Boston Globe How the Bruins stay in the right frame of mind

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How the Bruins stay in the right frame of mind - The Boston Globe

To any St. Louis Blues fans bold enough to show up for Saturday night’s rematch with the Bruins at TD Garden: Brandon Carlo will be looking for you.

The Bruins defenseman has a ritual during the national anthem, whether in Boston or elsewhere: He scans for a jersey, sweatshirt, or sign, and finds a bit of pregame peace.
“I look for blue in the crowd,” he said, “to convince myself I’m going to be positive and upbeat and ‘blue-brained.’ ”

The Bruins learned that term from their sports psychologist, Dr. Stephen Durant. It means a serene state of mind, being present, controlled, and rational. The negative state, “red-brained,” is a jittery, off-kilter, and impulsive kind of attitude that leads to poor decisions.

Carlo’s clinical description: “Blue brain is when you’re calm and just in a good place. Red brain is when you’re about to break your [expletive] stick over somebody’s head.”

During the 90 seconds or so it takes to sing the anthem — double against Canadian opponents — some Bruins focus on their opponent. Zdeno Chara is “going through the lines, the individual players, their habits and tendencies,” he said, and “focusing on what we talked about in the morning meetings.” Some refer to their own games. David Krejci reminds himself to “keep my feet moving and get my teammates involved.”

Goalies Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak try to let their minds go blank.

Charlie McAvoy shuts his eyes.
“It’s my own little reflection time,” the third-year defenseman said. “Game things, life things, just how amazing the opportunity is, just kind of take it all in and be thankful and grateful for the opportunities that I have. Close my eyes and not let the moment be too big.”


“I get red-brained during games,” Cassidy said. “I’m working on that, as every coach should. Listen, I’m emotional, I tell it like it is. During games, that will happen. I think players are OK with it, as long as I don’t get carried away.”

When he does, he knows to take a deep breath to get back to blue. Carlo uses a visual cue. When winger Jake DeBrusk goes sideways, he gets moving.
“I usually skate,” said DeBrusk. “My reset is usually during TV timeouts, skate around, get moving. Once I’m in my zone, I do anything I can to stay in it.
 
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