Bruins forward A.J. Greer looking forward to facing Avalanche, his former team
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see how the Colorado Avalanche built their Stanley Cup-winning team. They were really bad for a while, they got a lot of high draft picks and they hit on a lot of them.
Bruin forward A.J. Greer is in the process of proving he wasn’t one of the misses, just a late bloomer. Greer was taken in the second round (39th overall) of the 2015 draft by the Avs, two picks after the B’s took Brandon Carlo. The former BU forward spent four years in the Colorado system, getting 37 games with the Avs before getting traded early in the 2020-21 season to New Jersey.
Greer said he learned some tough lessons during his time in the Colorado organization and is appreciative of his time there. And though he did play a game against the Avs last year with New Jersey, he’s looking forward to facing some of his old friends on Saturday when the defending Cup champ come to the Garden.
“It’s always special, of course, playing the team you started your pro career with and they drafted me. Of course, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go in the organization, but again, I’m grateful for the opportunity. They drafted me, they gave me opportunity to play in the NHL. The timing wasn’t right for me personally,” said Greer on Friday. “I don’t think that I understood my game as much when I was younger, but again they gave me the opportunity to play in the NHL and I’ll always be grateful for that fact. A great place to play, a great staff, all around, the guys there are awesome. I really have nothing bad to say about that place. I got in there at a time they were transitioning from being the worst team in the league to being the best team, so I kind of saw it all happen and it was honestly eye-opening, being the guy who wanted to learn every day. You could see the details they were instilling in practice and they were emphasizing certain things. And it paid off in the end.”
Greer admits that, when he was in the moment, he didn’t felt like he was getting a fair shake. In hindsight, he can see that they gave him some chances, including in his first pro season, but he couldn’t become an NHL regular
“I don’t think over I was (overlooked), I just think they weren’t in a space where they could afford to give me enough ice time and enough opportunity. I didn’t play the minutes that I wanted to. I was averaging about 5-7 minutes a game and I’d get called up, play one game, get sent back down. It was never really a consistent opportunity,” said Greer. “But again in this business, it’s a quick and you’ve got to be ready. I was a young guy who was a little pissed off because I was doing so well in the American (Hockey) League and wasn’t getting the opportunity in the NHL. It was just a combination of things. And honestly, I didn’t play great when I was up there, too. I didn’t understand the way to play, I didn’t understand the game in the NHL … it was just a combination of things and I don’t blame anyone, it just don’t think it was the right fit.”
As appreciative as he is of the Colorado organization, he is still a professional competitor.
“Obviously, I want to showcase the player that I am now as opposed to the player I was before,” said Greer with a grin.
The player that he is now is a solid fourth-line role player on one of the best teams in the league. He found some success early on the scoresheet. In his first four games, he had 3-2-5 totals. He’s got just two helpers in the 13 games since then. But right now he’s skating on a fourth line with Tomas Nosek and Nick Foligno that is often charged with setting the tone for the game. He’s third on the team in hits with 42, trailing only Foligno (51) and Connor Clifton (62), despite averaging just 9:36.
“I definitely want more points, but they’ll come. But I don’t think I’m here to put up 50 points,” he said. “So as long as I do my job and play my role. I think that’s the biggest thing, why I’ve had success last year (in Utica, earning him the one-way deal in Boston) with and this year, just based off the consistency that I’ve been bringing.”
Coach Jim Montgomery is loving what Greer is bringing.
“He has an infectious attitude on the bench and in the dressing room. But more importantly to his game, his details defensively have really improved,” said Montgomery. “And I give him credit, first, as well as Joe Sacco and Chris Kelly working on those details with him. And I think his puck protection has really improved to where he’s one of our better forwards down low, holding on to pucks and getting to scoring areas with the puck.
“I think he knows that he’s important to our team success, even though some nights he only gets eight minutes. They’re important eight minutes.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/zIHmNoB
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