BOSTON — With Mark Recchi retired, the Bruins have an opening for a new alternate captain to join returning captain Zdeno Chara and alternate Patrice Bergeron.
They also have just one day left to name the new alternate before Thursday's season opener against the Flyers. But Bruins coach Claude Julien doesn't appear to be in any rush to finalize the decision, stating after Wednesday's practice that he had not yet decided how he will handle assigning the second A.
"It's not going to be an easy decision," Julien said. "That process is made between the coaches, and obviously you always get a little input from players. There's a lot of guys who could wear it. It could be shared. It could be a monthly thing. It could be just a few guys. There's also guys that don't really need a letter to be leaders.
"As much importance as you guys put into it, we put as much," Julien added. "But the meaning of it or what it's going to do to whoever has it or whoever doesn't have it is not as big an issue as most people think."
That last point may be the most important, as the Bruins have a room full of leaders who have learned firsthand what it takes to win a championship in last year's Cup run.
"The experience that we went through last year made those guys more confident and feeling like they can lead a little bit more," Julien said. "There's that comfort in that dressing room right now of guys that have been together for a long time."
Veteran defenseman Andrew Ference, respected tough guy Shawn Thornton, young stars David Krejci and Milan Lucic and veterans Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Gregory Campbell are among the worthy candidates to wear the A, and Julien could end up simply rotating it among some or all of those players.
