from Joe Haggerty of CSNNE,

“It’ll be awkward. I’ve played with him for a while, and some guys have played with him for five plus years,” said Seidenberg. “It’s definitely going to be a bit of a different feeling when guys have to fore-check him, and have to hit him. Or when I stand in front of the net and he shoots.

“It’ll be different, but in the end it’s about winning a hockey game. We’re focusing on that. It’s funny and it’s awkward. If you have to chip a puck behind him and them hit him, that’s when it feels a little bit weird or different.”

The Bruins have played against former teammates before: Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin, Tim Thomas and Andrew Ference among others. Ference has probably the closest thing to the popularity and goodwill felt toward Boychuk in the B’s dressing room. He was a member of highly accomplished Bruins group for five seasons that won the Cup and friendly with everybody on the team.

So, it should be one of the more emotional returns for an ex-player to TD Garden, but Claude Julien didn’t expect to need to say anything different or special to his players in preparation.

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