Watch CBS News

Cam Neely On 'Peaking Too Early,' Scheduling Rest, Speculation Of A Dennis Seidenberg Return

Boston Bruins president Cam Neely joined Felger and Massarotti, with Marc Bertrand filling in for Michael Felger.

The first topic was one that's been bandied about during the Bruins' current 10-game winning streak, and that is -- are the Bruins peaking too early?

Neely said that's not something that's real.

"I don't think it exists," Neely said. "If we went on a 10-game win streak in early October, nobody would have been saying we're peaking too early. ... I think we're just playing well.

"We're just playing good hockey right through lineup, from goaltender on out."

After saying that the Bruins might be a little surprised by Jarome Iginla's goal total but not at all surprised by his overall impact on the team, Neely was asked how the team plans to rest players down the final baker's dozen games left on the schedule.

"We've been talking about that, just trying to manage ice time and manage games. It's one of those things where it's a delicate balance," Neely said. "You want to make sure that guys are ready for the playoffs, and you want to make sure that they're prepared for the playoffs. It's a conversation that we do have internally, but it's a delicate balance."

Tony Massarotti then pulled one out of left field, asking Neely about the potential of Dennis Seidenberg returning to the team in the event of a deep playoff run. Seidenberg suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 27, and it's been assumed that he won't play until the 2014-15 season.

While Neely was adamant to not place any extra pressure on Seidenberg, he also didn't rule out the possibility of a return.

"It's really unfair to start speculating that. It's unfair to the player. I'm just going on experience. You want to play and you want to get out and play, but really certain injuries take a certain amount of time to heal and everybody kind of has an idea of that time. But it's really unfair of an athlete to start questioning or asking can they get back to play. Time will certainly be able to answer that question. It's hard to put it out there, because it's really unfair to the athlete because then they start thinking, 'Maybe I can come back early,' and that may not be helpful.

"There hasn't been any issues, and he's doing very well with the rehab."

And as for the Bruins' attitude regarding locking up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference?

"It would be nice to win the conference to lock up home ice throughout the conference," Neely said. "Any time you can lock up home ice it's nice to do, but having said that, I think it's more about how we're playing and how we need to play and how we want to play going into the remaining games in the season and going into the playoffs. If being able to lock up the conference as a side effect of how we're playing, that's fantastic. … For us, it's more important how we're playing as we approach the playoffs."

Cam Neely

MORE BRUINS COVERAGE FROM CBS BOSTON

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.