is, I think there'd be a lot of butting heads and stuff, especially when you're playing the same position as someone for so long," said Bergeron. "I feel like we've always had that healthy competition and always had that mutual respect where we know how good the other guy is and how valuable they are to the team and the organization.
"Krech is that. He goes about his business, he does his work, and he's just happy for those who do well as well. He wants the result, he wants to win, just like I do."

The two have also formed an indelible bond off the ice, as they helped to create a culture of respect, commitment, and success within the Bruins' dressing room.
"That connection and relationship has been a treat for me," said Bergeron. "It's been a lot of fun to have him around and to have him as a friend, to have him as a teammate, to learn from him, too, as a player. Some of the things that he does that are so hard to replicate but you still try to learn a thing or two from his game and try to put it in your game. It's been a lot of fun. It's been a pleasure."
Krejci's resume speaks for itself. In addition to his all-time club rankings, he has also led the club in playoff scoring twice, during Boston's runs to the Stanley Cup Final in both 2011 and 2013. His feed to Nathan Horton on the lone goal in Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning is the stuff of legends.
"You can start with his past, his playoff performances, especially in the Cup run," said Jake DeBrusk. "Just everything that he contributed to this team, with not only his game and how skilled and how patient he is, but also as a person. I got to meet him on the latter half of that, I guess. He helped me so much when I first came in. I was playing with him as a rookie and to teach me the ropes of what it was like to be a Boston Bruin."
Despite his lengthy list of accomplishments, there are times that the 36-year-old seems to fly under the radar - both in his approach and how he his appreciated by some on the outside.
"He's one of those guys when the moment is big, he always steps up and is able to thrive under pressure," said Brad Marchand. "In our big runs, he's always led the team in scoring, scored some huge overtime goals at the right time. He's just one of those guys, he's not overly flashy with the way he does things. He's not the fastest guy or the hardest shot. His ability to slow plays down and make it look so easy out there is incredible.
"He's so consistent. I think that's what you look for in a really good NHL player is the consistency every night. He has that every night. He always shows up and he always comes to play. We've been very fortunate to have him and Bergy as our 1-2 centers for the last 15 years.
"He's one of the guys when you look back on the winning team, the last 15 years, he's a staple name. I think he's always been so underrated to everybody but the guys in this room. When you watch what he's able to do every single day, you really see how gifted he is and the talent level that he has."
Montgomery likened Krejci to Bergeron in that while his statistics are not always the most eye-popping, his details have always been elite.
"He's very similar to Bergy in the sense that it's not just pure numbers that reflect value to our team," said Montgomery. "He's cool, calm, he's extremely poised, he makes passes that I don't see from the bench, and that's a credit to his creativity, but also how competitive he is.
"He's really competitive, and you don't see it demonstratively a lot on the ice - sometimes it occurs. He cares about winning faceoffs; he cares about being put in defensive situations because he has a lot of pride, and he knows he's good in all those areas.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with him just because he's so cerebral and I love how competitive he is. There's a burning fire inside him to be elite. You couple that with the creativity and that's why he's such a special player."

Marchand has seen Krejci's drive and work ethic firsthand for well over a decade now, which has helped inspire and motivate him since early in his Bruins career.
"One of the things that I was impressed most with with him early on when I first came up was, I got to train with him and I saw how hard he worked and how much effort he put in in the summertime," said Marchand. "I was always really impressed by him. It's truly been an honor to play alongside him and play with him. And we would not have had the success we've had over the last 10-15 years if it wasn't for him."
DeBrusk, meanwhile, has also benefitted from Krejci's tutelage. When the winger first broke into the league in 2017-18, he was Krejci's left winger, a position that he remained in for several seasons before the centerman departed the Bruins following the 2020-21 campaign.
"He was someone that I could lean on," said DeBrusk. "I obviously had lots of questions being bright-eyed. I think that was one of the biggest things. I always felt comfortable around him. He grabbed me pretty early on in training camp and just made it known that we were gonna be together and we're gonna work through it and figure out how to have as much success as possible.
"I think that just built our chemistry and just the kind of guy he is off the ice really complemented me well, kind of calmed me down. When I thought the world was ending at certain times, he'd be there to calm me down and help me focus on the next shift."
Krejci also helps to lighten the mood. While his sense of humor is often subtle and understated, it is equally impactful in its timing and effect.
"Getting to befriend Krech, learning about him, who he is, I think he has one of the best personalities of anyone I've ever known," said Charlie McAvoy. "He's funny, he always keeps things light. He's got a great perspective about showing up to work and working hard but making sure you're having fun with everything you do.
"Definitely someone who helps the group throughout times when you definitely need a little uplift, someone who's just very special overall…Krech means so much to this group, to this organization, everything that he's been able to achieve since he's been here. I think there's a lot to be said about him playing his entire 1,000-game career with one franchise, not something that many guys are able to do. He's someone who is irreplaceable to the Boston Bruins."
That has never been more apparent than this season. After spending the 2021-22 campaign playing for Olomouc in his native Czechia, Krejci returned to the Bruins on a one-year contract over the summer for his 16th season with the Black & Gold.
"It's been a lot more fun this year having Krech back. It's just not the same on the bench, around the room," said Marchand. "He's one of the funniest people I've ever met. His dry sense of humor, his one-liners are by far the best I've ever seen. He just makes everything fun.
"The depth he adds to our group is incredible, and just his experience, he's so calm all the time, always having a lot of fun. You can see how much he enjoys being back, how much fun he's having.
"It's really special to have him back here for another run. Hopefully we can make the most of it."