By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com Bruins InsiderFollow @hackswithhaggs
BOSTON -- If season one was the orientation, season number two will be about starting to meet expectations for Tyler Seguin and the Boston Bruins.
Seguin arrived at training camp tilting the scales at 196 pounds and fulfilled his responsibility with a diligent offseason workout program. The 19-year-old has also come in with the right attitude about earning the respect of everybody in the organization, and starting to build up the ice time and power play reps that will help his offensive numbers grow.
Earning top-six forward minutes and power play time is really the only way that Seguins skills are going to translate into the kind of offensive numbers that team and individual player are looking forand that should start to happen this season.
Sure, Seguins confidence took a hit when he took a backseat to many of the veterans on last years Cup-worthy Bruins team, but the teenaged phenom is ready to start building it back up one day at a time.
I want to earn more respect from the coaches and the players, and with that get more ice time. That should lead to more production and it comes down to taking advantage of every advantage that I get, said Seguin. Team-wise the word being whispered around everywhere we go is repeat, and I think were definitely the team to do it after we won last year. Theres that term Stanley Cup hangover but we want to fight through it to get back there again.
So how does Seguin go about earning all that respect?
It really has to be everything, said Seguin. It has to be on the ice. It was to be on the bench. It was to be in the dressing room. Public appearances, you know? I think with hockey players and a team like the Bruins you have to have good character, and you have to represent the Bruins well no matter where it is.
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When you do that thats when you get respect from the boys and from the staff, and thats what I want to go about doing this year.
For the Bruins part, theyre looking at this season as a chance for Seguin to contribute more heavily to the teams fortunes and start playing everybody back for the patience they showed when he was a fresh-faced 18-year-old rookie. Seguin is still pretty fresh-faced, but the NHL seems to boast as many baby-faced offensive assassins as any of the four major pro sports.
The experience from last year is going to be a big help to Tyler, said Claude Julien. Last year was a lot of what we could do for him and we certainly wanted him to grow with our team at the pro level. We helped him with that at different decisions along the way.
Now the ball is in his court a little more this year as far as whether hes willing to come out with a little more confidence combined with the skill level on a more consistent basis. He could have a little more of an impact on our hockey club and we expect him to.
Seguin is saying all the right things and theres a well-documented need with a Bruins team searching for a little youthful energy.
Now its just a matter of their talented No. 2 overall pick going out and showing what hes got.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs