Smith soaked up veteran Bruins' experience

The Boston Herald describes how Reilly Smith seized on his opportunity in his first season with the Bruins since coming over from the Dallas Stars in the Tyler Seguin trade.

As important, Smith took complete advantage of his learning environment.

“They gave me a great opportunity here. Being able to play with some of the guys I did this year was great for me personally,” said Smith. “I learned so much playing with guys like Bergeron and (Zdeno Chara) and having guys like (Jarome) Iginla in the locker room. There’s so much experience there. I was picking up things every day. It was a joy to be able to play with those guys.”

Coach Claude Julien stuck with Smith on the second line despite an offensive slump in the latter stages of the regular season too.

“It says a lot about the confidence and the opportunity they gave me all year long. It’s been great and a joy to be able to play with some of these guys,” Smith said. “And to be able to have that confidence from the coaches and your teammates, that they stick with you when things aren’t going great was great. I couldn’t be happier with how things played out. It was a shorter playoff experience than we expected, but it was still a good learning experience.”

Source: Steve Conroy, Boston Herald