Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
A soft-spoken stalwart with Bruins, David Krejci let his play do the talking on hockey’s brightest stages
“It’s almost like he doesn’t feel any emotion whatsoever, good or bad.”
COMMENTARY
For close to a century now, a team-wide identity of snarl and size has been woven into the fabric that makes up the Spoked-B sweater.
David Krejci, however, was cut from a different cloth.
On an Original Six franchise where devastating left hooks doled out by the likes of Lucic and O’Reilly earned just as many cheers as a dangle-laden tally, Krejci projected a poised, reserved profile.
Unlike fan favorites with a penchant for mischief and post-whistle fracas like Brad Marchand or Shawn Thornton, Krejci was a calming sight amid the organized chaos erupting around him out on the frozen sheet.
Advertisement:
In contrast to towering juggernauts like Zdeno Chara, Krejci was never an imposing physical presence on the ice.
He opted to make opponents pay by way of a momentum-shifting saucer pass, rather than a bucket-ringing check against the glass.
The Sternberk, Czech Republic native was never the fastest skater on the ice, nor did he wield the same one-time howitzer that his fellow countryman, David Pastrnak, possessed.
Even down the middle, Krejci was often operating behind the curtain on Boston’s depth chart — with Patrice Bergeron drawing most eyes toward him as the team’s vocal leader and two-way maestro.
Advertisement:
But in crunch time, few could orchestrate plays under pressure like Krejci — the cerebral center whose cool demeanor was matched only by the ice in his veins when the lights shined the brightest.
And in a city where legacies are measured by banners, Krejci often let his play do the talking.
“In those big moments, you look around you can feel the pressure on the bench and in the stands and in the coaches and players. You look at him, and he’s just kind of hanging out,” Brad Marchand said of Krejci back in January. “It’s almost like he doesn’t feel any emotion whatsoever, good or bad.”
The 37-year-old Krejci announced his official retirement from the NHL on Monday morning, hanging up his skates after 1,032 games — all with the Bruins.
Chara’s arrival in 2006 represented a necessary sea change for a rudderless Bruins franchise. Tim Thomas’ stalwart showing between the pipes paved the way for Boston’s first Stanley Cup in 39 years.
But it was the 1-2 punch of Bergeron and Krejci down the middle that served as the bedrock for Boston to build a perennial contending roster for close to two decades. During Krejci’s 16 seasons in Boston, the Bruins failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs only three times.
Advertisement:
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with him, just because he’s so cerebral,” Jim Montgomery said of Krejci earlier this season. “I love how competitive he is. There’s a burning fire inside him to be elite. Then you couple that with creativity. That’s why he’s such a special player.”
Krejci’s physical tools may not set him apart from many NHLers. But his processing ability with the puck on his stick gave him an advantage that few could replicate.
In a game where Grade-A looks and game-breaking mistakes are often carried out in split-second sequences, Krejci seemed to bend time and physics to his will when holding onto the biscuit.
Rather than skate north-south, Krejci hovered east-west in the offensive zone, lurking near the outer layer of an opponent’s defensive coverage in search of faults in their armor.
His crisp passing allowed other top-six talents like Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, and Jarome Iginla to thrive throughout their various tenures in Boston.
Later in his career, Krejci was oftentimes handed the unenviable task of driving play without much stability on his line. During the 2018-19 season, Krejci tied a career-high with 73 points — despite logging at least 15 minutes of ice time with 14 different line combinations.
Advertisement:
His crisp passing allowed him to rack up 555 assists — the fifth-most in Bruins history. Only eight other Bruins recorded more points than him (786).
But Krejci’s legacy in Boston doesn’t revolve around the stat lines posted from October through early April.
When the calendar flipped to spring, the mild-mannered Krejci was regularly the conduit behind the cacophony of cheers erupting from the TD Garden seats above him.
He buried four-game winners en route to Boston’s long-awaited Stanley Cup title in 2011, although his greatest contribution was his late-game dissection of Guy Boucher’s stingy 1-3-1 defense in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
After posting a league-leading 23 playoff points in 2011, Krejci followed that up by pacing the NHL with 26 points over 22 games during Boston’s run to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.
Even in 2019, when he had a carousel of wingers like Karson Kuhlman and David Backes stapled to his right, Krejci posted 16 points during the B’s latest run to a title.
As injuries and the inevitable decay of Father Time sapped him of his playmaking capabilities in late April, Krejci still put forth a three-point game in what stood as his final contest with Boston in Game 7 against the Panthers.
Krejci finished his career with 128 points in 160 playoff games. Krejci is tied with his longtime teammates in Bergeron and Marchand for second all-time in postseason scoring in franchise history, trailing only Ray Bourque (161).
“I don’t really pay attention to that, to be honest with you,” Krejci said of his “Playoff Krech” moniker in May 2021. “I don’t look at the internet much. I’m just trying to focus on each game. Whatever happens the game before, I forget about it and get ready for the next one.”
Advertisement:
Throughout his career, Krejci opted to shirk away from the spotlight.
He was never the focal point of the Bruins’ extended contention window, nor was he the most bombastic presence. Most praise heaped his way was often deflected toward his teammates.
But for 16 years, few athletes in Boston consistently delivered on the highest stage quite like Krejci.
And among that sparse grouping, none did it with more aplomb than Krejci.
Cut from a different cloth? No doubt.
But when his No. 46 sweater hangs from the Garden rafters among other Bruins legends in due time, one would be hard-pressed to spot the difference.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com