Practice Report: Olympic Buzz and Building Back Stronger 

BOSTON –– It was good news for Pavel Zacha on Saturday.

The forward skated in a regular jersey for the Boston Bruins’ practice at Warrior Ice Arena. Zacha had previously donned a red non-contact sweater this week after suffering an upper-body injury on Jan. 29, but head coach Marco Sturm said he is now “good to go.”

It is a big boost for the Bruins, who have been supported by Zacha’s consistent play on both sides of the puck this season. The 28-year-old center posted 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) through 54 games before the Olympic break. He has spent the majority of the year between Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson on the second line.​

“Very important,” Sturm said. “How they’ve been our shutdown line but also produce offensively. You can see it without [Zacha] in the lineup; we missed a little bit of faceoffs, power play. There are a lot of different areas where we kind of missed him. That’s why it’s so nice to have him out there fresh and healthy.”

The B’s are also starting to get some of their Olympians back. Sturm said Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm and David Pastrnak have returned to Boston and could join the team for practice on Monday after getting some rest.

Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman remain in Milan, Italy, ahead of Sunday’s gold-medal matchup against Canada. Henri Jokiharju, Joonas Korpisalo and Team Finland face Slovakia for the bronze medal at 2:40 p.m. ET on Saturday.​

“Knowing Charlie, I know this is something he was looking forward to, probably his whole life. I know he will be great,” Sturm said. “All the TVs will be going. There are a lot of TVs in this locker room, so we will be watching.”

The Bruins have been without both of their regular goaltenders this week at practice, but Sturm is not worried about rushing back Swayman and Korpisalo.

“Somehow, we have to make sure they’re going to get some reps in as much as we can, as early as we can. Because we need them. We need one of them, at least,” Sturm said. “But again, I want to wait and see what happens and figure it out. See how everyone feels.”

​Fraser Minten has kept a close eye on the Olympics. The Vancouver native was five-years-old during the 2010 Winter Games, living just a few blocks over from Rogers Arena, where the men’s hockey tournament was held. The event – and Sidney Crosby’s golden goal – is what sparked his passion for the sport early on.

​“Same enjoyment. Especially with how many one-goal games, comebacks there have been in the men’s and women’s,” Minten said. “I think it’s been so, so fun to watch. Definitely feel like a little kid watching those games.”

Despite his teammates on Team USA, Minten is staying true to his roots and leading the Canadian contingent of the B’s roster. He is ready to watch the game on Sunday morning at Warrior Ice Arena ahead of Bruins practice.

“Canada all the way,” Minten said. “I’ll be on the couch with my Canada gear. I’ll make a Canada couch.”

​Minten is also gearing up for the final stretch of his rookie season in Boston. The 21-year-old forward has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) through 57 games this year. He filled in as the second-line center ahead of the Olympic break in the absence of Zacha.

“It’s been nice for the body to have time off, and the mind, just to get away from it a little bit. The boys were doing pretty good, so the timing, hopefully we can jump right back to the level we were playing at and keep building. For the rest part, it’s been good,” Minten said. “It’s really fun to be back with team practices and back with all the boys – makes you want to get out there and compete.”