Bruins’ Anders Bjork pushing himself during shutdown

When the NHL season was shut down by the coronavirus on March 12, Anders Bjork was in the midst of a career reboot.

The left-shooting wing was one of the Bruins’ top prospects when he left Notre Dame a year early in 2017 and he showed enough flashes to make the varsity out of camp his first pro season. But before he could truly establish himself as a bona fide NHL player, he suffered not one but two season-ending shoulder injuries in his rookie and second-year seasons.

This season, the 23-year-old Bjork may not have enjoyed the breakthrough for which he was hoping. In fact, he was facing an uphill battle to get back in the lineup after the B’s added wingers Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie at the trade deadline. But there had been some progress, basic though it may have been, and he’s shown enough flashes to inspire belief he’s still a long way from his ceiling.

“Personally I’ve thought a lot about it and I think there are some positives, for sure,” said Bjork, the latest Bruin to take part in a media Zoom call on Wednesday. “The thing I was most pleased about was staying healthy the whole year. I think I grew my game a good amount and developed the consistency that I’ve been focusing on. I don’t think it’s nearly where I want it to be but I guess I’d say I began the development of that consistency and so I’m pleased about that.

“But there were a lot of areas that I want to improve on when the season starts up again whenever that may be. A lot of it has to do with poise with the puck and being ready to shoot. But I think a lot of it has to do with playing more feisty and with grit. That’s when I’ve had my best games, when I’ve played with that extra grit.”

While not satisfied with everything he’s accomplished, Bjork has broken into some personal frontiers this season. Limited to 39 games between Boston and Providence his rookie season and 33 last year, Bjork had played 65 this season (58 in Boston, seven on Providence), the most he’s ever played in one season. It’s been an adjustment.

“You definitely feel it playing at that level and that many games,” said Bjork, who was hoping to play in a lot more. “That’s one of the big things I was excited for, to get that experience under my belt this year. It’s kind of a bummer in that respect. But one thing I’ve learned that I want to carry forward is that it’s more of a mental thing. It tires you out mentally more than physically.”

Bjork came into the league as a right wing, but with some of his cutback moves getting him into trouble with turnovers and exposing himself to big hits, the decision was made to start him this season on the left wing, his natural side. He would still wander over to the right side and later even started some games on the right side, the switch adding to his comfort level.

But the production hadn’t been off the charts. His 9-10-19 totals in 58 games were modest at best for what appears on some nights to be a top-six skill set, one that Brad Marchand praised in a virtual town hall a couple of weeks ago. At the time of the season’s pause, he’d been scratched four out of five games. If the NHL can get going again, Bjork would like to change that.

“It’s a huge motivator for me, especially right now. The competition in Boston is always there. You guys know how good the team in Providence is. Guys are always pushing to come up and, with the guys that are scratched, I think the hardest part of our coaches’ job is deciding who’s going to play because the competition is so tough,” said Bjork. “That’s always been a motivator. But with the trades and going out of the lineup right after that, I feel like I’ve got to put my work in to earn my spot back. That’s the culture on the team, for sure. That’s how we’ve been successful. Guys are constantly pushing each other. You have to if you want to play…. My game wasn’t exactly where it needed to be at before this pause so I have time to work on it as much as I can.”

And he’s in good position for that. Back home in Wisconsin, he said he’s got a pretty solid set-up on top of the programs sent to the players by B’s strength coach Kevin Neeld. Not only does Bjork have a relatively extensive weight room as well as a shooting area in his basement, he has the luxury of not being totally isolated from like-minded peers. He’s got his younger brother Brady, a junior hockey player, and his brother-in-law Mark Van Guilder, a professional player in Switzerland, to push him. They’ve been rollerblading, both sprinting and doing some hill work.

“We’ve got some hockey guys to keep each other honest,” said Bjork. “I feel like we’ve had to be a little creative, but it’s also been a little fun and kept us busy trying to think of good ways to stay in shape and try to get a leg up on the rest of the hockey guys out there with the tools we have here.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3f89V2u