Bruins Break-up Day remarks: Krejci, Foligno and Hall

As the dust settles (kind of, not really) on the Boston Bruins’ season, here are some more notable quotes from Break-up Day yesterday from David Krejci, Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall.

There’s a lot out there from the exit interviews, but these are some of the comments that stuck out to me from the team – everything from the series to the future to disappointments with performances to offseason goals.

David Krejci

Krejci thought the Bruins were contenders against Florida, but that the team’s play in the d-zone was their flaw:

“I wouldn’t say we didn’t play our best,” Krejci said. “We definitely played our best.”

“Whatever you need in the playoffs, we had,” Krejci said. “Special teams – our power play was on fire. Our penalty kill was great. Offense, we were scoring more than in the regular season. Defense was questionable maybe? Not our defensemen, but our whole defensive play.”

He was asked if he would make a decision on next year within the next few weeks. What he does know is he will either continue to play with the Bruins or retire. He has no plans to play for another team or return to play in the Czech Republic:

“I would like to figure it out very soon.”

Nick Foligno

Nick Foligno said he told the team it will take time to work through the emotions of what happened in Game 7, but they’ll come out the other side a better version of themselves:

“We have to look in the mirror and realize we didn’t get the job done,” Foligno said. “I think that’s the way you look forward. You take it on the chin and you reflect. You remember this feeling and put it towards what it’s going to allow you to become better from it.”

“It will take some time to see the bright side of things if there ever is, but it doesn’t take away from this group,” Foligno said. “The result is business. We didn’t get the job done.”

He said it feels like they let each other down and the fan base:

“Not getting it done hurts, but it doesn’t take away from what this group has accomplished…It is a special group and will continue to be.”

Foligno said they didn’t execute their game well against the Panthers and that’s what dug them in. He said all year they were the team that found ways to win and close out a game – and they couldn’t do that on three series-closing scenarios against Florida:

“Look at the difference of our turnovers to their success and scoring goals off of some of our plays, they made us pay,” Foligno said. “If you go up 3 to 1 in a series, you have to find a way to put the nail in the coffin.”

On his future – Foligno told reporters the most emotional part is not knowing what is going to happen next. He hopes to be back and “finish what we started.”

“There’s going to be change, but I hope to be a part of it,” Foligno added.

Taylor Hall

Taylor Hall told the media that the Bruins’ first-round exit hasn’t been easy to comprehend. He felt it’s been confusing and shocking to wrap his head around it:

“It’s hard to grasp what happened and how quickly it happened,” Hall said. “It’s only over the span of five or six days that you go from being up 3-1 in a series to being done. It can take a while to process that.”

“When you lose a series, you feel like you had more to give,” Hall said. “I didn’t have any production in the last two games. If I did, maybe we aren’t doing exit meetings.”

Hall felt he didn’t have a great season personally, but this was a special team to be a part of:

“It’s hard when you are 31, but I think I still have more to learn.”

He said he walked around the other day and got nothing but positive remarks from people who stopped him. People would tell him great series, even though it wasn’t the outcome they wanted. Hall knows there are people out there that feel differently about the series and are upset.

Hall plans to make changes to his offseason regiment:

“I want to try to come in next season a little bit lighter,” Hall said. “I’m around 209 and I would love to come in next year around 203, 204 and get a bit lighter…try and get quicker. I want to see if I can improve somehow on the power play. My power-play play wasn’t all that great this season.”