CHICAGO – If you thought media day at the Stanley Cup Finals would be a Tebow-free zone ... then you'd be mistaken.
Tebowmania reared its head when Bruins forward Milan Lucic was asked about newly-signed Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow stealing the front page from the Bruins over the last two days.
"It's great," Lucic said chuckling. "I'm sure he's happy to be on an NFL team again. Hopefully he'll be cheering for the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals."
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron didn't know much about Tebow, or football, before it was brought to his attention Tuesday.
"I honestly didn't think about it," Bergeron said about Boston's new media sensation. "I have no idea too much about football, so I guess it's good for the Pats, I don't know, I guess it is."
Getting back to hockey, Lucic spoke about having two teams facing each other in the finals that know very little about each other.
"I think what's going to make this series so fun is both teams don't really know what to expect going in," Lucic said. "I mean we haven't played each other since Oct. of 2011 so both teams are excited, both teams are looking forward to it and I don't think it's going to take long for the rivalry and the battle to start in this series."
Bruins center David Krejci spoke about the excitement back in Boston where the team received a well-attended sendoff from the fans earlier in the day.
"We had a nice sendoff by the fans," Krejci said. "It was great to see their support. We got here, obviously, the day before the game. You like to do your own thing. You like to relax, do your own stuff. But his is a final. It's same for both teams. We've been through it a couple of years ago in Vancouver with this Media Day and stuff. It's just
part of the final. It's actually exciting."
Bergeron was asked if the Bruins were able to come back from the brink against Toronto because they're a team that just knows how to win.
"I really believe that experience goes a long way in the playoffs and I think that was just one of those things that even though probably everyone didn't believe that we could still do it, we still had a good feeling on the bench, we still kept pushing forward and pulling for the goals," Bergeron said. "I just think it goes with the experience of knowing we been on the other side of that and teams came back in third periods of game sevens before. It's not over until it's over, I know it's a little cliche but it's true and we believed in it and we found a way."
Another lighter moment came when Bruins veteran Jaromir Jagr was asked if he sees the same person when he looks at pictures of himself as a young player in this league.
"Well, you know, when I had the long hair, I wouldn't say it was a style, but I wasn't the only one who had it," Jagr said jokingly. "There was a lot of guys, maybe not that long, but a lot of guys wearing long hair, so... Now it's a different style. But it's going to come back. Everything is just coming back. Ten years later, you'll see a lot of guys with long
hair."
Jagr was also asked if he had any concerns coming to Boston with his style of
hockey vs. the way the Bruins play.
"Well, to be honest, I was shocked to get traded," Jagr said. "I thought I was going to stay in Dallas. It was kind of a last-minute decision from the management. I don't think many teams knew I was going to get traded. So when they met me that morning, the Dallas management told me I was going to get traded and it was up to me if I wanted to go or not. When I talked to the (Boston) boss, I asked him like three times: 'Are you sure you want me?' They said, 'Yeah.' So here I am."
Bruins forward Nathan Horton, who missed the 2011 Cup run while recovering from a concussion, was asked if it was extra special for him to be back in the finals.
"It's definitely special for me to be back, being able to really have fun with it, enjoy it," Horton said. "It was tough that year, not to be a part of it. But everybody wants
to be on the ice. They want to enjoy, work for it. I never got a chance to do that. Obviously with the playoffs last year, this is why I play. I know I really want to enjoy it this time, have a lot of fun. It doesn't come all the time. I think everybody knows that. I'm just excited to be back and be here with my team."
Bruins forward Tyler Seguin, who has struggled to score points in the playoffs, was asked if it would be better to play on a team where he was relied upon more often and had more personal success.
"In the end, there's nothing better than raising that Cup or celebrating with this group of guys," Seguin said. "We have the closest group of guys I've ever played with, obviously I haven't played on any other NHL teams, but it seems that we have something that's pretty special."
In today's Championship Today episode above, NESN play-by-play man Jack Edwards shares his thoughts on the Blackhawks defense and we also hear from Cam Neely about the fans in Boston, Lucic, Bergeron, Jagr, and goaltender Tuukka Rask.
